Doing a Self Assessment on Your Training. My Takeaway: Don't Start Your Hard Workouts Too Soon.

This is not the most highly scientific research, but just observations on my own training over the past several years. I've done a pretty good job at logging most of my mileage since I was a freshman in high school, which at the time I just did out of being a little obsessive but not learning a damn thing from my training habits. Now things make a lot more sense that I've got experience developing a lot of other people's training schedules. The biggest thing I've learned from it all; DON'T DO TOO MANY HARD WORKOUTS TOO SOON! Here are my findings:

Self Classification:

I am a person that runs at least 5 to 7 days per week year round and have kept pretty good general fitness (not necessarily peak fitness) for several years. I tend to be a pretty ambitious person that will stick to a schedule if I get one... which I have found to be a flaw to some degree. I realize not all people run year round and may take a little longer to get into good racing fitness, but I would imagine my information could be helpful to someone with a similar lifestyle.

Injuries/Ailments:

I don't get too many injuries surprisingly, but it's typically a form of tendinitis on the medial part of my right knee. There were a couple bad muscle strains in there, some lower back pain after a couple races, and a neuroma in my foot but nothing so serious that it puts me out for a super long amount of time. Sometimes I will work my way into some over-training about 3 or 4 weeks into a training cycle because I get too ambitious.

Races, Results, and General Training Observations Over 10 Years

I highlighted some of the races that I thought stood out in terms of what I did right in training, what I did wrong, or just generally thought was a surprising result. Here it is:

Half/Full Marathons Trained for                  Result                                 Avg MPW

Lewis and Clark Half Marathon '06                  1:17:18 (3rd)                         80
2 wo's/week/20wks

St. Louis Marathon  '07                                     2:42:16 (8th Place)                90
2 wo's/week/20 wks

P.F. Chang's Half '08                                          1:19:31                                  95 to 100
Felt tired with most workouts

Twin Cities '08                                                   DNF calf strain                     95 to 110
Dead after 25wks of tough workouts

St. Louis Marathon '09                                       2:49:37 (11th)                       50
Longest run 13mi, no long workouts

Gobbler Grind '09                                              1:17:44 (3rd)                         80
not many workouts

Boston Marathon '10                                          2:39:27 PR (199th)               80
8 weeks training

Montreal Marathon '10                                      DNF hamstring strain           70
not many long runs

Gobbler Grind '10                                              1:18:21                                  60
6 weeks training

Twin Cities '11                                                    2:40:49                                 80 to 85
not many wo's

P.F. Chang's '12                                                   2:40:00                                 90
2 wo's/week

KC Half '12                                                         1:19:51                                 80
no workouts

P.F. Chang's Half  '13                                          1:15:56 PR                           80
Easier workouts but longer tempo runs

San Diego Mara '13                                             2:46:21                                 85 to 90
Lots of good wo's and a 4mi PR

NYC Marathon '13                                              3:38:02                                 60
Very few long runs, harder workouts but not prepared for a full marathon

Boston Marathon '14                                           2:46:00                                  50
Only 5 wks training

CIM '14                                                                ?:?? strained back                 80
Good training, bad race, walked the last 8 miles

Rock the Pkwy '15                                               1:17:29                                  75
2 wo's/week, had bronchitis or possible pneumonia?

RnR STL '15                                                        1:23:05                                  85 to 90
3 wo's/wk, Felt really tired

CIM '15                                                                2:54:49                                  50
Very tired, Fatigue lasted several weeks even with rest

Omaha '16                                                            1:23:40                                  70
No workouts, base running only with longest run of only 11 miles

Takeaways From the Highlighted Races

Looking at 5 of these races, I realize that I ran pretty well off of just a few races or very low key workouts throughout some training cycles. Here are the takeaways:

• My marathon best was done off of only 8 weeks of hard workouts because I had a neuroma in my foot. 
• Had a decent Boston marathon in 2014 with only 5 weeks of training and a couple long runs.
• Typically do well with roughly 80 miles per week.
• More than 2 workouts per week makes me tired.
• Don't skip the long runs (seems like a no brainer).
• 25 weeks is a really long time to do hard workouts.
• Medium workouts and only a few tougher workouts tend to suit me well.

How Can This Help You?

Take a look at some of your better races and determine what they had in common during your training stint. Obviously it will take several races over a long period of time, but logging mileage, taking notes on general week to week feelings, and recording the end result can show quite a bit over time and it will save you a ton of time, injuries, and exhaustion in training for your next event.

Base Fitness is Different Than Race Fitness: Don't Be Afraid of Running a Slow Time!

Nobody likes to have a slow race. People tend to get in at least a couple hard workouts before a race, mainly because they want to be at their best when it comes to a race and feel good in the process of it. Also, having a fast race gives the ego a nice boost and people tend to attach their identity to their PR's. If a person improves their time from 4 hours to a 3:50, that person is no longer a "4 hour marathoner", but now referred to as a "3:50 marathoner." The problem with this is people don't get to learn themselves in the various phases of training (Base, Competition, or Peaking). A slow time ends up being looked upon as a failed race, or there's something wrong. I believe competitive runners will learn more about their fitness and what works best for them in terms of training if they test themselves every few week regardless of the condition they are in. Here are some things to look for while doing races in the Base and Competitive Phases of training.

BASE FITNESS (Pre Competition)

This is generally a phase of some very low intensity running. It's used to build mileage before any serious training begins. Mileage may get pretty high in this phase, but the quality will not often get you to a peak result. For me, this is the most interesting point to test yourself, because it is a true starting point of sorts which can be compared from season to season or year to year.

While racing, the runner will often feel kind of sluggish, no power up hills, and probably lack a strong finish. I think it's hard for people to swallow the fact that they will be trying hard, but will most likely not even be close to their personal best even though they may be putting in 100 miles a week. It seems like you're doing a bunch of work for nothing. If an athlete is already hitting PR's in this phase, they are probably going to have a fantastic season once some faster training gets thrown into the mix.

I prefer athletes do a race at the end of their base phase to get a nice starting point of their fitness. If 50 miles per week gets you to 'X' time for a half marathon, then some slightly more intense workouts should improve on that by a significant amount.

COMPETITION PHASE

This is where the more intense workouts begin. They should start with non-specific and work their way to specific for the goal event. I would recommend an individual test themselves every three or 4 weeks to make sure they are not overdoing things and hopefully start getting used to that uncomfortable feeling toward the end of a race.

The first race or two should feel stronger than your race in the Base phase, but will most likely not have a great finish. It may take 3 or 4 races to feel like you can push the end of the race as opposed to feeling like you want to stop. Racing takes practice. A more advanced runner may take more races to hit a peak than a beginner or novice.

It's very important to pay attention to how you feel in various stages of a race while in this phase. Not every consecutive race will be faster, but they should be pretty close in time on similar courses and in similar weather. There will be a noticeable difference in how you feel toward the end of the race at the end of the Competition Phase.

MEASURING POINTS

From season to season, it's important to look back on the time you ran at the end of your Base period. It will usually be pretty close every time. Not usually a super fast time, but it is always a good way to figure out the proper intensity to begin workouts and it's fun to watch yourself progress every few weeks. Here's a summary of what to look for in your training phases:

BASE

• Test yourself at the end of 4 to 12 weeks of building mileage. 
• Get mileage as high as possible.
• Expect a slow time. There's nothing wrong with you, it's supposed to look a little rusty.

COMPETITION

• Race Every 3rd of 4th week after the Base Phase
• Monitor the point (mile marker) in the race in which you start fatiguing
• Expect some decent improvement toward the end. 
• Realize that race fitness is different than base fitness.

PEAKING

• Expect to do only 3 races or less
• Race finishes should feel strong
• Your goal race should be your peak race

Statistics of KC Endurance Coached Athletes

I thought it would be interesting to see the types of people we are currently coaching this Fall season. I could probably break this stuff down even further, but this is all I had energy for at the moment.

Gender

Women - 68.5%

Men - 31.5%

Ages

Women

• Ages 15-30 - 16.2%
• Ages 31-40 - 29.7%
• Ages 41-50 - 48.6%
• Ages 51-60 - 5.5%

Men

• Ages 15-30 - 17.6%
• Ages 31-40 - 41.2%
• Ages 41-50 - 23.5%
• Ages 51-60 - 17.7%

5k PR's

Women

• 16:00 to 19:00 - 5%
• 19:01 to 22:00 - 8%
• 22:01 to 25:00 - 40.5%
• 25:01 to 28:00 - 13.5%
• 28:01 to 31:00 - 18.9%
• 31:01 to 40:00 - 14.1%

Men

• 15:01 to 18:00 - 23.5%
• 18:01 to 21:00 - 11.8%
• 21:01 to 24:00 - 29.4%
• 24:01 to 27:00 - 5.8%
• 27:01 to 30:00 - 0%
• 30:01 to 40:00 - 29.5%

Measuring Devices for Fitness Testing are Expensive and Relatively Useless For the Competitive Runner

I ran across some equipment for VO2 Max testing and blood lactate testing kits the other day, which I thought would be interesting to use for my athletes. What coach wouldn't want some really neat testing gear for their runners? I could regularly know exactly where their fitness is with this stuff. Well, lucky for me I happened to look at the price tag of it: VO2 Max testing equipment is right around $6,000 and a device used for blood lactate monitoring is around $230 or more. The obvious thought that came to mind was, is it worth it?

There are a lot of places that do fitness testing on people using this equipment. Hospitals use it for cardiac and pulmonary patients, universities use it for learning purposes mostly, and maybe some athlete testing and research. Sometimes a health club will offer it at an additional cost to their members. A lot of top endurance athletes get it tested on a regular basis, and it has even become a bragging point for Tour de France cyclists that can get theirs around 90 mL/kg. Knowing your VO2 max seems like an important number, but other than patient testing at a hospital, why does being able to know your numbers matter at all when it comes to sports?

Plug in Performances to Find Training Paces, Don't Pay For It!

The VO2 testing equipment basically just measures expired gases during incremental exercise. Once you know your maximal oxygen intake (expressed mL/kg.m), what good does it do for an athlete that can test themselves during a 5k pretty much every weekend? Some may argue that it will help a person train right at their maximal oxygen uptake during intervals or their lactate threshold on a tempo run and get the most effective workouts. I thought about it, and luckily I can plug in race performances in the McMillan or Daniel's Running Calculators and get extremely close to the paces a person should be training at. They already did the math for us competitive people that are looking to improve! That's reason enough to not spend $6,000.

Specific Training Produces Specific Results

Another thought that crossed my mind was the Law of Specificity. To be better at activity, one must perform that activity. If you are training to run a 5k in 20 minutes, piece together workouts that are at 20 minute 5k pace until you can string them together in one race. Training at 5k pace is slower than VO2 Max pace, but it is specific and has been proven to improve performance in well trained runners (link), so again it is basically worthless to know that you have a VO2 max of 60.

Furthermore, if a runner is training for a cross country race, paces often don't matter and the runner will have to train by feel. Hills, mud, grass, and weather will slow the athlete to the point that training specifically at your VO2 max pace will be too taxing. Taking lactate readings every few intervals is somewhat silly too, because who wants their finger pricked every 5 to 10 minutes? The same thing can be accomplished with a heart rate monitor. The heart rate should hover around 85% of max and no finger pricks needed.

Exercise Testing is a $$$ Maker

Thirdly, I see the exercise testing a lot of places as a business opportunity for them. I've seen a lot of places charge clients $75 to $200 per test just to know some numbers. I think if someone is that interested in knowing they have raised their lactate threshold over 12 weeks of training, that's fine, but I'm confident their weekend race performances wouldn't be any worse if they didn't know at all. I think people should further realize that charging that much for a fitness test is often to make up for the cost of the equipment and hopefully be a profit generator. Time over a distance seems to be a perfectly good measurement to me and I don't have to pay for it unless it's just a race fee.

Conclusions

After looking at this stuff, I still think it's neat equipment to have, but have come to the conclusion that if your race performances are improving, workouts are getting easier, and you generally feel good about your fitness, there's no need to get any kind of VO2 Max testing or lactate testing done. Performance improves with progressively specific workouts and you don't have to pay for it.

Coaching The Mindset of An Athlete

When I was younger, I did swimming, wrestling, cross country and track. On some teams, there were usually a few kids that clearly didn't want to be there or were just there to get some conditioning for a different sport. Most likely, their parents made them do it and they put in the least amount of effort possible just to get by. There will always be a few disinterested kids or adults on a team, but I think the biggest mistake of a coach, is to MAKE an athlete do more of an activity as a punishment. I believe this conditions people to see the activity as more of a job rather than a genuine personal endeavor and reduces motivation. Here are my experiences in getting people to be more motivated athletes.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN....YOU GET TO RUN!" - Change the mindset from the start

A coach I had in middle school wrestling was probably one of the most influential people I had in sports. At the beginning of practice, we'd have to go out in the cold and run 2 or 3 miles. A bunch of middle school kids certainly didn't enjoy running, but we had it drilled into our heads on day 1, "You don't have to run... You GET TO RUN!" That's probably the only sports team I have ever been on in which it was rare to hear a complaint. Everyone worked hard and learned to love it. Farmington, Missouri is well known for their successful wrestling teams, and I think this mindset is a strong contributor to that.

"GET SERIOUS OR GET OUT!" - Don't be here if you don't want to be.

My sister and I did swim team for several years, and I'll never forget one coach in particular who shaped my mindset as an athlete. At the time, the team consisted of over 100 kids. Most were serious and a few not as serious and just liked to chat. Our coach was a thick guy with a deep, echoing voice that you could hear from across the pool. A nice guy, but could definitely be intimidating if he was yelling at us. He ran a successful team and we won pretty much every meet.

There were several occasions in which we were supposed to be swimming, but a few were talking or just being fairly disrespectful and not listening to what the coach had to say. He always had one line that would shut everyone up and get us all back to work: "Get serious or get out of my pool. Come back later and pay a dollar (when the pool is open for rec swimming)." Of course his commanding voice was helpful in getting us going again, but the fact that we wouldn't be able to swim with the "serious kids" made us want to do it more. Essentially it was reverse psychology. If you don't want to be here with our group, get out! Nobody ever left that I can recall.

INJURIES INCREASE MOTIVATION - People want what they can't have.

There are two seasons out of the year when people often dislike to run. Winter and Summer. It's either too hot or too cold in the Midwest those two times out of the year for people to feel motivated to get outside. As a coach, it is sometimes near impossible to get some people out to run most days of the week within those seasons. It is frustrating but I do understand because I don't feel like running either.

I have noticed that regardless of weather, if an athlete gets an injury they cannot wait to finally slap on their shoes for a hard workout. People always want what they can't have. If they can't run, they want it more. A temporary running injury is in my opinion the biggest motivator of all. Sounds terrible, but injuries are sometimes beneficial for your mindset.

A couple years ago, I had strained a hip flexor in February when the weather wasn't super nice. I remember trying to get outside almost every day in hope that the hip would magically feel better. It took about 3 weeks for it to heal up. Finally when I could run again, I was probably doing too much too soon but not being able to run definitely gave my mind a boost to get through the winter and I really looked forward to getting out, even on the crappy days.

COACHING MOTIVATION

I think FORCING people to train hard only accomplishes two things:

  1) Causes the athlete to be reliant on the coach or others to get out the door and unable to create their own goals.

 2) Makes the athlete view the sport as a stressor as opposed to something they enjoy doing and being able to create their own meaningful goals.

Making this observation, I realize that there are a lot of people out there that need someone to yell at them to accomplish a task, but then I wonder if that person is doing the sport for the right reasons. The rules I like to follow when I'm coaching someone are these:

- Help direct an athlete's personal goal, but don't make the goal for them.

- Training schedules are Guidelines... Not Rules.

- Never make an athlete do a workout. If they want the results, they'll do the work. However, I usually recommend that the athlete attempt the workout before making their decision.

- Allow for variability. Give a range of distances, reps, paces as opposed to being precise. For example: "Get in 35 to 40 miles this week." As opposed to, "I want you to get in exactly 40 miles this week."

- Never punish an athlete by having them do MORE. If workouts are not going well, have them do LESS.

- Injuries have the benefit of increasing motivation and give time to reassess goals.

- Motivation tends to be cyclical and seasonal. Don't feel bad for having "down" seasons.

How To Do A Tempo Run Without Doing A Tempo Run

I am someone that dislikes the typical "Tempo Run." I think a lot of people, including myself, start off too fast and tend to gradually die towards the end of them. Ideally, they're supposed to be done at a moderately hard effort all the way through, but I think most people will get through the first mile or two of a tempo run, then start hurting pretty quickly and finish as if they had been racing. Doing this turns the session into too hard of a workout and sometimes takes more than a couple days to recover from. For those of you that this sounds familiar to, you should try ALTERNATING PACE RUNS.


How To Do An Alternating Paced Run

The goal of a regular tempo run is to increase the length of time you can hold a certain pace, specifically your anaerobic threshold which is the point in which you're starting to accumulate a fair amount of lactic acid. If you were measuring blood lactate, it would be around 4 mmol/L of blood. We can manipulate a workout to achieve the same 4 mmol/L reading without actually doing a straight through effort. This is nothing new and has been used by coaches such as Renato Canova and Steve Magness. If you haven't tried it, it's probably worth your time and you'll get a different perspective on training.

Example of an Alternating Paced Run:
4 miles of alternating 0.5 miles @ 5k effort / 0.5 miles @ marathon effort or slightly slower.

The fast portion will give you a nice little injection of lactate into the bloodstream, and the slower effort will let you clear it to get ready for the next fast segment. Also, mentally, it's easier to be able to crank out a half mile hard and you know there's some easy running coming directly after it rather than trying to hold on for 3 miles straight. It's also more similar to what you would experience in a race situation with pace changes and hills in which you have varying paces.


How To Progress An Alternating Paced Run Over Several Weeks:

Always start on the easy end of things and gradually build your workouts into more difficult sessions. You can also be creative and not necessarily follow this, but here's an example:

- 3 miles of alternating 400m @ 5k effort/ 1200m @ marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 600m @ 5k effort/ 1000m @ marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 800m @ 5k effort/ 800m @ slightly slower than marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 1000m @ 10k effort/ 600m @ slightly slower than marathon effort

- 3 miles of alternating 1200m @ 10k effort/ 400m @ jogging pace

I would recommend doing this type of workout every 10 to 14 days on your schedule and work on building the length of the fast segment and shortening the easier effort as you go.

Betsy after successfully completing her Alternation Workout.

How To Progress Workouts To Get A Desired Effect

We are coming up on Fall race time, and a lot of runners will begin doing workouts in order to achieve a particular race goal they will have at some point during the season. A lot of those runners that run workouts will often do the regular stuff like mile repeats, repeat 400's, the typical 20 or 30 minute tempo run, etc. All of these workouts are good to do in their own sense, but a lot of people will have trouble figuring out how to progress a workout other than just running the same thing faster on a weekly or bi-weekly basis or maybe just doing the random "WOW" (Workout of the Week).

I like seeing progression throughout time, because it helps to avoid injuries while at the same time helps the runner know exactly where their fitness is at that point in time and to see incremental improvement. There are multiple other ways to determine what to do with a workout and where to take it over a period of several weeks rather than just trying to run faster. Here are the steps I take:

Step 1. Define the Goal

What kind of race did you sign up for? A 5k and a Marathon are two entirely different events to train for. If you can run a fast 5k, it doesn't necessarily mean you can run a fantastic marathon, so specificity applies in this case. They are two different types of fitness. Be sure you are working specifically toward your event.

Step 2. Figure Out How Close You Are to Race Day

Are you 6 weeks away or 20 weeks away? Work backwards on your calendar and plan to do your most specific workouts 2 to 6 weeks prior to your goal race. If the goal is to run a marathon, you should probably get in a long run at or close to marathon pace within that time period. If the goal is a 5k, the workouts will probably be longer 5k paced intervals. Get as close as possible to resembling what the race will look like, the nearer you get to the race date.

Step 3. Apply Finishing Touches

You have been doing workouts for a while and are in good shape... now determine what needs to be worked on. Are you weak on Pure Speed, Stamina, or Endurance? You can figure this out mostly by racing once or twice per month. The first race of the season, most people will have a pretty good beginning of a race and die off toward the end, which would indicate stamina is lacking. Some people will be strong throughout, but get passed at the end which would indicate a need for extra speed while being fatigued. Endurance is something more desired for the last 6 to 8 miles of a marathon and assuming you've been doing some long runs and can handle the distance, it is best to add a stamina workout as part of your long run.

Variables that need to be changed for adaptation to happen:

Stamina: Lengthen speed, reduce recovery time, and work on turning sets into continuous efforts

Stamina for Half or Full Marathon Distance: Lengthen tempo run or marathon paced efforts every 2 or 3 weeks. Speed is not as important here.

Pure Speed: Shorten long efforts, increase pace, increase recovery time, work on power and efficiency.

Finishing Speed: Do stamina type workouts with speed changes, or do a stamina/interval style workout then finish with pure speed work.

---------------------

Here are some examples of how to progress a workout of 200's to increase stamina for a 5k runner:

Base Workout:

- 3 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

(Technically you are doing mile repeats with speed changes. I like to keep track of the pace for the full mile rather than the 200 splits.)

2 or 3 Weeks Later:

- 2 sets of 5 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets. Finish with 400m slightly faster than 5k pace

or

- 3 sets of 4 x 300m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

Pre-Season to Mid-Season Workout:

- 12 x 200m straight through @ 1 mile effort with 200m jog recoveries between each.

or 

- 3 sets of 4 x 400m @ 3k effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

--------------------------

Let's say you changed the goal to racing 1 mile instead of a 5k and your speed could use some work rather than stamina. We can take that same base workout and morph it into pure speed work several weeks later:

Base Workout:

- 3 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort with 200m jogs between/ 3min rest between sets

2 or 3 Weeks Later:

- 2 sets of 4 x 200m @ 1 mile effort for the first set and 800m effort for the second set. 1 minute rest between each and 3 minute rest between sets.

or

- 8 x 400m @ 1 mile pace with 1 minute rests between each

Pre-Season to Mid-Season Workout:

- 8 x 200m @ 800m pace with full rests between each

or

- 4 x 400m @ 800m pace with full rests between each

Everyone wants quick results, so it's easy to want to skip steps in the training process, but the "slow cook" process in my experience has been better in terms of injury prevention, tracking progress, and keeping people from overdoing workouts that they are not quite ready for.