Some Further Thoughts on Your Training
Elements….
Types of Workouts To Improve Your Performance
What is YOUR weakness in achieving your running goals? Do you start out with good speed only to have to slow down later in the race? Do you find that no matter how hard you push yourself you simply are not going as fast as you would like? Do you consistently slow down after 8-10 miles? Do you have a training partner who runs virtually identical workouts with you, but always runs away from you at the races?
These are all common "challenges" seen in our sport, but each has a potential "fix" if we are only willing to work on it.
Basically in training, we are building a complex system that will be called together on a particular race day. Training thus, MUST, include all the building pieces to create and stabilize this complex system on the goal performance day.
IF, we want to race, and to race well, we must in the words of Ibrahim Hussein, multiple NYC Marathon winner, have the patience to train in addition to the will to race (for him "win"). We must "pay the price" in our training to be ready and fully integrated on race day.
If we always tire and slow down in our long training runs, we WILL tire and slow down on race day. If we don't have enough leg speed ever in training workouts, we won't have much leg speed for a race either.
Hence we must do a VARIETY of workouts to evolve the fully complex physical, physiological, and psychological system that will be called on for race day.
Physically: We must do some shorter, faster workouts in order to develop leg speed and improve our running efficiency. We should do a variety of patterns in those workouts from 200 meters to even 2-3 mile very sharp speed efforts to balance a range of speed development. Shorter speed segments allow us to really go FAST, and the intermediate distances of 1-2 miles force us to hold form and keep high effort in place for neuromuscular training. Hill running is good for speed as it forces us to PUSH OFF harder to get up that incline, so hill workouts once a week can and should be a common element in our training for speed. Variety in speed workout pattern is important so the body does not fall into a single pattern and time of effort demanded.
Physiologically: We must do longer runs and runs at solid tempo efforts IF we are going to race at these longer distances. The body must NOT treat the race challenge as a total physiological shock, but simply one increment that extends and integrates what the training elements have included. If you are a larger framed athlete, you will need to do MORE in the way of longer runs and focus MORE on solid negative split efforts than a smaller and lighter runner. A larger runner can run all the same workouts as their smaller training partner, and the smaller runner will leave the larger well behind in any race over about 10 miles. This is simply because cardiovascular systems are NOT proportional to body size, and the larger runner is effectively trying to race with a "smaller motor." The solution to this challenge is for larger runners to run MORE LONG RUNS to improve their running efficiency and to further improve their glycogen storage capacity. Rather than finish a long run with their smaller training partner, the larger runner MUST do an extra 3-5 miles in those workouts. The tempo runs for the larger runner should be 20% or so longer than what is completed by the smaller athlete for them to be even close at the finish line.
You should practice using energy gels and sample the various brands and flavors to find one(s) that work(s) for you. These energy replacement aids are incredible assets after about 2 to 2.5 hours of continuous effort. Sure, you can run for about 2 hours without fully depleting accessible glycogen reserves, but after that you will be burning MUSCLE. While this works, it is a slow recovery energy process, and you will SLOW DOWN. Using energy gels will allow your body more readily available fuel, and you will be able to sustain speed better.
Drinking regularly but moderately during longer races is also important in maintaining physiological efficiency. Dehydration leads to a loss of blood volume, lower blood pressure, and your muscle systems are less efficient. Using one of the electrolyte drinks in both your longer training runs and in your long races will be a PHYSIOLOGICAL advantage.
Learn it; use it !
Psychologically: It is one thing to dream about racing to new personal best times, or even winning a/the race, but when you are pushing yourself to new levels..it hurts, and sometimes it can hurt a lot. In order to be "tough-minded" enough to sustain high pace effort levels, you MUST TRAIN significant amounts of time in that zone. You must get used to (probably NEVER "comfortable") living at the edge in your training; you must learn to fully push yourself to places that you have not been, and where it is not comfortable at least right then.
Racing is all about "finding out what you are made of" and where the new edges of your being can be explored. It is about pushing your limits, and that means it won't be comfortable at all during. As the truism asserts: "Pain is temporary, but the pride is forever." Or for the Navy SEALS, "Pain is fear, leaving the body."
Finding the effective edge of what we can do, pushing and finding the risky, but not suicidal new edge must be a core part of your weekly training. In longer tempo runs, and perhaps even once a month at a typical speed workout session, try going out REALLY HARD for even the early segments of that workout. Find out what you can and ultimately cannot do, in workouts, among friends, where "crashing" really doesn't matter, since no records are kept in any public place from those sessions !
Ideally NEVER focus on "beating another athlete" in racing. In your training you are simply "running from YOUR shadow." The only person it is important to "beat" is the shadow of what YOU would be if you gave in to slothfulness. However using other athletes as inspiration and goals is very reasonable. Motivate yourself by aspiring to run as well as "X," and then extend your training to achieve that goal...and then set a new goal for an "X" even higher in the finishing field.
Of course, again the only "X" you are really competing against is yourself, so if you are training better, stronger, and smarter, and thus running faster, it doesn't matter if "X" finishes in front of you, because to do that.."X" had to notch up their training too. Such psychological goal setting is a "win-win" for all involved.
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