Steps to Building Your Running Endurance to Increase Distance

Lance Esondi
If you love to run for exercise or performance, typically you will be training to run more miles that you have before. After going a mile, you want to go two. After you get five, you might want to run 10. This increase in distance takes some discipline and guidelines to follow if you want to be able to go farther than you have before.

First, take care of your body. Your body needs the proper nutrients to maximize its potential. If you are eating a poor diet, you won't get the performance you want. Eat a diet that is full of nutrients and learn to eat proper, slow burning carbohydrates before a long run. These will give you that extra energy you will need for longer distances that you might not be able to achieve with a poor diet.

Be careful when you are running. If you feel any pain or problems, you might need to stop and take a little bit of time off. While your goals of better performance might be important to you, an injury will set you back. It's better to take it slow when feeling pain than to push yourself toward injury.

It's going to take more than a few times a week to build the endurance you need. You should see this endurance through running and other physical activities. Try alternative forms of exercise that challenge other muscle groups while still doing a cardio activity.

When you are running, don't stick with one pace. This can become easy and routine. Your body needs a challenge. Start off at your normal pace for a minute, then add in bursts of speed sprinting. This challenges your system and helps you build more endurance because you are pushing yourself. If you can run five miles this way, you will be able to run many more miles as your normal pace without the sprints.

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