Sustainability and Stability

You have undoubtedly heard me say it before and will surely hear me say it again: sustainability is a major key to maximizing our training in distance running.

But what does sustainability mean? I would define sustainability in training as the ability to repeat over and over again your planned training sequences (base units, micro-cycles and meso-cycles) without interruption. In order to do this we need to work within ourselves and make sure that we do not enter into any sustained deficiencies (energy, nutrients, rest, etc.) that will necessitate taking a major break due to injury, or illness, or burn-out. Sustainability and consistency go hand and hand. Sustainability is the ability to be able to be consistent in training.

I came up with chart below to illustrate the importance of sustainability in getting the most out of our training.

In this chart the blue lines represent 5 base units (stress and recovery cycles) stacked one after another in a consistent block of training, and Fitness 1 represents the resulting fitness level after the 5th base unit. The red lines represent 5 base units but with interruptions (due to illness, schedule conflicts, etc) between the 2nd and 3rd base units and between the 4th and 5th base units. With each interruption the fitness level began to drop and so some of the gain of the next base unit went to recovering that lost fitness. The result was that the ending fitness after the 5th base unit was only at Fitness 2, a lower level than in our uninterrupted sequence. Additionally it took us longer to execute the 5 base units, with the 2 interruptions, than it did without the interruptions. The cost of lack of consistency was it took longer and resulted in less fitness.

Now magnify this 5 base unit example by dozens over the course of a whole training cycle and you begin see the importance of sustainability in achieving your maximum performance.

I believe that a major key to sustainability is the one thing that many runners (and people in general) struggle with: stability in their life.

By stability I am referring to a sense of security and order that allows them to do the following things:

• Establish daily and weekly routines of when run/workouts are done
• Establish routines and suitable facilities at which certain types of workouts are done
• Ability to consistently get proper nutrition
• Ability to consistently get proper rest/sleep/recovery therapies

To the extent we have or can build stability in our lives in order to do these things, the more likely we will be able to achieve consistency and sustainability in our training. And as the above chart illustrates, that will lead to better fitness levels and thus performances.

One of the problems many young emerging elite runners have, especially those just out of school and having to support themselves as they take a shot at running professionally, is that they have a hard time finding stable situations due to lack of income, appropriate training environments and good coaching. Many end up being somewhat of traveling gypsies, going from place to place for brief periods of time. This travel and change make it hard for them to have stability and establish the consistency/sustainability they need to achieve their ultimate potential. Fortunately, in the last decade or so some post collegiate training groups have emerged to help to some extent, but many also bring their own agendas and challenges with them as well. I encourage these emerging elites to try and find some place to settle down (and no place will be perfect) and establish a network of support to enable them to have the stability and consistency they need to realize their potential. I am working diligently to create such an environment in Charlotte with Team USA Road Runners, but my coaching and our local training environment may not fit everyone. So if not here, then I urge each of you to find stability somewhere, and when you do your training and performances will benefit greatly.

For all the rest of us dedicated but not as fast runners, the same principles apply to us as well. The more stable and routine we can make our lives, the greater our ability to achieve sustainability and consistency in our training. And of course, a major key to doing this is the establishment of our priorities and realizing where running falls in that priority list, and then adapt our expectations and training schedule to that accordingly, so we can get the most from our training time and efforts.