Runners new and runners old, use training programs. I think the big difference is that more experienced (old) runners know how to tweak theirs to make it the most beneficial for where they are at and where do you want to go. These are both big questions to ask yourself when you are either looking for a training program someone else has put together or building one for yourself. It takes a little honesty and a lot of introspection. Some runners like to have a written plan and others have a mental plan. Both are useful at certain times but I’ll cover that in a different post.
Where are you?
To create an effective training program for yourself you need to know where you are starting from. Do you have any injuries? this could be a current injury that you are recovering from or it can be something that is a reoccurring issue for you. What are you doing now to train? This takes into account your current fitness including your strength, aerobic fitness, and what you are running now. What is your life like? Think about how much time you have to train, what stressors you have or will have, and also other obligations you have to the world around you. These questions are not in any particular order and I could go on and on but these are essential things to know to build a training program that is going to start you off right.
Current and past injuries are relevant when creating a plan. The current injury is obvious because you need to continue to allow it to heal before you put too much stress on it. I’m a firm believer in active recovery, but it should be gentle. You should not be doing so much training that you leave your body without enough energy to heal.
Past injuries should be taken into account because you don’t want to repeat them. These could be things that have happened one time or they could be an issue that pops up every so often. It could also be a mild chronic issue rather than a acute injury you are healing from. If you have injured yourself doing certain types of training or by building your miles too fast, you know you should build slower or avoid some types of training.
If it’s something you can’t avoid, you need to do a better job preparing your body for it by building a foundation. To build a foundation thing about the different elements that you need to successfully complete the skill. Do you need some extra flexibility in a muscle or tendon? do you need more strength in supporting muscles? There might be a workaround as well. Some runners get injured every time they do speed training. If this is you, instead of doing 800s on the track, find a hill that is steep enough and long enough for you to do hill repeats.
Before you begin creating a plan, don’t change anything you are doing and really get to know where you are during your training. How do you feel? is it challenging? is it fun? are there things you think are missing from your training? What you are presently doing is where you want to begin unless you are already over doing it. If you are tired all the time, lack motivation and are grumpy, you may want to reduce your load for a couple weeks before you begin to build.
What your life is like has a huge impact on your training program. It places time constraints on you and it uses up energy. You may need to reduce training at times when you know that it’s going to be a stressful week. This can’t always be planned for but for things you know about, take them into account and reduce your training that week. By being proactive, you will make reaching your goal fitness easier. If you just push through everything, you will decrease your gains because you will either get injured or be too energy depleted.
Where do you want to go?
Many runners are training for something. Most often, it is a particular event. It can also be to reach a certain level of fitness such as be able to run continuously for one hour or run a 6 minute mile. Whatever your goal is, you need to build up to it.
If your goal is a certain fitness level, begin by thinking about the steps needed to improve what you are working on. Possibilities are strength, endurance, agility, and speed. Once you know specifically the elements you need to consider to reach your goal, start thinking about each one in both incremental and approaches terms. The key is to build up at a rate your body can handle. If you don’t know, keep it easy at first and then push a little more as you get to know your body. As far as approaches, this just means that there are different ways to approach a mountain (goal).
To build strength, you can go to the gym and lift heavy but low repetitions or light and high repetitions. You can also use your body weight. Are you going for overall strength or do you want to have fabulous biceps or glutes? The type of weigh you use changes the way your body builds muscle. Do some research and make sure you are doing what is going to get you where you want to go.
Endurance can also be hit using different types of exercises. Your passion may be running but sometimes it is good to cross train to reduce the impact and still build endurance. You can choose things that will enhance your running: elliptical, stair master, hiking, walking. You can also choose things that will give you a break from running such as swimming, rowing, and cycling.
If you are a trail runner, agility should be something you think about. I would encourage you to add some form of agility training to your program. For agility training, you can use real experience by finding a rocky section of trail and doing some repeats. Start with something flat before you add in the downhill. An agility ladder is also a great way to improve your foot work. Another, less well know strategy, is leg turnover. This really focuses on quickly picking up and putting down your feet. Spinning can be a good way to increase your leg turn over.
Speed training is something I love to hate. There are so many different types of speed training. You can do intervals of different distances. The most common are 400, 800 and one mile. You will want to take a recover lap or 2 minutes between each repeat. You can do random time sprints by adding in 30 second or 1 minute of fast running randomly through a run. You can do a pyramid by starting with an 400 then you go up and down: 400 rest 800 rest 1 mile rest 800 rest, 400 cool down. You can do a ladder by starting with 400 then you go up, 800 rest, 1 mile rest 1.5 miles. Another fun one is diagonals. Find a square or rectangle field. Run along one side at an easy pace and when you reach a corner you sprint diagonally to the opposite corner. Run/jog/walk along the side as a rest and when you reach the corner, sprint diagonally to the opposite corner. Here are some links to my prior posts on speed.
Importance of interval training
If your goal is a particular event, you will need to break it down into elements or the particular skills you will need to complete it successfully. It may have so many elements that you can only choose one or two as focus points. If you try to incorporate too many things into your training program you will plateau or over train or get injured. None of which you want. Possible elements to events are distance, ascents, descents, heat, cold, eating and mental training. All of these could be it’s own post. Lucky for you I have written them and linked them here for your enjoyment.
Okay so I couldn’t find one on just mental training. It’s touched on in many many of my posts so You will have to wait until next week for a comprehensive mental training post. Sorry, not sorry.
Happy and Healthy running!
ultrarunningmom 