So it has been around 15 months since I stopped training "seriously" due to injury (although I have ran a few local Park Run events to keep fit once I was fully recovered) and other the last few weeks I have been doing a fair bit of reading regarding training and sports science. I kind of wish I hadn't in a way as I have found several things I have been doing wrong with all my training for most of the last 10 years although deep down I already knew this just chose to ignore it. One of the books I have been reading is "Daniel's Running Formula" by Jack Daniels where at the start of the book he points out several questions that should be asked by athlete or coach before the start of any training programme or session which sounds basic but when I think about all my previous training, I definitely didn't ask or think to myself...
- What is the purpose of this training session?
Now some people my find this a daft question and I can already here the replies of "To get faster!!" but looking back at my own training diaries I am wondering why on earth I was smashing round a 200 meter indoor track during the cross country season doing 400 meter reps at 1500 meter pace. Fair enough if you have some indoor races or just a one off session to get the legs ticking over but once and sometimes twice a week was pointless. So really the answer should be one of to increase either Speed, endurance, VO2 max, running economy and reaction to mileage or something like this. If i was racing 1500 meters indoors then 10 x 400 meters off a minute would be fine as a quality session but if racing cross country or road races then priority would be a threshold run or intervals between 3-5 minutes. It does sound like a basic question but when you next go out the door to do a session just ask why you are about to do that session.
- What is the current level of fitness?
I have certainly needed to ask this question as I know a lot of runners after a period of injury or illness will jump straight back into a hard session after only a few runs and I have done this before. There is no point in smashing out 5 x 5 minutes after 6 weeks out in your first week back, steady runs with maybe a lighter fartlek session after a few weeks would be a more sensible option!
- How much time have you got to train?
Trying to cram in sessions and runs because you are short of your usual millage is never a good idea plus once you start doing this you may not be recovery from your harder sessions resulting running on more tired than usual legs. I have been guilty of trying to hit a certain millage every week which usually ends up doing my quality work outs knackered and racing on tired legs so if you haven't got the time then lower your miles or do a little more on a day you can run but don't over so it!
- Strengths and weaknesses
Sometimes when you ask what session an athlete doesn't like it might be because they are not that strong in that area. I used to hate hill training and surprisingly enough I was very weak when it came to a climb in a race and cross country as I was not not strong enough which when looking back in my training logs I am not surprised as there was not nearly enough hill training involved.
- What does the athlete react well to?
When changing anything with a schedule is always important to constantly analyse what happens after these changes. For Example when increasing the miles in an athletes schedule this doesn't always mean improvements as different things will suit different people. Some runners respond well to the higher mileage while other athletes a similar standard will struggle and prefer high intensity but lower miles.
One other important part of my training that I would do incorrectly was the pace of my easy running days. Now easy running takes up most of the miles and therefore important it gets done correctly as will impact the quality sessions during the week. Jack Daniels (2008) recommends that easy/recovery running should be done 2:30 minutes slower per mile than your race 5k pace which means that most of my recovery runs were about a minute too fast and should have been just over the 7 minute per mile mark!!
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