Gary Howells Run Coaching’s 10 best running rules.

Tip #1 - BE CONSISTENT

Find a training plan that you can stick to long-term. If you can run four days a week, every week, you are going to get 90 percent of the benefits of training seven days a week.

Tip #2 - TAKE RECOVERY DAYS SERIOUSLY

The day after a tough workout, the most you want to do is jog lightly or do some form of low Hr session. You need a recovery day after a hard day. No exceptions.

Tip #3 - INCREASE MILEAGE GRADUALLY

Do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 percent every month. No matter how good you feel, be very gradual. You won’t know until it’s too late that you’re overdoing it.

Tip #4 - STAY ON THE TRAIL

Pavement damages joints, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. The more you can run on grass, wood chips, or dirt, the better of you are. Hit those trails.

Tip #5 - RUN FASTER

It’s hard to race faster than you train. However fast you want to run a race, you’ve got to do some shorter intervals / what we call speed work / at least that fast.

Tip #6 - STRENGTHEN YOUR WHOLE BODY

Good runners condition their whole bodies. The arms drive the legs. Keep your upper body and core toned with a lot of Strength & Conditioning (don’t forget that the back is part of the core / trunk). Stay away from machine weights and stick to Pilates, climbing, and dynamic flexibility work like yoga.

Tip #7 - WEAR THE RIGHT SHOES

The second-most-common cause of injuries, next to running too much on hard surfaces, is foot pronation and shoe instability. The more you run, the more support your foot needs. Get a regular gait analysis.

Tip #8 - PERFECT YOUR FORM

Every motion your body makes should propel you directly forward. If your arms are crossing or you are over striding, you’re losing force. Your posture should be straight, and your striding foot should land directly underneath you.

Tip #9 - TACKLE DOUBT HEAD-ON

At some point you’re going to push yourself harder, you’re going to enter into a grey area that can be painful, and you’re going to doubt yourself. Push through it. Never think you are mentally weak.

Tip #10 - EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY

If you don’t have enough knowledge behind what you’re doing, you’re not going to run well or you’re going to injure yourself. Get tested and work with accurate data you now can be coached individually, even while you run. Use your coach to the best of there ability by capturing the data. 

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