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!