TRAINING FOR THE BEGINNER. Article by Steve Baker
Let me share some of my thoughts on training with you. These notes are general and are aimed at the beginner. I see them as basic truths. Experienced or new to the game, if anything I say makes sense, do it!
Many train as they feel and fall into the trap of too fast a pace, too frequently, too soon. Others run too slowly. That is the dilemma: burn-out, fatigue and injury or junk mileage with little, if any, progress.
Just starting? Not many of you should not run because of cardiovascular, structural or muscular problems. Check with your physician, hopefully a person who is personally exercise oriented, to make sure that you are not at risk. If your health is okay, go to a running store and have some fun finding running shoes that match your foot mechanics.
In some cases they will need to accommodate orthotics. If the salesperson does not check out your mechanics, understand the term overpronation for example, and does not enquire why you need the shoe, find another shop. Fit is only a part of the formula. Even a quality $180 neutral shoe with curved last on an overpronator can and most frequently does cause problembs in the foot, shin, knee and or back in an overpronator. What clothes to wear involves trial and error. Tune in to what works best for you. Most important is comfort, and what makes you look good. Fun and a positive self-image is paramount. Let�s face it you are going out to play. You are all too familiar with working, now put some time aside to play. Go on a journey of rediscovery: listening to and getting in touch with your body. Experience again the fitness you undoubtedly had in your pre-school days! A fitness that was achieved as a by-product of fun.. A positive self-image that made you invincible, and courage that all too often scared your parents. Rediscover, or discover maybe for the first time, the way of the child. A moment filled with innocence, trust and love.
This fitness you acquired as a young kid did not happen over-night. Put your time in with boundless patience. See it as training the puppy. Give yourself many proverbial pats on the back. The first as you step out the door for the first time to go play. Don�t beat-up on yourself.
Get fit before you start to run! Regular walking might be the answer for some. Later introduce short runs into your program. I am talking seconds: run to the next tree or hydro-pole. Think, �Train don�t strain.� For 20 - 30 secs. you are a runner, a gazelle, a lioness. And ladies, never forget: it�s the lioness that hunts! You are a runner, but tomorrow you will be a better runner! Practice does not make perfect. It makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect. For just a few moments practise perfect form with feet going �pop, pop, pop�, as you concentrate on running over the ground, not into it. Eyes 35 meters ahead, scanning near and far. Jaw loose. Shoulders gently pulled back. Run tall. Remember the four drives: Drive off the back foot, Drive the knees up, Drive the hips forward, and Drive the arms down
While working on your form do not neglect the power of the mind. You can only have one thought at a time, so make it a positive one, for you become what you think of most: you have a couple of children, contemplating retirement, over weight, big thighs ... or ... you are a gazelle. The mind leads and the body follows. Today you are what you did and thought yesterday. Tomorrow you will be what you do and think about today, now. Your choice! Set short term goals, and little extrinsic rewards if you wish: a Coolmax running shirt next pay-day! Go for it.
If you have a good fitness base from cycling, or swimming, for example, then your cardiovascular (CV) system already has a head start. However, be warned, for there are many injured athletes in this category. They have the strength and fitness, as well as the competitive drive, that too often can get them "laid-up" within the first few days of training. The shock to the musculo-skeletal system can be severe. Run on the grass verge or trails whenever possible. New to running, put in time. Speed and distance will come later. Without a foundation, I'm talking months not days, an athlete who so much as fantasies about "tempos", "primes", "intervals" and the like, can be on rocky ground. We must all serve our apprenticeship. Short cuts can and will come back to haunt us.
Get tuned into your body from the very start. Running is a joint function of many body parts, both physical and mental. It is said that training is as much an art as a science. Done well, we have style, good form, economy, grace and ease. Done poorly, dis-ease! I see breathing as the one most important aspect. Don't laugh! It is the controller. Belly-breath: gut drops and is pushed out on inhalation, and is pull in and up on exhalation. Makes sense, doesn't it? Too many runners suck in the tummy and breath in at the same time, thus allowing only half of the lungs, if that, to come into operation. On exhalation think....S..m..o..o..o..t..h. Inhalation gives you power and strength. Exhalation lets go of stiffness, pain, even worries and lactic acid! Let go, leave these on the road behind you. You'll remember some of your best runs as being relaxed and happy. Always finish knowing that you could have done more: guilt mileage.
Check your pulse at rest. It will slow down as your systems respond to healthy training. Your working pulse is your measure, means of monitoring pace. A healthy regard of what is happening in this department will keep you honest... pace wise. All athletes, at all levels, should know and regularly monitor their heart rates (HR). If not training will be hit and miss. If nothing else, remember that if you keep your HR in the Target Zone it is quite possible to get fitter, and in time, faster by doing less!
So what is this running pace that will provide all the aerobic benefits that we want? How do we estimate our training HR to keep us in the Target Zone?
First, approximate your maximum pulse rate by subtracting your age, chronological not intellectual, from 220. Calculations in my case would go something like this: 220 - 67 = 153, est. max. HR. Subtract resting HR from this figure, 153 - 48 = 105. Now I calculate 70% of this figure, 105 x 70% which gives me approx. 74. To the resulting figure I now add my resting HR. 74 + 48 = 122. This is my HR to keep me in the Target Zone. Note: If you are in great shape you may add 5 to 10 beats to this target, or conversley deduct 5 to 10.
Calculate your Target HR. Running at this 70% of max. level will pay the best dividends.It is not a fast pace, but it is not a slow pace. It will help running economy, CV, biochemical and biomechanical systems. It will also help burn calories and help keep weight in check. To find HR on a run, stop, take your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6. Is it in the Target Zone? Adjust pace accordingly.
A general guideline: If you are not able to converse with someone, or with your dog, sparrows, or yourself, out loud, then slow down. Hold HR in a steady state once you have warmed up. For a person new to running, all your workouts are at this pace. An experience runner should also train at this pace for approximately 60% of his or her schedule! Do not at all costs be "sucked in" to running someone else's pace. Plan your program and stick to it. Set your pace on "cruise control" for maximum benefits. Keep a dairy or log and monitor HR's.
Exercise physiologists generally agree that there are three ways to improve performance. Develop stamina, endurance and economy. This is the part of training that I have talked a little about here. The other two, increasing max. oxygen uptake and increasing anaerobic threshold, that is where our work takes us into the 70% plus HR.
In the mean time, beginners, plan a weekly schedule, enjoy your "70%" training pace, but hold on to that competitive aggression for some time yet. Injury haunts the impetuous and impulsive runner. Keep a log: record time, not distance. That may come later. Make the effort to get out for 35 - 45 minutes initially. Knowing that possibly a total of only 2mins was actually running: 20secs x 6. Great. Look back in your log in a few weeks and notice that you may only still be running for 20 secs but you are covering more ground, feeling more relaxed, doing more reps with less time for recovery, and that the next day you feel wonderful. Plan for success. Listen to your body, not least of all your heart, not to your all too often ego centred conscious mind that is frequently the bully from within. Be aware: the power of the mind. Re-train it. Make room in your log for more subjective comments. See patterns develop. Use them or change them to your advantage. And, please, please, please, remember that r e s t is not a four lettered dirty word. Just as you enjoy the walk between the seconds, later to become minutes, of running, appreciate your none running days. Go
for a swim, cycle ride, do a few core strengthening activities, do some gardening, watch a movie!
When you look back in a few weeks you will realise how far you have come: You feel more self-confident. You do not let your boss, mate, children press your little buttons that get you going. Your weight has not gone down dramatically, but the shape has changed, and more importantly your morning resting heart rate has dropped for example, from 68bpm to 62bpm, in just a few weeks. The training is working. Set another goal, short or long term, for yourself. Remember always, Patience is as great a virtue as perspiration.
Look after your body or you�ll have nowhere to live!