Fitness: To run fast, practice slow running

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Slow running is much like the foundation of a building on which higher floors are built, says Vijayaraghavan Venugopal, CEO of Fast n Up and a running enthusiast who has completed nine full marathons, including five World Majors races, in under three hours. “Think about slow running as the base. The slow runs condition and develop the aerobic side of your body, which you need amply for endurance running. This also keeps you free of injuries to a large extent," says Venugopal. 

Gagan Arora, Delhi-based coach and founder of Kosmic Fitness, loves slow, easy-paced runs as they do a lot of good, including enhancing efficiency for longer runs. Without causing too much fatigue, slow running reduces the chances of impact injuries and also reduces the recovery time needed between training sessions. “Running slower at a conversational pace improves your oxygen uptake in muscles and improves aerobic metabolism, which is the key to running longer distances. The mitochondria in your muscles get trained better at slower paces and also makes distance running an enjoyable sport. Eventually, all these add up and make you faster in the long run," explains Arora. 

Gayatri Mathur, 36, a Delhi-based runner and three-time age category podium finisher in the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, started running a decade back. At the time, her training involved running the same distance every single day. Over time, Mathur started including different types of runs in her training. In the last few years, about 80% of her training has been slow running and that has helped her complete three World Marathon Majors races, including the coveted Boston Marathon. “The slow runs have helped build my endurance, strengthened the muscles and improved my running form. All of this has made me a better runner," she notes. 

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The pace of the slow runs differ from runner to runner, and so, the pace of your slow run should be based on your abilities and heart rate, says Jatin Arora, an endurance sports and triathlon coach with Bootcamp Yellow in the national capital region. “During these slow runs you must focus on maintaining your heart rate Zone 2, which is 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. These runs strengthen your ligaments and tendons and also improve running economy," he adds. 

Exactly what volume of your training should be made up of slow runs depends on your coach, duration of training, distance and time goal. However, the general trend now is that 80% of your runs should be easy or at a slow and easy pace, says Venugopal. For Kosmic Fitness' Arora, this number hovers between 80%-90%. And how can you find out what is your ideal slow pace? If you prefer a simplistic method, one can identify his or her easy pace by running a minute slower than their 5km pace, says Arora. “If someone runs 5km in 30 minutes, their easy run pace should be close to 7 minutes per km," he says. Another simple way is by maintaining a conversational pace. “It is the speed where you can freely converse with a fellow runner. In many cases this could be around a minute or more slower than your marathon pace," says Venugopal. 

Despite the central role of slow and easy runs in helping you run faster, that’s not the only training you ought to stick to if you are serious about getting fast. You still need variety in your training. Venugopal notes that the typical approach is to expose the body to different paces to make sure the running capability improves at all levels. “Two kinds of runs are usually incorporated to increase speed. First is intervals to increase the VO2 Max, in other  words, your power. Second, threshold or tempo runs between 4 to 10 minutes with an objective to improve your lactate threshold levels or your speed endurance. This is the ability of the body to hold a certain speed for a slightly longer interval of time," Venugopal explains. 

In addition, concepts like hill training and track workouts also aid a runner’s pursuit of speed, says Venugopal. Arora also suggests adding plyometric exercises (20-30 reps for 2-3 sets) as well as speed running drills such as ladders and hurdles twice a week to your training regimen for best results.  

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.

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