Throughout the winter, a group of us have been working on our triathlon run speed down at The Windsor Slough and Eton Track. We meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm for anyone keen to join in.

We have progressed from 400m intervals through 800m’s to 1,200m’s and onto mile reps. Now we have reached race season the run training has switched slightly to allow us to keep running hard even when our muscles are fatigued, thus simulating  triathlon without all the other stresses that are involved.

This run circuit will  spice up your training offering variety that you may not have tried before. It is a very tough session and easy to over-cook because you set out too hard or to underperform because you are not rested enough before starting. Always try and do it in a group or with someone else so that you can motivate each other.

If done correctly you will notice it takes big chunks of time off your run splits….so give it a go.

Read Mike’s article ‘Running Circuits for Triathlete’s‘

One day, around the end 1992, after I had spent a few years as a professional triathlete, based in Japan, while I was ill, and looking through my old training diaries, I realized the route of my problems.

I was concerned that I was getting sick too often, and was determined to find out the reason, because it was playing havoc with my training and was affecting my race results. Having studied sports science, I know the theories, that it is only by training regularly and constantly over long periods of time will you improve.

However, I was always getting sick and I was not improving from year to year.

My aim was to do 30 hours training a week in the winter, mostly longer slower sessions, cutting it down to around 20 hours a week pre-season and then down to 15 during race weeks, when the intensity was very high. This was sound in theory and would give me an average of 20 hours a week for the year. It was what all the top pro’s were boasting they did at the time.

When I look back at the 1992 season, I discovered to my shock, although there were some big weeks in at 30 hours, there were many blanks when I was sick. At the end of 1992, I decided on a big change. I added up the hours of training for the whole year and was shocked to find I had only averaged 11 hours a week!

My solution was to set out a programme for 1993 where I would aim to average 12.5 hours a week for the whole year. If I was successful this would be a 13.6% increase in my annual training volume which would be a huge jump up. The 30 hour weeks went, and were replaced by 20 hour weeks, the 20 hour weeks were replaced by 15 hour weeks, and race weeks were slashed to 4-5 hours. I built in easy recovery weeks along the way of only 8-10 hours…the results were more that much better that I really expected.

As a professional, I had all the time in the world to train. In fact it was easier to go out training than to stay at home. However, as a professional my ultimate aim was to win races, not to see how many hours a week I could train for.

Too many people forget what they are training for, and the training takes over, like an illness, they become addicted to training…”If only I can get an extra bike ride in”…”If I do an extra 1,000m swim per session I will get faster”. You must have heard people boasting such things as…” I did an awesome 200 mile bike ride yesterday” or …”We managed to get 6 sessions done over the weekend!”…or…” I did a 4 hours bike ride, and felt great so ran for an extra 2 hours afterwards” etc. etc. etc.

WHY?…What is the purpose of it all? To make the training diary look good?

I can write this because, I was that person, I was addicted to training and just kept adding in more and more, until I broke down and got sick…then I would recover and start building up more and more again. The hardest thing for me was to accept this and finally say… “NO MORE!”.

I stuck to my new regime like glue and it felt easy. I thought that I was being lazy, I was never tired, and had lots of free time. Initially, I felt guilty, as if I was cheating my sponsors, because I was training so much less, but as the weeks went past I built up a solid base.

Early season racing in 1993 was not great, but by September, when I cut back the volume back to only 5-6 hours a week, my performances went through the roof. That was the start of my most consistent and highest level of racing which was to last for the next 11 years.

I won the Japanese Olympic Distance National Championships in September 1993 and over the winter I stepped up my training a bit more and averaged about 14 hours a week in 1994. To my amazement at this low level of training, and in my one and only Ironman triathlon I set the British record at the time of 8 hours 52, at Ironman Japan.

Since I was doing so well on lower volume, higher quality training, I did not take my annual weekly average over 16 hours a week, and after 2000 when I retired I dropped it to about 10 hours a week.

This actually gave me an extra boost, so when I started to race for Great Britain again, I surprised myself at the age of  41, reaching No. 2 in the ITU World Duathlon Rankings behind the legendary Benny Vansteelant.  It was also at 41, I managed my last sub 30 min 10km run and won the Master’s 10,000m World Championships.

I am sorry it if this looks like too much self indulgence, but I want to add impact to my advice.

If as a full time athlete I could only cope with 11 to 16 hours training a week, how many hours can you cope with?

I am sure that with full time jobs and family commitments, most of you are over training and under achieving if you are attempting those heady heights of 20-30 hours training weeks.

My advice is to keep the quantity low and the quality high, and…if in doubt, cut it out!

With the snow turning to slush, and the possibility of muddy fields and waterlogged run routes on the horizon, is the treadmill a viable option to turn to over the next few weeks?

Apart from having to overcome the boredom of running on the spot and a never changing scenery, I find an even bigger problem is that by not moving there is no airflow to moderate my core temperature. In short unless I put a fan in front of me, I heat up too much to enjoy running indoors.

This lack of airflow is a bigger problem than you may realise. As you heat up, you need more blood pushed near the surface of your skin to cool you down. This will then put pressure on the heart, forcing it to beat faster as your leg muscles demand more oxygen. The end result is that your heart rate is higher than it should be at any set speed, which may trick you into thinking you are training more effectively than you are. Or you may worry because your heart rate is higher than usual.

Another problem distorting training, is because it is widely accepted that you need to put a treadmill on a 1 degree gradient to simulate running outdoors. This is because you are not moving anywhere  and so not creating any drag, thus running is easier.

Actually I have also discovered another flaw with the treadmill. It is very easy to get fluctuations in your training depending on how you run.

Because the treadmill is moving and you are not; all the runner has to do is bring their legs back to the start. In order to cope with higher speeds, I have discovered it is easier if I take long bounding strides.  This maximizes my time in the air, and so I am able to cope with the treadmill turning at a higher speed. If I take shorter strides, I struggle more as I have more contact time with the treadmill and so get pushed back further.

Problems aside, I do think it has a place in your training. It is very good for practicing leg speed, and put on a gradient it can also offer very good simulated hill running.

I tend to use it for doing short fast sprints, for leg speed and also on a 6-10% gradient I use it for hill training. I can run 20 minute hill reps on the treadmill! But I do not have any hills of that length near my house!

My two favourite sessions are:

1.  10 x 10 seconds sprinting, with 2 minutes easy running between

and

2 . 6 x 5 minute hill reps with 3 minutes easy running for recovery

Training indoors is very convenient during times of inclement weather, and also if you need to do a hard workout on a dark winters night. However be warned the treadmill is not without its dangers, I have seen people spat off the end them , as they struggle to run at the same pace as their ego!

As with all training, the treadmill has its place, in a balanced programme, but given a choice I would rather be out in the fresh air every time.

That would be a  “snowy blog”

Its Wednesday and that should be track day…with the heaviest snow fall in the last 30 years to hit Berkshire  last night for example, many people will probably be worried about what training to do.

A snow fall like this should be embraced as a chance to do something different. Last night I waited until 10pm when the snow had become quite deep and together with my housemate, Lander  went for a magical run in the snow. Everything was still virgin white and the falling snow seemed to kill all the sounds. The roads in our village were clear of cars, as I am sure they were all parked up on the M4. Running was like being in our own Hollywood set, in a picturesque snowy scene.  The snow was the perfect depth  absorbing the shock of the pounding on the roads yet not too deep to hinder or compromise our running style. I find running in the snow a great stress release and I forget my regular training routine for a few days

Arthur Lydiard used to suggest sand dune running, this time of year to build up leg strength.

Snow is a great alternative to the sand and the deeper it gets the tougher the work out becomes.

Apart from wearing suitable clothing and shoes, I only have two simple rules for snow running:

1. Shorten your stride:  as this keeps you more stable, and reduces the possibility of slipping.
2. Never think in terms of distance:  but always run for a set time. 6 miles in deep snow is worth a half marathon on the roads !

You should still enjoy doing intervals in the snow. But think of it as a Stamina workout  rather than a speed work. if I run a 400m interval in 90 seconds, I simply run for 90 secs in the snow.

The heart is a muscular pump and can not tell if you are running on the snow or charging round a track.It simply knows how hard it is working and for how long. So  today my planned 20x 400m on a two minute circle shall be replaced by a 20x 90secs with 30secs recovery.

Snow running is much less stressful  than track running as you don’t have any perceived notions of how fast you should run, however the snow guarantees you get a great work out.

One thing is for sure the snow won’t last long in the UK, so let’s all enjoy it and make the most of it, and don’t not worry about missing bike rides or track sessions.

In response to several enquiries, the details of the Eton track that Mike will be running at are:

Thames Valley Athletics Centre
Wallace Walk
Pococks Lane
ETON
SL4 6HN

For more information about the track – please see: http://www.runtrackdir.com/details.asp?track=Eton 

Sessions begin from 6.30pm, we look forward to seeing you there.