How to build up running endurance?

Question

I'm gonna start field hockey in the fall, and i need to build up my running endurance. I cant really run for that long...the most i've ever ran was 1/4 of a mile (sad, i know)...any tips??

Answer 1

yay field hockey! its the best sport ever! okay, the best thing to do is run consistently for 30 minutes everyday. what helps with endurance is running up and down hills 10 times. also, fartlek runs are great for hockey. its when you run at a fast pace for about 5 minutes, then jog for 3 minutes. do this routine for 30 minutes every day and youll see results. another good thing to do is go to a track and sprint the straights and jog the curves for a few miles. sprinting and accelerating are key in field hockey, so remember to practice that. but, since you aren't that great of a runner yet, start out slowly, and pace yourself, and remember to stay hydrated. dont start running at a full on sprint. do a 5 minute warm up jog and then get started on your runs. and dont get lazy and take a day off. run every day, especially for field hockey. and practice sprinting.

Answer 2

You are in luck. You may not believe that at first, but you are. First of all, you are in a sport in which there is running involved, but it is not what you think.  Let me compare it to soccer. In soccer according to a study published in an NSCA article, 96% of the runs are less than 50m and over 50% are less than 15m. This means that you do not need to run miles. This is a fallacy that many coaches (and their athletes) that don't have athletic education fall into. A good soccer coach typically knows how to teach soccer skills. Conditioning is a whole different ballgame.

I would focus on a couple of things. A couple days per week you should be playing field hockey at the highest level of play that you can find in the area.

For endurance training I would go with shuttles 2-3 times a week. Put 2 cones 25 yards apart. Then do the following:

Active Dynamic Warmup followed by a 2-3 sets of:

1x400

2x300

3x200

4x100

5x50

or even more difficult:

1x400

2x300

4x200

6-8x100

10x50

You should have a work rest ratio of approximately 1:1 at each distance and then 2 minutes in between each distance.

Then do a cool down and stretch. Go home, have a snack and then sit in an ice bath. You may also want a couple days of strength training in there too. If not, do some crunches and oblique exercises at the end.

You can vary this up a little bit also by creating a 10x10 square where you sprint up one side, lateral movement, backpedal, and lateral movement.

You want to mimic what you do on the field. You never just run miles on a field hockey field. You are sprinting to a location and you may jog/run back to a position. Typically you are do a multidirectional movement. Running is just running in a straight line. In the work described above you should be working on changing direction efficiently and quickly. Running for miles will be training your slow twitch muscles. Field Hockey should be all fast twitch.  So focus on speed work and running efficiency and you will find that your endurance will increase dramatically.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

DOnt worry i had the same problem too when i did cross country in middle school & it was my first sport i ever did. I practiced everyday running like a mile then 2 miles and increased. Dont push yourself too hard because you might think ughh im killing myself , this is too hard and i will never be able to do this. dont worry if you have to stop. its okay. pace yourself and i didnt like running with someone when i first started because i was so bad and couldnt keep up with my friend... you can run with a buddy once you get better. Good luck =]

Answer 4

I would suggest trying to run with a friend who plays soccer or something, in order to begin pacing yourself. The problem usually isn't endurance, it's really more the pacing. The trick is to find your pace and to keep it, instead of running quickly at the beginning and tiring yourself out.