(from Running Times/Performance Page/Greg McMillan – Oct 2010)

“Training exists to help your racing.  Period.  Always “winning” a workout or running faster than you should ina workout is a great way to be disappointed in your racing.”

“Fix:  The easiest test of overtraining is when your training results are better than your race results.  When this happens, it ‘s best to back off your training intensity a little (see more on this in the November issue of Running Times).  Your races will usually improve.  Find your sweet spot in training by working hard but within yourself for a few weeks; I bet you’ll see your race performances jump up a notch.”

I get this question all the time:  “Shouldn’t I do my track workouts at the speed I WANT to my race pace to be?”

My answer is always…..”Nope.”

To get faster you have to know the following:

1.       Know your strength and weaknesses – be they core, aerobic, or anaerobic.

2.       Work on those weakness’s, and continue to work on your strength’s, but not as much.

3.       Allow your body time to recover.  Yes, this means taking a day off now and then.

4.       Making sure you get plenty of sleep each night, and that you have a healthy diet.

5.       Weight management – for every kilo you are over your ‘natural’ weight, this can add up to ~15-30” per mile slower (depending on distance)

6.       Stress management – if you have a high stress job or life this will also be detrimental to race performances.  Stress builds up over time and does it’s own damage. 

That’s all for today!

Debi