Endurance Performance

We now live in a world where we try to over complicate endurance performance and lose track of what is most important. We can now measure so many different metrics, test many different variables, write complicated workouts, and try to optimize everything we do, yet in doing so we lose track of what is most important and that is the “Basics”. What do we mean by “Basics”?

The “Basics” are the fundamental foundations of successful endurance programmes, the “essential facts or principles of a subject or skill”. Eamonn Flanagan (Lead S&C Coach at the Sport Ireland Institute) recently presented a case study on Irelands two Olympic champion rowers and their program. Some of the key points he identified were as follows:

• Sustainable Consistency
• Comfortable with monotony
• Process focused and belief in it
• Comfortable with simplicity
• Buy in to what they were doing
• Interrogation of what they were doing in training and having an input into it
• A focus on “What matters most”

These reflections really impacted on me as an endurance coach, two endurance athletes at the top of the world’s elite and their focus and clarity around what is important is just refreshing to hear. The basics, the fundamentals are the backbone of every successful endurance programme.

So, as an endurance athlete what is most important?

• “Sustainable Consistency”- Do an amount of work that is sustainable over long periods of time, we are talking 12 + months on the minimum end of the scale and ideally 5+ years.
• “The Mundane”- Get comfortable with the “Mundane”, not all endurance training is exciting or fancy in make-up, but it can be incredibly impactful over time. You can of course vary the work up but in general certain types of training just need to get done to improve.
• “The Process”- Keep your focus on the day-to-day process and stop over thinking the result etc. What you do daily and session by session basis and how you execute the training is what will make the greatest gains.
• “Simplicity”- Just because something looks or seems “Simple” on paper doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. Often the most successful endurance programmes are simple in their construction. Get comfortable with simplicity.
• “Buy In”- For any endurance programme to be successful an athlete must “buy in” and have “belief” in it. Otherwise, it will not work out.
• “Input”- Successful endurance programmes are built around “Shared Input” between the coach and athlete. The athlete must have some autonomy and the direction of the programme must be agreed upon by both parties. This shared input leads to greater buy in on the athlete’s behalf. It is also ok for an athlete to question the “why” behind the programme and the coach must be able to give a firm rationale for this and engage openly in these conversations.
• “What Matters Most”- Always keep your focus on “What Matters Most” in the programme. This may be staying injury free, training execution, looking after recovery, open and honest communication, balancing life with training etc. Know “What Matters Most” in your programme and focus on this.
• “Keep Showing Up”- Endurance athletes and coaches must “Keep Showing Up” daily and bring their best. There will be many highs and lows and challenges on the journey and a big part of success is negotiating these with minimal impact to the programme and keep moving forward. Sometimes it is just about hanging in there a little longer and then a big performance comes.
• “Nail Your Recovery”- The adaptation from training happens during the recovery process. Nail your sleep, nutrition, hydration, and downtime and reap the rewards.
• “Environment”- Creating the right physical & psychological environment for athletes supports them in achieving enhanced performance potential. Choose and surround your wisely by people that impact you in a positive manner and find a training environment that lifts you emotionally and provides a variety of training options.
• “Coaching”- Athletes should find a coach that they 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.
• “Lifestyle Balance”- Endurance sport 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.
• “Feel”- Its todays technologically advanced world and an over obsession with data and gadgets, it is critically important that endurance athletes understand clearly “Feel” at various training intensities and most critically their racing speed. You must have a firm connection and understanding of how your body is feeling in training and how your body responds afterwards. While gadgets and monitoring tools can be useful it’s important, we never get too far away from “Feel” in endurance sport.

The cross-country season is upon us, it’s predominantly a time where athletes are focusing on developing their aerobic conditioning. This time of year allows athletes to build up a big aerobic foundation, improve their endurance and become more mentally & physically robust before they may tackle some indoor and/or outdoor track races. To use another analogy, think of building an aerobic base similar to a bank account, we want to continually make deposits into our account and then when race day comes be able to make a big withdrawal. Every time you make a deposit into your account you are financially (aerobically) in a better place. The aim of this article is to provide some key examples of workouts you could use in training. These examples are just that, there are many ways to work it and you can also combine these workouts. Play around with things, use your imagination and keep plenty of variety in what you do.
When it comes to deciding on workouts the magic questions are always how many reps, what pace, what recovery, how many times a week etc. The answer is that there is no exact answer and it is very specific to the individual.

Key factors to look at when finding these answers are as follows:

1) Performance level: A fitter runner can absorb more volume of faster running without breaking down.

2) Training consistency: A runner who trains at a decent level for several weeks or months without having setbacks or time off due to injury or illness can handle more quality training per workout and per week.

3) Technical skill: Someone who “pounds the ground,” overstrides, is not structurally sound etc is more likely to have problems when doing high volume quality training.

4) Weekly aerobic volume: A runner who has been covering more miles per week, for several weeks, can handle more quality interval work than one who has been doing lower mileage over a shorter time-frame.

5) Life stress: If you work a lot, are studying hard and have family obligations, you can’t do as much quality interval training per workout or per week as someone who is “stress-free”.
6) Injury History: A runner with a history of injuries will not be able to run the same volume of quality work as someone who has been injury free.
7) Recoverability: A runner who doesn’t have the time to recover between training sessions or who doesn’t appreciate the importance of recovery fully, will always struggle doing more specific training.

*The bottom line is that you can only train as hard as you can recover, so ensure a big focus on this area!!!

Include the following different training types & workouts in your weekly cross country training routine:
Long Runs (60-120 minutes in duration starting on week one with for example 50 minutes and add 5-10 mins per week. Aim to first build up to target time on your feet and then add in variations listed below)
1) Long Run over rolling hills
2) Long Run with the last 2-6 miles @ roughly marathon pace progressing the last mile towards half marathon pace followed by 4*80m fast strides
3) Long Run with last 1-2 miles as 20 secs stride/40 secs easy jog
4) Long Run with tempo intervals included within it such as 5 min Tempo effort at each 15 min mark starting at 30-40 mins mark
5) Long Run with last 2-3 miles up a steady gradient
6) Long Run with 45-60 sec surges @ roughly 5km pace every 5 mins from the 45 min mark

Threshold Runs (approx 85-92% of HR Max or roughly 10 KM-Half Marathon pace zone depending on the person, better to test and find out for sure)
1) Short Tempo Intervals (800m reps): 5k pace plus 20 seconds per mile (Recovery 30 secs between reps)

Medium Tempo Intervals (1 mile reps): 5k pace plus 30 seconds per mile (Recovery 1 minute between reps)

Long Tempo Intervals (1.5 mile reps): 5k pace plus 40 seconds per mile (Recovery 1.5 minutes between reps)

2) CV (Critical Velocity) 1000m reps done at 5km pace per km plus 8-12 secs with a volume of 5-10 reps and 60-90 secs jog rec

3) Threshold Intervals 400m-2000m reps done @ roughly 10km-Half Marathon paces with short 30-90 secs recovery

4) Continuous Tempo 3-6 miles with no break @ roughly Marathon down to Half Marathon Pace

5) 6-10 Mile Progression Run (Start easy run pace and progress to slightly slower than 10km pace for last mile, dropping in increments of roughly 10-15 secs per mile)

American coach Tom Swartz worded it well when looking at the question of what type of Tempo/Threshold work you should do. He said “In my opinion, what you use for tempos depends upon (at least) four factors:

1) Your current fitness level. The slower you are or the less fit you are the more likely you should use lower intensities;

2) Your goal race-distance. The shorter the race distance the more important it would be to use harder (faster) tempos in training;

3) Your time-frame. If you are far away from your goal race, using lower intensity, longer duration tempos is a good idea (this is my opinion based on experience only). The closer you are to a race the more important it is to simulate the type of intensity you’ll be facing in a race. Thus, if you were close to a big 5k race then using fast tempos would be a good idea. If you are close to a marathon race, longer but slower tempos would probably work well and be the most helpful in terms of improving race-performance.

4) Your natural capacities. Simply put, one runner may thrive on faster but shorter tempos while another may thrive on longer and slower tempos. It’s a personal thing.

Race Specific Intervals (As a general rule of thumb use a volume of reps that’s equal to the race distance so for example if racing 6km then 6000m worth of reps. Each workout progresses every 7-10 days with an increase in duration at race pace. Volume of reps etc is very dependent on the individual. Use these workouts sparingly; most runners only need a handful of these to be ready to race well)
1) 4000m XC Workout s (14 x 60 secs with 45 secs jog rec, 9 x 90 secs with 60 secs jog rec, 7 x 2 mins with 75 secs jog rec, 6 x 2.5 mins with 90 secs jog rec, 5 x 3 mins with 2 mins jog rec, 4 x 3.5 mins with 2.5 mins jog rec)
2) 6000m XC Workout s (20 x 60 secs with 60 secs jog rec, 14 x 90 secs with 90 secs jog rec, 10 x 2 mins with 2 mins jog rec, 8 x 2.5 mins with 2.5 mins jog rec, 7 x 3 mins with 3 mins jog rec, 5 x 4 mins mins with 4 mins jog rec, 4 x 5 mins with 5 mins jog rec) 3) 10000m XC Workout s (15 x 2 mins with 1 min jog rec, 10 x 3 mins with 90 secs jog rec, 8 x 4 mins with 2 mins jog rec, 6 x 5 mins with 2.5 mins jog rec, 5 x 6 mins with 3 mins jog rec)

Aerobic Fartlek (Use a high volume of time/distance on these and rotate paces that ranges from 5km pace at fastest to roughly half marathon pace with time durations of 1-3 minutes. These are ideally done over rolling terrain on grass/trail).
1) 1-4 sets of 30/45/60/75/90/75/60/45/30 seconds with EQUAL easy walk/jog recovery after each repetition and 3 mins easy walk/jog recovery between sets
2) 2-6 sets of (3/2/1 minutes) with HALF the rep easy walk/jog recovery between repetitions and 3 minutes easy walk/jog between sets
3) 2-4 sets of (30 secs/4 mins/30 secs/3 mins/ 30 secs/2 min/30 secs/1 min) with EQUAL jog recovery on the 30 sec reps & HALF the rep jog recovery on longer reps
4) 1-4 sets of (1/2/3/2/1 minutes) with HALF the rep easy walk/jog recovery between repetitions and 3 minutes easy walk/jog between sets
5) 15-40 minutes of 60 secs @ 5km-10km pace with 60 secs easy jog recovery

Hill Running (All hill reps ran in a controlled manner uphill with an easy/steady jog back recovery)
1) 6-10 x 30-60 secs with jog back down easy recovery 2) 4-8 x 90 secs with jog back down recovery
3) 3-62 mins with jog back down recovery 4) 3-6 x 3 mins with jog back down recovery 5) 1-3 sets of (15/30/45/60/45/30/15 secs) with 3 mins walk recovery between sets and jog back down recovery between reps 6) 2-4 sets of (2 mins/90 secs/60 secs/30 secs) with 3 mins walk recovery between sets and jog back down recovery between reps 7) 2-4 sets of (30 secs/60 secs/90 secs/2 mins) with 3 mins walk recovery between sets and jog back down recovery between reps 8) 2-4 sets of (30 secs/90 secs/2.5 mins/90 secs/30 secs) with 3 mins walk recovery between sets and jog back down recovery between reps 9) Mixed Hills – 2-4 sets of {2 x 60 secs Aerobic Hills (Jog back down recovery) into 2*20 secs Short Power Hills (walk back recovery)} and 5 mins walk/jog between sets

To summarise there are many different types of workouts you can use during the XC season and many different ways to work things. There is no one way, the best way is always the way that most suits the individual athlete and the race distance they are training for. Vary things up, use different surfaces and enjoy your running.

The cross-country season is upon us and athletes & coaches are busy planning their season. This time of year allows athletes to build up a big aerobic foundation, improve their endurance and become more mentally & physically robust before they may tackle some indoor and/or outdoor track races. To use another analogy, think of building an aerobic base similar to a bank account, we want to continually make deposits into our account and then when race day comes be able to make a big withdrawal. Every time you make a deposit into your account through use of the training below you are financially (aerobically/physically) in a better place.

Include the following different training types in your weekly cross country training routine:
• Recovery Runs (Very easy pace used following a workout day, race or long run. Keep these very controlled with the aim just to recover from a harder training day)
• Easy Runs (Easy conversational pace. These can be slightly faster than recovery runs and usually done 2-3 days following a key workout or race or the day before a key workout)
• Long Runs (Body learns to use fat efficiently as a fuel source & body increases glycogen storage capacity. Very important part of the training program which helps lay a good aerobic foundation. Doing these over rolling hills can have an added impact. Add on 10 mins per week to these and don’t do on the key race week.)
• Steady Runs (Steady state but controlled, faster than easy pace. These are done at a pace & effort somewhere between easy running and threshold running. Can run a little longer at this pace compared to threshold runs)
• Threshold Runs (approx 85-92% of HR Max or roughly 10 KM-Half Marathon pace (depending on the person). Here we can break into tempo intervals of 3-15 mins or use as a continuous tempo of 20-40 mins depending on the aim of the workout and the physiology of the individual)
• Intervals at 5km-10km race pace of 800m-1600m with a recovery of 1-3 mins walk/jog and aim for 4km-10km worth depending on your levels of fitness/injury history/stage of training plan etc
• Aerobic Fartlek (Use a high volume of time/distance on these and rotate paces that ranges from 5km pace at fastest to roughly half marathon pace with time durations of 1-3 minutes. These are ideally done over rolling terrain on grass/trail).
• Alactic Hill Sprints (40m-60m max efforts or 8-10 secs with 3 mins walk recovery done on a steep incline. Start with 2-3 of these and add one per week until you hit 6-8. Make sure to warm up properly beforehand along with some drills.)
• Hill Running (Recruits different Muscle Fibres and builds Muscular Endurance. Use longer hills from 1-3 minutes duration at a steady aerobic pace with a steady float jog back down recovery and shorter hills 20-30 secs with a slow jog/walk back recovery.)
• Strength & Conditioning: Use plenty of glute & hip strength work, single leg balance & stability work, hurdle mobility drills, circuits etc
• Cross-Training (For athletes that can only handle a certain load/volume of running then supplement this with cycling/swimming/aqua jogging/x trainer etc. This allows you to get in extra aerobic training without the loading and can pay dividends to your performance.)

Now having made plenty of deposits over the base phase of your training and the early preparation phases, be careful with the real race specific training, racing or any type of anaerobic work as these essentially make withdrawals from our bank account. Do small amounts of this type of work to add the icing on the cake and you will be all set for your key race day. Cross Country is an aerobic event and you must lay proper foundations to run well in this event. Also make sure much of your training is specific to the type of surface you will be racing on. Get used to running on grass, forest trails, over rolling hills etc as this is what will best prepare you for cross country racing.

Mentally you also need to prepare, cross country breaks your rhythm depending on the course, its a constant battle/challenge with no breaks and you must be prepared for this type of terrain. Certain courses can affect the thoughts of certain athletes as everyone has a certain course they feel suits them best. Be prepared mentally for all courses, all weather conditions and be ready to tough it out. Cross country is also dictated by effort or feel of pace as there are no splits, so pacing is of utmost importance during it. Learn the feel of paces in training and how to pace smart during races. Always challenge yourself to catch the runners in front of you, this is the real beauty of cross country racing as it’s not about the clock but about finishing as high up as you can. The main thing is to enjoy the challenge of cross country racing as it’s something that caters for all levels and can give you immense satisfaction from competing in.

Throughout my coaching career I have interacted with and overseen many endurance athletes in the sub elite/age group (aged 18+) category, along with speaking to other coaches about their experiences also. Below are some of the common themes and areas of improvement we see from a Coaching Perspective:

1) Inconsistent Training Patterns

As coaches we preach ““Consistency” over long periods of time but this if often the most difficult thing to achieve for an age group athlete. No matter who the coach is, what the training programme is or what specific workouts you are doing, consistency matters most and should be your greatest predictor of performance. Caveat, when we speak about long periods of time, we are talking 12 months + on the minimum end of the scale. ““No great thing is created suddenly”.

2) Inability to Stick with a Long-Term Training Programme

Following on from point number 1, we often see as coaches that the age group athlete has an inability or unwillingness to follow a training programme for 12 months or more for various reasons. Straight away we are on the backfoot and tracking away from achieving our full potential. I would implore all athletes to buy into what your coach is prescribing, create a good relationship with them based around open & honest conversation & feedback and stick to this for 1 year at a minimum and you will be surprised with the results.

3) Under Recovery

We have a huge issue in endurance sports with under recovery, athletes are often great at training but poor at recovering. If you want to excel as an endurance athlete you must fuel the work being done, hydrate well and look after your sleep. The aim is to stress the body, allow it to recover and adapt and repeat this process. Under recovery leads to many issues such as injury, illness and under performance in competitions. Learn to recognize when your body needs recovery and when you can load it more. Respect your recovery process daily or it will humble you!

4) Paralysis by Analysis

We now live in a world where we can measure so many things in training and performance, it is an age of data overload for many. There is learning to be able to identify what data collection is important, relevant and what is just added noise. There is learning to be able to understand the data and use it to make change to your programme if required. Going back to basics and keeping things simple is a good rule of thumb for most age group athletes. Understand the data and its use but don’t become a slave to your watch. Not everything that can be measured is important and not everything that is important can be measured. Balance is key!

5) Inability to ‘Feel” Training Efforts

I have experienced runners and triathletes who are totally consumed by what their watch says that they have lost an appreciation for learning “Feel” and the feedback their body is giving them. No matter what metric we can measure in todays endurance world, the number one metric an endurance athlete must learn is “feel” at varying intensities and paces. You should become so dialed in to ‘feel” that if you have your watch or bike computer etc taken away you should know the rough pace range or watts. When you have mastered this “skill” then you will reap the rewards on race day.

6) Lack of Self Belief

Belief in oneself is a massive part of performance in competition. This belief I believe comes from one’s life journey, one’s own personality, one’s consistency in training over long periods of time, previous competition performances, the coach-athlete relationship, the environment we place ourselves in etc. Often, we see an athlete lacking this self-belief and it can really hinder progress. A crippling inability to “get out of their own head space” and stop overthinking everything. Sometimes we just need to get on with “doing”, focus on the daily process while not looking too far ahead and let things fall into place in time. Focus on the process, what you can control and keep showing up day after day.

7) Self-Reflection

Athletes need to work on being great at “Self-Reflection” if they wish to become better versions of themselves. What do I mean by this? The ability to ask themselves the difficult questions and give themselves the difficult answers quite often! Am I giving this coach-athlete process the time and energy it deserves? Am I being honest and open with my coach? Am I looking after my recovery and life outside of training? Am I adhering to the training plan and paces etc? Am I being honest with my “performance level” when setting training paces/racing? Am I setting realistic race goals? Am I targeting an event that matches my level of fitness and training history? These are just some examples of questions that athletes must self-reflect on and often find difficult to be honest with.

8) Ego

We often see athletes signing up with a coach or for a goal competition and the motivation levels are high, so effort, energy and engagement is soaring. There is an overwhelming eagerness to push more, train harder, train longer and we begin to think that the performance puzzles are all about the training. The human ego takes over and we get away from the basics and doing these well. Over time this goes either two ways, the eagerness and motivation dwindle as we cannot keep pace with this level of training which leads to inconsistent training patterns or the athlete under recovers and injury/illness/under performance hits. Try to keep your ego at bay, keep things simple, consistent and stick with what is manageable for you over long periods of time.

9) Expectations

It is common practice to witness endurance athletes targeting goals/performances that are not achievable at their current fitness/performance level. This isn’t to say that they are not achievable in time, but the key word here is “In Time”. It’s a long-term game and we can achieve far more than we think if given enough time and allow for gradual progression. It always comes back to our principles of patience, progression over time and staying healthy and injury free. The advice is to set realistic but challenging goals. Accept where you are currently at in terms of fitness and performance level and start there.

10) A Focus on Weight over Performance

It is common in the endurance world to see athletes heavily focused on “weight” and a belief that this is tied to “performance”. This is not always the case and sometimes being heavier on the scales results in a better performance. Focus on consistent training habits, consistent recovery from training and consistent healthy eating patterns over time and not the scales. Many of the world’s top endurance athletes on the track/road and in triathlon all come in different shapes and sizes. Focus on you and not trying to look like someone else!!!

11) “Environment”

Your “Environment” is a critical part of the performance puzzle. An athlete should try to place themselves in an environment that gives them a psychological and emotional lift, which in turn can lead to increased productivity. Think where you live, training facilities and locations, people that surround you etc. Get into nature where possible. 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. 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.

12) Ability to Master the ‘Mundane”

It’s common to see athletes get restless and question training when its simple and basic and doesn’t look complicated. It’s common to see athletes have trouble repeating simple processes in their daily lives repeatedly over long periods of time. The process of becoming a better endurance athlete is often mundane and requires an athlete to show up each day, nail the basics, keep things simple, look after their recovery, minimize stress, and do this for long periods of time. It’s often not “fancy” but it works. This doesn’t mean there can’t be variety in training or that it can’t be fun, it simply means that becoming a better endurance athlete requires the ability to master the mundane nature of repeating the same processes over and over daily. Breakthroughs happen after years of mundane routine work.

“Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those actions; only the fact that they are done consistently and correctly, and all together, produce excellence.”
Dan Chambliss

13) Comparison to Others

Comparison is a natural human behavior that we all engage in at times in life and is said to be the “Thief of Joy”. In the endurance world its common for athletes to compare their performances or their training to others and lose sight of what is most important, which is you. Focus on you and becoming a better version of you each day. This can be especially challenging in today’s social media driven world, where we are constantly bombarded with images of other people’s seemingly perfect lives. The majority of time, we only see a snapshot of what the other person is choosing to present to the world. There is only one version of you in this world, you are unique and aim to follow your own journey to be the best version of yourself. This will lead to a happier and more content you and better race performances.

14) Finding Life Balance

Most sub elite/age group athletes will be either in university or working full time jobs which creates extra fatigue and stress for the body. They must balance this with their athletic goals and create time for friends and family also. This is not easy to do well and often a place where athletes struggle but with a little sacrifice in some areas of your life, with some prioritization, planning, and communication with your coach it is possible to strike a nice balance. Athletes must realize that to achieve great things in endurance sport it requires time and effort and creating space in your week to get the training done and recover well from it. Align your goal race distances/events with how much time you can give to training and recovery each week and be realistic with this.

15) Finding Joy in the Journey

We often see athletes getting very obsessive with their training programme, the exact training zones/paces, the data from their watches, what Strava says, race performances etc and continue down this path and lose their love for the sport. It is critical to have balance in endurance sports and learn to bring your best each day but at the same time find a joy in the process, find a joy in the long-term journey. Appreciate the ability to be able to swim, bike, run etc and be healthy, many people don’t have this ability. Appreciate time alone in nature, time spent with people chatting while training, time exploring different training locations and racing in different events and countries. Endurance sport is challenging and requires a lot of dedication and hard work but this doesn’t mean you cannot find joy in the journey.

• Consistency: Strive for a consistent 10 weeks of training with a training load that allows you to do this. There is no point in trying to overdo things for your current level and have some great weeks of training and other weeks where you do very little due to injury/illness or lack of motivation.
• Group: Find a group of people that you can run with. Being part of a group makes the training feel easier and can also help push you to new heights.
• Goal: Set a goal time for your key 5km or 10km race and make sure this is realistic
• Plan: Have a plan in place that starts with your race date and works backwards to the start of your 10 week plan. Keep things simple but consistent.
• Variety: Use a variety of paces and a variety of training surfaces for your 10 week plan. This helps prevent monotony and also helps prevent injury.
• Recovery: Be vigilant with your recovery techniques such as nutrition/sleep/hydration/massage/foam rolling etc. These give you added benefits and allow you to get more gains from the training done.
• X Training: Where your body may not be able to withstand a certain volume of running get some extra aerobic work in by swimming/aqua jogging/cycling etc
• Strength & Conditioning: Incorporate some strength & conditioning into your training week which will help make your body more robust and better able to handle the training load.

Include the following different training types in your weekly routine:
• Recovery Runs (Very easy pace used following a workout day, race or long run. Keep these very controlled with the aim just to recover from a harder training day)
• Easy Runs (Easy conversational pace. These can be slightly faster than recovery runs and usually done 2-3 days following a key workout or race or the day before a key workout)
• Long Runs (Many key physiological adaptations occur. It’s a very important part of the training program which helps lay a good aerobic foundation. Doing these over rolling hills can have an added impact. Add on 10 mins per week to these and don’t do on the key race week.)
• Steady Runs (Steady state but controlled, faster than easy pace. These are done at a pace & effort somewhere between easy running and tempo running. Can run a little longer at this pace compared to tempo runs)
• Threshold/Tempo Runs (approx 80-92% of HR Max or roughly 40-70 minute race pace or 10km-Half Marathon for most people. Here we can break into tempo intervals of 3-15 mins or use as a continuous tempo of 20-40 mins depending on the aim of the workout)
• VO2 Max/Aerobic Power Intervals (About 3km-5km pace and usually using efforts of 1-3 mins with roughly equal jog/walk recovery)
• Alactic Sprints (40m-60m max efforts or 8-10 secs with 2-3 mins walk recovery done on a steep incline. Start with 2-3 of these and add one per week until you hit 6-8. Make sure to warm up properly before hand along with some drills.)
• Hill Running (Recruits different Muscle Fibres and builds Muscular Endurance. Use longer hills from 1-3 mins at a steady aerobic pace with jog/walk back down recovery.)

Sample event specific workouts for the 5km as a progression:

• 8-16*400m reps @ CURRENT 5km pace with 60 secs walk/jog recovery between each.
• 5-10*600m reps @ CURRENT 5km pace with 90 secs walk/jog recovery between each.
• 4-8*800m reps @ CURRENT 5km pace with 2 mins walk/jog recovery between each.
• 3-6*1000m reps @ CURRENT 5km pace with 2.5 mins walk/jog recovery between each.

Sample event specific workouts for the 10km as a progression:

• 8-12*800m reps @ CURRENT 10km pace with 60 secs walk/jog recovery between each.
• 6-10*1000m reps @ CURRENT 10km pace with 90 secs walk/jog recovery between each.
• 5-8*1200m reps @ CURRENT10km pace with 2 mins walk/jog recovery between each.
• 4-6*1600m reps @ CURRENT 10km pace with 2.5 mins walk/jog recovery between each.
• 3-5*2000m reps @ CURRENT 10km pace with 3 mins walk/jog recovery between each.
  Use the event specific workouts only once per week so a sample week may look as follows for someone that runs 6 days per week:
  Monday: Easy run followed by drills & Short Alactic Hill Sprints
  Tuesday: Workout- 5km/10km Event Specific Session
  Wednesday: Rest
  Thursday: Easy run followed by drills & strides
  Friday: Workout- Hills or Tempo
  Saturday: Recovery run and S&C
  Sunday: Long Run over rolling hills

As with any training program there are many ways to go about it but some factors to take into account before deciding what types of training to use are and how much/how often are:

• Target Race Distance
• Individual Athlete Physiological Profile
• The athlete training age
• The athlete injury history
• Proximity to goal race and key preparation races
• How much of an aerobic (endurance) foundation has been built to that point
• Time available for training and recovery

Always make sure you seek out some advice from an endurance coach before you undertake any training program as they will be able to give you a better understanding of how much volume/intensity of training you will be able to handle. Training must also be fit around your lifestyle, there are no one size fits all training programs and training must be applied to the individual to get maximum gains.

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

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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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)

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.