frank-in-toronto said:Well, after reading tons of stuff on running and giving some thought to the responses to my "What
is a Hill" post, I have been doing this routine for a couple of weeks:
I'm just a beginner at schedules, and within a week it seems ok to me (which may not mean anything),
(other than maybe hills, intervals both being hard but they are separated) but when repeated across
5 months, I've got a couple thoughts / questions.
Were you intending to periodize and/or increase pace, slope, vary work/recovery intervals to train
different systems, increase repeats, etc as you progress? Just curious.
Just as a thought, I'd try diversifying it a little more across weeks. I think the saying is you
never get better if you keep doing the same thing all the time. Alternating hard/easy weeks. Varying
the hill workout: maybe 1 week, focus on strength and run uphill for, say, 16 min (or whatever you
can handle, +7 min each warmup/down = 30min), probably at a slower pace and maybe at lower slope -
depending on where you are in terms of fitness for running hills. Increase slopes as you get more
fit. The alternating week do it like intervals (constant pace, but effort increases during the
uphill work portion) as you suggest.
Also, I think I'd periodize to work on aerobic endurance and strength first (couple months?) then
progress toward more power / explosive type training closer to your races.
Note: I'm basing these comments based on some things I've read (and seem to work for me) about
periodization and diversification. But some people work better (=less likely to have injury)
with a constant program from week to week with the diversity within the week, like you have.
(I think Terry has indicated this.)
Quoted message said:
(All Treadmill)
Monday: 30 minutes, 6 mph constant thru-out , hills 10degrees for 1 1/2 minutes, 3 1/2 minutes
recovery, 5 repeats in the 30 minutes, once a week.
10 deg (about 20%) seems like a good slope to work with - probably steeper than on most road races
so this is good overload. As a side note, something I was reading yesterday suggested 30% slope to
improve speed, but that might have been for elites. Their treadmill had slopes up to 40% and ran up
to 28 mph - I'm assuming not both at the same time 😉 They suggested <=10% for downhill work =
overspeed training. (Speed development: Tried and tested ways to fast-forward your sporting
performance. Dec 2003. Peak Performance 190:6-8. John Shepherd.)
I'm curious about your recovery:work ratio being slightly longer than
2:1 (2.3:1). Is there a reason or is it something that you've experimented with, and it just is a
good relation for you. That's fine, if that's what works for you. But most drills that
I've seen (granted, limited experience and reading) are 1:1 to 2:1 depending on system
being trained. (That said, I found about 3:2 work:recovery (up:down) on real hills worked
fine for me for strength building = just "doing" it for now and keeping everything
predominantly aerobic.)
Quoted message said:Tuesday: EZ 30 minute run Wednesday: Long run (for me) 60 to 65 minutes, just under 6 mph
Thursday: EZ 30 minute run Friday: same as Monday except instead of hills, I'm doing intervals at
8 1/2 mph (my 1 mile pace) Saturday and unday: off
I do a weights workout on most of the days prior to the runs. Some days, I add some spin bike.
Are weights something you like to do for their own sake or is there a reason why you're limiting
yourself to weights rather than strength in general? Are you looking at power/explosive type lifts
or just lifting heavier weights?
Just as another thought, I think I might consider adding some dexterity / agility work in here, esp.
toward racing season. Some of it could be considered strength, but some of it is definitely looking
at quick movements. I'm guessing most of your drills are just in the forward direction. I'd also
incorporate sideways and diagonal movements for injury prevention as well as single-legged drills.
These are things my PT got me started on, but it's surprising how many places I've seen them
suggested since then.
The best way to be a better runner is to run, but I think some of this strengthening / agility can
help - esp. if you have race conditions that might be difficult to replicate on convenient
roads/trails.
Quoted message said:
My goal is to run better next spring/summer (faster and easier). I'm not aiming at a marathon any
time soon. About the only race i'll be doing is some fun short (4K) dirt road races. These will be
with my nieces and nephews so I'd lke to have a reasonable showing even tho a couple of them will
bury me.
So, my question: since I'm about 5 months away, should I concentrate on hills for a month or so,
then do speedwork?
Do you mean 5 months from your race or 5 months of treadmill, then additional running outside
preparing for your race?
I think I'd periodize emphasizing hills for strength early on, then transition more toward speed
work, which can be done on hills, closer to your races. My understanding is that strength is
retained better than speed. Things more specific to your races or summer running goals should be
focused on closer to the time.
Quoted message said:Or will mixing them up like this with 1 week in between provide sufficient encouragement to my
system for it to improve?
Being sure to allow enough recovery time between hard workouts is also important. If you're doing
the sessions hard, you probably don't want them any closer than 1 wk apart.
But more importantly, you should get out running on roads or whatever surface your races occur on.
Diversity and specificity are two of the most important training principles, IMHO.
Quoted message said:
thanks for any advice...thehick
Caveat: some of my thinking / suggestions are probably flavored by my interest in trails and hills
as well as by the things we've done in a cross-training that seem to work and I've seen mentioned
several other places.
These may not apply to you, but I think the concepts are pretty general. Just some thoughts.
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
