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Runner’s World October 2005
By Jeff Galloway
The Excuse (And How To Beat It)
I only run in the summer because all the local races motivate me.
The busy summer racing season certainly provides lots of opportunities
to test your fitness, which is great incentive to train hard. But
as 5-Ks become sparse with the turn of the season, you can stay
motivated by choosing a challenging endurance goal that necessitates
training through the winter. So, if you usually run 5-Ks and 10-Ks
during the summer, pick a 10-miler, a half-marathon, or a marathon
in the late winter or early spring, and write it on your calendar.
Once you’ve zeroed in on your new goal, pencil in all the
weekend long runs and speed sessions that you’ll need to prepare
yourself for the race. Also, fill in your calendar with the "maintenance"
runs needed between your quality workouts. Having a training plan
sketched out from the beginning will keep you on track. It’s
also helpful if you can get a friend to join you in training for
and racing this new distance. As you talk about your goal race,
you’ll keep each other motivated to do the weekly training.
Q. Over the summer I increased my weekly mileage and got really
fit. Should I keep upping my mileage?
A. No, you shouldn’t keep piling on the miles. Continual mileage
increases can lead to injuries and burnout. Instead, you can improve
your endurance and strength by extending the length of your long
run in small increments and mixing in some hills during the week.
To increase your stamina and boost your fat-burning capacity, extend
the length of your longest weekly run every 14 days by a half-mile
to one mile. Keep the pace comfortable. Build your long run to 13
miles, and you could run a half-marathon in late winter or early
spring. As you add to your long run, shorten one or two of your
other runs to avoid constantly upping your average weekly mileage.
To run stronger without adding miles, swap one flat mid-week run
of 30 to 40 minutes with a run on a course that has a dumber of
rolling hills. Or find one moderate hill (a two to four percent
grade) that is between 200 and 400 meters long and do repeats. Run
up and walk down, starting with two or three and adding one each
week until you can do eight. When running hills, don’t focus
on pace. Just try to maintain an even, continuous effort over the
top of the hill.
(Say What?) Running Jargon, Translated
Interval Training: A form of speed work where short segments of
fatter running are alternated with slow intervals of jogging for
recovery. Interval training builds speed and endurance.
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