The Skill of Running Slowly
When someone picks up a new sport like basketball for the first time, most folks spend a lot of time learning the basic skills--dribbling, passing, shooting--in controlled environments for much of their early experience in the sport.
With distance runners, most of us are lucky if someone shows us a few skips & drills in the first week of middle/high school track or cross country. If you’re really lucky, you get feedback when you’re running fast about how to get the most out of your stride. For the most part, most folks are more concerned with how far or how fast they are running, as opposed to HOW they are moving their body when they run.
Bringing your awareness and incorporating purposeful practice into your runs can help you get even more out of time that you’re already putting into training. It may be less sexy than maximizing your sprinting form, but building awareness and improving how you move at easy paces (1-2+ minutes per mile slower than your 5k pace) can make a world of difference when it comes to how much mileage you can handle, how you recover from quality workouts, and how much you are able to accomplish throughout your career in the sport.
If you’re in shape to run a 5:00 mile, running that pace likely takes a lot of concentration and making sure your body is moving as efficiently as possible, or your pace is likely to slip. If you’re at that same fitness level, running a couple of 8:00 miles is probably something you can do without even thinking too much about it, or moving particularly well. Start to overextend your stride? Stop engaging your core muscles? Let your hips sag back behind you? Chances are you can let things like this slide, and still be able to keep up a pace 3+ minutes slower than your mile race pace (an effort level that many of the world’s top runners utilize for their recovery runs).
So if you’re still able to run at a comfortable pace without being intentional about how you are running, what does it matter? While the stress on your body of running one mile at a comfy pace is relatively low compared to the demands of a faster mile, the accumulated stress of many easy miles is often one of the factors that can lead to overuse injuries. Keeping your body in a positive position when you are running easy can cut down on the wear and tear of those miles. By putting a focus on how you are running, rather than simply how fast you are running, you can have your miles build you up--increasing your fitness & improving your recovery--rather than breaking you down.
Running slowly & with intention does not mean you can’t enjoy the usual headspace, nature, music/podcast, or company of fellow runners you’d get on a run. Checking in for 30-60 seconds a few times during the course of your easy run can make sure you’re moving well at a comfy pace. Some simple cues to check in with include:
Cadence (light, quick strides)
Posture (standing tall; not leaning/slouching from the hips)
Relaxed upper body & arm carriage
Core muscles engaged
Glute muscles activated
Hip position (underneath your torso, not tilted back behind you)
Stride length (foot landing under your body; shorter strides are better than reaching out in front of you)
Some folks say they don’t feel as good running really easy, or that they are more sore from running slower. While there’s plenty of individual variation, many of these symptoms can be partly attributed to not being as well practiced at moving well when you’re running comfy. Like any skill, it will take time to master and feel natural. But the payoff for your training and recovery is worth giving shuffling a fair shot.