Photo by Chris Milliman. Courtesy of Craft Apparel.
by Janda Ricci- Munn
My last post-workout training tip shed light on post workout cool down and recovery and the concept that effective training means knowing not only how to effectively stress your body, but how to expedite its rate of recovery so that it can properly absorb the day’s training stress and adapt to it/grow stronger. We often think of post workout “recovery” as something that happens in the hours and days after a given workout but pay little attention to our body’s needs in the minutes following stressful training sessions…
Big mistake.
Running by nature is a stressful activity. With every stride, we subject our bodies to quite a bit of eccentric stress. Muscles, joints and connective tissue all take a beating when we pound pavement, cross-country trails and even the treadmill. The degree of stress being imposed upon our bodies is determined by the severity of the training session and your relative state of fitness.
Generally speaking, the harder and/or longer you run, the more you stress your body, although things like weather conditions and course profile obviously factor into the equation as well (i.e. a hilly course will usually exact a higher toll than a flat course will). A highly trained, physically fit runner can typically handle more training stress than their out of shape/beginner counterpart can, which is another reason that newer runners must remember to build their training volume and frequency slowly when undertaking a training regimen.
Regardless as to whether you call yourself a seasoned pro or a rookie however, there are a few keys points to remember when thinking about post workout recovery: Continue reading 'Post-Workout Protocol: Cool Down and Recovery'»
Fitness Tips, For the Beginner 
exercise, fitness, health, Janda Ricci-Munn, Landice elliptimill, Landice treadmill, marathon, muscles, racing, recovery from injury, run, runner, runners, Running, stretching, training, triathlon, workout
Dave Smith
by Dave Smith
The transition phase is the phase of training that follows your last big race of the year before you start in with next year’s base period of training. This phase is a mesocycle in which you greatly reduce volume, intensity, duration, and just overall structure of your program. The main goal here is to recharge both physically and mentally. It is okay to take a week or two off from training, possibly even a bit longer depending on how difficult your year was from both a physical and mental standpoint.
After you take that time off, the big key to making this phase of training successful is to stay active, especially doing sports other than the one you train so hard for all year. Some favorites of mine are playing basketball, hiking, and getting more involved with the activities at school since I teach Health & PE. It’s always fun beating up on the high school students a bit. It’s good for them! This is the perfect time to try that new sport you’ve always wanted to.
The transition phase typically lasts anywhere from one to six weeks depending on when your season ends and when your next big race is. A lot of triathletes and runners do a big fall event in October or early November. Using from after the race through the end of November is popular. Starting back up around the first of December, with the plan of using December as a preparatory month, works out well. During December your goal is to prep the body for the base phase starting after the first of the year. You’d start back in with some structured training, but you’re flexible at the same time. This can certainly be adjusted as you see fit, but this should give you an idea of how you can benefit most in going from one season to the next. The biggest mistake you can make is taking 2-3 months completely off. Let’s face it, it’s tough getting back in shape. The majority of people are much better off keeping the ball rolling a little and staying active, just toning things back.
Lastly, this is the perfect time to plan out your training and racing for next season. A lot of big races these days sell out quickly, so knowing what races you’d like to do well ahead of time is a good idea. If you work with a coach, sit down with them and talk about how the season went and where you’re headed. Do you have a goal? It’s hard to create a training plan without a goal. Most of us endurance athletes tend to be planners anyways so this shouldn’t be too much trouble!
Photo by Chris Milliman. Courtesy of Craft USA.
At Landice, we want to help you be the best YOU you can be. We’ve enlisted the help of Janda Ricci-Munn, accomplished triathlete and coach. Together, we want to offer you practical training tips to help you reach your own fitness goals. Let us journey with you. Leave us comments and updates. Tell us how you’re doing. Let us know when you’re training for a race so we can cheer you on. Stay tuned for more running tips from Janda!
In their quest for improved performance, many endurance athletes lose sight of the fact that ultimately, the limiting factor for any endurance event is just how fast you can go when you’re swimming, biking and/or running at top end speeds.
Case in point: 6 minutes per mile pace feels like a comfortable run for the athlete who can sustain well under 4 minutes per mile pace for a minute or more. For the slower athlete who tops out around 6 min. mile pace when running for about a minute though, they’ll never have a hope of keeping up with their quicker counterpart, no matter how many miles they log! Continue reading 'Springing Ahead'»
Fitness Tips athletes, endurance, marathon, muscles, racing, run, runner, runners, Running, training, triathlete, triathletes, triathlon
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