Running: Where do I go from here after 2020?

Most races in the spring have now been canceled and it’s been a year of all of us continually restructuring our program designs.

If we were able to train for a specific race, consistency and loving the process is key. It’s even more important to be consistent and love the process when there is no race on the calendar AND you want to be ready when they open up again.

With a little more freedom in the training plan, strength training should be a huge priority two to three days a week. I’ve been running competitively since I was in high school and haven’t ever been stopped by an injury other than a clavicle fracture. The key for me is consistency and strength/mobility work. As a personal trainer, I estimate that 90% of all the injuries, tweaks and chronic aches and pains that come from pounding on the pavement could be avoided if strength/mobility work was added.

How to do that?

Make strength simple and time efficient. Dan John, All-American discus thrower and one of the best strength specialists in the world, explains,

You don’t need to spend hours in the gym to get stronger. As endurance athletes, all you need are six exercises performed 3x through anywhere from 8-10 reps.

• 1 and 2) Pushing exercises with arms and legs.

• 3 and 4) Pulling exercise with arms and legs

• 5) Hinge exercise (ie Strait Leg Dead Lift or KB swings)

• 6) Mid-section exercise (ie plank, side plank, Superman’s)”

Remember, during strength, we just need a small stimulus to gain strength. Start with light weights or body weight exercises and adjust. Some alternative are yoga and pilates classes. I would shy away HIIT classes (High intensity interval training: aka Crossfit) as an endurance athletes during your season.

Secondly, keep 80-90% of your weekly volume easy. During this time, focus on nose and belly breathing while running.

Not only will nose breathing keep you aerobic, there’s huge benefits in nose breathing. Nose breathing creates an increase in blood carbon dioxide, which in turn means better oxygenation of the working muscles, including the respiratory muscles.

The other 10-20% of your weekly running volume should be moderate to hard. What does that mean?

There are several variables, and research shows that the biggest bang for your buck is working your “sweet spot” system. That’s around 88-92% of your LT or FT (Lactate Threshold or Functional Threshold). For long course athletes (1/2 marathon and up), LT or FT is usually a pace we can hold for an hour.

The reason why “sweet spot”work is so beneficial is because your body can recover faster, allowing for ample fitness gains without breaking down the body as substantially as doing work at 100-120% of LT/FT. In other words, you can do sweet spot work more frequently without feeling like you got hit by a truck.

A sweet spot workout example for a half to full marathoner. 3x15min @ 88-92% of FTP with 5-10min rest between.

Bottom line. Either choose to be structured or don’t, make sure you are loving the process of what you choose, add in strength training, spend 20% of your running at your sweet spot, 80% where you can breathe through our nose.

Reach out to Jason here if you want to explore individualized coaching.