Scope
Given the small amount of web space that I am renting, I will only have room to cover the basics of training. My subject will be limited to training for middle and long distance running. This will include the mile to perhaps as much as a half-marathon. This is where I have focused all of my personal training and the distances for which I have gained a certain level of expertise.
The Building Blocks
There are many types of training with all sorts of different names. You may hear the words intervals, fartlek, ladders, tempo runs, power runs, pickups, thresholds, aerobic runs, LSD, and many others. I am not going to try and deal with these on an individual basis as if they have some unique and magical value. I will instead paint a much simpler picture. I may be criticized by some coaches and purest for what I am about to say, but most workouts can be classified according to three different target objectives: With this table, I could look at my best 5km time and predict my 10km time with a certain degree of accuracy. As a matter of fact, you could do the same for distances as short as 800 meters and even ultra-distance. Realizing, of course, there is a big difference between running the 800 meters and a marathon, there were all sorts of caveats within their accompanying text. Still the underlying principle was sound. They knew that there was a definite relationship between a person's oxygen power and their ability to perform a certain level of running. The authors of the tables acknowledged, however, that oxygen power index alone fell short of explaining runners like Frank Shorter (former Olympic marathoner). Frank's scores were very low (below 70 milliliters of oxygen per minute per kilogram of his body weight) when compared to most other measured world class distance runners. Later scientists and coaches explained these exceptions. Oxygen power is just one of the three components needed to be a good runner. You need a certain amount of all three. And if you are weak in any of the three areas, you have to make up the lost ground in the other two areas. Frank Shorter could stick with the best long distance runners when it came to speed. So where did Frank make up his lost ground? His ability to make up ground was through the development of his "threshold" component which we will cover in a moment. Many analysts have said this was what gave Frank Shorter his outstanding running achievements. He was the last American to ever win the Olympic marathon. Frank was also world class for the 10km distance. If you read the chapter on physiology, then you understand already exactly what "oxygen power" is. We can use it interchangeably with the scientific label "VO2max". Here let me just summarize by saying that this component of training is where you have: How do you increase oxygen power? The most effective way to increase one's oxygen power is to run lots of long slow distance (LSD). I say "most effective" because there are many other forms of training that can make a significant contribution, but none can make as large of a contribution as slow, continuous running. How much distance is often a difficult question to answer. The answer is specific to the distance for which you are targeting your improvement. If you are working on the 10 km, I advise that you not run less than 8 miles per day, with at least 3 of those days being LSD, and with 1 of them being 10 to 12 miles. The other 3 days of the week can be devoted to threshold and speed work. I have found that consistently "Galloway's Book on Running" has the best advice on distances for this sort of "aerobic"training, covering just how far and how much should be done. If you don't have a copy of his book, go buy one or borrow someone else's. Roy Benson's book "The Runner's Coach" is also good. It shows you how to adjust your schedule based on what "phase" of training you are engaged in. For example, if you are trying to peak during a 3 month training cycle, he tells you how much LSD you need to do during each week of your training. To be complete, you should get a copy of his book also. To a certain extent it is also important how fast you run your LSD. You don't want to run too fast, and you don't want to run too slow. If you are having trouble carrying on a conversation during the run, then you are running too fast. If your heart rate is less than 75% of your maximum capable heart rate, then you may be running too slow. Some people can actually become anaerobic (have trouble breathing) at only 75% MHR; so you need to find what pace is brisk, but easy to sustain for long periods. The best thing to do is buy a Polar heart monitor. Some models come with the Polar published manual written by Roy Benson that tells you how to use the heart monitor to determine the best pace for your aerobic LSD workouts. I won't try to cover that here. Let it suffice to offer strong advice that you buy a heart monitor and learn how to use it. If you are really out of shape, you may find that training at effort levels below 75% take you to your threshold. Threshold is defined as the point at which the chief energy-producing process of your body stops being aerobic and starts being predominantly anaerobic. Anaerobic means "without oxygen". At this physiological juncture, the body starts producing most of its energy currency (adenosine triphosphate, ATP) without the oxygen it really needs. The unfortunate by-product is lactic acid. Concurrent with the buildup of lactic acid will be the inability to recruit more and more muscle fibers. If the pooling of lactic acid is serious enough, ol' mother nature will lock down your muscles completely. What scientists have found out is that by running near this threshold (and not past it), you can actually raise the percentage level of VO2max at which it occurs. For example, you might increase the trigger point from 75% to say 80%. How do you do threshold training? As a rule of thumb, this type of training should never be continuously or cumulatively longer than 20 minutes in duration, or more than 3 miles. It's kind of like a car warranty--"whichever occurs first". You must also do as the late Dr. George Sheehan espoused--listen to your body. If your legs are beginning to tie up on you, or you feel like you are racing, then you are probably over the threshold mark. This is a difficult form of training to master. Many people run too hard and defeat the benefits that would otherwise be gained. There are no charts, computers, or books that can tell you where your threshold lies. Only you can find it. Dr. Dave Martin (of Georgia State University) has done extensive research on runners and their lactate turnpoints, and I have found much of his published work to provide more than anyone else on this subject. He and Peter Coe (Sebastian's father) co-authored a book together that provides a wealth of insight into this subject and a great deal more as well. Still, unless you actually have your lactate turnpoint determined in a laboratory by a fellow like Dr. Martin, you can only rely on your best judgement as to where it occurs relative to your VO2max. Incidentally, Georgia State and Dr. Martin don't open their doors to the public for testing; so please don't bother them with phone calls or letters. How often should you do threshold runs? The answer to this question will be determined by your needs and your body's adaptability. I recommend doing this twice per week, and certainly no less than once per week. Another problem with speed workouts is that people generally don't like to do them. This means they may have a tendancy to shortstop some of the above mentioned preparation in an effort to get the workout started and over with. Don't make this mistake! Even the rest periods in between different segments of the workouts are extremely important. One thing I admire about Roy Benson's speed workouts is his very conscious effort to provide enough variety in form and function to make the workouts interesting and more tolerable. I can't begin to substitute for his coaching ability in this area. In covering speed training, I am only going to mention two types here: Intervals are probably the most widely used but least understood type of speed training. Many people falsely believe that the word interval refers to the fixed distance that is run repetitively. Actually, it is the interval of rest in between each fixed distance run. Although we are learning to recruit the "fast twitch" muscles required for speed during the run, just as important (perhaps more important) we are teaching the body how to minimize lactic acid pooling and teaching it how to deal with acid by increasing its buffering capability. This is all part of a human's ability to adapt to various load levels. It's built into us. But the only way we can teach these things and have the body adapt, is to carefully control our speed of each running segment, as well as control the rest interval. We do this in several ways. First, each run should not be all-out. You should always run each segment with no more speed than it takes your heart to return to 120 bmp to 130 bpm before the next segment is started. If you cannot recover to this level during the rest period, then you are running each segment too fast. Your rest period should also not take too long. For a set of 400 meter intervals, for example, the in-between rest should not exceed 3 minutes. Ideally, for this distance of intervals, you should only have to rest for 1 1/2 minutes between segments. For quantity of segments during each workout, I suggest you read Galloway's or Benson's books. What are power runs? This is a type of speed workout that is relatively short in duration but run all-out. It requires complete recovery (generally below 100 bpm) before a new segment is started. These workouts are usually included toward the end of a training cycle, where you have entered the "peaking" phase of training.
The only other item I want to add to this is that all training is "sport specific".
What I mean is that you may do all three types of training above when working out to become a cross country skier (for example), but that won't make you a good runner necessarily. In fact, scientists have shown that cross country skiers develop better oxygen power (Item 1 above) than do any other sport that has been measured. Yet, these same cross country skiers can't translate that same oxygen power to the sport of running and expect the same results. You get better at being a runner by practicing to be a runner. It's plain and simple! Certain muscles groups, and certain muscle fibers within these groups, have to be specifically trained to become better at running.
Oxygen Power
I first heard this expression about 15 years ago when two physiogists in Tempe, AZ were publishing a table of "oxygen power indices" that related to various distances and performance times. I ordered their published tables from a Runner's World article, and became very fascinated by the scientific theory behind them.Threshold Training
This has really developed into a very mature form of training in the last five years. The likes of Jack Daniels (the coach and physioligist-- not the alcoholic beverage) has made this training come out of the closet. You may often hear this type of training referred to as tempo runs. After you have established a good strong aerobic base, i.e. the oxygen power or VO2max level you need, this form of training will be conducted at a certain percentage level of VO2max. Well trained athletes usually are at 80 to 85% of their VO2max while engaging in this form of training. Here again, to prevent guessing, a heart monitor can be used to determine this level of effort. Ned Fredericks, a leading running physiologists, and I developed a chart that is being used in numerous Roy Benson publications, as well as other publications that are included with Polar heart monitors.Speed Training
This is the one area in which I have personally screwed up the most. This is an easy area to make a mistake, because you can become caught up in the sudden gains you begin to see almost immediately. There's no doubt about it--fast training runs can make you a faster runner! But don't get caught up in the greed of it all. Listening to your body here may not be enough. By the time your body says, "ease up!" you may have already ventured into the deep doo-doo zone. This can result in pulled hamstrings, calf muscle tears, achille tendon pulls, and many other directly-related problems.To minimize some of this potential, you will want to warm up the muscles before attempting the speed workout, usually through a mile or two of light jogging. You will also want to do some gentle stretching. Roy Benson often likes to ease his runners into the shock of it all by having them do what are called "strides". These are short bursts of speed for short distances where you gradually work up to the fast leg turnover. All this is done prior to starting the actual speed workout.Other Training
I did not discuss ladder workouts or fartleks or many other types of good training. These add variety as much as anything else. For a more complete course in running, I suggest you read from front to back cover any of the books that I have already recommended. I have only skimmed the surface with this essay on "basics". You must learn to add the variety and discover the combinations that work best for you.