Hey Everyone! It's been a hot and humid HUMP DAY and I wanted to give everyone an update on my last few weeks. I moved back up to Greenville on the 14th, into a single bedroom apartment just a few blocks from campus. The short walk back and forth is good exercise for my leg, especially after having to sit in those uncomfortable school desks. I'm mostly settled into the new place as it is starting to feel more like home to me. I should be able to start physical therapy soon, maybe even next week if I'm lucky. Pain wise, it has migrated into my back but my joints in my right leg are feeling the lack of activity and have been popping a lot and giving me pain as well.
I had left for basic training at around 189 pounds, after several months of lifting I had gained a bit of muscle. I returned home at 172, due to the loss of muscle and a lack of sugar in my diet. But after a month of indulging in snacks and being unable to exercise, I'm back up to about 180. I need to start doing more walking and try out the exercise bike or elliptical before I balloon, as well as watch my eating now that I've got my cravings out of the way.
While I obviously haven't been able to run, I've continued doing more research into training methods, plans, and workouts in an effort to optimize my coaching abilities and my own training. Recently, a friend of mine ran two workouts I prescribed for him and they both went to perfection. First, he did a 8 x 400m session, at 80 seconds with 90 seconds rest. At the end, he finished progressively faster and averaged 80. The next session was 6 x 300m, at 54 seconds with 2:30 rest. He ended up averaging 51.5 seconds, and we threw in a fly 150m at the end, in which I wanted him to hit 21 to 22. He hit 19. So two great workouts already, good start to my coaching career.
Hopefully the next time I post, I can tell you all about all the improvement I've seen through physical therapy. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
Training Philosophy
While individual training plans can differ by athlete due to a wide number of things, including goals and injury history, there are some major concepts that remain constant inside any training plan. For me, this philosophy can be more easily described as a "Strength Based" training style. The major concepts in this philosophy are the long run, thresholds, and hill training. Coupled with high mileage and/or many cross-training hours, the aerobic system can become highly developed, allowing for greater physiological changes when doing "speed work".
The long run is a distance running staple as it provides the body with a stimulus for running longer than it is normally asked too. The body hums along as a nice steady pace, training itself to use fat for fuel and to be more efficient when covering longer distances. You should perform a long run once every 7 to 10 days and it should make up roughly 20% of your weekly mileage, trending slightly lower for a Miler, and trending higher for a 10 Miler or above. Ideally this long run would be performed at your easy pace, though during base training or earlier parts of the season, short pickups, a tempo section, or a progression could be used for added stimulus.
Threshold workouts can come in various forms, from long continuous steady state runs, to broken up tempo intervals. For a 20 minute 5k runner, a steady state run is a run between 6 to 15 miles at 20K to 30K race pace. A tempo run would be from 2 to 5 miles at 10k to 10 mile race pace. Tempo intervals would be from 1 to 2 miles each at 8k to 12k race pace. Performing one to two of these workouts every 7 to 10 days throughout the entire training cycle in some form or fashion is crucial.
There are two kinds of hill work. One is doing long runs, easy runs, or the continuous strength work up multiple or one long hill. It doesn't have to be steep, but going uphill even at a slightly slower pace will strengthen your legs, decrease the impact forces on your legs, and provide your systems a added stimulus without having to increase turnover. During the base and strength oriented phases of your training, one to two of these runs should be included every 7 to 10 days. The other kind of hill work is hill sprints, which can vary in speed and length depending upon the slope of the hill. The slope itself doesn't have to be steep. A hill with less of an incline can be used for longer hill repeats at 5k to 8k effort (10k + pace), whereas a steeper hill can be used for shorter harder efforts of Mile to 3k effort (3k to 5k pace). Not only do these sessions assist with neuromuscular adaptation and leg strengthening, they can be used in conjunction with other workouts to simulate tired legs.
Maintaining these three components in a training plan will help increase the aerobic strength of an athlete, which increases the maximum yield any tradition speed work can have. Being a high mileage or big cross trainer can add to those aerobic gains with more heart rate and wattage workouts or just more easy miles (or minutes), though you should be careful not to add too much to your plate because with degrading form and freshness thrives increased risk of injury. Good luck with your training!
P.S. Still suffering with my bulging discs and sciatic pain, but I saw a doctor who put me in for both a Physical Therapy and Orthopedic consult, so I'm getting closer to fixing this thing!
The long run is a distance running staple as it provides the body with a stimulus for running longer than it is normally asked too. The body hums along as a nice steady pace, training itself to use fat for fuel and to be more efficient when covering longer distances. You should perform a long run once every 7 to 10 days and it should make up roughly 20% of your weekly mileage, trending slightly lower for a Miler, and trending higher for a 10 Miler or above. Ideally this long run would be performed at your easy pace, though during base training or earlier parts of the season, short pickups, a tempo section, or a progression could be used for added stimulus.
Threshold workouts can come in various forms, from long continuous steady state runs, to broken up tempo intervals. For a 20 minute 5k runner, a steady state run is a run between 6 to 15 miles at 20K to 30K race pace. A tempo run would be from 2 to 5 miles at 10k to 10 mile race pace. Tempo intervals would be from 1 to 2 miles each at 8k to 12k race pace. Performing one to two of these workouts every 7 to 10 days throughout the entire training cycle in some form or fashion is crucial.
There are two kinds of hill work. One is doing long runs, easy runs, or the continuous strength work up multiple or one long hill. It doesn't have to be steep, but going uphill even at a slightly slower pace will strengthen your legs, decrease the impact forces on your legs, and provide your systems a added stimulus without having to increase turnover. During the base and strength oriented phases of your training, one to two of these runs should be included every 7 to 10 days. The other kind of hill work is hill sprints, which can vary in speed and length depending upon the slope of the hill. The slope itself doesn't have to be steep. A hill with less of an incline can be used for longer hill repeats at 5k to 8k effort (10k + pace), whereas a steeper hill can be used for shorter harder efforts of Mile to 3k effort (3k to 5k pace). Not only do these sessions assist with neuromuscular adaptation and leg strengthening, they can be used in conjunction with other workouts to simulate tired legs.
Maintaining these three components in a training plan will help increase the aerobic strength of an athlete, which increases the maximum yield any tradition speed work can have. Being a high mileage or big cross trainer can add to those aerobic gains with more heart rate and wattage workouts or just more easy miles (or minutes), though you should be careful not to add too much to your plate because with degrading form and freshness thrives increased risk of injury. Good luck with your training!
P.S. Still suffering with my bulging discs and sciatic pain, but I saw a doctor who put me in for both a Physical Therapy and Orthopedic consult, so I'm getting closer to fixing this thing!
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