Periodization is a blueprint of sequential periods of focused training that guides the coach and runner in the acquisition of specific characteristics of fitness. Training periods are divided into macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles. Several ways to periodize your training: 1) Linear Periodization Progressing from high volume/low intensity to low volume/high intensity. 2) Reverse Linear …
On your first day at altitude, you go for a run, and notice within a few steps that you’re breathing heavier than usual. You wonder why, because the air still contains 20.93% oxygen, whether you’re at the Dead Sea in Israel (1,385 feet below sea level) or on top of Mount Everest in Nepal (29,029 …
Your maximum speed for a given duration can be determined using your maximum aerobic speed (your VO₂max pace) and your maximum anaerobic speed (the fastest speed you can run for 8 steps, or about 3 seconds). Max Race Speed = Max Aerobic Speed + (Max Anaerobic Speed – Max Aerobic Speed) Your Max Anaerobic …
Wonder why there are two doses of the COVID vaccine, separated by a few weeks? One shot in the arm would make it a lot easier, right? It’s Hans Selye’s fault. What happens if you give a mouse a toxic dose of a drug? That was the question posed by Hungarian endocrinologist Dr. Hans …
“You look like you’re faster than that.” It was both a compliment and an insult at the same time. It was the summer of 1994, I was 21 years old, and living in Boston for an internship with the Boston Athletic Association—the event management team and host of the Boston Marathon. Every Saturday …
I once coached a runner who ran a 19-minute 5K who told me she wanted to be trained like a 17:30 5K runner. So, I told her to run a 17:30 5K and then I’ll train her like a 17:30 5K runner. It seems logical that if you want to run a race faster, …
If you ever were taught how to play an instrument, did you learn how to play simple pieces before learning more complex pieces? Did your music teacher constantly change the piece and complexity of the music that you practiced, or did he or she have you practice the same piece of music until you …
Runners and coaches almost always plan training using a weekly structure, but that’s only because that’s the arbitrary format humans use to schedule their lives. Whether because of racing schedules, habits, or even the influence of other runners’ social media posts, runners and coaches often get caught up in patterns. Just because there …
What Workout Starts with T So I Can Post it on Tuesday? Read More »
Adapted from Lose It Forever: The 6 Habits of Successful Weight Losers from the National Weight Control Registry by Jason R. Karp, PhD In a national television interview with Barbara Walters in 2014, Oprah Winfrey confessed that not being able to maintain her weight loss was her biggest regret. In that interview, …
(Unsplash CC0) An important component of the training program is recovery, perhaps even more important than the training itself since all the adaptations that a runner is striving to accomplish occur during the recovery period between runs, not during the runs themselves. Positive physiological adaptations to training occur when there is a correctly timed …