Patience grasshopper
Our marathon man’s motoring metaphor, likening pacing oneself on the hills to using a gearbox may have worked well last week, but Duncan has gone too far this week with his suggestions.
He reckons he needs to do longer sessions like the full 42 kms of the marathon. That’d be like driving the car from here to Cape Reinga without having finished building the car, and with inadequate oil. The wheels would fall off, nuts and bolts would rattle loose, (especially the nut behind the wheel) and the motor would burn out the bearings and pistons. (major injuries)
The human body adapts gradually to the new demands we’re subjecting it to. That’s why we’ve started training 22 weeks out from the race giving plenty of time to build up to the distance of a marathon, and this gradual build-up reduces the chance of injury.
A longer-term goal like this marathon goal takes patience “grasshopper” and that’s why it’s so rewarding!
Periodisation
As a coach, I have a plan and am using “periodisation”. I’m showing Duncan’s metabolism and his physical body, the principles of marathon running in components and in increments. Just as in an orchestra, we will combine all of these parts in one grand performance on November 22nd at the marathon. At this early period or phase of the plan, we are mainly teaching and training the endurance aspects.
Slowly but surely, we are increasing the duration of sessions. This develops not only the muscular endurance, but also teaches the energy systems or metabolism the duration that they need to keep supplying consistent energy to the muscle cells.
Map my Run
Duncan also complained that his mid-week runs weren’t getting any easier and his legs were still hurting, especially half-way through. But Duncan, ever the clever geek, has loaded “Map my Run” on his smartphone, and it showed that he’d actually improved heaps on previous weeks. Yes, he still felt the effort during the run, but for that same hard effort, he’d been going faster. I.e. He’s getting fitter! His time-trial proved this too, knocking another minute off this week.
Whilst technical stuff like “Map my Run”, and GPS watches with Heart rate monitors can be fun and useful tools, they’re not something you absolutely need. Each of us has fantastic software and circuitry intrinsically build in! We just need to learn to be aware and able to be in tune with our bodies through practice and being “present”.
Marathon Masterclass - come and join us!
Join myself and Duncan for a Q & A session, training advice and a few racing stories over a few free nibbles. A chance to catch up with other budding athletes.
August 20th
5:30 pm to 7:30pm
Queenstown Motor Group (Subaru Dealership)
Remarkables Park
Frankton
It’s free, but please RSVP to steve@stevegurney.co.nz so we have enough nibbles for everyone.
Strength and conditioning sessions
Starting Aug 27th
Wednesday 5:30pm to 6:30pm in Frankton.
If you’re keen let me know steve@stevegurney.co.nz
Week seven training schedule:
This week we’re introducing some variation in pace and Duncan gets a bit of his wish, with a long walk session on Sunday.
Thursday 31st July
45 minutes total, comprised of "accelerations"
10 minutes warm up walk to a grassy jogging area (park or similar)
5 minutes of "accelerations". Start with a fast walking pace, increase the pace one faster gear every minute until at the start of minute three you are jogging.
Keep increasing the jog pace slowly until you are jogging at a good old clip at the finish of 5 minutes.
Do a total of 6 accelerations
Warm down walk for 5 minutes
Friday 1st Aug
Rest day
Saturday 2nd Aug
Time trial #4. Aim to beat last week's time.
Warm up 10 mins brisk walk or easy jog.
Warm down 10 mins walking.
Record your time, we're looking for improvement in the long term.
Sunday 3rd Aug
Long, easy walk. Between 90 minutes and 4 hours. Find an enjoyable track, take a wee backpack with 3 litres of water to drink, some food, a map, a raincoat, a hat, some gloves, and warm thermal layers, and a friend. Tell someone where you’re headed, check the weather forecast and have a back-up safety plan. Have some fun exploring!!
Monday 4th Aug
Rest day (optional swim or bike or yoga or gym 30 mins)
Tuesday 5th Aug
Jog 30-40 minutes at a medium pace on undulating, small hills
Wednesday 6th Aug
Walk / job 43 minutes total as follows:
10 minutes easy jog warm-up, on the flat or hill, at talking pace.
5 minutes jog /run so that you’re breathing hard, (include a bit of a hill or stairs if available).
2 mins easy walk, recovery (could be back down the hill/stairs
Repeat, (2) and (3) to a total of 4 times.
Finish with 5 minutes warm down as easy walking, giving a total session time of 43 minutes
Thursday 7th Aug
45 minutes total, comprised of "accelerations"
10 minutes warm up walk to a grassy jogging area (park or similar)
5 minutes of "accelerations". Start with a fast walking pace, increase the pace one faster gear every minute until at the start of minute 3 you are jogging.
Keep increasing the jog pace slowly until you are jogging at a good old clip at the finish of 5 minutes.
Do a total of 6 accelerations
Warm down walk for 5 minutes