A lot of people like to overcomplicate
training. Advanced workouts, intricate
training schedules, and complex strength circuits all have their place in
pushing the limits of talent and race preparation, but when it comes to the
real legwork of training—getting a young, talented runner into great shape, or
getting big improvements out of a less talented runner—the road to success is
really pretty simple.
The following steps, in order, are the path that I
believe male high school distance runners should take if they want to improve
long-term. The training progression laid
out below may not be ideal for running your fastest right now, but that's not the intent—the intent is to improve long-term.
The specifics of a training program are highly
variable and depend on a lot of factors.
That's why I'm not a huge fan of pre-packaged training plans. But despite that, there are principles that
apply to nearly everyone. There will always be exceptions: if you're
very talented but highly injury-prone, for example, you'd want to adopt a
substantially different plan, as consistency and health is more important than
peak volume. Runners with substantial
speed (under 56 in the 400m for boys without very much training) would also
likely adopt a schedule with more focus on developing speed. But if you're a relatively durable but
average, unathletic, skinny guy, this is the roadmap you want to follow during
your "off season" training—i.e. the summer and the winter.
Your off-season training is usually the part about
your running where you have the most control, and it's where you'll likely make
the most improvements. Another perk is
that you are pretty much guaranteed some good races if your off-season training
is good. While training and workouts
during the racing season are obviously important, it's very hard for anything
but a totally incompetent coach to screw you up too badly if you're already an
aerobic monster.
Many of the same principles apply to girls, but I'm not comfortable putting down
concrete paces or run distances because I just haven't coached very many of
them.
The below steps should be done in order, and you should not move ahead
to the next step until you're able to do the previous one. For example, if you can't run six days per
week without getting injured, figure out WHY and fix it before you try to do
all of your runs faster. Avoiding injury
is a big subject, one which deserves its own "roadmap to success,"
which I'll write up some other time.
A few of these steps can be adopted simultaneously
or in any order, and are noted below. Do
note that it will take a long time to progress through this plan. Not "long" as in months;
"long" as in years. In most cases, the year you start running six
days a week will not (or should not) be the one where you start doubling four
days a week and doing fifteen mile long runs.
Running is for the patient—marshal your ambition!
1. Run six days per week at an easy to moderate
pace
To become a better runner, you need to go running. Sounds simple, but you'd be surprised how
many people think they can improve mainly by lifting weights, doing stairs,
throwing around a Frisbee, doing sprint drills, or pretty much anything but running. Early in your running career, consistency is
way more important than volume. It's
better to run three miles per day six days per week than to run six or eight
miles at a time, but only a few days per week.
I do not know if this is better in terms of performance NOW, but it is
definitely better long-term, as it lays the foundation for the kind of
training you will need to do later to become a great runner.
Until you've gotten into the habit of running six
days per week at an easy to moderate effort, there's no need to worry about the
pace or to bother incorporating any real workouts. Taking one day off per week is fine, and is
probably beneficial when you're young.
2. Do (almost) all of your runs at 8:00/mi or
faster
When I advise most high school and college runners
on the pace of their easy days, I'm usually telling them to slow down so
they're not cooked for their workouts and races. But there is a point where going too slow is detrimental to becoming a
good runner, for three reasons. First,
the aerobic stimulus becomes pretty much nonexistent if you're slogging along
at nine or ten-minute mile pace.
Second, the running mechanics of running at very slow paces are so disconnected with the mechanics of running fast (4:30-6 min per
mile) that your easy runs will only reinforce poor running form
habits if you do them too slow. A good corollary to this step is
to try to move your stride frequency to 168-180 steps per minute. Too much lower than 168 steps per minute is
not likely to be an efficient way to run when it comes to stress on your body,
and for distance runners doing 6:00-8:00 pace, I really prefer to see them
hitting 172-180 steps per minute.
Third, for whatever reason it seems that most good
runners settle on between six and eight minutes per mile as their
"easy/moderate" pace, regardless of their fitness level. Even elite Kenyan runners go about 6:00-6:20
pace most of the time when they're just going for a run. And there are plenty of great runners who run
well into the 7:30 range on easy days.
But you're not likely to find any fast runners who run slower than eight
minutes per mile with regularity. So
when in doubt, do what elites do.
3. Run year-round
Yes, I know it gets cold in the winter and hot in
the summer. But to progress in your
running, you must run. Get up early or
wait until nightfall to beat the heat, hit the treadmill when it gets too cold,
or bundle up in winter gear. If you
train all summer, race cross country in the fall, and then do nothing the
entire winter, you shouldn't be surprised to find yourself falling behind
slower runners who actually trained come springtime. Here in Minnesota, winter is an even better time than the summer to get in
quality training because it's so long.
There's only 10 weeks or so between the end of track and the beginning
of cross country, but there are 17 weeks between
cross country and track. Winter's the
perfect time to push up your mileage.
These next three
steps can be adopted in any order, though it is best to incorporate one at a
time, not all at once. These steps—especially 4 (b)—will take you several
months or years to work your way up to.
That's okay.
4 (a) Run
every day
Committing to run every day and committing to run
year-round are the two "major steps" towards becoming a serious
runner. At this point, you've taken one;
now it's time to take the other. You
don't have to go very far on your former "off day"—just an easy three
miles is fine.
4 (b) Work up to 60min at an easy to moderate pace on a regular basis and 90min at
an easy pace once every two weeks
For high
school distance runners whose goal is to run well at 5k XC and 3200m on the
track, I believe that this is the minimum volume of easy and moderate
running that is necessary to succeed. As
the distance of a race increases, the minimum volume of training required to
support great performances increases as well.
This is not to say it is impossible
to run a good two-mile off 30 miles per week. As mentioned in the introduction, a very
talented runner or a "special case" could certainly do so.
But don't forget about the point I made in step
number one: to become a better runner, you
must run. This volume will end up
being 52-60 miles per week if you've followed step two. Once you've stepped into the broader world of
training, you'll discover this isn't all that much running. To run a really great 5k, you're probably
looking at more like 80-90 miles per week (at least), but that can come when
you're older and more experienced—you hopefully aren't going to set your
lifetime PR when you're 16 years old.
When increasing your mileage, try not to increase
your weekly mileage by more than 5mi or 10% per week, whichever is
greater. Your peak mileage per training
cycle (a.k.a. six-month "season" of running) also ideally should not
increase by more than 10-15 miles per week.
Sometimes it's necessary to break this rule. If you're a junior in high school and you're
still only doing 25 miles a week, it might be worth it to take a risk and move
up to 50 or 60—gradually, of course!
4 (c) Do one "high end aerobic" workout
per week
A high-end aerobic workout means some type of
interval workout or continuous run that hits on the paces near the top of your
"aerobic range"—the fastest paces you can maintain comfortably for
reasonably long periods of time. Putting
in mileage at an easy to moderate effort most days is fine, and you'll probably
end up doing some of your runs fast if you feel good, but I've come to believe
that the most productive type of
running you can do in terms of improving aerobic fitness is a high-end aerobic
workout.
Let me be clear: The number one determinant of
your long-term success at distance running is your ability to run long
distances at great speeds without becoming fatigued. This is what I call "aerobic
strength." A runner with good aerobic
strength has the advantage in every situation—training, racing, recovery, and
improvement long-term.
High mileage, even without any workouts, will
develop aerobic strength, but the most effective way to improve your aerobic
strength is to supplement high volume training with high-end aerobic workouts.
There are four types of high-end aerobic workouts
that I like for improving aerobic strength.
The descriptions of each are accompanied by an example workout for a
theoretical high school junior who is currently in 17:00 road 5k shape
(note: current fitness is often quite different than your PR) and is running
around 55 miles per week. These four
workouts are:
- Cruise
Intervals: repeats lasting 3-6 minutes (or longer for very experienced
runners) at the anaerobic threshold (~92% of current 5k pace) with short
recovery (~60 seconds). The volume of
fast running can be 3-5 miles for most runners.
Example: 8x3min at 5:54 mile pace with
1min jogging recovery
- Anaerobic Threshold Runs: Done at the same pace as cruise intervals (~92% of current 5k pace) but as a continuous run lasting 15-25 minutes. Example: 3.5 miles at 5:54 mile pace
- Aerobic Threshold Runs: A longer continuous run at the aerobic threshold, which is about 85% of your current 5k pace. These can last from 30-45 minutes. Example: 5 miles at 6:17 mile pace
- Progression Runs: A run which starts at a very easy pace and gradually accelerates to the aerobic threshold, then down to the anaerobic threshold or perhaps a bit faster over the last few miles. These can be as far as a typical run. Example: 7mi run starting at 8:00 pace, descending to 6:20 pace at 3.5 miles, descending to 5:54 pace by 6 miles, and down to 5:50 or 5:45 pace if you feel especially good, otherwise maintain 5:54 pace.
The intent of all of these workouts is to learn
to run fast without running hard.
They are not supposed to be hard workouts—if you're grabbing your knees
and feeling like you want to puke afterward, you did them wrong! The paces are
only guidelines; the intent is to run by feel. If you had to pick only one of these workouts
to do, make it progression runs. They
let you work through a wide range of paces and are fairly idiot-proof.
As with step
4, these three steps can be adopted in any order, though it is best to
incorporate one at a time, not all at once!
5. (a) Do two "high end aerobic"
workouts per week
After you've had a summer or winter of doing one
high end aerobic workout per week, you can step up to two per week the next
time around. It's nice to mix and match,
so shuffle around which ones you do to get a better training stimulus.
5. (b) Run 20-30min easy in the mornings 2-4
days per week, as allowed by your schedule
"Doubling," or running twice per day, is
another rung higher on the ladder of seriousness about training. It allows you to push up your mileage without
having to go ridiculously far on your main run of the day. If I were to write a training schedule for a
high schooler doing 80 miles a week (which is on the high end of normal for a
senior, but not outrageously so), it would have a lot of 60min / 30min
days. However, if you don't get a lot of
sleep in the first place, doubling is going to do more harm than good. Doing two to four doubles per week pretty
much necessitates nine hours of sleep per night.
5. (c) Run 14-15 miles / 1hr 45min at an easy to
moderate effort every two weeks
Once you are comfortable going 90 minutes once
every two weeks, you can push up your long run to as much as fifteen miles or
1hr 45min, whichever comes first. I
think it's better to only go this far once every two weeks, as it's a substantial stress on your body. Only run a few miles the following day so you
recover. If you master the fifteen mile
run, there is no reason to push up any further in distance or duration. In my opinion, fifteen miles is a sufficient
long run for racing the 5k, even at a fairly high level. Instead, do the last few miles of your long
run fast, or run it through hills. Currently,
I don't think there's any place for a two-hour long run in the training of a
high school runner.
Conclusion
There's a lot more to becoming a great distance
runner, but the above steps sketch out a rough roadmap to success. This will not be easy, and you will not work
your way through these steps in a few weeks or even a few months. You will likely encounter setbacks and
disappointments. Persevere. Feel free to improvise, adapt, and break the
rules as you see fit.
Here's a handy pictorial illustration of the process:
Here's a handy pictorial illustration of the process:
Great post, John.
ReplyDeleteThese kind of posts make your blog extraordinary interesting!
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems with the internet today is that people learn way to early in their running career
about 2h long runs, hard track workouts etc. Your five steps should be common knowledge :)
I always wondered if people starting at age (for example) 22 or 34 should approach things differently.
They aren't masters yet, should they implement this five step progression in the same way?