Training

 

Power Running Training Guide

Part 2:  Training Variables, Weekly Mileage, & Balance

 

 

Every run training program is composed of 3 primary training variables - frequency, intensity, duration.  The particular combination of these 3 variables determine the overall effect that the run training program produces. 

 

Frequency

 

How often should you train?  It's probably no surprise to you that this particular training variable gets quite a bit of attention within the training community, with various programs recommending training  frequencies ranging from 3 runs per week to as many as 14 per week.  Research on subjects with average genetic talent indicates that 3-4 days per week of training to produce the highest rate of improvement.  On the other hand, research and anecdotal observation on those in level 1-2 suggest that they perform better with higher training frequencies.  Based on the available data, then, here are my recommendations for the number of run workouts you should conduct each week.  I will cover guidelines for including strength training and cross-training in the training schedule later on in this guide.

 

Recommended Frequency of Run Workouts Per Week

Level 4:  2-4 x per week

Level 3:  3-5 x per week

Level 2:  4-6 x per week

Level 1:  6+ x per week

 

Intensity

 

Intensity is, by far, the most potent training variable.  Research has repeatedly shown that high intensity workouts produces large changes in performance.  Research has also shown that when the intensity of workouts is decreased by as little as 1/3 significant decreases in performance occur.  Based on this you might think you should run all your workouts as hard as you are capable of.  However, this is not the case.  While intensity is the key training variable, you can train too hard, too often, and end up overtrained and/or injured.  How hard should you train?  The answer depends on the goal of any particular training session.  I will provide suggested training intensities for each individual workout in the schedules section of this guide.  In the meantime, the main point to understand is that intensity of training is important but that running at an all out effort or training as hard as is physically possible every training session is not likely to result in optimal performance. 

 

There are several ways of gauging the Intensity of a workout.  I recommend using a method known as session rating of perceived effort, or RPE for short.  Session RPE is a method for rating the overall intensity of any workout.  The entire workout session is rated on a scale of 0-10, as follows:

 

Session RPE scale:
0 = rest
1 = really easy
2 = easy
3 = moderate
4 = sort of hard
5 = hard
6
7 = really hard
8
9 = really, really hard
10 = just like my hardest race (i.e. all out effort)

 

To gage the intensity of any workout, after completing the workout assign it an RPE number based on how hard the overall workout felt to you.  Did the overall workout feel hard?  Then give it a rating of 5.  Was it only a moderate workout?  Then give it a rating of 3.  Was it near to maximum effort?  Give it a 9.  There is no wrong answer because the rating you give a workout is based on how you felt during the workout, not how hard someone else thinks that workout was or should have been.

 

Duration

 

Duration of training exerts a significant influence on performance.  Research has shown that longer duration workouts exerts a strong influence on the body and results in improved performance.  For example, one novel research study had subjects perform leg extensor exercises with one leg for 1 hour per session, 5 times per week and with their other leg 2 hours per session, 3 times per week.  At the end of the study the leg that had been trained 2 hours per session doubled the performance of the leg that had been trained for just 1 hour per session, despite nearly the same total weekly training for both legs.  On a general basis, then, increasing the training duration has a positive influence on performance.

 

On the other hand, the longer duration the run the longer it takes to recover.  During your run workouts, your running muscles are stressed.  The greater the stress the longer the recovery.  This being the case, duration of training has to be balanced with recovery time.  Generally speaking, runners can build up to a long run of about 2 hrs and not require inordinate amounts of recovery time. 

Weekly Mileage

Weekly mileage is not a training variable but it is a big issue in the running community, spurring endless debates between those who believe high mileage is the route to optimal performance (the High Mileage crowd) and those who believe more modest levels of mileage is better (the Quality crowd).  The High Mileage group claims that any and all runners will benefit from increasing weekly mileage to a relatively high level.  This belief can be summed up with the phrase, "run more, run better".  The Quality group claims that relatively high weekly mileages are not necessary and that quality training is much more important than high weekly mileages.  My personal bias is that the focus on the importance of a high weekly mileage is misplaced for those with less than elite level genetics.  Nevertheless, ignoring the issue won't make it go away, nor will it resolve it, so it's appropriate to discuss this topic in some detail.

One of the most, if not the most, common beliefs in the running community is that because elites run high mileage and elites are the fastest runners on the planet that this proves that high mileage training is best.  This is further interpreted to say that everyone will benefit from running relatively high weekly mileage.  The challenge with this argument is that it totally ignores the significant influence genetic talent has on the ability to run high mileage and to apparently benefit from running high mileages.  What does genetics have to do with running high weekly mileages?  I suggest that the genetic talent that allows a runner to run fast generally also allow that runner to run and benefit from relatively high weekly mileage.  This is why elite distance runners generally run 100mpw or more - their genetic talents are such that they benefit from running these types of mileages.  However, it is important to note that the high weekly mileages are NOT the reason elites are elites.  They are elites because of their superior genetic talents.  For example, research on 7 time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong revealed that in a detrained state his aerobic capacity is as high as an average man could ever hope to achieve.  What this means is that if Lance were untrained and you, an average person, were in the best shape ever and you raced Lance, you might tie him.  With even a minimal amount of training Lance would beat the average person in a bicycle race even if that average person were at their lifetime maximum of fitness.  Elites aren't fast just because of their training, they are fast because of their genetic talents combined with training.  The high mileage training only allows them to make the best use of all the talent that nature blessed them with.  Duplicating the training of the elites won't turn a person with average genetics into an elite runner.

I suggest that this explains why research on weekly mileage using subjects with average genetic talent shows increasing mileage to be minimally effective in improving performance.  Those with average genetic talents do not benefit to the same extent as elites do from increasing mileage.  Those with less than elite level genetics will reach their optimal weekly mileage at a lower point than do elites, as is indicated in various research studies.

The optimal mileage for you is going to depend on several factors, the largest of which is your inborn genetic talent.  It would be nice if there were some way to tell you definitively "run X miles per week and you will reach your maximum potential".  Unfortunately, it's not possible to do so.  As an "experiment of one" you have the task of discovering what weekly training load is best for you.  This is not to say that there is no guidance available as to what weekly mileage may be best for the different classification of runners.  Based on all the available data, in part 1 of this guide I suggested average weekly training volumes (and mileages) that I believe are appropriate for each level of runner, based on their genetic talents. 

Does this mean that my suggested weekly mileages are going to be right for every person?  Absolutely not.  My suggested weekly mileages are just that - suggestions.  Your optimal weekly mileage may vary!  Some will benefit from running higher or lower mileage than I suggest, again based on the fact that people posses varying levels of genetic talent.  It is possible that a person with the genetic talent that allow fast running may not be able to run the high mileages of their peers.  It is also possible that a person with poor genetics for speed may run well off higher weekly mileages than I've suggested.  However, I believe the guidance provided is appropriate for most runners in each category.

Finally, though I've devoted an entire section of this training guide to the discussion of weekly mileage, I would much prefer the running community focus its thoughts and efforts on power output and training load.  As I wrote above, I believe the intense importance placed on weekly mileage by the running community is misplaced.  Nevertheless, the reality of the situation is that this focus on weekly mileage is not likely to change soon, hence the reason I've spent so much time discussing it here.

Balance

 

Your job is to find the balance of training frequency, intensity, duration, and volume that produces optimal performance for you.  It doesn't matter what the optimal blend is for anyone else because you aren't them.  You are you and you have your own individual optimal training load.  I provide suggested training programs later in this guide.  Your job is to adjust these training programs so that they fit you perfectly. 

 

You may find that greater frequency, lower intensity, and longer duration works better for you.  Or that lower frequency, higher intensity, but shorter durations runs result in your best performance.  The point is there is some blend of frequency, duration, and intensity that is going to produce your optimal performance and that particular blend may not be what works for someone else. 

 

The training recommendations and suggestions that any training program makes are just that - recommendations and suggestions.  Without knowing you personally and working with you closely, no generic training program is likely to be completely optimal for you.  All any training program can provide is a starting point and a method that has proven successful by some number of other runners.  Whether it is optimal for you or not can only be determined by you.  Which brings us to the end of part 2.  Part 3 continues with the single most important thing in running.

 

Part 3 - The Single Most Important Thing In Running