Trail Mix Part 2

While I shy away from the techno/rap/fast beat stuff my kids like to run to, I noticed some of my friends shared songs that I could snooze to on the trail. That’s ok. (they were being cute… I think.)

A growing body of research on exercise in general and running in particular suggests that “mixing it up” with different tempos while in training is in our body’s best interest and ultimately decreases race times (or increases speed) when it matters. Of course, the professional athlete’s approach is to designate specific runs for the change in tempo, i.e. a “speed run”, a “fartlek (or hill) run, an easy run, etc.

I, on the other hand, contend that when you are naturally as slow as I am, the variety in

every run is the spice of a great run. So, in the Trail Mix there are a wide variety of tempos and melodies. I shuffle the playlist and try to match (in moving my body forward) whatever comes up. This means that for three minutes, I am chugging those spindly legs as fast as I can pedal, and the next three minutes may be dancing to a waltz or pounding to a march or walking to love song, or jogging and singing to an old fav. It’s all good!

The one rule of running that cannot be compromised in training is you cannot substitute speed for distance. You can cheat speed, but you cannot cheat distance. An example of how you can cheat speed is the Trolley Run, a four mile race that follows the trolley trail from 75^th Street and Wornall in Kansas City all the way to the Plaza. It’s all downhill! My BEST racing times for 4 miles are all on that route! BUT, if you do not put in 20-30 miles a week for six-eight weeks prior to running a half marathon, you will either not finish, or you will walk across the finish line.

So, I love the mix while putting in the time and distance. I am enjoying the tunes!