Running best practices

Kaizen abstracts away the complexity of training, allowing you to train how it suits you. But that doesn’t mean all training is created equal. There are some basics we should all get in place to maximise the benefit of our weekly training. So, to get the most out of Kaizen, we have compiled some general first principles to follow below.

Consistency is key

Both within a week and between weeks it’s important to train regularly. 

Spread it out

While it’s theoretically possible to get all of your training from a single run, this is a bad move if you want to stay injury free. Space the training out across the week, sprinkling in a few rest days if you want.

Distance matters

When training for endurance running there’s no way of getting around the fact you need to clock up a good weekly training distance. Most of your training should be at a fairly low intensity (a conversational pace). 

Don’t sweat the specifics

It’s ok for a run to be a little longer/shorter/faster/slower/etc than you had planned. Kaizen will adjust the doughnut to account for this. 

Listen to your body

Kaizen cannot know exactly how you are feeling, so it’s sometimes smart to fall short of the doughnut if you feel like you need a little more rest. This is particularly true if you are experiencing a new stress in your life. For example a new job might not seem like it will impact your running but the extra challenges of a new work environment might mean a little less training is smart. 

Training for a Race?

If you’re training for a race, here are some specific training habits which may also help:

One long(er) run per week 

Preferably building in distance as you get closer to the race. A simple suggestion is to start at 50% of your race distance 8 weeks out from race day and finish with 90% of your race distance two weeks before.

One faster run per week

The aim should be to run faster than race pace here. This could be a local race, a parkrun, or a track session - there’s loads of flexibility. 

But remember not to get too tied up in this. It’s fine to miss your long or faster run occasionally and it’s also fine to do an extra long or fast run within a week. As usual the basics are much more important than the specifics so no need to stress over exact pace/HR zones, distances or durations.

If you’re looking for more ideas for your weekly fast run check out the Kaizen guide to fast training (coming soon).