For a number of years, the late Noel Carroll contributed regular and popular Training Tips to Irish Runner Magazine.
Noel’s Running Wisdom Columns are as relevant today as they were back in the 1990s- and are well worth sharing.
Steady Running by Noel Carroll
What is steady running? We often read in a runner’s diary or see in a training schedule- 4 miles steady running or something similar.
Steady running clearly plays an important role in all serious runners’ training routines. But what does it mean?
Does steady running mean simply running at the same pace throughout the training workout or race? Or does it mean a strong, demanding pace for the full distance? The answer is that it should mean both.
For steady running to be useful, it must not only be even-paced, but strong, even-paced.
You must up the tempo slightly, but up it you must if you are to benefit from the steady run. This is where a lot of runners fall by the wayside. They simply do not tighten the screw beyond the point of comfort,
Deep down they evade the discomfort of extra effort, Neither do they want the strain of greater concentration or the commitment to a more demanding pace..
But this is what steady running is all about- a demanding pace. How long and how well you hold such a pace determines your progress.
Steady running is the rock on which all successful distance running is built. It is testing, however, and it does demand application and discipline. It also requires you to make a decision.
So think steady and hold it. Keep a grip on the pace. If you go out too bravely, you will blow it. If you go out too timidly you shirk it. But if you go out at a firm, solid, steady pace, you will have to endure, but you can and you will, last the pace.
Steady running has everything to recommend it- but don’t do it, do it right.
