Information and answers from the UVRC coaches

[Author’s note: This article was written before our present Shelter-at-Home season, with no racing in the near future. Which means we are in “Phase I” for a long time. But when life returns to normal, we hope this will help you put the pieces of your training back together.]

In February we had a session about the theory behind running plans. A number of UVRC runners were there, but a great many more were not able to make it. So here we are presenting the same information.

Over the last century a lot of people have wanted, desperately, to win. To that end sports science has studied the minutiae of human performance in order to win Olympic medals, money, and chest-thumping nationalism.

For the rest of us, we can take their conclusions, and dial it back to what is doable for each of us. This article is to help you better understand your running body and what you are accomplishing with different workouts (and/or why the coach is having you do these workouts!). As an informed, healthy adult, this information can be used to guide and sometimes cajole ourselves to do what it takes to achieve our personal goals.

What we present is primarily based on the publications of Jack Daniels, the coach and sports physiologist from SUNY Cortland, as well as the recommendations of the USATF. In fact most science-based training programs have the same features.

Instead of presenting day-by-day workouts, we will present the overarching themes of these plans, and try to explain their terminology and theory behind them.

First we will present some of the pieces that go into a plan (physiological systems, types of training, stress response, etc …), and then we will describe actually writing a plan (macrocycles and microcycles).

What are you trying to achieve?

Jack Daniels’ Runner’s Profile

When Jack Daniels takes on a new athlete he has them fill out the below questionnaire. Essentially what he, or any coach, wants to know is where is an athlete coming from, where do they want to go, and what are they willing to do to get there.

We reproduce the questionnaire for your own self-evaluation.

1. Name: Age: Ht: Wt: Gender:
2. What has been your average weekly total run (miles or minutes) over the past 6 weeks?
3. What has been your longest single run in the past 6 weeks?
4. Have you run any races in the past several months?
5. How much free time do you have, on a daily average, for running?
6. How many days per week are you able to train?
7. What is available for training? (track, grass, roads, trails, . . .)
8. Details of any specific workouts you have performed over the last 6 weeks
9. List any races you are planning to run (or at least hoping to run) in the coming 4 months.
10. What is your most important race in the next 6 to 12 months?

We may all want to “do whatever it takes to be a champion”, but we also need to be realistic about how running fits into the rest of our lives. Remember: every champion began at the beginning.

Goal Races

It is easy to say, “My goal this year is to run the Upper Valley Racing Series”, with all races being of equal importance. Or, “I want to get into primo condition, and then just stay there!” But the body doesn’t work that way. We tend to build up to a climax; but we can’t stay there. We tip over the edge and need to recover. Therefore it is best to tune your season such that that goal race happens at the climax.

Below is a list of the races in the Upper Valley Racing Series, the New Hampshire Grand Prix, and a few other local favorites. Clearly you can not “Peak” for all these races. One or two may be a “Goal Race”. The others, at best, you can treat as extreme workouts.

The Training Toolkit

Physiological Systems

One of the basic tenets of a training system is to recognize that a runner’s body has a number of physiological systems which need to be developed. But we can not develop all these systems at the same time. Each of them responds to a different type of stress, a different type of training and workouts.

As one of Dorcas’ favorite coach used to say;
“The body is like a garden. A little sun . . . A little rain . . . and time. It takes a season of adding the right elements at the right time to create a vibrant being.”

These are what the body needs to have fed:

• Muscular/Cardiovascular
  
  
• Speed
  
  
• Economy
  
  
• Lactate Threshold
  
  
• Aerobic Capacity (VO2-max) – Interval-pace intervals
  
  

Now, what follows should help you through the times when you feel tired, uncomfortable, starting to act prickly to people around you (‘Depleted’)! Hang in there for another minute, day, week (per the training plan) The plan will then call for rest, ‘Recovery’, and whammo! ‘Supercompensation’! You’re faster and stronger than before.

Stress Response

If you never change your training, your condition will plateau. To continue to improve we need to change the stress level of our workouts. Through a season we also change the stress level by changing which physiological system we are training. At one point we may be emphasising muscular development. At another time we change the stress by emphasizing speed.

Supercompensation Model

The idea here is that after a major stress (workout) your body is Depleted. It then goes through a Recovery period and finally a Supercompensation period. Supercompensation works on many different time scales. You can think of it as the 48-hours between major quality workouts. It can also be used to describe a 10 day delay between a stressful training week and reaping the benefits of that work.

We use it to understand recovery times, and the timing of the next major stress.

Planning your season

Macrocycles

A Macrocycle is the period of time from starting a plan, to running the goal race. Macrocycles can range in length from 3 months (think high school season or Couch-to-5k) to 12 months. Macrocycles can be broken down into four training phases, and one transition or recovery phase.

You will also notice that each phase emphasises one of the physiological systems, and types of workout mentioned above. In each phase you will still be running lots of miles and doing other things, but the primary quality workout of the week will focus on one physiological system.

• Phase I – Easy Mileage
  
• Phase II – Repetition
  
• Phase III – Intervals
  
• Phase IV – Threshold/Competition
  
• Phase V – Transition
  

Mapping Your Season

If you have 10 weeks, or 20 weeks before your goal race, how do you distribute your time between the different phases? Jack Daniels has the most confusing chart, but one commonly used, so we present it with explanation and examples.

To use this chart – imagine you have 17 weeks to train for your goal race.

• Use all the numbers from 1 to 17
• Mark those numbers on the chart
  

An alternative is to use our chart:

Microcycles

A Macrocycle is a pattern of workouts which you will repeat several times in one phase of your season. In the literature some coaches advocate 7, 10 or 14 day microcycles. We always use a 7 day cycle because it meshes well with a normal week.

What is in a microcycle depends upon what phase of the season you are in, but typically it will involve two quality workouts and an event or race on the weekend.

The plan for a microcycle should be revisited at the beginning of each cycle and potentially adjusted for a number of reasons. You may adjust the plan if; training is not going well, you have other stress in your life, you are recovering from injury or illness, or other things which just make life complex. An objective observer, such as a coach, can be useful in these conversations and adjustments.

A typical microcycle;

(Q = Quality, R I T = Repeats, Intervals, Tempo)

Also note that this is the microcycle suggested by Jack Daniels who is training elite and collegiate athletes. As you age you will need more recovery, so a workout that includes speedwork, agility, form drills, can be considered a quality workout (Dorcas). For myself (Tim), Tuesdays are my primary Quality workout, with the other two less intense. However, in a good season, especially in Phase II and III, I will increase the intensity of Thursdays and Saturdays.

Talking with successful UVRC runners we find that some are ridge about their microcycle, especially in the heart of the competitive season. Other recognize that their personal schedule is always changing, and so plan flexibility into their week. But all make a point of having two or three quality workouts a week.

One last note. Often non-quality workouts are referred to as “Junk Miles”. They are not – as long as you are moving at conversation pace. Think of these sessions as a moving massage, an essential part of recovery. They pump blood through your body which aids in the building and repairing of muscles.

Do NOT try to keep up with other people if you are feeling uncomfortable.
Do NOT feel guilty for running more slowly than others.
Be wise to win your goals.

They can also, and often should be for older and beginner and injured runners, non-running exercises – swim, bike, hike, row, as well as strength, core, balance work.

In Conclusion . . .

Be an informed, active adult. Understand the physiological why and how that makes each of us a better runner, and informs how we get from where we are to what we want to accomplish.

Onwards!