TRAINING
PERSONAL BEST COACHING TIPS TO HELP YOU RAISE YOUR RUNNING GAME
Why consistency and discipline are a better way to progress than trying to smash every workout
IT’ S EASY TO FALL INTO the trap of thinking that in order to improve, you need to push yourself to the max every time you lace up your shoes, or at least every time you run on a faster session. We live in a world full of gohard-or-go-home memes and Strava showboating. But harder sessions don’t always lead to racing faster – in fact, they can often lead to burnout, injury and a lack of progress in your running.
• Risks of the ‘smashfest’ approach
Running is highly measurable and it requires a lot of self-confidence to not try to prove yourself in every session. One of the phrases I find myself repeating to my athletes is that your training, in particular your fast session, is supposed to get you fitter and better prepared, not to be a judgment on your fitness. But still the temptation to chase the numbers remains.
There are a few reasons why hammering every workout is likely to limit your progression. When you go all out, you’re putting a lot of stress on your body and your mind. This can lead to physical and mental burnout, which can make it difficult to continue to train consistently over the long term. Ultimately, you get fitter when you adapt to training, so the key is to get your stress dosage right. Too much stress and you won’t adapt consistently.
Training smarter, not harder, can lead to better results in the long run. This means finding a sweet spot between pushing yourself hard enough to make progress, but not so hard that you’re constantly on the brink of burnout. So the goal is to focus on consistently showing up and putting in a solid effort. Over time, this approach will lead to more progress than pushing yourself to the limit.
Aside from this, the majority of readers will likely be racing 5K and longer. Over these distances, your primary concern should be on developing an excellent base to your training pyramid. Yes, quality sessions are useful, but the bulk of your race-day performance will come from your accumulated easy and controlled training, not eyeballsout sessions that don’t reflect the intensity at which you’ll race.
Relaxing into your easy runs and running your faster sessions with control will allow you to better adapt to your overall training and may, in time, allow you to increase your training volume, which is known to be one of the most important predictors of performance.
• Pitching it right Of course, finding that sweet spot can be easier said than done and requires attention to how your body feels during and after workouts. You’ll need to learn to control the chimp in your
