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Have you been wondering how to pull your training and workouts together? Do you been struggling and want to know how to improve drastically and set new PR's? Have you been over training which have resulted in injuries? Do you want the latest up-to-date information on running, training, injury prevention, marathon or 5K performance improvement.

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For Twenty Five Years - Running Research News has been helping runners just like you achieve the highest levels in their sport.

While keeping active people up-to-date on the latest information about training, sports nutrition, and sports medicine. RRN publishes practical, timely new material which improves workouts, prevents injuries, and heightens overall fitness.

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_ How Distance Runners Can Deal With Post-Training and Post-Racing Soreness, Inflammation and Pain

_ The Protein Needs of Distance Runners

_ A Survey of Sports Drinks and Gels

_ Aging and Running: Do We Have to Get Slower As We Age?  The Effects of Aging on Distance Running Training and Performance

_ Hydration and Running Performance for Distance Runners

­_ Does the Warm-Up Improve Performance and Prevent Injury in Distance Runners?

_ Free Radicals and Antioxidants- What These Mean for Distance Runners

_ Running With Style—Part Two: Running economy

è YOUR PROVEN PLAN

And, in this month’s issue we discuss:

** Does Caffeine Improve Distance Running Performance? The Definitive Answer to Every Distance Running, Coffee Lover’s Question

You will discover; what the research shows and how the benefits observed for ultra endurance events lasting over 4 hours.

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­** Seven Reasons Why Every Distance Runner Should Train on Trails

Why should distance runners run on trails? It’s as close as you’ll ever get to use the term “fun” when running. You’ll know why you should run on trails. But aesthetic reasons aside, there are some strong physiological benefits for “roadies”, “trackies” and marathoners to run on soft surfaces whenever possible.

Do you want to know; The 7-Secret Reasons why you should include some sort of trail or soft surface running in your weekly training schedules regardless of whether you are a hardcore road racer, track “sprinter”, or marathoner?

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Many training plans designed for running races will use a fairly simple approach to get an athlete to the finish line.  Generally, this plan will run for a few months, especially if the goal race is a marathon.  The training days start out at very low mileage (2-3 miles per day) for maybe 4 days a week at an easy pace.  Perhaps one day of each weekend will be devoted to a long run, which may start out at 5 miles.  RRNews

Each week the mileage increases incrementally until about 4 weeks before the race when you max out at 20 miles.  Of course, mid-week run sessions remain fairly modest by comparison.  The point here is to start small and work your way up gradually.  Avoid injury by increasing mileage slowly and at the same time build aerobic endurance.  So it seems that repetition, consistency and a slow build are vital when training for any distance of running race. 

Perhaps last year your goal was to finish a 10k, a half marathon, or a full marathon.  This is a common and commendable goal, especially for a first-timer.  You crossed that finish line and it was exhilarating.  You decided right away that it was not your last race, probably the first of many in fact.   A few days (or maybe hours) passed and you started to study your splits. 

You’re still very happy about the race result, but now you’re starting to wonder, “How much faster could I have gone today?  I’m sure I could beat that time.”  Then you start thinking of what you could have changed to make that faster time a reality.  “I felt thirsty the whole race.  I should have taken in more fluids.  I should have taken in more calories.  I should have run 5 times a week instead of 4, etc.”  RRNews

Granted, those ideas could improve your splits, provided that you under-hydrated and under-fueled for this particular race.  Running 5 times a week versus 4 may also help, though it may also lead to injury if not done properly.  The type of workout you chose to do on this extra (5th) day can also make a difference in your race splits. 

Ok, so how can we achieve those faster splits?  One way is to increase your power.  I’ll focus on a few ways that runners can do this and I’ll provide a few sample training sessions that will help you start to POWER UP.   

Of course, building endurance is a must if you want to go faster and/or farther in each this year’s races.  After all, you can’t run a marathon without putting in the time out there on the roads and trails.  Strength, or power as I’ll refer to it, will also go a long way to helping you achieve those faster splits in your big race(s) for 2008.  The long winter months provided ample opportunity for easy tempo runs that allowed you to keep a decent baseline for aerobic fitness.  Power Up

But it also gives you a chance to get those leg muscles working in concert with your heart.  The time has come to start preparing for your first (or biggest) race of the season.  And let’s face it, sometimes it can get a little monotonous doing tempo running out on the sidewalks and/or roads.  Sometimes you just need to change it up a bit, whether this is a change of scenery or just a different type of training.  There are plusses to both in my opinion and both can be extremely beneficial to your performance.  First, I’ll give you some sample workouts that can break the monotony of everyday running.

Hill Repeats
Most people despise running (or biking or walking for that matter) up hills.  If you’re a competitive person, this is where you can gain an advantage over the field.  If you can learn to love hills, then you’ll also become very good- and fast- at running up them.  In my own training, I like to include hills whenever possible.  Granted, Michigan is a flat state, especially in the southeast, but you can always find a road/trail with an uphill grade.  The point is that even if your race is on a flat course, running hills in training will still positively impact your race-day performance.   A great way to utilize hills is by doing hill repeats.  Such an exercise can be incorporated into your training schedule as often as once per week. 

The first thing is to find a decent-sized hill, something with a fairly shallow grade that extends for about ¼ mile if you can find it.  You can probably envision a perfect hill as you read this article.  Here is an example of a hill workout that I like to do in my own training:

-Begin the workout with a 10-15 minute warm-up.  Perhaps you live close enough to your dream hill that running to the hill will suffice. 
-Once you arrive, determine an appropriate start and end point of each hill repeat as per the recommendations above. 
-The first rep should be run at moderate to low intensity, especially if this is your first experience running hills.  You’ll want to start out fairly “easy” as it’s always good to strive for negative splits (box 1) during a training session or a race. 
-Descend with a slow to moderate job as this portion of the workout is your chance to relax and recover.  A slow descent will also reduce the chance for an injury. 
-When you get to the bottom, don’t sit around, go right back up the hill.  You want to keep those muscles slightly fatigued and you also don’t want to cool down too much.  This will detract from your benefit of running hills in the first place. 
-Do 4 or 5 hill repeats unless the hill is fairly short, then it may be a good idea to do a few more.  And remember to pick up the pace on each subsequent repetition.  Just make sure to save enough energy for your cool-down run back home!  Power Up

Change Your Pace
As I mentioned early, changing things up a bit can yield positive results in your race-day performance and likely in your mental outlook as well.  Simply reducing the monotony of the “usual” run will make trainings more fun and they will likely seem to go by more quickly.  Fartlek training was originally designed in the 1930’s for the Swedish cross-country team in their quest to finally beat the Finns.  Indeed, fartlek is more than just a funny word.  It’s also a great technique for building speed in your run trainings. 

The fartlek method can also be called interval training and is concentrated on both speed and endurance training.  Simply put, you run faster than race-pace for a portion of a given training session, and then go back to your typical pace.  A typical fartlek session should be at about 60-80% of your maximum heart rate.  This will lead to a relatively low amount of physical discomfort, which indicates that you are still in the aerobic zone (i.e. using oxygen).  Fartlek training can be modified to the needs of any athlete, especially a runner, as it can be used to mimic the activities that would take place during a 10k, half-marathon or full marathon. 

When performing a fartlek training session, it will be most beneficial to find an undulating or at least a non-flat route.  As I explain the sample workout, you will see why a flat course may not be appropriate. 

-As with all training sessions, you will want to warm up for 10-15 minutes with a slow to moderate pace. 
-Following the warm-up you should increase the intensity (steady, hard effort) significantly for about 1 to 1 ¼ mile.  Perhaps this interval is your 5k pace, perhaps a bit faster.  It’s really up to you.  Just make it faster than your marathon pace for sure!  This speed interval should be difficult so you’ll need a bit of a recovery afterwards. 
-Slow down to your warm-up pace for about 5 minutes to give your heart a chance to slow down. 
-After about 5 minutes, or whenever you feel properly recovered, increase your speed to marathon pace.  Stay at this pace for another 5 minutes or so. 
-Throw in some 50m sprints, approximately one per minute, until you start to feel fatigued.  Be honest with yourself and don’t give in to fatigue too early.  But once you do reach that point of fatigue end the sprint intervals and remain at marathon pace. 
-Now do 4 or 5 “quick steps” about every 30 seconds.  This little exercise will simulate speeding up to prevent someone from passing you in a race (it will be helpful- and probably a little fun- to imagine yourself in a race while doing fartlek training). 
-Find a small-ish hill of about 200 yards and run up it full speed.  Once you get to the top, increase your speed to 5k pace and continue for 1 minute. 
-Slow down to marathon pace until you feel recovered. 
-Repeat the workout.  The number of repeats may be dictated by time (you had planned to run for one hour) or perhaps by the number of repetitions.  As you become stronger, strive to do one more repetition.  Power Up

Track Workouts
In your quest for greater speed there is one obvious place that should not be overlooked- the local track.  Even if you don’t have a membership to a gym or recreation center, a track should still be something you have access to.  Nearly everyone lives close to a high school and nearly all (public) high schools have tracks that the public is allowed to use.  Take advantage of this valuable resource once every week or two and get in some speed work.  No matter the distance race for which you are training, track workouts will be extremely helpful and will make you faster… guaranteed! 

-Begin with a warm-up of 10-15 minutes.  The jog to the track may be appropriate if you live close enough.  If that is out of the question, I recommend running 2km (5 laps) at a slow pace. 
-After the warm-up do some high knee lifts, “butt-kicks” (as I call them), single-leg jumps (stride, jump, stride, jump, etc), side steps, etc.
-The base workout is a pyramid
-400m (1 lap)
-800m
-1,200m
-1,600m
-1,200m
-800m
-400m
- All repetitions should be run at 10k pace (or 5k if you are able).  Work hard to keep the same pace throughout the entire workout.  Don’t try to be Superman, at least not right away.
-Cool down with 1,600m at easy pace and make sure to stretch! Power Up