Relaxed, erect trunk
at all times.
Thigh in forward position.
Final drive shows full leg extension.
Good ground-reaction forces to help final drive phase.
Ground reaction forces
cause a breaking effect,
the extent of which
depends on running-speed.
Running correctly is crucial as it may affect your overall performance. There are many points you need to keep in check. These are as follows:
- Running tall.
- Keep shoulders low.
- Drive your rear elbow.
- Keep you elbows close to you side.
- Drive your rear leg.
- Keep knees high.
- Reach out with your lower leg.
Principles of Training (F.I.T.T):
For any training program, it is absolutely essential that these four principles are implemented. They are as follows:
Frequency: This is to train at least 2 times a week. In this training program, I will train 3 times a week. Little additional training benefits occur when the frequency is greater than 5 times per week when compared to the amount of effort involved.
Intensity: It is vital that I maintain my heart rate in the Target Heart Rate Zone for the required time to gain benefits. Your Target Heart Rate Zone is determined by my fitness level and your age. Low fitness individuals will attain results training at 50% to 70% of their maximum heart rate as their Target Heart Rate Zone. Higher fitness individuals will train at 70% to 85% of their maximum heart rate as their Target Heart Rate Zone.
Time: It is necessary that I maintain the proper intensity (target heart rate zone) for a duration that will create a training benefit i.e. to increase endurance. Low Fitness individuals should maintain their heart rates in their target zone for a minimum of 12 to 15 minutes. This does not include warm-up or cool down periods. As my fitness level increases, the exercise time in my target heart rate zone can be extended to 20 - 60 minutes of continuous aerobic activity. Unless you are a competitive athlete, training beyond 60 minutes in your target heart rate zone provides little additional training benefits for the amount of effort exerted. If you are overweight however, long training sessions at a low intensity (50% to 60% of maximum heart rate) utilize fat as an energy source and are helpful in a weight/fat reduction program.
Type: This is the type of training I do. It will not be beneficial to me if I do sprints after sprints as I will simple build up my fast twitch muscle fibres which have little oxygen capacity. I will need carefully chose my training methods to build up my slow twitch muscle fibres so it will increase my endurance whilst doing cross country. My selected training methods are illustrated on the following page.
A further principle I will consider is "variety" or "variance". This essentially means ensuring that training is varied and interesting and provides motivation as well as an all round development of endurance.
Methods of Training:
There are many methods of training which I will slot into my programme which I think will best improve the runners endurance. They are as follows:
Anaerobic Repetitions – This is to develop anaerobic endurance. The more anaerobic endurance the runner has, the better the runner will be. There are three types of anaerobic repetitions: short term, medium term and long term:
Points
- Short term training needs adequate resting time in between repetitions.
- Medium term training needs up to 5 minutes resting time in between repetitions.
- Long term training needs up to 10 minutes resting time in between repetitions.
- If quality fails below 85%, there is little point continuing with session.
Aerobic Intervals – Aerobic endurance can also categorized as short, medium and long term. They are as follows:
This type of training follows intervals this time instead of repetitions as it will be impossible to carry on at high intensity work without periods of recovery.
Resistance Runs – These are runs which involve different things such as running up hills, towing a standard car tire along strapped to your body, running with weights attached to your ankle or wearing a weighted jacket. All these will be beneficial to the runner as over a period of time as it will eventually strengthen the runners muscles i.e. the gastrocnemius.
Medium Steady Run – In addition to 3 days training a week, I feel it is vital to do a medium steady run which will be carried out at the end of every week of four-week period on a Sunday morning. The aim of this is to find out if there is a steady improvement of the runner in terms of endurance or if there is any improvement at all. I will be able to analyse any improvements by comparing the timed runs between the weeks.
Note: These runs do not count as a training session.
Gershler Interval Work – This form of training aims to encourage a running pace more in tune with that used in competition and to also help develop a sense of judgment on pace. This is crucial in endurance events. In order to achieve this, there is interval work which must be done which requires 20 x 200m runs using short recovery periods ranging 30-60 seconds.
Continuous Training – Continuous training consists of medium and long term aerobic work. The two main types are as follows:
-
Medium Steady Runs – This is where you go on a continuous run over a distance of about 5 miles. This type of running has to be conducted at an intensity which corresponds to the runner’s anaerobic threshold.
-
Long Slow Runs – These are steady runs lasting from 30 minutes all the way to 7 hours sometimes. These runs are of a low intensity which is below the anaerobic threshold. These runs are beneficial to cross-country runners as they increase ability to utilize fats.
Fartlek Training – This is when you are varying the pace on a continuous run hence adding stress to the runner in order to reach his Vo2 max. Hills can be included in the run for additional stress. The runner will then suddenly burst into a faster speed to work closer to his/her Vo2 max and then slow down after a certain distance and give the body time to recover. The runner will then burst into speed and do the same again. The reason for this is to encourage adaptation of the aerobic system and to increase endurance. This is also known as mixed paced training.
Plyometrics – This refers to elastic strength exercises i.e. hopping, depth jumps and bounding. The aim of this is to replicate the muscle dynamics of the running action. Runners do these over distances ranging from 30m to 100m by making each muscle of the legs work elastically and actively during each foot.
The Training Programme:
The training programme to increase endurance is shown below in a table. It illustrates what activities will take place each day. These activities are spaced out in a variety of different ways in order to allow time to rest and let the muscles recover.
If you refer to my key, you will see that the beginning of the week is gentle in terms of effort. However, as the week goes on, the sessions become more intense. This is to enable progression of endurance. You will also notice there is a timed run every Sunday. This is to measure the improvement of endurance.
Note: This programme will be repeated for 4 weeks
Key
Normal Effort
Medium Effort
Extreme Effort
