Printer-friendly version

Week 3 - June 27th thru July 3rd

Monday 27th               Cross Training Day

                                 Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga - 60 minutes

Tuesday 28th               Easy/Light Run 45 minutes

                                 Include 6 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

Wednesday 29th           Light Fartlek Workout

                                 Meet @ East Boulder Rec - 6:30 am OR 5:30 pm

                                 Warm Up 10-15 min/Stretch/4 x 30 sec strides

                                 4 x 75 sec with 60 sec easy to re-group

                                 3 x 3 min with 90 sec easy to re-group

                                 4 x 75 sec with 60 sec easy to re-group

                                 Take 2 min Active Rest between Each Set

                                 Run Pick-Ups...Steady/Controlled…NOT All Out

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

Thursday 30th             Easy Recovery Run 45 minutes

Friday 1st                    Cross Training Day

                                 Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga - 60 minutes

Saturday 2nd               Light Tempo/Short Hills Workout   

                                 Meet @ Niwot Shopping Center - 7:00 am

                                 Warm Up 10-15 min/Stretch/4 x 30 sec strides

                                 8 min @ marathon effort (70%) with 3 min active rest

                                 4 x 75 sec short hills with 60 sec easy down…then

                                 30 sec steady down to bottom…take 60 sec active rest

                                 8 min @ half marathon effort (75%) with 3 min active rest

                                 4 x 75 sec short hills with 60 sec easy down…then

                                 30 sec steady down to bottom…take 60 sec active rest

                                 Cool Down 5-10 minutes

Sunday 3rd                 Easy Longer Run 75-80 minutes

                                 Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort-Pace/Hydrate

                                 Easy 5 min Walk Cool Down

Easy/Light/Recovery Run - Conversational Pace/Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort

Track/Fartlek – Playing with fast/slow speed…all about effort on the day

Hills - Work on Form and Turnover

Tempo - Run between 70-75% Effort of Max

Long Run – Between 60-90 sec slower than your half/full marathon goal pace

Meeting Places

East Boulder Rec - follow Baseline east to 55th St. Take a right on 55th and follow the road until the sharp left turn and go past the first parking lot and tennis courts towards the Rec Center. Park on the West Side of the Rec Center Parking Lot.

Niwot Shopping Center - follow the Diagonal Highway to Niwot and take a right on Niwot Road. At the 3-way stop, take a right on 79th Street and the second left into the Shopping Center Parking Lot. Meet there for warm up to Niwot Loop Trail.

Coach's Notes

Question - Ethos of Consistency                                                                                            

Answer - Achieving an optimal emotional approach to training

During Base Training our main goal is to maintain a sustained preparation whilst building on your years of good work to evolve performance.

The Route – it is important to realize that different athletes need different recipes to provide optimal results. There are no one-size-fits all approach to training…some athletes respond well to higher volume, while others thrive on lower volume and more intensity. A training manual does not provide the secret to success…but the application of different training to different athletes, as well as an understanding of when to push and when to back off, provides results. No matter what the training recipe, the platform to make the training effective is consistency. If you really want to evolve your performance, you need to be able to consistently apply effective training stress over time. There is no short-cut, success comes out of layers and layers of effective and consistent training.

Characteristics of Consistency…for athletes to achieve consistency in training they should have:

1. long-term vision - while they need to train in the now, lack of a long-term vision will always lead to panic and loss of direction…athletes with a clear understanding of the path to success understand that no single session will make or break them.
2. patience - even long-term vision will not promise success…going on that journey requires plenty of patience and that means patience throughout the process.
3. governance – the most consistent athletes are those who have the ability to regulate when to truly apply effort…coaching can have a huge influence on this, but athletes with drive and can hold back at appropriate times will maintain consistency…athletes lacking self-governance need a good coach on their side.
4. persistence – this isn’t easy, and tough times always lie ahead in the journey to improve…positive, or expected, fatigue is a normal part of the program, and athletes who can maintain effective training when emotionally and physically challenged will be most successful.
5. passion – impossible to coach and impossible to fake…you have to love the journey to really create a consistent approach to training…an absolute must.
6. detail-oriented – so many athletes get the main part of the session right, but forget all the supporting details…recovery runs, fueling properly, warm-up and injury prevention count for something and over a long period of time, all those little things add up.

If you are able to approach training with a long-term vision, persistence and patience, you will achieve the results that you set out toward. The result of applying these characteristics to training is that you will avoid the big peaks and valleys that are so important in many athletes’ training histories. Rushing the journey, training without a plan, or hammering every session regardless of your energy level is a shortcut to negative fatigue, injury and a roller coaster of energy and performance levels. Developing these characteristics will have a positive effect on training productivity. If you experience consistent peaks and valleys of enthusiasm, injuries or wild swings in performance quality, you probably need to refine your emotional approach to training. Most injuries are as a result of a poorly designed training plan or the ineffective application of it. This may all seem quite high level and even easy to dismiss…and many athletes feel they are successful in training consistency—after all; they go each day and work hard. Unfortunately, simply showing up is not enough to produce results…it is the first key step, but ensuring effective training requires thought.

Next Week we’ll discuss Common Mistakes, High Peaks and Valleys, and Skipping the Support.

Group 1 – been training consistently since Bolder Boulder and running on a daily basis

Group 2 – took time off over the Winter and back running now…albeit very light

Week 3…HAVE FUN!!!