Training Plans – An Introduction

Introduction to Training

To run to its maximum your body needs a variety of types of training, to develop its different components –

1. Cardiovascular Endurance
2. Muscular Strength
3. Muscular endurance
4. Flexibility
5. Body Composition

Total fitness involves working progressively on each one of five components of physical fitness and these are addressed in the Training Plan.

Cardiovascular endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to provide the oxygen and fuel your body needs during sustained workloads. Aerobic running (cycling and swimming) is an ideal way of improving your cardiovascular system. The Cooper Test is often used to test cardiovascular endurance.

Muscular strength is the amount of force a muscle can produce. Push-ups would indicate muscular strength. Speed-work or work with light weights in a gym or doing strength-and-conditioning exercise will improve muscle strength.

Muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to perform continuously without fatiguing. Anaerobic training can help improve the lactic threshold, which is a sure sign of fatigue in your muscles (see below).

Flexibility is the ability of each joint to move through the available range of motion for a specific joint. The programme doesn’t describe stretches, but these are crucial and are best done after your exercise, when your muscles are warm and supple, and after 10 minutes of warm-up before you start intensive exercise.

Body composition is the amount of fat mass compared to lean muscle mass, bone and organs. Aerobic training is the main means of burning body fat.

 

Guide to Types of Runs in the Plan

a) Recovery runs

• feels very comfortable
• the speed feels unnaturally slow.

b) Long Slow Distance and Aerobic endurance runs

Aerobic means ‘with oxygen’. During aerobic work, the body is working at a level where its demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body’s intake. The only waste products formed are carbon dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and by breathing out. During such runs:

• running feels comfortable
• you can keep this pace easily for a long time (30 mins to over an hour)
• you can breathe easily
• you can talk easily during the exercise; in other words, carry out a conversation with someone.

Aerobic endurance can be sub-divided as follows:

• Short aerobic - 2 minutes to 8 minutes (lactic/aerobic)
• Medium aerobic - 8 minutes to 30 minutes (mainly aerobic)
• Long aerobic - 30 minutes + (aerobic)

Aerobic endurance is developed by both longer runs and interval training.

• Continuous duration runs to improve maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max)
• Interval training to improve the heart as a muscular pump

c) Tempo runs at the aerobic threshold

Your aerobic threshold is the point at which anaerobic energy pathways start to operate and is around 65% of your maximum heart-rate. This is approximately 40 beats lower than your anaerobic threshold.
You are advised to calculate this threshold, based on your maximum heart rate or from tables showing the likely maximum for someone of your age.

d) Anaerobic forms of training, including speed reps and intervals

‘Anaerobic’ means operating without oxygen. By doing this you build up lactic acid as a waste-product and after a short period of such intensive exercise you have to slow down swiftly. In this programme you will be doing a few fast runs and intervals for short periods at an anaerobic level. You will know that you are at this level, either by a heart-rate monitor or through the following:

• running feels forced and you are breathing fast and superficially
• the speed is difficult to maintain and you certainly can’t do more than 30 minutes at this pace
• talking is difficult, other than odd words with a breath between.

Interval training involves repeated sessions, typically of 4-10 minutes, which should be at your target race pace. If you are running on a track you should memorise your target pace per 100m or 400m. Or if you are running on a towpath find a stretch with ¼ mile (440yd) or half-mile markers, to serve the same purpose. You should try and acclimatise your body to running precisely at this pace.

• running will be hard and will hurt, and you can only maintain this for short stretches
• breathing will be very fast, and talking almost impossible.

Knowing your Recovery, Aerobic and Anaerobic Thresholds

These thresholds are calculated, as a rule of thumb, based on your maximum heart-rate. To calculate it exactly you would need to undergo a supervised “Stress Test”. But a rough calculation is 217 minus (0.85 x your age). So, if you are aged 45 your maximum heart rate would be 217 – (0.85 x 45) or 217 – 38 = 179.

Your Recovery Runs should be done at about 60-70% of your maximum heart-rate. If your MHR is 179, then this would be 107-125 beats per minute.

Your Aerobic and Long Runs should be done at about 70-80% of your maximum heart-rate.

Tempo-Runs should be done at the threshold or boundary between Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise, so at about 80% of your maximum heart-rate.

Your Anaerobic (Interval) Sessions would be done at 80-90% of your maximum heart-rate.