Question for fitness experts

tgh1914

I've always done running just to keep myself in shape and to help me enjoy sports more. I play a lot of basketball, racquetball, & some other things. But no matter how comfortable I get with running I won't normally allow myself to go longer than about 4.5 miles, except for an occasional 10K race when I feel like it. This is because in the sports I play it's very important for me to develop & maintain the power over long-endurance type of abilities - sprinting and leaping. I know that most real endurance runners do not also have these abilities because they've trained their bodies differently (slow-twitch muscle fibers vs. fast-twitch). And I have no desire to develop an endurance runners' type of body. My goal is more of an overall athletic body and ability.

So, I'm wondering if you experts can confirm this. Am I overblowing my fear of running longer distances? Or should I keep doing what I'm doing - keeping it less than 5 miles on my typical runs?

tgh1914

I've always done running just to keep myself in shape and to help me enjoy sports more. I play a lot of basketball, racquetball, & some other things. But no matter how comfortable I get with running I won't normally allow myself to go longer than about 4.5 miles, except for an occasional 10K race when I feel like it. This is because in the sports I play it's very important for me to develop & maintain the power over long-endurance type of abilities - sprinting and leaping. I know that most real endurance runners do not also have these abilities because they've trained their bodies differently (slow-twitch muscle fibers vs. fast-twitch). And I have no desire to develop an endurance runners' type of body. My goal is more of an overall athletic body and ability.

So, I'm wondering if you experts can confirm this. Am I overblowing my fear of running longer distances? Or should I keep doing what I'm doing - keeping it less than 5 miles on my typical runs?

VballLeash

You will develop more fast twitch muscles the farther that you run, for me I used to be a super fast sprinter, I played volleyball all my life and I was always the fastest on my team and then I started running long distances and I noticed I'm not nearly as fast when I sprint, it didn't affect me in the games though so I didn't matter much, I never got tired in drills so thats the good part, you would be able to play for a long time. I'd say that if you really want to go farther than do intervals, sometimes I will pick up the pace every chorus of the songs I'm listening to. Hope this helped, good luck!!!

~Leash

tgh1914

just bumping to get this some more opinions

johnblake

I don't know about experts but my rule of dumb is: If it's working for me I don't change it but I don't run as much as you, I lift a lot. How far do you want to run?