Hey, I posted this note on another site that I use. Its targeted toward a group of non-endurance athletes, so the tone of the article is a little simplistic and dumbed down a bit compared to something I'd normally write here. Even though the target isn't fit triathletes, I find that the same priciples generaly apply. To be honest, what mainly insprired me to write it are my own current cicumstances. Everytime I get out of shape I have to remind myself of these basic concepts (okay.....I don't forget to wear running shoes......and truth be told, its usually Desert Dude who has to remind me).
Enjoy, and feel free to comment or critique. I mainly like posting this stuff just to get a training dialogue going amongst all the talk about power meters, dimples, and Armstrong's testicle.
Run 6 days a week…..keep it under control
The first problem that I see newer runners have when trying to figure out a plan on their own is that they simply expect to get too much out of a single workout. If you are out of shape, the reality is….you won’t be able to run very much at first. Don’t think you can just force yourself into shape on your first try.
Don’t think of running in terms of what you can do in a single workout, but rather what you can do across and entire week. Unlike swimming, cycling, or rollerblading, running will beat you up pretty badly and it takes a while for the body to build up durability. The most efficient way to do this, and to get into shape, is to run a little bit every day.
Each run should be kept at a conversational pace. Will running faster burn more calories? Yes……but only for the amount of time you are running. There is always a tradeoff. The faster and further you run today, the less you’ll be able to do the next few days.
There is a fine line between where a weekly training load will build fitness and where your body will just break down. Running isn’t really supposed to be that difficult. Your goals early on should be simply to get out the door and make it through the workout. Do this 200-300 times a year and you will be doing those workouts that you hoped you could do on day 1.
This really is the biggest error that people make. You need to look at the long term and take baby steps, day in and day out, as you progress toward a larger goal.
Get a Consistent Plan Together
I’ve looked at training logs that are simply all over the place. Too many people try to wing it on a day to day basis based on how they feel and what their mood is at the time the lace up their shoes.
Your body does a pretty good job of adapting to routines. If you follow the same plan every week, you will know what you can handle on a day to day basis. Did you run 3 miles yesterday? Well, then you probably will feel the same today as you did after last week’s 3 mile run.
3 Shorts, 2 Mediums, and a Long
This is a simple plan that I adopted 20 years ago. I have done a range of experimentation since then and I’ve found that the body simply responds well to this ratio. It doesn’t hurt that it’s easy to remember. Coincidentally, it’s very similar to the plan that renowned distance coach Arthur Lydiard used for his athletes.
I follow the hard easy method. The short runs are the “easy” runs. The rest are the “hard” runs. The day off can come before or after the long run. I use a 1:2:3 ratio. A medium run is twice as long as a short run. A long run is three times as long.
I personally like to schedule the week so that I’m running my medium runs on Tuesday and Thursday, and my long runs are on one of the weekend days. For someone just starting out, 5, 10, and 15 minute runs are typically a great place to start. So, starting on Monday, your week would look like this: 5 – 10 – 5 – 10 – 5 – 15 – 0.
Off the bat many think that a 5 minute run can’t possibly be enough exercise. Trust me….start easy and slowly build. That 5 minute run will eventually become a 20 minute run, which will be a recovery run between your 40 minute runs.
There are physiological reasons that this program works well, but I wouldn’t consider myself qualified to explain them. On a more conceptual level, you are shooting for the medium and long runs to be your “workouts” with your short runs both serving as recovery, but also maintaining the habit of working out while also sneaking in a little extra metabolic exercise each week. As I’ve explained to a lot of triathletes, those three short runs will add 20-30% to your total training load each week.
I’ve also found that this system helps a person psychologically when compared to running the same distance every day. I find that people tend to push themselves too hard day to day and find themselves quickly in a rut where they feel exhausted all the time but don’t feel like any real progress is being made. The person running 3 miles a day gets a little more excitement in their routine by instead running 4 miles twice a week and then a 6 miler on Saturday while enjoying the easy recoveries on the short days (if you can run 4-6 miles, then 2 miles is a nice break).
Increase by No More than 10% each Week
Once you establish a routine that you can handle. You want to work toward building your mileage VERY gradually (I call this Gradual Progressive Training). If a week of training feels good, add 10% to every workout the following week and stay at that mileage until you feel comfortable, and then add 10% again. It may not seem like much….but that’s the whole point! If your training works, and you aren’t exhausting yourself and you aren’t getting injured, then keep doing it….just add a little. 10% a week will double your mileage every 2 months. If you look at the big picture, a person starting at 50 minutes a week will be running 6-7 hours a week (similar to a collegiate runner) in just 6 months. This kind of improvement is actually very unlikely (remember, I said IF a week of training feels good to add 10%.....it will start to take a few weeks for your body to adapt to an increased training load). The point is there is no rush. You have the rest of your life to be a fit, healthy runner.
What’s most important here is that you continue forward with the plan, week in and week out, and add 10% periodically, constantly pushing yourself just a little more.
Wear RUNNING shoes
I always forget to tell people this because I think it should be obvious. You need running shoes, and they need to be relative new (less than 500 miles of use). Your best bet is to find a running specialty store and have them help you find a pair that will work for your feet. The Bryn Mawr Running Company in Media and near Villanova are good as well as the Delaware Running Company in Greenville, De.
Stretch
There is an ongoing debate about whether or not stretching will prevent injuries. I understand a lot of people stretch very little and never get injured. I get very tight if I don’t stretch and, especially at 36, I feel a lot of stiffness and soreness if I don’t stretch before and after a run.
Do a Google search on running stretches, but the two that are absolute musts are straight leg and bent knee calve stretches. Inevitably, if you don’t do these, you will fall victim of shin splints.
Proper Clothing and Weather Considerations
In the summer time, run either in the early morning or after 7pm. If you plan to run earlier, find a nice shaded path or trail. Drink lots of water.
In the winter, buy a cheap nylon running suit and a hat. You can wear socks on your hands. The nylon is light weight and keeps the wind off of you. I’ve never needed more than a long sleeve T-shirt under a nylon jacket as the body does a good job of warming itself up. Trails are also good in the winter time as the tree cover tends to keep the wind off of you.
If at all possible, don’t give up in the winter time. It’s not as fun, but even if you can maintain 2 days a week in the winter, you won’t regret it when the spring comes.
Old? Big? Not built for running?
Hey, we aren’t teenagers anymore. Running can be tough. Even 5 minutes of continuous running might be too much to ask. If this is you, start out walking every day. Shoot for at least a half hour. Then add six 45 second jogs with a minute and a half break on your medium days (three on your short and nine on your long). Stay with this and slowly build by 10% every week or so until you hit 3 miles. Once there, start adding 5 seconds (10%) to each interval and taking off 5 seconds on the walk breaks. Do this until the walk breaks are 30 seconds. Then continue to add 10% to the runs while maintaining 30 second breaks. It will take some time, but your runs will eventually get long enough that you will require fewer walk breaks to cover 3 miles, until eventually you can run 3 miles all at once……and if that never happens…well….you are probably still exercising a lot more than you used to.
Good luck. Feel free to email me with any questions.
-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485
Enjoy, and feel free to comment or critique. I mainly like posting this stuff just to get a training dialogue going amongst all the talk about power meters, dimples, and Armstrong's testicle.
Run 6 days a week…..keep it under control
The first problem that I see newer runners have when trying to figure out a plan on their own is that they simply expect to get too much out of a single workout. If you are out of shape, the reality is….you won’t be able to run very much at first. Don’t think you can just force yourself into shape on your first try.
Don’t think of running in terms of what you can do in a single workout, but rather what you can do across and entire week. Unlike swimming, cycling, or rollerblading, running will beat you up pretty badly and it takes a while for the body to build up durability. The most efficient way to do this, and to get into shape, is to run a little bit every day.
Each run should be kept at a conversational pace. Will running faster burn more calories? Yes……but only for the amount of time you are running. There is always a tradeoff. The faster and further you run today, the less you’ll be able to do the next few days.
There is a fine line between where a weekly training load will build fitness and where your body will just break down. Running isn’t really supposed to be that difficult. Your goals early on should be simply to get out the door and make it through the workout. Do this 200-300 times a year and you will be doing those workouts that you hoped you could do on day 1.
This really is the biggest error that people make. You need to look at the long term and take baby steps, day in and day out, as you progress toward a larger goal.
Get a Consistent Plan Together
I’ve looked at training logs that are simply all over the place. Too many people try to wing it on a day to day basis based on how they feel and what their mood is at the time the lace up their shoes.
Your body does a pretty good job of adapting to routines. If you follow the same plan every week, you will know what you can handle on a day to day basis. Did you run 3 miles yesterday? Well, then you probably will feel the same today as you did after last week’s 3 mile run.
3 Shorts, 2 Mediums, and a Long
This is a simple plan that I adopted 20 years ago. I have done a range of experimentation since then and I’ve found that the body simply responds well to this ratio. It doesn’t hurt that it’s easy to remember. Coincidentally, it’s very similar to the plan that renowned distance coach Arthur Lydiard used for his athletes.
I follow the hard easy method. The short runs are the “easy” runs. The rest are the “hard” runs. The day off can come before or after the long run. I use a 1:2:3 ratio. A medium run is twice as long as a short run. A long run is three times as long.
I personally like to schedule the week so that I’m running my medium runs on Tuesday and Thursday, and my long runs are on one of the weekend days. For someone just starting out, 5, 10, and 15 minute runs are typically a great place to start. So, starting on Monday, your week would look like this: 5 – 10 – 5 – 10 – 5 – 15 – 0.
Off the bat many think that a 5 minute run can’t possibly be enough exercise. Trust me….start easy and slowly build. That 5 minute run will eventually become a 20 minute run, which will be a recovery run between your 40 minute runs.
There are physiological reasons that this program works well, but I wouldn’t consider myself qualified to explain them. On a more conceptual level, you are shooting for the medium and long runs to be your “workouts” with your short runs both serving as recovery, but also maintaining the habit of working out while also sneaking in a little extra metabolic exercise each week. As I’ve explained to a lot of triathletes, those three short runs will add 20-30% to your total training load each week.
I’ve also found that this system helps a person psychologically when compared to running the same distance every day. I find that people tend to push themselves too hard day to day and find themselves quickly in a rut where they feel exhausted all the time but don’t feel like any real progress is being made. The person running 3 miles a day gets a little more excitement in their routine by instead running 4 miles twice a week and then a 6 miler on Saturday while enjoying the easy recoveries on the short days (if you can run 4-6 miles, then 2 miles is a nice break).
Increase by No More than 10% each Week
Once you establish a routine that you can handle. You want to work toward building your mileage VERY gradually (I call this Gradual Progressive Training). If a week of training feels good, add 10% to every workout the following week and stay at that mileage until you feel comfortable, and then add 10% again. It may not seem like much….but that’s the whole point! If your training works, and you aren’t exhausting yourself and you aren’t getting injured, then keep doing it….just add a little. 10% a week will double your mileage every 2 months. If you look at the big picture, a person starting at 50 minutes a week will be running 6-7 hours a week (similar to a collegiate runner) in just 6 months. This kind of improvement is actually very unlikely (remember, I said IF a week of training feels good to add 10%.....it will start to take a few weeks for your body to adapt to an increased training load). The point is there is no rush. You have the rest of your life to be a fit, healthy runner.
What’s most important here is that you continue forward with the plan, week in and week out, and add 10% periodically, constantly pushing yourself just a little more.
Wear RUNNING shoes
I always forget to tell people this because I think it should be obvious. You need running shoes, and they need to be relative new (less than 500 miles of use). Your best bet is to find a running specialty store and have them help you find a pair that will work for your feet. The Bryn Mawr Running Company in Media and near Villanova are good as well as the Delaware Running Company in Greenville, De.
Stretch
There is an ongoing debate about whether or not stretching will prevent injuries. I understand a lot of people stretch very little and never get injured. I get very tight if I don’t stretch and, especially at 36, I feel a lot of stiffness and soreness if I don’t stretch before and after a run.
Do a Google search on running stretches, but the two that are absolute musts are straight leg and bent knee calve stretches. Inevitably, if you don’t do these, you will fall victim of shin splints.
Proper Clothing and Weather Considerations
In the summer time, run either in the early morning or after 7pm. If you plan to run earlier, find a nice shaded path or trail. Drink lots of water.
In the winter, buy a cheap nylon running suit and a hat. You can wear socks on your hands. The nylon is light weight and keeps the wind off of you. I’ve never needed more than a long sleeve T-shirt under a nylon jacket as the body does a good job of warming itself up. Trails are also good in the winter time as the tree cover tends to keep the wind off of you.
If at all possible, don’t give up in the winter time. It’s not as fun, but even if you can maintain 2 days a week in the winter, you won’t regret it when the spring comes.
Old? Big? Not built for running?
Hey, we aren’t teenagers anymore. Running can be tough. Even 5 minutes of continuous running might be too much to ask. If this is you, start out walking every day. Shoot for at least a half hour. Then add six 45 second jogs with a minute and a half break on your medium days (three on your short and nine on your long). Stay with this and slowly build by 10% every week or so until you hit 3 miles. Once there, start adding 5 seconds (10%) to each interval and taking off 5 seconds on the walk breaks. Do this until the walk breaks are 30 seconds. Then continue to add 10% to the runs while maintaining 30 second breaks. It will take some time, but your runs will eventually get long enough that you will require fewer walk breaks to cover 3 miles, until eventually you can run 3 miles all at once……and if that never happens…well….you are probably still exercising a lot more than you used to.
Good luck. Feel free to email me with any questions.
-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485