OMY! Sports News

The slow running of 6-time Ironman winner.

Workouts Useful
Slow running is a proven way to “boost” your heart and other muscles. Yes! The heart is the runner’s main muscle. Slow running is aimed to strengthen it.

Mark Allen, one of the greatest triathletes in history, is the six-time Ironman winner. He was one of the first to figure out the essence of slow running. In his training plan, this kind of running took up around 80% of his workouts. Most long-distance runners today tend to train in the same way.

Slow running is slow enough if you can talk. It is also called running at the сonversational pace.

So, why do you need slow running and what can it give to you?

  1. Slow running builds endurance. Especially when they last more than 1hour.
  2. Running slowly teaches your body to consume a minimum amount of energy for a long time. Besides the pure benefits of running, it makes you lean and help to lose weight.
  3. Slow running minimizes the risk of running injuries and muscle soreness and makes your joints and ligaments stronger.
  4. Slow running is one of the simplest biohacking methods: it prolongs your active life, and reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks, ensuring health and longevity.
  5. Slow running is the perfect way to get to "runner's high". It's when there are so many endorphins produced, that you feel happy while running.

Slow running has only one disadvantage — your results will be envied by those who immediately jump into fast running during their training. By the way, Mark Allan’s slow pace is 5:15 min/km. At the same time, the result of his marathon run at the Ironman distance is 2:42:09 (marathon pace 3:50 min/km).

So what is your slow running pace?

Here is the list of Mark Allan awards:

  • Six-time Ironman World Champion (1989–1995);
  • ITU world champion (Olympic distance, 1989);
  • Won 20 races in a row from 1988 to 1990 on different distances;
  • Won prizes in 90% of the races in which he participated.