Are You Missing the Key Ingredients in Your Training?

When it comes to improving as a runner, the question isn’t if you can run — it’s how well you can run. Every athlete, from beginners to seasoned marathoners, benefits from a balanced approach that combines structured training, strength work, mobility exercises, and proper recovery. With a gradual and adaptable progression, supported by strength workouts, drills, yoga, stretching, and a balanced diet, we see athletes improving their performance every single day.

Everyone can run — but to run better, stronger, and faster, all the ingredients must come together. Neglecting even one of these essential components often leads to setbacks, plateaus, or injuries.

Learning the Hard Way

I’ll be the first to admit it — I don’t love strength training. It’s indoors, the scenery isn’t inspiring, and after a run, stretching is often the last thing I want to do. Like many runners, all I want after a tough session is a hot shower and some lunch!

But after battling a few injuries over the years, I’ve learned that inconsistency is far more damaging than a few minutes of discomfort. Maintaining balance in your training routine — including the parts you might not enjoy — is crucial not only for physical progress but also for mental resilience.

Just recently, I was running around the lake on a flat, stony path covered in autumn leaves when I twisted my ankle on a hidden rock. The pain was sharp — I was convinced my training was over for weeks. But two days later, my ankle had recovered enough for me to complete my 25k long run. That quick recovery didn’t happen by luck; it’s the result of months of strength training, stretching, and mobility work. My body is stronger and more resistant to injuries — and that’s the real result worth celebrating.

Balancing Training Intensity and Recovery

You don’t need to do strength workouts every day — in fact, less is more. One or two focused sessions per week is plenty to build strength and resilience. The same principle applies to running intensity: you shouldn’t be running hard every day.

A well-rounded training plan should include:

• Hard/Fast runs (e.g., hill reps or tempo sessions)

• Moderate/Long runs (for endurance development)

• Easy/Recovery runs (for active rest)

Many runners make the mistake of training at the same pace for every run — or pushing too hard on easy days and not hard enough on workout days. This leads to overtraining, plateaus, and fatigue, often followed by injury or burnout.

Effective training is consistent, specific, and progressive, with appropriate rest days and complementary strength and mobility work. Foam rolling, stretching, and active recovery are just as important as your mileage.

The Everyday Runner’s Trap

It’s easy to fall into the “same route, same pace” routine. After a long day at work, you lace up, head out for your usual 5 or 10k loop, push for a personal best, come home exhausted, shower, eat, and crash on the sofa. The next day, your body aches. You take a few days off, repeat the same pattern, and soon the tightness in your calves, hamstrings, or lower back becomes constant.

Ask yourself:

• Have you done dynamic stretching before your run?

• Did you run at the right intensity for today’s session?

• Have you stretched afterward?

• Are you building strength and mobility before increasing mileage or speed?

Missing even one of these ingredients can set you back.

Understanding Training Intensity — It’s Simpler Than You Think

A common misconception is that training intensities are complicated. In reality, you can gauge your effort easily:

• Hard – You can’t speak.

• Moderate – You can speak in short sentences.

• Easy – You can speak comfortably.

This simple scale helps you stay in the right training zones, ensuring variety and balance in your workouts.

The Value of Coaching

If you’re serious about improving your running, working with a coach can be transformative. At High Peak Running, we work with runners of all levels, each with the same simple goal — to get better.

We start with a conversation to understand your running history, lifestyle, and future goals. From there, we calculate training intensities based on real data from 5k or 10k tests, using heart rate and pace thresholds to tailor your plan. The result is a comprehensive, flexible, and progressive training program built specifically for you — guiding you toward your race or fitness objectives with confidence.

A coach removes the guesswork:

• How hard should you run today?

• When should you rest or recover?

• What type of intervals suit your season?

• How should you taper for your goal race?

With a coach, every session has purpose.

Building a Partnership for Success

Getting a coach is a significant step in your running journey, regardless of your experience or ambitions. A great coach-athlete relationship is a two-way partnership built on communication, trust, and shared goals.

Training plans must be adaptable and flexible to fit around life’s demands. As coaches, we trust our athletes to commit to their plans and integrate all the essential ingredients — rest, strength, and consistency — that allow progress to flourish.

The Takeaway

Running success isn’t about doing more — it’s about doing the right things consistently. Combine the right ingredients — structured training, strength, flexibility, recovery, and nutrition — and your potential is limitless.

We’ll be sharing deeper insights into each of these essential components in upcoming posts — so keep an eye on our blog.

If you’d like High Peak Running to help guide your training or answer any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s build your best running season yet.