The beautiful thing about running is its simplicity and the fact there are always little things – technique, economy, strength, pace etc – to work on to get better. Even if you’re pushing 70, you can still improve. It’s a lifelong journey. We’ve been talking to top runners and coaches for many years, and have learned a lot in the process. There are so many aspects to improving running performance. Some of it is mental, some physical, and some commonsense. For new and experienced runners alike, we’ve selected 12 ‘best of’ articles based on the conversations we’ve had with athletes and coaches. With so many of us confined to our homes, now is a good time to kick back and learn about the finer points of running. The fresh insights you gain will prepare you for an awesome running season once restrictions have been lifted.   Photo by Brian Erickson on Unsplash How to adapt your training when the unexpected strikes This is timely for many of us who are confined at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Races scheduled in spring and summer have been cancelled, and the entire race calendar is uncertain. We talked to pro running coach Michael Arend about how to respond to this situation. Click here to see his tips. 7 principles to help you find the flow We all want to experience the famous runner’s high; that blissful flow state when time flies by, and everything feels easy. But they can be elusive. Mental Coach Markus Arjava shared 7 principles to follow to increase the likelihood you find the flow. Read the article here.   Photo by Gregory Pappas on Unsplash  Learn how sleep can make you a better runner Runners, especially distance runners, often expect a lot from themselves. We can get focused on our running volume, time on our feet, and all the other stats. They’re important, but can obscure the big picture; performance is a consequence of many things, including having quality time with your friends and family, diet, and of course getting plenty of sleep. Sleep doctor Henri Tuomilehto shared 6 tips to make sure you are getting good shut eye. Read more here. Tracking cadence, heart rate and pace while running Having the ability to track yourself while out on a run helps to improve performance. We talk to a coach about how to do this well to ensure you are training and racing intelligently. Get the lowdown here.   Photo by kike vega on Unsplash Emelie Forsberg’s top 7 yoga poses for runners To benefit from yoga asanas (postures) you don’t need to start believing in eastern spirituality. Physical yoga, practiced regularly, is just a great way to maintain and improve your mobility, muscle tone, fascial health and breathing. Emelie Forsberg is a trained yoga teacher and practices yoga daily. In this article, she demonstrates her 7 favorite yoga poses. 8 essential running form drills Doing these 8 drills regularly will help to improve your running technique and economy. Sloppy technique leads to a loss of momentum and energy, making running more arduous. We talk to an XTERRA world champion and science driven endurance coach about how with a little effort you can tighten up your running form. Read it here.   © Graeme Murray / Red Bull Content Pool 7 tips for running in hot weather Ryan Sandes has run ultras in deserts across the planet. In this article, he explains how to lower your core temperature when you’re out running on intense summer days.   Four myths about ultra running you need to know There are a lot of assumptions about what it takes to run an ultra marathon. These often mistaken assumptions can discourage us from taking on what can be an incredibly transformative challenge. Ultra marathon coach Jason Koop sets us straight about the four common myths surrounding this sport, and why to give one a go.   © Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool Fuelling the engine: 6 principles of nutrition for athletes We spoke to six athletes and two coaches for our “fuelling the engine” series, and heard a variety of perspectives on eating well. We reviewed all the articles and found six principles they all agreed on. Read on to make sure you’re fuelling the engine well. How to bring mindfulness to the trail Mindfulness is being in the here and now. It’s nothing special, just present moment awareness, which in our attention economy can seem weirdly exotic. Mindfulness helps runners to develop a mind-body connection, says South African trail runner and coach Meg MacKenzie. It helps us tune in to what’s going on moment by moment, day by day. Read about Meg’s approach here. 7 tips to go the (ultra) distance Who better to talk to about running an ultra marathon than Ryan Sandes, who recently ran the Great Himalayan Trail for goodness sake? His tips can equally be applied to training for a 30 km race as an ultra. Intro to distance running technique In this article, our science driven coach gets more specific than in the article above, and talks proper running form for distance. Working on these aspects of your running technique once or twice a week can pay dividends over time.   Lead images: © Wayne Reiche / Red Bull Content Pool © Kevin Sawyer / Red Bull Content Pool © Graeme Murray / Red Bull Content Pool  

Endurance athletes aren’t built for the indoors. Heading out, exploring new trails, hills, and rides, while pushing our limits, is what makes us tick. Training indoors does, however, allow us to work on some of the finer points of our game, things we can’t address out on rides, runs or in the pool. This time of pandemic, when we are being asked to stay at home, gives us an opportunity to tune up our bodies in ways we usually don’t make time for in ordinary times. If we train smart at home, then when the restrictions life we will be 100% ready to dive into our outdoor training. To give all you distance runners and triathletes confined indoors at the moment some inspiration, we talked to ultra runner Lucy Bartholomew, and triathletes Cody Beals and Mel Hauschildt about what they’re working on at home. They all had one thing in common: CORE WORK! Face your core There are no more excuses. “The time to lay that foundation and build a strong trunk has been forced on you!” Lucy says. “I love to do 15 to 30 minutes of core exercises, yoga and stretching and just more mat work and functional stuff. It doesn’t give you the sweat of a good run, but will certainly make that next run feel even more amazing.” Press play on the video above and join Lucy in one of her favorite core workouts! Hit spin mode If you have a training bike at home, put it on easy spin and pedal an hour or two away while watching your favourite Netflix series. “One of the sessions I do most often at home is an easy spin on the trainer while getting other work done,” Cody says. “I have my laptop in front of me and pass the time reading, researching, writing and emailing. I get some of my most focused work and creative thinking done on the trainer and the time flies!” TRX and flex Mel Hauschildt has a dedicated training room because working out there helps her to avoid distractions. She has a newborn baby, Dakota, who lies beside her while she, Mel, trains on her Kickr. “TRX cords are also very useful in working on endurance while stuck indoors,” Mel says. For inspiration, watch the video above, which shows how runners can use a TRX band. Build power Being confined indoors is no reason to stop training endurance fitness. Even if you don’t have a training bike or treadmill, there’s plenty you can do to build explosive power and maintain cardiovascular fitness. “You can do things like skipping outside, driveway sprints, jumping up stairs or DIY box jumps,” Lucy says. “Endurance is built for maintaining something for a longer duration of time so anything you do like star jumps, squats, burpees all build your cardio!” Need a challenge? Then press play above and join this skip rope endurance workout! Read more articles 7 recover tips for immune fitness How to adapt your training when the unexpected strikes 7 indoor training exercises to stay in shape

Training at home regularly is worth its weight in gold. It’s a good habit to build, and doesn’t need to take a lot of time or space. There are many things you can focus on at home, from plyometric training for explosiveness, strength training for stability and stamina, and also mobility training to maintain the range of motion in your joints. There is a huge potential for improvement! © Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool Suunto #indoorchallenge! Given many of us are confined indoors due to the coronavirus crisis we decided to share indoor training inspiration. We invited some of our athletes to participate in our indoor training challenge. Each one will share a short work out and then tag the next athlete to share his or her’s. Your job is to do them! To protect society’s most vulnerable people from the coronavirus, the best thing we can all do to #flattenthecurve is accept social distancing measures and to stay at home if instructed by authorities. Keep in mind this situation won’t last forever. The first video is from ultra runner Ryan Sandes who is currently in lock down in Cape Town, South Africa. Sandes says he focuses on mobility work and strength training at home. “Being stuck at home is a good opportunity to do lots of mobility and strength training to make yourself a better runner and to give you better longevity,” he says. Click play to follow Ryan's indoor workout! Improve your mobility Mobility training involves exercises that improve the range of motion in your joints. Many runners, for example, work on hip and spine mobility because of the repetitive nature of running and how this can, over time, reduce mobility in these areas. “For every one hour of running you do you should do at least 15 minutes of mobility work,” Ryan says. “Training at home is a great opportunity to develop good movement.” Blast your core Mountain athlete and Suunto ambassador Emelie Forsberg and her partner Kilian Jornet take turns training outdoors and staying at home to look after their baby daughter. She does one indoor training session everyday and usually focuses on core strength. “I like to do a short 10 to 15 minute core workouts,” she says. “I write down the exercises, put on my watch and go! No rest in between the exercises, I just go for the whole 10 to 15 exercises. If I feel really motivated I’ll do it twice.” Do stair hops To give his quadriceps a work out while he’s at home, Ryan Sandes does reps of hopping up and down stairs. “Be creative, and think outside the box,” he says. “Remember, anything is better than nothing.” Let loose and dance! Studies have shown that dancing regularly has numerous health benefits, including warding off degenerative brain diseases. Training doesn’t always need to be structured and serious; instead follow Emelie’s example, and build in some boogie while you’re stuck at home. “Put on your favourite music and go for it!” she says. “Or do aerobics, Zumba, jumps, lunges, burpees – whatever gets you going!” Watch sports and move Mountain athlete and Suunto ambassador Kilian Jornet does one indoor workout at home every day. “I believe one the best things to do is to watch sport shows, live or repetitions, or films about sport,” he says. “This way we get inspired and we can relate our training to what we are watching.” Run in your garden Running lengths or around in circles in your garden, if you have one, doesn’t sound like too much fun, but according to Sandes it has two benefits. Firstly, it’s good mental training; boredom is an inevitable part of long distance running, and staying present and motivated requires mental focus. Practicing at home in this way can develop this. Secondly, it’s an opportunity to work on your running technique. If you have a backyard, work on the key aspects of good running economy. Skip to endurance To maintain your base cardio fitness, Kilian Jornet suggests skipping. Do three minutes skipping, rest for a minute, and then skip for another three minutes. Do at least six three minute intervals. You’ll need a towel! Lead image: © Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool Read more articles 7 recovery tips for immune fitness Emelie Forsberg's top 7 yoga poses 8 essential running form drills

After months of dedicated training and being focused on your goal, it’s difficult to accept and adapt when the unexpected occurs and turns everything upside down. That’s the position many of us find ourselves in right now, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing massive disruptions to our normal way of life. Races are being cancelled, governments are asking us to follow social distancing measures, and even stay at home as much as possible. There are also many other situations that can throw our training plans into turmoil; a family emergency, a natural disaster like a flood or hurricane, or an injury. Smart athletes know how to pivot and change things up when necessary.   Michael Arend coaches ultra and marathon runners, as well as triathletes and ski mountaineers.   Professional running coach Michael Arend says in the face of the unexpected, when your plans are torn asunder, it’s important to step back and ask yourself what will keep you motivated moving forward. “If you love your sport, you will find a new goal to keep you going,” he says.   We talked to Michael, a former officer in the German Mountain Army, semi pro runner and host of Germany’s most popular running podcast, Fat Boys Run, and asked how to adapt when our plans get dashed. He gave us 8 tips on how to keep improving.   Keep going for it if ... This comes with an important caveat; even if your goal has disappeared, you should continue peak training if your training data shows you are still making progress. If your average heart rate is decreasing over time on your long runs, or your pace is improving while your average heart rate remains the same, then this shows you are continuing to improve. When this progress stops or reverses, then it’s time to reduce your effort and allow more time for regeneration.   Box jumps build explosive power. Photo by Meghan Holmes on Unsplash Use your peak What goes up must come down … and this is true for peak fitness so Michael advises not to try and hold on to it. “Use your peak right now,” he says. “If your plan was to run a 10k race, but it was canceled, then run a Strava segment, or try for a treadmill personal best. Use your peak and say goodbye. Then look ahead and be positive, you will gain it again if you work hard.” If you try to stay at your peak you will end up overtraining and exhaust yourself. Use it and lose it.   Find a new goal Many of the athletes Michael works with from his office in the south of Munich need a goal to stay motivated. Others are happy to just keep improving. If you’re the former type, then find yourself a new goal. Given the current global disruption, you might need to be creative. For example, Michael says a top German runner decided to run a 50k on his treadmill and ended up breaking the world record. “Choose a goal, even if you don't know whether it will happen,” Michael says. “The main thing is it keeps you going.”     Have a Plan B One of Michael’s clients is a top trail runner. Her goal is to perform well at a race that could be cancelled. If that’s the case, her Plan B is to attempt an FKT (fastest known time) on a trail that is a similar distance, terrain and elevation gain as the race. “Have one goal for motivation, and one goal that will take place 100%,” Michael says. “Try to make the Plan B goal mirror the A goal.”   Photo by Chanan Greenblatt on Unsplash Focus on your base, but only when ... If your race has been cancelled and there isn’t another one coming soon, Michael recommends focusing on capacity training. He works with two training phases in his coaching; capacity and utility. The former is about building endurance, cardiovascular fitness, V02 Max and maximizing mitochondria to gain more energy. Utility training is specialised according to the sport and the goal. “For example, runners who want to run a marathon a month or two away need to run a lot of mileage at a special pace, and try to reduce the fatigue at this pace,” Michael says. “This is an example of a specialisation.” Right now if you don’t have a race, go back and concentrate on capacity training and you will continue to improve overall, and then you will be very well placed to specialise at a later date.” However, a block of capacity training is at least eight weeks long, and better if it’s 12 or 16 weeks, Michael cautions. The body needs this amount of time to respond and adapt to training. If you only have four weeks, then capacity training doesn’t make sense.   Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash Build power and strength If you don’t have at least eight weeks for a block of capacity training, then Michael advises to focus on power and strength training. “If you want to step back just for four weeks, it’s better to do some plyometric, core and strength training,” he says. “If the strength training is very hard, say four by four reps with heavy weights for example, then you will see improvements after three to five sessions. Plyometric training can include box jumps and skip rope to improve your explosiveness.”   Work on your weaknesses “Most of the people I work with never usually train their weaknesses because there is always a race around the corner,” Michael says. “But right now they have the time. Distance runners, for example, usually don’t do their speed work. Now is a good time to do interval training.” Another common weakness Michael sees is a lack of explosive power. “Especially in those who don’t have an athletic background,” he says. “They lack efficiency and ‘pop’ in their spring. This is because their tendons and muscles lack the stiffness to fire, to store power and then explode with it. They don’t train that.”   Chill with your family If you usually spend 10 to 15 hours a week training, that’s time you aren’t with your family. While training is awesome for you, it can be hard on them. “Right now is a good time to spend time with your family and recharge your batteries,” Michael says. “Take care of your body and mind. Your training doesn’t have to fall apart because you reduce. It’s also a good time to take care of any injuries or niggles you might have had. Relax!”   Lead images: © Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash   Read more articles 7 indoor training exercises to stay in shape Fulleing the engine: 6 principles of nutrition for athletes 7 recovery tips for immune fitness 7 principles to help you find the flow

Spend more time taking it all in and savouring life. Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash Recovery and training are like yin and yang. If you’re laying around too much, you won’t be making the necessary gains to reach your goals. If you’re training too much, you won’t give your body the downtime it needs to recover and adapt. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. It’s not uncommon for athletes to lean more towards the overtraining end of the spectrum, and one of the risks of overtraining is a weakened immune system. Signs of overtraining include, for example, feeling tired or heavy all the time, feeling irritable, or having regular illnesses. This is why our mantra should be, “recovery is as important as training”. These seven tips and articles will help you stay in balance and care for your immune system.   Avoid tunnel vision It’s important, and sometimes challenging, with training not to get so focused on our goals that we develop tunnel vision; so locked into our training schedule that we lose sight of the big picture, and all the little cues we might need to rest. It’s important to step back once and while, consult your loved ones or people you trust, and consider how you’re doing and what your body and mind need. Suunto athlete Ryan Sandes knows all about this. He battled a long period of illness and eventually returned to top form after allowing himself to rest and recover fully. We talked to him about the experience and he shared tell tale signs when you need to back off.   7 signs you're pushing too hard Get more sleep Working full time, it’s all too easy to burn the candle at both ends; early mornings, long working days, and late nights. It’s not uncommon to have a string of nights where we sleep for only six or seven hours. And on top of that we expect ourselves to train. It’s a lot! Sleep doctor Henri Tuomilehto told us when we don’t get enough sleep our health will gradually deteriorate. He recommends trying to sleep an extra 30 to 60 minutes a night. “When times are tough you have to respect rest and recovery,” he says. “That is the only way you can stay balanced. Sleeping well is essential for this.” Learn how sleep can make you a better runner  Breathe well Science has shown how breathing well has many health benefits. And crucially, one of those benefits is it helps to reduce stress. Chronic stress takes a terrible toll on the immune system. Over time it weakens it, making us more susceptible to illness. Mike Maric, a former pro freediver, teaches athletes how to breathe better. He says many people have no idea about their own breathing patterns and often breath from the chest, rather than more deeply. “We need to breathe not with the chest, but with the diaphragm,” he explains. “But you need to practice regularly – the basics, about eight minutes each day.” Is the ultimate cross-training breathing? Practice yoga   © Matti Bernitz / Suunto   A gentle yoga practice stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system – the rest and digest side of the nervous system – reducing the volume of stress hormones that weaken the immune system. It also feels amazing physically! Suunto ambassador Emelie Forsberg practices yoga every morning because it helps her tune into her body. “It allows me to tune into how the muscles are feeling, where the tender spots are, what needs attention,” she says. “It gives me the sensitivity to be able to listen to the body.” Emelie Forsberg’s top 7 yoga poses for runners Eat well   © Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool   Our food choices are indicative of how we’re doing as individuals. When we feel stressed and hectic, it’s often the case that we make poor food choices. Eating nutritious food is essential for good health and a strong immune system. And once in a while it’s great to really examine how you are eating, and put a lot of love and time into preparing amazing meals. We talked to our ambassador and athletes about how they eat, and found six principles they all share, despite having different approaches to food. “As an athlete it’s very easy to slip into taking lots of recovery shakes to try to get the goodness back into your body,” ultra runner Ryan Sandes says. “But I don’t think you can replace eating good whole foods.”   Fuelling the engine: six principles of nutrition for athletes   Walk regularly Like with breathing and yoga, science has shown the many health benefits walking regularly gives us, including boosting immune function. Taking a leisurely stroll through a park is incredibly relaxing for body and mind. Relaxation is key for immune system health. To build the walking habit, decide on a distance or amount of time that you can easily walk each day, and over time gradually increase it. How to walk your way to good health Find your ‘being mode’ One of the reasons for a weakened immune system is we are constantly in what the mindfulness tradition calls “doing mode”; trying to achieve, get things done, and problem solve. While this mode is natural to an extent, we also need to spend time in “being mode”; when we just enjoy being without any aims. Maybe for some of us that is reading a good book, listening to music, and for others lying around on the beach doing nothing. Mindfulness can help us tune into our behavioural patterns so we can be more responsive and make better decisions that avoid overwhelm. “Listen to your body and really try to get a mind-body connection going because that’s the most important connection you can have,” says South African mindfulness coach and trail runner Meg MacKenzie. “Pushing through isn’t always the best option.” How to bring mindfulness to the trail   Lead images: Photo by Fezbot2000 on Unsplash Photo by Tower Paddle Boards on Unsplash Read more articles The benefits of the long run and how to do it right 7 tips for running in hot weather 7 principles to help you find the flow

Together with TrainingPeaks we give you the tools and data to take command of your training. You track your workouts with your Suunto watch and TrainingPeaks gives you in-depth analysis and planning tools to achieve your full potential. After each activity, you can analyze your performance to determine where you are at. (Read more about benefits you get with Suunto & TrainingPeaks.)   On Suunto 9 and Suunto 5 watches you are also able to follow selected TrainingPeaks metrics in real-time. This lets you adjust the effort and duration of the exercise on the go, helping you reach your goal. TSS, IF and NP can be accessed in the SuuntoPlus section of Suunto 9 and Suunto 5 watches. Read on to learn more about these metrics! Normalized Power (NP) In essence, Normalized Power is an estimate of the power that you could have maintained for the same physiological “cost” if your power output had been perfectly constant (e.g., as on a stationary cycle ergometer), rather than variable. Keeping track of normalized power is therefore a more accurate way of quantifying the actual intensity of training sessions, or even races. For example, it is common for average power to be lower during criteriums than during equally-difficult road races, simply because of the time spent soft-pedaling or coasting through sharp turns during a criterium. Assuming that they are about the same duration, however, the normalized power for both types of events will generally be very similar, reflecting their equivalent intensity. In fact, normalized power during a hard ~1 hour long criterium or road race will often be similar to what a rider can average when pedaling continuously during flat 40k time trial – the normalized power from mass start races can therefore often be used to provide an initial estimate of a rider’s threshold power. Intensity Factor (IF) Although normalized power is a better measure of training intensity than average power, it does not take into account differences in fitness within or between individuals. TrainingPeaks therefore also calculates an Intensity Factor (IF) for every workout or time range analyzed. IF is simply the ratio of the normalized power as described above to your threshold power. For example, if your normalized power for a long training ride done early in the year is 210 W and your threshold power at the time is 280 W, then the IF for that workout would be 0.75. However, if you did that same exact ride later in the year after your threshold power had risen to 300 W, then the IF would be lower, i.e., 0.70. IF therefore provides a valid and convenient way of comparing the relative intensity of a training session or race either within or between riders, taking into account changes or differences in threshold power. In Suunto watches we use the threshold as limit between Zone 4 and Zone 5. This means that the effort you have been riding is a share from an-aerobic threshold level. Intensity factor gives you a simple info on how hard you are working out. The intensity factor for recovery workouts should be under 0.75, for endurance rides 0.75-0.85, for tempo workouts 0.85-0.95 and for an-aerobic threshold intervals 0.95-1.05. The short timetrials I.e. 10km the intensity factor should be 1.05-1.15. To get similar values with Suunto watch that you get from TrainingPeaks, make sure your Zone 4 | Zone 5 limit is same as functional threshold power in TrainingPeaks. You can find the zone setup on your watch settings: Training » Intensity zones » Advanced zones. Training Stress Score (TSS) Exercise intensity is clearly an important factor in determining the type and magnitude of physiological adaptations to training. Together, exercise frequency and duration determine the overall training volume are important factors as well. However, there is obviously an interaction between training intensity and volume. At some point as intensity goes up volume must come down, and vice-versa, or else you will become overtrained. To quantify the overall training load and hopefully help avoid such a situation, TrainingPeaks uses your power data to calculate a Training Stress Score (TSS) for every workout, and provides a graphical summary of your recent TSS on your Athlete Home page. Read more about Normalized Power, Intensity Factor and Training Stress Score at TrainingPeaks.com READ MORE Training with TSS and hrTSS 3 TrainingPeaks training metrics to adjust your running on the go Lead image: Kevin Scott Batchelor