Run training tips

As with the cycling, your running will improve naturally, in both endurance and speed depending on the amount of training you are putting in.  Build slowly and gradually towards your target. Sprint-"multi-sport challenge" run is only 5km, once again : a very achievable target.

If you are a total beginner to running, just try to achieve endurance run over 10km – just to test your running in “tired” conditions. Think that if you run 10km, and the last 5km are tough for you : that’s what it will feel like the day of the Schiniathlon!

Just as with swimming and biking, most experienced runners might want to be able to push themselves hard on the last part of the "multi-sport challenge" – dreaming of a sprint-finish ?! A good target is to have 1 long distance run per week designed to build endurance (over 10 to 15km max, go easy), 1 tempo run per week to improve muscular conditioning (say over 5 to 7km, push yourself, but don’t sprint) and 1 shorter high-intensity run per week to build anaerobic capacity (here you alternate sprints & rests, intervals).

Unlike swimming and cycling, running comes natural to most of us.  Though, a few tips might help you improve a few technical points :

• When running, keep your body upright, with only a slight lean forward.
• Run with loose shoulders, don’t contract them, relax your arms.
• For short distance, don’t forget to use your arms. This means hands up and arms extended, arms swinging high to shoulder height and back so that the hands go behind your hips.
• Feet should hit the ground in a way which eases the impact of your legs on the ground.  This means : your feet should strike the ground relatively flat, NOT on your heel.
• Visualize your upper body moving forward with minimal bouncing with your legs and arms being the major moving parts of your body.

You may want to do your training on a treadmill, at your local gym. But for christ’s sake, it’s Greece, you can run by the sea, you can run in the parks… Mind the dangers though : wild scabby-dogs, drivers, broken pavements… Well after all, the treadmill IS a good idea!

For those of you looking for additional running technique, more specific than here, there are a few websites to help you out there :

• Active.com Approach for Building Running Speed
• Active.com Running with Correct Biomechanics
• Trifuel.com Running Drills