1) Mind Training If you're wanting to be the absolute best you can be as a
runner/athlete... you must first "BE" that runner in your own mind first and
foremost. Beneficial decisions regarding training and lifestyle will follow
naturally. NOTE: This is probably much easier to achieve when you are single!
2) Stay Smooth To help achieve a style that conserves energy... watch the
horizon line and try to run so it is not bouncing up and down.
3) Fresh Legs If you can afford to have two or more pair of quality training
shoes on the go at any one time... your legs can stay "fresher" because a
shoe's cushioning will actually "bounce back" some when not being used daily.
Using different models of shoes may work lower muscles in a slightly different
way and help to prevent repetitive strain injuries.
4) Get Dirty Your legs can feel "fresher" if you can do at least some of your
running on grass and/or dirt. My running partners and I did our interval
sessions for years on a 800 metre grass park loop. I think that was very
beneficial to injury prevention. And if your legs stay fresher, your workouts will
be better quality!
5) RACING - This probably applies even more so to a cycling event, but
works in running races too. If you're battling with someone and you know a
substantial uphill is coming... often racers will put in a huge effort on the way up
and let up somewhat at the crest. If you can maintain the "surge" through the
top of the hill and beyond, you will often cruise right on by.
6) SPEEDY RECOVERY - One good way to help your legs recover quicker
after a long and/or tough workout is to cool them down right away, (after your
cool down jog and stretch). You can use ice, a hose, or cold bath. On occasion
we would end a marathon distance training run at cold Lake Erie in the spring
and stand in it for 15 minutes or so. I was amazed at how much better my legs
would feel the next day compared to not cooling them down. This has been a
trick of many pros for decades!
7) Variety - I think you're more likely to cover all the training bases if you
incorporate a lot of variety in your training. From experience, it seemed that
doing regular 50 metre sprints focusing on form and leg speed, made my 400m
repeats faster. Then my mile workouts were quicker and my 10Km times
dropped. With the addition of regular long runs, then my marathons were faster
too. (see below too)
8) Weights - In most cases, total body weight training seems to be a factor
in reaching full potential, I believe. A strong core can give you better form and
for longer in a race. Better arm swing can translate into better leg turnover. A
more powerful toe-off should launch you farther with each stride and allow you
to power up hills faster.
9) Mind Over Matter - In many of my best races, when I was starting to hurt
during the closing Km's... instead of slowing, on occasion I was able to convince
myself that if I just went even faster, then it would be over quicker!
(We often have more left in the tank than we think. Once a number of us were
totally "spent" after a very hard workout. But when we were asked to help find a
lost boy in the woods, everyone managed to take off running again to help
search! I bet if we had said, "let's do another interval" - we would have said that
we couldn't!)
10) In The Zone - It only ever happened to me in a few races. I would
describe it as achieving a very high level of concentration and relaxation at the
same time. While "in the zone", your top effort can almost seem "easy". An
excellent 2:25 marathoner, Mark Roberts, used to remind me during intervals, to
"get the speed up and relax". Not always easy to do, but a great tip to help find
"the zone" while racing.
11) Interval Speed - Finding your proper speed and effort level for running
interval repeats can be confusing. Some formulas use heart rate monitors or
recent race times. If you want a simple one that seemed to work for years for
most of my training partners and I... we basically ran our repeats as hard and
fast as we could while being able to run them all as quickly as the first. If you
couldn't hold the speed through to the last one, then you backed off some next
time. If the workout seemed too easy we bumped up the speed next time.
12) Outside The Box - A friend who was a very, very good distant runner
used to do unique "intervals" on the road by holding his breath between one
section of telephone poles and running and breathing normal for the next. The
idea being that the lack of oxygen simulated a sprint for his cardiovascular
system without the hard pounding. Never tried it myself so I can't speak for it
one way or the other, but it shows an example of training creativity.
13) "Indian Line" - Next time doing speed training with a group you can
throw this one in the mix. Run in single file at an easy training pace spaced
apart a few metres. The runner at the back surges (at his/her desired interval
sprint speed) until reaching the front position. The runner now at the back does
the same etc. etc. The beauty of it is everyone can do this together and still go
at their own chosen pace for the fast section.
| Edward C., (owner of Champion Bicycles in London, Ontario), and Dennis begin the first run portion at a Duathlon in Lakeside, Ontario. |
Dennis' RUNNING TIPS
| "The effect of proper training is single generation evolution" DK |