Training Reminders…

Boston has released their elite field for 2019, the Dubai Marathon is later this month, and Mo Farah has committed to the 2019 London Marathon. Though earnest training for summer races may still be some ways away for many people, runners getting ready to compete in the early to middle spring will be at least mapping out their schedules. This is all to say that training is either beginning or right around the corner for many people.

I’ve been reading “Running with the Buffaloes” by Chris Lear, an account of the University of Colorado cross country team’s 1998 season. They granted him an impressive amount of access to the athletes, coaches, and workouts. Besides being a compelling narrative (and I won’t reveal any major spoilers) there have been some other key takeaways for me that are helpful as general training reminders.

Going into the season, the coach and team believed they were destined for a great year. Their individual summer running/training had gone well and their fitness was solid. In spite of that, the team endured a fair number of injuries during the season. Some were minor, some were major. This was a helpful reminder that training rarely goes perfectly in terms of how your body will respond. Maybe a nagging pain creeps up, maybe you have to sit out for a few days due to illness, etc. While you generally don’t lose fitness for 7 to 10 days during inactivity, you also won’t be gaining any during that downtime. But, maybe you can at least pick back up where you left off.

The other interesting area was the number of adjustments that the coaches made or considered making during the season for training. The head coach, Mark Wetmore, had a tried and true coaching method well before that season (and he still does), he knew his athletes and their abilities, and he had created a training schedule that would allow them to reach their maximum capability.

Wetmore definitely stuck with the overall plan, but many of the specifics got adjusted throughout the season. In one case, he cut off a workout early because the athletes simply weren’t performing well enough. It wasn’t punitive, it was more a realization that the athletes were tired, the weather was terrible, and pushing them through the workout wouldn’t help anything, especially considering that they were already in phenomenal shape.

These are some things to keep in mind, at least for me, going forward. While none of the basic information was new, it’s always helpful to remember that even the best athletes may have minor setbacks during their training. And, while you want to keep to the training schedule as closely as possible and there are times when it’s appropriate to push through, it may also be that adjustments have to be made.

Running food review of the week: (note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race): Honey Stinger Strawberry Kiwi: The good thing about Honey Stinger is that there’s usually a strong honey flavor which masks any other flavors that might be unpleasant. The downside is that it hard to tell what flavor you have. This may have tasted like Strawberry Kiwi, but mostly I tasted honey. I’m okay with that as I’m not generally a kiwi fan. It also has 32 mg of caffeine. I liked this and it did the job. I’m not sure I would buy it again, in that there are other honey stinger flavors I like better, even if they’re barely detectable, but if a race was handing them out, I’d be good with it.

References used:

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2019/01/10/elite-field-set-for-2019-boston-marathon

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/sport/mo-farah-london-marathon-2019-scli-gbr-spt-intl/index.html

http://www.dubaimarathon.org/