When I ran my first ultra and struggled with the whole race, I thought I knew how to train. After trawling social media for ideas, in reality, I was out of my depth and got the training completely wrong. Everything from no structured sessions or specificity, nutrition made up on the go, enough kit to survive the apocalypse, and zero ideas on pacing an ultra. Sound familiar? Do you want to run faster and further whatever your distance, but don't know how?
Weekend Top Tip - Recovery is Recovery
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Hi Reader, Recovery is recovery, it sounds obvious but what do I mean? Look at your recovery from the aspect of time, being short, medium and long-term. Short-term RecoveryOne of the variables in your training sessions is the recovery time between intervals or hill repeats. Depending on the effort and time of that rep, it could be anything between 30 seconds and several minutes. Use the time to fully recover and be in a position to go again, for the next rep, with the same consistency as the previous one. This might mean walking or even standing between the reps and that is ok! It is not about running your recovery at a pace so your Strava for that session looks good. The adaption we are after comes from the interval itself, not whether we walk or jog the recovery. Another aspect to look at within the sessions is our easy runs. A common mistake is running too fast on easy days. Keep your easy runs easy, so you can run hard on the hard days. Medium-term RecoveryYou will see generic training programs, running apps, AI and uninformed people talk about easy or off-load weeks every 4 weeks. This is not something I believe we should follow to such a regimented degree and take every 4 weeks off. Why? The first point is, following this principle, you will lose up to 20-25% of your time to train effectively! That's a lot of time not to be training. Second, most people through life and work commitments, generally have missed sessions or interrupted training anyway and we don't need to build these offload weeks into the training plan. We all adapt differently, and an individualised plan will ensure you are maximising your training time. Third, as long we ramp your training accordingly, not too aggressively or too easily, you will have a training program that is balanced and sustainable for a longer period. This will include rest day(s) within the training week. We can measure this objectively through your training data and metrics, plus subjectively (more importantly I think) from how you are feeling each day and week to week. Long-term RecoveryIf we plan out the racing year well, with our A, B and C races, and not trying to race every month, you will have a better long-term approach. Racing a marathon or ultra is going to take a serious amount of recovery time afterwards. Potentially several weeks depending on our fitness levels and how hard we raced. It's also OK to take time off, we all need a break, look at the pros, they have this built-in through having an off-season. You don't always need to be training for a race. It's OK to do things with no structure and just go enjoy your running. Recovery ModalitiesFinally, a quick word on recovery modalities. Don't worry about the fancy compression boots, ice baths, and supplements or pills, if you are not sleeping and eating correctly. Good sleep hygiene and quality food should be the primary focus of recovery. Get those 2 sorted and you won't need the other things! Have a good weekend wherever racing or running takes you! Cheers, Ash P.S. If you're unsure of how to structure training or how easy an easy run should be. Get in touch here and let's chat about your training. |
Journey2Ultra Running Coach
When I ran my first ultra and struggled with the whole race, I thought I knew how to train. After trawling social media for ideas, in reality, I was out of my depth and got the training completely wrong. Everything from no structured sessions or specificity, nutrition made up on the go, enough kit to survive the apocalypse, and zero ideas on pacing an ultra. Sound familiar? Do you want to run faster and further whatever your distance, but don't know how?
Hi Reader, I'm not one to shy away from more contemporary thinking. I previously wrote about the overuse of electrolytes and whether we need to supplement with them, as much as the marketing departments would have us think. Another area I believe can be overhyped is training using heart rate (HR). I am open in my coaching that HR is not a metric I use. But why would I not use this, and what alternatives do you have? As with most things I deal with, it's based on science, not following the...
Hi Reader, Nothing new on race day! We've all done it, worn those new running shoes we are keen to try out, or bought that gucci piece of kit at the expo, then suffered for it a few ks into your race. How can you have the best day out and what do we mean by this? How you race - Who's been caught up in the cattle stampede at every race start? Regardless of distance have a pacing plan and stick to it. For road races, through testing and training, you should have a good idea of your goal race...
Hi Reader, At a high level, we classify our runs into three buckets: easy runs, hard interval/threshold runs, and the long run. We might mix these up sometimes, for example, including faster threshold running or race-pace efforts in your long run. Today, though, we are going to focus on the long run, probably the most important session for you as a runner. Whether you’re preparing for a marathon, ultramarathon or simply aiming to improve your endurance, understanding the reasons behind the...