Getting the most out of your training: It's more than just the running...
You may think that you're making fitness gains while out there pounding the road on your easy runs, workouts, and long runs. However, that's not REALLY where the magic happens...
WEEKLY WISDOM: GAINSVILLE 101
Many runners, myself included at one point in time, think that the key to gaining fitness in a training block is lots and lots of running, from easy runs to workouts to long runs, week after week after week. And, although these things are integral to becoming a better runner (sorry, you’ve got to put in the hard work), what allows for true growth is your RECOVERY.
Recovery is absolutely ESSENTIAL to improving your running as it is the time in which your body absorbs all of the hard work you’ve put in. Without prioritizing the recovery, your body can very well miss out on reaping the full rewards of your training, and I’ve seen this time and time again with my close friends and past teammates (sorry Cole but I’m looking at you bro).
As an example, a competitive, intermediate to advanced runner may have a week of training that looks like the following during the middle to late stages of a base-building phase:
Monday: Easy 8 miles w/ strides
Tuesday: 10 miles total w/ …
5-mile tempo
Wednesday: Easy 8 miles
Thursday: Easy 8 miles w/ strides
Friday: 10 miles total w/ …
4 mile repeats w/ 90s rest at 10k pace, 4x200 w/ 200 jog
Saturday: 13-mile long run
Sunday: Active recovery day w/ core and yoga
Looking at this 57-mile week with two workouts and a long run, you would assume that the athlete has pushed their fitness forward in a significant way, particularly since we’re in the base-building phase where fitness is rising more rapidly than it would down the road during a more race-specific block (where fitness gains become smaller as we near “peak” fitness). However, what if I told you that this athlete only slept an average of 5 hours a night during the week? If that were the case, the athlete has…
Increased their risk of injury due to inadequate recovery, resulting in a gradual build-up of stress on the body as the week progresses, some of which may leak into the next week and so on and so on, and…
Missed out on fully absorbing the training for optimal fitness gains
On the other hand, if the athlete were to sleep closer to 7+ hours a night (which is the [minimum] recommended sleep time for adults) this week, they would be allowing their body to fully absorb the training, both making them feel better throughout the week and reducing the always-possible risk of injury.
Of course, there is nuance to this, as there are most things in running, in that some people just recover better than others, needing less sleep to come back strong the next day. It’s possible that the example athlete above only needs 5 hours of sleep a night to recover fully, or close to it (but I doubt it, lol). However, generally speaking, if you want to perform your best on race day, prioritize your sleep day in and day out to reap the full rewards of your hard work; shoot for at least 7 hours, and if you can, get 8! I guarantee that your body will thank you; you’ll be much better off both physically and mentally. Always remember, sleep is your #1 recovery tool!
So, if you find yourself going stagnant with your performances and/or you’re frequently sore/achy, perhaps you need to reassess your recovery. It’s quite possible you’re just not giving your body the sleep it deserves to recover effectively and resultantly, reap all of the benefits of training.
Next week’s post… how to recover like a pro.
Out of curiosity…
MY TRAINING WEEK
Every week, I will have a section at the end of my post for documenting my week’s training, including the maintenance work (a.k.a. all that good stuff outside of the running). Here was my last week of training, totaling 58.06 miles (6h56m) in 6 runs:
Monday: Easy 8.35 miles at 7:15/mi + 4x15” strides
15’ Self-massage + foam-rolling
25’ Foot strength
Tuesday: 10.34 miles w/ 14x200m uphill sprints w/ jog down recovery
15’ Self-massage + foam-rolling
50’ PT/lift (SL squats, bridge marches, heel raises, box squats, RDLs, forward lunges, ankle clock drill, big toe adductions)
Wednesday: 8.18 miles at 7:20/mi
20’ Self-massage + foam-rolling
45’ Foot and ankle strength
Thursday: Easy 8.01 miles at 7:19/mi + 4x15” strides
20’ Self-massage + foam-rolling
Friday: 10.02 miles w/ 30-minute tempo at 5:36/mi, 3-minute rest, 4x150m strides on 90-second cycles
20’ Self-massage + foam-rolling
45’ PT/lift (SL squats, box squats, hamstring ball curls, SL glute bridges, heel raises, RDLs, reverse lunges, SL standing, ankle clock drill)
Saturday: Easy 13.16 miles at 7:13/mi
Sunday: Active recovery w/ …
15-20’ Walk
20’ Yoga
10’ Core
35’ Foot and ankle strength
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