Sunday Long Run: Active Recovery

Mar 17, 2024

Active recovery is the ultimate buzzword. You’ll be told to do it, but you usually end up on the couch all day or training too hard. Never in between—in that active “recovery” sweet spot.

Here I am talking about the need to switch out a planned workout with a backup, not a classic recovery/easy run scheduled during the week after a long/hard effort.

Ideally, you should rarely get to the point where your body is telling you to randomly schedule an active recovery day in place of a planned workout.

BUT, in the case of emergency, always have a backup plan when it comes to your workouts.

For example, I had a 2 hour 30 minute long road run planned today. Upon waking up, my recurring injury I’m currently battling decided to flare up. So I made an easy swap to to a 2.5 hour hike instead.

Note: GAP means “Grade Adjusted Pace”, basically an estimate of what your pace would be if you were moving on flat ground.

This was basically just a hike or “power hike” (see GAP time), still more of a walk than anything else though!

Same amount of time on feet…much different mileage from what I had planned with my scheduled road run.

My rules in these situations are simple

Be in nature.
Be in zone 1-2.
Always scale distance down first, while keeping time constant. Adjust time mid-workout if needed.

Your rules should be the same as 2-3, while keeping rule 1 optional per availability (not a necessity, just passes the *slow* time faster).

Rule 3 is really what allows you to still make advances in your training while vastly reducing the strain on your body. Your body knows time under tension, not mileage! It allows you to continue to grow you cardiovascular system while reducing impact on our legs/body.

Some examples:

If you can walk above ~115BPM, utilize this as active recovery, accrue more time in zone 1 (what “time on feet” really is).
- Again, hikes or walks through woods are ideal.
If you walk under this HR threshold, add in some elevation (as I did today) where you are actively climbing and descending. It doesn’t have to be 2,500ft of elevation gain, but even a small amount of up/down can do a lot for you.
Run slow, simple as. If you had 8 miles over 60 minutes scheduled…simply make it 7 miles over 60 minutes! Go down to 6.5 if you want. Don’t overthink the whole “scaling down” part. Even a small % decrease in impact (distance) can help your body a ton in the long term.
Find a bike, stationary or moving. Nothing beats riding the bike in terms of the risk adjusted returns it yields. Minimal impact on the legs, full control of low-moderate intensity of cardiovascular output!

Reminder 1: These cases should be rare. If they occur often, this is a red flag that your training plan is OFF. AKA, you’re doing more than your body can handle. This should set some alarms off and have you re-evaluate upcoming training and timeframes related to race day.

Reminder 2: If you need help adding “time on feet” throughout the week, these are great workout types to schedule as a 2-a-day, as it will have minimal-to-no impact on your running ability/output. Think outside the context of recovery here! If they help you when you’re down, why can’t they when you’re on the up?

Wrapping up, don’t freak out if you find yourself over trained and need to back off a workout or two for some active recovery. A one-off active recovery day “swap out” is not too much to take concern over.

Whatever the case, the goal is not create unneeded or added strain. Play the long game in building your running economy.

Dial back distance and effort, while keeping total time the same *when* your body asks for it!

Happy Sunday & St Patrick’s Day!

-BTR

Try some of my plans out!