Run Quick - The 5 Iron Laws

The 5 Iron Laws of Quick Running

There's a whole industry out there that strives to complicate running training so authors and exercise physiologists can make big dollars writing the next greatest running book. On the other hand, a non-running friend of ours (quoting some commedian) has always told us, "How difficult can coaching running be? You just show up at the track and tell the athletes to put one foot in front of the other and keep turning left." The simple fact is that 75 percent of the game is covered by the following FIVE IRON LAWS. (Note: You'll have to sign up for the online coaching to get the other 25% !!)

Iron Law #1 - Get your butt out the door

Reaching your full potential takes years of hard work. You don't get faster by sitting at home making excuses about why you can't train today. While running doesn't have to be your Number #1 priority (nor should it be), you do have to be committed to training regularly. If you are not willing to get out 4 or 5 times per week (at a minimum), 11 out of 12 months of the year, you are not committed to being the best you can be.

KEY TERM #1 - Consistency

Iron Law #2 - Plan the Work; Work the Plan

Success does not happen by accident. Peak performance is acheived by setting a challenging, yet reasonable goal and then working backwards to plan how to reach it.

A sound training plan involves three things:

PERIODIZATION - Emphasizing different areas in training at different times of the year.

PACING - Running the appropriate speed (i.e. goal pace, faster than goal pace, tempo, recovery pace) in the appropriate workout.

PREPARATION - Practicing both the physical (i.e. pace, surges) and mental (i.e. visualization, tactics) aspects of racing.

KEY TERMS #2 - Periodization, Pacing, Prepartation

Iron Law #3 - To run fast, you gotta run a lot and you gotta run fast.

You don't practice basketball by spending hours in a batting cage. Similarly, you don't get to be a fast runner by spending hours in the weight room or attending power yoga classes three times a week. Yes, supplementary training and cross training has its place, but the simple fact is that most recreational runners will improve simply running more miles. Equally important is running at race pace or faster (e.g. strides, repeats, hills, tempo runs, etc.) at least 2 or 3 times per week, year round.

KEY TERMS #3 - Base and Speed

Iron Law #4 - Improvement comes from recovery, not training

Graph taken from Better Training for Distance Runners, Peter Coe and David Martin, 1991.

The above graph demonstrates the Training Effect:

"F" indicates the fatigue zone. Fatigue occurs after any training stimulus.

"R" indicates the recovery zone. Recovery occurs when the body rests after it is fatigued.

"S" indicates Supercompensation. Supercompensation occurs after the body has had adequate recovery. In the supercompensation phase, the performance level exceeds the pre-training performance level.

Excessive Training (the dotted line) results in a decreasing performance level since the body doesn't recover enough to ever acheive supercompensation. Inadequate training (the dashed line) results in a slightly increasing performance level; however, because the training stimulus was too small, the period of supercompensation is short and the performance improvement is negligible. Optimal training (the solid line) results in the largest increase in performance level and the longest period of supercompensation.

So, undertraining is better than overtraining, and training without adequate rest is actually counterproductive.

KEY TERMS #4 - Rest, Recover and Rebuild

Iron Law #5 - You gotta believe it before it will happen

In any sport, the difference between the good performer and the great performer is what is between the great performer's ears. The good news is that this mental edge can be developed. Mental preparation techniques (e.g. positive affirmations, visualization) and situational practice (e.g. training on the specific race course, overcoming fatigue in workouts) along with proper physical training will allow you to achieve peak performance.

KEY TERM #5 - Mental

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