Training Philosophy

One thing I've learned throughout my years of involvement in running is that there is no singular magic formula. If there was, we'd all be doing it. There are a lot of training methods that can improve your fitness and running. So what makes my methods and training philosophy special? Absolutely nothing.

From what I've witnessed and what the empirical data shows, the biggest key to success in running is consistency throughout time. What exactly does this mean? Those that are consistent with their training day-after-day, week-after-week, month-after-month, and year-after year will have the best results. The biggest killer to consistency is injury. The rate of injury in distance is very high due to the phenomena of "overuse injuries." The structure of training plays a large role in preventing injury, along with sleep and nutrition.

So how do I, as your coach, structure training to help you remain consistent and maximize your results as a runner? This is where my training philosophy kicks in. I follow 5 core principles to base all training off of.

1. Progressive overload

   • Progressive overload is the idea of increasing training stimuli over time. We won't improve as runners if we continue to run the same thing over and over again. We need to gradually increase our training stimuli over time. This can be accomplished in a couple of ways:

     • Increased volume: Increasing volume of weekly running mileage/time and/or increasing volume of workouts.

     • Increased velocity: Running workouts at a faster pace than previous workouts of a similar kind.

2. Variety of Training Stimuli

   • There are a lot of ways to improve overall running ability. A great runner, regardless of their best/goal race distance, will be sound at all aspects of running. Marathon runners will benefit from running the occasional speed workout and mile-5K runners will benefit from long runs. While all training is specified for the goal race, you will see a variety throughout a training cycle that makes you a great runner overall.

3. Periodization

   • It is vital to properly segment your training to ensure that you are best prepped for your goal race. I typically structure most training plans/cycles into the following 4 segments:

     • Base/Maintenance Phase - Typically a short period (2-4 weeks) of largely aerobic (easy) running to start a new training cycle following a goal race or running break. 

     • Aerobic Development Phase - Usually a large chunk of the training cycle where the focus is largely on anaerobic threshold work and long runs with a mix of speed and hills.

     • Race Specific Phase - This is the phase where the focus of training shifts to speed endurance and race specific work.

     • Taper Phase - A 2-3 week period where the volume is decreased and the workouts are geared to have you feeling your best for your goal race.

4. Supplementary Work

   • Another vital way to both reduce risk of injury and improve running ability is to incorporate supplementary work. I incorporate the three following types of supplementary work into every training plan/cycle:

     • Strength training: Utilizing weight lifting increasing strength to both prevent injury and improve running form by reducing fatigue of strengthened muscles. Strength training is broken down into "power," "supplemental," and an optional "upper body" day every week.

     • Plyometrics: Plyos are often overlooked, but are runners best friend. Plyos increase overall power and the elastic-power return of the muscles of your lower legs to improve your running. Plyos are broken down into a "power" and a "quickness" day each week.

     • Core/Stability: Improving the strength of our core (hips/trunk) improves our posture when running to help prevent running form breakdown with fatigue. These are broken down into "abdominals" and "stability" days each week.

5. Rest/Recovery

   • This should really be principle number 1. Rest and recovery is the most vital function that gets grossly overlooked by runners on how to improve their running. As stated earlier, the key to becoming a better runner lies in consistency. Our bodies and minds require the rest and recovery to be able to get after it day-after-day. We accomplish our rest and recovery in a multitude of ways:

     • One rest day a week. On all of my training plans I typically give one complete day off every week. This is vital to allowing our bodies to recovery from the week of hard work as well as giving our minds a day to not think about running.

     • SLEEP. If you want to become a better runner you need to get good, consistent sleep. It may be hard with our busy lives, but getting an adequate 7-9+ hours of sleep every night will not only improve your running, but improve your every day life. There are various peer-reviewed studies that show a greatly decreased rate of injury with athletes who are getting adequate sleep every night. Sleep is our body's greatest recovery tool.

     • Keeping hard days hard and easy days easy. You aerobic and recovery runs should always feel at an easy effort (recovery runs might not feel great with sore legs from a previous workout, but the effort should remain light). 

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