Treadmill running has a bad reputation among many runners, but it is a very useful tool when it is raining, very hot, dark or you simply want to control your pace to the second. Is it the same as running outside? Not quite, although the differences are smaller than they seem and you can compensate…
Hill training is one of the most effective ways to build strength, power and endurance without setting foot in a gym. Running uphill makes your legs push harder with every stride, and it does so with less impact than running fast on the flat. Running downhill, on the other hand, is a different kind of…
VO2 max is probably the most famous number in sports physiology, and ever since GPS watches started estimating it every day, many runners look at it as if it were their grade. It is a useful measure of aerobic capacity, but it doesn’t explain everything: two runners with the same value can have very different…
Max heart rate is the highest number of beats per minute your heart can reach during an all-out effort. It is the reference on which almost all heart rate training zones are based, so if it is estimated wrong, all your zones will be off. The problem is that the best-known formula, 220 minus your…
Resting heart rate is the number of beats per minute your heart makes when you are completely relaxed. It is one of the simplest indicators of your fitness and recovery: it drops as you train and rises when you are tired, ill or stressed. Together with heart rate variability (HRV), which almost every watch now…
Overtraining is what happens when your training load exceeds your ability to recover for too long. It goes well beyond a bad day or a hard week: it is a state in which you perform worse even when you rest, you feel exhausted and it takes weeks or months to feel well again. Luckily, it…
Pace and speed measure the same thing in two different ways, and it helps to know how to go from one to the other. Pace is the time it takes you to cover a kilometer or a mile (for example, 5:00 min/km), and it is what runners and watches use. Speed is the distance you…
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common injuries in runners and one of the most frustrating, because it can last months if it isn’t managed well. Its typical symptom is unmistakable: heel pain with your first steps in the morning that eases as you move and comes back after sitting for a while. Most…
Shin splints are pain along the inner edge of the shinbone that appears when you run, and they are one of the most typical injuries for beginners and for anyone who increases volume too fast. The technical name is medial tibial stress syndrome. They usually improve with a few weeks of load adjustment, but they…