It was June when she proposed the idea to her coach, Tim Rowberry. He was speechless at first, but soon they began making a plan to help Hassan compete at her highest level in such a short span of time. The feat didn’t have a true road map, though Rowberry knew it would require a careful balance between speed and endurance, along with several swift recoveries. And it worked: Hassan pulled it off—winning two gold medals and a bronze.
Your competition schedule likely isn’t as daunting. But you might face two or more hard efforts on a tight timeline. Perhaps you’re running races on subsequent weekends, completing an overnight relay, or simply want to feel fresh for a long run a few days after a speed workout.
Every runner should have a recovery plan, says Alisa Harvey, a former elite middle-distance runner who now competes as a masters athlete and coaches in Manassas, Virginia. Your body is a remarkable machine, naturally repairing microtears in your muscles, replenishing your energy stores, and clearing out the waste products you produce during hard efforts. But these actions occur during recovery, not during the effort itself. It’s that downtime that allows you to grow stronger and faster, which is why it’s so important. Actively promoting these processes also reduces your injury risk, builds your confidence, and prepares you to train and race hard again, says Robyn LaLonde, running coach and owner of EDGE Athlete Lounge in Chicago.
Each runner has unique needs. But dialing in a few key elements—and practicing them throughout training—can help you nail recovery when it really counts.
Practice tight timelines
As a general rule, good recovery means at least a day of rest or easy running between hard and long efforts, LaLonde says.
Denne historien er fra Issue 6, 2021-utgaven av Runner's World.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 6, 2021-utgaven av Runner's World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
TO RUN 26.2 IS TO FEEL ALIVE
THE SUN IS rising from the east, and the waves of the Pacific crash below to the west.
LEAVE IT UP TO A PIECE OF PAPER TO TEACH YOU TO RUN EASY
BEFORE I FELL for running, I thought the hardest thing about the sport was the fast stuff: the speedwork, the sprints, and the intervals.
WHY-AND HOW-YOU SHOULD RUN DOUBLES
Those are just a few of the titles entered into my training log for the second run of a day.
FIND YOUR RUNNING COMMUNITY, ONLINE OR IN PERSON
I SIGNED UP for my first marathon while sobbing in the back of a rideshare, on my way to the airport to fly to my uncle's funeral.
FUEL WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO EAT
AS AN ULTRARUNNER, I'm all too familiar with the saying that long-distance running is an \"eating contest with a running component.\"
AT THE FERTILITY CLINIC, MY PAST CAUGHT UP WITH ME
I SAT IN the fertility doctor's office white walls, bare wooden desk, opaque window-alone.
THIS IS NOT AN ESCAPE STORY
AT 15, DARLENE STUBBS WALKED AWAY FROM A POLYGAMOUS CULT-THEN DISCOVERED A NEW LIFE AND COMMUNITY THROUGH RUNNING.
RUNNING WITH HANK
How my daughter's rambunctious mutt saved my sanity while she was lost to the darkness.
WHEN I FOUND OUT I HAD MS.I THOUGHT I'D NEVER RUN AGAIN.
I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist.
A RUNNER'S GUIDE to sleep
Nike rocked the running world in 2018 when it released the Vaporfly 4%, claiming that the shoe could boost a runner's efficiency by that amount.
