How To Recover Like A Pro Runner (You Can Too)

Hey, my good running friend welcome back to The Running Week! 🏃🏾‍♀️

In today’s edition:

1. How To Recover Like A Pro Runner (You Can Too)

2. The Greatest Running Tips Of All Time

3. This Brand Has Decided To Support Us

4. Sub 1h20 Update & I Found A Stunning Place To Run

Let’s get into biz!

How To Recover Like A Pro Runner (You Can Too)

Let's talk about a crucial aspect of running that often gets overlooked: post-run recovery.

Did you know that your body doesn't actually become fitter while you run?

It's during those moments of rest and recovery between runs that the magic happens. If you're already aware of this, great! But there are always ways to improve your post-run recovery and enhance those all-important adaptations that lead to improved fitness and better performance!

Now, I know we might not be professional runners like Eliud Kipchoge or Jakob Ingebrigtsen, but we can certainly learn from them to become better at recovering between runs and getting fitter faster.

So, let's dive into some recovery techniques that can make a significant difference.

1. The Most Important, Sleep

Sleep is the number one recovery techniques.

When you're asleep, your body goes into overdrive, using that time to grow, repair, and adapt. It's no wonder that we spend about a third of our lives asleep! There are two crucial aspects of your sleep cycle we need to discuss.

Firstly, there's REM sleep, the dreamy phase of your sleep cycle. REM sleep is essential for brain recovery, learning, and mood regulation.

On the other hand, we have NREM sleep, which comprises about 85% of your total sleep cycle. This is where the real magic happens for physical recovery. During NREM sleep, your body replenishes energy stores and repairs muscle tissue.

Pro runners know the value of good sleep and prioritize their sleep schedules.

Granted, it's not always easy to get a solid eight hours of sleep every night, but even claiming back just an extra hour here and there can make a difference.

So, try to audit your weekly schedule and find ways to sneak in some more shut-eye.

2. Nourishing Your Body

Your body needs the right building blocks to recover effectively. Nutrition plays a significant role here.

While I'm not a nutrition expert, I can tell you that during periods of intense training, you must ensure two things.

Firstly, consume enough calories to sustain the workload you're putting your body through. Whether you follow a keto, high-carb, or any other diet, ensure you're meeting your energy needs.

Secondly, pay attention to your protein intake. Your body requires amino acids from proteins to grow and repair between workouts.

Aim for 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. The source of protein is up to you — whether you prefer pulses, pork chops, or something else, as long as you get your protein fix.

3. Mobility

One thing that sets pro runners apart is their commitment to working on aspects beyond running itself. Among these is regular mobility work, focusing on specific areas of the body prone to tightness with increased mileage, like hip flexors and hamstrings.

You don't need to spend hours stretching like a gymnast; dedicating as little as 20 minutes to targeted mobility routines three times a week can work wonders in preventing injuries and keeping things running smoothly.

If you follow me on Strava you have surely seen that in the last few weeks I have started adding strength and mobility workouts in the gym. It's been about 20 days since I started doing these exercises and I'm already feeling the benefits during my runs!

4. Stay Hydrated, always

Water, water, water—it's the elixir of life! Proper hydration is vital for recovery. Our bodies are mostly water, and we lose a considerable amount of it daily, even more when we exercise. Water helps regulate body temperature and keeps all our organs functioning well, including our brains.

Remember to hydrate during longer runs and ensure you replenish lost fluids after your workout. Every runner's hydration needs are unique, so listen to your body and find what works best for you.

5. Do Some Stretch after your run

While many people default to the calf stretch against a wall or curb, recent studies have shown that this may not be the most effective stretch for overall muscle recovery. Instead, incorporating a variety of stretches targeting different muscle groups can lead to better results.

One of the beneficial stretches is the piriformis stretch, which not only feels great but also helps to alleviate tension in the glutes and hips. Studies have demonstrated that including the piriformis stretch in your post-run routine can reduce the risk of developing tightness in these areas and improve overall hip mobility.

However, the hip flexor stretch stands out as a favorite among many runners due to its effectiveness in targeting the hip flexor muscles.

Researchers have found that maintaining a straight line down the body while performing the stretch, without leaning forward or pushing the hips too far forward, allows for better engagement of the hip flexor muscles and improved range of motion.

Focusing on the calf muscles, hips, and glutes during post-run stretching is a wise choice, as these are the areas that commonly experience tightness and discomfort after running.

A study published in the Journal of Athletic Training emphasized the importance of targeting these muscle groups to prevent injury and enhance recovery!

To Summarize, recovery isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, but these simple yet effective techniques can significantly impact your post-run recovery.

Sleep like a baby, fuel your body with nutritious food, work on your mobility, and keep yourself hydrated!

By embracing these recovery practices, you'll find yourself becoming a fitter and faster runner, just like the Pros!

Trivia Question: Delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) typically peaks at how many hours after a long run?

Find the answer at the end of this email.

The Greatest Running Tips Of All Time

Looking for the best running tips on the web? Then you have come to the right place.

Whether you’re a beginner runner, a weekend warrior, or a seasoned athlete, the following running guidelines can help you improve your performance, prevent injury, and reach your fitness goals.

What’s not to like!

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Doing all of your workouts in the comfort zone is comfortable, but it’ll not help you improve much.

That’s why you would need to step out of your comfort zone and embrace quality training.

You just need to find the sweet spot — challenging but healthy.

Clone Success

Success varies from one person to the next, and once you find what works the best for you, you need to keep it up by building a ritual around it.

Repeat it as habitually as possible until it’s a part of your training program.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Test Yourself

To improve your running, you ought to measure it.

And the best way to do so is via regularly testing yourself.

Compete in races as part of a plan to test your fitness level, progression and race pace.

Do regular test runs to see if you are improving or slacking.

Become a Morning Runner

According to study, those who exercise first thing in the morning tend to stay more consistent with their training programs than those who do it later on.

So, score high points in the consistency game and become an early morning runner.

Believe me, it’s like an addiction. Once you taste the joys of the morning run, you’ll never be the same!

Try New Routes

Sticking to the same running route is the recipe for boredom.

Instead, be sure to add variety to your training by changing up your running routes regularly.

This will not only help you outrun boredom, but it’s also good for injury prevention and developing proper running mechanics.

Be Realistic

Goals are key to success, but when you set unrealistic ones, you are setting the stage for disappointment, and failure and all the enthusiasm can turn into resentment.

That’s why you need to run your goals through a reality check.

Shoot for a reasonable goal and build on it.

Remember, you’ll never know what’s unrealistic until you try it.

Gradual Progress Is The Key

Going too fast too soon increase your risk of injury and overtraining. To ward off the trouble, adopt a progressive mindset.

Do as little as possible and build on that. Think baby steps. Walk before you run if you have to!

I found these tips very useful especially when I was at the beginning of my running adventure! I hope these tips can help you too!

I’m Glad To Present Our New Official Sponsor!

This week I decided to dedicate this section to our new partner!

As you know ‘The Running Week’ is completely free and is managed solely and exclusively by me – I don't have a team of people who help me with publications or manage my advertising.

I manage ‘The Running Week’ with passion and dedication because it's a project that I really like and I really believe in, and that's why I also decided to invest some money in digital advertising to sponsor it so as to get as many people as possible excited and informed about the beautiful world of running!

For this reason I decided to look for a brand that could support our project at least with products and accessories for running (not necessarily economically).

And I'm happy to announce that SOAR Running has decided to support my journey to sub 01:20h Half Marathon and our community!

What is SOAR Running?

SOAR Running design and produce running apparel that does justice to the commitment and passion of runners globally. Encompassing textile innovation, pioneering design technology, sports science and the real-world experiences of runners – As you can read on their website.

In the next issues, in “Sub 1:20h update” section I will show you some cool SOAR’s products and stay tuned… You can not imagine what have in store for you!

But it's still too early to talk about it...

Thanks again SOAR for having decided to support us – Show them some love by visiting their website to check out their cool running products!

Road to Sub 1h20 update

Last week's training block was ~80km:

1. Monday: AM Gym + PM 50min Easy

2. Tuesday: Gym

3. Wednesday: AM 4*5min Z3 + 5min Z2 & PM Gym

4. Thursday: 1h10 Easy con Antonio

5. Friday: AM Fartlek 30secs ON/OFF + PM Gym

6. Saturday: 50min Easy

7. Sunday: 20km Easy con Antonio + Gym

The past week was another good training week for me.

Between running and the gym I trained ~9 hours which is a great amount of time by my standards.

I ran twice with Antonio, the guy I told you about in the last few emails, and we discovered some amazing places here on the island!

During Thursday’s session we went to "Las Coloradas" which is an amazing place! See the image below!

Unfortunately I don't usually take my phone during my sessions and I couldn't take any photos, but in the next runs I'll try to take my phone and take some photos of the landscapes here – Am I the only one who runs without a phone?

Last thing, i’m starting to publish some stories also on Instagram!

Be sure to follow me on IG!

Just for Laughs 😂

Trivia Answer: 24-48 Hours - In-depth study here.

Latest Editions

• Why You Should Improve Your Running Cadence (Link)

• My 9 Favorite Running Shoes of 2023 (Link)

• The Best 5K Tips To Run Faster And Get The PB (Link)

• How To Running Faster Without Getting Tired (Link)

• 4 Running Tips From Eliud Kipchoge (Link)

Thanks for reading to the end. If you enjoy the Running Week I would appreciate it if you take the time to help me spread the word by forwarding it to a friend or colleague! Or share the following link on your socials: https://therunningweek.beehiiv.com/

From your running friend that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed it!

Until next week, happy Running!

I’m incredibly grateful for this little newsletter and community of The Running Week. Thank you.

PS. Let's connect on Strava, here’s my profile

Matteo, your new running friend.