Easy Forward

When I went paddling down the Grand Canyon river, the guides instructed us on three types of paddling:

Easy Forward – ~50% effort or less. This stroke was meant to maintain energy and was used for flat water and minor rapids.

Forward - ~70% effort. You used a bit more muscle to maneuver  the raft. This was used to propel you through the larger rapids.

Hard Forward – +100% effort. Paddle like there’s no tomorrow or risk being thrown into the icy, churning waters.

I think you could relate running to these three models as well. As such, today was an ‘Easy Forward’. I didn’t run long, I didn’t run hard. And no, I definitely did not run intervals. I took the reluctant pup out to a park and ran for 25min without stopping. There was no Forward or Hard Forward effort to my run. It was easy and fun and short and sweet. Because not every run needs a training goal. Some days, it's about moving forward at an easy pace.