Schedule for 2014

Introduction

Figure 1: Lasse Virén getting up during 10,000 m Olympic Final.

According to the legendary and revolutionary distance training coach, Arthur Lydiard, the single most important factor in planning a training schedule is the date of the competition. This is the competition where you want to perform at your best. Everything done (including racing) before this is part of preparation for the Big Event. The best trainee of distance running in his time was my compatriot, Lasse Virén. He probably was not the best athlete in the field, nor the most gifted, nor genetically superior, but he was the best prepared and was performing at his very best when it mattered, when others couldn't. He won twice both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m competitions in the Olympics, consecutively in '72 and '76. He planned his training in four year cycles always performing at his best in the Olympics. He performed quite poorly in the years between the Games, and received a lot of critic for it especially in his home country, only to shine again when the stakes were at the highest.

The inventor, Arthur Lydiard, was a high school drop-out, shoe factory worker from New Zealand, who later revolutionized distance running training, after doing his own experiments of running training. Until then, most of the distance runners trained running too hard and too fast in the practice. Lydiard taught that most of the training is to be aerobic, jogging. To go fast you have to learn to go slow. Since the prime years of Lasse Virén the game has changed, but the principles of Lydiard still apply.


My Season

My season will be divided in to two parts. In the first part, the first 6 months, my goal is to run a decent 10K Road Race in April. In the second part of the season and my primary goal of this season is to be running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October. So far I have no goal times, I just plan to improve every aspect of my distance running, and perform in the goal races to my current potential. The Chicago Marathon is known to be on a fast and flat course. Over the years this course has produced four world records. But more important than these competitions and results is to keep on making progress and build up the amount of training that I can take. In the larger picture I am on the Quest to find out my true potential as a distance runner.


Setting Out the Schedule

Figure 2: Plan for the Season 2014.

The frame of my 2014 Schedule and Plan is presented on the left in the Figure 2. I will begin my Season on the 4th of November after having been resting for 3 weeks after my previous Season. Besides the planned 4000 km+ of running next year (or five to six pairs of running shoes), I will be doing cross-training twice a week in the form of circulation practice program called Iron Strength (developed by Dr. Jordan Metzl). Iron Strength program is designed for distance runners. Overall at the hardest part of the training I will be doing 9 practices per week (7 running, 2 cross-training). Cross-training is important to prevent injury while running. Not just that, but I will be stronger and run faster and longer with more strength.

The Season begins with 8 weeks of Base Training: aerobic running 7 times per week. Still trying to avoid monotony and effort. I try to mix it up with longer, shorter, Easy Runs, Recovery Runs, all the possible combinations, maybe throw in an occasional Fartlek practice. The goal is to build up my weekly kilometers during the Base Training, so that I can just add intensity later, but keep the distance the same. One sure recipe for injury is to try to add intensity and distance at the same time. The rule of thumb is first the distance, then the intensity.

I should be able to handle 90 to 100 km kilometers per week by the time I will start with the 16-week 10K Training Program in the New Year 2014. The 10K Program has 4 weeks of Hills Training, during which I plan to run the Hills 3 times per week. Really focusing on building the running strength. The 10K Race Prepararion phase includes Intervals and Time Trial running. The focus is on finding the speed. The last six weeks of the Program I will run Tune-up Races, once a week, leading to the Goal 10K Race. That Goal 10K Race result will be of great importance when I try to estimate my current marathon pace (and goal marathon pace) for the 18-week training leading to the Chicago Marathon in October.

Then back to fully aerobic running (end of April): 6 weeks of Base Training, building up the amount of kilometers I can handle up to 115 to 120 km, before adding intensity in the form of 18-week Marathon Training Program. I will go through the 4 training phases in the Program: Endurance (6 weeks), Lactate Threshold + Endurance (5 weeks), Race Preparation (4 weeks), and Taper (3 weeks). More details and experiences will be revealed later.


Caution

Planning is fine, analyzing is better, changing the plan is the best. The most important thing is to listen to the feedback and signals coming from the body: recovery, sleeping, appetite, aches, moods etc. and react before going too far. The Plan is just ink on the paper (or numbers in a spreadsheet). It's there to push me forward, or to hold me back. It's a simple guide that I believe can take me to another level, but the real deal of training is much more complex. My Plan will live and change, if not, then I am just being STUPID.

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My References:
Base Training - Running to the Top (Arthur Lydiard)
10K Training Program - Running to the Top (Arthur Lydiard)
42K Training Program - Advanced Marathoning (Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas)