Category: Marathon / Ultra Running

Train easy for a 10K PB!

Posted on by admin in Aquathlon Coaching, Duathlon Coaching, Female athlete, InBalance Coaching, Male athlete, Marathon / Ultra Running, Triathlon Coaching

As a coach and a person who competes in triathlons and other endurance events, I have been interested in the work by Dr Phil Maffertone (2010) and Dr Stephen Seiler (2010, 2019) and a book written by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns (2016). Very loosely, they all believe that the majority of your training should be completed in the easy, aerobic zone but the occasional hard session, which produce the performance gains, need to be really hard.

The Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world at the beginning of the year and I consciously made the decision to transfer my competition entries to 2021, as I believed it was unlikely mass participation events would happen in any great number during this year.

This got me thinking! I could use this time in lockdown to train consistently, making sure I stayed in my aerobic zone, using heart rate as an indicator. By training in this easy zone I was able to build a strong endurance base (engine) without the risk of injury and ‘burn-out’ that is associated with training too often in the anaerobic zone. After 4 months I decided to run 10K at race pace and repeat the same course 10 days later. To my amazement, having done only easy aerobic workouts, I ran my 1st 10K in a time that I would not have been ashamed of 20 years ago and the second 10K, a couple of days before my 57th birthday,  I knocked a further 5 mins off my time bringing me close to my all-time 10K PB. Furthermore, my recovery after the two time trials, was quick with little soreness or stiffness.

The take-home message here is to train easy most of the time, but the hard sessions need to be HARD, and don’t get sucked into the ‘black hole’ that most amateur athletes find themselves training in; the anaerobic threshold or even maximum intensity heart rate zones. Training in these zones for long periods of time will eventually lead to injury, illness and ‘burn-out’.

References

Maffetone, P. (2010) The big book of endurance training and racing. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Seiler, S. (2010) ‘What is best practice for training intensity and endurance distribution in endurance athletes?’ International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 5, pp.276-291.

Seiler,S. (2019) How ‘normal people’ can train like the worlds best endurance athletes. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_seiler_how_normal_people_can_train_like_the_worlds_best_edurance_athletes?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Sissons, M and Kearns, B. (2016) Primal Endurance. Oxnard, CA: Primal Blueprint Publishing.

Virgin London Marathon

Posted on by admin in Female athlete, InBalance Coaching, Marathon / Ultra Running, Online Coaching

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InBalance athlete Issy completed her first marathon at London in 4h 16m and loved the experience so much that she has entered the ballot for 2020!!

Issy came to InBalance in November and asked for some help with her training. She had completed a half marathon distance race previously and had a good base of fitness being a regular at the gym.

We developed a training plan around her work and lifestyle and she had a good block of training throughout the New Year and early Spring, slowly increasing the mileage and building endurance. Issy stuck to the plan and did not overtrain and consequently suffered no injury setbacks……….consistency is key.

InBalance also helped with nutrition advice and equipment choice to make sure Issy was as prepared as possible for her race and by the look of the smile on her face, I think we got it right!!

Training For Trail Marathon / Ultra

Posted on by admin in Marathon / Ultra Running

Welcome to this blog where you can follow my progress as I prepare myself to compete in ultra trail races. The goal is to be able to register for the Ultra – Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in 2020. The race I am targeting is the 101 Km CCC race (about 6,100 m height gain) which starts in Courmayeur, Italy, enters Switzerland and finishes in Chamonix, France.

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On a 32 km training run along the Mortimer Trail, UK

These posts will outline my training, equipment choices and reports on the qualifying races. I intend to start the campaign with two trail marathons in the spring / summer to acclimatise myself and increase the distance to two 55 mile ultras during the autumn / winter. The first marathon is the Winchcome Cross Trail Marathon in Gloucestershire and this will be followed in July with the Snowdon Trail Marathon in Snowdonia. In September I head to Devon for the Inov8 Exmoor Ultra and finally the Brecon Beacons Ultra in November.

A little bit about myself. I am just your average guy in his mid-50s and a father of two daughters with the usual hectic work / lifestyle balance. I run a coaching business alongside managing a flock of sheep. I keep myself relatively fit and have competed in various longer distance endurance events over the years, so have a relatively good base layer of fitness. 

Training

I am a great believer in strength and conditioning and do 2 x 1 hour sessions a week. If I need to drop a training session due to work / family commitments, I will always prioritise my S&C sessions. Core strength is so important for injury prevention. 

I complete two run sessions a week a short tempo run and a long endurance run. The distances slowly increase as the weeks go by and I try to keep to trails. The short  tempo run I work hard but the long run is always aerobic and easy. The majority of my long runs are between 8 – 14 miles with a couple of longer ones in a 10 week period. The risk of injury increases as the mileage increases so I am careful not to hammer my legs. I try to replicate the terrain of the race so for the Snowdon Trail marathon my long training runs will take me  to the Brecon Beacons to acclimatise to the long ascents and technical descents. 

I try to swim twice a week (I am swimming the Dart 10 Km in September) and I sometimes change one of my run sessions and get on the bike instead, to save my legs.

Being consistent with your training with no down-time due to injury is so important and  I spent time during the winter creating a good base fitness through strength and conditioning while slowly increasing the mileage of my training runs. The only setback I’ve had was when my lower back went into spasm but this was not due to running but spending a month lambing my flock of ewes! I managed to get the back treated quickly and only missed 5 days training.

I have at least one rest day per week and try to get 7 – 8 hours sleep  a night. I listened to a podcast recently and it mentioned that muscles get stronger when at rest and recovering; they are weak when under stress during exercise…..so true.

Equipment

I have been a fan of Hoka run shoes and they have served me well up to half marathon distance, however, beyond that distance the soles of my feet would become painful. I have a wide foot and been aware that the shoes were a snug fit and realised I would need to get a wider fitting shoe if my feet were going to be comfortable over longer distances. I am using Brooks trail shoes with their wider toe box and my feet are now fine.

I decided to invest in a running vest and after some research went for the Inov8 Race Ultra Pro 2-in-1. I’ve been really impressed with it. Very comfortable to wear, light, lots of pockets to store kit, does not move around and the position of the water bottles are perfect.

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Brooks Cascadia 13 trail shoes, Inov8 Race Ultra Pro 2in1 Vest and Tailwind All-In-One Race Nutrition.

Nutrition and hydration is also important for long endurance races and over the years I have used many different brands of energy drinks and gels but have reservations about whether I could consume these over a long period of time like the CCC. Recently I was introduced to Tailwind, a non sticky, all-in-one race nutrition powder that you mix with water. It tastes delicious, is easy on the stomach and you can use it as your sole fuel source over distances such as ultras. I will report back after a couple of races but on my 20 mile training run the powder did the job and I felt comfortable and recovered well. I think I will still take something solid that I can eat every 4 hours as a treat but I believe this powder is all the you require.

The Winchcombe Cross marathon is a couple of weeks away and I will post a report shortly after the race.

 

If you have any questions or would like help with your training, contact edward@inbalancecoaching.co.uk (www.inbalancecoaching.co.uk)