Category: Training

Patience. Persistence. Perseverance.

Now that almost the whole world is spending what seems like it could be a significant amount of time at home, it’s past time to discuss training at home.

Fortunately, running is a simple sport. For most of us, heading out the front door for a run is an option. However, what about those of us for whom that isn’t an option, either because we live in a place where things are serious enough that we can’t go outside even to exercise or because we live in a place where running from your front door isn’t an option?

Affecting probably more of us, what about those other things I hope you’re doing? What about your auxiliary training? Do you normally use public weight rooms that are now closed?

Right now, we’re all in the same boat. Even if you had spring racing plans, they have been put on ice. We don’t know when our next race will be. It could be next month, though that’s looking less likely all the time. It could be that we have to wait until fall.

So what do you do? If you have a May or June race on your schedule that hasn’t been canceled yet, maybe you are holding out hope that it will be able to happen and you continue with your training plan.

If you’re not expecting to race until fall, though, maybe you’re going to take a step back and build your base.

Before I begin, I understand that running should be one of the least of our worries right now. We have bigger concerns to think about.

That said, I’m not an expert in pandemic response so I have very little to say about it. Seek out other sources for that topic. I recommend starting with the CDC.

What I do know is that many of us rely on running or working out in some form to calm our nerves and relieve stress. In these times, calming nerves and relieving stress seem very important. So what is a runner to do?

Last week, I wrote about what makes a good training plan. In it, I said it’s a plan that allows you to accumulate consistently good runs and workouts.

So what’s a good workout?

What does a good training plan look like?

What a loaded question, right? It could look like so many things.

Well, don’t expect a detailed explanation below because the truth is that what makes a good training plan lies in the big picture, not the details.

Are you late to group runs? Do you miss training runs or workouts regularly?

Are you late to meetings at work? Do you miss appointments?

If you answered yes to the first pair of questions, you probably answered yes to the second pair.

If something goes wrong in your training plan, what do you do? Do you panic or do you roll with it?

How about if something goes wrong in a race?

When you line up for a race, what’s going through your mind?

Are you looking at it as a challenge? An opportunity to see how well you can perform?

Or do you see it as a threat, fearing failure?

Are you planning to try something new this year? If so, have you decided what you’re taking away?

It may seem strange to talk about removing something but, if you’ve already maxed out your training, how can you add something without taking something else away?