Run training for triathlon - Learn the basics!

I know you have seen and heard of complicated and detailed running sessions that probably confused you more than actually helped you to understand how to apply to your own training. But the truth is that it does NOT need to be complicated and these 3 basic runs, will cover all your needs.

I know you have seen and heard of complicated and detailed running sessions that probably confused you more than actually helped you to understand how to apply to your own training. But the truth is that it does NOT need to be complicated and these 3 basic runs, will cover all your needs.

The biggest questions I see from athletes when talking running training are:

1 - What to do specifically to prepare myself to a 70.3 (IM, etc) ?
2 - When should I do these specific sessions ?
3 - How much/often should I run ?

You might probably have more questions but I believe those are the key ones and the ones that define 90% of your training.

FREQUENCY

First I would like to make it clear that for 90% of the athletes out there, running 3 times per week is ENOUGH to get faster and to get you to the AG podium you so desire. I know you see people running more but you have to think about "Diminishing Return"  - When running more can actually be more detrimental than beneficial due to extra stress (life and body), increasing chances of injuries, etc.

VOLUME

It does no matter what you heard to be the "ideal" training volume for any specific distance, you have to understand that  the volume is determined by how much your body can take at the moment without requiring you to take a day off or to have a delayed recovery next day.
Sometimes you have only 8 weeks to your key race and if you have not done much volume, you can't just go for a long run because the race is approaching! You have to take your time and let your body adapt slowly to the volume again. Forcing volume will only cause delayed fatigue and it will interfere with your overall training and most of the time causing you to get to the start line tired.
I like to keep volume the same for my athletes for 2 to 3 weeks so I can see how they are truly adapting. Everyone does great on the first week!

INTENSITY

I heard a lot of coaches saying that we do not need too much speed work when training for long distance races, like 70.3 and Ironman. If we are thinking only about the race itself, I do agree with them but speed work has far more benefits to the athlete.

When you do speed work, you force your body to move more efficiently to achieve the speed and that causes an improvement on your mechanics. In the long run, it will cause less fatigue when running a marathon for example.

For that reason, I recommend athletes to start developing their speed before they add the big volume for long races. It make sense to me that volume should be applied on "efficiency body" to reduce chances of injuries and promoting less fatigue.

WHAT TO DO ?

Most athletes can have great benefit from running only 3 times per week and the sessions should be (in the order of importance) :

Long Run - This is your endurance session of the week and it NEEDS to be at a low intensity to truly increase your aerobic capacity. Remember do not do more than what your body can realistically do  TODAY.

Strength Run - Strength is a very important component of running and often overlooked as most athletes prefer to do speed work before / instead of strength.
When running a marathon, you know the reason you slow down is due to fatigue (strength) not lack of endurance or speed!
You can do hill repeats on the road/trails or even treadmill where you minimize the impact on your joints as you do not have the downhill (ideal for overweight or coming back from injury athletes).
Start short and frequent, and build the length of the intervals slowly (i.e. 10 x 30s building to 3 x 3 min., etc). Intensity should start easy to "somewhat hard"

Speed Run - Like I mentioned above, I like to use this session to first build efficiency while being cautious to prevent injury. Then we start to lengthen the intervals and decrease intensity until we get to race pace specific sessions.
First thing I do to all my athletes is to ask them to do short "accelerations" of 20 to 30s where they can control intensity and build speed up to 90% of their maximum speed. The good thing about accelerations is that it prevents athletes from going into speed too quick (cause of most injuries) and give them chance to back down if they need. This is a great introduction to speed, safe and efficient.
Remember, before you hit the track to do mile repeats, build efficiency and speed first through short intervals.

SAMPLE WEEK

See below an example I use to beginner or athletes coming back to train after a long break. Ideal is NOT to have back to back runs so try to give one or two days if possible between runs.

Monday

Strength Run - 15 min. of very easy jog warm up. Find a hill of 4-6% grade (not too steep) or set grade on treadmill.
2 sets of 3 x 30s with 30s easy jog recovery (downhill or 0% grade if on treadmill) with 2 min. easy jog between sets.
Set #1 - Easy effort
Set #2 - Moderate build to somewhat hard effort (as you feel)
finish with 3 min. easy jog, 2 min. walk

Wednesday

Speed Run - 20 min. of very easy jog warm up (note longer warm up, needed it for any speed work). You can do this anywhere but preferably on flat good terrain (no pot holes or tricky trails)
2 sets of 4 x 20s accelerations going from 0 to 90% of your max effort (make sure you ONLY stay at the 90% effort for a couple seconds) with 40s easy jog recovery.
5 min. between sets.
finish with 3 min. easy jog, 2 min. walk

Friday

Long Run - Start conservative and remember the goal is to develop endurance so intensity needs to be LOW! This is NOT a run you compare pace with yourself or friends!! I advise you to increase volume by 10% every 2-3 weeks, NO RUSH!

If you like to read more articles or see great videos, go to my site at www.sbxtraining.com