Do these 5 things to become a better runner:
1. Polarize your training. When you run easy, run very, very easy. When you run hard, run very, very hard. For a distance runner, hard doesn’t always mean faster. Hard can also mean increasing the volume of work performed at a given speed. Running for close to an hour at your lactate threshold pace is very hard, even though the pace isn’t that fast.
2. Every third or fourth week, back off your training volume by about a third to absorb the training you’ve done, fully recover, and make the physiological adaptations.
3. Understand what the purpose of the day’s workout is, and then do the correct type of workout to meet the purpose. There are specific ways to train to meet varied purposes. Know what those ways are.
4. Be consistent with your training. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. No excuses.
5. Hire a coach. With a coach, you remove the responsibility of thinking about what to do and how to do it. The coach does the thinking for you. A coach can take your running to a new level. The chance to discover your potential is worth the investment, especially when the results are guaranteed.
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