1) SPEED. It's the title of this blog and a component I have overlooked at times the past 2 years. I was so wrapped up in marathon training the past 2 years that I often errored on more miles and long tempos. Those components are needed but where I think I did not do enough was inject speed into my marathon cycles. The funny thing is that when I plan my athlete's marathon cycles I am usually pretty careful to have some balance however, for my own training, I tend to go extreme.
Last fall I figured I have good foot speed so I would really go big on longer tempos and more intervals. For me, the problem was 6 min pace became very fast to me. I had not done anything quicker.
While I am focusing on 5k/10k this Spring, for me, speed is what completes me. It is what I have always been good at and what I need to be confident and sharp. This became glaringly evident to me Sat when I did a workout with a large group of marathoners. I held with them for the first 4 miles at 6 min pace and then I jumped on the track to roll a 4.48 mile. With a 5-10 min break, I jumped back in for another 4 mile loop. What I found is that 5.50-6 min pace after the hard mile felt very comfortable and in fact almost "slow". I was reminded that one of the benefits of running much faster than your marathon pace during marathon training is the marathon pace then feels much more comfortable as you have been down at paces much quicker.
2) REST. This past week I had the luxury or at least, I made a commitment to be in bed around 9pm every might. I had one night a little before 10pm however, I woke up an hour earlier. I got nearly 9 hours of sleep every night. Mileage will make you stronger for sure but only to a point. If you can't find time to rest and recover, mileage will wear you down and probably lead to an injury after a few weeks. If you want to increase your mileage and intensity, that is a good goal to help you improve but you had better figure out how you are going to rest more as well. The body requires time to rebuild. I have seen some local runners who hold down a 40 hour job that seem to run their best around 60 miles with maybe the occasional 70. I would argue that unless you have a less demanding job than 40 hours and/or less family commitments, pushing much above that is very challenging to find the proper time to recover. It can be done especially if you have built your body up to it over a couple years but there is a point of diminishing return.
3) STRENGTH TRAINING. Another one that alot of you will say duh but how many of us know this, say we are going to do it but really don't commit? I have been logging my strength training sessions just like I log runs to keep myself accountable each week. My goal is to visit the gym a minimum of 2 times and I strive for 3. Why the gym? Why not just at home? Again, accountability. If I commit to going to the gym, I know I am going to be there at least 30 minutes working out. A nice additional advantage is that while I am there, I am stretching alot and doing various type of leg and hip flexor exercises that loosen me up and help get me stronger. I can clearly see the advantage of the strength training when I am doing intervals as my upper body is now actually participating in the workouts instead of just flapping in the wind. I also think the strength training is helping me stay out in front of possible injuries that have slowed my training down in the past.
4) GROUP TRAINING. I probably sound like a break record as this comes up so often when I talk about training but I continue to be a huge believer that we are better off training together than separate. Does this mean all runs and workouts are done together? Absolutely not. In fact there are times when I think there is good value to do a workout solo or get out on a easy run on your own. However, for your more significant training during training cycle, the benefits of linking up with others is tremendous. Take my two workouts this past week. I did 800s on Wednesday. Paul and Jamaar were not doing the same workout but they warmed up and down with me, did a portion of the workout and were there encouraging me. Heck, I am not even sure I would have go out of bed to go to the workout if I did not know they were waiting to start at 6am!
Saturday was another great example. 18 runners showed up at Providence Day school to participate in various forms of marathon tempo workouts. While several of the runners had slight variations of the workout, they all found a way to weaver their individual needs into the group effort. A couple folks showed up who are not yet back up to full steam but wanted to get some miles in and show support for the others. The result was an awesome atmosphere where I really believe some of the performances and effort would not have existed with out the collective power of the group.
Running is not complicated and at times I think like any activity that one invests significant time into it we tend to over-analyze. So even as a runner who has been doing this for 30+ years and coaching for several, I find myself continuing to learn and adjust. Happy Running!
3) STRENGTH TRAINING. Another one that alot of you will say duh but how many of us know this, say we are going to do it but really don't commit? I have been logging my strength training sessions just like I log runs to keep myself accountable each week. My goal is to visit the gym a minimum of 2 times and I strive for 3. Why the gym? Why not just at home? Again, accountability. If I commit to going to the gym, I know I am going to be there at least 30 minutes working out. A nice additional advantage is that while I am there, I am stretching alot and doing various type of leg and hip flexor exercises that loosen me up and help get me stronger. I can clearly see the advantage of the strength training when I am doing intervals as my upper body is now actually participating in the workouts instead of just flapping in the wind. I also think the strength training is helping me stay out in front of possible injuries that have slowed my training down in the past.
4) GROUP TRAINING. I probably sound like a break record as this comes up so often when I talk about training but I continue to be a huge believer that we are better off training together than separate. Does this mean all runs and workouts are done together? Absolutely not. In fact there are times when I think there is good value to do a workout solo or get out on a easy run on your own. However, for your more significant training during training cycle, the benefits of linking up with others is tremendous. Take my two workouts this past week. I did 800s on Wednesday. Paul and Jamaar were not doing the same workout but they warmed up and down with me, did a portion of the workout and were there encouraging me. Heck, I am not even sure I would have go out of bed to go to the workout if I did not know they were waiting to start at 6am!
Saturday was another great example. 18 runners showed up at Providence Day school to participate in various forms of marathon tempo workouts. While several of the runners had slight variations of the workout, they all found a way to weaver their individual needs into the group effort. A couple folks showed up who are not yet back up to full steam but wanted to get some miles in and show support for the others. The result was an awesome atmosphere where I really believe some of the performances and effort would not have existed with out the collective power of the group.
Running is not complicated and at times I think like any activity that one invests significant time into it we tend to over-analyze. So even as a runner who has been doing this for 30+ years and coaching for several, I find myself continuing to learn and adjust. Happy Running!
