The title to this post is the title of a book I’ve been reading regarding the Lydiard method of training. It’s a pretty good book (thanks to Jason Pyles for recommending it!), and while I’m only about halfway through it, I think I’ve already learned a few things that my previous experience also reinforces.
That said, I’m in the midst of formulating a training plan, something I’ve always enjoyed doing. The problem is I haven’t been able to execute many of the plans I’ve developed in recent times due to injury knocking me out before I really even got started. I don’t think my training has been entirely at fault, as I believe there have been biomechanical problems that would have eventually gotten me regardless of how I trained. I’m now working on those issues and will continue to do so.
However, one thing that has become blatantly obvious to me is I’ve been trying to get back into things too fast, and I don’t necessarily mean running too much too soon, although there’s certainly been some of that. Mainly I’m talking about skipping steps. Rather than getting my legs under me, building a base, and then adding progressively harder work and finally race specific work, I’ve been trying to jump into normal, regular training right off the bat. In other words, as soon as I got past an injury I was right back into intervals, tempos, etc., just like I’d been training healthy for months. I’m now thinking that this not only increased my chance for injury but was actually counter-productive and eroded my aerobic base. My thinking was I wanted to get back in shape as quickly as possible, when in reality I was probably hindering the process.
I’ll probably post more details in the near future as I figure out the specifics of what I’ll be doing, but right now I’m planning on trying to do a full build-up and do it right. If there’s one thing I should have learned in all my years in this sport it’s that there are no shortcuts. That’s actually one of the things I like about it. So off I go on my goal of healthy, intelligent training!
1 comment:
Steve,
Sounds smart and well executed. I too have the feeling that I rush back into things. Thank goodness that most of race events are all about aerobic capacity. I took a full 30 days after Highlands Sky and came back well within 2 weeks of training. I feel you can run "fast" while still base building, but laying off the track intervals and focusing more on easier tempo paces and fartleks and solid long runs.
You were missed at Charleston, the weather was perfect. Continue to get healthy and kick butt.
Nick
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