Stamina is so important in running and to improve it there are several elements that need to be combined. First is consistency, basically run and keep running on a regular basis. Next is distance. You all know my opinions on this, go further and you will go faster eventually. The Long run is the next piece of the jigsaw. This needs to be as long as possible and if you can add a bit of tempo all good, most important though is time on feet. Next some gym work on conditioning wouldn’t go a miss. I’m not talking about big weights here but cardio workouts, light weights , high repetition. Concentrate on the core muscles and we’re not into weight gain so lots of sit ups, planks, burpees, press ups, medicine ball work and leg strengthening . Now sprinkle in some off road work. This is better than your normal straight line concrete run as it improves the aerobic endurance as well as ankle strength and stability. On a good trail you have to watch ever step and this makes the whole running process so much more testing. Don’t worry about pace too much as you’ll end up on your backside; more important to feel the benefit of the constant ‘stepping’ from foot to foot as you navigate the trail obstacles. (see image below with right knee bearing the brunt of not concentrating!)
All this talk of off road trail running has me excited. Me think Kings Park for some trails lunchtime. Living the dream guys, living the dream…
…and there’s more… while enjoying my lunch time trail run through Kings Park I thought I need to add hill work to my stamina improving workouts. The benefit of hill runs is as well as being bloody hard work, which is always a good sign, they tend to be a bit more forgiving than say a temp or threshold run. If you’re on tired legs and add speed you’re dancing with the devil. A good hill workout, even on tired legs, will give you the benefit of a time spent in the higher heart zones (between Threshold and VO2 max!) without the risk of injury. It’s not to say a good tempo and/or threshold is also good for building stamina but you do run the risk and these should be set aside for when you are fresh.
This evenings run was one where I had a lot on my mind and thus before I knew it I had ran 15k and was back home after racing the sunset and generally just enjoying running. I am not one for headphones or any exterior form of entertainment when I run. For me when I run, assuming it’s not pace dictated when the Garmin calls the shots, I drift away with my thoughts and have solved many a work related problems on my lunch time run. If you need to ‘unclutter’ just go for a run and you’ll normally figure things out.
This evening was one of those runs. I’d planned for 10k but just kept on running with the sunset on my shoulder and the glorious coast below me it seemed a shame to stop and turn around. Knowing I was meant to be tapering, of sorts , I had to make a big effort to stop and turn around when the time came. Truth be told I think it was probably hunger driving me home, two runs a day with no real additional calorie intake has made hunger a constant partner in my life but the end justifies the means I suppose.
The evening runs in Perth for me are always racing a sunset and because we don’t have daylight saving the length of the day is pretty constant, give or take a few hours. This has the added benefit of early mornings in summer when you have to run early as forty degree days are unforgiving. Overall Perth has a great running climate. Winter is certainly not what I would call winter, from where I come from in England a Perth Winter we would call a ‘heat wave’ ! Spring and Autumn are perfect and Summer is glorious in the early morning and you just need to get up early, really early ! It’s a win win running in Perth. I often wonder what would happen if I ever went back to Europe. I’d miss the endless bike paths, Kings Park, the 10k bridges, running around South Perth and the wonderful beaches and the Swan River runs. All things we take for granted but certainly not the norm. On the plus side there are some seriously beautiful places to run, proper mountains, lakes, coast and beautiful cities full of history. I can always buy a new running wardrobe if needs be, always keen to spend money on running equipment. That’s for my retirement, for the moment Perth is the place to be and I’m loving it.
Right back to the next race on the BK PB train, Fremantle half. Last year I ran the Peninsula 10k pre-Fremantle and must admit it affected my performance. I was running 5th at the halfway mark which was good for a medal (medals to 5th at Fremantle) but couldn’t hold on and finished 7th, 30-40seconds from the medal. I wonder if this year I’ll be able to hang onto a podium finish. Hope so, if not, no worries, it’s not a ‘goal race’ so to speak, but when the racing bib is on there’s no holding back. Racing is life, the rest is details…..
I found this article by Jason Fitzgerald, head coach of strength training. Compliments my thinking on distance being the key to unlock pace. That quote is mine. I think I proved over the last month or so that high mileage is the key to increased performance. I’m certainly convinced.
For a half marathoner or marathoner, the “base phase” of training (also called the introductory or foundational training period) is the first phase of a training cycle. It’s what prepares runners for the more challenging, race-specific workouts that come later.
And the top goal of base training is to increase endurance—or a runner’s aerobic capacity.
So, how do top coaches and athletes define the base phase of training?
Brad Hudson, coach to many elites and author of Run Faster, explains the base phase as:
“Priority number one is to gradually but steadily increase your running mileage…
Other priorities of the introductory period include establishing a foundation of neuromuscular fitness with very small doses of maximal-intensity running and beginning the long process of developing efficiency and fatigue-resistance at race pace with small doses of running in the race-pace range.”
And Bob Kennedy, the former American record holder in the 5,000m, explains, “There are three basic phases to a training cycle: base, strength and speed. The problem that most athletes have is that they think [the phases] are mutually exclusive. I think that the phase of training is defined by what you are focusing on during that phase.
But you always do a little of all of those things. There’s never a time of year when you’re just running mileage or you’re just doing speed. You’re always doing all of it, it’s just a matter of to what degree.”
Any base period should include three components: gradually increasing mileage, the critical long run, and of course, at least one faster workout per week.
Higher Mileage is Key
Mileage, or the total volume of a runner’s workload, is one of the best metrics for success. Simply put, the more you’re able to run, the faster you’re likely to race.To build a strong aerobic engine, gradually increasing mileage during the base phase of training is necessary.
Focus on three metrics:
Increasing the long run by about a mile every 1-2 weeks
Adding 1-2 more runs per week
Adding 1-3 miles to weekday runs every 1-3 weeks
The end result should be a gradual, progressive increase in mileage that will help build endurance, injury resistance and economy.Run Long to Build Fitness
The almighty long run has become nearly synonymous with endurance. To increase stamina, increase the distance of the long run.
Why? Well, the benefits are clear:Denser mitochondria (the “energy factories” of your cells)
Denser capillary networks to deliver oxygenated blood
Mental toughness and resolve
Improved muscular strength
Enhanced running economy (efficiency)
More energy efficient
You’ll race faster!
No base phase is complete without long runs. No matter if you’re a miler or ultramarathoner, a veteran or a total beginner, the long run is an absolutely critical component to successful training.Keep the pace of long runs mostly easy and add about a mile every 1-2 weeks. But every 4-5 weeks, it’s wise to cut the distance back to ensure you’re recovering and not increasing your risk of running injuries.
Faster Workouts
It’s a common misconception that base training doesn’t include fast workouts. While they’re not the focus, they’re still included to maintain leg speed and neuromuscular fitness (the ability for your brain to communicate effectively with your muscles).While strides or hill sprints are valuable ingredients in the base phase (and any phase of training!), there are other workouts that will help increase your fitness and overall endurance.
Progression runs where you gradually speed up to about tempo pace at the end of the run is a valuable early-season workout.
Tempo sessions improve your body’s tolerance to and ability to buffer lactate (the byproduct of anaerobic cellular respiration). In other words, you can hold a faster pace for longer.
Fartlek workouts include pickups or surges of a few minutes with 1-3 minutes recovery. These are usually faster than the other two workouts mentioned, so use them only every 2-3 weeks during base training.
Without including faster sessions into base training, runners won’t develop nearly as much neuromuscular fitness, improvements to running economy, and preparedness for the harder and more race-specific workouts that are undoubtedly coming during the later stages of training.
When you combine higher mileage, increasing long runs, and smart workout progressions you’ll build a monster aerobic base that will propel you to new personal bests.
Week 2 in my 6 week ‘race window’. Started the week with a double recovery run. well you’d be mad not to really. Two nice and easy 10k’s, one by myself this morning while watching another sunrise and the second with Mike and Jon at lunch. As we had all ran the 10k yesterday there was much discussion on important things like heart rate, VO2 max (Mike’s favourite subject bar none!) , threshold and how long one should spend in the pain box. Actually in Mike’s case we were all wondering if he was anywhere near the pain box for the duration of the race as his heart rate suggested otherwise. This leads me on to this afternoons post. The good old fashioned David ‘Sugar’ Cane immortalised pain box.
This is somewhere you need to place yourself if you want to improve on your previous PB, reach a set goal or are in the heat of battle within a race. The more time you can survive in the pain box the better. To be your best this little box needs to be embraced and one needs to open the door, step inside , close the door behind you and curl up in the fetal position. The longer you endure the pain box the better the final outcome. Similar to paying the piper, eventually the piper needs to get paid and when that is can determine how your race is going to pan out. If all goes well you can survive the pain box and come out the other end stronger and with a faster PB and renewed confidence, if it goes wrong , well then it doesn’t end well. Confidence takes a beating and you reassess your whole running career. On the bright side the door to the pain box will always be open and there’s always next time, but to improve unfortunately you will need to spend some serious time in there.
It’s fun this racing lark isn’t it? Well actually it isn’t. If you’re having fun you ain’t anywhere near the pain box and you ain’t racing. It needs to be gut busting, leg smashing, heart beating pain but when it all comes together the rewards are well worth it, but it ain’t fun. On the flip side I’m a big believer in the more time you spend racing (in the pain box) the better runner you will eventually become. The ‘no pain, no gain’ adage describes racing to a tee.
So Fremantle half next weekend. One of my favourite half marathons and one where I will ask questions of myself and my ability. There will be some quality pain box time and I’m excited just thinking about but it will not, and never will, be fun. That bit is the recovery run afterwards recounting stories of the race and then blogging about it, that’s fun…
After this mornings race I couldn’t wait for my recovery 10k. As I mentioned in a post earlier in the week a recovery run is using muscles that are fatigued from a previous hard workout. This means the recovery allows you to ‘smell the roses’ so to speak and also is doing you some serious good. Too good to miss really.
At the race earlier in the day I was speaking to a running hero of mine Chris Maher. Chris has a marathon best of 2:34 at 38 and was still running sub 2:40 marathon times well into his forties. When I was first starting taking running seriously in 2008, pre my first Comrades campaign, Chris would regularly kick my butt on the shorter distances. He still loves his racing as much today as in his prime , just now his competition is women and younger kids, as well as runners of his vintage. (albeit a good standard as Chris still ran a 3:03 marathon recently in his sixties) He gets the same thrill of the chase as I or any runner does when they are tested by competition and their own goals.
In 2013 I thought I had peaked and after winning the Bunbury Marathon in that year (my one and only marathon victory) I was ready to step up for a sub 2:40 marathon assault. This ended in a couple of near misses, 2:41.58 and 2:41.14, but ultimately I lost my love of racing and running in general as I failed on 3 or 4 more occasions to go sub 2:40. I wrote of 2014 as a bad year after such a good previous year. In 2015 Raf from the Running Centre took me under his wing and although i never broke the 2:40 he steered me to a new way of training which I have continued to use and has started to reap rewards.
So 2016 has seen me break my 5k, 10k and half pub’s. All times I thought beyond me. How long can this continue ? Who knows but I’m enjoying the challenge and like Chris love the competition and if I can keep at the front of the pack for a year or two more so be it, but when I eventually return to the pack look out because I’ll be coming for you….
Well it seems distance really is the key to improvement. With a month of twice a day running in my legs and after 119k pre-race kilometres for the week I managed to run a 20 second 10k pb for a first place finish at the WAMC Peninsula run this morning. I have been making a bit of effort reducing the sugar intake and my diet on the whole has always been pretty good, so it must be distance. Maybe you can add in the weight reduction which comes with the extra distance. I’m probably 2-3kg lighter than normal which will also be a bonus.
The proof will be in the pudding so to speak as I have 4 more races over the next 5 weeks. I did promise myself a week off next week but the Fremantle half marathon is one of my favourites and not to be missed. Can I push myself in each race or do I treat one as an indicator race and set a slower than race pace goal with the Masters Marathon coming up. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to enter a race and not give 100%+ , put a race number on and it’s on for young and old…
So lesson learnt from today. You don’t have to taper too much for a 10k, although I did run only once yesterday. Discussing the run with Mike and Jon on the cool down we were off the opinion you can just about get away with a 10k if you are in reasonable shape. Jon ran his 3 year 10k pb (it was his first for 3 years!) and he made a big effort not to walk. He has started a run-walk strategy lately in the half and full marathon (not sure if these are planned beforehand!) and he was happy enough to avoid this and run a 38:45. Mike had a disappointing run and this was pointed out a few times by Jon on the cool down, runners can be cruel sometime. he’ll be back next week for the half. Racing is a must if you want to challenge yourself to improve, nothing makes you run harder than competition.
So lets look at the race with the help of my Strava splits. Because this was a 5k and a 10k race at the start you had no idea who was in which race. At around 2k the 5k and 10k course separate. So I was running in the top 3 at 5k pace initially and then when the lead runner broke of for the 5k course it was left to me and one other runner to take up the mantle. We had a good race to about the halfway point and he certainly pushed me faster than I was comfortable with but I figured worse case I’d blow up and still podium so went ‘all in’. This proved the right choice as at 5k he dropped off and I was left alone to ‘hang on’ for a victory. The pb was a surprise , and a very pleasant one, as the course is not really pb friendly. There’s a small hill , a bridge and the wind was a challenge.
Looking at the splits I did slow down in the last 3k but in my defence there was a head wind and I was ‘goosed’. Maybe there’s more in the tank, we’ll see. For the moment I’m enjoying the feeling of a good pb as I really felt these times were beyond me. Right, lets get ready for Fremantle half next week, I shouldn’t run this evening but funnier things have happened and if I got a text from Mark again who knows….
As I have some spare time I’ll plug the ‘6inch’ trail marathon I’m running on December 18th this year. The only time I really get on the trails in a racing capacity. Much prefer the concrete myself but once in a while it’s good to mix it up. The race was a ‘fat ass’ (free entry and self supported) the first year I ran it in 2009 and it has grown from about 20 runners to a 350 sell out. Very popular and if you are ever in WA around the end of December I highly recommend it. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com )
The atmosphere at the end of this race is particularly friendly as it’s mainly ultra-runners who tend to be a more ‘sociable’ animal than the normal marathon racers. Not that marathon racers aren’t social but in a different , more competitive, way. The ultra community really are just nice people who are more interested in you and your journey, not your time. I bet some of them haven’t even got Strava accounts…. a funny bunch.
Having a blog can sometimes come home and bite you. My mate Mark had read my first post of the day and knew a text inviting me for a ‘relaxing’ 10k would be too much for me to resist. He was right. Not sure what happened with the ‘relaxing’ part either as we finished with a sub 4:30min/k average. No worries it was nice to run my ‘old faithful’ of a 10k for the 146th time and the first time with company. The 10k run soon disappeared as we chatted about everything to do with running as we’re both training for the World Masters in Perth in November ( http://www.perth2016.com ) Mark has been unlucky over the last few tears with injuries and this has been compounded by his Wife finding the addiction that is Triathlon’s. Add in 3 Daughters including a set of young twins and Mark and Emma have their hands full. The planning involved in both adults getting their exercise fix and also spending enough family time with the girls will always be a challenge and one so many runners face. The one benefit of maturing with age, and trust me there isn’t many, is the kids are growing up and my three daughters are now at an age where Mum and Dad aren’t as important as they once were. Friends have started to become more important in their life. In one respective this is sad but , always being the optimist, I get more ‘Kev’ time which means more running.
That being said there really was no excuse to run today with a 10k race tomorrow but as I have always maintained I love to run and I can justify that this is not a ‘goal’ race and as such no need to be totally rested, and it’s only 10k, what can go wrong? A 10k needs to be respected. You can fake a 5k, normally run a half marathon at a reasonable pace and always give the marathon the respect it deserves. A 10k can come back and bite you if you go out too fast, normally around the 7-8k mark. When you run out of fuel and the tank is empty the last 2k can be testing. as with all races it is better to start slow and build into it. This is something I can never do. When the pistol goes it’s on and I always charge straight into the threshold zone. I’ll do the same thing tomorrow and wouldn’t really have it any other way….
As I’m racing tomorrow there was no early morning run this morning. I am now wondering around lost. I have persuaded my Wife to get up early so we can drive to Yelo for a coffee and muffin breakfast (carbo loading for a 10k?) and after that I will return to my ‘lost’ state.
I’m a runner who loves to run and hates not running. Even now i’m making excuses for reasons why running today would be a good idea, not twice as that would be silly wouldn’t it? So my reasoning behind a run would be to loosen the legs (they aren’t tight), it’s not really a target race tomorrow (that is actually true, tomorrow is really a good hit-out pre-half next weekend) or get rid of some pre-race nerves (I ain’t nervous) . No luck there, let’s face it the reason I want to run is I love running, plain and simple.
Tapering for my next marathon will be a challenge. The last one I ran 100k the week before and called that tapering as I was averaging 130k a week. I’m normally ok on marathon week as even I understand the need to rest. I normally only run twice in the week before a marathon and actually enjoy the calm before the storm, but for a 10k tomorrow, hell I should be running now not typing.
So will probably sneak out for a ‘relaxing’ 10k sometime today, c’mon you’d be mad not too wouldn’t you…..
A quick article on tapering below by Pete Pfitzinger, M.S. suggests a 7-10 day taper for a 10k, I’m thinking 7-10 hours.
Most performance oriented runners will do pretty much what they’re told in training. Run 8 x 800 meters at the track? Sure. Do a 40-minute tempo run? No problem. It’s when we’re instructed to scale back, run less and conserve our energies, that we balk.
Training provides long-term fitness improvements but produces short-term fatigue. Leading up to an important race, the challenge is to find the optimal balance between maintaining the best possible racing fitness and resting to reduce the fatigue of training. This is referred to as a well-planned taper.
To achieve your best when it counts, you can only afford to do a full taper before a few key races each year. If you race often and were to taper thoroughly for each race, you would have little time left for hard training. So you learn to “train through” some races. But for the big ones, you will want to go all out to achieve your best.
A recent paper published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine reviewed more than 50 scientific studies on tapering to find out whether tapering betters performance, and how to go about it. The review showed that there is no question tapering works. Most studies found an improvement of about 3% when athletes reduced their training before competition. This translates to more than five minutes for a three-hour marathoner or more than a minute for those racing 10K in 40 minutes.
How Long Should You Taper?
Several of the studies concluded that the optimal length of taper is from seven days to three weeks, depending on the distance of the race and how hard you’ve trained. Too short a taper will leave you tired on race day, while tapering for too long will lead to a loss of fitness. How do you find the right balance? Consider than any one workout can give you far less than a 1% improvement in fitness, but a well-designed taper can provide a much larger improvement in race performance. Therefore, it is probably wiser to err on the side of tapering too much than not enough. The optimal number of days to taper for the most popular race distances are as follows: marathon, 19 to 22 days; 15K to 30K, 11 to 14 days; 5K to 10K, 7 to 10 days.
For the first time ever I managed to break 700k cumulative for the month, in only 30 days. Should have picked a 31 day month.!
Strava as always keeps track of everything and I made top 50 for the monthly challenge from 152,886 runners. All good but has it translated into better racing. We’ll find out over the next 6 weeks when I race 5 times from 5k to marathon. I’m confident the last 4 weeks of running twice a day has put me in a place I’ve never been before, fitness wise, as well as giving me more confidence to attack these races and aim for PB’s. This is as important as the fitness because sometime in every race you will doubt yourself or give yourself the excuse you need to slow down. Racing is 80% training and 20% mental which can’t really be properly managed without the confidence of a good training block.
I excited about Sunday when I run the WAMC Peninsula 10k. ( http://www.wamc.org.au ). The last three years I’ve managed to podium, mainly because it is quite a low key affair but enjoy the course as it has a few challenging sections including running under a bridge. It’s an out and back so you get to see who is in hot pursuit which encourages you to keep yourself cocooned in the ‘pain box’; which is where you need to be to race. There’s no getting round the fact racing is painful but long term the good outweighs the short term pain. (I must remember that on Sunday !)