by Coach Brendon

To improve as a runner or indeed to maintain good fitness through running requires a lot more than just hitting the pavement and the hills. You need to look at the big picture of performance. There is more to performance than training. Your Health and Fitness are affected by other factors which you need to take into account when planning your training programme as recovery, life stress and more play an important role.

If running is not your full time job then you do need to ensure balance in your training to ensure that you recover well. Therefore for the great majority of semi serious recreational club runners I would recommend that you look at the following key recovery strategies:

1. Be efficient in terms of weekly training. If you run long on a Sunday, think seriously about not running on a Monday, you may recover faster (and therefore perform better in your goal event) especially if you do not have a lot of running mileage behind you or are over 45. If you do feel like doing some training on the day after a big run think about cross training - cycling, swimming or kayaking would all be good aerobic alternatives.
2. Your weekly structure can also impact on the quality of certain sessions, see the following suggested weekly structures. If you run long run on a Sunday it would be advisable to have at least a day between this session and any speed session i.e. Sunday Long Run, Wednesday Speed Session (see option 2 below).
3. I also think that it is a good idea to ensure that your weekly training does include a day off. Typically club runners run long on a Sunday the day after a club run or club race. Obviously most people have more time to do longer sessions on the weekend, but from a recovery perspective this is far from ideal and also increases the risk of injury in the Sunday session (tired legs, poor running form, stressed bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles). The argument for doing this is that you should be running slow and this will avoid the risks. In my experience this is rarely possible and the value of the two sessions is reduced when they are spaced so close together compared to spacing them apart by 48 hours.

Typical Runners Week

• Not ideal due to lack of recovery between hard club run Saturday and Long Run Sunday
• Value of the two sessions is reduced compared to the same sessions in the weekly structures below.

Good Recovery Structured Week

• Speed Session and Long Run separated
• 2 easy days before Quality speed session
• Day off after Long session
• Does not work for runners attending club runs on Saturdays

Suggested Weekly structure for Club Runners

• Still make use of available time at the weekend
• Relatively fresh for speed session
• Long session during the week may not be possible for all
• Long session dropped during weeks leading to key events (placing last long run 10 days before event)
  

Time Efficiency

Time Efficiency is another area that can make a big difference. May of us choose to run because it is a time efficient way to keep fit. Life could potentially become rather one dimensional for the serious runner who works full time and runs and runs and runs. Therefore you may fine some help from these tips on saving time.

• If you commute to work through traffic, consider driving to work and running from work. Obviously this will only work if you have a shower at work but for those working in Auckland this could have a great impact on the time commitment. For me getting to Auckland City before 7am would be a short 10 minute tip after 7:20 it is a 45 minute trip. There is 35 minutes for running.
• Another time saver is running to or from work. I live about 9km from work so that is not a bad way to get training in either and it sure is a good way to either start the day or to unwind after a busy day.

Nutrition also impacts heavily on training and recovery

I find that working people often are too tired after work to get out and do something physical because they are trying to exercise after 4 hours virtually no food (coffee and biscuit at afternoon tea is not enough). If you want to ensure you recover and have the energy for your training I suggest that you look to have a snack 40 minutes prior to running. So if you are going to run at 5:30 that means 4:50 eating something like a Banana or a Power Bar and an orange juice. In the big scheme of training for an event that could be all the difference between a PB and an average run.

Eat or Drink on the long runs. If you are running for more than 60 minutes you will recover faster if you drink in training. If you are running over 2 hours then I would also be eating during a run, banana's are easiest and there are also now a good selection of drink systems thanks to the explosion of Mountain Biking.

After training get off your feet and get the food in ASAP. Your body is especially good at replacing muscle energy store after exercise and this decreases rapidly on completion.

Getting the energy balance equation right can ensure optimal (healthy) body composition. A chat with a dietitian could be beneficial if you are unable to drop your weight despite a good history of consistent training.

Medical Check-Up

Finally Runners are no different to the general population in only seeking medical advice when sick or injured. It make sense to see a running friendly GP or Sports Medicine Doctor at least once per year. I'd be asking for blood tests to look at iron stores and red blood cells and a general physical exam including a melanoma screen.

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