Just wanted to share this to maybe help get people motivated to do their core/stability training:
Coming out of my off-season I focused on building up running frequency and slow base miles for the last 3-4 weeks.
I usually do that before introducing intensity again, mostly because I'm a little scared of the pain when not fit.
What I did additionally though: At least 3x/week I did a 20~40 min core-session with planks and hip raises/extensions (lying on my back knees at an angle, then raising hips and holding, sometimes single leg,...).
Just yesterday I did a couple of 1k efforts at threshold pace and the difference was clearly noticeable.
I felt the extension in my hips, I felt tall and I felt like I was driving my stride with my glutes rather than my thighs.
And I was easily ~15 secs /k (so about 20 secs/mi?) faster than usually during the season (whilst definitely not being at race-weight).
Because I didn't do any speed-work or threshold work, I mostly attribute the improvement to better posture and mechanics due to the core-stuff.
Maybe that effect is more pronounced if you previously have a weakness in that regard (I guess most of us wo spend their days sitting at a desk do).
so there you go: That stuff is boring but it does work...
if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!
Coming out of my off-season I focused on building up running frequency and slow base miles for the last 3-4 weeks.
I usually do that before introducing intensity again, mostly because I'm a little scared of the pain when not fit.
What I did additionally though: At least 3x/week I did a 20~40 min core-session with planks and hip raises/extensions (lying on my back knees at an angle, then raising hips and holding, sometimes single leg,...).
Just yesterday I did a couple of 1k efforts at threshold pace and the difference was clearly noticeable.
I felt the extension in my hips, I felt tall and I felt like I was driving my stride with my glutes rather than my thighs.
And I was easily ~15 secs /k (so about 20 secs/mi?) faster than usually during the season (whilst definitely not being at race-weight).
Because I didn't do any speed-work or threshold work, I mostly attribute the improvement to better posture and mechanics due to the core-stuff.
Maybe that effect is more pronounced if you previously have a weakness in that regard (I guess most of us wo spend their days sitting at a desk do).
so there you go: That stuff is boring but it does work...
if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!