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Running moderately reduces the risk of injury and helps the body recover better, preventing long-term harmful overloads.
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In fact, a moderate pace makes it possible to improve endurance, allowing you to tackle longer distances without harming your body.
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Slowing down and varying the pace also provides the best cardiovascular benefits.
When it comes to running, it is easy to get caught up in the temptation to push harder and harder. However, often slowing down and seeking a more relaxed gait is the best choice, both for health and performance. Here’s why.
Running too fast: risks you don’t want to take
Going full throttle all the time may seem exciting, but it can also become a problem. The first risk you can take is injury, as science also shows. When you constantly force your body, you increase your chances of getting hurt: we’re talking joint pain, DOMS, even stress fractures. Not exactly a good outlook, is it? Also consider that the heart is like an engine: it also has to be made to “rev” at many revolutions, but you can’t always make it run at full speed. If you run too fast too often, you risk overloading the cardiovascular system, and in the long run this can be more harmful than helpful. In short: running too fast for too long can reduce your endurance. In other words, you may improve your speed in the short term, but you risk not being able to keep up over longer distances. And you know that running is about endurance, not just speed, although that may sound like a paradox.
Find your right rhythm
All good, but then how can you find the perfect pace for you? A moderate pace is often the key to enjoying the benefits of running without risking too much. The Copenhagen City Heart Study, showed that those who run at a moderate pace (around 8-10 km/h) get the best results in terms of cardiovascular health. The message is clear: it’s better to run steadily, moderately and regularly than to run flat out all the time, assuming you can then.
Listen to your body
If there is one thing all runners must learn, it is to listen to their bodies. Do you feel dead tired every time you finish a workout? Do you have aches and pains that won’t go away? Is your performance not improving or even getting worse? These are all signs that you may be asking too much of your body. That’s why adding slow, controlled running sessions can make a big difference.
Some tricks for finding the rhythm
To find the right pace, you can use a few tricks that will help you know if you are running too fast or if you are in the right spot. One good way is to use a heart rate monitor to keep an eye on your heart rate: try to keep it between 60-70% of your maximum when doing easy runs. Another very useful method is the talk test: if you can talk without too much effort while running, then you are going at the right pace. And then there’s interval training: alternating phases of fast running with lighter moments is a great strategy for improving your speed without overloading your body. In short, the secret is not to go full speed all the time but rather to vary your pace, especially to get your heart used to handling increases and decreases in workload.
Here’s why not running at top speed can be a very good idea
Running at a moderate pace allows you to reduce your risk of injury, improve endurance over long distances, and recover better between training sessions. It’s true: it’s a bit counterintuitive, but slowing down allows you to go farther, building a solid foundation to work on for years, instead of burning out right away. Slow down, listen to your body, and enjoy the road. And now, let’s have a run, but at a proper pace :)
(Via Run Society)