Since the initial presence of the Homo 2 million years ago, humans have maintained certain anatomic features that have made them well suited for long-distance running. Many of these features help humans save energy. For example, human legs are made up of long spring-like tendonsworkout shorts for thick thighs to short muscle fascicles. This feature enables humans to expend less energy when lifting their feet off of the ground. Specifically, humans possess the Achilles tendon, which connects the heel to plantar flexors in the foot. In fact, these plantar flexors, or longitudinal arches, return approximately 17% of the energy that the foot expends. These spring-like capabilities help contribute to the stride lengths of 2 meters to 3.5 meters that humans are competent of making, allowing them to travel longer distances at a slower speed. These long stride lengths can also be attributed to the long leg length that humans have relative to their body mass (Bramble & Lieberman)4.
One of the biggest challenges that new runners face is learning how to run farther. Beginners often get injured, bored, or burned out before they meet their mileage goals for long-distance running. Once you hit a plateau, it can be tough to dig deeper and push past it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should avoid the gym altogether. As you ease into distance running, shift your focus from maxing out to improving core stability. It may sound wimpy, but some of the best exercises for runners are simple balance drills. Even standing for thirty seconds at a time on one leg can engage and strengthen all of the little stabilizer muscles in your legs and core to help you run faster. Body weight exercises, like planks or back hyperextensions, are also great additions to your training plan.
The term adventure running is loosely defined and can be used to describe any form of long-distance running in a natural setting, regardless of the running surface. It may include river crossing, scrambling, snow, extreme high or low temperatures, and high altitudes. It has both competitive and non-competitive forms, the latter being for individual recreation or social experience. As a result, courses are often set in scenic locations and feature obstacles designed to give participants a sense of achievement. It bears similarities to running sections of adventure racing.
Running has been shown to have an impact on the psychological function of sleep as well. According to one study, healthy adolescents who took part in a daily morning running routine for three weeks had decreased and overall lower insomnia severity scores compared to those of non-runners. Additionally, the runners were found to have higher sleep efficiency, with an increased proportion of deep Stage 3 and REM sleep and a lower proportion of lighter, Stage 1 sleep (Kalak et. al).10 However, partaking in a vigorous exercise like long-distance running approximately four to six hours before one plans to sleep is not recommended because doing so can potentially impair sleep (Youngstedt).11 Thus, one should plan to run in the morning or earlier in the day in order to receive any potential sleep benefits. The improvement of sleep quality that is associated with an exercise such as long-distance running could perhaps reduce the amount of sleep that one needs. This shorter time allocated to sleep could give people more time to fulfill obligations, perhaps making them feel more inclined to continue exercising due to reduced time constraints.
The overall incidence of lower extremity injuries found in the 17 studies varied from 19.4% to 79.3%.9,12,14,19,21,22,23,24 In other studies in which non‐lower‐extremity injuries were also described and included in the overall incidence number, the reported incidence for injuries varied from 26.0% to 92.4%.10,11,13,17,18,20,25 The predominant site of lower extremity injuries was the knee, for which the location specific incidence ranged from 7.2% to 50.0%. Injuries of the lower leg (shin, Achilles tendon, calf, and heel), foot (also toes), and upper leg (hamstring, thigh, and quadriceps) were common, ranging from 9.0% to 32.2%, 5.7% to 39.3%, and 3.4% to 38.1%, respectively. Less common sites of lower extremity injuries were the ankle and the hip/pelvis (also groin), ranging from 3.9% to 16.6% and 3.3% to 11.5%, respectively (table 33).9,10,12,13,14,16,18,19,20,21,22,24
SearchThe PubMed–Medline database, available through the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), was consulted up to January 2006 using search items concerning running injuries combined with the anatomical sites at which these injuries occur, and search items excluding specific publication types in which we were not interested. The search strategy is specified in the appendix. Additionally, all references in the articles included were screened according to the criteria described below.Relevant review publications and randomised controlled trials in Pubmed were searched from the beginning of the database up to May 2006.
As long as your stomach feels ok during the run and you can complete it, you’re on the right track. If you feel like you can’t finish your run feeling strong, then start increasing how much you eat. If you’re struggling to perfect your “long run” meal, use 7-10 g of carbs per kg of body weight as a daily guideline and work from there. If you’re training for a race, then the nutrition and hydration on your long run should reflect what you plan to do on race day.
As fitness author Lou Schuler explains in his book, The New Rules of Lifting For Women, relying on long-distance running to lose weight poses a key problem. The human body, ever-resourceful, eventually adapts to the repetitive nature of running. And that added efficiency means the body burns fewer calories for the same amount of work.
Speed workouts are what they sound like. The goal is to run at a much faster pace than you could maintain for any significant distance, but to break up these bouts of intensity with rest intervals. Speedwork is generally done on a track, so that the terrain is consistent and flat, and so that you can easily gauge your pace with a glance at your watch and the markings on the track that tell you how far you’ve gone.
The hardest thing about the long run, in my experience, is the monotony. If you find that you get bored, you can break it up by bringing along an iPod loaded with a playlist or even an audiobook. Or if you’re the outdoorsy type, you’ll find that trail running offers an escape from the busy world and a chance to meditate, think, or just relax while you run.How to Fuel While You Run