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Motivation and balance in a pandemic world

November 10, 2020 by 1 Comment

As athletes, we are constantly balancing load and capacity – the training for goals and the external factors. When the balance is off, injury risk rises, athletes burn out, and fitness tends to plateau. One of the priorities of the coach: keeping things in balance so that the athlete can achieve their goals. The challenge: some of the capacity will depend on personal scenarios to that runner. The coach and athlete have to be communicating so that the balance works.

This is why (and I cannot stress this enough), using a cookie cutter plan online or bumming your friend’s training plan probably won’t serve you well, and can actually harm you. A coach is constantly adjusting things based on the feedback and communication from that athlete. This is also why it’s paramount you communicate with your coach – them seeing data without knowing how the workouts are feeling is only sharing part of the picture.

Here are things your coach (and you!) should be working on:

  • Building mileage and fitness for the goal
  • Consistency in training – locking in a plan
  • Building strength and running economy
  • Getting rest to allow for super-compensation
  • Keeping injuries, aches and pains at bay
  • Maintaining an element of fun
  • Confidence and mental strength grow as fitness improves
  • Educate athlete on training principals, fueling, pacing, etc.

Here are the possible challenges that will directly impact the above:

  • Stress/anxiety in the personal life
  • Poor sleep (less than 7 hours is proven to be where adaption will be compromised)
  • Illness
  • Poor nutrition (not getting enough calories or the right things)
  • Lack of focus and commitment (could be caused by stress, a few bad workouts, and more)

This year, without in-person races but with a TON of added stress for the mass general public, perhaps this balance is harder than average to control.

While I hope your life hasn’t been seriously impacted by the pandemic, I think it’s safe to say all of our lives have been touched by now – losing a loved one, losing a job or reduced salary, change in lifestyle (social life, theater, sporting events, bars/restaurants), losing your training routine (maybe a gym, group fitness class, running group), losing all race goals, simply stressed due to the political climate – and if you’ve checked each one of those boxes, the odds are good your sleep sucks and you’re living through anxiety.

Running (and fitness in general) has been championed as a mood enhancer, stress reliever, and emotional outlet. But if you’re not sleeping, you may notice your fitness performance has been compromised. It’s a cyclical problem – you need sleep to run well, and running regulates sleep habits.

If you’re shaking your head that this is personally resonating, my advice is to take in a big inhale – and then a VERY big exhale. This reality isn’t normal. Sometimes just doing your best has to be enough. Let go of a speed or distance goal, and allow running to simply and purely be a source of joy. The external stresses as of late are well beyond anything we’ve navigated before, so don’t be so hard on yourself.

A coach is a good person to discuss these challenges with, and they may be able to restructure your calendar and expectations of the workouts. Right now, we need running more than ever. Though the role may need to change temporarily.

 

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Marathon Training Tips

June 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Marathon training season is in full swing. Goals for Autumn races are becoming clear, and if you have a marathon on your calendar between the months of September to November, you are probably carefully calculating your training carefully. Whether this is your first marathon or your tenth, there are a few tips that can help your training go well, setting you up for an excellent race day.

  • Build base mileage before gunning it for speed. Skipping base mileage will increase your risk of injury – like shin splints. While building base mileage, all kinds of physical and psychological developments happen. Skipping this step can hurt your overall training.
  • After base mileage, add speed carefully – once or twice per week – no more.
  • Keep your long runs at a pace SLOWER than marathon goal pace. It’s a common rookie error to take your long runs at goal race pace.
  • Rest days are just as important as your training days. Don’t feel guilty about them, and please use them. Rest doesn’t equal cross training or strength training. Rest means REST.
  • Be sure you take some recovery weeks. You are not a robot, you are a human. You need recovery weeks in order to push harder in the future.
  • Training will have its highs and lows. Don’t let a bad workout or week define your training. Don’t let an amazing week get to your head. Instead, note the consistent swing of training. If week after week keeps going amazingly, you may be ready to increase your training or race goals. If things consistently go poorly, perhaps you need to reevaluate your goals or the way you want to get there.
  • A lot can happen in the weeks between now and your race. Keep your expectations for race day, goals, and strategy fluid. Nothing should be set in stone 20-16 weeks out from the big day.
  • Summer training can present some training challenges, especially with the long run. Have confidence that weather will cooperate on race day (the odds are it won’t be summer conditions!) and that the hard work you put in, tough though it may feel, will pay off.
  • Practice fueling as you would on race day in your long runs. Leave nothing up to chance.
  • Remember that training for a marathon is hard. There’s a reason why most folks never lace up for 26.2 miles. The training is a journey, and race day is the celebration of your hard work. Enjoy the journey. It will change you.
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Train with Purpose

March 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment

If you have a race goal, it’s important to train with purpose. It’s common for many runners new to racing or the marathon to train for their event by simply running miles. They run at whatever speed they feel like, without any structure, direction or purpose other than “miles.” This was the way I trained for my first marathon, and it’s a very common course of action. Many runners don’t have the knowledge or understanding of why you should run easy most days, and target specific speeds and challenges on a few carefully chosen days per week. Without a purpose, athletic goals and the ability to achieve those goals will often prove unsuccessful.

Every run you do within your 16-20 weeks leading up to your marathon has a purpose. If you don’t understand the purpose, you need to ask what it is. There’s a reason for every run. If there isn’t a reason, don’t do it. Smart runners make successful runners. Ask, do research, or question your training plan. Sometimes I search for cookie-cutter marathon plans floating around out there on the internet, out of curiosity. I often find plans that cover the bases, but don’t offer any explanation as to why the workouts, weeks, rest days, quality days, etc. are structured the way they are. If I were a new marathoner looking for a plan, I’d be blindly following what I’d find – which is what I did my first time around. I remember I ran every run at more or less the same pace. The plan outlined mileage, but other than that, it was a blank canvas. So I ran the same pace, whether is was a 5-miler or a 22-miler. If you’d asked me the purpose of that day’s run, my answer would probably have been “mileage.” That answer really isn’t good enough.

This is where resources become a huge help. Books, blogs, articles, and coaches can help you understand why today’s workout is structured a specific way (an easy 5-miler to act as active recovery between two days of speed workouts, for example), and educate you as to how that workout will build you towards your race-day goal. Running miles for the sake of miles is rarely the right purpose – perhaps Ultra marathon runners are the exception, or when building base mileage. However, even when building base mileage, there is a specific way to build and reasons behind it.

Be aware that training without purpose will often lead to injury. Running at the same pace every day, taking on too much too soon, excluding rest days, running speed days back-to-back – the risk for injury increases, which none of us want.

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