As endurance athletes, we runners are meant to endure: endure effort, time, fatigue and the elements. Sure, various continuous, fartlek, interval and repetition based training sessions help us improve performance (and feel better), and in various ways for different length races or events.
Running faster in and for training helps to improve. Yet, tipping the balance towards 'too fast', 'too much too fast' and 'too fast to soon' sets the scales toward the risks out-weighting the benefits: establishing bad training, motivational and technique habits, plateauing, an early peak, race-season frustration, poor results and injury.
The main challenge comes in the freedom that running faster often provides. It also makes us feel good. The early metabolic changes that allow us to run-faster (say, during intervals) from week-to-week outpace the adaptations our muscles, tendons and bones need to make for us to be able to cope with the increase load, stress and shock of running faster. It's not our metabolic machinery that often breaks down, it's the musculoskeletal support and movement systems.
How much, how fast, how often is very much an individual thing. If you're not certain, err on the side of caution.
Be wary the Speed Traps:
The main challenge comes in the freedom that running faster often provides. It also makes us feel good. The early metabolic changes that allow us to run-faster (say, during intervals) from week-to-week outpace the adaptations our muscles, tendons and bones need to make for us to be able to cope with the increase load, stress and shock of running faster. It's not our metabolic machinery that often breaks down, it's the musculoskeletal support and movement systems.
How much, how fast, how often is very much an individual thing. If you're not certain, err on the side of caution.
Be wary the Speed Traps:
· Too many hard days, with too few easy days and ‘unloading’ weeks.
Get out: Don’t confuse high volume ‘moderate’ training with true hard sessions.
Prevention: Done properly - specific to your capacities, plan and races – you’ll need the easy days to recover, and lighter unloading weeks to adapt. Work your plan.
Prevention: Done properly - specific to your capacities, plan and races – you’ll need the easy days to recover, and lighter unloading weeks to adapt. Work your plan.
· Too little general preparation or base training per macrocycle.
Get out: hold your nerve – patience, persistence and passion is power.
Prevention: A large proportion of your training time should be spent doing lower intensity training particularly through your general preparation (base and build) phases, even during the race season, and certainly when recovering from races, ill-health or injury.
· Too fast too soon during general preparation or base phase, and too much race-specific training too soon - particularly for novice, intermediate and those returning to running after a long lay-off.
Get out: Ensure you establish your base or foundation.
Prevention: Give your body time to adapt before increasing the volume of your more intense work. There’s no need to rush. Learn from the previous macrocylce/year. Revise your log/diary/journal, and revisit your plan
· Too much fast (intense) training, and too fast during easy sessions.
Get out: easy sessions are meant to be that, easy. Have the courage to execute them. If your hard/fast sessions are truly that you'll need the easy sessions.
Prevention: Patience and consistent regular training are keys to your ultimate success. Revisit your plan.
· Executing (work) intervals and sets too fast and too short, and having too much rest between them.
Get out: There’s little to be gained from going much faster than your current 5km (run) time-trial or race speeds - particularly through your preparation phases as they approximate your VO2max, a level you’ll rarely perform above.
Prevention: In a cyclic manner, aim to build the volume of these intensities from 2 to 8% of your total volume, with 1:1 to 1:0.25 work-rest intervals for, say, 3-5minutes and 30sec-2mins intervals respectively. Of course, these are dependent upon your capacity, experience, future race distance/s and strength & weaknesses. Leg speed ‘sets’ (eg. strides, accelerations) and ‘drills’ for neuromuscular efficiency can be used smartly all-year.
· Training faster than one’s current level of fitness, in “hope” of some distant grandeur goal.
Get out: Don’t get ahead of yourself. Work in the here and now, with an eye to building to your future
Prevention: Revisit your previous race/year reviews and your plan. Use current and relevant metrics or results. Use current levels of fitness (eg. time-trial or ‘key session’ results) to build your fitness and performance (base).
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