BASIC TRAINING PRINCIPLES
Training methods are based on established principles. Each coach ‘steals’
hints from this person or that person, and processes them through
trial and error of personal experience. The result is different applications
of the same basic knowledge.
Ten principles form the backbone of a competitive runner’s program.
1: The principle of foundation training and sharpening.
You must build a foundation of aerobic endurance. You do this by progressively
increasing your work load, and them as you approach your race target, you
sharpen your training with specific speed workouts designed so that you peak
for your race or series of races. Then you recover and rebuild with foundation
endurance training.
A training program for a competitive runner consists of three parts:
the off-season ( re-building ... light running ), the pre-season
( progressive foundation endurance running ), and the competitive
season ( specific training to sharpen and build to peak performance ).
Remember: the better the base developed through foundation training, the
more hard work your body will be able to do as you prepare for your big race,
and the more likely you are to become a successful competitive runner.
2: The principle of consistency.
Foundation training is based on steady, consistent work. Consistency requires
discipline. Your body builds fitness slowly and loses it quickly. It takes
only a few weeks to lose most of the adaptation to training that you have
worked so hard to achieve. Less time to get out of shape than to get into
shape - unfair, but true.
3: The principle of adaptation to progressive stress.
The body, and the mind, gradually adapts to increasing levels of stress.
The body has the ability to get stronger to adapt to stress, but it can also
breakdown if overstressed. The stress should not be either too little or
too much. It must be intense enough and regular enough to promote adaptation
to a higher level of racing fitness: the ‘training effect’. “Train,
don’t strain” is the rule to follow.
As your fitness improves, you should be able to handle a greater training
load with the same effort.. The progress continues until you reach your ultimate
capability, the limit of your body’s ability to adapt without breaking. Improvement
rapid at first , but as you approach your maximum potential, progress becomes
less dramatic. Plateaus are a natural part of progression. Expect them.
Avoid overload by following the ‘10% rule’: never increase mileage
or speed by more than 10% from one week to the next, or one month to
the next. Also, do no more than 10% of your running as racing, or at racing
pace plus, during training .
4: Principle of recovery.
Alternate stress and recovery periods. Day to day, week to week, reps to
intervals/rest in speed work. You can not train hard year round. Known as
the ‘hard-easy method’. Beware of the ‘two day lag’. If you ignore this principle
of training you can wipe yourself out, and dig yourself into a very deep
hole.
You must rest before and after all long runs, speedwork and races. Hard work
+ rest = faster times.
5: Principles of specificity of training.
You train differently for a 5K than a marathon, to run on a flat course or
hilly one, to race in cool weather or heat, sea level or altitude. After
building the foundation of endurance, and as you sharpen for your race, you
need to train your body and mind for the specific demands of the race or
series of races that you plan to enter. Cross-training is important, but
you train for running by running.
6: The principle of individuality and flexibility.
All training must be flexible, adapting to the needs of the individual runner.
Each runner has personal likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Find
out what training goes best for you. Learn to go with your strengths. But
do not be too flexible that you lose consistency and discipline. Vary your
training and speed workouts. Explore, but also have a trusty course, a kind
of security blanket. Find training partners that will help you. Compromise
a little, but in general find "non-toxic" training partners that will neither
push you too hard nor hold you back too much.
7: The principle of confidence building.
Success builds success. Surviving long runs and ‘pulling a max’ can build
confidence. Every runner can increase his or her toughness and confidence
by applying a little more stress in order to enter a new dimension on race
day. We all have more physical potential than our minds allow us to use.
8: The principle of patience and experience.
Successful racing does not happen over night. Experience your first marathon
or 5K race, perhaps, then race your next. Learn from experience.
9: The principle of extended goals.
Our sport gives us a tremendous incentive to keep improving - the extended
goal. But progress comes slowly. You should always set your goals, reasonable
ones, for a full year ahead. This way you will not be in a rush to overdo
it.
However, do not let extended goals detract from training / living
in the 'here and now'. It is all too easy, and common, to live in the past
and the future and miss the moment. Enjoy your run today ... then ... the
future will look after itself.
10: The principle of moderation and balance.
Too much of anything - food , drink, parties, training miles, speed work,
races, and sex – is not good. [ I must review some of these principles! ]
A moderate approach to life: balancing the major stresses of life - career,
family, lovers, and running - is as important as balancing the individual
parts of your training program.
Train gently. Steve