Structuring Your Training Season for Runners
How to Structure a Training Season for Runners
Runners often have difficulty structuring a season because they do not really know where to start. It can be a foreboding task when you are six months out from a target race and looking to structure your season in order to meet your goals but as you will see it gets a whole lot easier when you divide the season into periods.
Many runners fail to reach their full potential because they waste much of their training time doing so called “junk miles.” Basically junk miles are runs where you are not really improving anything in your running repertoire. Running is dynamic; this means that if you are not improving then you must be declining in some aspect because your fitness is never static.
A successful training plan will insure that that you are improving ever day ever so slightly all the way up to the day of your target race. The best place to start structuring your season in this way is to use a concept called periodization. In the chart below you will find an example periodization for a four month training season with four weeks of racing.
Base Period 4-6 weeks
Build Period 4-6 weeks
Peak Period 4-6 weeks
Race Period 4 weeks
The base period is spent building your endurance and strength for your target race. So if you are training for a 10K then this will be spent progressively increasing your mileage each week until you feel very comfortable covering the distance or even double the distance.
In the build period you want to progressively replace your endurance mileage with progressively shorter but faster running. For the example listed above you might in the first week run 90% of your workouts at an easy pace and then 10% at or above race pace. Every week you will want to increase the fast running and decreasing the slow running.
In the peak period you will want to work on aspects of your running that are holding you back from achieving your goal. So you can run your target pace for the first 6 kilometers of a 10K but then with about 4 kilometers left you start to burn out. In the peak period you would want to concentrate on improving this aspect so perhaps you would structure a few workouts each week so that you fatigue yourself up to the point where you normally burn out and then from there begin repetition and interval training.
Finally, during the race period you are not going to improve too much and should concentrate more on resting and tapering for the target race. The key here is to keep your legs moving at a fast pace but not to stress them to the point where they are greatly fatigued. You are not going to lose much fitness over the course of three weeks to a month as long as you continue to do short bouts at or near race pace. It is better to rest up so that on race day you can run the fastest you have ever ran before.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
5 Ways to Prepare For Athletic Training Programs
Preparation for any athletic endeavor should include a good conditioning program. Stretching, strength training, elasticity exercises, endurance training, and nutrition are all components of good conditioning.
All athletes need to prepare themselves physically and mentally. The body needs proper nutrition, the right amount of hydration, and most importantly conditioning. Eating the right foods and creating the right diet consists of eating a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals, even fats. A balance nutritious diet is key for any athlete and has tremendous affects on performance. Some athletes think they can eat anything they want because of the high calories they expend during exercise. This is a misnomer, proper nutrition is very important.
Athletes also need the proper of hydration to perform at their best. Not too much and not to little. There is a perfect balance.
In order to stimulate an aerobic conditioning effect, research has indicated that yo u must keep your heart rate at approximately 70 to 85% of the MHR for ten to thirty minutes. Maximum Heart Rate = 220 – Your Age. If you train at a higher level you may experience lactic acid buildup which will cause you to stop and rest. Aerobic conditioning is defined as one’s ability to take in, deliver and use oxygen. Improvement in aerobic conditioning occurs when your body is exposed to a prolonged increase in oxygen uptake and metabolism. One must work at a certain level of effort in order to stimulate the body.
Lastly an athlete needs to be mentally prepared. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Though physical training and conditioning are obviously important to performance, mental-skills training can often help athletes improve their performance. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Athletes often use visualization, goal setting, and refocusing to help them mentally prepare for important events.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
5 Wacky Ways to Spice Up Your Training For Your Next Marathon
Perhaps you are tired of waking up in the morning and going for just a boring old run. Maybe you are looking to spice up your training or get an edge on the competition. Well you are in luck because in this post we will be discussing some fun and exciting ways to spice up your training that likely are not found in a conventional training plan.
Sand Running
First off is sand running. There are a million different workouts you can do in the sand, one simple one is to mark of a short distance of about 200 meters and do a set number of repeats with a short break in between each. It is also wise to time yourself so that the next time you do the workout you can try and better your time.
Running Downhill
Another great workout to improve leg turnover is running on slight down hills. For this one it is best to have a distance of at least 100 meters. What your you want to do is gradually increase your pace until you are running at or even faster than your 100 meter race pace. This workout is great for getting you used to higher rotation speeds so that when someone starts to push in a race you will be able to answer back.
Ankle Weights and Bike Pulls
If you are looking to build strength two great workouts are running with ankle weights or pulling a bike. The ankle weights are pretty self explanatory. If you would like to try the bike pulling workout then you will need to find a friend who is willing to assist you with your training. What you do is tie a rope of about 6 feet to a bike and then tie it to a belt. Next you just put on the belt and run. In order for the workout to be of benefit though you want to make sure to never allow any slack in the rope. You can instruct your friend at the beginning to gently hit the brakes whenever there is too much slack in the line.
Tire Pulls
Lastly, another great workout is to attach a harness and run pulling a tire to simulate running in hilly areas. Typically, this is a great training for runners in flat areas. Start with a small tire and build up.
These are just a few examples of unconventional workouts that as a runner you can use to spice up your training and make you an all around better runner. Keep your eyes open and use your imagination because you never know when you are going to come across a new technique to incorporate into your training.
Most importantly, have fun.
Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
An Incredible Training Tool for Runners – Hills!
Many runners cringe when they hear the word hills, often coming up with a myriad of excuses why they can not or should not incorporate hills into their weekly routine. The truth is hills are a fabulous training tool and should have a spot in everyone’s training regimen, whether you are training for a 5K all the way up to a marathon.
Yes, hills are hard, very hard, but the reason they are hard is because they require a lot of strength in order to scale them successfully. If you cringe when you think about running hills then it is likely that you are lacking in the strength department. Unfortunately this is a necessity in any race, especially when the going gets tough, so you will definitely want to improve on this if you want to reach your full potential. In the beginning it is best to start off small, something like 3-5% of your weekly mileage. Once you start to get stronger though you will want to increase this to something like 10-15%. You definitely do not want to incorporate hills into your interval or repetition workouts because these are designed to be run fast and to increase your lactic threshold. Instead, it is best to save the hills for temp runs and longer easy runs.
If you are training for a race that has a hill in it and you already know the course layout you can design a workout that simulates the run. So for example, let’s say you are running a 5K and you know there is a hill at about the 3K mark. A good training workout would be to run at or above race pace for 15 minutes or so and then do a few hard laps up a local hill, and finish with another 15 minutes hard. Another great workout to improve your finish is to do short intervals that end up hill. A great workout for this would be to mark off a mile but make sure the finish is at the top of a hill.
There is a ton of different things you can do with hills to spice up your training and increase your strength. Running up hill is comparable to doing squats, lunges, and even leg presses, so if you do not have access to a gym or want to reach your full potential in running then hill running is just what the doctor ordered.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
3 Ways to Overcome Weaknesses in Competitive Runners
There comes a point in every runners race, even elite runners, where they encounter a weakness. The problem with average runners is that they tend to shy away from working on their weaknesses and stick to what they do best. This might be all fine and dandy in training but once you get into a race situation the weakness will still be there and will limit your performance. In this post we will determine the most common weak points and suggest some exercises you can do to get them up to par.
Weak Start
Many runners have a weak start. Some go out too fast, others too slow and get boxed into a bad position. The best way to overcome this weakness is to work on it in training. So at the beginning of every workout after you are good and warmed up you will want to start as if you were in a race. If you feel you start too slow then you will want to try and push yourself during the mock start, and if you feel that you take off too fast you can either continue to take off fast until you are used to it or slow down to a more manageable pace.
Weak Finish
Another common weakness is the finish. This can easily be corrected by sprinting at the end of all your workouts. I is a great routine to get into even on your long runs. You do not necessarily have to sprint to the finish every time but at least increase the pace so that if you find yourself in a situation where you need a final kick you will be confident in your abilities.
Racing Lulls
Even the best runners have a lull in their race at some point. Lets say for example you are training for a 10K and you find at about 5K you are feeling a little sluggish but then at 8K you regain your composure. This means you have a mid-race lull and it needs to be corrected if you plan on reaching your full potential. A great technique to work on this weakness is to structure your training sessions so that you have the most difficult aspect of your training at the 8K mark. One example could be to structure your run so that at the 8 kilometer mark you come to a local hill. From there you can do another 2 kilometers hard but uphill, this will make the 8 kilometer point in a flat race seem like a gift from heaven.
Whatever your weaknesses are make sure you are consciously trying to improve upon them. There is no sense in avoiding your weaknesses because when the time comes to demonstrate your fitness they will definitely limit your performance. It is better to suffer in training and have a good race then to have easy training but a bad race.
Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
Try Fartlek Training for a Twist in Your Running Speed Work
Running Fartlek
Many runners are looking for new ways to spice up their workouts. One great way to add a twist to your longer runs is with a technique called fartlek. Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning “speed play.” In this post we’ll discuss what it means to fartlek run as well as provide a few sample workouts you can use in practice.
Fartlek running is quite simple but very effective. Basically what you do is run at a normal tempo for a set duration of time and then increase the pace to a speed where you’re close to your lactic threshold or even above it. Generally fartlek runs are longer, usually 30 minutes or more in length, and incorporate 8+ accelerations. The beauty of the fartlek run is that you don’t have to map out any distances, you can either go by time or by feel. If you decide to go with time then a great workout to start with is 40 minutes long and after every four minutes you go hard for one minute. The workout will look something like this:
| Total duration: | 5 minutes | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes | 30 minutes | 35 minutes | 40 minutes |
| Intervals in minutes: | 4 light 1 hard | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light | 4 hard 1 light |
If you decide to go by feel then you can run a familiar route and count telephone poles. Fartlek ran in this fashion will look something like 10 telephone poles light, 3 poles hard, 10 poles light, 5 hard, etc. And you don’t have to stop there, there’s a million different ways you can run fartlek, use your imagination and see if you can come up with something new each week. Not only will it spice up your training but doing a totally new workout each week causes you to use different muscles and stress your systems in various ways making your chances of improving that much greater.
Share with us your favorite fartlek training.
Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
7 Top Tips For Running Your First Ironman
So you made the decision to race an ironman and you have been training hard for 20 weeks or so. Now its race day and you are waiting nervously at the start of the swim for the horn to go. Here are a few things to keep in mind throughout the race and to practice in training so that they are not a surprise when you finally get out there.
1. During the swim you are going to want to go as hard as you can for at least 400 meters so that you get a decent position to swim the remaining 3.5 kilometers. There is nothing worse than being stuck in the middle of the pack for the first couple kilometers because by the time you finally get in a rhythm the swim is basically over.
2. Look up every 20 strokes or so. Do not trust that the person in front of you is swimming a straight line. There have been pro triathletes who failed to look up and found themselves a few hundred off the lead pack because they were swimming such a inefficient path.
3. Wear your bike clothes under your wet suit and clip your shoes to your bike pedals. This will save you a couple of minutes in transition and will allow you to concentrate on more important things like putting on sun screen and making sure you have your sunglasses and nutrition.
4. Do not draft! If you are caught drafting it is a hefty penalty at first and if you do it again you are out. Make sure when you go for a pass you do it swiftly and never remain in another riders slipstream. If it is too close to tell then it is better to back off, you are not going to save any time drafting for a few seconds but you definitely will lose time if you get caught.
5. Make sure to hydrate and take calories and salt throughout the bike. Its obvious that you need to hydrate but many athletes often forget that they need sodium as well. Most collapses and end of race muscle cramps are due to a lack of sodium. So before you compete in the race make sure you have been supplementing with salt in your training rides and make sure you have plenty on race day.
6. Do not unlatch your helmet at any point during the ride. If you are caught with your helmet undone at any point on the bike leg its an automatic disqualification.
7. During the run you may want to walk through every other aid station so that you get a chance to thoroughly hydrate and take a few gels. You are almost done so the last thing you would want to do is run out of energy to burn.
Finishing an ironman will probably be one of the greatest achievements of your life. You should visualize the race as much as possible in training and come up with a strategy for every situation you can think of. With hard work and determination there is no doubt that you will complete the race and you will likely catch the triathlon bug in the process.
Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
4 Elements of Training for Runners to Master
Far too often people get caught in the trap of purposeless training. They go out each day and put in a run but with no idea what the run is improving or why they’re doing it. In order to train with a purpose you must first understand the different zones of training and why they cause you to improve. In this post we’ll discuss the different training zones, the systems they target, and provide a sample workout for each.
Natural Zone
First off is the easy zone or the “natural zone.” Basically this is the pace you fall into naturally when you go for an easy run. Running in this zone helps to build endurance and strengthen connective tissues and muscles associated with running but won’t help you to get much faster. Easy running is generally reserved for warm-ups, cool-downs, and long runs.
Tempo Zone
The next zone is called the threshold or tempo zone. Training in this zone causes you to improve endurance but helps your body get used to running at or above race pace. Generally these types of runs are between 20 and 30 minutes in length, and are run at about 75-90% intensity. Most people prefer to do temp runs by feel, so basically you want to be running at a pace where you feel considerably more stressed than your easy runs. A good gauge to differentiate between the two is that on an easy run you can hold a conversion with little effort, but on a tempo run you should only be able to speak in short sentences.
Interval Zone
Zone three is the interval zone. These types of runs are usually short intervals of up to 6 minutes and are run just below or at race pace, so 90-100% intensity. This zone of training will simulate racing conditions and is ideal if you want to improve your time in any race. In order to train in this zone you’ll want to know the pace you ran in a recent race and then run at that pace for short intervals of no more than six minutes. Then take a short break of only a few minutes and do it again as many times as you wish. In the beginning you may want to just do a few but as you gain experience you can extend the workout up to twenty or thirty intervals if you’d like.
Repetition Zone
The final zone is the repetition zone. This type of training is designed to run at or above race pace. So if you ran a 15 minute 5km in a race last week then your repetitions would be run at 3 minute per kilometer or faster. Repetitions are usually very short though and should never exceed two or three minutes. The point is to exceed your lactic threshold so that the next time you run at this pace your threshold will be slightly higher and you’ll be able to run slightly faster.
If you understand the elements of training you’ll be able to purposefully structure your weekly workouts. It’s important to note that as the intensity of running increases the weekly volume of that type of running should decrease. So with the four zones listed above repetition running should make up the least of your weekly mileage and easy and tempo running should make up the largest part.
Visit www.epoboost.com to learn more about how you can improve your endurance, speed and strength with the best running supplement available. You have nothing to lose with our 90 day money-back guarantee.
Boost your endurance with EPO-BOOST™ and you’ll run faster and farther, we guarantee it!
Is Cross Training Important for Runners?
Many serious runners put in between 40 and 80 miles a week. This can be very taxing on the body and sometimes can lead to injury and burnout. A great way to prevent this is to switch up some of your longer less important runs with sports like cycling and swimming, which utilize the same muscles and systems but are low impact.
If you’re serious about running and want to reach your full potential then you don’t want to switch your speed workouts with cross training sessions. Speed work is important and targets muscle groups and systems that can only be improved by running fast. Instead, if you have two long runs or tempo runs a week you could replace one of those. Cycling is great if you want to get the heart rate up but reduce the pounding. Also, if you cycle at a high resistance or on hilly terrain it can greatly improve your strength. Since your main sport is running you’ll want to stay away from high intensity cycling, in other words speed work on a bicycle, because your muscles likely aren’t adapted to this kind of training and you’ll run a high risk of injury. In fact, it’s even recommended for people who are concentrating solely on cycling to bike for at least two years before getting into high intensity workouts.
Swimming is a viable cross training workout for runners as well. Swimming takes a lot of upper body strength, which is also necessary in running, so you might get a bit of a leg workout but more importantly you’ll build upper body strength. If you’re not keen on swimming then you could also try pool running. You’ll need a pool with a moderate depth in order to perform this correctly, but if you only have a lap pool then you can try it with weights in order to make it a bit more challenging.
Visit www.epoboost.com to learn more about how you can improve your endurance, speed and strength. You have nothing to lose with our 90 day money-back guarantee.
Boost your endurance with EPO-BOOST™ and you’ll run faster and farther, we guarantee it!
Improve Your Lactate Threshold and Swim Faster in Your Next Triathlon
Whether you are a runner, cyclist, triathlete, or an endurance athlete you need to train as fast as possible without hitting the wall from high levels of lactic acid in your blood. Elite athletes and coaches know that increasing lactate threshold is essential to success.
There are several factors that can be modified to improve performance and endurance in athletes. VO2max, exercise economy, and lactate threshold are all factors that can be improved with training and nutritional supplementation. If you can improve your lactate threshold your race speeds will improve. This article will focus on training to improve lactate threshold in swimmers.
If you are an amateur swimmer training for a local event like a triathlon then you need to understand the mechanics of a swim workout. A workout is basically comprised of two elements, endurance and threshold. Let us say you are training for a sprint triathlon with a 500 meter swim. What would be the point in swimming three miles continuously three times a week? Every time you hit the water you are swimming almost ten times your race distance. This kind of practice is known as swimming “junk miles” and many swimmers do it.
For a short race like a 500 meters you are basically going to be sprinting the entire way; endurance should be of very little concern. Instead, your preparation should be geared towards increasing your lactic threshold. All world and Olympic endurance athletes incorporate lactate threshold training into their workouts.
To increase your lactate threshold you are going to want to swim at or even faster than race pace in training. So let us say you do five 50 meter repeats. If your goal is to swim the 500 in 6:25 then you would want to shoot for somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 seconds for your 50 meters. Perhaps the first couple of times you will need to have a few minutes break between each 50 meters in order to repeat the time, but as you progress in your training you should decrease the rest period until you are basically swimming ten – 50 meters at around 40 seconds a piece.
This same sort of practice can be used with just about any swim distance; lactic threshold expansion is an integral part in your training program.
Of course, if you are training for an iron man swim of 2.4 miles then endurance is going to be a factor. But once you feel comfortable swimming the distance in order to get faster you will have to do the same kinds of workouts as the person training for the 500 just on a bit larger scale, 100 or 200 meter repeats for instance.
Designing a swim workout is that simple. There is no need to look for a long fancy training plan that is difficult to follow. If you want to improve your times then you have got to swim faster in practice, it is that simple.
Your training program will be difficult in the beginning, but if you stay determined to improve then you will see astronomical gains in a very short time. Combining this training workout with nutritional supplementation to increase VO2 max and exercise economy and increase your speed and endurance.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
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Visit www.epoboost.com to learn more about how you can improve your endurance, speed and strength. You have nothing to lose with our 90 day money-back guarantee.
Boost your endurance with EPO-BOOST™ and you’ll run faster and farther, we guarantee it!
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- 5 Ways to Prepare For Athletic Training ProgramsPreparation for any athletic endeavor should include a good conditioning program. Stretching, strength training, elasticity exercises, endurance training, and nutrition are all components of good conditioning. All athletes need to prepare themselves physically and mentally. The body needs proper nutrition, the right amount of hydration, and most importantly […]
- 5 Wacky Ways to Spice Up Your Training For Your Next MarathonPerhaps you are tired of waking up in the morning and going for just a boring old run. Maybe you are looking to spice up your training or get an edge on the competition. Well you are in luck because in this post we will be discussing some fun and exciting ways to spice up your training that likely are not found in a conventional training plan. […]
- Transitioning Fast and Flawlessly at Your Next Triathlon
