Training
 Paul I
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 2:53 AM
I have never been able to figure the my best plan of attack for the week or two prior to a big race to get in my optimum condition. Iv'e tried all sorts... easy last week, one day rest. Long run beginning of week, speed reps only rest of week. Hard out run a few days before, with some slower hill work thrown in during the week etc, etc... the problem is I can't seem to get any magic pattern. Often I produce my fastest training times after I done a few hard back to back time trials, each one improving, and wonder if this is a dumb way to prepare for a race if I do this the day before?
Does anyone else have plans that really work consistantly for them, or ideas that may help others to try out.
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mick finn
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 7:07 AM
Paul: damn fine question - I suspect everyone is different and the more you experiment the better - I've found that a block of 3 hardish days including a 5km race or time trial (Tues) followed by 3 very easy days eg Wed to Fri incl 30mins the day before works very well for me. And similarly, a few weeks of regular 5km races works well, sort of racing into fitness.
Apparently Lydiards boys had the fitness and strength to handle a few weeks of hard racing 3-4 times a week, even twice a day at olympics semis, which got them into awesome shape to break records etcetera.
But without that sort of fitness I suspect after the stimulus (ie race) one would need a few days of rest. Apparently you can't make any fitness gains in the last 10days for that race (but for the longterm you will) but the familiarity with racing and race pace would still help as long as you're rested. Mind you when I was a wee chap I would train through hard Tue-Thu and easy Friday and still be fresh on Saturday/Sunday but alas no more. That was the deCastella thing of a little bit of everything each week over a long period ie tue-hills, wed-medlong, thu-ints, sat-race, sun-lon, others easy/rec, and one thing I'll say about that is that I've stayed injury free doing that for 25 years on and off, albeit slow and steady.
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Paul I
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 7:34 AM
Awesome feedback mick! I find that usually if I rest too much I struggle a lot more in the next couple of runs after (usually the race). I also have some achilles problems and find that the more time I spend on rest days the worse they sease up!
Any helpful tips to us non experienced runners or young athletes without running coaches are welcome. It may even give others some fresh thinking and inspiration.
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Jamie
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 8:10 AM
I'm a believer in a bit of a blow out the day before, 20min fartlek or similar...but I'm one of those people who forget how to run...
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Neil K
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 11:09 AM
Yeah, I'm with Jamie on this one. But I do ease up the volume alot in the proceeding 5 days before a major race. Also I'm a big fan of superovercompensation about 2 to 3 weeks out from a major race. Superovercompensation is an intensity and volume of training that is more than your body can normally sustain but you only do it for a week or 10 days then ease off to recover for the race.
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mick finn
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 11:37 AM
I think that for me 3 days hard 3 easy is a miniature version of compensation for an old and rusty chap who gets injured if I try for a few weeks of big training. I had some great training a few weeks out from the Jumbo Holdsworth after a solid winter and summer and went just too far, then got sore back and flu. Probably should have done 10 days or less as Neil suggests.
Apparently Mark Allen Ironman legend could do 4 weeks of awesome training (38 hours total) followed by a 4 week taper.
Have also heard locally that the training 2 to 3 weeks out is the indicator of where you're at and if you're doing well then the best thing is to rest, keep fresh and do short strideouts to keep the legs remembering how to run.
But you can never do too much experimentation, Lydiard spent years running himself every which way to work out his training. And the Kenyans thousands of years developing the perfect genetics chasing cattle through the Rift Valley (I kid you not).
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Paul I
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 11:57 AM
All comments so far increadibly valuable.
I will definately be trying the 2-3 week out hard yakka stuff. And the day before blowout seems to work well for me, I wondered if it worked for others. To me it's also necessary to be able to handle that type of schedual for multiday events anyhow. Lucky us who find it ok.
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Tane Cambridge
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 1:22 PM
I have read stuff that recommends having a ten day taper before a big race with shorter and higher intensity training. Also if you have left it late and only have a couple of weeks, sometimes just have a smaller taper (about 3-4 days out) of high intensity stuff, then just drop dead all physical training 1-2 days before.
However I think a lot of it has to do with who you are and what suits you best. And also very dependant on the length of the event/events.
I have been using the drop dead approach for a few years, but I seem to orienteer better a few days into a multiday. I dont know if this is more to do with having a good base, or more to do with being in a better orienteering mind set rather than tapering. Although sometimes the legs feel a bit heavey in the first few minutes of the first race, so a light jog probably wouldnt go a miss for me on the day before.
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Tane Cambridge
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Posted: 25 May 2007, 1:43 PM
Also now that I think about it...
As Mick points out you cant really make any fitness gains in the last 10 days, you do can do a lot in that ten days to get your body right and prepared for the race in terms of recovery and not going too hard etc...but just about always races come down to a mental aspect. Your body might be all good but if your mind isnt in the right frame then your never going to be able to get the best out of it.
I had a probelm for a while where I would freak out in big races and I would tell myself I couldnt Orienteer, or I wasnt good enough etc...
So to combat it I took to planning, so a week out I would look up my start time then write down a plan listing every thing that I was going to do that day before hand, what time I would get up, how long before the event I would start getting ready, what I would eat and drink for breakfast and what time...right upuntil race start time. Then I would plan out the race. which is hard for orienteering. My orienteering is all built on confidence, so if I start slow and build through my race the race will look after itself. I would list things that could go wrong and which of these things I could and could not control and the ones I could how I would control them.
This process has helped me relax beforehand and get into my "optimal state of arousal" which I think on the day contributes to at least 50% of your performance. I also think you need to keep developing this kind of process, changing little things here and there to get it to fit yourself for the "now"...as you only as good as your last race....
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