A good goal needs a good plan. If I want to get stronger in the chest then it doesn't matter how many kms I run nothing is going to happen to my chest. And if I want to get faster in my running then it doesn't matter how many push ups I can do. The right goal needs the right plan.
With one goal its often very simple to find a good plan. But life is way more complicated than that. Often there are competing goals in our lives and these goals require different plans - often these plans compete with each other. That's my situation here. I want to run a marathon while I keep doing my body building but these two goals don't match up. Here's why.
In order to build muscle you need to be eating more than your body is using. Our bodies use this excess energy to build muscle (and fat). Strength training tells the body to use the excess for building extra muscle. However, running burns a lot of calories - A LOT. In a 20km training run I burn up an entire day's worth of food. Putting on muscle and training for a marathon don't really go together. Goals need to be realistic so this isn't my goal. My goal is to maintain my lean body mass, that is, to keep all the muscle I have spent the last couple of years building. I need a plan that gets me to the finish line and achieve a PB over this course - hopefully a PB for all the marathons I have run. Two great runners have guided my planning.
Geoff Galloway, an Olympic runner, notes that "Research has shown that you need at least three days running per week for sustained improvement." Galloway actually suggests the best option is to run 4-5 days per week. While 4-5 days would be better for my running it would cause havoc for maintaining my muscle; I would simply burn too much energy. Also, I need time to do my strength training. Without the continued upper body strength training I'll definitely lose muscle. So I need to work around 3 days running per week.
Amby Burfoot, a winner of the Boston marathon in 1968, suggests the simplest running schedule I have ever seen: "I do a Yasso workout in the middle of the week, a long run at the weekend and fill in the rest of my training as best I can." The long run prepares me to run 42 km. The Yassos (I'll talk about these next week) help me run faster. These two runs form the backbone of my running. The long run gets me to the finish line while the Yassos get me there sooner than later.
This is my training plan. I believe this, along with my diet plan (to be discussed later) will get me a PB over the course and, perhaps, a PB overall. Do you have a goal you are working on? What's your plan for improvement? Does your plan and your goals match?
13 weeks to go.
 |
| Post race swim at the end of the Kaveri Marathon |
In order to build muscle you need to be eating more than your body is using. Our bodies use this excess energy to build muscle (and fat). Strength training tells the body to use the excess for building extra muscle. However, running burns a lot of calories - A LOT. In a 20km training run I burn up an entire day's worth of food. Putting on muscle and training for a marathon don't really go together. Goals need to be realistic so this isn't my goal. My goal is to maintain my lean body mass, that is, to keep all the muscle I have spent the last couple of years building. I need a plan that gets me to the finish line and achieve a PB over this course - hopefully a PB for all the marathons I have run. Two great runners have guided my planning.
Geoff Galloway, an Olympic runner, notes that "Research has shown that you need at least three days running per week for sustained improvement." Galloway actually suggests the best option is to run 4-5 days per week. While 4-5 days would be better for my running it would cause havoc for maintaining my muscle; I would simply burn too much energy. Also, I need time to do my strength training. Without the continued upper body strength training I'll definitely lose muscle. So I need to work around 3 days running per week.
Amby Burfoot, a winner of the Boston marathon in 1968, suggests the simplest running schedule I have ever seen: "I do a Yasso workout in the middle of the week, a long run at the weekend and fill in the rest of my training as best I can." The long run prepares me to run 42 km. The Yassos (I'll talk about these next week) help me run faster. These two runs form the backbone of my running. The long run gets me to the finish line while the Yassos get me there sooner than later.
This is my training plan. I believe this, along with my diet plan (to be discussed later) will get me a PB over the course and, perhaps, a PB overall. Do you have a goal you are working on? What's your plan for improvement? Does your plan and your goals match?
13 weeks to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment