Distance runners, regardless of their level of experience, frequently encounter challenges, both physical and psychological, as they strive to maximize their running distance.
It is quite normal for runners to level off at a point where their body has gotten used to running a certain mileage, but they don’t feel comfortable going beyond that. This can be incredibly hard on runners, especially those new to the sport, which leads them to ask the question of how to manage longer runs.
When you experience exhaustion, boredom, weariness, discouragement, or aches, there are techniques and skills you can employ to overcome these difficulties, which can help you to run further and longer.
The most important thing is not to give up. Remember, you haven’t reached your limit. You can always run longer.
In this article, we’ll delve into how your training and strategies can be modified to augment your running endurance and assist you in running farther.
We will first analyze ‘The Wall’, an oft-experienced situation when fatigue sets in, and then explore some other physical and psychological elements that might impede your running endurance.
Potential Reason For Maxing Out: Hitting The Wall
When a runner reaches the stage of exhaustion where they experience a feeling of being completely spent and unable to go on, they have hit the wall, or bonked.
This happens when your energy stores get depleted. You lack the carbohydrate glycogen, which results in a feeling of exhaustion and a pessimistic attitude.
It is possible to experience fatigue after approximately an hour of running if you are not accustomed to long-distance running. As you grow in expertise, your body becomes further adapted and it should take you more time before exhaustion sets in.
The fuel that keeps your body going during a workout or competition comes from carbohydrates and fats. Even if you consume a good amount of carbohydrates prior to jogging, you can become depleted around miles 18-20.
It is frequent to witness this at marathons and learning how to tackle it is of utmost importance.
Runners who are trying to figure out how to extend their running duration are fighting a tough battle against The Wall.
Beating The Wall Technique
Eat Right (Before and During Your Run)
It is a positive outcome that as the body depletes carbohydrates, it burns more fat for energy.
It is important for maintaining strength and energy to have a nutritious diet that includes a good amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats.
Some carbohydrate sources last longer than others:
- Beans
- Oatmeal
- Brown rice
- Whole wheat grains
Train For Longer Distances
In addition to working on your fuel intake during runs, the other essential element of making it through The Wall is preparing your body to go the distance with long distance training.
Legitimate prep for running long distances includes gradually increasing the length of your runs, which is best done with a regimen. Doing this consistently is the most efficient way to adequately condition your body.
- Improves your running economy (essentially your miles per gallon as a runner)
- Improves your mitochondria effectiveness – how efficiently your body converts stored fuel to energy
- Improves your body’s ability to use fat as a fuel source.
Sadly, there is no way to quickly be able to complete a marathon without putting in proper practice beforehand.
So many underprepared joggers have difficulty completing the final few miles of a marathon due to a lack of practice.
To become a successful marathon runner and avoid hitting the wall, you must gradually build up the distance you run over a period of time. That’s the secret of how to run longer!
How To Run Longer – Ways To Strengthen Your Physical Health
Experiment with some of these strategies and see which ones give you the energy to make it through difficult sections of your run.
Drink and Eat
Don’t forget to drink water frequently during your run. Lack of hydration can sap an immense amount of energy and should not be dismissed.
Individuals who don’t consume enough liquids are likely to experience collapse during a competition. Insufficient hydration could result in you not being able to complete the course, so take the chance to rehydrate yourself by drinking or by having energizing snacks.
Run With Other People
Being in the presence of other people can spur you on to twice the amount of motivation you experience while running on your own.
Make certain to pick someone who has similar running abilities to yours. If your buddy runs at a quicker pace, you may be pushed to stay in step and expend your energy faster than necessary.
Someone whose pace is slower than yours can impede your progress and prevent you from achieving your desired speed.
While running a race, no matter if you are competing by yourself, you will always have someone to run with at the same speed. Search for someone who is moving at a comparable pace.
Remain dedicated to them while you both run, maintaining the same speed all the way through the competition. Rely on the support of your friends to maintain the best pace for you.
Cross-train
Ensure that you possess the strength needed to stay active for a longer period of time.
Exercises that just rely on your body weight, hill running, or sprints can help to enhance your ability to explosively move, which in turn will increase your energy levels while participating in marathon runs.
How To Run Longer By Strengthening Your Mental Health
Running is never purely physical. The psychological pressure of running can be overwhelming, leading to feeling discouraged and uncertain about oneself. Employ these tactics to enhance your self-discipline and keep you going in difficult situations.
Get Enough Sleep
Previously, you may have only considered sleep as something that increases your physical energy levels, but it is also very important for your mental fortitude.
The amygdala is the area of the brain which deals with feelings. The majority of that work is done while asleep. So sleep deprivation results in emotional instability.
Without having a positive mental attitude during your run, you will lack the capacity to motivate yourself anew when you start to feel fatigued or uncertain. Be sure to get adequate rest – not just the evening prior to your run, but every evening while you are training.
Listen to Music
Occasionally we put on music, but we do not really listen to it, using it more as a source of background noise. Music has the ability to alter moods, thus playing a significant role in one’s mindset when running.
Aerobic capacity (VO2max) and it’s impact on running endurance
In order to provide a complete response on how to enhance running endurance, it is essential to take into consideration aerobic capability. That is to say, how much oxygen our body can take in.
When working out, oxygen is brought in and moves through our lungs and goes into our bloodstream. The blood that has been enriched with oxygen is then directed to the heart, which pumps it directly into the cells. Oxygen is employed to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used for providing energy for, among other things, muscle movement.
In essence, aerobic capacity is the same as VO2max. This is the greatest amount of oxygen the body can use while exerting its most strenuous effort in a specific time period. The standard unit of measurement for oxygen usage by the body is ml/kg/min. The greater the amount of oxygen the body is able to take in, the more power it is able to produce and the less quickly it becomes weary.
Our aerobic energy system can be made stronger if we provoke it. Not until we reach our peak performance level (maximum speed), but rather until the point at which our body must call upon anaerobic energy sources, thereby leading to a sharp buildup of lactic acid. The highest sustained rate of energy output that a sportsperson can achieve over a period of 10 to 15 minutes of intense exercise is known as VO2max.
By running quickly, the rate and depth of breathing increases, leading to improved respiratory muscle strength over time. Therefore, there is an increased amount of oxygen accessible to the body. High intensity training increases the body’s ability to capture and transport oxygen through improved capillaries, as well as increased levels of hemoglobin and myoglobin. Nevertheless, this intense training should be carried out after building a strong aerobic foundation. The body will be capable of taking in and utilizing more intensity when training, thus allowing for more progress.
7 Methods how to improve running stamina and speed
#1 Classic endurance building workout – the long run
Engaging in high-repetition, low-intensity exercises is one of the best ways to improve running speed and endurance. The long run is a staple of any running program and is always a popular choice as it helps to develop endurance.
As we work out for an extended amount of time, the body tires and we start to involve more and more muscle fibers. In response to that, our body adapts by producing more mitochondria, establishing a network of small blood vessels, increasing the ability to burn fat, and getting stronger. This ends up delaying muscular fatigue and leads to a smoother experience when running. Or faster pace.
#2 Boost stamina for running with short sprints
Running for a long period of time is good for increasing running strength, but for those who are more experienced in the sport, it does not bring much extra training gain. This type of training requires a significant investment of time, and it can be hard on the joints, so even professional athletes will typically limit themselves to only one or two runs of over ninety minutes per week.
It is possible to do other exercises to boost running speed and endurance. Sprinting is a good example. Particularly, Russian exercise physiologist Viktor Seluyanov conducted intriguing research on the generation of mitochondria in quick twitch type IIa muscle cells. The effectiveness of his method of instruction is tremendous and, in a nutshell, involves doing short, but very intensive tasks, combined with long breaks to avoid wearing out (H+).
The beauty of this methodology is that running quickly engages nearly all of the muscle fibers. Working out with long pauses between sets results in an ideal atmosphere for mitochondria growth, which leads to considerable enhancements of muscle efficiency in a short time span.
#3 Improve fat oxidation with short & easy fasted workouts
Abstaining from food (and sometimes even water) either completely or partially for a set amount of time is known as fasting. Usually, 10 hours and more. When not eating, the body turns to burning fat (entering ketosis) over glucose and stored glycogen, which is thought to have a positive effect on mitochondria activity.
Fast-paced workouts have been commonly used to enhance fat burning in athletes who do endurance sports – their capacity to use fat as energy. Athletes who are able to burn fat effectively are able to run for longer periods of time without lactate accumulation, thereby improving speed.
#4 Build running stamina with tempo training
Tempo is a ‘comfortably uncomfortable’ effort. It’s like you’re getting a workout, but you can stay at it for a while and even talk a bit while you’re at it. Produce a statement before taking a breath.
Athletes should have the ability to sustain an intense level of effort for a minimum of 3-4 hours. Though it may appear to be an effective way to exercise, many athletes tend to rely too heavily on this intensity. Working out every day with a moderate level of intensity is likely to lead to exhaustion of several kinds, physical or emotional, or to a point where further progress is halted. Despite this, proficient athletes who are tactically thoughtful of the intensity can still gain an aerobic advantage from tempo workouts. This exercise activates many more muscle cells, which leads to an increase in the number of mitochondria inside those cells, and has a beneficial effect on aerobic conditioning.
#5 Improve aerobic capacity with aerobic fartleks
Fartlek translates from Swedish as “speed play”. You will be going through a session of alternating harder and faster parts with softer and slower parts. Short bursts of speed are succeeded by a fixed time running at a comfortable speed in a fartlek. The pattern occurs again and again and as you complete the session, you will have devoted a substantial amount of time to hard work.
A fartlek should be used to maintain an increased cardiac rate, so you should not exert yourself beyond your maximum capability during a “fast” surge. This exercise tests your aerobic system and increases your aerobic abilities, as the pulse will remain high during the entire activity.
If running isn’t something you find comfortable or if your easy pace is not very fast, consider alternating between running and walking instead. Going on walks is helpful for increasing running stamina, and it is an excellent exercise to include in your routine.
#6 Don’t forget about explosive strength training for runners
Not every activity to improve strength and endurance has to be a running workout. We can use the same precepts when it comes to bodybuilding. You can often achieve increased stamina-building benefits in only 15 minutes of practice.
Athletes who specialize in running will gain the most advantage from explosive strength training – performing the exercise in such a way that the weight is moved as quickly as possible over the complete range of motion. A key point to focus on is generating explosive power – movements should be forceful, fast, and performed with ideal form. You need to use extra pressure to shift the load. This kind of exercise activates more muscle fibers, inciting the expansion of mitochondria within those muscles.
#7 Include plyometric exercises for runners
Plyometrics are quick, powerful movements repeated in quick succession. This is a different type of workout that can improve your stamina for running.
Research has uncovered that plyometric exercises can significantly help to improve running performance. Explosive exercises require the use of many muscle fibers and in a similar way to strength training, can cause an increase in the number of mitochondria in those fibers. The outcome of that is improved efficiency and, as a bonus, a longer stride leading to faster speed as well as a lower risk of injury through more resilient foot joints.
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