Maximum Performance Running

Sustainability and Stability

2012-01-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

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.

Runner's Mental Predisposition Theory

2011-12-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

As I discussed in my last blog there are two main types of fatigue experienced in distance running: lactate fatigue and energy system fatigue. Lactate fatigue is the primary limiting factor in races shorter than 60 minutes in duration and energy system fatigue is the primary limiting factor in races longer than 60 minutes in duration. This is roughly illustrated in the graph below:

We know that distance runners will have certain physical predispositions toward certain race distances based on inherited physical characteristics including the make-up of muscle fibers (% slow twitch vs. fast twitch), the size and shape of their muscular-skeletal system, and the hard-wiring of their neuro-muscular systems. These physical factors will somewhat determine the physical potential a runner has at each distance.

Similarly I would like to propose to you a new theory that indicates that we also have mental predispositions towards certain race distances that determine the mental potential distance runners have at each race distance. I call this theory the “Runner’s Mental Predisposition Theory” . This theory is not based on imperial data but rather it is based on anecdotal observations from working with hundreds of runners and the studying of sports psychology. This theory seems to have great explanatory and predictive powers that would indicate that it, or some close version of it, is largely true.

The Runner’s Mental Predisposition Theory suggests that how well each distance runner can deal with each type of fatigue is based on their personality and inherent mental wiring. The mixture of their ability to handle each type of fatigue places them on a predisposition matrix as illustrated in the chart above.

A runner who mentally handles lactate fatigue very well but does not handle energy system fatigue very well will fall into quadrant 1 in the upper left of the matrix. Similarly a runner who handles energy system fatigue very well but does not handle lactate fatigue well will fall into the quadrant 3 at the bottom left of the matrix. A runner who handles both well will be in quadrant 2 in the upper right of the matrix, and a runner who handles neither very well will be in quadrant 4 in the lower left corner of the matrix.

Let’s take a look at each quadrant and what type of mental/personality characteristics and outcomes we see in each type of runner:

Quadrant #1:
• Higher strung, more intense personality
• Ability to stay aggressive and focused during lactate accumulation
• Becomes increasingly passive and distracted as energy system fatigue builds
• Under-performs training level in races over 60 minutes in duration
• On par or over-performs training level in races under 60 minutes in duration
• Excels at shorter distance races (800 to 10k in length)

Quadrant #2:
• Extremely confident, self assured personality
• Ability to stay aggressive and execute race plans in either fatigue situation
• Ability to race on par or better than training level at all race distances
• Can excel at any race distance and often has large race range

Quadrant #3:
• More laid back or easy going personality
• Ability to stay aggressive and focused during energy system fatigue
• Becomes increasingly passive and distracted as lactate accumulates
• Under-performs training level in races under 60 minutes in duration
• On par or over-performs training level in races over 60 minutes in duration
• Excels at longer race distances (half marathon to marathon)

Quadrant #4:
• Apathetic personality
• Becomes very passive during lactate accumulation
• Becomes increasingly passive as energy system fatigue builds
• Underperforms training level at all distances
• Does not particularly excel at any race distance

Mental training and practice can help a runner move slightly upward or outward on the matrix but will not produce major changes in their predisposition.

In the example shown here, a runner started with a predisposition spot of “a”, firmly in quadrant 1. Through the callusing effect and mental practice working on dealing better with energy system fatigue they were able to make modest gains and move their spot on the matrix outwards to spot “b”. This may well happen in a specific phase of training. But if this callusing effect and mental practice is taken away them the runner will regress back to spot “a” again as it is their natural predisposition.

It is also important to note that a mental predisposition does not preclude you from being able to have a successful race at another distance you are not best suited for. For example a runner solidly in quadrant 3 can have a good race (one on par with their training) at a shorter distance (5k for example) even though their predisposition is for the longer races. But they will find it harder to be consistent at the shorter distance races and are not likely to ever over-perform their training level at shorter distances. It will usually require a greater focus and better controlled circumstances for a runner to produce a performance on-par with their training at a distance not favored by their predisposition.

I would estimate that the majority of runners (~60%+) will fall in the shaded circle shown in the center of the Mental Predisposition Matrix, which encompasses the inner quarter of each quadrant. These runners have a more moderate predisposition towards one area but are able to race somewhat successfully across a broad range of distances.

The runners, who fall outside of this core circle, will find they have stronger predispositions to certain race distances and as a result they will have a more rewarding running career (in terms of success and happiness) if they focus their racing on these areas of greater predisposition.

School & Youth System Observation
The current youth, high school and college running system in the United States is largely focused on shorter distance races (800-10k) in which ability to deal well with lactate fatigue is of the utmost importance. Thusly runners in quadrant 1 and 2 in this matrix, are best suited for this system. Any runner in the core circle on the matrix can probably be served fairly well in this system. But a runner who is in quadrant 3, outside of the core circle, may find the youth and school system frustrating as it forces to them to focus on race distances that are significantly outside of their predisposition and ones they are inconsistent at and often under-perform at.

Caution
It is important that when you are attempting to place a runner in a quadrant, that you do not get mislead by failures that were a result of improper training. Usually a runner cannot be placed accurately on this matrix until they have been closely observed for a period of time and a careful review of training and racing logs has been done. Additionally physical predisposition must also be observed and considered. While I often find that physical and mental predispositions overlap, this is not always the case.

Care must also be used when trying to place young runners on this matrix. Much of the mental predisposition does not clearly manifest itself until the runner reaches their teen years or later or until they reach a higher level in the sport.

Usefulness
The usefulness of this matrix is that it is another tool to help the runner and coach better understand the runner and their individual strengths and weaknesses. This allows the coach/runner to better plan their running career, select target races, and tailor training accordingly.

Thanks
A great deal of thanks goes out to my friends, runners and advisors who helped in formulating this theory. The more we understand, the better can train and achieve.

Limiting Factors In Distance Running

2011-12-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

Molly Pritz in NYC (picture by Runner's World)

Often it is helpful in a sport to look at the limiting factors on success. By identifying these limiting factors we can take steps to improve in those areas or at least mitigate their impact.

In the sport of distance running there are two types of limiting factors I want to look at today: physiological factors and mental factors. In this blog entry I want to discuss each so that we can better identify what our own individual limiting factors are and takes steps to improve in that area.

Physiological Limiting Factors

Lactate Fatigue – this is the fatigue brought about by the accumulation of lactate in the muscle cells. The higher the accumulation of lactate the more fatiguing it is to the muscles (less efficiently they work). This is a main limiting factor in races between of less than 60 minutes in duration.

In distance races where Lactate Fatigue is the main limiting factor (i.e races under 60 minutes) three sub-factors largely determine our success:

• Lactate Threshold – the speed at which we can run before significant amounts of lactate begin to accumulate.

• Lactate Tolerance – how well our body operate in a rising lactate environment (i.e. beyond lactate threshold).

• Maximum Effective Lactate Level – how much lactate can accumulate before we are forced to slow down from a given race pace.

Energy System Fatigue – this is the fatigue brought about by a depletion of glycogen in the body causing the body to have to burn a higher percentage of less efficient fuel sources to produce energy. The less glycogen available, the more the body has to use less-efficient fuel sources. This is the main limiting factor in races greater than 60 minutes in duration.

In distance races where Energy System Fatigue is the main limiting factor (i.e races over 60 minutes) three sub-factors largely determine our success:

• Lactate Threshold - the speed at which we can run before significant amounts of lactate begin to accumulate.

• Aerobic Threshold – speed at which breathing/ventilation and metabolic burn rate increases to a steeper slope as speeds increase.

• Glycogen Storage Capacity – the amount of ready to burn glycogen your body/cells/tissues can store. I would also include in this factor our ability to replace glycogen during the race.

Over-Riding Factors – There are also several over-riding factors that affect all distance races and all of the sub-factors listed above.

• Aerobic Development – this the over-all development of the systems (cardio, repository, circulatory and cellular systems) by which the body delivers oxygenated blood to the muscles cells and the cells ability to use it.

• Form Efficiency – here I am talking about the biomechanical efficiency of your stride and running form.

Mental Limiting Factors

Predisposition – Many people will have a mental predisposition to which type of fatigue they can deal with better. Some people deal with the discomfort of energy system fatigue very well and others mentally crumble under such situations. Inversely some people deal with lactate fatigue very well, while others quickly crumble as their lactate levels rise above a certain level. This goes beyond the physical training or sub-factors listed above, and is more of a mental predisposition based on our individual mental wiring and personality type.

Belief – This is how much we believe in our ability to be successful in a race. This stems from many factors including our belief in our coach, our preparations and training program, our own abilities and our race plan. Without belief it is hard to accomplish much regardless how good our physiological preparations.

Smart Execution – this is formulation and execution of a smart race plan. Your ability to formulate a race plan which maximizes your potential in the race given the other limiting factors, and then your ability to mentally execute that strategy during a race as the other factors come into play.

Training These Limiting Factors

Now that we have identified most of the main limiting factors we will experience in distance running, what can we do to improve or mitigate each factor, so that we can run our races faster.

Lactate Threshold: The best way to improve our lactate threshold is to practice running for extended durations at or near our lactate threshold pace. This can take the form of various tempo runs, or longer repeats with short rests. Example: 5 mile tempo run done at lactate threshold pace. (see my blog on tempo runs for more examples)

Lactate Tolerance: The best way to improve our lactate tolerance by spending repeated time operating in a rising lactate environment. This usually includes moderate to longer intervals at speeds similar to race pace. Example: 1600 meter repeats done at 5 mile race pace.

Maximum Effective Lactate Levels: One of the best ways to increase our maximum effective lactate level is by doing our normal speed workouts but with shorter than normal rest. By decreasing the rest periods our lactate levels remain higher and reach higher level in the workout. Example: 1600 meters repeats done with reduced rests each time the workout is preformed.

Aerobic Threshold: The best way to improve our aerobic threshold is through extended runs at or near aerobic threshold pace. This usually is done through long sustained tempo runs. Example: 10 miles tempo run at aerobic threshold pace.

Glycogen Storage Capacity: There are several ways we can improve our glycogen storage capacity, including long runs done without taking in calories and increasing total miles run per week. Improving our ability to take in glycogen during races can be accomplished by practicing various intake strategies in quicker paced workouts at or near race pace. Example: 20 mile long run taking water only during the run.

Aerobic Development – All running we do will help aerobic development, even slow easy recovery runs. So the more mileage, capacity and variety we can build into our programs, the greater our aerobic development will become.

Form Efficiency – Our form and biomechanical efficiency can be enhanced through form drills, strength drills, core work, and faster paced speed work. Example: Weekly drill/strength circuits and short fast repeats.

Mental Predisposition: Not much you can do here but to understand your predispositions and take those into account when formulating race strategies and running career direction.

Belief: Make sure you are following a training program and/or working with a coach you believe in. Trust in your training and have confidence in your abilities.

Smart Execution: The best way to improve this is to practice it in every race. Get yourself into a habit of analyzing the different factors involved and formulating a sound race strategy. Know yourself and work on ways to better execute the strategies you come up with.

Inter-Related
It is important to realize than many of these factors are inter-related and as such improvement in one may produce improvement in another as well. The best examples of this is that improvements in aerobic development and form efficiency will have a positive effect (to some degree) on every other physical factor. Because of that they are a fundamental building block for all of our training.

Conclusion
By understanding the limiting factors we experience in our races, and how to improve them, we can continue to target them and develop in the sport. Also by understanding our own personal limiting factors, we can better develop our own career path in the sport.

Formation of Team USA Road Runners

2011-12-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

As a patriotic American and a distance coach who is passionate about the sport of distance running, and road racing in particular, I have long wanted to do something to help American runners be more competitive in major road races. To this end, I have decided to combine 3 major facets of my life in an effort to try and make a difference.

1) I was born and have lived my whole life in the United States and have experienced firsthand all the positives and benefits of this great country. I was educated here, have started a business here, and am raising my family here. While the United States is certainly not without its flaws, the freedoms we have, the diverseness, and good nature and strength of our people, keep this country strong and a world leader in most every field. I have a strong desire to see my country be a world leader in the field in which I work, the sport of long distance running.

2) My strengths and background as a coach are heavily focused on development. I study at great depth the science behind the sport, listen to what top experts are saying, add in my own experiences, and take in multiple variables from the individual runners and their specific situations, and from this combination I determine the best paths to help each runner develop and progress in the sport. There is nothing more rewarding to me than to help someone develop and seek their ultimate potential as a runner.

3) I grew up running road races, I think they are wonderful events that bring together communities and expose millions to a wonderful and healthy sport. While I have participated in and enjoy cross country and track, road racing has always been my true love in the sport. I find road races to be great competitions and are also great developmental tools, as they are readily available year round, come in multiple different lengths, and provide all levels of competition from beginner to elite running and from kids to senior citizens.

Given these three things, I have formed an organization called Team USA Road Runners with the following mission statement:

Mission
Team USA Road Runners is a not-for-profit organization formed to promote and support road racing as a competitive sport, foster a love for it in the youth of the country, and to help bring the USA back to the forefront in the sport.

Means
Team USA Road Runners (“TURR”) seeks to accomplish this mission through the establishment, support and growth of 2 teams:

1) A Youth Team that seeks to promote road racing as a competitive sport and as a means to a happy and healthy lifestyle to the youth of our community, by teaching them sound fundamentals in the sport, providing them with good coaching, supporting them with a strong and positive team, and ensuring a fun and safe environment in which to practice.

2) An Elite Team that brings together resources in order to help talented American runners develop and compete at the highest levels in major road races and marathons, including USA Championship events, Major Marathons, the World Championships and the Olympics, in order to raise the level and visibility of competitive road running in this country.

Both teams will be focused on development. With the Youth Team, we will help the youngsters develop as runners by teaching them sound fundamentals and coaching them in a safe and sound training plan focused on long term development in the sport. The Elite Team will focus on helping the elite athletes continue to develop in the sport through sound long term planning, access to resources and a stable environment in which to train.

I have established an initial information website where you can read more about the organization: http://www.teamusaroadrunners.com/

The funding to cover the costs of pursuing this worthwhile mission is provided through donations, grants, sponsors and member fees. If you would like to help support this organization, you can do so by making a donation here:

Thank you for your encouragement and support. Go USA!

The Development of a Young Marathoner

2011-11-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a controversial title. Now before I get a ton of negative feedback, I am not advocating young runners to run marathons. But rather what I am talking about is how can we help some younger runners develop , if their interest and goals ultimately lay in the longer distances, before they ultimately step up to the marathon.

In particular, this question as arisen for me as my daughter, Alana Hadley’s, long term goals and interest center around becoming an elite half marathon and marathon runner. Because of this I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about, researching and talking to other coaches, researchers, doctors, physiologists and kinesologists about how best to help a young runner develop into an elite marathoner. Then applying what I have learned in coaching and guiding my daughter.

In this blog entry I want to share a little of what I have learned, about what path I believe is best and then use her as an example how that might be executed and how it’s going so far.

First and foremost I do not believe you can or should push any young runner down this path, they have to want it and be driven internally (intrinsically motivated) to want to pursue this. A continued love of the sport and desire to run, and run a lot, has to be a given. If that love and desire is ever not there, then things have to change and everything re-examined. The mental and physical health of the youngster is paramount. But assuming that everything is good and the young runner wants to pursue this path and has a passion for it, then below are some of my thoughts on how to proceed. Alana truly loves the sport and is passionate about her goals, so I think it’s ok to talk about the path she is on as an example.

I believe the early path of a young runner with longer distance aspirations, is comprised of three different co-existing objectives.

1) Fundamentals: You want to establish good fundamentals and foundations in the sport. This includes establishing good warm-up and cool-down routines and habits; learning the proper ways to think about and execute each workout type (when they are introduced); working on form and strength drills to develop a good, strong and efficient running form; and establishing a training pattern that ensures proper stress sessions are always followed by adequate recovery time. Additional training fundamentals that are important to teach include topics such as proper nutrition and good sleep habits. These fundamentals will ensure the runner has a solid foundation in the sport which will be critical during their development, and in their ability to successfully handle the rigors of marathon training later on.

2) Increasing Capacity: You need to begin a slow and methodical building up of the young runners work capacity. This means that slowly over time you want to increase the frequency of their runs, the duration of their runs/workouts, and begin to work in the other ancillary items (strength and core work) that are important to their training. This must be done slowly! I believe the best way to do this is to make your changes small and then wait until the runner’s body has fully adapted to the new work level and had a chance to gain most all of the benefits it can from it, before making another change. One of the keys to doing this is consistency in weekly routine, so that the body can better adapt to stresses of training as well as any growth changes their bodies are under-going as young people. Since we are talking about young people here, I also think it is best to plan out what the next steps are in their progression but not to put a set start date for each, but rather leave that decision to be based on when they are ready. If they experience a growth spurt or have others stresses in their life, the movement to the next step in their progression may need to be delayed or revisited. Side Note: all plans should be written in pencil when dealing with kids, because they can and will change.

3) Workout Balance: Follow a balanced mixture of workouts, so that the young runner begins to develop (as evenly as possible) all the things they will need in order to be successful in the long term. In older runners, I call this even mixture of workouts a Fundamental Phase in their training cycle. I believe that our young runners should be in an extended or perpetual Fundamental Phase, so that they can grow and evenly develop as a runner. In this Fundamental phase of even development, weaknesses are addressed and progressions can be made on an on-going basis. This means that speed, stamina and endurance must all be worked on, on a regular basis. A weakness in one area will retard the development of the young runner so it is addressed immediately. One of the great side benefits of this approach is that because of this even development and balanced mix of workouts. the young runner is able to race very effectively over a broad range of race distances.

So in review, we are helping the future marathoner/half marathoner prepare by giving them the foundation in the sport that will help them be efficient and stay injury free, we are slowly helping them build the work capacity they will need in order to handle marathon training, and we are making sure they are evenly developing all the skills in running needed to make continual fitness progressions and enter marathon specific training as a fitter and evenly balanced runner.

Now, as an example let’s take a look at how I have handled each of these three co-existing objectives with Alana.

Fundamentals: The last 8 years has been about teaching Alana good training habits. She has set warm-up and cool-down routines that she does that have been engrained to the point of it feeling weird if she doesn’t do them. She slowly learned the right way to approach and execute each workout type as they were introduced into her program which took many years and is still on-going. For example, we just introduced wave workouts (stamina) into her training mix in the past year, after 8 years of running, as she was finally ready for them mentally and physically. I have established a drill/strength session as well as a core session that Alana has learned and progressed in under the watchful eye to make sure all form elements are properly executed, which has gradually improved the strength, reliability and efficiency of her form. And she and I have talked extensively about the need for proper efforts (i.e. not too hard) in her training routine in order to ensure a good stress and recover cycle. Alana is also very good eater in terms of quantity, quality and variety, and in addition she takes certain supplements to ensure she gets all she needs. She is a Hadley, she likes food. 

Increasing Capacity: As outlined in a recent Running Times article, Alana’s increase in capacity has been slow and steady since her beginning in the sport. Because of that and the fact that she has been running regularly for over 8 years now, her weekly capacity for work has grown to a significant level and one beyond most any runners her age. But because we have taken it slow and made sure the changes were small, her body has adapted very well to each change and has she has gotten stronger and faster and has never experienced any injuries. People often marvel at the fact that she can handle a 75-80 mile training week (on 11 runs) on a regular basis. But given her slow and consistent progression to this point, it feels normal to her and isn’t any big deal. While 75-80 miles a week is a good workload, it isn’t a big deal when worked up to consistently over an 8 year period of time. Alana has grown regularly and steadily over this period of time and we now believe she is nearing her full grown height (she is just shy of 5’4”) and has experienced the normal physical changes young people go through at this age. At this point her training is broken-up into 2 training cycles per year, with small increases in capacity added in with each new cycle, and with a 1-2 week Regeneration Break taken at the end of each training cycle, so training changes/increases only come once every 6 months or so. As I mentioned Alana has never had an injury in her 8 yrs as a runner, and her muscle and ligament strength, joints and bone density are outstandingly good.

Workout Balance: Alana remains in a perpetual Fundamental Phase with a balanced workout mix year round. After building up slowly during the first five years, Alana now does 3 stress workouts per week, in a normal training week, with one focused on Speed, one focused on Stamina and one focused on Endurance. Because of this balanced mixture of work, her development has remained even and she can do workouts in each category at the same equivalency level as the other two categories. Additionally her twice weekly form/strength drills include multiple 50 meter sprints at top speed. The result has been a balanced runner who has seen good and on-going progressions in fitness and race times across all distances

Racing

I believe in regular and diverse, but not too frequent, racing for young runners on this path. Alana races once every 3-8 weeks on average or about 8-10 times per year. Alana regularly races a variety of distances ranging from 5k to the half marathon. For example, so far in 2011 Alana has raced 9 times including 4 - 5k’s, 1 - 6k, 1 - 10k and 3 - half marathons, and has 1-2 more 5k’s scheduled.

As I mentioned earlier, the even mixture of workouts allow her to race very effectively at a wide variety of distances (5k-HM), a hallmark of the Fundamental Phase of training.

One of the thing that I believe has been a major part of her continued success and progression, and is something I suggest to all runners on this path, is the fact that my wife and I do not allow her to race a new distance until we believe she has progressed to the point in her training where she can race at the new distance at the same equivalency level as her other races. This means that she was not allowed to race a half marathon until this year (and won her first one) and it will mean that she will not be allowed to race a full marathon for several more years. But that when she finally does race a new distance, she is able to compete at a high level in it.

Results So Far

So given everything I have described above what results have we seen? Alana has made a remarkable progression in the sport both physically and mentally. Her progression in race times has been:

Age 6: 5k in 29:13
Age 7: 5k in 25:36
Age 8: 5k in 23:53
Age 9: 5k in 21:07
Age 10: 5k in 19:17
Age 11: 5k in 18:14, 10k in 40:08
Age 12: 5k in 17:32, 8k in 29:37, 10k in 38:081
Age 13: 5k in 17:09, 10k in 37:26, 15k in 58:07
Age 14: 5k in 17:06, Half Marathon in 1:16:58 (36:10 10k and 58:33 10 mile en-route)
(early January birthday – she turn 15 in January 2012)

What she has found, and what I suspected for some time now, is that she has excelled in the longer races. In particular the half marathon seems to fit her very well mentally, personality wise and physical talent wise. This is a validation in her eyes, and mine as well, that her goals and interest in the longer races makes sense for her.

During the fall of 2011, she has twice broken the national and world age record for 14 years old females in the half marathon; first with a 1:17:15 performance at the Virginia Beach Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon in September (where she finished 10th overall) and then most recently with a 1:16:58 performance at the Savannah Rock n’ Roll event earlier this month (where she was 3rd overall). And all of this from a fundamental phase with no specific phase to peak for a race. With a specific phase she would have likely gone lower, maybe even significantly so.

But perhaps the best sign that this path is working has been her mental outlook in all of her 3 half marathons this year. She really enjoyed and remained positive throughout each. On her most recent race (her half marathon record in Savannah) she offered this insight: “I was happy and optimistic the whole way, I don’t think I had a negative thought the whole race.” In my eyes that is quite the statement to make in such a demanding race and one at which you are setting a world age record. She enjoys and excels at this type of race (half marathon) and seems to like, handle and is more confident and consistent at it than the shorter races, even though her training indicates she has equal physical ability at each distance in her range (5k to HM).

Next Steps

So the logical question is “where does Alana go from here?”

The answer to that is - more of the same. She will continue to stay in a Fundamental Phase in her training year round, with a good mixture of workouts to stay evenly developed, and she will race a variety of distances, from 5k on the track to half marathons on the road. Her training will continue to progress slowly in capacity and it is very likely we will see continued development all around.

Just as has happened this past year, as her times continue to progress she will have the opportunity to run in bigger and better races so that she has good competition and gets much needed experience. She enjoys and welcomes these opportunities; it gives her a glance at the future she hopes for.
Then at some point off in the distant future, when her training has slowly progressed to the point that she is ready to run a marathon at the same equivalency level as her shorter distance times, we will allow her to try that distance as well.

Then if all goes well, from that point on she will follow the 3 phase training cycles that I described in my last blog. Each training cycle she would go through a Fundamental Phase of balanced work and racing at shorter distances, to improve her all around fitness and progression as a runner, and then enter a short Specific Phase where she will peak for a goal half marathon or marathon, and then take a Regeneration Break before beginning again.

No major changes from what she has been doing the last several years except for the addition of a Specific Phase before big races to maximize readiness.

She is happy and excited about this plan, so regardless of how good she gets or doesn’t get, that is her likely course for the future as it stands now.

But as with all things involving kids, we are leaving the door wide open for changes. We will take each milestone as it comes and make each needed decision as we get to it.

Unconventional Path

We realize that this path is very unconventional. Most young runners take a different approach. But given Alana’s talents, desires and skills, she and I believe this is the right one for her. She has such a love for the sport that watching her embrace each step has been a joy. She is happy with what she is doing and obviously it is working for her very well.

I have been cautioned by many people to make sure that her speed continues to develop along with her endurance and stamina. Absolutely that is part of the plan. She regularly has speed workouts and if anything her basic speed may be one of her greater strengths. I am a firm believer that a balanced runner is the one who is most likely to continue to progress. In fact my 3 phase training cycle is centered on that, with the bulk of the training cycle (the Fundamental Phase) centered around promoting even development and shoring up weaknesses.

I believe the current high school and youth track/XC system in this country works fine for 98% of the runners it serves, which is a pretty good success rate. But Alana is in the other 2%. She does not desire to race as frequently or at the shorter distances mandated in that system. But that is fine, that system is not geared towards developing longer distance elite runners, which is what Alana wants to become. The path we have chosen we feel does that much better.

A few people have expressed concern that this path may not include running for a college/university team. That is something she will not make a decision on until later on down the road. But rest assured that Alana is a very smart young lady (straight A’s in her first quarter of High School) with a lot of academic talents and will be attending a top college whether or not she decides to run for them.

Questions
Well there you have it, my thoughts on helping a young runner develop into an elite marathoner. Your thoughts and questions are always welcomed.

Marathon Training Cycle - Elevator Pitch

2011-11-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

When I worked in the business world we had something called an "elevator pitch" which was a brief overview of our company/product that would give someone the key points they needed to know in a quick 1-2 minute period of time (i.e. the length of an elevator ride). Here is my marathon training cycle elevator pitch:

My marathon training cycles are usually broken into 3 phases: Regeneration, Fundamental, and Specific.

The Regeneration Phase follows the previous training cycle and consists of 2-3 weeks of easy aerobic running, resting and allowing the body and mind to recharge its batteries. No stress workouts are performed during this phase.

The Fundamental Phase is next and usually lasts between 10-16 weeks long. In this phase we are working on gradually improving our all around fitness as a runner, with a regular mix of stress workouts focused on improving our speed, stamina and endurance. During this phase we also work on shoring up any weaknesses we have that may hold us back from further development, and ensuring we have proper muscular balance and biomechanics. Because of the good mix of workout types, we can race very effectively from 5k to the half marathon distances during this phase.

The Specific Phase is the last phase in the cycle and is between 8-12 weeks long. In this phase we focus our training on the specific demands of the marathon distance, taking our balanced fitness from the fundamental phase and building it to a peak for the marathon distance. Marathon pace based workouts will become a larger and more frequent part of our workout mix and we will begin adding more quality into our long runs. During this phase we are preparing the mind and body to successfully deal with the challenges it will face on race day. The end of this phase includes our taper and goal marathon.

Racing: We periodically schedule races or time trials in the Fundamental and Specific Phases to gauge fitness gains and keep a good feel for maximum efforts, usually 1 race every 4-6 weeks during the last 2 phases of the cycle.

Hallmarks: During all of our training there are two overriding themes that are the hallmarks of my programs:

Consistency: consistency week to week and month to month, becoming a creature of routine and consistenly following a balanced and sustainable routine within each training phase.
Effort: working hard but staying within yourself in workouts. We gain fitness through a consistent series of workouts done in a controlled and sustainable manner rather than through heroic efforts in just a few workouts. We train hard but save our racing for actual races.

MPR's Recommended Workouts

2011-10-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

In my book (most of it published in entries here on this blog) I talked about various training zones and given you some generously wide guidelines for using each training zone. Now I would like to provide you some specific workouts that I find work best and that I include most often (but not exclusively) in my training programs.

Before I give you the specifics for each workout, it is important that I stress that all of these workouts should be done with appropriate workout effort levels, in other words, a good hard effort (90-95%) but all out racing the workout.

I break these recommended workouts in 3 broad categories: Endurance, Stamina and Speed.

The mixture of these workouts and categories will depend on several factors including which phase the runner is in (Fundamental or Specific) and the strengths and weaknesses of the runner. In general, during the Fundamental Phase I look to get in one workout from each category during a micro-cycle (week or 9 days) with 1-2 easy run days between for recovery. In the Specific Phase this mixture will change to increase the emphasis on the workouts closest to goal race pace.

The speed at which these workouts are done will be according our current fitness level or the pace for our next goal race. In order to determine these paces, especially for the speed workouts which rely on equivalent race paces for distance we may not race, I have developed an equivalent race time calculator which also gives you the exact pace ranges for each workout listed below. I have attached that calculator (open it in Excel spreadsheet form) below and am working to have this coded into an easy to use calculator form on coaching website in the coming months (because I love you guys!).

The MPR Calculator

For example: if a runner has recently run a half marathon in 1:17:15 (sound familiar?) and is targeting 1:16:30 in an upcoming half marathon, she would input 1:16:30 into the calculator, check the half marathon distance and the calculator would show the paces she need to be working at for each of workouts I describe below, and even gives her the adjusted paces to work out at for warm and/or humid conditions (which she can also input). Cool huh?

One final note before I get into the workouts: These workouts were designed with an intermediate to higher level competitive runner in mind and one who does in excess of 50-60 miles per week in training. Lower volume or less experienced runners may need to reduce the volume of some of these workouts slightly from how they are described here.

Category: Endurance

Easy Pace Long Run (Zone 6): This is a run of between 18 and 26 miles done at between 15% and 20% slower than marathon race pace. I recommend that water and electrolytes only be taken during this run, with either no or minimal in-take of calories during the run in order to improve your body’s glycogen storage capacity and improve the efficiency at which it burns different fuel sources.

Steady State Long Run (Zone 5): This is a run of between 15 and 21 miles done at between 5% and 10% slower than marathon race pace. This is often a great workout in which to practice your race day fueling strategy with water, sports drinks and/or gels at regular intervals during the run.

Fast Finish Long Run (Zone 7): This a run of between 15 and 21 miles with the first 75% of the run done at 20% slower than marathon race pace (i.e. easy pace) and the last 25% of the run done at marathon race pace. During this run take water only during the first half and then a gel or sports drink just before the faster final section of the run.

Category: Stamina

Short Even Paced Tempo Run (Zone 3): This is a continuous run of between 4 and 6 miles done at an even pace equal to half marathon race pace.

Short Progression Tempo Run (Zone 3): This is a continuous run of between 4 and 6 miles starting at 5% slower than half marathon race pace and gradually getting faster during the course of the run until it is finished at 3% faster than half marathon race pace.

Short Wave Run (Zone 3): This a continuous run of between 4 and 6 miles alternating half mile increments between 5% slower than half marathon pace and 3% faster than half marathon pace.

Long Even Paced Tempo Run (Zone 4): This is a continuous run of between 8 and 12 miles done at and even pace equal to marathon race pace.

Long Progression Tempo Run (Zone 4): This is a continuous run of between 8 and 12 miles starting at 5% lower than marathon race pace and gradually getting faster during the course of the run until it is finished at 3% faster than marathon race pace.

Long Wave Run (Zone 4): This a continuous run of between 8 and 12 miles alternating one mile increments between 5% slower than marathon pace and 3% faster than marathon pace.

Category: Speed
I want to break the speed workouts into 2 segments, speed workouts we would do during the Fundamental Phase of training and speed workouts we would do during a Specific Phase focused on the marathon distance. The reason for the difference between the 2 sets of workouts is that during a the Fundamental Phase our speed emphasis is on improving our body’s ability to handle different faster paces, which we accomplish by running at those paces while reducing recovery. But in a marathon specific phase, speed work becomes less about true speed and more about maintaining power in the stride and keeping half marathon and marathon pace feeling easy and relaxed by comparison.

Fundamental Phase Speed Workouts

300 Meter Repeats (Zone 1): This is 9-12 repeats of 300 meters done at 1500 meter race pace with up to 125% recovery time jog (so if the 300’s take 60 seconds your recovery jog would be up to 75 seconds long). Once you are able to do the maximum number of repeats (12) at this pace you would begin reducing the recovery in subsequent workouts.

600 Meter Repeats (Zone 1): This is 7-9 repeats of 600 meters done at 3k race pace with up to 100% recovery time jog. Once you are able to do the maximum number of repeats (9) at this pace you would begin reducing the recovery in subsequent workouts.

1000 Meter Repeats (Zone 2): This is 5-7 repeats of 1000 meters done at 5k race pace with up to 75% recovery time jog. Once you are able to do the maximum number of repeats (7) at this pace you would begin reducing the recovery in subsequent workouts.

2000 Meter Repeats (Zone 2): This is 4-5 repeats of 2000 meters done at 10k race pace with up to 3:00 recovery jog. Once you are able to do the maximum number of repeats (5) at this pace you would begin reducing the recovery in subsequent workouts.

Marathon Specific Phase Speed Workouts

400 Meter Repeats (Zone 1): This is 20-24 repeats of 400 meters done at 12% to 15% faster than marathon race pace with a 1:00 recovery jog between repeats.

1000 Meter Repeats (Zone 2): This is 8-10 repeats of 1000 meters done at 10% to 12% faster than marathon race pace with a 1:30 recovery jog between repeats.

1600 Meter Repeats (Zone 2): This is 6 repeats of 1600 meters (or 1 mile) done at 8% to 10% faster than marathon race pace with a 2:00 recovery jog between repeats.

Well there you have it, 16 different workouts that I recommend and use regularly in when I design training programs. I hope this helps and that you enjoy success adopting at least a few of these into your schedule.

Why I Coach

2011-09-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about why I coach and why I feel so drawn to coaching. So I thought I’d put it down in words, here on my blog, as a way of crystallizing my thinking.

If we are lucky enough, each of us will find something in our lives that stirs our souls. I say it “stirs our soul” because it seems to go beyond flesh and blood, it is something that strikes a chord with our very essence as a person. Something that awakens deep passions and emotions in us. For many people this is art, or music, or dance. For me this is excellence in athletic performance. When I see an athlete, who has dedicated themselves to their sport, go out and lay it all on the line and excel, I get goose bumps and a lump in my throat. I think more specifically, it is when a dedicated athlete accepts a difficult or impossible challenge, and faces it head on and attacks it. It stirs up passions and emotions in me that I can’t begin to explain – it stirs my soul.

I remember many instances in my life when I found myself watching or being part of such an event, when an athlete is laying it on the line and excelling, and tears will begin streaming down my cheeks and I’ll get all choked up. It’s at these moments, that the athlete’s human spirit, their soul, seems to rise up and carry their bodies beyond what they would otherwise be able to do, and the results are amazing. To me, that is more moving and more breathtaking than any Picasso painting, any sunset over the ocean, and any Mozart composition.

I can only imagine what these moments are like for the athlete, life changing I am sure. Once Marty Liquori, one of the best milers in the world in the early 1970’s, said after he took part in one of these amazing moments, that if you could bottle up what he felt at that moment and give it a young kid, that kid would spend the rest of his life striving for a similar experience.

Because this is the way I think, and the way that I am wired, I am dedicating myself to helping athlete pursue these moments. I want to help them chase their dreams as an athlete, to experience the joy and sense of accomplishments that dedication and excelling can bring. I want to help them be a good steward of the wonderful athletic gifts they have been blessed with.

I am blessed to be working with a few athletes that approach this zone on a semi-regular basis. So if you see me at a track or on the side lines of a race one day and see me looking a little teary eyed, or brushing away tears from my cheeks, nothing is wrong, I am just being blessed with another opportunity to have my soul stirred.

So why me and why running?

So what makes me think I can help athletes and why running in particular? Those are good questions that I have also been thinking about.

In a nutshell I think it comes down to stewardship. I have been blessed with some unique gifts and some unique experiences, all which seem to come together in the sport of distance running. I want to, and feel an obligation to be good steward of these gifts and use them to help runners chase their dreams.

I have a very analytical mind; I have almost a compulsion for finding out and understanding why and how some things work, what the components of them are and how they all interrelate. This helped me tremendously in my previous jobs in the corporate world where I was responsible for putting together financial and business models and leading analysis project. In running it has driven me to experience, experiment and research all forms and theories on training. I just didn’t want to know what worked, I wanted to understand why it works and when, so I could learn to use it most effectively and come up with variations that may be even more effective in certain circumstances. I have and still do read volumes of work by Lydiard, Daniels, Vigil, Noakes, Coe, Squires and other legendary coaches; and I constantly study what Canova, Rosa, Salazar, and other successful coach are doing today. I do not and never want to stop learning. The more I learn the more I can help others pursue their dreams.

But just as I my compulsion dictates, and as I did in the corporate world, I have to synthesize this learning and understanding down into a dynamic model of how training for running works, which allows for individual differences while staying true to overall beliefs and truths in the world of physical training. And just as in the business models I use to build, I have to constantly re-evaluate and add to and update this model as I learn more, have more experiences and as is appropriate. It becomes a living model of all that I have learned, believe and experienced in my 30+ years in the sport.

This has become increasingly an obsession for me over the last several years, but a good one and one that has shown much fruit. I have had a very high success rate with the runners I coach, from new runners to national class elites and from kids to masters runners. The model is working and because of this, I feel an even greater need to be a good steward of these gifts.

So for me coaching the sport of distance running, is a bringing together of so much of my life and who I am. It combines what stirs my soul, with the gifts I have been blessed with, and the compulsions I feel to understand how things work and put that into a dynamic model. I feel incredibly blessed and humbled to have reached this point in my life and I stand resolute in my determination to be a good steward of these blessings.

Coach Mark Hadley

Training In The South In The Summer

2011-07-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

As a former competitive runner, and now a coach, who has lived his whole life in the southern United States, I have learned a good amount about effectively training for distance running in the hot and humid southern summers. On this blog entry I wanted to share some of what I have learned in the hope that maybe it can be helpful to you in your own running or that of your athletes.

Heat and Humidity

Running in warmer weather raises our body's temperature and one of the body’s main ways to cool itself during exercise is through sweat. We sweat and as the sweat evaporates from our skin it cools it down. The body then pumps more blood than normal to the skin in order to cool the blood and thus the tissue the blood then travels to. How quickly the sweat evaporates depends on the humidity (moisture level) of the air, at lower humidity it evaporates quicker and at higher humidity it does evaporate more slowly (if at all).

So we have a two different factors to think about - the temperature and the humidity level. The temperature will determine how much the body needs to cool itself down and the humidity will determine to some extent how hard it will have to work to do that. The combination of the two will determine how much harder our body has to work on the run than it does in more ideal weather conditions.

There is where Dew Point can become a good measure for a runner to look at to help take both heat and humidity into account.

Dew Point – Dew Point is essentially a saturation temperature of the air, so it combines humidity and temperature to some extent. To a large extent, the higher the Dew Point, the harder it will be for the body to cool itself during exercise. The higher the dew point the more miserable running in it becomes.

Adjust Your Runs For Summer Weather

As we just talked about, the body has to work harder when running in warmer weather, because it has to expend extra energy to try and cool itself. This means that a 5 mile tempo run done at 6:00 pace on a beautiful 50 degree fall day will not take as much energy or effort as it will to run those same 5 miles at 6:00 pace on an 85 degree summer day.

This means we have to adjust our pace or distance expectations during the warmer weather. If we do not we will end up working too hard and that can quickly lead to over-training, injury and burn-out.

So then, how much do we adjust our pace? I think the answer to that question depends on the temperature, humidity and dew point. The higher each is, the more have to adjust our pace.

As a general rule of thumb, we should adjust our pace roughly 0.75% for each 5 degrees above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So a day when the weather is 80 degrees we would adjust our pace 3%. But this is just a temperature adjustment; additional adjustment may need to be made for humidity as well. I have a rough formula that I think helps me get in the right ball park when taking humidity into account. If humidity is between 40% and 60%, I add 3 degrees to the air temperature, if the humidity if between 61% and 80% I add 6 degrees and if the humidity is 81% or higher, I add 10 degrees. Like I said, it’s a little rough but gets me in the right ball park.

So let’s say we go out for our 5 mile tempo run one summer morning and our normal training pace for that tempo run in good weather is 6:00 per mile. But this morning the weather is 75 degrees and 85% humidity. Ok, so that is a little tougher conditions that normal. So we breakout our adjustment calculator and figure out what would be an equivalent pace given the heat. So we take the temperature of 75 degrees and adjust it by 10 degrees for the humidity to give us an adjusted temperature of 85 degrees. 85 degrees is 25 degrees above 60 degrees, so we adjust our pace by 3.75% (25/5 = 5 x .75% = 3.75%). Then we take 3.75% times 6:00 per mile (our normal tempo pace) and we get 13.5 seconds. This is the amount of time we would adjust our pace per mile. So on this day if we averaged 6:13-6:14 per mile it would be roughly equivalent to doing your tempo at 6:00 per mile on an ideal weather day.

Now this is just a rough calculation to help us get in the right ball park, but it seems to have held up pretty good over the years.

It is important to note that this formula helps you adjust for the extra effort you will use in a normal workout in the summer heat, but it does not adjust for any excessive dehydration or electrolyte loss you incur along the way. If you lose more than 2-3% of your body weight, in sweat loss, than your performance will diminish even more than the calculator shows. Dehydration and electrolyte loss is a serious concern during exercise during the summer heat. This comes into play even more so in our long runs and longer stress workouts. During these workouts, when the conditions get more extreme, simply adjusting your pace may not be enough, you may have to also adjust the distance as well. The guide I think we need to use here is based on feel. We want to finish our long run or hard stress workout in the summer with the same level of fatigue and needing the same recovery time, as we would in better weather and so need to adjust the pace and/or distance to accomplish this. If we do this then training during the southern summers become sustainable.

A great example of this came from last weekend. I had one of my athletes shorten her long run to 15 miles from the planned 17 miles because of the 74 degree dew point conditions. By doing this, she finished feeling like she had done the entire intended workout and was able to recover in the same time and is ready to go for her next stress workout. If she had been stubborn and pushed too hard in the heat in order to get in all planned 17 miles, she would have likely not been able to recover in time for her next planned workout. She got in the work we wanted, it just required 2 less miles to get there.

Signs of Dehydration

According to About.com’s Medical Review Board here are the common symptoms of dehydration (more than 2% body weight loss) in runners:

Early signs of dehydration include increased thirst; nausea; dry mouth; headache; reduced urine output, with dark yellow urine. Symptoms of moderate dehydration include extreme thirst; dry appearance inside the mouth; decreased urination, or lightheadedness. Serious dehydration can lead to cramps, chills and disorientation.

Adjusting Your Fluids and Nutrition

As we talked about earlier, summer running can greatly increase the amount we sweat, as the body attempts to cool itself. We need to recognize that the body is using a lot more water during this time that it does in cooler weather. We need to make sure we are replacing this water, and the electrolytes that are used in sweating, between our runs and during our longer runs and workouts.

During runs – we need to plan ahead and make sure we have access to water or sports drinks on a regular basis. This may necessitate stashing water bottles, running multiple loop courses or taking some fluids with us on our runs. Also don’t be afraid to help your body cool itself by pouring water on your head and body. That is water than can evaporate and cool that skin that your body doesn’t have to sweat out.

Before and after runs: make sure we are getting in some water before we start and then when we finish make sure we are replacing what we lost. But remember our body can only absorb so much at a time, so we may need to be drinking moderate amounts through-out the next several hours in order to completely replenish ourselves. And don’t forget the electrolytes and other vitamins and minerals we lose when we sweat, those need to be replaced as well.

Indoors

Sometimes the best option may be to run indoors. If it’s just too hot and humid outside to run safely (depends on your age, fitness level, and other factors), or we are still significantly depleted from a run out in the heat, the best course of action maybe to run indoors on a treadmill. Having this option available to you, and knowing when to use it, can help you maintain your summer training program and avoid over doing it.

Benefits

If managed properly, the adversity of warm weather training can help make us a stronger and fitter runner. It adds a different level of stress to the body which can act as a training stimulus. But this is only the case if we make the necessary adjustments to our training so that it is sustainable during the warm weather.

There are many who believe that warmer weather places unique recurring demands on the circulatory system, which can, if managed well, stimulate growth in the capillary system and blood supply in ways that does not happen in as readily in colder weather. Some even go so far as to say it may be as big of a factor as altitude training is in the success of the East Africans in distance running.

Attitude

As with any training stress, the attitude we bring into it plays a significant role in how well we deal with it. Warm weather is a just a fact of life in the summer in the south. If we dwell on it and become obsessed by it, it can ruin our summer and our training. But if we accept it, adjust accordingly, and even appreciate its benefits, we can have a successful summer of training and be even stronger runners come the fall.

Now bless your hearts ya’ll; get out there and enjoy some of this nice summer weather. :-)

3 Types of “Tempo Runs”

2011-07-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

“Tempo Runs” is the generic name given by many runners and coaches for continuous runs done at a quicker pace. Usually these “tempo runs” are done at paces between 15k and marathon pace, depending on the length of the run, with shorter tempo runs being done at lactate threshold (LT) pace, which is roughly 15k to HM pace for most sub-elites and elites, and longer tempo runs done at closer to aerobic threshold (AT) pace, which is roughly 30k to Marathon pace for most sub-elites and elites.

Note: LT pace would fall in Zone 3 and AT pace would fall in Zone 4 in the MPR Training Zones as discussed in my book.

There are 3 types of these tempo runs that I would like to recommend to you, for regular use in your training schedules. I’ll go over each and explain what I think is the best way to do each one.

Even Pace Tempo Run

This is the variety most of us think of when here the term “tempo run”. This is simply a continuous run for a set distance done at a quick speed that does not vary much during the run.

LT Example: If LT pace is 5:00 per mile, then a 5 mile run done at steady 5:00 per mile pace.
AT Example: If AT pace is 5:20 per mile, then a 10 mile run done at a steady 5:20 per mile pace.

The benefits of this type of tempo run are pretty straight forward, they help push-out the lactate or aerobic thresholds, by improving the bodies efficiency at those speeds.

Progression Tempo Runs

Progression tempo runs are tempo runs where the pace is increased throughout the run. I believe that most effective progression in pace for this workout is roughly 30 seconds per mile between the slowest and fastest portion of the run. You would start the progression run at 20 seconds per mile slower than, and finish it at 10 seconds per mile faster than your even paced tempo.

There are 2 ways I recommend that can do this progression, and either works fine:
1) By gradually and continually increasing the pace during the run
2) By breaking the run into 3-10 segments and running each segment quicker than the last

LT Example: If LT pace is 5:00 per mile, then doing a 5 mile run starting at 5:20 per mile pace and finishing at 4:50 per mile pace.
AT Example: If AT pace is 5:20 per mile, then doing a 10 mile run starting at 5:40 per mile pace and finishing at 5:10 per mile pace.

The benefits of doing your tempo run in this manner, is that you are better mirroring the effort profile of a race, as considerably more effort is needed late in the race and in this run than the start, and often runners feel/perform better in this type of tempo run as they get to work into the pace before it becomes difficult. By working into and then passing your lactate or aerobic threshold in this workout, you help to push-out the pace at which you reach those thresholds.

Wave Tempo Run

Wave tempos runs are tempo runs in which the pace is alternated back and forth across the threshold. You would break your tempo run into either half mile or mile segments and then run the first segment at 10 seconds per mile faster than the threshold you are working, and then run the next segment at 20 seconds per mile slower than the threshold you are working, then repeating that sequence until the full distance of the run is completed. I recommend using half mile segments when working your lactate threshold and mile segments when working your aerobic threshold. I also recommend starting with a slower pace for the first segment to allow the body to work into the run. This workout takes a little getting used to and good sense of pace, it may be best to do it on a track or a course with quarter mile markers the first few times until you comfortable with the pacing of it.

LT Example: If LT pace is 5:00 then running 5 miles alternating half mile segments between 2:25 and 2:40.

AT Example: If AT pace is 5:20 then running 10 miles alternating mile segments between 5:10 and 5:40 pace.

The benefit of doing your tempo runs in this manner, is that you by running just a little faster than the threshold and a little slower you are teaching the body to be more efficient as it learns to recover at faster speeds. There are many who theorize that such wave workouts increase the permeability of the cell membranes which allows them to get rid of lactate and waste products quicker. The end result is a pushing out of the pace at which those threshold (LT or AT) occur.

Using All 3 Types

By using all 3 types of tempo runs on a regular basis in our training plan, we are targeting our thresholds in a slightly different way in each workout. The end result is often more improvement than we would experience by just utilizing one method.

Maximum Performance Running Book

2011-06-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Everything of note that I have posted on training has been consolidated down to the 15 chapter book published in the previous 16 blogs.

If you have any questions about any of the information contained in those 15 chapters please feel free to e-mail me at coach@mprunning.com and I'll be happy to get back to you just as soon as I can.

Chapter 15 - Putting It All Together - Marathon Example Program

2011-04-05T01:40:00.000-07:00

Chapter 15

Putting It All Together – Example Marathon Program

Now let’s put the whole program together for an example marathon runner. Since we used a female as our example for the half marathon we’ll use a sub-elite male as our example for the marathon. These runners are fictional, any similarities to any real person is coincidental.

Example runner: Phil Dippides, age 27

Background: Phil has been a runner since Jr. High School when he went out for the track team. He had moderate success as a middle distance runner in high school and went to a small D2 college where began to blossom in the longer events in track and cross country. His college track PR’s were 14:50 and 30:45 for the 5k and 10k. His road 10k times have been in the range of his college track 10k over the past several years.

After college Phil took to the roads where has competed in races from 10k to the marathon for the last 4 years. Phil trains with a local sub-elite racing team and gets workouts from the team’s coach on occasion. Phil has run 2 marathons with a best time of 2:21:18 just a month ago. Phil has slowly raised his mileage from the 65-75 miles per week he did in college. Phil’s current mileage level for his last marathon was in the 90-100 miles per week range, getting up to 104 at its peak a month before the marathon. Phil currently runs 11-12 times per week, doing doubles most every day except his stress workout days. Phil has experimented with different micro-cycle designs but keeps coming back to a 3 stress workout her 7 day cycle. He has noticed this past cycle he is having trouble recovering in time for his next workout as he gets into longer marathon workouts.

Phil is at a cross roads in his career as a runner. He has been working part-time as a sales clerk at a local running specialty store while he pursues his running career since graduating college. He has decided he either needs to get to the next level in his running or put his college degree to use and get a professional job in his major. So Phil has sought out MPR for help to take his running to the next level.

Phil’s goal is to run a spring marathon 24 weeks from now, and to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trails in it with a time of under 2:19:00 and begin to establish himself as a serious marathoner.

Based on this background we can begin to establish a plan for Phil’s training cycle.

Mileage: Phil has upped his mileage slowly since college but is still somewhat light for a marathoner with elite dreams. Given this we plan to move Phil up 5-10 miles per week, to 100-110 miles per week, during this training cycle.

Micro-Cycle Structure: It appears that Phil is at a changing point many high level marathoners hit in their late 20’s to early 30’s in that his body is having a harder time recovering properly in the 3 base unit per 7 day micro-cycle he has used his whole career. We are going to move Phil over to a 3 base unit per 9 day micro-cycle this training cycle to allow his body to absorb the increased mileage needed to run a high level marathon and the still recover properly between workouts.

Frequency: We will have Phil adopt a pattern where he runs an easy secondary run on all days except his long run days. This extra run will make up most of the extra miles he is adding per week this cycle.

Training Phases: We are going to get Phil on the 3 phase MPR training system breaking his 24 weeks up as 13 weeks in a Fundamental phase and 11 weeks in a Specific phase, followed by a 3 week regeneration break after the marathon.

Races: We will have Phil race 3 races, roughly 4 week apart, at shorter distances in the Fundamental Phase to work on his aerobic power. In the Specific Phase, Phil will not race, other than the goal race, but we will do a simulation run, that Phil may wish to do in a race to better simulate the race atmosphere and conditions.

Designing a 9 Day Micro-Cycle

One of the first tasks I will do when I am training someone with a micro-cycle that is anything other than a standard 7 day week, is to map out their training cycle calendar, including all their races and map out where there stress workouts fall.

We know that Phil’s goal race is in 24 weeks time and have found some suitable races for him during his Fundamental Phase. We also know that we are moving Phil to a 3 day base unit and 9 day micro-cycle. Given all of this, here is what Phil’s training calendar will look like.

As you can see Phil’s stress workouts are scheduled 3 days apart. The only exception is when he races a longer race (week 9) he gets an extra day before and after for taper/recovery. Additionally his simulation run is scheduled for 5 weeks prior to his goal race (on a weekend) so that he can have the option of finding a race in which to run it if he chooses.

Phil’s easy days would be made up of a main run of 9-10 miles and a secondary run of 4-5 miles.

The next step would be to take this general calendar for the fill in the type of workout Phil will do on each of his stress days. This would look something like this:

As you can see, in the Fundamental phase we schedule a good mixture of stress workouts so we build a solid all around base of running fitness from which to build. The stress workout mix during this Fundamental Phase end up coming out as illustrated below, a pretty even mixture of training zones. :

Then in the Specific Phase we focus in more around race pace work (Zone 4), so we get a stress workout mixture that looks like this:

The next step then would be to fill in the details of the workouts in each zone. As we do this it is important to note that when establishing the milestone workouts we may not have a specific distance or time we are using in zone 5 and 6, as these workouts may increase each time we do them in the Fundamental Phase given the specific demands of the marathon. Instead in these workouts we can check progress by comparing the distance traveled and the pace carried. For example if we are doing steady state long run and covering 15 miles at 5:45 pace early in the phase and by the end of the phase we are covering 17 miles at 5:40 pace we know we are making progress as both the pace and the distance are better. One additional note on milestones workouts is they may not always be applicable to do in the goal race zone (zone 4 in this case) in the Specific Phase as work is structured on holding goal pace for longer and making goal pace easier to manage rather than improving goal pace. But similar to the previous examples, distance covered at goal pace can serve as a good indicator of progress being made.

In the Fundamental Phase, as we can add in the details of each workout we get the following schedule:

In this chart we are showing each training zone and the workout we do each time we do that workout. For example the first time we do a Zone 1 workout we are doing 24 x 200, and then the second time Zone 1 comes up we are doing our 20 x 400 milestone workout (designated as such by the blue shading).

As you can see we, we do a milestone workout early and late in the cycle in to gauge fitness improvements in Zone 1,2,3 and 4 and in zones 5 and 6 we are increasing the distance of the runs to build endurance and prepare for the Specific phase.

Then in the specific phase our workout mixture changes and our details look like this:

As you can in Zone 4 we are doing 2 main types of workouts to prepare us for the goal marathon; continuous runs at marathon goal pace, and a wave workout. In the wave workout we are alternating miles at between 10 seconds faster than goal marathon pace and 20 seconds slower than goal marathon pace. In marathon training this workout is great for reducing the difference between our aerobic threshold and lactate threshold paces, thereby making us more efficient at our goal marathon pace.

In week 19, 5 weeks prior to the goal marathon, we will do our marathon simulation run. In general, in this workout we want to simulate the first 25k (60%) of our goal race. We practice our pre-race routines (eating, warm-ups, etc.), run on a course very similar to the race course, run in the clothes and shoes we plan to race in, run at the same time of day as the goal race and practice the race fueling strategy we plan to use. I have found this practice to be instrumental in both providing confidence for the runner and an opportunity to make tweaks to anything that does not go well. This run serves as a good dress rehearsal for race day. This workout is slightly tougher than many of our other stress workouts and as such the day proceeding and 2 days following should be taken a little easier than normal to allow for adequate recovery.

Another unique component in the Specific Phase is the use of fast finish long runs. These are Zone 7 runs in which the first portion of the long run is done at an easy pace and then the last portion is done at goal race pace. The purpose of this workout is to prepare the mind and body for running at race pace when the body is tried and running lower on glycogen, similar to the conditions we will be in late in a marathon.

Training Paces

It is likely that Phil will progress in his training paces during the training cycle. Here are the training pace ranges that Phil will likely be in at the beginning and end of the period. Where in each range he falls will depend on the workout being performed. These times assume good conditions and appropriate workout efforts. Reminder: as stated in Chapter 6 – effort trumps pace in our workouts, so these paces are only given as a general guide.

Strength Training

We would instruct Phil to do a strength circuits (outlined in Chapter 9) once every base unit (3 days) during the fundamental phase, on an easy run day. In the specific phase we would have him cut-down to 1 strength circuit every other base unit (i.e. once every 6 days).

Additionally we would want Phil to do 4 core circuits each week (two out of every 3 day base cycle) through-out the training cycle but never on a race day or long run day.

Flexibility

We would test Phil at the beginning of the cycle to make sure he had a full range of motion in all key muscles groups and joints. We would have Phil follow the warm-up and cool-down routines out lined in Chapter 8 and give him extra flexibility work if his range of motion was deficient in any area

Goal Race Strategy

One of the things we want to make sure of, is that Phil has the right strategy to use in his marathons.

We would advise Phil to start off at an even pace, consistent with what his training indicated he can handle for the full race, and hold that pace at least through 20 miles. Then he can race home the last 6.2 miles as best he can. If that is an increase in pace great, but if not than he can try and hold his pace from the first 20 miles the rest of the way. This strategy is likely to yield Phil the best time and place in the race. We will practice in training various fueling strategies for Phil, on his steady state and fast finish long runs as well as in a few of his race pace continuous runs. The ultimate race fueling strategy used will likely look something similar to what was discussed in the chapter on racing but tweaked for Phil’s personal preferences and digestive system.

Mental Preparations

We will sit-down with Phil and explain the program to him and build up his confidence that he is on the right path for meeting his goals. In his training runs, we will stress running with an even pace (except on predator or fast finish runs) to mimic what we want to do on race days. We will encourage Phil to begin to use visualization in his tempo runs and at other times, to see himself being successful and implementing his race strategy to perfection. This will be of particular importance in his simulation run. The increase in Zone 4 work in the Specific Phase will harden Phil both mentally and physically to the feel and demands of that pace. We will also instruct Phil to work on becoming as physically relaxed as possible at goal race pace in his Zone 4 workouts.

Chapter 14 - Putting It All Together – Example Half Marathon Program

2011-03-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Chapter 14

Putting It All Together – Example Half Marathon Program

Now that we have discussed the various components of the Maximum Performance Running philosophy of training and racing, it’s time to put it all together in to a training program.

In this chapter we will take an example runner and we will design, step by step, a training cycle for them. In order design this program we first need to analyze the background of this runner.

Example Runner: Sally Slowtwitch, age 24

Background: Sally has a collegiate track and cross country background where she ran in the mid 16’s for 5k and low 34’s for the 10k on 75-85 miles per week in training her last year in school. While performing well in college she feels she underperformed her potential and while rarely injured, she never felt 100% comfortable with the shorter distances, intense speed sessions and frequent racing. Now out of college she has decided to focus on the half marathon and marathon distances. In her first training cycle since finishing school she ran a 1:15:48 (5:47 pace) in her first half marathon, the furthest she has ever raced, and averaged 85-90 miles per training week during the cycle. While not exactly using a phased training system, Sally used workouts similar to what she had done in college cross country with more emphasis on tempo runs in training for her half marathon. Sally didn’t have any injuries during the cycle and while she made a few mistakes (started too fast) in her debut half marathon, she felt she gave it a good effort and feels she has plenty of upside potential at that distance. Sally utilizes a 3 stress workout per 7 day micro-cycle and feels comfortable with it. Sally gets in 11 runs per week which include 4 easy secondary runs of 3-4 miles. Sally has taken a couple of weeks of just easy running since her half marathon debut.

Goals: Encouraged by first half marathon, Sally wants to continue to explore the longer distances and establish a name for herself as a post collegiate runner. Sally has set a major half marathon race 24 weeks from now as the main goal for her next training cycle, hoping to run it in the 1:14’s. If she reaches this time goal she will plan to run her first marathon in the following cycle.

Sally has come to MPR for help in designing her next training cycle.

Ok, so after looking over Sally’s background and future plans we can make some early determinations on what direction to move in for the next cycle.

Mileage: Sally upped her mileage by 5 miles per week during the last training cycle (to 85-90 after being at 75-85 her last year in college) and ran a good race and didn’t experience any injuries or over training. Given this, and her future plans to run a marathon, we plan to move Sally up 5 miles, to 90-95 miles per week, during this training cycle.

Frequency: We will have Sally add 1 easy secondary run to her schedule to bring her to 12 runs per week, from 11 runs this past cycle. This extra run will make up most of the extra 5 miles she is adding per week this cycle.

Micro-Cycle Structure: Since Sally has been operating on a 3 stress workout per 7 day micro-cycle in the past and is comfortable with it, and given her relatively young age (24), we are going to stick with that micro-cycle for this phase and review it again before the next cycle.

Training Phases: We are going to get Sally on the 3 phase MPR training system. Since Sally has a fairly good mileage level and her goal race is the half marathon, we are going to stay on the shorter end of the length range for the specific phase. Given that she has 24 weeks until her goal race we will structure that time as 16 weeks in a fundamental phase and an 8 week specific phase, and also recommend a 2 week regeneration phase following the goal race.

Races: We will schedule 3 races at shorter distances (5k to 15k) during the Fundamental Phase and 1 race midway through her Specific Phase. With the goal race that will give her only 5 races in 6 months or one about every 5 weeks. This schedule of races will give us enough opportunity to judge fitness gains, give her things to look forward to during the cycle, keep the feel of racing, and allow her to continue to establish her name in her post collegiate career, but also allow for enough dedicated training time to ramp and peak her fitness for her goal race.

Training Cycle Overview

With all of this established we are ready to design a training cycle outline. This a high level overview of the training cycle where we plan the structure of the phases, meso-cycles and micro-cycles. We will also add put in mileage levels and workout types into the schedule. This will serve as our blue-print as we go through the cycle.

Here is what our blue-print for Sally’s cycle would look like:

As you can see in the first couple of weeks we build Sally up to her goal mileage for the cycle. Then her mileage stays at 90-95 per week through-out the cycle (consistency) during a normal training week and falls by 10 miles per week on race weeks, when no long run (Zone 5 or 6) is possible. The only 2 exceptions to this are in week 16 after the last race in the Fundamental phase we take a slight down week with only 2 stress workouts and slightly reduced mileage in order to make sure that Sally is fully recovered from her race and is ready for her specific phase; and the other exception is in the week before the goal race where we back off slightly on our mileage level to reduce any lingering fatigue before the goal race.

In the fundamental phase we schedule a regular and wide variety of stress workouts, to build an even and broad fitness base. The workout mixture ends up looking like this during the fundamental phase, with the 6 main zones each making up 14-16% of all stress workouts done in the fundamental phase:

Then in the specific phase the mixture of workouts moves more heavily towards our goal race pace (to slightly faster) so we can harden our bodies and mind to this pace. For the half marathon this means that we will work in Zone 3 the most, with Zone 4 remaining prominent and Zone 1 and 2 being reduced in frequency (but not abandoned!). Additionally we use Zone 7 in some of our long run days in order to bring an element of faster speeds into those workouts. The mixture of workouts in Sally’s specific phase end up looking like this:

Adding In The Details

Usually when designing a program I will only fill in the detailed workouts one meso-cycle at a time. That way I can adapt the workouts in later meso-cycles for things I see in training this meso-cycle. On occasion, I may map all the details in advance to help me completely vet out the cycle, but I only give the athlete the details a meso-cycle at a time, in case I decide to make a change they don’t feel like the program is changing and lose any confidence.

It’s important to be able to adapt to what you see happening with your athletes. Fitness may improve quicker or slower than planned, an unexpected trip, emergency or illness may happen and things need to be adjusted. We should never have an inflexible schedule but at the same time “a failure to plan is planning to fail”.

For the sake of our example, I will map out all of the detailed workouts so that you can see an example of how I would envision it all coming together. In reality, we may have to make tweaks here and there but this will give you a good example of how I plan progressions and training patterns.

One of the first things I will do in a training cycle is establishing a milestone workout for each of the 6 major training zones. This will be a set workout that I repeat at various points in time during the cycle that will help me determine the progress being made in that zone. For Sally the workouts I have chosen are:

Zone 1: 20 x 400 with 1:15 jog recovery
Zone 2: 6 x 1600 with 2:30 jog recovery
Zone 3: 5 mile tempo run – run by feel with no looking at the watch until finished
Zone 4: 10 mile tempo run – run by feel with no looking at the watch until finished
Zone 5: 15 mile steady state long run – run by feel with no looking at the watch until finished
Zone 6: 20 mile easy pace long run – run by feel with no looking at the watch until finished

The main thing in milestone workouts is to do them on the same course and to use the same effort on them so that you get good feedback. For example on the Zone 3 milestone workout of a 5 mile tempo run, you don’t want the athlete to look at your watch and check splits, but rather just run 5 miles at what feels like a good hard, appropriate effort, tempo pace and then note his/her time at when they complete the 5 miles. It is helpful if a coach or another athlete is present with them to make sure they don’t start out too far outside of expected pace zones if the athlete does not have a good sense of pace. If a runner does this workout at the beginning of the Fundamental phase and their time is 29:00, and then they do it again at the end of the Fundamental phase and their time is 27:45, you know you have made good progress in this area during the phase, as long as the effort was similar. On Zone 1 and 2 milestones, I usually give them their splits along the way but stress they need to be consistent in the efforts given and not race the workout in order to run faster.

Once I have established the milestone workouts, I usually place them in the schedule where I want them. Not too often, but often enough to be useful. For Sally, I am placing these at the beginning of the fundamental phase and toward the end of the fundamental phase (10 weeks apart) to help monitor improvements in fitness level for each zone during this phase, and then each workout once again during the specific phase. I am not looking for improvement necessarily in the specific phase in zones outside of the race pace zone, but I don’t want to see large drop-off’s either. But we should see continued improvements in the zone that contains our goal race pace. In Sally’s case we would expect to see improvement in Zone 3 and Zone 4 in the specific phase. Going back and reviewing the milestone workout data after the training cycle is over often can help me make tweaks to the program for that individual in future training cycles.

Let’s put in the rest of the details and look at what we have.

In order to hit the mileage totals in this training cycle, days between stress workouts would consist of a primary run of 8-10 miles at an easy pace and a secondary run of 3-4 miles at an easy pace. A 3-4 mile secondary run would also be done on stress #1 days. The mileage in the day(s) before and after a race may be lighter as is appropriate.

An easy pace for Sally would be between 6:45 and 7:45 per mile or 65-75% of max HR.

The workouts shaded in blue are the milestone workouts we talked about earlier. Races are shaded in orange.

You will notice some Stress #2 workouts are termed ‘predator’, a term I borrowed from Coach Scott Simmons. As talked about in Chapter 6, these are tempo runs done in a progression manner with roughly a 30 second per mile difference between the first and last mile (last being fastest).

In the specific phase you will notice two Stress #1 workouts that I call ‘wave’ workouts. This is a workout that alternates back and forth between two paces. In this particular workout I want Sally to run 6 miles continuous alternating half miles between 10-20 seconds per mile faster than half marathon pace and 20-30 seconds per mile slower than half marathon pace. Sally’s goal half marathon pace is roughly 5:40 per mile so she would do her 6 mile continuous run alternating half miles between 2:40-2:45 and 3:00-3:05. This workout has been popularized by Coach Renato Canova (he calls them ‘alternations’) and it is very useful in helping the body learn to clear lactate from the system at faster speeds, thereby improving our lactate threshold which is a key determinant in our half marathon race pace.

In the specific phase, the two Zone 7 workouts in Stress #3 uses as fast finish long runs in which the majority of the run is done at an easy pace and then the last few miles are run in at a hard and fast pace. This workout is great for building late race strength, as it teaches you body and mind how to run fast while tired and at lower glycogen levels.

Training Paces

It is likely that Sally will progress in her training paces during the training cycle. Here are the training pace ranges that Sally will likely be in at the beginning and end of the period. Where in each range she falls will depend on the workout being performed. These times assume good conditions and appropriate workout efforts. Reminder: as stated in Chapter 6 – effort trumps pace in our workouts, so these paces are only given as a general guide.

Strength Training

We would instruct Sally to do 2 strength circuits (outlined in Chapter 9) per week during the fundamental phase, both on easy run days. In the specific phase we would have her do 1 or 2 strength circuits depending on her level of fatigue.

Additionally we would want Sally to do 4 core circuits (outlined in Chapter 9) each week through-out the training cycle but never on a race day or long run day (Stress#3).

Flexibility

We would test Sally at the beginning of the cycle to make sure she had a full range of motion in all key muscles groups and joints. We would have Sally follow the warm-up and cool-down routines out lined in Chapter 8 and give her extra flexibility work if her range of motion was deficient in any area

Goal Race Strategy

One of the things we want to correct in this cycle is the strategy that Sally uses in her longer races. In her first half marathon she started off too quick and paid for it the final miles, ultimately hurting her over all time.

We would advise Sally to start off at an even pace, consistent with what her training indicated she can handle for the full race, and hold that pace at least through 10 miles. Then she can race home the last 3.1 miles as best she can. If that is an increase in pace great, but if not than she can try and hold her pace from the first 10 miles the rest of the way. This strategy is likely to yield Sally the best time and place in the race and teach her the most energy efficient way in which to run these longer races, which will be vital when she runs a full marathon.

Mental Preparations

We will sit-down with Sally and explain the program to her and build up her confidence that she is on the right path for meeting her goals. In her training runs, we will stress running with an even pace (except on predator or fast finish runs) to mimic what we want to do on race days. We will encourage Sally to begin to use visualization in her tempo runs and at other times, to see herself being successful and implementing her race strategy to perfection. The increase in Zone 3 work in the Specific Phase will harden Sally both mentally and physically to the feel and demands of that pace. We will instruct Sally to work on becoming as physically relaxed as possible at goal race pace in her Zone 3 workouts. This mental focus will keep her in moment in her races which is where she will perform her best.

Caution
I publish this example program so that you might see further how the MPR philosophy would come together in a program. In reality, the program would be be adapted to specifc strengths or weaknesses or the situation of the runner for which it is formed.

Chapter 13 - Long Term Progression

2011-03-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

Chaper 13

Long Term Progressions

Many people fail to reach their full potential as a marathon runner for a variety of reasons including family and job constraints, lack of commitment, lack of knowledge and failure to plan for the long term.

In this chapter, I want to talk about that last item: failure to plan for the long term, and how we can keep that from being a limiting factor in our development as a marathoner.

Asking yourself what your long term goals are for your running career is every bit if not more important as asking what your goal is for this training cycle. If the answer for you is to reach your maximum potential as a marathon (or half marathon) runner, which is the case for many advanced and elite runners, than it’s important for you to begin planning for the long term now and then figuring out how any each training cycle fits into that longer term vision.

Reaching your maximum potential as a marathon runner is something that can take years and years and maybe even decades and decades (depending on your age) to achieve. As such, long term planning is the key to our ultimate success.

Aerobic Development

Aerobic development is a major key to success in the world of marathon running and it takes many years of proper training to build our aerobic development to an elite level. So the sooner we can start the better off we are. I believe that one of the reasons why the east African’s do so well in the marathon and other distance races is that they have a pedestrian lifestyle from a very early age and many of them (particularly those in the Rift Valley) do this at substantial altitude; both are which are great for starting aerobic development at a young age.

Maximum Effectively Mileage

Mileage level is a key component in aerobic development and so it is one of the tangible ways we track our progression from training cycle to training cycle. As discussed in the first chapter, in the section on capacity, each runner has a maximum effective mileage that will be unique to them and in most cases take years to reach. Reaching our maximum effective mileage level needs to be done in balance with the other tenets (consistency, frequency and mixture) in order to be most effective. In order to maintain this balance we have to slowly and incrementally work our way toward our maximum one cycle at a time over the long term.

Using Training Cycles As Building Blocks

Within the framework of the MPR training philosophy, training cycles will be progressive in nature until the maximum effective mileage level for the individual is reached. Because of this we can look at training cycles as building blocks built one upon another.

For example, if we have a promising young marathon runner fresh out of college who currently averages 80 miles per week, it may well take numerous years for that runner to reach his/her maximum effective mileage if that mileage level is ultimately 120 miles per week. If we envision that this runner has 2 training cycles per year (common for a marathoner) then his/her progression may look like this:

Year 1 – Cycle 1: Fundamental Phase - 80-85 miles per week; Specific Phase – 85-90 miles per week
Year 1 – Cycle 2: Fundamental Phase - 85-90 miles per week; Specific Phase – 90-95 miles per week
Year 2 – Cycle 1: Fundamental Phase - 90-95 miles per week; Specific Phase – 95-100 miles per week
Year 2 – Cycle 2: Fundamental Phase - 95-100 miles per week; Specific Phase – 100-105 miles per week
Year 3 – Cycle 1: Fundamental Phase - 100-105 miles per week; Specific Phase – 105-110 miles per week
Year 3 – Cycle 2: Fundamental Phase – 105-110 miles per week; Specific Phase – 110-115 miles per week
Year 4 – Cycle 1: Fundamental Phase – 110-115 miles per week; Specific Phase – 115-120 miles per week
Year 4 – Cycle 2: Fundamental Phase – 115-120 miles per week; Specific Phase – 120-125 miles per week

As we see in this example it took a full 4 years for this marathoner to approach his/her maximum effective mileage, even after starting out at 80 miles per week after their collegiate career. This progression very closely mirrors the progression Olympic Bronze medalist and American Record holder Deana Kastor underwent under the tutelage of Coach Joe Vigil. She finished college running about 80 miles per week and slowly and incrementally added about 10 miles per year until she reached about 130 miles per week by the 2004 Olympics. During those years of building she got stronger and stronger as her aerobic development improved and her race times at distances from 5k to the marathon got faster and faster. Coach Vigil, being the mastermind that he is, didn’t rush her progression at the expense of the other key tenets of training, but rather slowly and incrementally increased her mileage a little at a time from training cycle to training cycle and the results were undeniable as she held every American record from the 8k to the marathon at one point.

The athlete can be extremely successful along the way in this progression because all 4 tenets of training are kept in balance, and yet their full potential will not be realized at least until their maximum effective mileage is reached. Such was the case for Deena when she ran her 2:19 American record for the marathon, while winning back to back major marathons, a few years later after she had reached her maximum effective mileage.

Progress Beyond When We Reach Our Maximum Effective Mileage

Once the runner has progressed to their maximum effective mileage in a balanced and incremental approach, further improvements may still be possible. These improvements can be made due to shear time at maximum effective mileage, and through shoring up areas of weakness and exploiting areas of strength.

It is at this point, that tweaks within the training cycles themselves can be the most key to obtaining maximum performance. We may find a more effective in-race fueling strategy, a better nutritional plan during our training, or sequence our stress workouts in a new and more effective manner. While we will surely be fine tuning all these things each cycle during our climb to our maximum effective mileage, this process will continue throughout our career and so the potential for further improvement always exists.

Big Picture

In the MPR philosophy we keep the big picture in mind when designing the current training cycle. While we want to maximize our results in this current cycle, it needs to be done in a way that continues to keep us track for reaching our longer term goals as well. In this way our long term progression looks like a staircase with each cycle building off the previous ones.

Chapter 12 - Injury & Illness

2011-03-24T02:53:00.000-07:00

Chapter 12

Dealing With Injury & Illness

We all like to think we are indestructible, but as some of us have learned this is simply not the case, regardless of how fit we are or once were. While we don’t like to think about injuries or illness or anything that might side track our training and racing, the best time to prepare for those occasions is now before they arrive. Here are some guidelines I use in my coaching when determining if an injury or illness should sideline training.

Illness

We are all susceptible to the occasional common cold virus or stomach bug from time to time. When these occasions hit, runners and their coaches must then decide when to back off and when to run through it. Here are the basic guidelines I use to decide when to push on and when to back off.

1) If there is a fever present then no running is allowed
2) If there is stomach distress (nausea, vomiting or diarrhea) then no running is allowed
3) If congestion is present and lingers for a more than a few days then runs are cut-back to 50% of the normally scheduled amount and any stress workouts are replaced with 50% of an easy day. This is done for two or three days or until feeling back to normal again.
4) If you are in the first day or two of congestion, or what might be the onset of a cold, and you start a stress workout and feel drained (subpar), cut the workout short and take a couple of days of half runs.

While we can’t take off every time we have a sniffle, if we continue to push ourselves when our bodies are sick, we can end up having to take weeks off to recover when our cold/virus becomes more severe (infection or pneumonia). By cutting back to 50% of normal for a few days we often give the body the extra help its needs to fight off the virus/bug in a timely manner so we can get back to training with minimal disruption. Additionally the 50% work that we do helps us maintain our fitness and running adaptations and sparks the immune system. Often just a few days of this makes a world of difference. As a coach I can work a training program around an occasional 3 day half work load much easier than I can a 2 week break to recover from pneumonia.

Injury

The majority of running injuries are over use related. So prevention is a key aspect. Here are a few things to keep in mind to help prevent injuries.

1) Make sure that you don’t increase the quantity or quality in your program too quickly; slow and gradual changes are the key.
2) Make sure that your long runs and quality workouts are in the proper proportion to your weekly mileage.
3) Follow a sound core and strength routine to maintain the proper balance between muscles groups.
4) Follow a flexibility routine that keeps a full range of motion in all muscle groups and joints.
5) Make sure you are using the proper equipment – check your shoes regularly for wear and take the time to go to a running specialty store and get properly fitted for the type you need (stability, cushioning, etc.).
6) Watch the cantor (sideways slope) of your running surface. If you run on the roads often, regularly change the direction of your runs so that you don’t develop knee or hip problems from running always on one side (slope) of the road.
7) Diligence in the little things (like following 1-6 above) can make a ton of difference in trying to keep injuries at bay.

But even with the best prevention occasionally aches, pains, nicks or even full on injuries can happen. So how do we decide what we can run through and when we need some time off or to see a doctor (preferably a sports specialist)? Here are some of the basic guidelines I use, but remember I am not a doctor:

1) If the injury, or pain from it, alters your stride or form then do not run.
2) If pain/discomfort decreases as you run (sore at first but better as time goes by) then you can do some light easy running (being careful of duration and intensity).
3) If pain/discomfort increases as your run, then do not run or discontinue the run you are on and start treatment for the injury.

Treating minor aches and pains before they become injuries
Most runners in serious training are familiar with the minor aches and pains that come along with pushing the envelope in training. A sore tendon, a sore muscle, or aching joint, etc. The best advice I can offer is to treat these promptly before they become full on injuries. Some of the tools for treating aches and pains include:

• Icing the area after exercise/activity to reduce inflammation
• Get a sports massage to work out tightness or knots in the problem area
• Ice baths / Epsom salt baths to relieve soreness
• Specific stretching routines to address the problem area and/or cause area (often not the same)
• Strengthening weak muscles or correcting imbalances before they get worse.
• Alternating ice and heat (always ending with ice) to increase blood flow - I have found this particularly effective for tendon related aches.

Cause – Look up the chain
Try and look for the cause of a problem area or injury. Often times you will not find the problem where it hurts but rather somewhere up the chain (or leg in this case). Tight hips and lower back are often the culprit for IT band problems. Foot problems are often tight calf related/caused. Whenever possible make sure you are treating/dealing with the cause of the problem as well as the injury site itself. This will help prevent relapses later on.

Sports Doctor and Trainer

All serious athletes, especially higher level athletes, should have a doctor and/or trainer (depending on the severity) they can call on when injury or illness pop up from time to time. If you do not have such a person I suggest you find one or multiple ones to have in the event you need them. Rather than wait until an injury or illness hits, do your research now, talk to other athletes, coaches and others you trust about who they use and for what and have these people in mind if and when you ever need them.

Chapter 11 - Mental Training

2011-03-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

Chapter 11

Mental Training

Training your mind is an important element in achieving your maximum performance in longer distance races. While there are many things we do physically in training that also prepares the mind, here are a few things to keep in mind to aid in our mental preparations.

Confidence
The runner’s belief in their ability to perform a task when it counts is of paramount importance in their actually doing it. Regardless of how physically well prepared they are, if they don’t believe they can do it, chances are they won’t do it. This is a fact that coaches and runners can never afford to lose sight of. Our mental preparations for achieving our maximum performance in a race should center on developing confidence in our ability to do just that. Let’s take a look at some of the ways we can build a runner’s confidence in their ability to perform well.

Visualizations
One important tool most any athlete has is the practice of visualizing various competitive situations and scenarios and seeing themselves do well. While visualization can be done at any time, I have found it most effective in running to do it during a workout as it connects the mental visualization with the physical feel of running hard. For half marathon and marathon runners this can very effectively be done during tempo runs. I have started this practice with a young runner I am working with and to help I play the role of commentator for the visualization. In her visualization she races top competitors in major races and always performs well. As the commentator for the race I can control the tactics and situations to mesh with what we are doing in the workout. It has become a practice that she greatly enjoys and one that helps her visualize herself doing well in big situations and having confidence in her abilities. When important races are nearing, visualization can also be used to rehearse race plans to improve familiarity.

Note: while visualizations in training are a great tool to use, it must be noted to make sure the workout itself does not become a race and that effort levels are kept in the appropriate workout ranges.

Approach / Attitude
Attitude is a very important and often overlooked part of distance running. Our mind greatly influences how our body feels and reacts. The mental and emotional aspects of training for distance races should not be overlooked. The mental frame of mind that you take into a race, workout or even in daily activities has a great influence on how those activities go. We can often talk ourselves into or out of things simply based on the attitude we bring into it.

Competitive distance runners in serious training tend to be tired much of the time, and fatigue can often impact our attitudes. Add to this the fact these runners are also bumping up against their own physical limits on a regular basis, and many of them can find themselves to be moody, negative and even pessimistic if they are not careful. If you don’t believe me, just spend a few minutes reading the message boards at any popular website for distance runners. You’ll find negative and pessimistic attitudes on most everything, including the U.S. 10k Champ, 14 yr old prodigies, various coaches and the economy.

This negative attitude can and often does carry over into training. Some runners convince themselves of certain arbitrary limits they have instead of letting their bodies do the talking. Some runners enter races “knowing” they’ll feel miserable. Some runners convince themselves that they “need” a day off each week. Some convince themselves that they “can’t” negative split a race or they “can’t” run by themselves. Even at the highest level some convince themselves they “shouldn’t” lead a race or they “can’t” compete with the Africans. The list goes on and on. Our bodies and minds are capable of amazing adaptations and progressions from training, and it is a real shame when these are cut short by our attitudes. I am all for smart training and learning from the past, but I also know enough to stay away from making blanket statements and from placing arbitrary limits on myself, or worse yet, on others.

So how do we keep a positive attitude?

The answer to this question will vary from person to person but here are a few things I think that can help most everyone stay positive about their running.

1) Acknowledge that a negative attitude can be a problem and be on the lookout for signs your mood is slipping. Sometimes just being aware that this is a potential problem can make a great deal of difference.

2) Know what makes you happy and what puts you in a good mood, and then use those things at the right times. For example, I know several very successful runners who listen to their favorite music while warming up, it lifts their spirit and put them in a good frame of mind for the workout or the race. Others like to read the bible or a favorite inspirational quote or story, or spend quite time meditating. Take note of what works for you.

3) Know your motivations – why you run and what your goals are. Remind yourself of these on a regular basis. Some runners write these on sticky notes and place them on their mirror, computer, refrigerator, or workout bag. Others write them on their shoes. I have a friend who recited them into a MP3 recorder and added it to his play mix of music. Whatever works for you.

4) Keep an open mind. There is more than one way to be successful, and things that may not have worked for you in the past may now work because you have grown as a runner. Try and reduce or eliminate the amount of arbitrary limits you place on yourself.

5) Positive imaging – as just mentioned earlier in this chapter – is spending time each day rehearsing in your mind positive situations and outcomes in regard to running. I call them "runner’s day dreams" – see yourself running well, handling different situations, feeling great doing it, and meeting your goals.

6) Have fun! Running is inherently a fun sport. Don’t kill the fun with worry, being overly obsessed with details. Keep it fun.

Callousing Affect
The callusing affect is a very real and very useful part of training for distance running. But I am not talking about the physical callusing we get on our feet, but rather the mental callusing we get when we undergo longer periods of hard training.

What is the Callusing Affect?

In running terms this is when we become very mentally familiar with something that is difficult and as a result it becomes somehow more bearable to us. When we undergo hard training that involves repeated bouts of running at a high level, we become mentally familiar with the discomfort involved with efforts of that level. After a while, we mentally become callused to these efforts and while they are still physically demanding, mentally they are familiar and thus more tolerable.

Consistency and Frequency
The callusing affect is a significant reason why I am a big proponent of consistency in training. If consistency is not present, it is very difficult to get a callusing affect.

Additionally frequency is also very important in the promotion of mental callusing; both frequency in number of runs done, and the frequency in which workout types are done in training.

Callusing and the Specific Phase
I also think while there is a general callusing to hard work (i.e. running hard) there can also be a specific mental callusing to a certain pace. So while training hard may bring about a mental callusing to generally running hard, it requires training frequently at a race pace to receive the full benefit of specific callusing for that race. This is one of the reasons why the Specific Phase of training utilizes more work at or near a goal race pace.

There are several good examples of this in my marathon training programs. As the marathon race approaches, my runners enter their “specific phase” of training, and the workout mix shifts more toward marathon paced runs. We do this for several reasons, to get the body as familiar and comfortable with marathon race pace as possible, but also to callus the mind to what this race pace effort feels like. A couple of the specific workouts we do that help in this are as follows:

1) Long tempo run at marathon race pace: typically these range anywhere from 8 to 12 miles depending on the mileage level of the runner. This prepares the mind for running mile after mile at the same specific race pace. These runs are similar to the feel of the middle stages of the marathon (8-20 miles) and a steady diet of this type of runs in training will callus the mind for this section of the race.

2) Marathon paced segments at the end of easy paced long runs: typically these are segments of between 3 and 8 miles done at marathon race pace at the end of an 18-22 mile long run. By regularly including these into our training program we teach the mind what it feels like to run at marathon race pace when we are already tired and the glycogen levels significantly depleted. This helps prepare us (callus us) mentally and physically for the feel of the last 6 miles of the marathon.

While these examples were specific to the marathon, the benefits of the callusing affect hold true to any race distance and are one of the two fundamental reasons behind the specific phase of training.

Workout Selection
At a coaching conference recently, Coach Greg McMillan gave me a great piece of advice that has resonated in my mind since then. He said to give runners workouts that they can be successful at, and this becomes even more important as goal races approach. I think he was right on the money with that. Sure there are certain things we need to work on in training from a physical standpoint but we need to find ways to do them that our runners can be successful at. Nothing helps a runner’s confidence level like a workout that goes well. String a few of these together and you have a confident and excited runner

Belief In The Program
Why were some of the legendary high school and college programs so successful for so long? Programs like Coach Dan Green’s Woodlands HS Cross Country teams, Coach Joe Newton’s legendary Long Green Line program at York HS, Bill Bowerman’s men of Oregon, John McDonnell’s amazing Arkansas teams, or Joe Vigil’s Adams State dominance. Were their training programs that much more physiologically sound than others? The answer is probably not, but the athletes in those programs BELIEVED in the program, and the coach of that program, completely and are thus successful, and that success builds more belief and thus more success.

Any successful training program must be at least physiologically sound, but beyond that there are many variations that work. As I have talked about before, there is more than one way to achieve the same result. But belief in what you are doing in training is a major element in a successful training program. When an athlete believes in what they are doing, has faith in their program and their coach, they consistently achieve more than runners who have less belief and more uncertainty. Their attitude in training and racing is better and they go into races with more confidence.

Set Programs
Most successful coaches establish a set program or system that they believe (for whatever reason) is the best way to achieve a certain end result, much as I have outlined here in this book. These programs have a set, sometimes even rigid, routine? James Li starts Benard Lagat’s workouts on a specific day with a specific workout each year and his workout progressions follow a certain predetermined order. The Hansons Marathon Team has their runners do a marathon simulation run a month prior to the goal marathon, every training cycle. Couldn’t they be more flexible and do something else and it still work? Physiologically the answer is yes, they could do it differently, but there is an important psychological component to training programs as well.

Many of the best coaches have learned that an established framework for how they operate and the plan they follow helps them do 3 important things: establish a sense of order and predictability; fight against wishy-washy or whimsy decision making that can undermine a training program; instill confidence in its followers when the program proves to be successful.

These coaches have also learned that the solid framework of the program also allows them the freedom to make individual changes from workout to workout depending on the situation and given athlete. If the framework of the program stays in place, the tweaks of a workout only add spice to the dish without altering what it is. I like to think of it as a chef who has an award winning recipe for chili, he knows what goes in to making the chili and he’s made it thousands of times, so he has the freedom of making small adjustments given the tastes of his current customers, the kitchen, stove and other conditions he finds himself in, knowing that the chili will still taste great because he has all the main ingredients, timing and order still in place.

Unfortunately some coaches and runners without a sound framework will use the philosophy that since there are many different ways to get to the same end goal that they can just change whatever they want whenever they want and they will be ok, but what they find is that instead of award winning Chili they get a sad stew because they didn’t follow a core recipe.

Program & Coach
One can have belief in the training program and belief in the coach that comes up with that program, but not necessarily have both. Belief in one or the other is important and even necessary to achieve regular success, but belief in both is even more powerful and will often yield a greater synergy and more consistent success. This is one of the major downsides to using a generic program; it is hard to have complete faith in a program when you don’t know who designed it or when, and knowing it wasn’t specifically adjusted for you or your exact situation.

I know that a major component in the success many of my runners have achieved so far is related to their complete faith in me as their coach and the programs I have design for them. The thought never enters their head as to whether they are doing the right things. This complete trust and faith allows them to go into each training run and race with the confidence that they have prepared properly and are ready to roll.

This Book
It is for all the reasons talked about above and more that I am writing this book on the Maximum Performance Running philosophy of training. This book will serve to illustrate the solid framework from which all my training programs are designed. It will take many of the things I have discussed in my training blog and put it all together and explains how I think each area of training should be executed. Is this the only system that will work? Of course not, but it has been very successful in the past, is successful now, and will continue to be successful in the future.

Confidence
All of these things just discussed, visualizations, attitude, callusing, workout selection, and belief in the program, all work towards instilling confidence in the runner that they can go out and produce their maximum performance on race day. That confidence is vital to making the performance a reality. The mental training we do in the Maximum Performance Running philosophy is centered on building and sustaining that confidence.

Chapter 10 - Nutrition

2011-03-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

Chapter 10

Nutrition

Nutrition is a hugely important topic for marathon runners. The nutritional requirements in training and in racing these longer distances are staggering. The runner must eat in such a way to supply ample energy for workouts and races, and aid in recovery after runs, but also in a way that does not add any extra weight which must be carried on runs. It is a tricky balancing act that each runner must master in order to obtain their maximum performance.

An important part of coaching is to know where your expertise is and in what areas you need help. I fully realize that I am not a professional nutritionist, and so while I feel I have a good basic understanding of nutrition when it comes marathon training, I often refer the runners in my programs to certified experts in this area. I utilize two main referrals on this topic – first of all I suggest they read :

“Endurance Sports Nutrition” written by Suzanne Girard Eberle MS, RD and published by Human Kinetics

I feel it is an excellent resource and lays out some sound basics for all endurance athletes to learn and consider when designing their own personal nutrition plan.

Next if the runner needs additional help I will refer to them to a certified nutritionist, registered dietitian or nutrition coach who specializes in endurance athletes. I am lucky to have several very good ones from which to choose where I live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

My Thoughts

Having prefaced my comments with the above disclosure there are some basics and insights that I feel comfortable sharing on this topic.

Amounts
Make sure you know the calorie demands of the training you are doing. A runner cannot significantly under run his/her calorie requirements on a regular basis without it affecting their energy levels. Similarly they can not regularly over do their calorie intake without adding on extra weight. Each runner’s calorie demand will differ depending on many factors, including age, genetics, weather, and other factors. It’s important for the athlete to get to know and understand their own specific needs.

Mixture
Given your daily caloric needs understand the proper mixture of food groups you need to satisfy that and track it on a daily basis. As endurance athletes, grains will usually be the food group in which you have the most portions. This will usually be followed by fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy and healthy fats. Be familiar with what your appropriate food pyramid looks like.

Choices
Choose the better foods in each food group: whole grains should make up at least 50% of the food you eat in the grains group, eat a variety of types and colors in the fruits and vegetables groups, eat lean cuts of meat and dairy products that are naturally low in fats. Include healthy fats from natural sources, such as nuts and seeds and fats that are liquid at room temperature such as olive oil.

Timing
When you eat may almost be as important as what you eat. Be sure to refuel soon after your runs, especially after your long runs and stress workouts. By replacing calories and fluids soon after our workouts, we can significantly improve our recovery times. Additionally we are better off eating multiple small meals rather than just a few bigger meals. Spread out your nutrition intake throughout the day.

Drinking
Proper and sufficient fluid intake is a key element of proper nutrition. It is recommended that he athlete consume a generous amount of water and healthy beverages per day. It is estimated that under normal condition the average person loses 8 cups (2 liters) of water per day through their skin, lungs, feces, and urine. We can easily sweat off several more cups every hour of moderate exercise. It is important that we replace this water. Some of these fluids our bodies take from the foods that we eat, but it also requires that we take in a lot of water and healthy beverages such as 100% fruit and vegetable juices, balanced sports drinks, milk and herbal teas.

Vitamins and Minerals
Running long distances can place an extra demand on various minerals and vitamins in our diet. As such we need to make sure we are getting in enough of these important elements. As a coach, here are a few of the areas I have noticed many runners having problems in:

Electrolytes: it is easy, especially during the warmer weather for runners to sweat out a great quantity of electrolytes. Make sure you are replacing these with balanced sports drinks, and foods high in important electrolytes like sodium and potassium. Insufficient electrolyte supplies can cause cramping and premature fatigue among other problems.

Calcium: the stress of running can increase the demand for calcium in the body. Calcium is essential for strong bones and many people especially kids do not get enough of it in their regular diet. Be sure to include sufficient calcium in your regular diet and if you are running short take the necessary supplements to make sure you are getting all you need. Insufficient calcium intake can lead to stress fractures, growth problems, osteoporosis and other skeletal problems.

Vitamin D: recent studies have indicated that the majority of the population of the United States, Canada and Europe are deficient in vitamin D for much of the year. Deficiencies in vitamin D can cause general fatigue and malaise, and increase susceptibility to colds, viruses and other diseases. Additionally, sufficient levels of vitamin D are needed in order for your body to be able to absorb calcium. Many distance runners have been plagued by stress fractures that they later were able to trace back to vitamin D deficiencies which kept their bodies from fully absorbing the calcium they took in.

Iron: many distance runners, especially women and those logging higher mileage, find they are low in iron, or specifically low in iron levels in their bone marrow. Iron in the bone marrow is important for the production of red blood cells which is a key component in distance running. It makes sense for marathon runners to regularly have their ferritin levels checked (ferritin levels indicate the iron levels in your bone marrow) on a regular basis.

Chapter 9 - Strength Training

2011-03-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

Chapter 9

Strength Training

In the MPR training philosophy, strength training plays an important and clearly defined role. I have 4 goals I am looking to achieve:

1. Prevent Injuries
2. Improve Running Form
3. Increase Stride Power
4. Recruit New Muscle Fibers

All four of these objectives are inter-related, as achieving each one will help us, either directly or indirectly, achieve the others.

Let’s define each of the four and talk about how strength training helps us achieve them:

Prevent Injuries – Simply defined, this is reducing the risk of injuries during our running training and racing. Strength training helps us achieve this by strengthening the running muscles in the proper proportion to one another and maintains that strength ratio. Additionally strengthening the muscles helps prevent accidental injuries which can be caused by things such as stepping off a curb, or in a hole, or having to dodge an obstacle.

Improve Running Form – This is making the running form more efficient and increasing our ability to maintain proper form for longer. This is critical for the endurance and stamina we need in the longer races. We do this by obtaining and maintaining proper strength ratios between muscles so they can use a natural and efficient running form and maintain that through-out the run.

Increase Stride Power - Making the running stride more powerful. This is very an important for running faster. We increase our stride power by increasing the strength of the muscles we use in running in the way we use them in running.

Recruit New Muscle Fibers – This is increasing the number of muscle fibers that can be used in the act of running. By doing this we increase the number of fibers that are actively storing glycogen and which can share in the effort required to run the longer races at faster paces. We accomplish this by working at very high percentages of our maximum, in exercises that include or mimic the running form.

Program Design

In designing a program to accomplish the goals listed above, I had to keep in mind that this work, while very beneficial and important, was ancillary to running. As runners who specialize in the longer distances, a marathoners’ time and energy are at a premium to be spent covering the mileage necessary to be successful at these distances. So I wanted to be sure to stay away from making any one session so difficult that it would take away from running training. So I decided to break our strength workout into 2 different parts: strength circuits and core circuits. The strength circuit focused on the muscles of the legs and the core circuit focused on the upper body and stabilizing muscles of our core region (abs). In this way we can work on things in smaller more manageable chunks.

I also wanted to design the program so that it was easy to perform and relied heavily on body weight exercises and exercises that could be done most anywhere, thus eliminating the need for and travel to gyms and expensive equipment.

The program also needed to be easy to execute and master. With some simple 1-on-1 instruction or videos the runner should be able to easily master and repeat the circuits effectively.

By making the program manageable on a time and equipment basis, and easy to master, I increased the likelihood that the runner would be able to be consistent in doing it, and would be able to do it effectively so as to accomplish our 4 goals.

The Strength Circuit

The strength circuit is made up of 8 simple exercises that are demonstrated in a video on my website here: http://www.mprunning.com/videos.php

I recommend that a runner execute this strength circuit 2 times per week during a normal training week. During the week of a race I recommend doing the strength circuit once, early in the week, if the race distance is below the half marathon in distance. If the race distance is half marathon or longer, I do not recommend performing the strength circuit during the race week.

The strength circuit should be performed on an easy or recovery day of training, never on a stress workout day. The reason for this is the extra stress of a strength circuit can take away from the quality or quantity of a stress running workout if performed before the stress workout, and can significantly increase the risk of injury if we do it after a stress running workout as the muscles are being asked to perform high intensity exercise while fatigued from the stress workout. By including our strength circuits on an easy or recovery day our muscles are better able to handle and absorb the work without increased risk of injury and the strength circuit is not difficult enough to substantially take away from our recovery between stress days.

I reviewed literally thousands of strength exercises, plyometric exercises and form drills when designing this strength program and pulled out the 8 exercises that I thought together best accomplished our 4 main goals of strength training and did so in a time and energy efficient manner. The 8 exercises I chose are as follows:

High Knee Form Drill
This is a quick paced, front half exaggerated running motion where the runner brings his/her knees up with each stride until his thighs are parallel or just past parallel with the ground. The exercise is performed with runner on the balls of his/her feet and with an upright posture (avoiding the natural tendency to lean backwards when bringing the knees up) and swinging his/her arms in a normal running motion. The forward momentum is slow even though the stride frequency is quick as the energy of the drill is more vertical than horizontal. This exercise exaggerates the front portion of the running motion and as such strengthens the muscles used to perform this portion of the stride.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 30-40 meters in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Butt Kicks Form Drill
This is a very quick paced, back half exaggerated running motion when the runner brings his trail leg all the way back until his/her heel strikes (gently) his/her buttocks. The runner maintains an upright posture and stays on the balls of his/her feet and executes this drill in a rapid fire manner where the foot is on the ground for minimal time. The forward knee movement is significantly reduced making this a quick paced but slow forward moving drill. This exercise exaggerates the back portion of the running motion and as such strengthens the muscles used to perform this portion of the stride.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 30-40 meters in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Paw Skips Form Drill
This is a form drill done in a skipping motion in which the front knee is brought up, the lower leg is kicked forward then brought back in towards the body in a pawing action at the ground (hence the name). The runner maintains an upright posture and stays on the balls of his/her feet and executes this drill. The focus of this drill is on the pawing or slapping action of the foot on the ground. This exercise exaggerates the bottom portion of the running motion and as such strengthens the muscles used to perform this portion of the stride.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 30-40 meters in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Walking Lunges
This exercise is the standard walking lunges used by athletes in a variety of sports. The athlete takes a moderately long step forward and lowers himself down until the trailing knee touches the ground. At this bottom position both knees should be bent at approximately 90 degree angles. Then the athlete pushes himself forward to a upright standing position again and takes a step forward with the other leg and repeats. The emphasis is on hitting the 90 degree angles with each stride and maintaining an upright upper body posture. This is a great dynamic power exercise for the upper legs.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 20-30 meters in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Cone Hops
Cone hops are a dynamic plyometric exercise in which a series of small cones are placed 1 stride apart (approximately 1 yard/meter) and the athlete stands with his/her feet even with each other about 2-3 inches apart and hops with both feet over each cone. The athlete draws his/her heels up towards their buttocks with each hop. It is also important that the athlete keep his/her feet even with each other so they are sharing evenly in the workload of each hop. This is a great explosive power exercise for the whole legs, especially the feet and calves.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 20-30 meters (20-30 cones) in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Diagonal Cone Hops
In this exercise we use the series of cones set out for the last drill, but move every other cone out perpendicular to the cone line by 1 stride (1 yard or meter). Then the athlete, in a slightly crouched position, takes a hoping stride landing on one foot to just behind the next cone, fully transferring his/her body weight to that foot and then pushing off diagonally to the next cone and landing just behind it with his/her other foot while again full transferring his/her full weight to that foot. This pattern is repeated for the full length of the cones. This exercise is great for building strength and resistance in the muscles on the interior and exterior portions of your legs and your ankles.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for between 20-30 meters (20-30 cones) in length and this is done 2-4 times (sets)

Box Step
This exercise can be performed using an ordinary bench or chair or bleacher. The athlete stands facing the bench and about 6-12 inches from it. He/she then steps up onto the bench with his/her right foot until they are standing upright on the bench and then steps down, leading with the same foot (right in this case), until they are back in the original position. This exercise is a great dynamic strength exercise for the whole leg, especially for the thighs.

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed for 20-30 repetitions with each leg and this is done 2-4 times (sets). 1 set equals 20-30 repetitions with the right leg leading and the same number of repetitions with the left leg leading.

Acceleration Sprints
This exercise is a 50 meter sprint where the athlete smoothly accelerates to full sprinting speed using good sprinting form. The athlete should focus on correct body position (upright with a slight forward lean) and on getting his/her knees up, running on the balls/toes of the feet and having quick leg turnover. The exercise is instrumental in building stride power and recruiting new muscle fibers.

Alternately this can be done on a short hill (30-50 meters in length) or over a 100 meters at a slightly reduced speed (i.e. 95% of top speed).

For intermediate to higher runners this exercise is performed 4-6 times (sets).

The Core Circuit

The core circuit is made up of 4 simple and basic exercises to strengthen the muscles of the upper body, with emphasis on the postural muscles of the trunk.

I recommend the core circuit be performed 4 days per week, usually the on days that do not include a strength circuit or long run, and never on race day. So a 7 day – 3 base unit training micro-cycle might look like this:

Day 1: easy run & core circuit
Day 2: stress workout & core circuit
Day 3: easy run & strength circuit
Day 4: easy run & core circuit
Day 5: stress run & core circuit
Day 6: easy run & strength circuit
Day 7: stress run (long run)

This routine was purposely kept short and simple, so that it can be done anywhere and only takes a short period of time (5-15 minutes) to accomplish. The 4 exercises included are as follows:

Push-Ups
Standard push-up, up on your toes body straight, arms straight, hands directly under shoulders, lower to within an inch or two of the ground and push back up. If the athlete can’t do more than 5 with correct form they can do them from their knees instead of toes until they have strengthened themselves up.

1-2 sets performed of as many as you can continuously do without straining or modifying form.

Bicycle Crunches
Starting laying on your back with hands interlocked behind your head, use your stomach muscles to raise your upper body rotating your right elbow towards the center, while at the same time raising your feet off the ground and bringing your left knee up to meet your right elbow in the center, then return to original position and repeat with left elbow and right knee.

1-2 sets performed of as many as you can continuously do without straining or modifying form.

Prone Alternate Arm & Leg Raises
Start in a prone (face down) position on the ground with your arms over head. Slowly raise your left arm and right leg until your hand and foot are 6 inches off the ground simultaneously. Then slow lower them. Now repeat with your right arm and left leg.

1-2 sets performed of as many as you can continuously do without straining or modifying form.

Dynamic Plank
Support yourself in a prone position up on your toes and forearms with your hands together. Now slowly raise and lower one foot up 6 inches and then lower it and raise the other foot so one foot is always moving.

Do this for as long you can (up to 2 minutes) without straining or modifying form.

I believe these 2 simple routines: strength circuit and core circuit, done several times each week give half marathoners and marathoners what they need to accomplish the 4 goals of strength training, and they do it in a simple and manageable fashion, one that leaves plenty of time and energy for our running programs.

Chapter 8 - Flexibility, Warm-ups and Cool-Downs

2011-03-11T02:47:00.000-08:00

Chapter 8 - Flexibility, Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs

Flexibility is often a misunderstood part of distance running. While it is not essential for a distance runner to have great flexibility, it is important that they have a full range of motion in all joints and major muscle groups used in running.

If I were to ask you to name me the most flexible athlete you know of, you would probably name me a dancer or gymnast as they are some of the most flexible athletes around. But then if I were to ask you to name me a high level gymnast or dancer who is also a high level runner you would be stumped, there isn’t any. One of the reasons is that high degrees of flexibility works against great distance running because in running we want some static energy/tension in the muscles to give quick resistance and energy. High degrees of flexibility reduce this energy/tension, which is great for some sports but not for running.

So in distance running what we are after is sufficient flexibility to maintain a full range of motion but not much beyond that. A full range of motion is very important though in order to obtain and maintain the most efficient running form. The lack of range of motion in any one area can cause a modification to our nature running form and this modification can often lead to injury or over use of a specific area.

So in distance running we want to look at flexibility in regards to maintaining a full range of motion. Establishing proper warm-up and cool-down routines can greatly help in establishing and maintaining our desired range of motion, so let’s look at them next.

Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs

Now before you yawn and flip (or click) to a different chapter, I need to remind you that proper warm-ups can make a great deal of difference between feeling good in a race or workout and not, between injury and health, and between getting the most out of your run and not. The proper cool-down of course can improve recovery times after workouts, improve how we feel, and lesson the likelihood or severity of soreness or stiffness. In short, warm-ups and cool-down routines can’t win a race for you, but not doing them properly can lose a race for you.

Recently at a USATF coaching conference I was at, Mike Young, Director of Sport Performance for Human Performance Consulting, was talking about warm-up and cool-down routines and he said that he has a set routine for each type of workout his athletes do. When he starts working with a new athlete he gives them a laminated card with the routines on it for them to keep with them until they memorize them. What a great idea, find a routine that suits each workout type you do and tweak till it’s ideal, then repeat it each time that workout is done. While Mike works mainly with sprinters and jumpers, I have adopted this same philosophy for distance running. No better way to take away uncertainly and insert familiarity than to formalize our warm-ups and cool-downs.

Categories

So, how many routines do we need? For most distance runners I recommend the following breakout for different routine types:

Warm-ups
1) Before easy/recovery run
2) Before stress/quality workouts or races
3) Before strength training

Cool-Downs
1) After easy/recovery runs
2) After stress/quality workouts or races
3) After strength training

Certainly we could come up with more if want to, and if that fits you best, then come up with as many as you want. If memory serves me, Mike Young said also breaks the warm-ups into subsets as well, so he can take and mix different subsets based on the situations. But I think for most distance runners establishing 3 warm-up and 3 cool-down routines work just fine.

Purpose
I suppose the best place to start is to determine what the purpose is for our warm-up and cool-downs. So let’s define what we are after.

Warm-up: to get the body optimally ready for the main activity (i.e. the run) by increasing blood flow to the muscles used and obtaining a full and free range of motion to be used in the applicable muscles and joints.

Cool-down: promote the carrying away of the waste products accumulated in the muscles during the workout, maintaining a full range of motion in the applicable joints, and muscles and promote blood flow to damaged tissues.

Components
Dynamic flexibility is of primary importance in any form of running. Dynamic flexibility is defined as: the ability to attain a large range of motion at a joint with accompanying movement. Dynamic flexibility training normally consists of simple movements that require large ranges of motion.

Static stretching is used to enhance dynamic flexibility when the range of motion you are able to achieve is insufficient. Static flexibility is the ability to attain a large degree of range at a joint without accompanying movement. Static flexibility training requires movement (stretching) into positions that challenge flexibility limits and then are held for a period of time without movement (usually 20-30 seconds).

Dynamic stretching should be used in warm-ups and cool-downs while static stretching should not be used in warm-ups and only in cool-down following light exercise (i.e. easy runs). The reason for this is that static stretching while increasing the flexibility of the muscle/joint, it temporarily decreases the muscles strength and responsiveness. Think of the muscle as a rubber band, if you stretch a rubber band out and hold it for several seconds then pull it back and shoot it, it does not go as far as it does if you just pick it up cold and shoot it. It loses some of its stored energy when it’s stretched out.

Additionally, we want to be careful about doing static stretching after stress workouts (tempo runs, intervals, long runs or races), as fatigued or damaged muscles are compromised in their ability to supply timely feedback (nerve impulses to the brain). This means that it is significantly easier to hurt a muscle through static stretching after these stress workouts or races. For this reason I recommend only doing static stretching on cool-down after easy or recovery runs or in a separate dedicated session apart from running workouts.

Note: this is different thinking that was used for decades. Many of us grew up in programs where all runs were preceded by 5-10 minutes of static stretching. Recently studies have shown us that dynamic stretching is better used before runs.

Running
Obviously one of the most effective ways to increase blood flow to the running muscles (a major component of warm-ups and cool-downs) is by running itself. There are 3 major types of running used in our routines:

Easy paced running: these are short runs (5-30 minutes) at an easy pace in order to generate increased blood flow to the running muscles.

Strides: These are short intense runs (5-30 seconds) done at faster speeds designed to increase blood flow and dilate the blood vessels.

Short tempo runs: These are short runs of 30 seconds to 4 minutes in length usually done at between 15k and marathon pace to more thoroughly increase blood flow, dilate blood vessels and get our aerobic enzymes stirred up.

Drills
Various form drills are often used in warm-ups. Form drills exaggerate certain portions of the running stride. This has the benefits of both dynamic stretching and the increased blood flow of running.

Establishing Our Routines
Ok, so now that we have reviewed the components of a warm-up and cool-down routines let’s establish what we want in each of our specific routines.

Warm-Up #1 – Easy/Recovery Runs
1) Movement – walking or jogging to promote blood flow to the muscles
2) Dynamic Stretching
    a. standing high knees
    b. standing butt kicks
    c. vertical leg swings (front /back)
    d. horizontal leg swings (side to side)
    e. ankle rotations

Warm-Up #2 – Stress Workouts or Races
1) Movement – walking or light jogging to promote blood flow to the muscles
2) Dynamic Stretching
    a. standing high knees
    b. standing butt kicks
    c. vertical leg swings (front /back)
    d. horizontal leg swings (side to side)
    e. ankle rotations
3) Easy paced running of 5-15 minutes
4) Form Drills
    a. 2 x 20-30 meter Running High Knees
    b. 2 x 20-30 meter Running Butt kicks
5) Strides or short tempo as needed

Warm-Up #3 – Strength Training
1) Movement – walking or light jogging to promote blood flow to the muscles
2) Dynamic Stretching
    a. standing high knees
    b. standing butt kicks
    c. vertical leg swings (front /back)
    d. horizontal leg swings (side to side)
    e. ankle rotations
    f. arm swings/rotations
    g. waist bends / trunk rotations
    h. neck rotations

Cool-Down # 1 – Easy/Recovery Runs
1) Walking
2) Static Stretching
    a. Calf stretch(s)
    b. Hamstring Stretch(s)
    c. Quadricep Stretch(s)
    d. Hips/Glute Stretch(s)

Cool-Down #2 – Stress Workout or Races
1) 5-15 minutes easy jogging
2) Dynamic Stretching (gently)
    a. standing high knees
    b. standing butt kicks
    c. vertical leg swings (front /back)
    d. horizontal leg swings (side to side)
    e. ankle rotations

Cool-Down #3 – Strength Training
1) 3-10 minutes easy jogging
2) Dynamic Stretching (gently)
    a. standing high knees
    b. standing butt kicks
    c. vertical leg swings (front /back)
    d. horizontal leg swings (side to side)
    e. ankle rotations
    f. arm swings/rotations
    g. waist bends / trunk rotations
    h. neck rotations

Benefits
One of the primary benefits of a set warm-up or cool-down routine is that it takes away uncertainty. The runner knows exactly what they are going to do, and the coach knows what the runner did. As I said earlier, you can’t win the race through your warm-up but you can lose it through improper warm-up. A set, tried and tested routine makes sure you don’t lose the race before it even starts.

A good cool-down routine begins the recovery process and helps shorten the recovery period needed before the next workout is performed. A set cool-down routine helps ensure that the recovery period (time between workouts) is started in the most consistent and beneficial way possible.

Additional Stretching

If we have an injury we are rehabbing or have identified an area where we do not have a full range of motion, additional stretching may be beneficial. In these instances we want to make sure we warm-up and get good blood flow to the muscles before we stretch them either through walking, jogging or even a warm bath or shower. While stretching we want to be sure to include stretches for connected areas as well as the specific joint or muscle group we are focused on.

Chapter 7 - Racing

2011-03-10T02:47:00.000-08:00

Chapter 7

Racing!

Races are often the focal point of and purpose of our training cycles. We train in such a way as to bring about the best results in a specific goal race or series of goal races. With the importance of racing to most of us, I wanted to dedicate a whole chapter to it, and how I believe we can approach it to get the best results; our “maximum performance”.

Goal Setting

It is important for us to set goal or expectations for our races so that we can focus our training and race plans towards achieving these goals. But we also must be careful when setting our goals as many things can influence the outcome of a race. I suggest we establish 3 levels of goals for our races: primary, secondary, and consequential.

Primary Goals
Primary Goals are things that you have 100% control over. The most applicable example of these are giving a full (or appropriate) effort in the race and executing a smart race plan designed to maximize your performance.

Secondary Goals
Secondary goals are things we have a good deal of control over but not full control. The best example of this is the time we run in the race.

Consequential Goals
These are goals we want to happen but we don’t have much direct control over them. The best example of this is what place we finish in a race. We have little or no control over what other people run in the race, what conditioning they are in, or how well they perform.

Sports psychologists (and common sense) tell us that focusing on things we do not control causes worry, anxiety and tension and that all of these things can be detrimental to our performance. So then, our main focus before and during races should be on our primary goals, which are the items we can directly control. This focus will help us produce the best result in our races, and if we execute our primary goals well then our secondary goals and consequential goals will usually fall in line as well. This makes sense as if we give a full effort in the race and execute a smart race plan than that will usually result in our best possible time and placing for that race. Remember the race goes to the runner who runs the fastest, not to the one who worries the most about being first.

I also recommend that when you set-up your goals, you give more flexibility, and less focus, to the goals you have the lease control over. So our primary goals can be pretty precise, but our secondary goals have a bit of a range to them and an even bigger range for our consequential goals. For example, a woman who is running the U.S. half marathon championships as her goal race may set her goals as follows:

Primary Goal: Give a full effort and execute her race plan
Secondary Goal: Run the race between 1:13:00 and 1:14:00
Consequential Goal: Finish in the top 10 women over-all

In this example, most all of this woman’s focus would be on executing her game plan and giving a full effort. Focusing her attention on achieving her primary goals is her best chance to achieve her secondary and consequential goals as well.

But if this woman went into the race with her primary focus being to finish in the top 10, then her anxiety level would have been higher and instead of focusing on what she was doing she would be preoccupied with her position in the race and what others were doing. This preoccupation with things beyond her direct control would produce anxiety and tension that would likely be detrimental to her performance.

Establishing a Race Plan

There is an old saying that as a coach I really like, and is very applicable in this chapter. It goes something like this: “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.” Now, I am not one for overly elaborate or detailed race plans, but I do believe you should a clear and concise plan for success, one that is easy to execute and does not require a lot of in race thinking.

In order for us to come up with our race plans we need to know some basic information about the race. This information includes:

• The course you will running on - it is helpful to be as familiar as you can be with the course.
• The weather conditions – what are the likely weather conditions for the race and what are the range of extremes to consider.
• The competition – while we can’t control the competition it is helpful to have an idea if you will be running alone, in a pack, or leading so that you are mentally prepared so each possibility.
• Your current conditioning and any strengths and weaknesses you may have at the time. What shape are you in and what kind of time are you prepared to run given the weather and course?

Once you have gathered the information above, you are ready to sit-down and come up with a simple and smart race plan to get you to the finish line in the fastest possible time on that day.

Pacing
A big part of establishing your race plan will be establishing your pacing plan. To this end there is some important information to look at. That is the fact that almost every current world record for distance races from the 5k to the marathon were established on even to slightly negative splits. Slightly negative splits means that the second half was slightly faster than the first half. This evidence suggests that even to slightly negative splits are physiologically the best way to pace ourselves to obtain our maximum performance. I am a strong believer that this is true especially in the half marathon to marathon distances.

At the start of longer races, where our warm-ups are generally smaller (to conserve energy), our bodies are not operating at peak efficiency at the start, and it often takes 5 to 20 minutes into the race before we hit our most efficient state. If during these opening minutes we force our bodies to hit an aggressive goal pace or to slightly faster, we can burn calories at a much higher rate than if we start off on the conservative side and work into it over the first mile or two. There is some evidence that even suggest that once we start burning at a higher rate our body doesn’t drop down to as low a burn rate at goal pace as it will be at if we start more conservative and ease into that goal pace. This small difference in efficiency can be significant over the course of a 26 mile race. Mentally there is often an advantage to this conservative start approach as well, as we are passing people more during the race instead of being passed. Many people prefer to be the hunter than the hunted.

On a perfectly flat course on a windless day I would try and run near perfectly even slits with maybe the first mile or two slightly slower (5-10 seconds). If the goal pace was 5:00 then maybe 5:10 and 5:05 for the first 2 miles then 5:00 flat thereafter.

In the marathon and half marathon distances, I like to establish a simple 3 part race plan, the start, the middle and the end. The start would encompass the first 1-3 miles (depending on the length of the race) in which we start out conservatively and easy into our goal pace. The middle section of the course would last until the 20 mile point in a marathon or the 10 mile in a half marathon, in which we try and maintain as our goal race pace while staying as relaxed as possible and utilizing as little energy as possible. Then in the end segment, the last 3.1 miles in a half marathon and 6.2 miles in a marathon, we race in with whatever we have left. If we can pick-up the pace some in this end segment then great, if not the best we may be able to do is try and maintain our goal pace in the rest of the way.

One of the runners I coach, Caitlin Chrisman, executed this race plan perfectly in the Twin Cities marathon in 2010. It was her debut marathon and she had a race plan of running trying to hold 6:15 per mile for the first 20 miles and then coming home the last 10k as best she could. The end result was a negative split of 1:21:36 first half and 1:20:16 second half for an Olympic Trails qualifying time of 2:41:52 in her debut and a very mentally positive experience. Rather than running faster at the beginning when she was feeling fresh, she focused on staying relaxed and conserving energy and this allowed her to race home the last 10k of the race and place as the first American woman in the race.

Now of course this basic outline would need to be adjusted for the weather and course layout, but it lays out a physiologically and mentally sounds approach to races and one that isn’t overly complex or require tons of thinking while tired.

Fueling
One important topic that needs to be addressed in our race plan, especially over the marathon distance, is the subject of fueling. Fueling refers to the intake of fluids, electrolytes and calories during the course of a race. While the exact fueling strategy used will depend on the items such as the weather, personal experience and preference, and availability, here are some general guidelines I believe in to help you formulate your plan.

General
1) Over fueling/hydrating can be just as bad as or worse than under fueling/hydrating
2) Stick with small quantities frequently rather than large quantities infrequently
3) You will not, do not need to, and should not try to replace all the calories and fluids you use in a race. Your performance will not suffer until you have lost more than 2-3% of your body weight. Your goal is simply to supplement glycogen reserves and avoid significant dehydration and electrolyte loss.
4) If the weather is warm, increase your intake accordingly (within reason)
5) Have practiced in training what you plan to do in the race.

Liquids
1) Water is the base need and should be the majority of what is consumed
2) Plan to take some form of liquid in small quantities every 20-25 minutes during the race
3) If getting your electrolytes and/or calories via liquid, alternate every other time with water (starting with water)
4) Avoid taking heavily sugared drinks, they are hard to digest and can sit on the stomach

Gels/Solids
1) If consuming gels or solid for calories or electrolytes, plan to take small quantities every 40-50 minutes during the competition and consume it with water.
2) Do not wait too late to start, but rather take it consistently throughout.

After All It’s Just Running

I wanted to save this last topic for the end of this chapter on racing. While it is important to have thought through your race and come up with a sound race strategy we are resolute to execute, resist the temptation to over think things or make it too complex or too different from what you do in training. After all we are simply talking about going out and running hard, and at this point we are pretty good at doing that or we would have picked a different sport/activity. We need to have confidence in our preparation, as all that racing is, is going out and doing something we are really good at – running hard – and that is a fun proposition. The longer races, such as the half marathon and marathon, are very similar to our training runs for much of the race, except for the fact we get crowd support and bigger rewards for a good job. The atmosphere and racing situation will help you get that last 10% of effort out of yourself at the end. All you have to do is do what you have practiced each stress workout. We have practiced and prepared for racing; let’s not over think it and make rocket science out of it.

Chapter 6 - Training Zones

2011-03-09T02:47:00.000-08:00

Chapter 6

Training Zones

In the chapters 3 and 4 we discussed the Fundamental and Specific Phases of our training cycles and made mention of various training zones we use in our stress workouts. In this chapter we will define each of those training zones in detail, discuss how we can use progressions in their application and ways we can manipulate their effort profiles.

Training Zones are simply certain types of workouts that are designed to stress different systems of the body used in running. Each zone works the body in a slightly different way with different areas of focus.

Training Zone Notes

I use a standard form when discussing the specifics of each training zone. Here are the definitions of the headings used in that form:

Category: this is the higher level category (Speed, Stamina, or Endurance) that this training zone belongs in.

Benefits: this lists the general category that is the primary and secondary beneficiaries of work done in the zone. While we could get in lengthy physiological discussions on the benefits of each zone, I think a basic general category is sufficient to tell us what we need to know about the purpose of work in the zone.

Also Known As: This lists some of the more popular names that are sometimes used for work in this zone. To stay clear of some potential confusion, I have simply identified my workouts under the generic term “zone” and kept the physiological benefit discussion high level. This simplicity is not done out of lack of understanding or importance, but rather for the ease of use to the end user.

Method: This is simply how the workout is performed, whether as one continuous run, or as repeats of a certain distance with a break in between repeats, or both.

Speed: This is the speed range at which the workout is performed. The speed of the repeats or continuous run is based on equivalent race pace for various distances. But don’t worry if you haven’t raced a certain race distance in a long time, you can use your most recent race (at whatever distance) to judge your equivalent race time at other distances. The pace guide and equivalency chart in the appendix of this book will give you the right range for your current level of fitness.

Number of Repeats: This is the number of repeats that can be performed in this workout zone.

Repeat Distance: This is the length of the repeats that can be performed.

Total Distance of Repeats: This is the total distance suggested for this workout zone. For instance 8 repeats of 400 meters is 3200 meters (8 x 400). Where you fall in the range given will depend on several factors, including where in the pace range you fall, the repeat distance you are doing, the number of repeats you are doing, and your normal weekly mileage level. As you will see a significant range is available to allow you to create and experiment with workouts, to find what work best for you in different situations.

Recovery Interval: This the length of time you have for recovery between repeats. This time will be a given as a percentage of the repeat duration. For example if you are doing repeats that take 4:00 to do and your recovery interval is 50% of repeat duration, than your recovery interval would be 2:00 (4:00 x 50%). I recommend that all recovery intervals be spent slowly jogging.

Ok, with those definitions out of the way, let’s review these training zones one at a time.

Zone 1

Category: Speed
Benefits: 1) Speed 2) Stamina

Also known as: fast intervals, repetitions, “R” pace, short speed work,

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run or repeat runs at a prescribed speed with a set recovery interval
Speed: 1500 meters to 3000 meters (3k) equivalent race pace
Number of Repeats: 1 to 40
Repeat Distance: 100 meters to 2000 meters (2k)
Total Distance of Repeats: 1500 meters to 10k
Recovery Interval: 100-200% of repeat duration (jogging)

Examples:
20 x 200 @ 1500 meter pace with 1:00 jog recovery
6 x 800 @ 3000 meter pace with 3:00 jog recovery

Workout Selection: For most half marathoners and marathoners I suggest the higher repetition (10+) and shorter repeat distance (200’s to 600’s) for work in this zone as speed is usually not their strength and this method usually allows them to get in the greatest total volume in the desired speed range. For those with greater natural speed (or as your speed grows) you may be able to delve into the lower repetition numbers and longer repeat ranges.

Zone 2

Category: Speed
Benefits: 1) Speed & Stamina

Also known as: VO2 Max Intervals, Groove Intervals, 5k/10k Pace Intervals, “I” pace, speed work,

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run or repeat runs at a prescribed speed with a set recovery interval
Speed: 3000 meters (3k) to 10,000 meters (10k) equivalent race pace
Number of Repeats: 1 to 20
Repeat Distance: 400 meters to 6000 meters (6k)
Total Distance of Repeats: 3k to 15k
Recovery Interval: 50-100% of repeat duration (jogging)

Examples:
8 x 800 @ 5k pace with 2:00 jog recovery
6 x 1600 @ 8k pace with 3:00 jog recovery

Workout Selection: For most half marathoners and marathoners I suggest moderate to higher repetitions (6+) and moderate to shorter repeat distance (800’s to 1600’s) for work in this zone as speed is usually not their strength and this method usually allows them to get in the greatest total volume in the desired speed range. For those with greater natural speed or a middle distance or 5k background (or as your speed grows) you may be able to delve into the lower repetition numbers and longer repeat ranges.

Zone 3

Category: Stamina
Benefits: 1) Stamina 2) Endurance

Also known as: Lactate Threshold, Anaerobic Threshold, “T” pace, Cruise Intervals, Long Intervals, Short Tempo Runs

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run or repeat runs at a prescribed speed with a set recovery interval
Speed: 10k to Half Marathon (21.1k) equivalent race pace
Number of Repeats: 1 to 10
Repeat Distance: 1k to 13k
Total Distance of Repeats: 5k to 20k
Recovery Interval: 25-50% of repeat duration (jogging)

Examples:
7 x 1600 @ 15k pace with 1:30 jog recovery
5 mile run @ 20k pace

Workout Selection: For most half marathoners and marathoners I strongly suggest the regular use of single continuous runs (often called tempo runs) for work in this zone as has the greatest direct carry over to our racing distances. This can be broken up from time to time by doing a moderate number of repeats at distances of between 1k and 5k, to allow for great total volumes in the workout.

Zone 4

Category: Stamina
Benefits: 1) Stamina & Endurance

Also known as: Aerobic Threshold, Ventilation Threshold, Marathon Pace, “M” pace, Long Tempo Runs,

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run or repeat runs at a prescribed speed with a set recovery interval
Speed: Half Marathon (21.1k) to Marathon (42.2k) equivalent race pace
Number of Repeats: 1 to 6
Repeat Distance: 3k to 25k
Total Distance of Repeats: 8k to 30k
Recovery Interval: 10-25% of repeat duration (jogging)

Examples:
4 x 5k @ 30k pace with 4:00 jog recovery
10 mile run @ Marathon pace

Workout Selection: For most half marathoners and marathoners I strongly suggest the regular use of single continuous runs (often called tempo runs) for work in this zone as has the greatest direct carry over to our racing distances. This can be broken up from time to time by doing a moderate number of repeats at distances of between 3k and 10k, to allow for great total volumes in the workout.

Zone 5

Category: Endurance
Benefits: 1) Endurance 2) Stamina

Also known as: Steady State Long Run, Solid Pace Long Run, Moderate Pace Long Run

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run
Speed: Midway between zone 4 and zone 6 (midway between easy and marathon pace)
Number of Repeats: 1
Repeat Distance: up to 35k
Total Distance of Repeats: up to 35k
Recovery Interval: -

Examples:
Continuous run of up to 35k at steady state pace

Workout Selection: This workout is always done as 1 continuous run. It should be roughly 70 to 90% of your easy pace long run (Zone 6) distance up to a maximum of 35k. So if your Zone 6 run is 20 miles than your Zone 5 run would be between 14 and 18 miles.

Zone 6

Category: Endurance
Benefits: 1) Endurance

Also known as: Easy Pace Long Runs, Long Runs

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run
Speed: 65% to 75% of your maximum heart rate (or see pace guide)
Number of Repeats: 1
Repeat Distance: up to 50k
Total Distance of Repeats: up to 50k
Recovery Interval: -

Examples:
Continuous run of up to 50k at steady state pace

Workout Selection: This workout is always done as 1 continuous run. It should be roughly 20 to 30% of weekly mileage with a maximum of 50k.

Zone 7

Combination workout involving 2 or more zones in one workout

Category: Can be Speed, Stamina or Endurance
Benefits: Can be Speed, Stamina or Endurance

Also known as: Progression Runs, Cut-Downs, Fast Finish Runs, Combo Workouts

Workout Guidelines
Method: Continuous run or repeat runs at a prescribed speed with a set recovery interval
Speed: anything from easy pace to 1500 meter race pace
Number of Repeats: 1 - 10
Repeat Distance: up to 35k
Total Distance of Repeats: up to 35k
Recovery Interval: up to 200% of repeat duration

Examples and Workout Selection: Some examples and recommendations for this workout zone are listed in the effort profile section later in this chapter.

Using Progressions To Further Fitness

The use of progressions is a common and logical way to increase your fitness level over time. Below are some different forms of progressions that you can consider using in your work in each different zone. You would simply follow the progression each time a certain zone is performed. The progression that is right for you will depend on your individual strengths, weaknesses and situation, as well as which phase of training you are in.

Here are the main types of progression we can use and they are as follows:

Repeat Reduction: Keep the total volume and pace of the workout the same, but reduce the number of repeats performed by increasing the repeat distance.

Example:
Workout #1: 20 x 200 @ 35 with 200% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #2: 13 x 300 @ 52 with 200% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #3: 10 x 400 @ 70 with 200% of repeat duration recovery

Pace Increase: This is where the all aspects of the workout stay the same but the pace of the repeats is increased.

Example:
Workout #1: 8 x 1000 @ 3:00 with 100% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #2: 8 x 1000 @ 2:58 with 100% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #3: 8 x 1000 @ 2:56 with 100% of repeat duration recovery

Total Distance Increase: This is where the pace, repeat distance and recovery are kept constant and the number of repeats performed (and thus total distance) is increased. If done on a continuous run, then the pace is held constant and the distance of the continuous run is increased.

Example:
Workout #1: 10 x 400 @ 70 with 150% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #2: 11 x 400 @ 70 with 150% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #3: 12 x 400 @ 70 with 150% of repeat duration recovery
Or
Workout #1: 5 miles @ 5:15 pace
Workout #2: 5.5 miles @ 5:15 pace
Workout #3: 6 miles @ 5:15 pace

Recovery Decrease: This is done by keeping all aspects of the workout the same, including pace, but your reducing the recovery duration between repeats. This progression type is often done in the specific phase when the repeats are done at goal race pace.

Example:
Workout #1: 8 x 1600 @ 5:00 with 40% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #2: 8 x 1600 @ 5:00 with 30% of repeat duration recovery
Workout #3: 8 x 1600 @ 5:00 with 20% of repeat duration recovery

Effort Levels

The amount of effort we put into a workout is a very important aspect of our training. As talked about in chapter 1 and 2, our training is best accomplished by stacking one stress and recover cycle on top of another, consistently over the long term. In order to be able to do this in the most effective manner we cannot race (i.e. give 100% effort) in our workouts. The reason for this is that 100% efforts take longer to recover from (and carry greater risk for injury), either altering our micro-cycle or not allowing for the super-compensation portion of our recovery as our planned recovery isn’t sufficient. Over time this will lead to over-training, stagnation and burn-out or illness.

Instead we need to approach our workouts with the intent of giving a good, very hard effort (90%) but not going all out. We don’t want to be straining to maintain form or fading at the end of our workouts, but rather able to maintain good form and pace the whole way. A good rule of thumb is to strive to finish a workout feeling like you had worked very hard but that you could have gone or done 10% more if you had really raced it all out. This approach will allow training to be both effective and sustainable over the course of a full training cycle. Leave your 100% efforts to race days.

This is an important concept to keep in mind as we undertake some of the progressions listed above. We want to be able to achieve these progressions by utilizing the same amount of effort in each workout. If we are simply achieving the progression by working harder, we are not making fitness progress but rather jeopardizing the sustainability of our training. If the same effort does not achieve the progression we are looking for then we may need to repeat a workout a few times before being able to make the progression, or we may simply need to modify the amount of progression we are seeking at one time.

Effort Profiles

Figure 6 -1

If we were to graph out the effort profile of a distance race, it would look something like the blue line in the chart above (figure 6-1). It would start off at a moderate effort level and slowly start to increase as the race went along. The further into the race we go the greater the slope of the line until our effort level is maxed out at the end of the race.

Now if we were to map out the effort profile of an even paced tempo run, it would look more like the red line in the graph above, it would start out at slightly less of an effort level (i.e. slower pace) and would gradually increase in effort throughout the run, but the grade would never significantly get steeper, as the pace remains manageable and we never red-line our effort as this is a training run and not a race.

While this type of even paced tempo run has a lot of physiological advantages, such as pushing out our lactate or aerobic threshold (depending on the pace of the run), it does have some flaws in as well, namely that it does not prepare us mentally for the effort profile needed when racing.

Some runners struggle with translating high workout fitness level into high race performance levels, and I think part of the reason for this is that their workouts, while physiologically very effective, don’t mentally prepare them for the effort profile of a race and as a result they struggle with consistency in races. So I got to thinking, what can I do in training to help train them mentally as well as physically?

There are few adjustments we can make to some standard workouts from time to time to make the effort profiles more like that of a race without asking the athletes to race the workouts (a major no-no for distance runners). These adjustments don’t take the workout beyond the 90% effort target for the workout as a whole, but change the effort profile during the late stages of the workout in order to more closely simulate a race effort profile.

Progression Tempo
The first adjustment is the progression tempo run. In this tempo run, we start at slightly slower than normal tempo run pace and gradually increase the pace of the run as we go along until we are finishing at faster than normal tempo pace. This transforms the effort profile of the workout (the green line in the chart above) into almost a mirror effort profile of a race, just at a slightly lower effort level. This teaches the runner to expend more energy (in this case by speeding up) as the run progresses, even while getting more tired. This mirrors what is required in a race where the increased effort is needed simply to maintain maximum race pace.

Example: If a runner normally does a 5 mile tempo run at a steady 5:00 pace per mile, than a progression tempo may see his mile paces look more like this: 5:15, 5:07, 5:00, 4:53, 4:45.

The total effort of the workout should not be much different from the even paced tempo run, but the distribution of the effort changes, and thus the mental training effect in regards to racing would be better.

Cut-Down Workouts
Another adjustment than can be made is the cut-down workout, where you run a set of repeats where the repeat length gets shorter as we go along but the pace /intensity increases. The effort profile of this workout tends to mirror the effort profile of a race more than a standard one pace, one distance type of repeat workout. From a mental standpoint it trains your brain better for a race effort profile.

Example: 2000 at 75 per 400, 1600 at 72 per 400, 1200 at 69 per 400, 800 at 66 per 400, 400 in 63, all with 400 jog recoveries.

Combo Workout
Another workout (this one suggested to me by Coach Greg McMillan), is to do a short even paced tempo run, ending at the track, and follow the tempo run with a short cut-down workout to simulate the need to run at higher intensity at the end of races.

For example: if your normal LT tempo run is 5-6 miles than you might do 3 miles tempo followed by a 400 jog and then a 800-600-400-200 cut-down at progressively faster paces. One logical progression then as fitness and mental adaptation improves would be to extend the cut-down portion to maybe 1000-800-600-400-200.

Fast Finish Long Runs
These are long runs done at an easy pace except for the last portion of the run, where you increase the pace and finish at a hard/faster pace. Similar to progression tempos the increased in the pace at the end causes a spike in effort level that mirrors the late stages of a race, thereby better training the mind of the athlete to be more familiar and deal with these circumstances. The effort profile while mirroring the race is at a slightly lower level so that over training does not occur.

Example: 18 mile long run with the first 15 miles at and easy pace and the last 3 miles hard (i.e. half marathon to marathon pace).

Note: The Brooks-Hanson Team of professional marathoners does the majority of their long runs in this fashion.

Hammer Intervals
Coach Scott Simmons of Queens University has popularized what he terms “hammer intervals” which is a normal interval workout where he increases the pace significantly on certain repeats in order to manipulate the effort profile of the workout and make it more similar to a race.

Example: he may have his athletes do 20 x 400 with 60 seconds recovery, and the goal pace may be 70 seconds per 400, but on intervals 8, 12 and 16 he would have them run those 400’s in 64 seconds.

Note: Coach Simmons is also a big proponent of the progression tempos which he terms “predator runs” and with fast finish long runs. He has had very good success with these 3 workouts being regular staples in his runner’s training programs.

When to Use These
I am not suggesting that these workout adjustments be used in all workout situations. I definitely think the standard workouts; can often have a greater physiological training effect. But we cannot ignore the mental side of training which these adaptations address very well. How often you incorporate these training adjustments may depend on how well you or your athlete races. If you or they are very good and consistent racers than you may not need these adjustments very often at all, but if you or they are inconsistent in races or routinely under-perform your training levels, adding these adjustments into your workout schedule on a regular basis may help you better prepare your brain for the mental aspects and effort profiles of racing.

Some of these workouts will be classified as Zone 7 workouts as they cross over more than one zone in terms of pace.

Chapter 5 - The Regeneration Phase

2011-03-08T02:51:00.000-08:00

Chapter 5

The Regeneration Phase

The third and last phase of our training cycle is the Regeneration Phase. In our analogy, the regeneration phase is similar to the insurance policy we buy on our house. We may think sometimes that we don’t need it, but if fail to take it and do need it, we pay a big price.

Purpose

After a training cycle of hard training and the rigors of an all out effort in our goal race, especially at the marathon distance, we can be worn out both mentally and physically. The primary purpose of the regeneration phase is to allow the body and mind to fully recover (regenerate), from the stresses of both the goal race and from the training cycle as a whole. We can think of this phase as an extended recovery phase (remember the law of stress and the recover from Chapter 2) after the major stress of our goal race.

Even if we don’t feel we physically need it, it is a good idea to take a short break from hard training a couple of times per year to give the body and mind a break and ensure it remains fresh and ready to go when we need it most.

What Does It Look Like

Runs during the regeneration phase are all done at an easy or recovery pace (65-75% of maximum heart rate) and are kept short to moderate in length. In the first few days after our goal race this will be just a slow easy run of a few miles in order to promote blood flow and repair of the muscles. As the days go by our distance increases slightly but never gets beyond moderate in length and the pace always stays easy. In general runs are limited to just once per day during this phase, but daily running is highly encouraged in order to maintain some of our basic physiological adaptations to running and make for a smoother and quicker return to training during the start of the Fundamental Phase.

No stress workouts are done during the regeneration phase, this includes races. If we were to race or do stress workouts during this phase we would be working against what we are trying to achieve – regeneration.

I often encourage runners to take their vacations and fun travels during this time as there is no need to worry about stress workouts and the vacations promote the type of mental and physical relaxation and regeneration we are after.

Things such as massages, ice baths, mineral baths, whirlpool baths, and long walks are also great to help aid in recovery during this phase.

So by now I am sure you are asking: “how does a regeneration phase gel with the 4 tenets of training you preached to us in the first chapter”? Good question, let’s take a look at that one tenet at a time:

Consistency: we keep the regeneration phase short at just 5-15% (and usually 5-10%) of the length of a training cycle. So this is a just a 1-4 week period of time, which is just a small but needed break in our training consistency. By taking this break we help preserve our consistency in the remainder of the cycle.

Capacity: our capacity will decrease briefly during our regeneration phase, but the refreshment we get mentally and physically will allow us to increase and sustain it during the next training cycle.

Frequency: while our frequency might decrease slightly in this phase it does not cease. We continue to run daily during our regeneration, but our runs are short or moderate in length and are done at an easy to recovery pace. This light activity (as opposed to no activity) allows us to keep some level of running adaptation and keep our fitness from declining very far.

Mixture: our mixture of work (just easy/recovery runs) matches our goal, which to recover. So we are consistent in matching our mixture to our goal for the phase. Again, I think it’s helpful to look at the regeneration phase as just an extended recovery portion of the stress and recovery cycle after a high stress goal race.

Length

The regeneration phase will last for between 1 to 4 weeks, as needed. In general the longer the training cycle and longer the goal race, the longer the regeneration phase needed. 2 -4 weeks is common after a marathon while half marathoners are usually good to go after just 1-2 weeks. The base rule on length is to take what you need within reason. We want to get the benefits of regeneration but don’t want to spend too much time away from training or having to regain lost fitness.

Coming Back

As mentioned in Chapter 3, when coming back into training after a regeneration phase, work your way back up into a full schedule (i.e. full mileage and stress day volumes) slowly over the first few micro-cycles. You will not have lost much fitness over your regeneration break, if you approach them as I have described, but your body may not be 100% ready to be back in to full workouts at the start. If you are increasing mileage level in the cycle, then add in a couple of extra micro-cycles to ramp to the new mileage level once you have resumed your fundamental phase.

Chapter 4 - The Specifc Phase

2011-03-07T02:52:00.000-08:00

The Specific Phase is the second phase in our training cycles and will usually last between 8 and 12 weeks. In our analogy comparing training a runner with building a perfect house, if the Fundamental Phase was the foundation and framework of our house, then the specific phase is all the finishing touches that makes the house function at our high standards (sound system, home theatre, granite counter tops, hard wood floors, large windows, fireplaces, etc.) . It can’t fix a faulty foundation or framework, but it can transform a good one into something spectacular.

The Purpose

The goals of the specific phase are very straight forward: we are preparing the body and the mind of the runner for the specific demands of the goal race. We take the foundation established in the fundamental phase and leverage it to squeeze out the last bit of fitness level applicable to the goal race.

The figure below (figure 4-1) illustrated this for us - we take a broad and deep base established in the fundamental phase and narrow the focus to reach a specific peak level of fitness for our goal race.

Figure 4-1

Honing Specific Fitness

There are a couple of preliminary steps we must take before deciding how to best hone our fundamental fitness into race specific fitness during the specific phase. These steps are as follows:

1. Look at the goal race and determine what specific demands it carries. Be sure to look all factors involved including the race distance, the course, the altitude, the likely weather and the competition.

2. Look at the runner, their background, their strengths and weaknesses, their mileage level, their experience in similar goal races and how well their fundamental phase went. Determine what their limiting factors in the chosen goal race will be.

Once we have done this we are ready to design a specific phase to best prepare the runner to meet the demands we came up with and to push-out their limiting factors. So what are some of the ways we can achieve this? Ah, now we are getting to the meat of the Specific Phase. The good stuff!!!

Here are some of the modifications we may make in our training programs to hone our race specific fitness level:

Determine the training zone which includes our goal race pace (to slightly faster) and include that zone in our training on a more frequent basis. For the half marathon we would include zone 3 workouts more often and for the marathon we would include zone 4 workouts more often. We do this to increase our familiarity with running at that pace and increase our body’s physiological adaptations to that pace. For example: in a specific phase for the marathon we may do a Zone 4 workout once every micro-cycle. (Training Zones are discussed in great detail in Chapter 6)
We would also include the training zones that encompass other race specific demands more often into our training mix. A good example for half marathon and marathoners would be making sure we still get in adequate work in Zone 5 and Zone 6 to cover the basic endurance requirements of our races. Given that certain zones are now increased or at least maintained (zones 3,4,5,6) in our training rotations, logically others have to fall off in frequency (i.e. zones 1 and 2) . But we must also be careful and make sure they are still touched on occasion to ensure they don’t become glaring weaknesses. The use of Zone 7, the combo zone, can be a good tool in doing this.
Within the training zones themselves we want to simulate the specific demands of the race as much as possible. Since we are focused on the marathon or half marathon races, this would mean that single continuous tempo runs on a similar road topography as the race would become a staple in our programs for zones 3 and 4. Additionally we may want to adjust the effort profiles of our workouts to more closely match that of our target races. We can do this through progressions in pace or adjusting the workloads within the workouts. We will talk a little more on this in a later chapter.
Simulation runs (dress rehearsals) are often very valuable in the specific phase. In these runs we simulate as many facets of the race day as possible including: what we eat the evening before, our sleeping pattern, what we eat the day of the race/simulation, the time of day we run/race, our warm-up routine, the surface and topography of the course, the shoes and clothes we plan to wear, our in run/race fueling strategy, and the pace and pacing strategy we plan to use in the race. Of course we don’t run the full race distance but we do run around 60% of it in this simulation (often 7-8 miles for a half marathon and 15-16 for a marathon) so that we can become very familiar and comfortable with it, make any modifications needed to solve any problems we find, and probably most importantly grow our confidence on race day that we have been there before and done this. I recommend doing a simulation run mid-way through the specific phase (4-5 weeks before the race) so that if any weakness is found there are still a few weeks left to address it. It is also important to note that in my philosophy we do not go much beyond 60% of the race distance in these simulation runs in order to avoid over training and lingering fatigue that can result from these workouts.

Phase Length

In my philosophy, the specific phase will only last between 8 and 12 weeks. This is ample time to build as much specific fitness for our goal race as we can, while not being so long that other areas that are not worked as frequently (zones 1 and 2) fall off so much as to become significant weaknesses. This time frame also has shown to be good for eliminating over training, stagnation and burn-out (mentally and physically).

Where in that 8-12 week window we fall will depend on several factors including:

The length of the training cycle as a whole – longer cycles tend to have longer specific phases
The race distance – the marathon tends to have a longer specific phase than the half marathon
The mileage level of the runner – lower mileage runners tend to need longer specific phases to prepare for the endurance demands of the half marathon and marathon races
The challenges of the goal race

Mileage Levels

The base mileage level of training in the specific phase will only be affected as much as the mix of stress workouts dictates. If we were to increase the mileage on our easy days significantly in this phase, we would have a harder time recovering from our stress workouts, which mean we would be prone to over training or have to reduce the frequency of our stress workouts, neither good for honing race specific fitness. The only exception to this is if the longer term progression of the runner (specifically the tenet of capacity) calls for a small mileage increase during this phase.

Racing

The goal race is the primary concern in the specific phase. If any other racing is done during the specific phase it should be done in a way as to promote goal race readiness. In general, I usually either don’t schedule a race or at most 1 or 2 races in the specific phase outside of the goal race. Again this will depend somewhat on the runner and what is best for their specific preparation for their goal race.

Sometimes races will be used as workouts in this phase. A common example is using a half marathon as a workout during a marathon. This can be easily be done by running the half at goal marathon pace. On occasion the opportunity presents itself to do your simulation run in a race, which can make fueling simulation easier to pull off as well as simulate the feel and atmosphere of the goal race.

Taper

The last 1 to 2 weeks before the goal race will include our taper. We will discuss and show examples of tapers in greater detail in Chapters 7, 14 and 15. In general in a taper you only have 3 levers you can pull back on: quantity, quality and frequency. I do not like to pull back on frequency or quality during a taper, but rather just the quantity slightly. It is easy to lose some fitness in the last weeks if we are too aggressive with a taper. Additionally if we decrease our frequency and/or quality work, we can lose some our aerobic enzyme production and activity levels we will need on race day. So I tend to execute the taper by working with just reductions in quantity alone. I do this by beginning reduce mileage just slightly starting about 10 to 14 days before the race, in order to allow the body to start to “rest-up” for the race. The reduction is only slight at first. Then in the final 5 days before the race we pull back a little more on the quantity lever in order to allow your body to top-off its storage of glycogen and minerals needed for maximum effort on race day. How exactly this will look will depend on many factors including the individual, what has worked for them in the past and their current physical and mental state.

Chapter 3 - The Fundamental Phase

2011-03-04T01:33:00.000-08:00

Chapter 3 – The Fundamental Phase

The Fundamental Phase is the first of the 3 phases in our training cycles and is often the longest. As such this is where we spend the bulk of our training time. So let’s explore this phase in depth and discuss how we go about getting the most out of it.

Purpose

Just as its name suggest the fundamental phase lays the ground work for the whole training cycle, establishing the fundamentals - our all around fitness as a runner.

What does “all around running fitness” mean? This phrase refers to our speed, our stamina and our endurance, collectively. In the fundamental phase we want to progress our fitness in each of these, in sync with each other, so that we are a fitter and well balanced runner by the end of the phase.

Going back to our analogy, in the fundamental phase we are laying the foundation and framework for our house, so that when we build the final touches we know that our house will have a solid base to stand on.

There are two main goals in the Fundamental Phase:

1) We want to increase our base level of fitness as high as we can. Not just one component of fitness (like endurance) but all aspects of our running fitness.

2) We want to shore up any weaknesses we have, so that our base is even across the board and we don’t have any area that will hold us back

In the second phase of the training cycle, the specific phase, we build up our goal race level of fitness. To do so we will focus our work on the workouts which best prepare for the specific demands of the race. This lopsided approach (heavily loaded to certain workouts) in the specific phase will only work if we have a strong and even foundation from which to build upon. That is what we are doing in the fundamental phase, building the base from which the specific phase can reach the highest specific fitness level. The table (table 3-1) below illustrates this for us.

Table 3-1

In table 3-1, the top set of illustrations (figures 1,2 &3) shows an ideal scenario for the fundamental and specific phase. We start with an even fitness level (figure 1) at the beginning of the fundamental phase, we increase that fitness level evenly during the phase so we end a higher level across the board (figure 2), then when we add a specific phase to it, we securely reach our highest possible fitness level for the goal race (figure 3). But if we start with an uneven base level of fitness (figure 1a), indicating we have a weakness, then we must work on the weakness as we advance our fitness for it to look as much like figure 2 as possible by the end of the fundamental phase. If we don’t address the weakness, then we end up looking like figure 2a in which, although our fitness level is higher, we are still uneven. If this is the case, then when we try and add a specific phase on top of it (as in figure 3a), at best we don’t reach our maximum specific fitness level, and at worst it tips over and our training cycle comes crashing down.

So the purpose of the fundamental phase is to end the phase with as high and even a level of fitness base as we can achieve, so that when we add on our specific phase we reach the highest race specific fitness level as possible.

How We Do That

There are 6 primary training zones that long distance runners work in during their stress workouts in my training programs, and these will be discussed at length in Chapter 6. But in order to aid our discussion of the fundamental phase, let’s talk briefly about some the basics of these 6 zones.

Zone 1 – Speed / Stamina - work done at 1500 to 3000 meter race pace
Zone 2 – Stamina / Speed - work done at 3k to 10k race pace
Zone 3 – Stamina / Endurance - work done at 10k to half marathon pace
Zone 4 – Stamina-Endurance - work done at half marathon to marathon race pace
Zone 5 – Endurance / Stamina - moderately long runs done pace halfway between Zone 4 and Zone 6
Zone 6 – Endurance - long runs done at an easy pace (65-75% of Max HR)

There is also a 7th zone which is simply workouts in which 2 or more of the primary 6 zones are worked.

Each training zone works several different physiological systems, but each with a different focus (speed, stamina, endurance, etc.) . I also group these zones into 3 higher level categories: Speed (Zones 1 and 2), Stamina (Zones 3 and 4), and Endurance (Zones 5 and 6).

In the fundamental phase we will work regularly in all six zones to improve fitness in each area. For example, a runner in who uses a 3 base unit micro-cycle (as discussed in Chapter 2) may structure a 2 micro-cycle rotation in which all 6 zones are worked. It would like something like this:

1st Micro-Cycle: Zone 1, Zone 3 and Zone 5 are worked on the 3 stress days
2nd Micro-Cycle: Zone 2, Zone 4 and Zone 6 are worked on the 3 stress days

If the runner has a weakness in one area, speed for example, then we will include that training zone more frequently in our rotation of workouts in order to strengthen that weakness. In the example above, Zone 1 may be included more frequently into the mix, say maybe once every 4 workouts instead of once every 6 workouts. This may not be necessary for the whole fundamental phase but rather only for one meso-cycle in the phase if sufficient progress has been made in the weakness.

Progressions in fitness in the fundamental phase are generally brought about by gradually increase the speed at which workouts can be performed, or increase the distance or volumes at which the same pace can be held. We will take a closer look at this during later chapters.

Phase Length

In general, the fundamental phase is between 25% and 75% of a training cycle, which is a pretty broad range. The exact length will depend on several factors, the length of the training cycle as a whole, the length of the specific phase and the length of the regeneration phase.

Here are some specific rules that will help us zero in on the exact length of each fundamental phase.

1) Training Cycles can be between 16 and 36 weeks in length
2) The Specific Phase will last between 8 and 12 weeks, depending on the goal race distance and the mileage level of the runner.
3) The Regeneration Phase will be between 1 and 4 weeks in length depending on the length of the training cycle and the length of the goal race.

Here is a grid of some possible training cycle breakouts in terms of weeks and % of the cycle in each phase:

Mileage Levels

During the first 2-3 micro-cycles of a fundamental phase the runner is transitioning from his regeneration phase back into full fundamental phase workouts. During this first few micro-cycles the runners mileage level will gradually ramp up to a the desired level for the phase and then will remain fairly stable for most of the phase, unless volume changes within the phase are part of his/her overall progression plan. The only exceptions to this would be in weeks where the runner competes in a race. In these race weeks the runner will often decrease his or her mileage modestly as they rest for and recover from the race.

As part of the major training tenet – capacity – the runner may change his/her mileage level slightly over what he/she did during the last training cycle’s fundamental phase. For example, if during the previous training cycle they targeted 75-80 miles per micro-cycle, their longer term progression plan may call for them to do 80-85 miles per micro-cycle during this fundamental phase. They would ramp up appropriately to the new higher level during the first few micro-cycles of the phase.

We will cover more specific examples of mileage levels in each phase in Chapters 14 and 15.

Racing

While not the focus of the phase, because there is a regular and full mixture of work in each of the major training zones in the fundamental phase, and fitness levels are increasing, most runners are able to race very successfully at distances ranging from the 5k to the half marathon during this phase.

My philosophy encourages regular (although not too frequent) racing during the fundamental phase at distances between 5k and Half Marathon as a good way to assess fitness level, strengths and weaknesses and keep the runner familiar with the effort profile of racing. In general, I recommend scheduling a race or time trial once every 3 to 6 micro-cycles during this phase.

Chapter 2 - Training Cycles

2011-03-03T02:56:00.000-08:00

Chapter 2 - Training Cycles - Putting The Blocks In Place

OK, now that we have talked about the 4 tenets that unify all of our training, let’s dive in and talk about the framework for that training – the training cycle. Going back to our analogy, this is the blueprint for our house.

Training cycles are one complete training program for a goal race or for an extended period of time. Training cycles in my coaching philosophy, last anywhere from 16 to 36 weeks with 20-26 weeks being the sweet spot in most situations, as this allows enough time to for the body to go through significant advances and progressions in fitness level, while not being so long that stagnation and burn-out become significant factors. Typically marathoners and half marathoners will have 2 or 3 training cycles per year.

In order to best understand our training cycles and how they work in the MPR philosophy, let’s break them down and discuss all the sub-parts that go into them. Probably the best place to start that is with the smallest unit in the cycle and work out way up. In order to do this, we need to talk first about the basic principle behind all the work we do.

The Law of Stress and Recover

The base rule behind all physical training is the rule of “stress and recover.” This rule simply states that if you stress the body in a certain physical discipline (such as running), and then let the body recover from that stress, it will be better adapted to that stress. It is important to note that this rule has 2 important steps 1) stress and 2) recover, and one without the other does not accomplish the adaptation we are seeking.

For those of us who are more visual in nature, below is a chart (figure 2-1) which shows what is happening in this base rule in terms of fitness or adaptation level of our physical discipline.

Figure 2-1

When we stress the body we break it down and our fitness level when we finish is lower than when we start. This is only makes sense, if we run a 5k time trial we cannot then run another 5k time trial immediately afterwards in the same time. But when we allow the body to recover from that stress, a super compensation occurs which takes our adaptation (or fitness) level higher than it was originally. So then if we were to run a 5k time trial again, after we had fully recovered (such as several days later), we would be able to run it faster.

That is what all good physical training is, stacking one stress and recover cycle on top of another stress and recover cycle and raising the level of our adaptation to that stress, and thus our fitness level.

It is also important to note that the absence of training for a period of time (and the period depends on the physical activity) results in a loss of adaptation/fitness. So if the training cycle is interrupted for a period of time, when we start back we will be at a lower fitness level than where we were before the interruption. This is a major reason behind why consistency is a major tenet as discussed in the last chapter.

You will see me refer to this rule of stress and recover, repeatedly throughout this book as it is the fundamental element behind our training approach.

The Base Unit

The smallest unit of training in my philosophy is something I call the “base unit”. The base unit is simply one full stress and recover cycle. Depending on the athlete, their background, age and how hard they attack their stress workouts, this base unit can take between 2 and 4 days, where we complete a stress workout and then follow it with 1, 2 or 3 easy days to allow our bodies to recover.

Common examples of the Base Unit look like this:

Figure 2-2

We want to avoid the common mistake of just looking at or focusing on the stress workout, but rather looking at the whole base unit so we ensure we have the adequate recovery as well, in order to get the full benefits of the stress and the super compensation shown in the figure 2-1.

Our training then simply becomes, stacking one base unit on top of another.

The Micro-Cycle

The next biggest unit, after the base unit, is the micro-cycle. The micro-cycle is a series of base units strung together and then repeated. For distance runners, micro-cycles usually are between 2 and 4 base units in length, with 3 being by far the most common. So depending on the length of your base unit you can have a micro-cycle ranging anywhere from 4 to 16 days. Below is an illustration (figure 2-3) of the 4 most common micro-cycles among marathoners and half marathoners.

Figure 2-3

I recommend a 3 base unit micro-cycle lasting either 7 days or 9 days for most of the runners I work with; but certainly other versions can work depending on the needs of the runner. I think the 3 base unit format works best in micro-cycles as it allows us to work on all major components of successful distance running (speed, stamina and endurance) on a more frequent and routine basis.

I have found that many of the young runners from ages 10 to their mid to late 20’s can handle the 7 day 3 base unit cycle fairly well as they recover quickly (the benefits of youth) but somewhere in their late twenties to early 30’s they need to switch over to a 9 day 3 base unit cycle as their bodies do not recover as quickly. Many masters runners (age 40+) often then move again to a 10 day (3 base unit) micro-cycle or even a 2 base unit 7 day micro-cycle as the recovery portion of stress and recover often takes longer as we age.

Meso-Cycles

Climbing the rungs in our training programs, the next largest unit after micro-cycles, is the meso-cycle. Meso-cycles are a series of micro-cycles that are strung together. Typically meso-cycles are between 2 and 8 micro-cycles long, and have a certain focus, such as working on a specific weakness or advancing the fitness of a specific system of the body, or contains a certain cycle of base units that are repeated. Additionally meso-cycles often include a progression of workouts in which either speed or distance is increased in workouts done within the same training zones. We will go into further details on how to put together these progressions in later chapters (Chapters 6, 14 and 15).

Many times meso-cycles include a race or time trial in order to give the runner and coach a chance to judge the fitness gains made and determine where more work is needed.

Phases

There are 3 phases in a training cycle, in my training philosophy – The Fundamental Phase, The Specific Phase and The Regeneration Phase. Each of these phases are made up of a series of meso-cycles that come together to accomplish certain tasks in our training cycle.

The first phase is what I call the Fundamental Phase, in which the runner works on becoming a fitter all around runner. In other words he or she works on the fundamentals of running to shore up any weaknesses and move forward his or her overall running fitness level. Workouts in this phase include an even mixture of all major workout types (all training zones as discussed in a chapter 6) and include regular drill circuits (chapter 9) designed at strengthening the running muscles and activating new muscle fibers. Because of the even mixture of workouts, most runners find they are able to race very successfully at distances ranging from 5k to the half marathon during this phase. The Fundamental Phase can comprise between 25% and 72% of a training cycle depending on multiple factors including the mileage level and background of the runner and the length of the goal race.

The second phase is the Specific Phase, in which the runner switches his or her focus to the specific requirements of their goal race. In the Specific Phase, workouts are centered on the goal race with the frequency of the training zone which includes the goal race pace, increased significantly. Races are usually limited, and drill circuits often dropped down to 1 per week, or reduced in intensity or duration, in the Specific Phase, as training volumes are increased and the goal race is approaching. The Specific Phase can comprise between 22% and 63% of a training cycle depending on the length of the goal race and mileage level and background of the runner.

The third phase is the Regeneration Phase, in which the runner recovers from the demands of the training cycle and goal race and recharges his or her internal batteries. This usually includes 1-3 weeks of easy running with no stress (i.e. hard) workouts or 5-15% of the training cycle.

Example of the possible breakout of a 24 week training cycle:

Fundamental Phase: 12 weeks
Meso-Cycles: 4
Micro-Cycles per Meso-Cycle: 3
Base Units Per Micro-Cycles: 3
Days per Micro-Cycle: 7

Specific Phase : 10 weeks
Meso-Cycles: 3
Micro-Cycles per Meso-Cycle: 2-4
Base Units Per Micro-Cycles: 3
Days per Micro-Cycle: 7

Regeneration Phase : 2 weeks

Total: 24 weeks

The next 3 chapters (Chapters 3,4 & 5) will cover these training phases in far greater detail.

Chapter 1: The Big Picture - Balancing The 4 Tenets of Training

2011-03-02T03:19:00.000-08:00

As promised, I have been working on my book and here is the first Chapter. May want to grab a cup of coffee first, it's one of the longest chapters in the book.

Chapter 1: The Big Picture - Balancing The 4 Tenets of Training

So let’s start with the big picture and the big question. The big picture is: we are runners who focus on the half marathon to marathon distances and we want to realize our potential at these distances. So then the big question we ask ourselves is: “How do we go about realizing our potential as a runner of these distances and achieving our maximum performance”?

Now many people might immediately answer, “well, I need to do more of this workout; I heard it’s a key”. Others may be somewhat more philosophical (and vague) and say “I just need to put it all together in this training block and then on race day as well.” Those answers may and probably do partially address the question, but they are just a small part of the answer.

The path I think we need to take is that we need to take a step back a little further than these answers and look at the long term, because realizing our potential as a runner, especially in longer races like the marathon, is not a quick proposition and won’t be settled in just one training cycle or two (no matter how perfect). So we need to look at the long term, have a long term plan and system in place that will build us to where we want to go.

Those of you familiar with my blog know I am big fan of analogies. I think they can help us see things more clearly, or in a different light, at least I know they do for me. A runner trying to realize their potential in the marathon is like a man trying to build a perfect house. If he is to build a good strong and stable house, the best one he possibly can, he just can’t focus on one room at a time without a plan for how it affects the rest of the house. He must sit-down and survey the land, and make a plan from which he can work and understand how each piece relates to and depends on the other pieces. Then as he builds he can put the right pieces in the right places, knowing where all the wires, plumbing and duct work must go. If he just focuses on and finishes one room (i.e. one training cycle) before he has a complete plan, he may find that the room isn’t too sturdy, or doesn’t have electricity, or will not withstand the north winds that blow every so often.

So then, as we look toward the big picture goal of realizing our potential at the half marathon and marathon distance, we need to come up with a solid overview plan from which to work. In my philosophy the keys to this overview plan are the 4 tenets of training: consistency, capacity, frequency and mixture. They are the plumbing, electrical, foundation and construction of our house plan.

In order for us to realize our potential as runners we must establish a balance between these four tenets, so that they work together in harmony as we will need each in order to reach our end goal. Often runners have a tendency to sacrifice one of these four tenets for the sake of another. While this may work in the short term, it ultimately will keep us from our longer term goal, so we need to find a balance so each works with and promotes the others. If we do this we will find it has a synergy that can take us higher than any single tenet alone can.

Let’s talk about each of these 4 tenets in greater detail:

Consistency:

Most sports are made up of a combination of conditioning and skill, but the mixture between the two can vary widely from sport to sport. Conditioning is something that can be lost quickly in the absence of training, while skills once learned, can be maintained with some lower level of practice. It also usually takes longer to regain a high level of conditioning than it does to re-sharpen a skill, as skills generally don’t have to be as completely relearned.

If we have an athlete who is a champion runner (a highly conditioning based sport) and champion dart thrower (a highly skill based sport) and he is forced to take 6 months off from each. He would be able to regain his championship dart throwing form faster than his championship running fitness as dart throwing is a skill he has already mastered and so he only have to re-sharpen that skill, while running is more conditioning based and conditioning takes longer to build (especially to a high level).

Endurance sports such as long distance running, biking and swimming are predominately conditioning sports. To a large extent the amount of success we will have in these sports depends on how good our conditioning is. While skills do play a role, more often the determining factor is conditioning. Usually it’s only when two athletes are of equal or near equal conditioning that certain skill levels (such as racing, remaining calm while running in a pack, or refueling in a race) can be the determining factor.

So because running is a predominately a conditioning based sport, then consistency is a major tenet to training. Consistency is required to maintain or improve on the runner’s level of conditioning, and it requires long term consistency to move their level of fitness to the point which they can fully maximize their potential as a runner.

There are physiological systems in running, such as aerobic development, that take many years of consistent training to develop to their full potential. If these years of development are interrupted with inconsistency the process is stalled and full potential of those systems may never be reached, or at the very least will take far longer to achieve. One major problem many distance runners experience is having to spend large blocks of training simply regaining past fitness (due to time away from training) rather than advancing to new levels of fitness.

Things that cause inconsistency, such as injury, illness, lack of motivation or goals, “off season” mentality, etc. then need to be avoided as much as possible. This means balancing the demands of the other 4 tenets so that consistency isn’t jeopardized.

Capacity:

Any talk on work capacity should probably begin with it foundation – the overload principle. The principle states that through a gradual increase in resistance the body grows stronger as a result. There is a great story behind this principle that serves well to illustrate it. The story is the “Legend of Milo” and it goes something like this:

Milo lived in the sixth century B.C. in ancient Greece. As a kid, Milo dreamed of one day competing in the Olympic Games of Greece. One day his family bought a young calf at the market to supply the family with milk and it was young Milo’s responsibility to look after the calf. Milo found the best pasture for the calf to graze on about a quarter mile from the family’s farm. Still dreaming of being a great Olympic athlete, Milo decided to carry the calf, on his shoulders, to the field to graze each day, in order to build his strength. Milo did this back and forth each day, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. As the calf gradually grew in size, Milo gradually grew in strength. Milo had inadvertently discovered the “Overload Principle.” By the time the next Olympic Games began Milo made his big entrance into the Olympic stadium with that full grown cow on his shoulders, much to the amazement of all. Milo’s use of the Overload Principle made him so fit and strong that he easily won 6 consecutive Olympics titles in wrestling and other strength events.

Milo’s work capacity was built up gradually by increasing the amount of weight he was carrying a little at a time. In distance running we build up our work capacity by gradually running more or by running faster a little at a time.

One major key to making the overload principle work in distance running is to build up our work capacity very gradually over time. We are after a sustainable increase in work capacity and if we build too quickly it will not be sustainable, just as if Milo’s calf had gained weight too quickly.

One of the most common ways to gauge our work capacity is through weekly mileage. In later chapters we will discuss various workouts and you will notice that the duration or distance of these workouts will be based in part on a percentage range of our weekly mileage. So then, weekly mileage becomes a good measure of capacity in the MPR philosophy of training.

Weekly Mileage
Our sport is a very specific sport in that the very best way to get better at is, well, to do it. And to a very large extent the more you can do it, the better you will be at it, sort of like playing the piano. Sure there are exercises (core circuits and strength circuits), drills (form drills) and cross training (swim, bike, elliptical) that you can do that may help to some degree, but the single most effective way to get better at running is to run. This is largely due to several physiological factors, including the development of the circulatory system into the specific muscle groups used in running, the muscle fiber adaptations to the specific act of running, and the running specific efficiency/coordination of the stride and body, which only comes about from actual running. Please don’t take this mean I am against strength training, drills or cross training, I am not, I am simply saying the most effective thing we can do to be better runners is to run. These other forms of training certainly have their place in our training programs, but they should come behind running in importance and as such we should not skip running in order to fit them in. They should be additive to our optimal running programs.

Done within the constraints of the proper training system, in general the more the mileage the better the potential performance that will be achieved, up to a certain point. That certain point is a limit that will be unique to each individual based on their talents, physical limitations, life style, and time constraints. This is one reason why we need to be very careful about placing general or stereotyped limits on other people; personal limits are a very unique thing. If I take a group of any 10 runners, their maximum effective weekly mileage limits would be 10 different numbers.

In order to safely find your own personal optimal mileage level I suggest the following progression. Start at a level at which you feel comfortable and know you can handle. Then allow you body to adapt to this mileage level, and gain most all of the benefits it can from that mileage level. Then increase that mileage by a small amount and again allow you body to adapt to this mileage level, and gain most all of the benefits it can from that mileage level, and repeat. Early on, when you are new to running your mileage can moved up every few weeks as you body gains new fitness, but later on after several years of training, mileage increases may only be manageable once per training cycle.

By going slowly and giving our bodies a significant chance to adjust to and to reap most of the benefits from the new mileage levels before increasing again, they will be better prepared for the next mileage increase. We continue to do this until our bodies reach their optimal mileage limits.

We will know when this occurs several ways, for instance when you try and increase your mileage in a new cycle: the quality of your stress workouts decline and does not ramp back up, you get overuse injuries or become sick and fatigued for prolonged periods. These would be indications that you have reached your mileage limits given your current physical and life style constraints. But you may be able to again increase your mileage, and therefore your performance potential (to some extent), in the future because of physical changes or lifestyle changes (i.e. nutritional changes, getting more sleep, less stressful job, kids go off to school, etc) that allow for additional running. Or simply as you reach approach your mileage limits you may need to make mileage changes less often, such as every other training cycle, or in smaller increments (maybe 3-5 miles instead of 5-10 miles).

One question that logically comes up is how large or small can/should your mileage increases be. The amount will depend on many factors, such as training age (length of time running), life style changes, longer term goals, etc. For more experienced runners who have been running many years, I like to keep the amount small, usually around the 5-10 miles per training cycle range. But with newer runners whose mileage is low and fitness levels are greatly improving, larger increases may be doable or increases done more frequently. Personally, I like to run on the conservative side on this issue so my only words of wisdom here is that you can always add more later, but you can’t undo an overuse injury from adding too much too quickly.

Frequency

When talking about frequency in terms of training for distance running, I am referring to both the number of times you run in a given period of time and distribution of runs in that same time period. For example, if I am looking at frequency in terms of one 7 day week, which is a common measure, I may instruct an athlete of mine to run a total of 4, 6, 8, 10 or even 13 times in that 7 day period, depending on their background, current level of fitness and their goals.

There are several reasons why frequency is a major tenet in my philosophy. Most importantly is the fact that our bodies adapt best to something that is done most frequently. Logically you might ask “why is that”? In this case I think we can look, in part, to aerobic enzymes. Aerobic enzymes are enzymes that help in the respiration of the muscle cells, thereby producing energy for the body to use. Running stimulates and increases the production/activity of aerobic enzymes in muscle cells we specifically use in running, while inactivity decreases the production/activity of those aerobic enzymes. By increasing how often we run, we can generate greater production/activity of our aerobic enzymes and thus a more efficient and effective energy production from which to run.

It is also important to note that running is a very specific sport, in which we use certain muscles fibers at certain intensities and in certain ways. Other exercises, while maybe good in general for increasing heart rate and general fitness, will not specifically work the exact same muscle fibers in the exact same way as you do in running. This means they are poor substitutes for developing and training these muscle fibers and their aerobic enzymes in the ways we need to use them in running. Running is still the best way to train for running.

MPR’s Rules On Frequency
While the scientists are still not 100% sure of the exact best timing of our runs to maximize this aerobic enzyme stimulus, many runners and coaches have found, after decades of trial and error and circumstantial evidence, what seems to work best in various scenarios (i.e. mileage levels, stress workout frequency, etc.).

Most world class distance runners run 13 times per week. This appears to be consistently the gold standard and has remained so for decades. Some run less and some more, but the majority of elites eventually settle on this number as what works best for them. Typically this is done as 2 runs per day on every day except their weekly long run day.

So I have generated some simple progression rules on frequency that guide how I train my athletes with respect to this tenet to help them approach the gold standard as much as is appropriate for them. I have them step into the progression at whatever point is appropriate given where they are at when I begin to coach or advise them. These rules and progression are as follows:

• Initialize running 3-4 days per week (every other day)
• Then add one day per week per training cycle until 7 days per week is achieved
• Once the duration of your average easy run reaches 60 minutes, then begin to add second runs into your schedule
• Add in 1 short (20-30 minute) secondary runs per training cycle until you reach 5-6 secondary runs per week
• When adding a second run into a day, ideally the run should be 12 hours removed from the start of the last run and 12 hours before your next run. This is not always possible, so I recommend shooting for that as a goal but at a minimum try and get at least 6-8 hours in-between the start of your 2 runs.
• Increase the duration of the secondary runs as is appropriate

Pretty simple rules, just a gradual and incremental increase in frequency until you are running a maximum of 13 times per week, or stopping at whatever level is appropriate for the time and commitment you have.

Mixture

Mixture is the various different workouts we do as runners, when we do them, how frequently do we do them, and how does this frequency change over time. This topic is the subject of countless books, articles and seminars. And true to form, I have my share of things to say on this subject as well, most of which I’ll save for later chapters.

Most coaches can talk and debate for hours or even days on theories and philosophies on workouts, what works and why and how to structure each. I think this is the area of training that has progressed the furthest in the last 50 years. Although, I will say that I am constantly amazed to find certain principles and workouts that were done 40+ years ago are still spot on today, we just now better understand why and how to use them.

It takes a combination of physiological understanding, experience in application and the art or feel of knowing how to and when to apply each for that individual, in order to obtain the best results from your mixture of work.

I’ll get into this subject in great detail when I talk about our training phases and training zones in later chapters, but here are a few basics I want to convey early on and often as they are keys in my philosophy.

Runners are very similar to chains (good grief…. another analogy) in that they are only as strong as their weakest link, and if any area is ignored for significant periods of time it will rust and weaken and hold back the rest of the chain. Now that maybe an over simplification, but the concept holds true. In order to realize our potential and continue our forward progression as runners we need to include all facets of work in our training on a regular basis. So what we change is the frequency of which we work on each, not if we work on it. All runners will have strengths and weaknesses, and a weakness is not an excuse to not work in that area, but rather a cry for work. And our strengths are not prompts for exclusivity, but rather tools used to help areas of weakness and opportunities to promote growth. As I said earlier, we’ll get into all this in more detail in later chapters.

Comming soon: Chapter 2 - Training Cycles

2011-03-01T05:05:00.000-08:00

As talked about in my last blog, I am writing a book on my training and racing philosophy. Below is the table of contents I will be following and will post one chapter at a time here on this blog as I get each finished. Check back soon for Chapter 1.

Maximum Performance Running’s Book
Half Marathon to Marathon
Training and Racing Philosophy
For Intermediate, Advanced & Elite Runners

Table Of Contents

1) The Big Picture: Balancing The 4 Tenets of Training
     a. Consistency
     b. Capacity
     c. Frequency
     d. Mixture

2) Training Cycles – Inside Out
    a. Law of Stress & Recover
    b. Base Unit
    c. Micro-Cycles
    d. Meso-Cycles
    e. Training Phases

3) The Fundamental Phase

4) The Specific Phase

5) The Regeneration Phase

6) Training Zones
    a. Zone 1
    b. Zone 2
    c. Zone 3
    d. Zone 4
    e. Zone 5
    f. Zone 6
    g. Zone 7

7) Racing & Strategies
    a. Setting Goals
    b. Preparations
    c. Even to Negative splits
    d. Fueling

8) Flexibility
    a. Warm-Ups & Cool-Down Routines
    b. Ancillary Stretching

9) Strength Training Programs
   a. Strength & Drill Circuits
   b. Core Circuits

10) Nutrition
    a. The Basics
    b. In Training
    c. In Races

11) Mental Training
    a. Attitude
    b   The State of Flow
    c. Imagery
    d. Callousing

12) Dealing With Injury & Illness
    a. Guidleines for Illness
    b. Guidelines for Injury

13) Career Progressions
    a. Cycle to Cycle
    b. Year To Year

14) Putting It All Together – Half Marathon Example Programs

15) Putting It All Together – Marathon Example Programs

Exhibit A: MPR Training Pace Guide