Running training where less is more
Written by Andrew Patterson, Osteopath
In April 2016 I
will run my first marathon. I have been running for over 10 years and my usual
distance has been 10k with a few half marathons. A marathon is a big deal.
Imagine running a 10k four times non-stop and then running another 2k. I have a
big respect for people who have run a marathon.
Running 26.2
miles takes the human body into a whole new dimension of challenge to overcome.
The physical effect of training for endurance running puts a strain on muscles,
joints and many other body systems and there are a lot of miles to cover whilst
training.
My first goal
for this race is to get to the start line without injury and to have prepared
my body for the task. About 70% all runners will get an injury in any given year,
and many people run races whilst injured. This makes me think that there is a
problem with how we train and most of us probably overdo it.
When I started
thinking about how I was going to train for a marathon I needed a training plan
that I could fit into my working week and one that I could cope with physically
without breaking in the process. In my research I came upon a method of
training called polarised training (if you want to look it up on the internet
then use the US spelling of ‘polarized’). This involves running 80 – 90% of
your weekly mileage at ‘easy’ pace, and the remaining 10 – 20% is speed and
strength training. The first thing I needed to know was what ‘easy pace’ meant,
and after some more research I found that it was 60 to 65% of my 5k pace, or
more simply, 65% of my maximum heart rate. An easy measure of training at this
pace is that you should be able to speak in full sentences whilst running.
The benefits of
training in this way are that we grow more blood vessels, and this helps get
good fresh blood to the muscles more efficiently; we make lots more mitochondria
which are the units in our cells that convert fuel to energy; our metabolism
burns fat the most effectively at this pace; and there is less impact load on
the body so there is less likelihood of injury and recovery time is much
quicker. All good.
We all have a
running pace that we are comfortable at, and the challenge is to run more
slowly than this. For my weekly long runs I use a map where I have marked where
all the miles are and I record my split times at each mile. I use this to make
sure that I am running slowly enough, not to see how fast I can run them. This
takes some getting used to.
The speed
sessions are varied and may involve hills, intervals that may be short or long,
and I am spending some time on building strength and core stability, balance
and control and working on my running form.
The problem for
most runners, indeed most endurance athletes, is that they train too hard, but
with little gain in performance and this often results in injury.
For me, so far,
everything is working well, and I should get to the start line in one piece.
This system works for runners at any endurance distance, cyclists, swimmers and
skiers. So if you are considering doing anything that involves endurance then
the way to train is slowly. Less really is more.
