Running is hard. If you're targeting a goal—whether it's entering your first race or qualifying for Boston—you spend a lot of time pushing your limits. So when it comes time to run easy, you happily succumb to your inner plodder, right? Nope. "Not running slow enough on easy days is probably the number-one error runners make," says Greg McMillan, M.S., an exercise physiologist and running coach in Flagstaff, Arizona.

開宗明義就說了，跑步是困難的，假使你為自己立了一個目標--不論是要準備第一場賽事或是要爭取波士頓馬拉松資格。

跑得不夠慢恐怕是跑者最容易犯的錯誤排行榜第一名。

Consciously or not, many runners push too hard on easy runs and miss out on their varied benefits—like time to heal, for one. Demanding workouts like speedwork and long runs put a great deal of stress on muscles, and "any time there's a stress, you have to allow some recovery time for those tissues to rebuild," McMillan says. Time spent going easy also builds your fitness base and staves off burnout. "Easy runs allow you to focus on enjoying the run and your surroundings," says Michael Sachs, Ph.D., a sports psychologist at Temple University.

很多跑者有意識或無意識地在那些輕鬆跑的日子裡依然把自己逼得太緊而忽略了輕鬆跑帶來的好處(例如:身體需要癒療的時間)。長距離或是速度練習這類吃力的菜單對肌肉產生許多壓迫。運動心理學家McMillan 說:每次累積的壓迫(壓力)，跑者必須允許自己有足夠的恢復期讓組織達到重建。這些輕鬆的日子裡同時為你的健身運動打底同時避免耗盡。輕鬆跑讓跑者足以專注在享受跑步及跑步的環境中。

Follow these simple rules to properly chill out before your next big workout.在你下次的強度訓練前，以下三個簡單準則可以協助你做到適當的輕鬆跑


RULE #1: RUN SLOW OFTEN 

規則一:經常跑慢
IT'S EASY: Seventy percent of your weekly mileage should be easy miles. Depending on your age and fitness level, your muscles need 30 to 60 hours to recover from a hard effort, says McMillan. (Long, slow runs lasting 1.5 to 2.5 times longer than your average weekday run count as hard efforts due to their duration.) Running super slow and relaxed for one to three days after tough workouts gets blood flowing to muscles, which flushes away broken-down proteins, delivers new proteins to rebuild damaged tissue, and carries carbohydrates to replenish depleted stores in muscle cells. "That gentle exercise bathes muscles in the good stuff they need and removes all the bad stuff caused by the prior training," McMillan says. "And running as part of your recovery makes your body say, 'Oh, I'm still getting this stress—I better build this tissue even stronger.'"

70%的週訓練里程數應該要是輕鬆的里程。M説:依照個人年齡及體適能等級，在完成一個強度訓練後，肌肉需要30-60小時的修復時間。(LSD 比你周間練習平均長1.5-2.5倍的話，這屬於強度訓練，因為依據訓練時間(長度)來看，這算長了。)  

在完成一個難度的訓練後，1-3天放鬆又超慢的跑步可讓血液分佈到肌肉，如此可以沖刷分解的蛋白質[不太確定這是幹麻的]，產生新的蛋白質以重建被破壞的組織(tissue)。產生的醣可以修補肌肉細胞中的廢棄沉積物 。M又說:溫和的運動讓好物持續存在肌肉中並移除所有前次訓練所造成的壞物。將跑步視為恢復的一部分如同你的身體說著:喔~這些壓力還在持續，我最好趕緊把組織變得更強壯。

RULE #3: STICK WITH IT

規則三:堅持下去這樣的輕鬆跑
IT'S EASY: For those who get bored or frustrated with lumbering along, you might wonder why you can't just skip easy runs and do something else—like rest or cross-train. It's simple, really. "The more you run, the better you'll be," says McMillan. "That's why most runners run as much as they can." Easy runs build your fitness base. They condition your musculoskeletal system to adapt to stress, which allows your body to handle greater mileage, and they help your cardiovascular and respiratory systems become more efficient. "You grow more of the capillary beds that deliver oxygen," says McMillan, "and stimulate more of the mitochondria that produce energy within muscle cells." So if you're serious about improving as a runner, run consistently—unless you're injury-prone, says Mike Hamberger, M.A., a coach in Washington, D.C. For the often injured, he says, "recovery jogs can become stressful workouts, not because they're doing the wrong pace, but because every time they run they're causing excessive stress on the body." Such runners should mimic running on easy days, through aqua-jogging or running-specific strength training.

對那些容易因為跑慢而感到無聊或是挫折的人，你或許會質疑為某不就跳過輕鬆跑用其他事情來替代--例如:休息或是交叉訓練。這道理很簡單:跑多了，自然就跑得更好了。這也是為什麼大部分的跑者竭盡所能的增加跑量。 輕鬆跑可以深根體適能基礎，讓你的肌肉骨骼足以適應壓力。如此你的身體將可以承受更長的里程數並且提高心肺系統的運作效率，還可增加毛細血管床的血液含氧量; 刺激線粒體製造肌肉細胞的能量。

來自華盛頓的Mike教練說到:總之，如果你有心想要讓你的跑步更上一層樓，持續的跑步，就是這樣做就對了[除非你本身容易受傷]。對那些經常受傷的人來說，恢復跑也可能是一種造成過度壓力的訓練，這壓力並非來自錯誤的配速，那純粹是因為每次的跑步都會對身體產生過度的壓力。這類型的跑者應該要在輕鬆跑的日子裡改做水中慢跑或是針對跑步量身的重訓。

RUN better: You're going slow enough if you're breathing at a 3:3 ratio—running three steps while breathing in, running three steps while breathing out.



Not So Fast!
Resist the urge to speed up your easy runs with these tips from sports psychologist Michael Sachs, Ph.D.

THE EXCUSE: Running slow is so boring!
THE SOLUTION: Engage your brain. Listen to music, a podcast or audio book, or make a point of noticing new details along old routes.

THE EXCUSE: Someone might see me puttering along!
THE SOLUTION: Get over it. "You're running for yourself, not for other people," Sachs says. If you still can't bear it, change your route.

THE EXCUSE: Must. Pass. Them.
THE SOLUTION: Overcome your competitive drive by hitting the treadmill. Or focus on running your own pace no matter what—good practice for race day.


21% OF RESPONDENTS REPORT THEY HAVE NO PROBLEM GOING SLOW ENOUGH ON EASY-RUN DAYS, ACCORDING TO AN RW POLL.