How should I feel when I am running?

SheFitt programs are carefully structured to support you through the first 3 months of running- whether that’s a return to running after a break, your first time following a program or your first 3 months of running, ever.  

SheFitt programs are conservative and designed to be achievable by minimising your risk of injury and setting you up to run for as long as you want in your future. 

Sophie believes your guide should be how you feel when you run, not the information you may receive from a watch (such as heart rate data, which can sometimes be helpful, but can also be quite confusing!)  

Your best training will be done when you dial into your body and listen to what it is telling you. ie. how you feel.  

The most important thing is to get comfortable with your ‘aerobic’ state and learn to run as much as possible in this way. You may ask: what is the aerobic state? 

Aerobic state is the pace you can run while still holding a conversation. Perhaps not a long and lengthy conversation, nor a deep and meaningful one, but a conversation where you can string sentences together. If you can’t speak when you run, you are running outside of your aerobic energy system and you should slow down.  

There is good evidence to suggest we build good fitness when we run in this state and certainly from a musculoskeletal perspective, you lower your risk of injury when you run at this pace too.  

So, if you’re following a SheFitt program, and the instruction is to run ‘easy,’ think about running at a pace where you can still talk.  

In addition to easy running, where Sophie has prescribed ‘efforts’ of a specific duration, this is where a gear change is required. An ‘effort’ is about running harder, and outside of your aerobic state. During an ‘effort’ you may be able to say a few words, but not want to hold a conversation. An increase in your heart rate and breathing will naturally occur. That’s why a period of recovery will always follow an effort. So think about pushing yourself, but always, always running with control and within yourself.