COACHING RUNNERS 
Strides are a simple component of training that runners can use to improve their running mechanics, coordination, and speed, while not adding a high level of stress and fatigue. Knowing the goal of a stride and how to do them correctly can make these a great part of your weekly training plan. If strides have been consistent in your training block, they can also be useful the day before a race because they can help your body feel ready to run fast! In this blog, we’ll break down what strides are, when you can do them, and why they can be helpful the day before your race.
What are strides?
If you are currently an athlete of ours, or have been in the past, there’s a high chance that you had strides on your training plan at some point or another. Maybe they are even in your training on a weekly basis. There’s a reason for that, but strides can often get a grumble from the crowd because at first thought, they are sometimes seen as sprints… but we want to debunk that thought of yours! Strides are not sprints! Strides are only about 15-30 seconds of a short, controlled acceleration to a fast but relaxed pace. After holding that speed briefly, there’s a gradual slow down then followed with a recovery.
Strides should feel smooth and strong, but they are not an all-out 100m sprint. You are not going from zero to one hundred as quickly as possible. Good posture, relaxed shoulders, and an efficient arm swing and stride are more important than the pace or time on the watch for these. We recommend not even looking at your watch during a stride but rather checking in with your body. You will likely be coming into your strides from an easy run or warmup so you will gradually accelerate to about mile effort (or an effort that feels controlled), hold that pace briefly, then slow down into your recovery walk or jog. Most runners will only have about 3-6 reps of strides in a given run workout and these can be done at the end of an easy run, in the middle, or sometimes after the warmup before a speed interval takes place.
Why are strides helpful?
We’ll break it down into three main reasons why we know strides are helpful and beneficial to your training!
1. They help improve your running mechanics: Strides are all about practicing and reinforcing proper running form. Because you are not spending a long time running at a hard effort, you have the opportunity to practice improving your coordination, stride length, posture and cadence. These all work together to help you not only run stronger, but also run more efficiently.
2. The Help Build Speed… Without Too Much Fatigue: Strides are not a very tough workout. They may feel like effort compared to an easy run, but if strides are making you exhausted after them, you’re likely running them too hard. They boost faster running in your week without being an intense speed session. For example, if you have strides at the end of one or two easy runs in your week + a speed session + maybe some work in your long run, strides give you some faster running in there without accumulating too much fatigue. Knowing strides are only about 15-30 seconds each, that is only about 1-3 minutes of faster running. At the end of an easy run, strides can often even leave you feeling refreshed with lighter-feeling legs. In the middle of an easy run, strides can help mentally simulate those moments in a race where even a slight uptick in turnover can change the physical and mental pace of your race.
3. Running Faster Feels Familiar: Training is the perfect time to get comfortable running faster paces. You’ll have different paces or efforts in speed work, but strides are a low-stakes, highly beneficial exercise to just get exposure to fast turnover. When this becomes more familiar without much stress, those faster times in a race or tough workout won’t seem so far away. Your body will remember the fast turnover and move faster with all of those added benefits of better running mechanics.
Why Do Strides the Day Before a Race?
In training, strides can be helpful paired with an easy run the day before a speed workout to keep you feeling fresh. It’s the same concept for the day before a race, but now the work is done and there is no added fitness to be gained in one day. The goal is to step on that start line ready to run feeling fresh and rested. Depending on the race distance, the preceding days or 1-2 weeks leading up to the race are called the taper and it is common to feel a little sluggish. The “taper crazies” may hit. After a bit more easy days leading up to race day, a few relaxed and controlled strides can help remind you what the faster effort feels like (remember: strides are not about a certain pace). If strides have been a consistent part of your training block, we highly recommend adding about 3-4 strides at the end of your easy run shakeout the day before your race. Even just adding a few strides the day before your race can help you feel confident. A great stride the day before race day should leave you feeling like you could have gone faster. Save some for race day, but do not panic if your shakeout or strides don’t feel perfect. They are not going to directly show how race day is going to go. Once your shakeout is done, focus on carb-loading, hydrating, preparing your race gear while also giving yourself plenty of time to relax before race morning.
Strides may look like a small portion of your weekly mileage but they can serve a big benefit to your overall growth as a runner. The day before a race, these are not a workout, but more of an opportunity to wake up the legs and feel ready to go the next morning. If strides haven’t been in your training mix recently (or ever!), we encourage you to try them out in your next training block!
