Coach Hillary Osborne explains how to build out a training plan by looking at your full year. Hillary is a strength and running coach at Lifelong Endurance, specializing in trail and ultra distances.
January brings about a feeling of increased motivation and rejuvenated passion. We start dreaming and planning for the year ahead. 2021 might intensify these feelings more so as the possibility of races and events actually happening has increased. It’s going to be a great year and you have a lot you want to do. So where to start your training? What to focus on? There is a lot to consider. I’d like to help you prioritize and create a rough plan for your year of racing.
Start by identifying your events and races. Commit to your races, sign up, and put the dates on the calendar. Now, identify which event will be your A race. This can be decided by the event that you want to perform your best at, or means the most to you in terms of a finishing time or crossing the finish line. Rank your events in terms of A, B, C, and so on. Your ranking here will inform how to structure your training. For example, your A event may be a flat marathon course. Then your B event would help you prepare for that event in some way either a half marathon with a similar course profile or during which you will nail down your nutrition strategy. It’s also good to record how many weeks until your first event and how many weeks until your A event. This helps to get a long range view of your training year.
Identify your weaknesses and strengths in relation to the demands of your A event. Consider this one carefully. You might think your weakness is downhill running, but if your A event does not require a lot of downhill running, then it is not a weakness you need to address in order to be prepared for your A event. Be able to answer this statement; on race day, x will present the biggest challenge to me. It is helpful to know what the demands of the A event are; what weather will you run in? How much elevation gain/loss is there? What intensity will you race at? What is the terrain? How does my stomach perform during races? Once you can identify these elements in regards to your race, then ask yourself what areas you perform well at and which you need improvements in. Your weakness, you will want to train first and further out from race day. This allows you the most practice and adaptation time to develop that quality. Your strengths you can polish up closer to the event. An example of this is an ultrarunner who feels timid on technical terrain and is planning on competing in a race known to be technical. This runner can make a point to include at least one technical run during the week from the onset of training in order to build confidence and proficiency.
Train race day specifics closest to the race. In the previous step you have identified the various aspects of your race scenario; terrain, elevation change, weather, time between aid stations(any aid stations), etc. All these race specifics are best trained closest to the race itself, in the 6 weeks prior. Let’s say your race is notorious for being hot. Heat acclimatization is a necessary aspect of preparing for the event and not to be ignored. Heat adaptations can be made in the 6 weeks prior to the race, while focus on developing fitness(cause fitness always wins) should be a priority from the beginning. Oftentimes, our weaknesses and race specifics overlap, in which case you take that head on and get more practice with that element or quality.
Identify how much time you have to devote to training. Being honest with yourself here will set you up for success. Look at your daily schedule and determine when you will be able to get in those training sessions. Sometimes that is the best way to determine the event you will do. Completing a 50k would be awesome, but if realistically time only allows for a half marathon, then follow the path that will give you the most success.
Identify your training blocks. Whether you are training for a 5k or 100 mile race your training plan should include all types of intensities. Yes, even ultra distance runners can benefit from and should do a high intensity training block. Your goal event will determine how much time you should spend on each training intensity and in what order to place these training blocks. Let’s look at both ends of the spectrum in racing events. A 5k requires a runner to hold max effort for the entirety of the race. Thus, this runner will want the majority of their training to contain workouts at lactate threshold and Vo2max effort and perform that work close to their event. An aerobic base building period can be placed at the beginning of training. For an ultra marathoner, this periodization is reversed. It is still extremely beneficial for an ultra runner to train at lactate threshold and vo2max as it increases one's aerobic capacity. Aerobic capacity is directly related to one's Vo2 max. If vo2max were the cup and aerobic capacity the water held in that cup, then you can never have more water than the cup can hold. If we increase the size of the cup, we can increase the volume of water. A runner training for an ultra distance event would want to place high intensity work at the beginning of their training plan for a short period of time, with steady state and endurance type runs taking up the bulk of training continuing right up the event.
These guidelines will help you identify priorities as well as a general structure outline. A good coach can help you fill in the details of the day to day preparation.