Gettin' into summer with some good training videos and some info that needs to be repeated

Tempo Running

Other than regular, steady mileage, tempo training is perhaps the most important type of training in a distance runner's schedule.  The purpose of tempo training is to allow the athlete run fast without incurring fatigue.  The training sessions are fast but they should not be very hard.  The goal of the workout is to run as quickly as possible without the workout becomming very difficult.  This means that sometimes, in a tempo workout, you have to back off the pace.

One tempo run will not make you better overnight.  The way that tempo training will make you better is that every time you go out, your body adapts to the pace you are running.  The next time you go out, the pace that you ran on your previous tempo run will feel slightly easier.

To sum it up, run as fast as you can for the distance without allowing excessive tightness or tiredness build up.

Here are the University of Colorado teams doing an early season tempo run. Please note that most of these athletes could run this run much faster.  The top runners are probably 30-40 seconds slower per mile than their race paces for the same distance.

2013 Seniors at the Supercross

Long Runs

Long runs are another important aspect of training.  During the off season and the early season, these longer efforts prepare your body to endure the harder workouts that come later.  As a general guideline, Your long runs should be around 15%-25% of your weekly mileage depending on how many miles a week you are running and the distance of race for which you are training.

Here is the Air Force Academy team getting in a long run on a loop that was originally mapped out by 1500m world champion Jenny Simpson

General Body Fitness

Here is a good video from the Arizona Wildcats Womens' Team. Some of these exercises should already look familiar to those of you who have been coming to practice so far.  Coach Li, the man who is intereviewed first is also the coach of Bernard Lagat, a multiple world and olympic medalist.

The focus on this workout is on strengthening the muscles that create stability and balance.  The focus is not on trying to lift a lot of weight one time, nor is it on getting big, bulky muscles.  Bulky muscles are great if you are playing football or throwing the shot, but they don't help in cross.

Our focus is on getting stable, lean, and strong.

Nutrition

Please visit and read the Nutrition Page of this blog. It's not new, but I wanted to make sure you are all reading and digesting (pun intended) the material.