Gotcha with the click bait headline. Sorry to disappoint but there is no magic. You gotta run to be a runner. You gotta run consistently to be a good runner. But in order to run consistently and have longevity in the sport, you must also avoid injury. Trust me, I have first hand experience. I hope these non-running tips will help you become a better runner!

Strength training and cross-training

Strength training and run-specific cross-training workouts are often overlooked by runners because runners love to run. One of the main reasons I started doing triathlons is because it forces me to do run-specific cross-training. I don’t particularly love swimming and biking but I force myself to do them because I know that, in the long run, low impact cross-training will help reduce my risk of injury while still helping me to develop cardiovascular fitness.

For the first 4 years of my running, I barely did any strength training. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. When I started cramming for my Ironman 70.3, I started strength and conditioning training with a personal trainer twice a week. I wouldn’t recommend this kind of cramming but doing it with a personal trainer made the training a lot more enjoyable and I learned a lot from her. Since I’ve been injured, I started using workout apps like Nike Training Club, Peloton, and Mirror for strength workouts. It’s not as intense as having a personal trainer but it’s good enough for now. What’s great is that you can see benefits by incorporating strength training just 20-30 minutes a week and being able to do this from home is super convenient.

Stretching, foam rolling, massage

Yes, yes, and yes! A common myth is that you must stretch before a workout. Research has shown that static stretching (the kind of stretching where you hold a static position) may actually be harmful before a workout. You should do dynamic stretching before a workout to warm up your muscles. Dynamic stretching simulates the movements that you will be doing during your exercise. For example, you may want to do some walking lunges before a run. Post workout, you can do some static stretching.

Foam rolling is basically the poor man’s massage. It’s a cheap and effective way to loosen the tension in your muscles after a hard workout. A regular visit to a registered massage therapist who specializes in runners is a great treat, especially if you have benefits from work.

Rest days

When you run, you are actually causing micro tears in your muscles. Rest days are when your muscles are allowed to repair and rebuild. I know some people who can do runstreaks but for us mere mortals, it’s good to have a rest day every 7-10 days. For those just starting out, it’s usually not a problem to fit in rest days. But once you start running 4, 5, 6 times a week to get more mileage in, it might be more difficult to schedule in rest days if you are also trying to strength train and cross-train. If you’re in that situation, you may need to do two workouts a day. Try to keep your hard days hard and your easy days easy. If running is your priority, you should strength train on the same day as your interval workouts. Run in the morning and strength train at least 6 hours later to give your body some time to recover. Then take the next day as a rest day.

Sleep

Sleep is another way your body repairs itself – it’s the easiest thing you can do for your body. In his book “Why We Sleep”, Matthew Walker gives lots of scientific evidence on why and how lack of sleep affects our brain, cognitive function, increases risk of injury and can even cause diseases. Adults need a minimum of 7-9 hours of sleep a day and athletes should sleep an extra hour for every hour of training to allow their body enough time to recover.

I suffer from chronic insomnia so I’m always trying to figure out how to sleep better. Having blackout blinds, keep the same sleep schedule, and don’t turn on your phone are some good tips. I also focus on my breathing. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I count each breath, up to 10, and then start again. I eventually lose count and drift off into dreamland.

Tapering

Tapering is when you reduce your training load 1-3 weeks leading up to your big race. The hard work has been done and you’re just letting your body recover for optimal performance on race day. The general rule of thumb is to keep the frequency of runs/workouts the same but reduce the volume by 30-40% each week so your legs will feel fresh on the big day. For many, this is the best part of the training plan. But for some runners, they have been so used to a high volume and tapering can make them restless. Resist the urge to run more than you should during the taper. Your body will thank you on race day!

Periodization

Another important concept that runners don’t often talk about is periodization. Periodized training refers to the practice of varying an athlete’s training volume and intensity over a period of time. This allows the body to gradually adapt to increases in workload, reduce the risk of injury, and achieve peak performance on race day. We typically start with a macrocycle that lasts months, depending on your goal race distance. For a 5 or 10k, the macrocycle could be 2-4 months. For a half or full, it could be 4-6 months or longer, depending on your current fitness and your goal. The mesocycle are 3-4 week periods within the macrocycle where you will be increasing training volume followed by 1 week of a down week to allow your body to recover and get ready for the next mesocycle block. The microcycle are cycles of 7-10 days within the mesocycle where, as I mentioned in the rest day section, there should be at least 1 rest day for your body to recover. At the end of the macrocycle after a goal race, it’s important to take some time completely off. A rule of thumb is to take a day off for every mile raced. So for a full marathon, a runner should take almost a month off running before starting base training again. If I followed this advice after my Ironman 70.3, I may not have gotten injured 1.5 weeks after the race doing a hills workout. 🙃🙃🙃

So there you have it. Here are some of the things that you can do to improve your running that are not running. Of course, you have to run to be a runner but these other things are also great to incorporate into your training. Start with one thing at a time and gradually add them to your training. Don’t worry if you aren’t doing everything because, let’s face it, most of us aren’t going to the Olympics. Most important is to enjoy what you are doing and have fun!