Yahoo Finance A running coach on how to get race-ready in six weeks
Coronavirus has thrown every runner’s 2020 racing calendar up in the air –your carefully worked out 16-week training plan will probably have been revised many times over since March, when the lockdown began. With the recent issuing of guidelines for socially distanced, licensed road races from Run Britain, there’s once again the possibility of such events taking place in the not-too-distant future. With the runners I coach, I try always to keep them ready to race with six-to-eight weeks’ notice. Thinking like this means we keep a foundation of training that can be moulded and sharpened in different directions, depending on what becomes available.
Mix it up
When we know which race we are targeting, our training sessions can become a lot more race-specific. Right now, keeping a good variety of shorter, faster interval sessions, longer threshold runs and a solid foundation of easy and steady running is sensible. Try to think beyond a training ‘week’. If you try to cram everything into a seven-day cycle, you can risk burnout or injury. Plan your training over a two-to-three week period to get in that wider mix of sessions.
Stay in 60-minute shape
A handy way to think of this period is to always try to be ready to run a strong 60-minute effort. For some, this will mean being fit enough to run a good 10-miler; for others, a good 10K will be the benchmark. This is an excellent foundation to have in place to be able to switch up to half-marathon or marathon training, or down for 5-10K training.
Include a ‘split threshold’ run every 7-10 days, where you run at a pace you could hold for an hour in a race. Aim for 20-30 minutes of faster effort in total, breaking it up into chunks. For example: 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 8 minutes with 2-minute recoveries; or 5 x 5 minutes with 60-second recoveries; or 3 x 10 minutes with 90-second recoveries.
Don’t stress yourself
Uncertainty is stressful in itself, so don’t compound that by making your training in this period more stressful than it needs to be. You don’t need to be in prime shape right now, just fit enough to build from. Get off road, or run to time and perceived effort. Leave the more pace-focused sessions to that ‘competition’ period that will come later.
Play with speed
Fartlek sessions, which are more relaxed in structure but still add lots of quality, are ideal for this period of training. Sessions that mix short, fast efforts with steady running can be an effective way of giving you a ‘bridge’ to more intense sessions later. For example: 15-20 repeats of 30 seconds fast, 2 minutes steady (not easy or rest). Run between 5-10K pace on your faster, 30-second efforts.
Regular maintenance
Of course, if you hope that your autumn or winter marathon still goes ahead, or you've signed up to a virtual race, you won’t want to totally lose touch with that fitness. What we don’t work, we lose, so still include some longer runs or marathon-pace work, but in smaller doses. Every three weeks or so, include a longer run of two hours or a little more to make the transition into marathon training easier. Perhaps include some efforts at around marathon pace, for example 3 x 15 minutes or 2 x 25 minutes in the second half of the run.
Stay fresh
The worst thing you can do now is train at a level that leaves you too tired to make progress. In the final six-to-eight weeks before a race, the intensity of your sessions will ramp up, so aim to get fit, but with room to improve.
Every three-to-four weeks, have a lighter week, cutting back your volume by about 20-30 per cent and making your sessions a little lighter. Manage the ‘dosage’ of your harder sessions – they don’t need to be huge at this point. Twenty minutes or so of harder effort is ideal.
Stride it out
For many runners, a period of no racing has meant they have enjoyed a longer period of easy and steady running. If this is you, gradually getting your body back used to running faster will be critical in your foundation. Short hills and strides are a great way to recruit those neglected fast-twitch muscle fibres. After a short warm-up, doing 5-8 repeats of 10 seconds fast up a gradual hill, with a long recovery, could be a great addition every 10-14 days.
Keep competitive
I find most runners take a few races to get going, to shed race rustiness and to harden themselves to competition again. Finding ways to stay in touch with that competitive feeling can be useful. Virtual racing might not be your bag, but it can provide enough mental focus to make the transition back to real-world racing a little easier. Even a self-timed 5K or five-mile time trial every three-to-four weeks could work.
Conditioning
While you are not doing the longer runs or more intense sessions of a race build-up, use the time to build a weekly strength routine. Single-leg exercises such as squats and deadlifts, plus bridges, lunges and running drills should form the basis of most runners’ conditioning routines.
Consistency is key
At this point in training, you don’t need to be quite as focused on progression; your focus should be on consistent, controlled sessions and manageable volumes. At the end of each week, score yourself out of 10 on your energy levels and fatigue. During this period, these shouldn’t be dropping too much, so take extra rest if necessary. Treat this period as a bridge into your key weeks of race training, but make it flexible and versatile enough to work with the uncertainty that we currently face.
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