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Endurance Performance

Endurance Principles

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin
  1. The Pillars: Specificity, Progression, Overload, Recovery, Individualisation, Variety, Consistency, Reversibility
  2. Everyone endurance athlete is different, find out what works for you
  3. Consistency is king
  4. Make sure the foundation can handle the load
  5. Build a strong structural foundation and a big aerobic base
  6. Always move from general to specific
  7. Aim to extend rather than Intensify
  8. Use a variety of paces and surfaces and terrains
  9. Learn to feel the various paces you train & race at
  10. Process first, outcome later
  11. Nail the basics over and over again
  12. Not everything we can measure is important and not everything important can be measured
  13. It takes time, be patient
  14. Enjoy what you do
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Training Camps

Training Camps (Sea Level & Altitude) & Environment

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin

Some thoughts on “environment” for athletes …….

  • Having spent much time at training camps at sea level and at altitude it has become increasingly clear that creating the right physical & psychological environment for athletes supports them in achieving enhanced performance potential.
  • Part of the rationale behind travelling to a training camp outside of physical preparation, is to place the athlete in an environment that gives them a psychological and emotional lift, which in turn can lead to increased productivity.
  • Being in nature and surrounded by beautiful landscape has many positive emotional and psychological benefits for the athlete and lowers levels of stress that may have been present at home due to school/university/work/family/personal challenges.
  • We know from experience as coaches that the workload can be higher and the ability to recover improved significantly when away at a camp. Take advantage of these periods but be thoughtful around training load and prescription.
  • Going back to my previous post on altitude camps, ensuring from a coaching perspective that the training load matches the individual’s physiological profile/target event/fitness level and that the athlete finishes the camp healthy and injury free ensures a positive experience and allows for a return to their home environment to continue on the path of consistency with a spring in their step.
  • The coaching conversations that can be had with athletes at training camps one to one or in small groups can have big impacts and sometimes these are not always possible in a busy home training environment.
  • Regarding the “home environment” it’s important that the athlete try’s to minimise life stress where possible, learns to enjoy the training process and has some supportive people around him/her that add a positive impact.
  • To summarise, thought always needs to be given to the “environment” an athlete is in both at home and at a training camp. It sounds simple but it has a big impact. A happy well supported athlete is a performing athlete!!!

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Training Camps

Altitude Thoughts For The Age Group Athlete

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin
  • A block of altitude training can be beneficial for “most” athletes/triathletes 
  • Think about the “why” for the camp and what you wish to achieve 
  • To gain benefits from exposure to altitude you need to be aerobically fit, ensure blood work is in a positive place and be healthy & injury free
  • We can all respond to a suitable altitude (1600-2500m) if the training prescribed matches our current fitness & altitude location (height, hilly etc) 
  • Monitor each day your resting HR, HRV and SPO2 levels and how your body feels in general and make decisions accordingly 
  • Sleep may be disrupted in the first few days but should improve after this point 
  • Ensure you hydrate well with electrolytes as well as water and eat, eat, eat to fuel the work being done
  • Have a plan in place for the training structure for the camp and a firm rationale around each day but make changes as you go 
  • Maintain strength work in gym and “alactic” speed work throughout the camp 
  • Runners don’t be afraid to use a walk/run protocol especially in the first week 
  • Get the first week at altitude right in terms of training volume & intensity. What happens in this week sets up the rest of the camp
  • Take advantage of the new surroundings, the lower stress environment and extra time to recover 
  • Soak up the psychological benefits of being in a new training location often surrounded my incredible beauty 
  • If in doubt start at a lower altitude such as St Moritz or Font Romeu, before progressing to higher locations 
  • Be smart, each day is important at altitude and the aim is to get a solid consistent block of work done and return home healthy & injury free 
  • The camp is not the end of your season! The work continues when you return home. The aim is to gain some nice physiological adaptations and motivation, return home and continue on the path of consistency!
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Lessons for athletes

Lessons Learned from a Coaching Career Applicable to Athletes

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin
  1. Attitude- It’s about being organised & prepared, punctual, displaying positive body language, resilience, belief, work ethic and bringing your best self to each and every day.
  2. It’s all about relationships – Athletes connect with your coach, be open & honest, show them a great work ethic, commit to the plan and watch the benefits ten fold
  3. Enjoy what you do!!! It is sport and the central tenant to success is enjoying it, being passionate and loving what you do, which is running.
  4. Success in endurance sport is reliant on patience, consistency in training/racing and staying injury/illness free. Do everything you can to make these things happen.
  5. Athletes must be prepared for doing the basics right over & over again and enduring the mundane for long periods of time. Sometimes improvement as an endurance runner is not sexy, having the ability to endure the mundane and the repetitive nature of running is fundamental to long term success.
  6. Athletes must be accountable for the training/race performances also and especially for their lifestyle choices (Accountability is like rain, we need it but nobody likes getting wet). Normalize Excellence and bring your best self to each and every day.
  7. Don’t be afraid to fail, this is where we learn. Sometimes a poor workout or race is not always a negative; this is where we learn and what keeps us grounded. It provides a platform to get better at what we do.
  8. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, get out of your comfort zone. Live on the edge of chaos, this is where the magic happens!!!
  9. Athletes should: Train hard but not too hard, Use technology but don’t rely on it, Listen to their bodies’ feedback its rarely wrong, Not always about doing more things right but doing less things wrong, Have variety in their training!!!
  10. Adaptability is key for athletes (Ability to adapt to any situation during training/racing and cultivate this by keeping yourself uncomfortable at times during training)
  11. Self-reflection key for both athletes to foster learning and make improvements going forward. Reflect on your lifestyle choices, your training/racing, your motivation/drive etc and make changes where needed.
  12. If as an athlete you are not responding positively to a certain type of training, then change it. All athletes have different physiological and psychological make ups, so different types of training works for some and not for others.
  13. Do not neglect the foundations of athletic development at a young age i.e Stability, mobility, Balance, Coordination, Agility, Speed, Strength, Skill of running, quality of movement etc. This will put you in a better place to handle a certain amount of volume & intensity at a later stage.
  14. Athletes there are no short cuts. There will be many road blocks and highs & lows along the journey but if you are willing to continue on the road to be the best you can be, there are big performances always around the corner with the right dedication and hard work.
  15. Belief- Athletes believe in yourself, believe in the plan you have set, believe in your coach, and believe that anything is possible with the right mind-set. Take risks and go all in!!!
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Coaches

Lessons Learned from a Coaching Career Applicable to Coaches

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin
  1. Its all about relationships. The bottom line is that you are coaching people and not machines, building a relationship with your athletes and having open & honest communication is key for success.
  2. Art V Science: Coach the individual & match to the event they are training for (Determine physiological/mechanical/psychological profile of the athlete & match to event demands). Not all athletes are similar and not all respond the same to different types of training.
  3. Coaches must be resilient themselves and be prepared for a rollercoaster ride. Coaching is not an easy gig, so many ups and downs, challenges and so many questions without answers at times. We must be resilient, strong and be ready for the long haul. It’s all about the journey and not the destination.
  4. Sometimes a poor workout or race is not always a negative. Just because a single workout or race doesn’t go as planned, don’t panic. Stick to the process, keep to your plan and usually it works itself out. When something doesn’t go to plan it’s an opportunity to learn which is a positive in the long run.
  5. Stop sometimes and just listen to your athletes. It sounds very simple but sometimes as coaches we can do all the talking, all the advice giving and sometimes we just need to sit back and listen to our athletes. Let them be open & honest and give their reflections/feedback.
  6. Don’t be afraid to fail, this is where we learn. When we fail we learn, bottom line. If we are not failing sometimes we are not learning.
  7. Normalize Excellence & Lifestyle Balance: Bring your best self to each and every day, have balance in your lifestyle as a coach. To perform at your best you must mind yourself as well as your athletes do (“Busy people need to cultivate forms of rest (hobbies) because they are permanently unable to simply do nothing”).
  8. Tell your athletes that you believe in them, this is powerful. How many coaches have said this to an athlete they coach? Try it and see what happens.
  9. Get out and coach as much as you can “Learning is experience, everything else is just information” Albert Einstein. We learn in the trenches, get out and get yourself dirty!!!
  10. Self-reflection is key for both athletes & coaches to foster learning and make improvements going forward. Reflect on your own coaching style, your philosophy, your communication with athletes, your training ethos, your planning etc.
  11. Teach an athlete to be the “best them” and not try to copy others. Every athlete is an individual with their own personality and should always be themselves.
  12. If an athlete isn’t responding to the training you are doing with them then change it. Bottom line is that every athlete responds differently to different stimuli so play around with things and see what works and what doesn’t. It’s all about trial and error until you find what works best and essentially what produces the best results.
  13. Do some of what the athlete likes doing in training. Sometimes it becomes all about what we think works as coaches, possibly working on their weaknesses etc but athletes like doing some of what they enjoy so make sure to incorporate this into their programme.
  14. “A good coach with a sound methodology is a weathered captain steering a ship…. He knows the sea and can read warning signs”. Study the sport, learn from athletes & other coaches and find that sound methodology. Be present with them as much as possible and read the warning signs.
  15. Coaching and Athlete Development is like a random experiment …… “one where you cannot be absolutely sure what the outcome would be prior to performing the experiment”. No coach can be 100% sure of any training plan, nobody has the magic formula it doesn’t exist!!!
  16. Do not neglect the foundations of athletic development when coaching athletes at a young age i.e Stability, mobility, Balance, Coordination, Agility, Speed, Strength, Skill of running, quality of movement etc. This will put them in a better place to handle a certain amount of volume & intensity at a later stage in their athletic careers.
  17. When writing a training program ask yourself Why am I doing this & what is the reason behind it? Is it founded in logic and common sense? Some key questions to think about when planning training. Have a reason for each and every day.
  18. A coach must help an athlete understand the theory behind the training they are doing to increase buy in and belief. Its important athletes understand what they are doing and the reasons/benefits behind it. This will help increase belief and but in to what they are doing.
  19. Best coaching style? One that is genuine to you. Learn from but don’t try to imitate others. Be yourself and bring your own strengths to the table but always keep working on your weaknesses.
  20. Any coach who is through learning is through!!! The biggest learning tool for a coach is the athletes themselves. Learn from them, learn from others, learn from anywhere you can. Soak up every ounce of information you can get your hands on and then filter what is of most relevance to you and your athletes.
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Endurance Performance

15 Golden Nuggets to Transform Your Endurance PerformanceEndurance Performance

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin
  1. Consistency

Without doubt the number one road to improved performances as a distance runner is to aim for consistency with your training for long periods of time. Athletes must do everything in their power to stay healthy, injury free and consistent in their training for as long duration as is possible. This is when the magic happens.

  1. Variety

It is critical for all endurance runners of all levels to have plenty of variety in their training. Variety is key for many reasons including creating added stimuli to your training aiding progression, helping prevent injury and keep an enjoyment factor to your training. Running on a variety of different surfaces is important so use track, road, grass and trails where possible and do not do all your running on the one surface.

  1. Goals

All athletes should set goals for themselves, this is your roadmap and sets out where you are trying to get to. It also creates added motivation and makes it easier to get out the door and train when you do not feel like it.

  1. Planning

Following the setting of your goals for the year, it is imperative you lay out a plan to achieve them and get you there in the best possible shape. Planning your daily and weekly training is key along with planning your racing schedule.

  1. Testing & Monitoring

Athletes should use various monitoring techniques to gauge their training progress along the way. Utilising test races, time trials, lab tests, blood monitoring, heart rate data etc can all aid in your progress towards your goals. Use a training diary and record everything so you can look back and reflect on things following a key race or a full season.

  1. Coaching

Find a coach that you trust in, believe in what they sell you, form a close relationship with them based on honesty and open communication and then you have a platform that will help you achieve things you never thought possible.

  1. Recovery

Sleep and nutrition are the two most underrated performance enhancers available to all athletes. Use these wisely and reap the rewards in your training and racing. Athletes use the various techniques available to help improve their sleep quality and perhaps sit with a dietician around daily nutrition.

  1. Patience

The bottom line is that endurance training can be monotonous at times, you don’t always see quick results, you must deal with setbacks etc so patience in the process delivers time and time again. Be prepared to be in it for the long run and take is slowly, this is when the big performances come.

  1. Lifestyle Balance

Running is just one part of an athlete’s life and a balance must be struck with school/college/work/family life. Athletes must be organised and have a daily and weekly routine and plan their training around their own lifestyle. Becoming overly obsessive with your training and racing doesn’t help in the long run and having downtime to relax and spend with family & friends is important.

  1. Basics

Too many athletes seek to go after the advanced training methods before in fact nailing the basics. Master the basic fundamental training areas, recovery methods etc first before you try advancing your training. The basics when done well on a consistent basis lead to great results.

  1. Strength & Conditioning

All athletes should have a form of strength & conditioning in their training, this is critical for many reasons. A solid S&C programme tailored to the individual can help improve your structural foundations allowing you to either run more volume or increase intensity, its helps increase running economy, it helps prevent injuries, improves your posture & running mechanics and it improves your strength & power.

  1. Hills

Having different forms of hill training in your training will improve your race performance and also help strengthen your legs while also improving running mechanics. Use these 3 types:

  • Short Power Hills (8-12 seconds Max Effort with 2-3 minutes walk recovery between reps)
  • Anaerobic Hills (30-60 secs done fast with walk back recovery)
  • Aerobic Hills (1-3 minutes with jog back down slow recovery)
  1. Group Dynamic

Running can be a lonely sport at times and the power of a group environment can give an athlete added motivation and push them to better quality training. The group can motivate each other and drive each other forward if the right culture exits within it.

  1. Mechanics of Running

As a runner we want to run in the most efficient manner possible to limit wasted energy and also to prevent injuries. Spend time working on your run mechanics to help you run more fluent and relaxed through run drills, S&C programme, hill running and strides/short sprints on flat & on steep hills. This combination will help you run more effortlessly.

  1. Enjoyment

The bottom line is that anything in life you enjoy doing you will more than likely be successful in. Learn to enjoy your training and racing and not become a slave to your training programme or year plan. Adapt and make changes where necessary and don’t feel guilty about missed days. Running gives a person many physical and mental benefits and can be a most enjoyable sport. Enjoy it more and see your performances improve.

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Easy runs

Importance of Easy Running

by Steve Macklin
written by Steve Macklin

TRAINING HARD is the most widely-accepted way to improve performance legally, but training easy is no less important. It’s often the case where people train too hard on ‘easy’ days and not hard enough on the ‘hard’ days. Many runners push these runs too hard in between key workout/long run days and don’t allow the body to recover well enough and carry over fatigue. Workouts, races and long runs put a large stress on the body and anytime there is a stress placed on the body you must allow it to recover physically and mentally. It’s important to realise that easy runs are highly-specific to the individual and as well as various other workouts, be it tempo runs, hill repeats or intervals, they’ve just as important a role to play.

Some rules of thumb for easy runs:

  1. Easy runs should be done on the 2-3 days following any intense exercise, race or specific long runs. They help aid recovery from more intense training sessions or races as well as specific longer runs that athletes may do for longer distance races.
  2. Easy runs should form a big part of your early season training when building fitness before adding intensity. These help lay the aerobic foundations necessary for gaining more benefit from specific workouts at a later stage.
  3. Easy runs should stay in a training program year-round but will have less of an emphasis as you move from general training to the specific training. At this point they act predominantly as a recovery mechanism and serve to maintain an aerobic base.
  4. Any time you’re feeling very fatigued/tired it’s always a good choice to run easy instead and not do anything more intense. Just go out and run by feel and not worry about your pace or what your watch is saying.
  5. Getting the pace right for an easy run isn’t so simple, however. This is highly dependent on the individual runner’s profile; the amount of time they’ve been running, their race distance, their injury history and their lifestyle balance with time available to train and how well they can recover. But as a general rule; keep your easy days easy and keep your specific days a little tougher and you won’t go too far wrong.
  6. Complete rest sometimes is not as beneficial as getting out for a light run but often, the barrier to easy runs is mental, as opposed to anything physical. Athletes can find them extremely boring at times so mixing up the training location can often help with this or running with others. Some runners also may decide to listen to music.
  7. An easy run is used as a stimulus to improve your aerobic fitness. As a distance runner, you must get used to spending time on your feet and depending on your target race distance the run may need to be longer. The further the distance for your target race the further your easy runs tend to be.
  8. In scientific terms, easy runs help your cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory systems become more efficient. They teach our bodies to utilise fats better as a fuel source, they increase mitochondria, aerobic enzymes, capillary density and myoglobin, all of which have a positive impact on your running. Easy runs also promote oxygen delivery to the muscles and can act as a great recovery tool. These runs condition your musculoskeletal system to adapt to stress, which allows your body to handle more volume of running.
  9. When running easy however, our bio-mechanics can break down a little due to the slow pace, so adding some relaxed strides during or afterwards over 80-100m can help reinforce good patterns of movement. Adding some pick-ups or strides to the easy run during or afterwards can also help break up any possible boredom and make an athlete feel better. We must always be conscious of our running mechanics and running as efficiently as possible at all speeds.
  10. Easy runs are a chance to get outside, have some thinking time to yourself, meet other runners and really enjoy the many different locations to run wherever you are. All you need is a pair of runners and you can run anywhere. Sometimes just go out and run without the watch and simply run by feel and enjoy it.
  11. Any athletes who are injury prone and find that extra easy runs place added stress on the body can use methods of x training instead such as aqua jogging, swimming, x trainer, spinning bike etc.

As with any type of training, consistency and patience is the key to endurance running success, there are no quick fixes. Easy running is just one of the key ingredients on the training menu. Each and every ingredient on the menu is important.

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About Me

Performance specialist who has 24 years of experience in Development & High Performance sport

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