Planning Your Running Training
Now that running has jumped to the top of many peoples daily routines it is a great time to look at what makes a good running program and how we can work to develop our own, with some simple steps.
One of the keys to success is consistency and this is achieved by looking at your week and planning out your runs. Try to aim for around, three to four runs a week when starting out.
Keep your mileage low and consistent when you start out, and build slowly. Setting yourself a high mileage run can result in aches and pains that prevent you from running for the rest of the week, hindering your progress.
Set out your distances with a steady state run that clocks your average pace per mile at a comfortable effort level, which would be 60% of your maximum effort OR able to have a conversation throughout your run. This will enable you to stick to your running plan and not push too hard often. You can’t break your record every day.
Include unload weeks in your training every 5-6 weeks, by reducing the mileage and intensity. These prove useful in allowing active rest and pushing your limit the following week.
Play with distances, including, short, medium and one long distance run in your week. Remember you don’t hit the reset button on Monday and that long distance run will linger. Stay smart and keep the milage achievable.
Sports watches and fitness monitors are helpful tools to monitor heart rate, which can help guide your effort level during the run. Sports apps can assist in monitoring tracking distance, time, elevation and keep a record. They can add a competitive edge by sharing achievements with friends and family.
Your body requires time to adapt and this includes your muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, not just your cardiovascular system. Stress fractures can occur from over doing it with the mileage.
Todays athletes run at 20-30% of their maximum, only pushing their limit every two weeks or once per month and sometimes only on race day. This is called the polarised training method and is widely adopted as an effective olympic training model.
For those planning a running season there are useful tools online, that provide a framework for preparing for race days throughout the year. The polar flow season planner sets out your running plan on an annual calendar and is easy to use.
Complementary training (strength and conditioning work - not in our plan but I think essential)
In order to become an efficient runner it is first good to understand that if running is your sport, you need to strengthen your body for that sport. Spending time to appreciate that running does not take all of your joints through their full range of motion which can lead to a form of repetitive strain injury, that occurs away from the keyboard. These repetitive movements may result in tightness of the muscles or stiffness and restrictions through joints. This can lead to aches that develop into common running injuries.
A well thought out and engaging exercise program can address the cost of the thousands of steps you take during your running week. The focus is to develop full body fitness, take your joints through their full range of movement, develop strength through that range of movement and work through a dynamic & running specific program that makes us more complete athletes and much stronger runners.
