Discussion: Training for the serious
in: piutepro; piutepro > 2006-03-20
Mar 21, 2006 9:54 PM
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Your decision on what type of spring training to do really depends on your goals. Are you a Sprint guy or looking for a high B-Goat finish.
You're right that you really can't go wrong with woods work. The problem with woods work is that it does increase your chance of injury - particularly in rocky ankle-break terrain. I would limit your woods running to 1-2 times a week and try to do it at your projected race pace.
If you are looking for other toning workouts, I recommend hill repeats on trails. Really good cardio and strength builder and in our terrain, the ability to runs hills separates the winners from the also rans. Let me know if you think you might be interested in more info on the subject.
You're right that you really can't go wrong with woods work. The problem with woods work is that it does increase your chance of injury - particularly in rocky ankle-break terrain. I would limit your woods running to 1-2 times a week and try to do it at your projected race pace.
If you are looking for other toning workouts, I recommend hill repeats on trails. Really good cardio and strength builder and in our terrain, the ability to runs hills separates the winners from the also rans. Let me know if you think you might be interested in more info on the subject.
Mar 22, 2006 12:32 AM
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What I look for is the sense of speed. I have a good base of endurance for 60 to 90 minutes now. But don't feel I fly. Even in Central Park it felt more like jogging than running. Usually I get to this edge, well, a little bit too late: In June or even more in November. At the end of the season, in other words.
Hill repeats get boring for me. I look for a training format which I enjoy. It might not be "professional", but I run to have something which adds some positive experience to the day, beyond the long term training effect.
Today I found a good format, inspired by Holger Hott-Johansen's web site: I do 3-4 minutes tempo on a trail with a few small climbs (1 contour up and down). I run easy for about 1.5 minutes and repeat this 6 times. The 3-4 minutes are a good time to get up to full speed. It is about the length of an average orienteering leg.
After doing these long intervals I was energized and I think this might be a way to build my speed faster.
Hill repeats get boring for me. I look for a training format which I enjoy. It might not be "professional", but I run to have something which adds some positive experience to the day, beyond the long term training effect.
Today I found a good format, inspired by Holger Hott-Johansen's web site: I do 3-4 minutes tempo on a trail with a few small climbs (1 contour up and down). I run easy for about 1.5 minutes and repeat this 6 times. The 3-4 minutes are a good time to get up to full speed. It is about the length of an average orienteering leg.
After doing these long intervals I was energized and I think this might be a way to build my speed faster.
Mar 22, 2006 12:08 PM
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Well now I understand a bit more about your philosophy. You're right that "having fun" is an important part of training and you really shouldn't stress yourself too much. I was told in the past that I was not much fun when I got into hypercompetive mode.
Speed has never been much of an issue for me since to a large degree you are either born with it or your not. Another training I used to do was repeat sprint loops of around 1.5-2.0km. I would go faster each repeat until I could find my navigational break point. I would then practice running and navigating at around that speed in order to get practice at map reading and navigating at pace.
Tempo runs tend to be good training and a good simulation of orienteering. I've always tried to find workouts that simulate the demands of orienteering. Not easy finding the right blend of physicalness and mental sharpness demanded by orienteering. And or course it moves over time. I always thought the closest sport to orienteering was the biathlon.
Do what works for you and what you enjoy is probably the bottom line.
Speed has never been much of an issue for me since to a large degree you are either born with it or your not. Another training I used to do was repeat sprint loops of around 1.5-2.0km. I would go faster each repeat until I could find my navigational break point. I would then practice running and navigating at around that speed in order to get practice at map reading and navigating at pace.
Tempo runs tend to be good training and a good simulation of orienteering. I've always tried to find workouts that simulate the demands of orienteering. Not easy finding the right blend of physicalness and mental sharpness demanded by orienteering. And or course it moves over time. I always thought the closest sport to orienteering was the biathlon.
Do what works for you and what you enjoy is probably the bottom line.
This discussion thread is closed.