WHY recovery is so important for runners

Todays video is all about learning the balance between when to push and train hard vs when you need to recover,
It's important to train hard to get big results, but you also must be willing to focus on your recovery.
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[@emccrapple2503]

That grin when you talk about the twice daily 10k's and how good it felt to be that strong. I had a similar situation, was blasting every run, couldn't believe how fast I was getting and was completely swept away with how strong I felt until I got injured. I grin too when I think back on it. If I am completely honest with myself I wouldn't change my behaviour if I could go back. That was the strongest I've ever felt and it was incredible fun! The injury humbled me and now I do the right thing without having to think twice but If I could get another taste of that peak I would probably take it and make the same mistakes all over again. Such a stupid, addictive sport is running...

[@mattiasbystedt1332]

Dont know how old you are but when I got injured I got back from it and felt even stronger and then I was 27. You can do it! And yeah I can relate 😢❤

[@lowzyyy]

exactly. I was increasing mileage every week although i knew that i have to pause for 2-3 weeks to get used to it. And just after one run my IT band started to hurt. The next you know i am on 30 days pause from running. Such a stupid dude i am

[@sarahwoods3]

Very relatable video Stephen. I am currently coming back from a nasty injury and am currently at the stage in my rehab where I can only run for 15 mins at a time once a week and the rest of my week is spent doing physio and recovering. Having the discipline to hold myself back on these runs is harder than any tough session I've ever done

[@gwwilson9380]

I love your videos. I have been training my daughters’ on “Running IQ” through your work. I can often finish your sentences, and my girls tell me how much we think alike in terms of our approaches to running. You even kinda’ look like me, when I was a young runner, must be the Irish. Anyway, hang in there, my friend. It can be gone in a blink. I suffered clotting at age 22, almost died from DVTs gone emboli into my lungs at 48, and I am so blessed to be here learning from you and passing on our shared passion to my children (ages 14 & 15) at my ripe old age of 50. Keep Your head up! Peace & Good Runs! 🙌🏼 Here’s to Your continued successes!

[@jerehuovinen6194]

Running hard is easy, running smart is not. Great video Stephen! I'm not a elite runner and your videos give me lot of insights how to train. I always try listen my body and give up before it is too late to get overtrained and finally injured. Good luck to Paris, enjoy the easy week.

[@Stevenc1984]

I pretty much do 95% of this with the exception of race more often. I can imagine the pressure being a pro is exponentially higher though. I also like to remember the training that was tough, but successful. Snow & wind in your face, people doubting you etc, it's time to prove them wrong! 💪🏻🚀🏃🏻‍♂️🏅

[@andrewbell3476]

Another heart felt video full of gold. Trying to teach my son that the runs are only about 1/4 of the whole picture. Hopefully he will watch the masterclass videos :)

[@liamroche1473]

Remembering that paces are often a bit slower because you are fatigued (motivating recovering a bit), not because your fitness is worse (motivating working harder, getting more fatigued...), is very helpful! The one that several days easy does no harm too!

[@cannuckchick7522]

Like many other commenters, I needed to hear this. 8 weeks out from a “return to running” half and my snow shoveling injuries (not a joke - we got 15 inches in a day and I’m it for shovelers in my household) are not resolving as quickly as I’d like. More training will not get me to that start line. Rest now will.

[@jefejeffwell1113]

Great topic! I feel this way occasionally… just hating to train 😂. It usually goes down to my ego and where I feel I SHOULD be that day, instead of talking in my progress and accomplishments as a whole. I used to be a powerlifter, but gave it up as my main sport to try and progress in a more in all forms of fitness and health. This last month, I’ve increased my running times by more than a minute, finally worked out some long term deficiencies, and lost about 16lbs of bulking weight. With all those successes, you think I’d be happy, but my strength started to decrease slowly as the cut in weight continued. It’s put me into such a bad mood when I practice my strength movements 😂. This video was like a pitcher of cold water to wake me up! My discipline HAS paid off, even if I have lost a little, I’ve gained so much. Remember, my peoples, that discipline is built on the days you struggle 🏋️🏃💪🏻

[@jansenrunning]

This is a BRILLIANT video and I felt like you were speaking right to me! I've been doing physio for a tib posterior injury BUT got really GREEDY and started running again worrying that I was going to lose all my fitness. Well guess what happened? I'm now set back even longer because of that :( Going to focus the next 3 weeks on rehab and cross training, thanks Stephen!

[@danielstevens8827]

Such an important message. Whether you’re an elite runner or a beginner the message is the same.

[@ritaotoole197]

9 weeks no running for me I tore my hamstring overdoing it in training for Boston ..😢this was a. Great video ..i will need to back off when I can run again ..thanks Stephen

[@jeremyboesmans]

Jesus, this was the best advice I have ever heard, that was deep, and so insightful , Thank you Stephen

[@user-dj7ko7nf6z]

Thank you! I needed to hear this. I’m struggling so much this week, the week before my first marathon

[@Kelly_Ben]

Great stuff, thanks for being so real. I truly embrace my 2-3 rest days, because running is a huge part of my life... but not the ONLY thing in my life. Rest days give me time to do yoga, hike, train my horse, or even just relax with a book for an hour. On the flip side, consistency is my struggle, which would probably improve with LESS rest days! 😆 I'm in my 40s though, so maybe not.

[@petehowonearth]

Running my first marathon this coming Sunday. Your videos have been fantastic. Many thanks!

[@israelnaviti6382]

Periodization is key in a training program. You need to peak at the right moment of competitions.

[@scotty1418]

Thank you for getting so real and honest. Great message as always.

[@ebaldwin-charles9804]

Needed to listen to this today, thank you.

[@abhishekraj9368]

Thanks for the pearls of wisdom LionSkull! 🙌🏼

[@gbutler3674]

Your honesty is refreshing Stephen. Thank you.

[@KOYKOYROYKOY1000]

Thank you,one of the best videos I have seen ever. Thank you very much.

[@daleygraham844]

Great video! Great information, totally agree with the content👍🏻👍🏻

[@brycegladdish]

Exactly what I needed today. I wasn’t draining the sponge enough😢 but will focus on it more now. Thanks again Scully!

[@andywaterman]

Really good stuff Stephen

[@ianbarnett6027]

I actually think this is the best video you have put out Stephen, as its message is so important . Thank you so much.

[@RichardAllen-qx9go]

Another brilliant video Stephen. Any chance of making a video on tapering for a marathon? 👍

[@MartyMcGrime]

Amazing video. Great job of articulating everything I feel into manageable advice. I feel ya when you say easy to give advice but hard to follow it yourself.

[@damianreid2452]

I like these vids. Not so much about specific technical advice but more about the practicalities of the everyday stuff that surrounds training, which is equally important. Not many people really expand too much on this side of things. Nice.

[@Ekskrement]

Thanks for this video Stephen - it's like you're talking directly to me! Running too hard is easy, running easy enough ist hard! I'm coming off a block in which I overpaced myself. Time to regroup and tone it down a bit before I continue on at the right intensities.

[@curlyrecorder386]

Love all your videos Stephen. U are an inspiration. Thanks for your wonderful advice. I have the flu and was feeling so guilty for not being able to get out and run. U have eased my guilt a little. Thanks 🙏

[@ryanrem5123]

You dont know how much i needed this video, thank you

[@Spartan117FS]

The biggest problem for me is, I don't know when I'm pushing too much or too little. Either I don't train enough to get results, or I train too hard and get fatigued, losing my results. It's a very fine line to walk on - that you have to tread with your eyes closed.

[@pauledgar4838]

Brilliant Stephen.. I really enjoy every video.. Each 1 is very inspirational 👌👍👍👍

[@davidafonso5948]

What a video ! thank you so much for your words.

[@jt.8144]

"You are the Reflection of Your Efforts." Not only do I abide by those rules in running .. but in anything that Life throws at me.

[@marcocote57]

Great video !! You have to je Heart of a real Champion! Humility & Honesty ! Keep doing your awesome work!!

[@Gabrielfrois]

I know I’m 4 months late, but I needed to hear this. Thank you for putting all these golden information out there! It’s “comforting” to see that even top class athletes like yourself “struggle” with these so called simple things but really important things. I need to do better!

[@zhaochen8335]

Thank you. You are a very humble man. Far too often we see the success or the failure of an athlete without understanding what's behind the scenes. So we just copy and paste their training thinking that if I do XYZ i will run xxx time. There are so many decision-making moments in the training plans as well as thought processes that remain unknown to us. Appreciated this video. I have always been on the verge of overtraining and injury until the past few weeks when i realized you don't necessarily get the most benefits from doing the most amount of work. Pushing through fatigue and dead legs doesn't really give us the benefits we are looking for if we can't recover from it.

[@aabc84]

This is by far the most common mistake people make when it comes to fitness training too hard and not allowing enough time to recover

[@aurelijusbaltusis4113]

Hey Stephen 🤛🏻 I am a big fan of yours! I am proud 2:59 Boston Marathon finisher 😊 I am very grateful that you are sharing your experience and your knowledge. I love watching your KZbin videos, they are making me a better and a stronger runner for sure 💪🏻 In this video you reminded me not to get greedy and give my self some rest, before I will fuck up 😂Currently I am eight weeks out, before Vilnius Marathon and I feel confident, partially due to your amazing videos. Thank you again and I wish you best of luck in your future races! Sincerely, Aurelijus

[@mawilliams777]

Quality Scully, I was actually laughing out loud, recovery, easy, anxiety, always pushing on! I think I dont try hard enough, I can’t be, everyone else runs better than me! I just know the runs that make me are the easy ones I dont want to do, it’s easy doing hard runs, speed sessions, structured sessions, just get out and follow the program, I know I will feel good after my warm up and then just crack on and hit the marks. But getting out in the sideways Welsh rain, ignoring my overall pace on Strava, the pace is irrelevant. I’m in a great place of never really reaching my full potential when I’m was younger, but as you say, now and then I see how much I can improve and possibly beat my younger self at 58!!!!! Hard not to be greedy. One of my favourite videos on KZbin, it was a great surprise to see you and Matt Rees in the same video recently, two of the most honest and hard working runners on here.

[@trevormitchell3305]

Cheers Stephen, this was exactly the video I needed , niggling injury and was planning a big session on sun... I realise that is not what I need , i need to back off have an easy day and recover , thankyou 👍

[@trevorharris1007]

Story of my injury life. Terrific video thx

[@mikestevenson1334]

Sorry to hear about your quad tear before Rio, that must have been so painful (mentally and physically!) - I could see how much an impact it had on you when you were telling that story. "Recovery is your best friend" - love that!

[@waterfallstudios5746]

Great video. Really appreciated your insight

[@davidleonard37]

Very apt video for me at the moment, I've been running well and pushed a bit too hard and now I'm injured.. I seen it coming and should have backed off. Now ill do my usual reset and do my strength and recovery but the cycle will start again. The main thing I'm learnt from this injury is that my training should be done on my terms and not on other people's as I've fallen into that trap recently. It's good to get a reminder.

[@lamoyt]

Your knowledge content takes my performance to the next level keep it up

[@nathanvandendungen4450]

Very true, I find its really hard to hold back on some days to recover. Had a great session Tuesday, was ahead of my set interval paces by 5 seconds. Then Friday’s was a bomb and I was 20 seconds slower than I should have been. Need more recovery runs!

[@CatherineSui-Miller]

Thanks, Stephen. This video came at the very right time and very humbling. I have been training for my upcoming half marathon (at age 53) for months and these past few weeks feels extremely taxing physically and mentally. I pushed too hard and now my body hurts even after some easy runs. It’s time for me to dial back even my race is in a couple months or I may not be able to run at all.

[@mattg2553]

Great video Stephen 👏

[@ReyCaballes-nj7dp]

Thank you stephen!

[@SuperFoxtrap]

Hi Stephen, I find your videos very helpful. Especially on the mental side. This past Sunday I was in the middle of a 16 mile hard effort and felt good, so I changed it up and pushed for a half marathon pb. I'm not particularly fast. Pb was 1:24:20 and I managed 1:21:52! As a 46 year old former high jumper in collage I felt good. Then this Thursday I tried to do my regular hard 10 mile effort on a familiar loop and it was 15 seconds per mile slower than I was aiming for. I sucked it up and just told myself it's the effort that counts. Can't all be gems! Goal is to run a 2:45 marathon in Winnipeg in June. I need to be patient. Thank you for the valuable information and perspective your experiences provide.

[@juharuotsalainen1420]

A very good video. Have big problems with recovery. But I will try.

[@Lalo_Runs]

Thanks coach 🙏🏾

[@JMT87]

Thanks for the reminder to take it easy sometimes, my garmin have been telling my I’m overtraining for 2 weeks now, and my legs are sore for longer, recovery is slower than usual. So I’m taking a deload week now

[@andrewforsyth4799]

Great advice

[@gokiwi2642]

Good video Stephen, I’m just having a easy week, felt fatigued most of the week, felt like even easy days weren’t working, but luckily went for a 10k easy pace run yesterday even though I didn’t feel like it, by the time I finished the run felt really good, so hopefully can get back into more harder tempo threshold type runs this week, thanks Stephen for the amazing inspiring videos 🌲🏃🏽‍♂️🙏👊🏼👏🌿✅🥳

[@mataibartlett6417]

🙏🤝 loving the channel❤ Especially as a very ameteur runner. 🙏🙏

[@treboltreacy9498]

Thanx Steven 😀im doing more steazy runs more often. Your the best 🇵🇷😎

[@MiguelRivera-cs9tx]

Thanks for sharing your experience. This video seemed directly to me. I think I got to greedy and not recovered as should after my Tokyo marathon. Still a lot to learn

[@SubtleForces]

Thanks for keeping me from second guessing today's choice and helping me feel good about it. I started, legs were tight, tank felt empty. I decided to skip the strides and shorten it to 40 min. easy. As I stretch watching your video, I am letting go and will get rest soon. Tomorrow's another day!

[@stuartarmstrong5864]

Great message Steve - very relatable . I’m someone who struggles to back off and every time I run, cycle or swim I expect to be a little bit quicker than my last training session. Which I know is ridiculous . I rarely focus on the good sessions but spend loads of time trying to figure out where the bad sessions went wrong. I’ve lost count of the number of niggles I’ve picked up over the years and you’d think someone who’s been around as long as I have (I’m 64 later this year) would know better! I’m now going to make a conscious effort to be more realistic and be a bit kinder to myself. Thanks for triggering that thought 😊👍

[@davidporter2828]

I'm just a kid compared to you (61 now) 😃😃 but pushed myself to run today when I was even struggling to go out and cut the grass! Now I'm more knackered than before. So Stephen's reminder is well timed.

[@danielmannstrom7844]

Thank you for this. Greedy is the keyword here. Spot on!

[@brandonnielsen694]

It’s nice to see you’re willing to back off, the updates are cool since you’re worlds better than the rest of us

[@jennifermacdonell5835]

This was perfect for me today. I was jet lagged and tired throughout my run. Seeing amazing athletes like you talk about fatigue keeps it real. It's easy to image great runners like you never get tired. Thank-you so much for your talks. Very insightful.

[@theunknown21329]

Today I took a complete rest day since yesterdays Easy run was harder than usual and more fatigued.

[@Andy.mikhail137]

I'm coming off a knee injury for the past month...and it's precisely from what you are saying....

[@pk-zm2vd]

Enjoy an easy weekend. Don’t f@ck this one up Stephen 😁 gutted for you regards Brazil. You will smash Paris 👍

[@998mph]

Awesome!!

[@simonaxelsson7047]

Thanks 👍

[@jasoncarson-harris3038]

Awesome video!! Needs to be said more often. What camera did you use for this video??

[@SamsaraRevolves]

I love the angles from your videos. What recording devices do you use? Are they reliable?

[@francescovuoto1022]

Pure gold

[@chaserwilliams1]

I’ve actually had to opposite problem for awhile. I haven’t pushed hard. It’s been a lot of long slow runs training for ultras. I’m switching things up now and working on shorter and faster distances.

[@JRJapaneserunnerinUK]

Don’t get tired❤

[@Scuba_Son]

I just watched you on Sweat Elite talking about not getting greedy. Do as you say not as you do as they say.

[@stephenscullion262]

Yeah. Think I quoted that in this KZbin ✌🏼

[@lamoyt]

I also suffer from anxiety during my basic session

[@pponcho8245]

I always start my run telling myself its gonna be an easy run, but after then 2nd mile im like ‘fuck it’ and start pushing myself 😅

[@denisfebb]

train hard, it is not about the sport in long term. Train smart, that's the key. Everyone can train hard, but not everyone can train smart

[@KiwiTimmy]

I'm not super fit yet so I normally try and push thru my injuries so I don't lose my fitness by having so many days off in a row.

[@davidboyce5320]

I always have at least two or three bad workouts in a training cycle. Some I have even called my wife to come pick me up rather than run / walk home. I get it, you feel like you're not ready. Nothing in life is a linear progression upwards to success. There will be setbacks. As long as you don't hurt yourself, it is all good.

[@kubasuchorowski]

Hi Stephen 🖐️🙂 You record videos with GoPro 360 or Insta 360 ? Thanks for the content and knowledge 🖐️

[@2spoons]

Great topic - over pushing it.... just out of curiosity have you ever tried the 80/20 or the Maff Method to help break up you over pushing it.... I'm not saying change your schedule NO.... don't change your schedule but have you every done either simply to lower your heart rate, or help with Marathons and Ultra running etc

[@benjaminwesercreative]

I’d be curious about a post marathon training schedule ? If you stop running and strength for awhile ?

[@Sergedb74]

Someone said "it's not overtraining: it's under-eating"...

[@pponcho8245]

whats the name of the camera you use? the one that deletes the stick from the view?

[@eggbert6900]

Steve why do you talk about lactate so much when it doesn't cause muscle soreness?

[@spiffymagicman7284]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to die soon without a treadmill😔

[@tonyyazbeck7836]

I got prescribed 6 mile tempo at 6:20, ran it at 6;02 the whole way. However I felt really good and kept the heart rate 160 ish. what do you think about pushing paces / getting greedy on a day you do feel good?

[@LeePrice82]

If you are doing nothing on Sunday (as you're taking 4 easy days) call down to Omagh half-marathon!? Pretty sure you'll beat me!! :)

[@Boru_2407]

Recover well Stephen. Bit of that Irish air and not be long til the animal is roaring again.

[@greganikin7003]

I have a friend he can’t let himself rest. Like at all. He says - if i take a rest one day i’ll start to gain weight” so all i see is his results are going down but he wont listen to anybody. Unfortunately i can’t help