Training: Two Lessons from 2006

Two Lessons from 2006

As the year comes to a close, many of us are thinking back on the year that we’ve had. Before we jump into the new year, with new goals, I think it’s healthy to make a mental catalog of things that we’ve done and learned in the last year. It’s also a nice way to give the brain a mental break between seasons before moving on.

For me, there have been two things that have really stood out this year:

1) Race less, be a specialist (at least for awhile), and

2) Focus on quality, cut out the junk.

Race less, be a specialist (at least for awhile)

There was a time when I raced like a maniac. I raced practically all of the time. Whether it was a sprint triathlon, a 5K, or a 10K, there was something offered just about every weekend. Logically it seems like a good thing to race frequently. It certainly sharpens your racing abilities and technical skills, such as transitions in the triathlon. But in looking back on those periods, I wasn’t necessarily setting PRs every weekend either. In fact, I found that I didn’t get faster by racing frequently. I actually found that I plateaued when I got into the racing frenzy.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that racing frequently has the impact of being distracting from real training periods and goals races. What leads to PRs is training specificity for a particular distance. In other words, when racing many different distances throughout the seasons, hopping between sprints and half-Irons and 5Ks and marathons, you can’t train specifically for any particular distance to get faster. What you need to do is become a specialist in a particular distance, at least for awhile.

What I did find this year is that when I picked out a goal race, even for a month or two, I could really tailor my training to that distance and get ready for that distance. I picked out a few key races this year, actually only three key races, and kept myself dedicated to those distances and disciplines for those few months. The results speak for themselves: a PR in each of those key races.

This might mean that you have to forego a race or two. Here’s an example: your favorite half-marathon might be exactly the same weekend that you need to run a goal-paced 18 miler. If you run the half-marathon a full-speed, then you probably are not going to be able to run an 18 miler at goal pace the next day. And if you try to run the race and run the extra miles before or after, you just won’t likely get the quality you’re looking for - you’ll have breaks after the end; see your friends and want to talk; or whatever comes up. So as hard as it may be, you might have to do your workout on your own and miss that fun race.

The bottom-line of this lesson: pick a key race and become a specialist for a few months or more.

Focus on quality, cut out the junk

After my last race in Sacramento, I was talking with someone who had run in my pace group for most of the race. He had faded at the end and didn’t make his goal for the race. He told me that he had been running about 80 miles a week to get ready for the race. And then he said this: “I just need to bump my mileage up to 100 miles a week and I know I can do it.” That idea sunk onto me like a ton of bricks. I hate to hear that kind of thinking. What I told him was that I had been training no more than 40 miles a week in preparation for the race. I can’t stress enough that running more, does not make you faster.

You can run less, if you simply cut out the junk miles and run more miles at and above your goal pace.

This past training season, I never ran more than 4 times a week, but I set PRs at both the half-marathon and marathon distance. How? I focused on speed and didn’t head out for the easy miles on those other two or three days a week. There is a limit to how much speed, tempo and goal paced running you can stand, so naturally if you are going to fit in a couple more runs during the week, you’ll likely be tired and need a physical and mental break. You’ll most likely just cruise through those runs and use them as active recovery. I say take that time to do other things, like cross-training (swimming, weight lifting, spinning) or even take additional rest days. Your key speed workouts will be faster and of better quality and you’ll also be less prone to injuries.

In my typical week this year, since I was specializing in a particular distance, I would build a week this way: one goal paced run (goal pace, meaning exact race pace); one high-speed workout (5K pace or faster); one longer speed workout (10K pace); and one tempo workout (between goal pace and 10K pace). This mix meant that I was running fast and building speed, without adding lots of junk. I stayed injury free and set some good PRs as a result.

The one caveat that I will make on this method of training is that you need to have an adequate background to handle the amount of speed work that I’m talking about. Some runners will need to work up to doing speed work more than twice per week. This is where a good running coach will come in handy.

The bottom line of this lesson: keep it fast and cut out the junk miles. You’ll be stronger, faster and better rested.

In closing

As the year comes to a close, I hope that you had a great racing and training year. In one of my next entries, I plan to talk about goal setting to get ready for the next year. In the mean-time, happy holidays.