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Week 3 - June 25th thru July 1st

Monday 25th               No Run - Cross Training Day

                                Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:

                                Warm Up 10 minutes on Stationary Bike - THEN

                                Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga

                                Cool Down 10 minutes on Stationary Bike

Tuesday 26th              Easy/Light Run 30-35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

Wednesday 27th        Light Fartlek Workout - OPTION TO MEET SATURDAY

                                IF YOU CAN'T MAKE WEDNESDAY'S

                                Meet @ Tom Watson Park - 6:30 am

                                Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides

                                4 x 2 min 30 sec with 90 sec easy to re-group

                                5 x 90 sec with 60 sec easy to re-group

                                Run Pick-Ups...Nice and Controlled

                                Cool Down 5-10 minutes

                                                  OR

                                Easy/Light Recovery Run 30-35 minutes

Thursday 28th             Easy Recovery Run 30-35 minutes

                                                       OR

                                Easy/Light Run 30-35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

                                IF YOU DO THE WORKOUT ON SATURDAY                                                        

Friday 29th                  No Run - Cross Training Day

                                Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:

                                Warm Up 10 minutes on Stationary Bike - THEN

                                Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga

                               Cool Down 10 minutes on Stationary Bike

Saturday 30th             Light Fartlek Workout - THOSE THAT DID NOT MEET WEDNESDAY

                                Meet @ East Boulder Rec - 7:30 am

                                Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides

                                4 x 2 min 30 sec with 90 sec easy to re-group

                                5 x 90 sec with 60 sec easy to re-group

                                Run Pick-Ups...Nice and Controlled

                                Cool Down 5-10 minutes

                                                  OR

                                Easy/Light Run 30-35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

Sunday 1st                  Easy Longer Run 45-50 minutes

                                Relaxed Effort-Pace/Hydrate

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

Fartlek - Run between 70-80% effort of Max

Meeting Places

Tom Watson Park - follow the Diagonal Highway to 63rd St. Go north on 63rd for about a half mile and look for the sign saying Tom Watson Park on your right. Parking Lot is opposite Coot Lake on east side of 63rd. DO NOT park @ Coot Lake.

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.

Coach's Notes

Ethos of Consistency…achieving an optimal emotional approach to training is the key to long-term success. As we go through the Base training my main goal is to create another session of sustained preparation and building on last year’s good work to evolve performance.

The Route – it is important to realize that different athletes need different recipes to provide optimal results. There is 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, that 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 athlete’s 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 I’ll discuss Common Mistakes, High Peaks and Valleys, and Skipping the Support. 

Remember to follow the Base Schedule based on your Fitness Level right now:

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

Group 2 – took time off after Bolder Boulder and back running 3-4 times a week now