The basic elements that describe any training program are the intensity and duration of activity, and recovery time. You stress your body by doing some activity for a period of time, and then during recovery your body adapts to the stress. When most people start a new workout schedule to get in shape they put most of their focus on the element of ‘intensity’.
The advantage of higher intensity training is that it can maximize the improvement in fitness in the time available. If you have a limited amount of time to train, it might make sense to try to find the optimal level of training intensity to maximize the benefit for the effort you are expending. Unfortunately, there is a corresponding level of increased risk of overtraining fatigue and injury if you don't correctly identify your personal limits.
What I am doing this summer is exploring the other end of the intensity and duration spectrum – I am stretching the duration quite a bit beyond what I have done before (or had the time to do) and at the same time lowering the intensity.
This approach fits me for the following reasons:
- I have the time to do it (currently 10-12 hours a week)
- I can cover some good urban distances on foot. Nobody wants to ‘sacrifice’ all that time grinding out meaningless miles. I am making covering ground on foot part of my lifestyle this summer, getting me to interesting destinations (even if I sometimes use the metro to help me get home …)
- My personal goals include covering some long distances on foot, and spending ‘time on foot’ is a big part of endurance events.
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