Training & Clinics :: Training Tips Archives Training Tips ArchivesTraining Tips: Train with Long Intervals!By Peter Butler, Forerunners Owner and 2:10:56 marathonerThe Scotiabank Half Marathon is an endurance event which is 95 per cent aerobic. Long intervals are ideal preparation for the race. This workout, when coupled with the rest of a balanced training schedule, promotes the endurance and strength needed for success at the Half Marathon (13.1 miles) distance. Begin with a short warm-up (easy running) with stretching before you start doing long intervals. The workout feature 5-6 intervals approximately 6 minutes in length at a hard effort followed by a slow recovery of about 3 minutes. 
The session will vary depending upon your individual fitness - but the goal is to elevate the heart rate to about 150-170 beats per minute after each interval. In the jog recovery the heart rate should drop to 120-130 before the start of the next repetition. Afterwards an easy run will allow for a proper cool down and help to drain lactic acid from the muscles, which tends to accumulate during harder anaerobic exercise. Run this workout on soft surfaces to lessen the impact on the legs. Afterwards it is important to replenish fluids and carbohydrates to aid in recovery, particularly on a warm spring evening. With less than 6 weeks till the Scotiabank Half Marathon the weekly mileage is increasing. "The increase must be very gradual so that the body has a proper chance to adapt to the training load", says Karen Butler, Forerunners co-founder and 3:02 marathon runner. "It is much easier to over train then under train", adds Karen who still runs 30-40 miles per week to keep fit. "The goal of all training should be to make it part of a healthy lifestyle." Training Tips: Train Easy to Build DistanceBy Peter Butler, Forerunners Owner and 2:10:56 marathonerWhen training for long distance events like the Half Marathon it is important to do the bulk of your mileage at an easy aerobic speed. 
The longer runs are actually the easier runs. It is the speed that kills — not the distance. Elite distance athletes train at speeds one to two minutes per mile slower than they race and recreational runners are no different. If their goal is a 10-minute pace for race day, they should do their long runs at no faster than 11 minutes per mile. "It is really a matter of staying on your feet for the distance and staying aerobic. Remember to train and not strain", states Forerunners founder Peter Butler, who ran on Canada's national team from the mid 1970s till the late 1980s. A good way to achieve the pacing discipline is with a heart rate monitor. "If you keep a heart rate no higher than 130 beats per minute you will stay aerobic", states Forerunners North Vancouver co-owner Sarge Dusang, who was a Canadian Olympic Field Hockey goalie at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. "Then it is a matter of time before the long distances become second nature and the aerobic capacity improves", adds Sarge who opened the North Vancouver Forerunners store with Dave Singh in August 2002. Heart rates will vary with age. Usually an older runner has a lower maximum heart rate. A rule of thumb is about 225 minus your age times 65 per cent for a completely aerobic training run. Because the Half Marathon is mostly an aerobic event (95%) it is critical that the bulk of training is easy, so that mileage and endurance can be increased with little chance of injury. The long runs are about general aerobic conditioning and learning to stay comfortable physiologically on your feet for a period of time. This allows for adaptation to greater distances. Training Tips: Train with Pyramids
By Peter Butler, Forerunners Owner and 2:10:56 marathonerAn excellent workout is a pyramid — and we are not taking a road trip to Egypt. Rather, we are doing a workout that resembles such a structure. Pyramid training is a form of interval training where the hard sections peak in the middle of the workout and then the last section (interval) resembles the first. After an easy warm-up, an example of a pyramid workout would be: 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, 3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy, 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, 1 minute hard and then 1 minute easy. The goal is to maintain a consistent pace across all hard efforts. This workout involves both aerobic running (with enough oxygen) and anaerobic running (with some oxygen debt). The heart rate should vary from 110-120 (or 60% of maximum heart rate) after the easy sections to as high as 150-170 (or 80% of maximum heart rate) after the harder intervals. A heart rate monitor may be useful in gauging your effort. 
At the Forerunners Training Clinic members will warmup with a gentle jog and stretching, then break up into their individual groups — varying from the 11-minute mile group to the 7-minute mile group for their pyramid workout. We will try to stay on soft surfaces to lessen the impact on the legs. The Run/Walk group (5km Learn to Run Clinic) will increase their run section slightly from last week as they target the Scotiabank 5km in 8 weeks. Afterwards it is important to replenish electrolytes and carbohydrates to aid in recovery. The workout has a degree of intensity so there needs to be some recovery in the days following. "The most common error is over training. Mileage should never increase by more than 10% from a previous week and there should be an easy day or two after harder training sessions. After all improvement comes from consistency — not one spectacular workout", states 2:11 marathoner Art Boileau (2 time winner of the Los Angeles Marathon and 1986 Boston Marathon Runnerup), a long time Forerunners staff member and clinic leader. Proper training by definition is the adaptation to moderate stress found in balanced training sessions. |
|
