Pete started running as a way to lose weight. Tipping the scales at over 17st, he quickly began to see the benefits of regular running and proceed to lose some 5st over 18months. Having since completed various races at all distances from 2 miles to marathon, Pete as proceeded to knock some 20 minutes from his 10k time, a whopping 35 minutes from his half marathon best and also achieved county recognition by represent Warwickshire in the 2011 fell running inter counties championship.
Pete can generally be found leaping over fells and squelching through muddy woodland.
Years Running: 5 Coaching Qualifications: Coach in Running Fitness, England Athletics Level 1, Leader in Running Fitness, First Aid in workplace with optional sports module.
Richard Simkiss
Starting as an unfit non-runner at the end of 2005, Richard joined Kenilworth Runners at the start of 2008. Richard states "joining a running club was probably the biggest turning point in my running development, being able to run with faster runners and train with consistency helped my development as a runner no end". As Richard progressed, his interest in running theory grew and he began studying the theories and science behind running in much greater detail. Richard has since added to his own personal wealth of knowledge by completing the England Athletics Level 1 Coaching Course in November 2009, with plans already in place to attain further coaching qualifications.
Years Running: 6 Coaching Qualifications: England Athletics Level 1, Coach in Running Fitness
Sarah Stein
Sarah startedout as a Sunday jogger around 2008, but started to take it more seriously afterbeing encouraged through British Military Fitness in 2009. She has beenrunning more seriously now for a couple of years and absolutely loves it! So much so that she went on to do the England Athletics Leader and Coachtraining, and help set up a Run England Group to help encourage other peopleinto running. Since then she has been attending local England Athleticscourses on lower limb conditioning and drills.
When in London she is also a bitof a running tart(!), trying to gain as much knowledge as possible from localclubs like Serpentine, at technique and track sessions. Sarah’s not the speediest; but what she lacks in pace she makes up for in enthusiasm –and won’t stop trying!
Years Running: 3
Coaching Qualifications: Coach in Running Fitness, Leader in Running Fitness
Keith Blake
For me this joggingand running started out as away of keeping fit. From way back in 1998 when Ifirst ran my first GNR! Over the year’s since I’ve helped and inspired otherjogger and running to complete this event. Helping out with the local SportCentre over the years became a norm on a Tue and Thursday with their running Club,Then I later starting to running for Kenilworth atlocal events. At Kenilworth it developed more in a roll as helpingrunners fulfil there potential for there up and coming races varied from a 5kup to Marathons.
2010 UKA Leader in Running Fitness
2011 Kenilworth Male Club Member of the year
Joan Mason
I started running at the age of 58, when my daughter encouraged me to join her on a Race for Life. I ran/walked that first 5k but from then on, I was hooked! I ran my first marathon 4 days before I was 60, and currently have a Good For Age place in Boston Marathon 2013. I enjoy taking new members out with the club, and leading the Half Marathon training groups for the slower runners. Following the Leader in Running Fitness course, I have been involved in the development of the Daytime Running Group, who have made tremendous progress since January 2012. I hope to start a Coach in Running Fitness later this year to further my interest in encouraging new runners.
Arthur Smith
2011 UKA Leader in Running Fitness
If you have any questions about your training, feel free to ask a question by emailing them:
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Want to run faster? Run more. While there are limits and pitfalls in this "more is better" approach, the simple fact is that most of the best runners run a lot. They build up to it slowly, and they include a well-rounded set of workouts for each energy system, but the bottom line is that they put in a lot of miles.
Increasing your mileage is easy at first. You just add a few more miles to each of your runs, with maybe a few "down" weeks every two to three weeks at a lower mileage to ward off injury. Done properly over a few months, you can raise your mileage significantly.
But at some point, you can't keeping adding more miles to your daily runs. Your boss just won't let it happen. The answer to greater mileage then lies in "doubles." Running twice per day (aka "doubling" or running "double sessions") is the way to continue to safely boost your mileage and your fitness. And, there's no better time to add doubles than when adding miles in late summer to prepare for your fall marathon.
It isn't rocket science, but a few general rules apply. First, be smart. Adding doubles is no different than adding new workouts into your program: You must be patient and very gradual in your approach. Start with one or two double sessions each week for three to four weeks, and if you feel you can handle more, add another day or two of doubles for a maximum of four to five per week.
While you'll have to experiment to find out which is best for you, most runners find that first adding doubles to their hard workout days is a good place to start. But if you find it works better for you on your easy days, go ahead and switch it. There are no hard-and-fast rules. Most runners, however, find that long run days are not good days for adding doubles.
How long should each double session be? Most runners find that 30-45 minutes is optimal. Running longer adds too much stress and, with the shorter recovery time between runs, fatigue can set in quickly.
Lastly, the real key to successful doubling is monitoring the body. You can't chase miles to just chase miles. And you can't up your mileage overnight. You must avoid undue fatigue and be very mindful that the added volume can bring on injuries. As with everything in our sport, adding doubles requires a double dose of patience.
Making Mileage Work When You Work
Lynn, a masters runner, ran four times per week for 25-30 miles a few years ago but gradually and steadily increased her mileage to 45-55 miles per week on five or six days of running and achieved her goal of qualifying for Boston.
Now her goal is to win her age group in her next marathon. She optimized her quality and maximized her quantity in her single runs, so to take her running to the next level, we decided she needed to increase from 45-55 to 60-70 miles per week. But she was already running 60-90 minutes each morning, and her work schedule wouldn't allow for more running time (and we suspected her body wouldn't allow it either).
The answer was adding doubles. Lynn started with doubling once or twice per week and, once her body adapted, we were able to add one to two more doubles to reach a new mileage high point of 70 miles per week. To ensure we didn't risk injury too much, we cycled mileage up for a week or two then back down to her previous mileage.
Lynn says she almost always does her "main" run early in the morning. On the days she run doubles, the afternoon session is always an easy run, and that's relaxing, she says, because there's no pressure for performance. She sometimes takes her dog for a couple miles on the trails, or she'll just squeeze in a few miles on her way home from work.
She learned quickly that one of the keys to successful doubling is being very careful to eat enough. "It seems running in the morning and then working all day can really set me up to use up all my fuel if I'm not careful," she says.
It took a few weeks to get used to doubles, Lynn says, but her concerns about recovery time or compromising the next day's workout turned out to be unfounded.
"Sometimes I can have a run in the morning that is one of those runs where it's especially difficult for some reason," she says, "and then even after working all day and going out again, the second run is cake."
Greg McMillan is an exercise physiologist and USATF-certified coach who helps runners via his website mcmillanrunning.com.
How Long Does it Take to Benefit From a Hard Workout?
Recovery = benefit and good scheduling = good training
By Kristin Barry As featured in the September 2010 issue of Running Times Magazine
As an informed Running Times reader, you probably follow a well-designed training program that includes a mix of key types of workouts. (And if you don't, head over to runningtimes.com/training as soon as you're done with this article.) V02 max intervals, tempo runs, basic speed reps and long runs are likely integral parts of your schedule. The goal of each type of workout is to stress a particular physiological system and produce an adaptation that ultimately allows you to run faster. For example, and in admittedly simplified terms, V02 max intervals, such as kilometer repeats at 5K race pace, improve your heart's ability to deliver oxygen to muscles. Tempo runs increase your capacity to process and clear lactate. Short, fast repetitions enable you to run fast yet relaxed by decreasing overall energy expenditure and improving communication between working muscles and the brain. Long runs encourage capillary and mitochondria growth. Over time, these changes produce faster races. While the physiology behind these adaptive processes is well understood, how quickly your body adapts after a hard workout isn't as well known by most runners. Once you learn that, you can more logically structure your training so that you're allowing the stress-and-recovery cycle to work its magic. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN Let's say in the past two weeks you've done a long run, a tempo run, a track workout and some short, fast reps. When will you be fitter from this run of training? According to Pete Pfitzinger, an exercise physiologist and two-time Olympic marathoner, the process is cumulative. "Positive training adaptations occur from repeated stimulus created by training stress," he says. "I think of the accumulated adaptations to training as a rolling sum of: 1. Stress which leads to fatigue (hard training done in the past five days); 2. Stress which is starting to lead to positive adaptations (hard training done about five to eight days ago); 3. Stress which has created a positive adaptation (hard training done about eight days to three weeks ago); and 4. Stress which is losing its effect (hard training done more than three weeks ago)." The fitness you have today is a balance of these four categories. But what about the singular benefits from a particular workout, like that set of mile repeats you did last Wednesday? That's difficult to pinpoint exactly, but, says Pfitzinger, they're typically realized in about eight to 10 days. Joe Rubio, a two-time U.S. Olympic trials marathon qualifier and head coach of the ASICS Aggies, says that "most athletes will see a benefit from an individual workout 10-14 days after it is completed." Pfitzinger stresses that while eight to 10 days is the typical window for realizing recent gains, the rate of adaptations varies among individuals and depends on overall lifestyle, genetics and balancing training stress with adequate recovery. (See this article for tips on speeding your recovery so that you can do hard workouts more often and benefit rather than be torn down by them.) EFFECTS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF WORKOUTS While running-specific adaptations are unquestionably cumulative, each piece within the framework has its own recovery timeline, and it's important not to overlook this critical point when planning your training. The best time to perform a specific workout depends upon the time it takes from doing it to realizing its benefits on goal race day, coupled with the recovery profile of a workout. As mentioned above, the short answer regarding gains -- for all the types of workouts -- is about eight to 10 days. However, because of the variant stresses that different workouts place on the body, each must be considered separately. (See "Scheduling Your Schedule", below.) Knowing this information means knowing what workouts make the most sense shortly before an important race. V02 max intervals tax the body the most and take the most recovery time. Pfitzinger believes that full recovery takes about eight to 10 days. "You would want to do your last hard V02 max workout eight to 10 days before a major race," he says. "During training or before a less important tune-up race, you do not need to be completely recovered from one hard workout before doing another, so you could do another V02 max session after five or more days." Rubio agrees and has his athletes perform a V02 max workout approximately every seven to 14 days, and never in the final week before a major race.
Type of Workout
Example
Time Until Next Similar One
Day Before
Day After
VO2 Max
5 x 1000m @ 5K race pace w/ 400m recovery jog
5 or more days
recovery run
recovery run
Threshold
4-mile tempo run @ half marathon race pace
4 or more days
recovery run or speed development
recovery run, speed development or easy long run
Speed Development
12 x 200m @ mile race pace w/ 200m recovery jog
2-3 days
recovery run, tempo run or easy long run
recovery run, long run or tempo run
Long Run
18 miles @ 1:00/mile slower than marathon race pace
4 or more days
recovery run or speed development
recovery run
Lactate threshold recovery is closer to about four days. According to Pfitzinger tempo runs are the easiest to recover from because they don't break down the body as much as long runs or V02 max intervals. "A runner could do a lactate threshold workout about every four days and be fully recovered for a less important race. For a major race I would recommend eight days or more after the last lactate threshold workout." Speed repetitions, if done as longer intervals like repeat 400ms, can be as taxing as V02 max workouts. However, Pfitzinger points out that a workout such as extended strides of 150m or 200m require less recovery and could be done closer to a race, and can be completed several times per week during training. Recovery time from a long run varies, but four days is generally the minimum amount of time necessary for complete recovery, although glycogen stores usually are replenished within about 48 hours. HOW TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS Given that the length of recovery and stress inflicted varies depending upon the workout, your running schedule should be structured strategically to maximize improvement and adaptations and -- most important -- race performance. For example, if you're aiming for a peak performance at a Saturday 5K, don't crank out 6 x 800m at V02 max pace on the Tuesday before, as you will still be in the "stress which leads to fatigue" phase of recovery on race day. As Rubio explains, "If the key race was a few days following this particular workout, the athlete wouldn't see the benefit from it until the end of the following week." In fact, the stress inflicted upon the body and recovery required may actually hinder performance in your goal race. Instead, do your last V02 max, threshold and long runs eight to 10 days prior to the peak race and do something like 4-6 x 150-300m as a final tune-up workout. By doing this you minimize or negate residual fatigue in the final days leading up to the race and are rested enough to reap the benefits of the workouts performed in the critical window of eight to 14 days prior. Shorter, faster turnover reps keep your nervous system primed yet aren't taxing enough to create lingering fatigue on race day. KRISTIN BARRY is a two-time Olympic marathon trials qualifier with a best of 2:40:38.
You know you need a running goal. A goal many runners strive for is a long and successful running life. Don't jump on that bandwagon. You should stand out in the crowd. Why not go for full blown running failure. Here are our top ten ways to guarantee a failed running life.
Learn to Hate Running
I think the most efficient way to screw up your running life is to learn to hate running. It's easy to fail or quit when you hate something. So whatever you do, don't get any joy out of running. If you have problems developing that hate of running try running for the wrong reason. Don't run for any intrinsic or personal reasons. Instead run for purely external reasons like impressing someone or because your coach makes you run.
Chow Down
If you want to fail at running, make sure it gets harder and harder. One good way to make running more difficult is to put on a lot of weight. If you thought running was hard at 140 pounds, just try it at 240 pounds. You can put on weight quickly by overeating and focusing on simple sugars, foods that are high in calories but low in nutrition and fatty fried foods. Don't forget to suck down lots of those soft drinks and never eat your vegetables.
Sleep is For Wimps
If you have too much energy you may really mess up and succeed with your running life. A good way to avoid all that energy is to skip your z's. A good night's sleep will rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit giving you too much of that evil energy. So remember, sleep is for wimps. Settle for just a few hours of low quality sleep per night to insure chronic fatigue and a failed running life.
Run in a Rut
To insure a failed running life, make sure you run in the deepest rut you can find. Do the same workout, at the same speed, in the same place, every day. Your body will quit improving and your mind will turn to mush. Avoid multi pace training, hill running, trail running and a holistic running life. Your mind and body will thank you by shutting down and destroying your running life.
Be Narrow Minded
Make sure you run with a closed and narrow mind. Don't even listen to or consider other forms of training, styles of running or ways to improve fitness. There is only one way and that is your way. Anyone that doesn't agree with you is an idiot. A narrow mind is a sure way to avoid improvement and running success.
Inflate Your Ego
There may not be an "I" in running, but that doesn't matter. There is nobody more important than you and your needs. Focus only on yourself. Don't have any compassion for your fellow runners and always remember that your current needs are all that matters. That way you can be a miserable, lonely running failure.
Weak is Wonderful
The last thing you want for a failed running life is strong muscles and joints. Strong muscles will help make you more injury resistant and will improve your running economy and performance. Make sure you are often injured, have terrible running economy and poor running performance by avoiding all strength training and flexibility exercises.
Pound the Pavement
Occasional runs on hard, concrete surfaces won't do much to screw up your running life. But, pounding the hard pavement everyday could do wonders in helping you reach your goal of running failure. Running on that hard, unyielding surface every day will eventually take a toll on your muscles and joints that will almost certainly insure running failure. Never run on softer urban, park or mountain trails. That might cause you to slip up and succeed.
Push Hard, Push Harder
Did you just do an extremely hard work out that completely exhausted you both physically and mentally? Whatever you do, don't take a rest or easy day. A recovery day after a hard workout will allow your mind and muscles to recover and strengthen. You can avoid that problem by pushing even harder today and even harder than that tomorrow. Make sure your body never recovers. If you're lucky you will reach a level of overtraining that completely obliterates your ability to run.
Form? Who Needs Form!
To insure a failed running life, don't pay any attention to your form or running mechanics. Poor running form will make you an inefficient runner that is prone to injury. Make sure you over stride and land heavily on your heels. That will slow you down, place tons of excessive stress on your feet, ankles, knees, hips and back. You will be often injured and a complete failure.
When the watch is turned on, you can cycle between these by pressing the up and down buttons.
My watch has the following screens :
Main 1 – 3 Data fields
Lap Pace
Current Lap
Lap Distance
Lap Pace – Displays the average pace of the current lap. A lap can either be auto started after x miles / km or whenever i hit the Lap / Reset button.
Current Lap – Displays the time for the current lap. A lap can either be auto started after x miles / km or whenever i hit the Lap / Reset button.
Lap Distance – Displays the distance for the current lap. A lap can either be auto started after x miles / km or whenever i hit the Lap / Reset button.
Main 2 – 1 Data field
Time of Day
Time of Day – Simply the current time.
Running – 3 Data fields
Pace
Time
Distance
Pace– Displays the current pace.
Time – Displays the time for the entire run.
Distance – Displays the distance for the entire run.
For 99% of my training I use the Main 1 screen as I find this more meaningful. Here is why I use the following screens:
Lap Pace – Displays the average of the current lap. A lap can either be auto started after x miles / km or whenever I hit the Lap / Reset button.
Current Lap – I have this on the screen so that if I need to do an interval or recovery for a set time, I can time it accurately. Its also useful as if the pace is showing very slow or quick, but the distance is very low then I don’t worry.
Lap Distance – I have this on the screen so that if I need to do an interval for 400m I can see how far I have travel. It’s also useful as if the pace is showing very slow or quick, but the distance is very low then I don’t worry.
By having this screen you can see all relvent information for running your intervals. At the end of my warmup wether thats 1mi or 1.768miles i simply hit the lap button, and it zeros all of my displays so i know the information is current.
To configure Main 1 to match mine above you would:
1. Turn the watch on
2. Select mode
3. Click down until settings is highlighted.
4. Click Enter
5. Click enter on general
6. Click enter on Data Fields
7. Select Main 1, click enter
8. Select 3 then click enter
9. Click Enter
10. Select Pace – Lap
11. Click Enter
12. Click Down
13. Click Enter
14. Select Time – Lap
15. Click Enter
16. Click Down
17. Click Enter
18. Select Dist – Lap
19. Click Enter
20. Click Mode
21. Repeat steps 8 -20 for Main 2 and Running if required.
To set auto lap :
1. Turn watch on
2. Press mode
3. Select Training
4. Click enter
5. Select Training Options
6. Click Enter
7. Select Auto Lap
8. Select Enter
9. Click enter to select how it auto laps.
10. Click enter to confirm
11. Click down
12. Click enter to set interval
13. Click Enter to confirm.
14. Keep pressing mode until you reach the main screen again.
Only note with auto lap. I wouldn’t use this for running your races by. Although a marathon is 26.2mi by the time you zig zag around people and detour to the water tables etc your will clock more. Best option is to turn the auto lap feature off for the race, but then hit the lap button every time you pass a mile or km marker. If your running your race according to main 1 as above then even if you miss one, you know your pace will be pretty accurate.
