Good morning!
The winner of the Reebok ZQuick Giveaway is announced at the end of the post!
Been a crazy week around here. I am glad things are winding down a bit and I can regroup and refocus.
As you know I started back on my path to running and training this week. I was so excited and still am to see what lays ahead. I am taking the recovery and comeback very slow to avoid any unnecessary injuries or fatigue.
I ran my first 2.5 miles on Monday. It felt amazing. I wish there was a better word for it.
I started this run at 4.5 mph and slowly every couple minutes worked it down and finished the last minute at an 8:30. I had no time requirements I just simply wanted to get my legs used to it and warmed up.
I’m still incorporating cross training as well.
Speaking of that, Tuesday was supposed to be a cross training only day.
We got to the gym, got in the very cold pool and pool ran for just over 35 minutes. Then we called it a day. It just wasn’t in the cards and we knew that a little extra rest wouldn’t hurt either of us.
Wednesday was another run day and I ended up doing a little over 30 minutes in total.
Followed by a 60 minute pool run before getting ready to head off to work.
Yesterday my pool running went so much better. I also threw about 15 minutes of strength training in. Trying to get my body used to it again.
This got me thinking about something I’ve never really been good at, but that I think is so important when training.
Flexibility when training. Especially when you are one who likes to follow a training schedule.
I’m always a buy the books/all-or-nothing kind of girl and once I have a training schedule I will do whatever I can to make sure I stick to it. I know this about my personality and have seen the good and bad that come from it.
It keeps me motivated and working hard, but it can also make me push my body too far.
I love reading training books and different approaches to training. As I have discussed before, Brad Hudson has a great book called Run Faster from 5k to the Marathon. In the books he states:
“Mistake number one is to follow someone else’s recipe for success instead of developing one’s own best recipe for success based on one’s individual strengths, weaknesses, needs and goals. Mistake number two is to guide one’s training too much by plans and not enough by the way one’s body responds to planned training.”
He goes on to say:
“There are a great many variables, including running experience; training history; relative speed; strength, and endurance; injury patters; recovery capacity; and others that combine to make each individual runner unique. For this reason, the ideal training approach for each runner is also unique. No two runners should train precisely the same way.”
Of course, he is discussing how he approaches training his elite athletes but the same philosophy can be applied to pretty much any level of runner in training. You are individual with a unique body that responds to running it’s own way.
I used to want to do exactly what my husband does, but it didn’t work for me. For one my husband comes from a very athletic background. He played soccer all through high school and was on the olympic development team. When he decided to quit soccer his focused turned to marathon running.
He has a very athletic background and his body is used to intensive training. I on the other hand was never an athlete growing up. Sure I was on the swim team and was a very active child, but I never did intensive training and my body wasn’t used to the pressure.
That being said: what is the right training for me? I am not 100% yet. I am still testing and learning what and how my body responds to various training types. I do know that my body responds best when I incorporate other forms of exercise (i.e. cross training and strength training) on top of running.
There are some runners who can get away with never strength training and have long successful racing careers; however I cannot. I have learned and accepted this about myself. That to me is the first step in really improving as a runner – accepting how your body is and learning how to train the way that it needs.
There are so many different training plans out there that it can get overwhelming to know which to choose. The important thing to remember when following a training plan is that it can be modified.
Again, quoting from Brad Hudson’s book:
“In my own running career I had to learn the hard way that the details of any runner’s next workout should be informed 90 percent by how he or she feels after today’s workout and only 10 percent by the training plan that was created before the training process actually began.”
He goes on to state that he trains his athletes from workout to workout instead of following a training plan.
Of course, if you are not an elite athlete many times we still have to following a training plan because we don’t yet have the knowledge to be able to simply train day to day and make sure we are still where we need to be by race day.
The key comes down to making sure you are prepared and ready to listen to your body and modify that training plan when the time comes. If you wake up one morning and your body is obviously not recovered (sluggish, sore, fatigued, etc.) then you shouldn’t go out and do a hard tempo or speed workout. If you force your body to do it anyways you are setting yourself up for a greater chance of injury. You can still fit that speed workout in later down the road, but for that given day your body is saying no.
Listen to your body. Accept how your body is made. You will figure out what works for you and you will become a much better runner for it.
Do you follow a training plan?
Have you ever fallen into the “all or nothing” approach? I have!
Interested in some good training books? Here are a few of my favorites:
“Run Faster from 5k to Marathon” Brad Hudson
“Daniel’s Running Formula” Jack Daniels
“Advanced Marathoning” Peter Pfitzinger
“Hansons Marathon Method” Kevin and Keith Hanson
The winner of the Reebok ZQuick Giveaway is Ally Turner!
Congrats Ally! Please email me at saralovingontherun{at}gmail{dot}com and I will forward your information on so we can get your shoes on their way to you!
[Tweet “How Flexibility in Your Training Can Make You A Better Runner via @LovingOnTherun #fitfluential #run #runchat #training”]
I don’t follow training plans, but more like training guidelines, such as do this x workouts this week, include strength, intervals, long runs, etc. Works for me to have a less structured way to train, since it allows me flexibility.
I think that is a great way to train JoJo! That is part of my goal as my training starts back up 🙂
Yay for getting back to running!! Happy for you. How is Wes doing with coming back? I kind of follow a “plan” meaning over the weekend I look at the upcoming week’s weather, my schedule and then I plan which days I want to run. I am aiming for about 3-4 days with the other days cross training/weights and a full rest day. I am trying to learn to just be flexible and go with how my body feels. This is a HARD lesson sometimes because I will think “but today was supposed to be a run day”. Progress not perfection, right?!?
Wes is doing well! He is getting back into it slowly this week and assuming all keeps going well he will pick it back up next week. Thank you for asking 🙂
That is a great way to approach training! You stay healthy and strong by looking at it that way. Good for you! 🙂
As I have said, I am still a work in progress, but my goals are different – nothing is more important than my ability to go out ‘tomorrow’ and run. But I am also working towards my first Ultra, and I have constantly increased my pace – both of which require different and specific training. My winter goal remains to constantly be ‘half marathon ready’ and I am kicking butt at that. Ultimately since I run outside in sub-zero temps … flexibility is totally key to me.
In statistics there is a term ‘autocorrelation’, which basically means you can best predict what will happen tomorrow by taking an exponentially weighted look at today and the days leading up to today. I *definitely* believe running is strongly auto-correlated! 🙂
Oh – and I have a lot of catching up on your posts to do 🙁 But quickly, sorry about the job, really enjoying the site updates, and so excited as you and Wes make progress both towards moving and towards running!
Haha yes when you run in sub-zero you better be flexible! 🙂
I agree with the ‘autocorrelation’ view – that is a pretty great way of looking at it.
Thanks! The job loss was frustrating but again not the worst thing to happen. Thankfully I still have two other jobs that can help us out in the time between now and moving. Life moves on 🙂
Great post! SO happy you’re back to running, and really glad you’re taking it very slowly. You’ve learned so much over the past few months, and now is not the time to ruin all of your hard efforts! I guess I’m “average” at sticking to the plan … my instinct is DEFINITELY to stick to it no matter what, but I’ve been working over the past few years at being a bit more intuitive. It can be hard to know the difference between the mental “I just don’t WANT to do it” feeling and the true “my body is telling me not to stick to the plan” feeling, but I think I’m getting there!
That’s great Megan! I think a lot of have the instinct to stick to a training plan but being an intuitive runner is so important! I agree there is a big difference between “I don’t want to” and “my body says slow down.” Sometimes I have to sit back and reevaluate what else has been going on in my life. A lot can play into your workouts: diet, schedule, stress etc.
Great points!
This is a great reminder! For the longer runs I’ve trained for, I found that it was much better/healthier for my mental state just to ensure that I squeezed the long run in each week, and then not beat myself up about the rest.
That’s a great way to approach your training Erin!
Yeah for you to get be able to get back into running. I do follow a “training plan” when training for a race. It does include strength training and long run but on the strength training side doesn’t dictate what the work out is. I have found that if I don’t strength train I will get injured and feel way beat up after the longer runs.
I have learned this about my body too! it is so important! I am trying to make sure every week that I incorporate strength training in my plan.
Well I have been following a plan to train for a marathon and I landed a femur stress fracture. I pushed to so the plan instead of what my body was saying. I haven’t thrown in the towel I too will recover and run again.
Yes I know how that is Alyson! Don’t worry! You will come back a stronger runner. We all makes mistakes 🙂
Good luck in your recovery!!
Absolutely love this! It lessons the anxiety of training 🙂 Thanks!
So very true! It makes it easier and keeps your healthy!