Building a Performance-Oriented Plan

Training for only a marathon distance, and neglecting training for shorter distances, often can result in not getting the opportunity to improve your VO2max and running efficiency. This ultimately impacts or limits the ability to improve performance at the marathon distance. Training needs to include a change of stimulus. Without adding a new stimulus, often fitness will decline. It is important to train all energy systems.

My approach, for those more focused on performance at the marathon distance, is to look at things over 18 months to 2 years. Below I outline a typical strategy to achieve this by breaking out the 18 to 24 month period into blocks with specific focus, and addressing the need for training all energy systems and providing new stimulus to make gains.

I also outline the typical approach I take with athletes who are training specifically for the half marathon, and 5k / 10k distances. I break out my blocks over a year for these distances.

Regardless of the distance you run, the key to endurance is our anaerobic threshold. It allows us to run a faster speeds before fatigue and lactic acid begin to take place.

Marathon Performance Plan

Marathon: the main ingredients are aerobic threshold, muscular endurance and fuel efficiency.

Aerobic threshold is the fastest pace you can run while staying aerobic.

Muscular endurance is the ability to hold it together without falling apart.

Fuel efficiency is about how efficient you are at burning fat

Half Marathon Performance Plan

Half marathon: the main ingredients are stamina (lactate threshold and anaerobic threshold), muscular endurance, and speed endurance.

Lactate threshold is the point where lactic acid is just beginning to accumulate.

Anaerobic threshold is the level of exercise intensity at which lactic acid accumulates in the blood stream faster than it can be cleared away.

Muscular endurance is the ability to hold it together without falling apart.

Speed Endurance endurance is your ability to hold a specific pace for an increasingly longer period of time. 

5k / 10k Performance Plan

5k / 10k: the main ingredients are VO2max, speed endurance, and running efficiency.

VO2max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilize during exercise.

Speed Endurance endurance is your ability to hold a specific pace for an increasingly longer period of time. 

Running efficiency is the ability to recruit maximum muscle fiber with each stride without increasing effort.

Strategies for the Masters Endurance Athlete

At age 35 and beyond the body goes through some important changes. With ageing comes reduction in:

• Growth Hormones

• Testosterone

• Oestradiol

What does this mean for the ageing athlete:

• Increased risk of injury

• Reduced Anaerobic Threshold

• Reduced bone mineral Density

Some changes the ageing athlete can make to their routine that will go a long way to keep you training include:

• Longer warmups

• Polarization of training (need to prevent Type II fast twitch decline and denervation)

• Multidirectional strength training

• Prioritize sleep and recovery

• Protein: 1.2 to 1.5 g/kg/day. Timing: 25g every 3 hours. Pre-sleep intake of Casein

• Vit D

Spicing up Lactate Threshold Training

The threshold run is well known to all distance runners. It is the staple in most running programs. I feel, it is also misunderstood, and not utilized to its full benefits in training.

Threshold runs are executed at the fastest pace one could maintain for an hour if racing and equates to 86% to 88% of VO2max. If using rate of perceived effort (RPE), this is a RPE of 7.5 to 8.

Athletes slowing down on sustained 20 to 40-minute tempo runs, and in their running in general, may need to  integrate some other variables into training to improve threshold. It appears that the body is getting less efficient rather more efficient. Yet, the purpose of threshold training is to build strength and speed. By running at or near lactate threshold, the body should become more efficient at clearing lactic acid and reusing it to fuel muscles. For an endurance athlete, this is key.

The reason an athlete may not see improvements has to do with muscle fiber recruitment. In a continuous 20 to 40-minute tempo run, the muscle recruitment is mostly the slow twitch muscle fibers and some intermediate muscle fibers. At slower paces we also utilize more quadriceps and calves, and at faster paces, the glutes and hamstrings are utilized more.

Staleness, lack of adaptation, or declining performance are signals to change training approach by adding a new stimulus or manipulator. To improve or challenge the ability to run stronger, it is important to mix up threshold training. Adding training within our threshold work that recruits all the muscle type fibers available can be extremely beneficial. We become more efficient but also minimize fatigue because of accessing a larger pool of muscle fiber types. Increasing the recruitable muscle fiber pool enables fast twitch muscles to jump in and do some of the work when the slow twitch muscles become overwhelmed. This aids in sustaining pace over longer efforts which is the purpose of training at threshold.

As a coach, I look at training as imposing a serious of threats upon our body/muscles to improve fitness. Experienced coaches understand how to manipulate variables in training to continuously impose threats to get the most out of their athletes. When it comes to increasing/improving threshold the same old sustained 20 to 40-minute threshold run needs some spice. Here are some examples of threshold work and manipulators that can provide some spice to training and provide threshold with an uplift. When we first introduce these types of manipulators, athletes will struggle. This is a good thing. The body is learning to again become efficient at clearing lactic acid and reusing it to fuel muscles. It is not always about hitting the pace, effort is what counts. The workout is achieving what it is supposed to.

Ingredients to add to threshold workouts:

10 minutes at threshold / 3 minute easy / 5 x 2 minutes or 600m at 3k to 5k effort with 90 seconds active recovery between each effort and 3 min after last one/ 10 minutes at threshold.

Alternations or under overs – alternating running slightly faster than threshold with running slightly slower than threshold. I like to build these over a training block by adding distance to each portion and to the overall volume of the workout

Fartlek runs – 3x 1 minute at 3k to 5km effort with 1 to 2 minutes active recovery between each effort and 3 minutes after the last one / 10 to 15 min at threshold / 2 to 3 min active recovery /  3x1 minute at 3k to 5 km effort with 1 to 2 minutes active recovery between each effort.

4 to 6 short hills of 1 minute in duration / 3 to 5 min easy / 10 to 20 minutes at threshold.

3 to 5 x mile performed as 200m at faster than threshold and 200m at slower than threshold with 5 minutes active recovery between each mile. Do not underestimate how difficult this workout is.

30-minute tempo as 10/8/6/4/2/ minutes at slightly faster than threshold with 60 to 90 seconds between.

40-minute progression run: 15 minutes steady, 10 minutes faster, 10 minutes faster, 5 minutes fast but controlled.

Building Fatigue Resistance

There are many ways we can create a boost in fitness by learning to run with fatigued legs. To do this, I often program workouts that include hills with tempo runs or short intervals with tempo runs to create a boost in fitness or to simulate race conditions. The time of year I tend to program this most often is in early spring, 12 to 16 weeks out from a goal race, and near goal races.

Hill / Tempo Session Example

2 to 6 x 20 seconds to 1-minute hill sprints. Recovery is a walk or jog down taking at least 1 minute to 90 seconds for full recovery.

After the hills, jog 3 minute to a flat location to start your tempo run.

Run 10 to 20 minutes at threshold.

After the tempo, jog 3 min back to your hill location.

2 to 6 x 20 seconds to 1-minute hill sprints. Recovery is a walk or jog down taking at least 1 minute to 90 seconds for full recovery.

The short sprint hill session utilizes our fast twitch muscle fibers. We are turning on the recruitment of our fast twitch muscle fibers. These fast twitch muscle fibers stay turned on when we move into the tempo. Here is what is happening physiologically: Fast twitch muscle fibers consist of Type 2a and 2b. Type 2b recruitment last less than a minute. Then what happens is that Type 2a needs to handle more of the aerobic work. These muscle fibers last up 30 minutes. We become more efficient by recruiting more of the Type 2 muscle fibers in our training.

Short Intervals / Tempo Session Example

4 to 8 x 200 meters at mile pace with 1-minute recovery.

After the 200s, jog 3 minutes

Run 10 to 20 minutes at threshold.

After the tempo, jog 3 minutes

4 to 8 x 200 meters at mile pace with 1-minute recovery.

Like the hill/tempo session, this workout accomplishes the same goal of turning on our fast twitch muscles and recruiting more fast twitch muscle fibers overall.

I tend to program the hill/tempo session early in the training cycle. The short intervals/tempo session is something I like to program three to six weeks out from a 3km to half marathon distance race.

Run Training and Types of Training Explained

Training for running is not complex.  It is pretty straight forward but it always surprises me when people train for years and cannot figure out why they do not improve, have chronic fatigue, or are constantly injured.

The goals of a structured training program can be summarized into six points.  Jack Daniels describes the goals as:

1.       To improve the body’s ability to transport blood and oxygen.

2.       To increase the ability of muscles involved in running to use the available oxygen and convert carbohydrate and fat fuel into useful energy.

3.       To increase lactate threshold to enable faster running speed.

4.       To increase aerobic capacity by increasing VO2max.

5.       To improve speed.

6.       To decrease energy demand by improving running economy.

I start with these goals as I believe that the linkage between these goals and the type of training to enable these goals is not clearly understood or it is simply ignored.  If one is going to spend time doing an activity, I think they should learn to train properly to maximize benefits.  I admit, I get extremely frustrated when people tell me how hard they run or how much they run.  So what.  If one is not training properly that means absolutely nothing.   If you win races and run exactly the same time every time, then you should start to question your training.

The second thing that frustrates me, is that I see people training together doing exactly the same workout without considering level of the runner or the volume of running per week.  Someone who runs 40 km a week should not be doing the same volume of intervals as someone who runs 100 km a week.  Nor should someone who is relatively new to running be doing the same type of intervals as someone experienced.

I may have two athletes do a workout that on paper looks exactly the same but the purpose of the workout is different.  For example, 5x1000 meters.  One athlete may be doing this at threshold and the other at VO2max.  The recoveries may also be the same or different as they are at different levels.

So let’s get back to the basics.

Easy and Long Runs

Purpose: To improve cell adaptation, promote glycogen depletion, to teach the body to use fat as fuel. 

How:  Run 65% to 70% of VO2max. 20 minutes to 2 hour 30 minutes.

Example:  45 minute easy run the next day after a hard workout.

Threshold Runs

Purpose: To build strength and speed.  By running at or very near your lactate threshold, your body will become more efficient at clearing lactic acid and reusing it to fuel your muscles.  Threshold runs simply teach us to endure greater intensity for longer periods of time.  For an endurance athlete, this is key.

How: Run 86% to 88% of VO2max.  Tempo runs, Tempo intervals, Cruise Intervals.  It is a pace that you could maintain for an hour in a race.

Example 1: 20 min tempo run.

Example 2: 8 x 1000 meters with 30 second rest interval.

Example 3: 2x10 minutes with 1 to 2 minutes’ rest interval.

Intervals

Purpose: To increase your maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max).

How: Run 98% to 100% of VO2max.  It is a pace that you could maintain for 10 to 15 minutes in a race.  It is often quoted as 3 km race pace.  Running these too fast results in training the wrong system and defeats the purpose which is to improve your aerobic capacity.

Example: 30 second to 5 minute intervals.  I stress time here as opposed to distance as I differ the workout distance based on level of runner.  For example, a slower runner covers less distance in 5 minutes than does a faster runner.  The rest interval varies but it should be equal to or less than the interval time.  As athletes become stronger, I tend to shorten the rest interval.

Speed

Purpose:  To improve mechanics. 

How: Greater than VO2max.  Intervals of less than 2 minutes.  Again, using time as opposed to distance as we need to account for a runner’s ability.  The rest interval would be up to four times it took to do the interval.  For example, 30 second interval would get a rest interval of 2 minutes.

Marathon Pace workouts for Marathon Runners

Purpose: To enable an athlete to spend some time running the pace at which they hope to complete the marathon in.

How: Run up to 25 km at marathon pace.  I incorporate a build up to 25 km over time in a marathon program.  I also encourage athletes to run a half marathon race at marathon pace or slightly faster.  I usually start runners at 10 to 12 km and gradually build them to 25 km over a 16 week to 20 week period.  I like to schedule a marathon pace run every three to four weeks.