Secret #1: Train smart. Learn how to optimize your training and train at more effective levels of effort. Run as slow as possible to meet the purpose of each workout, so that you obtain the greatest benefit while incurring the least amount of stress. Progress at the right rate, never increasing the volume, intensity, or …
Although you may be tempted to try to run faster when doing the same workout you did last week or the week before, your fitness improves by progressively increasing the amount of training done at a specific pace, not by trying to force the pace to get faster by running faster workouts. In research I …
I attended a high school known for its swimmers. They were the best in the country, and some of them competed in the Olympics. Before championship swim meets, I could overhear amusing discussions in the hallways about “shaving down” and “tapering” in an attempt to swim faster. As a member of the cross-country and track …
One of the key features of training program design is the manipulation of stimulating and maintenance workouts. The general pattern I typically use is to introduce one new workout per week (A), habituate to that stress, then, in a subsequent mesocycle, add a second workout of similar stress per week (2As). After habituating to that …
Reverse linear periodization is a method of training that gradually and progressively increases the volume and decreases the intensity over time. It is the opposite of the traditional linear periodization. Historically, linear periodization was designed to improve strength, speed, and power, with training progressing from general conditioning (volume) to specific skills (intensity), with the highest …
Ran 11 miles along beautiful Mission Bay today, picking up the pace for the last 2 miles. While much of the rest of the U.S. is starting to get colder, it’s getting hotter here in Southern California, with temperatures near 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius for my international readers). I’ve never liked running in the …
11-Mile Run, the Value of Belief, and Thinking About Mom Read More »
In the fitness industry, I hear the term “mix it up” a lot. Personal trainers, group exercise instructors, and coaches consistently tell their clients and athletes to constantly change the training stimulus to ensure adaptation—to “mix up your workouts.” In marketing their services, I see personal trainers say that when you train with them, “every …
On a downhill portion about 9 miles into my 12-mile run on Sunday, a runner with gray facial scruff and a ponytail who looked liked he had been around the block more than a few times in his life, came up on my shoulder and passed me from behind. At first, I just let him …
Ran in my second track meet this winter in San Diego. It feels weird to run in an outdoor track meet in 80 degrees in the middle of January, but hey, it’s Southern California! People think I’m spoiled, but I remember all those winters I’ve run in very cold conditions. I’ve run in double digits …
5:17 Mile — You Got to Know When to Hold ‘Em and Know When to Run Read More »
Today was my first track meet of the season, an all-comers meet in Temecula, California. Because there’s no indoor track season in sunny Southern California like I had going to high school in New Jersey, there’s a lot of track meets that schools put on here in the winter to give high school runners a …
Quest for a Sub 5-Minute Mile at Age 40 and No Crying in Baseball Read More »