Ever thought about how to pace yourself when navigating through running tracks or your normal running route? For me, there’s always a notion that my average speed has to improve day by day over the same distance. Therefore, I always push myself toward my thresholds all the way through.
Eventually, I feel like my performance has reached a plateau for quite a while. Perhaps I should change the way I pace myself? Researchers have conducted tests on a group of athletes with similar characteristics—age, mass, and height. They divided the group, with some athletes training predominantly in different heart rate zones. The surprising outcome? Runners who trained primarily in Heart Rate Zone 1 outperformed the other groups.
It’s not to say that we shouldn’t put in any effort and just take it easy during our training. After a few sessions of high-intensity training, the activities of our sympathetic nervous system begin to decrease. Eventually, our endurance improves, and we become ready to push ourselves further.
That being said, we should approach our body’s limits steadily. Gradually challenge ourselves and aim for better targets every few sessions. Maintain this steady pace until our body fully adapts to the intensity before progressing to the next stage.
Self-reflection is the key to success in our running journey. Keep going! 🏃♀️🏃♂️
Remember, pacing yourself is essential for long-term progress. Listen to your body, adjust your training, and stay motivated! 😊👟
JONATHAN ESTEVE-LANAO1, ALEJANDRO F. SAN JUAN1, CONRAD P. EARNEST2, CARL FOSTER3, and ALEJANDRO LUCIA1
Exercise Physiology Laboratory, European University of Madrid, SPAIN; 2Cooper Institute Center for Human Performance and Nutrition Research, Dallas, TX; and 3University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI
SprintBand Foodie 
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