Volume February
Three months left of dedicated training for the 100km. I'm happy with my preparation so far. However, it is really just preparation for the real training. I've been training to train. What happens next?
It gets a lot more event specific. 100km is a long way so the biggest element of focus for February is volume. Both for the long run and for the overall week. Typically the true endurance adaptions take the longest, so this is what gets hit first. Supporting this will be a lot of strength work. Building a hard to kill body in order to handle the bigger training runs and eventually the race itself. This strength training will be a mixture of hill sprints, other hill drills, and weights work. The volume and strength combination should see a marked drop in the spring and freshness I like feeling in my legs. There will be a need to remind myself this is necessary to bring out my best later on.
As a dressing over the main meal I will want to practice pushing hard. The best way to do that is to race. So I've pencilled in some small races that I will go into un-tapered. These will be 14km, 10km and 5km. Not long, but definitely at intensities that hurt. I won't expect my fastest, but I hope to push my hardest at these.
Each week will roughly consist of the following...
Physical training will get me a long way towards my goals. However, to achieve the last bit that is the difference between an outstanding race and just a long day is the mental aspect. There will be much more mind training from now on. I have done this sporadically over the years and much of it is almost habitual during my runs. In a lot of ways I've lost some of my mental skills. Distraction creeps in a lot more than it used to. Maybe it's more responsibility that comes with the progression of life. Maybe it's the short attention, dopamine rewarding notifications from social media and my smart phone. Whatever the reason, I have noticed a difference. This requires some targeted work. I'll save the details for another post.
It gets a lot more event specific. 100km is a long way so the biggest element of focus for February is volume. Both for the long run and for the overall week. Typically the true endurance adaptions take the longest, so this is what gets hit first. Supporting this will be a lot of strength work. Building a hard to kill body in order to handle the bigger training runs and eventually the race itself. This strength training will be a mixture of hill sprints, other hill drills, and weights work. The volume and strength combination should see a marked drop in the spring and freshness I like feeling in my legs. There will be a need to remind myself this is necessary to bring out my best later on.
As a dressing over the main meal I will want to practice pushing hard. The best way to do that is to race. So I've pencilled in some small races that I will go into un-tapered. These will be 14km, 10km and 5km. Not long, but definitely at intensities that hurt. I won't expect my fastest, but I hope to push my hardest at these.
Each week will roughly consist of the following...
- Long (ultra) Run: 4-5 hours
- Easy 60min
- Easy 90min
- Long Run: 3 hours
- Easy 90min
- Easy 60min
- Race / Threshold run
Physical training will get me a long way towards my goals. However, to achieve the last bit that is the difference between an outstanding race and just a long day is the mental aspect. There will be much more mind training from now on. I have done this sporadically over the years and much of it is almost habitual during my runs. In a lot of ways I've lost some of my mental skills. Distraction creeps in a lot more than it used to. Maybe it's more responsibility that comes with the progression of life. Maybe it's the short attention, dopamine rewarding notifications from social media and my smart phone. Whatever the reason, I have noticed a difference. This requires some targeted work. I'll save the details for another post.
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