{"id":536,"date":"2013-04-21T06:42:38","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T06:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sbrsport.wordpress.com\/?p=536"},"modified":"2019-10-11T13:39:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T13:39:04","slug":"recovery-runs-learning-the-lingo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbrsport.co.za\/?p=536","title":{"rendered":"Recovery Runs \u2013 Learning the Lingo."},"content":{"rendered":"

You have just started running and you are now getting to know some runners. It won\u2019t take\"recovery<\/a> long before some runner tells you that they did a recovery run during the week. If you are too scared to ask just what they are on about, fear not. You are about to become a \u2018recovery run\u2019 expert.<\/p>\n

What is a recovery run?<\/p>\n

A recovery run is a slow run of shorter distance than normal. It has both physical and psychological benefits.<\/p>\n

What it is not.<\/p>\n

It is not used to flush out waste products out of the body. Lactic acid levels return to normal within an hour of even hard training sessions.<\/p>\n

There is no evidence that a recovery run promotes muscle tissue repair.<\/p>\n

There is also no evidence that a recovery run helps promote glycogen replenishment.<\/p>\n

What is the benefit of a recovery run?<\/p>\n

Recovery runs increase fitness. It is believed that they might increase fitness as much as faster runs do. The reason for this is that they force you to run in a pre-fatigued state. Fitness increases when you exercise beyond your initial fatigue point. Your key workouts will ensure that you take your body beyond its fatigue moment. When you go for a recovery run after these workouts, you run carrying the fatigue of the previous run and thus boost fitness, even though running at a slower speed and shorter distance than normal.\"recovery<\/a><\/p>\n

It is critical to vary your training. Simply sticking to hard runs in between key runs will have the effect of breaking your body down.<\/p>\n

Rest is critical to getting fitter. You will not lose any fitness by having easy days scheduled into your program.<\/p>\n

In summary<\/p>\n