What Is a Recovery Run - The Ultimate Guide
Recovery runs boost your circulation and muscle recovery.
By Marnie Kunz,
NASM-certified trainer, USATF- RRCA-certified running coach
If you’re wondering what is a recovery run, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about recovery runs - from how and when to do them to enjoy the most benefits. As a running coach and lifelong runner, I’ve come to appreciate how important recovery runs are for reducing post-workout tightness and maintaining aerobic fitness. Whether you’re doing a running streak, speed workouts, running a 5K, or just ran a marathon, recovery runs can help boost your recovery.
What Is a Recovery Run, According to a Run Coach
A recovery run is a low-intensity run at a slower pace and shorter distance than your regular base runs (which are your regular relaxed-pace training runs). Recovery runs are a form of active recovery that you do following a hard running workout or race. A recovery run is an easy run in Zone 1 or Zone 2 if you're training by heart rate zones.
Doing a recovery run after a hard workout is a great way to maintain your aerobic fitness, get your blood circulating to prevent muscle soreness and tightness, and speed up the recovery process. Adding recovery training sessions to your running routine helps your muscles repair after workouts at high intensities.
Whether you run track races of less than 1 mile or do long runs for half marathon and marathon training, recovery runs are a great tool to help you become a better runner. Recovery runs help your body bounce back after tough workouts while also training your body and mind to run even while feeling fatigue.
Benefits of Recovery Runs
There are many benefits of incorporating recovery runs into your running program. Here are some of the top advantages of doing recovery runs:
Photo by Marques Jackson Photography.
Boosts blood circulation, improving muscle recovery. A recovery run gets your blood flowing and helps your muscles recover after hard workouts. This is also helpful to prevent your muscles from getting too tight from lack of movement. The last thing most people want to do after a marathon or tough run is to run more, but a recovery run that suits your fitness level will work wonders to improve your circulation and muscle recovery. Sitting still for too long and not moving will make your blood flow more slowly and tighten up your muscles more, making recovery take longer.
Maintains your cardio fitness level without the higher impact or stress of more intense workouts. For intermediate runners or anyone who runs more than three times per week, recovery runs should be an integral part of your training to get your miles in and keep your fitness base.
Improves your running performance. Recovery runs help you stay consistent with your running and maintain the benefits from the hard workouts and races that you do. They also improve your mental toughness from running in a fatigued state.
Improves your mood. After a marathon or tough workout, taking a long rest can be mentally challenging as you don’t get the endorphin boost of exercise. A recovery run is a great way to boost your mood with the endorphins from running while enjoying the mental break from worrying about times and paces. You can even leave your watch at home and just enjoy a relaxed recovery run.
How to Do a Recovery Run
Now that you’re no longer questioning what is a recovery run, we can move on and cover how to do a recovery run. First, do your recovery run within a few days after a hard race or workout. This will help you maximize the benefits of your recovery run. To do your recovery run, pick a short, flat course and do an easy pace run at a conversational pace.
If you train by Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), recovery runs are a 2 or 3 out of 10 on the effort scale. Recovery runs are just above a walk but less intense than a tempo run, intervals, or other speed workout.
If you use your running watch or running app, you can check to make sure your pace is slower than your base run pace. A good general guideline is to run at 30 to 50 percent of your max effort level. If you are flexible in your approach, you will be able to adjust to make sure your recovery run isn’t too difficult for your current fatigued state.
Note, if your body feels completely exhausted and you need a rest, don’t be afraid to take a rest day or two before doing your recovery run. You don’t want to risk overtraining.
Related Post: What Is Overtraining and How to Avoid It
Tips for Recovery Running
Keep your run short - between 20 and 40 minutes. Your run shouldn’t be as long as your regular training runs.
Take it easy - don’t hit steep hills or challenging terrain during your recovery run.
Go slow. You should be able to easily carry on a conversation and your effort level will feel like only 30 to 50 percent of your maximum effort level.
If you feel sharp pain, stop. If you think you may be injured or experience sharp or ongoing intense pain, stop running and go see your doctor or physical therapist.
How Often to Do Recovery Runs
If you’re not sure when to do recovery runs, the answer is it depends on your running training program. If you run up to 3 days a week, you most likely won’t need to do recovery runs because you already have plenty of rest days. If you run more frequently than 3 days per week, you can incorporate recovery runs into your training.
If you always do easy effort runs at your base run pace, you will not need to do recovery runs. However, if you run races of any distance - from 1 mile to a marathon or longer, or if you do speed workouts or hill workouts, you will benefit from recovery runs.
Generally, it’s best to do a recovery run within 24 hours of a hard workout. The exception is long races How often you need to do recovery runs depends on how often you do hard runs. If you race every weekend, for instance, you could do a recovery run every weekend on the day after your race. If you do two hard workouts a week, you may want to do two short recovery runs per week or one recovery run and one complete rest day.
As you can see, recovery runs can be personalized to your fitness level and running training plan. If you need a training plan designed by a running coach, check out our shop for training plans.
Have you tried recovery runs? Comment below. Get more training and fitness tips on my Runstreet Youtube and follow and tag @Runstreet on Instagram to share your workouts and get cheered on. Happy running to you and happy recovering!😊
Related Posts: 20 Tips for Better Workout Recovery, Marathon Recovery Tips, 51 Self-Care Sunday Ideas to Recharge, Protein Smoothie Recipes for Workout Recovery
Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified Brooklyn trainer, USATF, and RRCA-certified running coach, and the creator of Runstreet. She lives with her bossy Akita dog in Brooklyn.
