Reducing the endurance runs
I ran the neighborhood marathon event which was quite an achievement particularly as I had only run 4 miles before the day of the race! It sounds ludicrous but that's precisely what I did. Simply goes to show that you do not have to run long distances to be able to run a long way in a race!
I actually appreciated the 13 miles on the day, however generally, I get burnt out plodding along for too long so I tried to prevent that. I succeeded too as even a 4 miles max run is a whole lot less than the 13 needed on the day. I was positive that I 'd make it though as I was roughly following a program I 'd read in the Tim Ferris book '4 hour body'.
The book covers a lot of ground and only one chapter is devoted to distance running however it is an excellent! The guy training Tim was trying to prepare him to complete an enormous 50k race in just 12 weeks. Astonishing and simply the kind of thing I was after considering that it was attempting to attain the impossible. Kinda similar to wishing to do a half marathon without running the long distances!
The idea was to build up to running 3 times a week but just over short distances. One run was typically 3k with the odd one longer but no more than 10k. The other 2 runs were sprints and then there was the 5 times a week crossfit workouts to develop leg power. Running a distance event includes a lot of footfall, after all.
Like a good recipe a training program is there to be adapted that is exactly what I did. I had four months training time and needed just to finish a fraction of the distance. So I started running 2 to 3 mile distances for a couple of weeks building up to 3 runs a week. Then I changed 2 with sprinting methodologies; while the book differed these I adhered to 4 x 400m sprints with a light jog prior to and after to deal with running style. Likewise I adjusted the crossfit workouts which were far too diverse and complicated to utilize right out of the box.
Due to the fact that I have the timer I did tabatas, a great deal of them. Some were workouts like press ups, squats and lunges while others were on the stationary cycle but they were always flat out. I truly went for it and made certain I did as much as I could each time. Intensity! And that was it, long distance runs avoided!
As I have the timer I did tabatas, lots of them. Some were workouts like press ups, squats and lunges while others were on the stationary cycle but they were always flat out. I actually went for it and made sure I did as much as I was able each time. Intensity! And that was it, long distance runs avoided!
However, in addition to the training there was another crucial part of my training which was connected to recovery. Each week I went into town and got a sports massage from my regional therapist. I could not reveal to you exactly how energising these were, although, occasionally they were relaxing. These would ease the knots from my calves or sore shins, while various other times they can just be called excruciating, although ultimately extremely helpful.
So that's my endurance training program which got me round 13.1 miles the lack of long distance running most likely helped with wear and tear while I am convinced the Sports Massage certainly did!
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here