Strides

[Deleted User]

Been running for a little while, but have always been confused as to what "strides" are. Can anyone tell what they are, and what benifit i would get from putting them in my training?

Cheers
Dan

[Deleted User]

A stride is just a burst of fast running for maybe 30 seconds to a minute. It is meant to considerably pick up on your normal pace but be slower than a sprint, so that when you finish it you can return to your normal pace and recover on the run, rather than being exhausted.

It teaches you to run at more than one pace. If you throw a few into some mid-distance runs, you can find that your normal pace noticeably increases. They are a good intro to speed training, which carries all kinds of physiological benefits (well, improves your lactate tolerance and the body's oxygen carrying capacity).

[Deleted User]

Dan,

you will find most runners do their strides on a soft surface -grass or track- over a distance of 80/100 meters (so no more than 15 seconds. They are a neuro-muscular workout so they will not bring about any great physiological benefits. They are, as Skip described, what you could describe as a very comfortable sprint; as such they exercise fast twitch muscular fiber, and help you to improve your running form. Also, you will see a lot of runners doing strides before a race so as to raise their heartrate in preparation for the efforts to come. You should probably do between 5 and 10 of them, at the end of a session on an easy day, or 5 of them just before speedwork on the track, or a race.