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Run Like a Champ: Tip 3 from Olympic Marathoner Hendrik Pfeiffer
German Marathon champion Hendrik Pfeiffer, known for his participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo (among many other running achievements), is gearing up for the prestigious Berlin Marathon and the New York City Marathon, where he'll be sporting the Amazfit Cheetah Pro. In this blog series, Hendrik will share seven tips for runners looking to start Breaking Limits.
By Hendrik Pfeiffer
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Training is more than just the pure running time.
The importance of pre- and post-training is easily underestimated, and the risk of injury increases dramatically if neglected, especially in cool conditions. In my training routine, warming up before tempo runs and carefully getting into endurance runs is part of the daily routine. The rule is that the faster you run, the better your body should be warmed up. For tempo intervals and endurance runs in the range of competition speed, I separate the warm-up from the actual load time and add stretching and coordination exercises, while for long runs or moderate endurance runs, I start at a steady pace and only reach my actual training speed after a few kilometers. By paying special attention to warming up before intense sessions, I achieve another effect in addition to optimally preparing my body for high speeds: I automatically take the intense key session even more seriously and approach the tough workout with the right mindset.
The Amazfit Cheetah Pro provides ideal training support to realize such a professional workout. In the Zepp App you can customize training plans to your personal needs and divide training templates into up to 40 stages, including training, rest and recovery, and you have warm-up and cool-down available at the touch of a button. For interval training the Amazfit Cheetah Pro offers a template tool which can create customized interval training templates directly on the watch interface.
I take a particularly long time during post-training preparation, especially after tempo runs or longer endurance runs, after which the muscles cramp up a lot. First of all, I make sure not to stop training sessions abruptly. After tempo intervals, a short shakeout run not longer than one or two kilometers is a good way to do this, while during long runs, I add one easy kilometer at the end. Afterward, I've had excellent experiences with treating the muscles with heat as soon as possible to nip cramps in the bud – for example, with a hot shower or spending some time in the sauna. With this feeling of warmth, I then go for extensive stretching, for which I take three-quarters of an hour at least four times a week. Especially the back thigh muscles tend to shorten in high-mileage Marathon preparation.