Intervals are a great way to improve your speed and endurance for running, but what should you do between those intervals: walk or jog? It turns out the answer depends on your goals for that workout.
Photo by Eugene Kim
An analysis in Runner’s World lays out some of the considerations. After you run hard, you’ll be tempted to walk, but keeping a jogging pace makes for a tougher endurance workout. If your main goal is endurance for longer races, jogging the recoveries is a good strategy.
But walking has its advantages too: for short sprints with short recoveries (less than 90 seconds) your cells will get ready faster for the next effort if you just walk, or even stand around. Use this strategy when you’re working on strength or pure speed — either because you’re cross-training for a sport that uses quick bursts of speed, or as part of a program that balances endurance-focused workouts (where you’ll jog the recoveries) with speed-focused ones (where you’ll walk).
Check out the full article at Runner’s World for more on how different recovery types affect your muscles, and for some extra options for marathoners.
How to Recover Between Intervals [Runner’s World]
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