Training for Running

This article looks at Interval training, which in the author's opinion is overused by a lot of serious runners. However, used in measured doses, its training effect on your heart is important. You will know exactly what Interval training is, who developed it, and what benefits it brings to you as a runner: that it sharpens your form ready for the more important races: cross-country championship races, and the summer track and road racing season. Stronger, faster, higher, by thinking smart!

Nov 5, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Further development of what fartlek is with suggestions on how to adapt it to your needs at the stage in the annual preparation you have reached. You also need to know how to change and develop your training schedule to fit in sessions of fartlek and change the emphasis from, say, repetitions to fartlek.

Sep 28, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

What type of training is represented by this strange sounding Swedish word? Why do you need it? How does it benefit you? When and where do you do it? And how do you do it - by playing with the speed and enjoying yourself!

Aug 27, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

After training and tiring your body, breaking it down, you can help your body to recover and restore its strength and build your ability to run a long distance by dieting well - here the basic essential items of diet are covered - so run long, run silent, and afte building up a good appetite - bon appetit!

Aug 3, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Two separate aspects of restoration in long-distance running are examined here. Overtraining, its symptoms, how it affect the nervous system and what masures you can take to restore you and yor body to normal. Then psychological restoration and particularly the use of PRT. A day off a week, or some other sporting activity once a week is important, as practiced by the mile world record holder from the 1960s, Frenchman Michael Jazy. You cannot train well without mastering thes two aspects and integrating them into your lifestyle.

Jun 27, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

This article looks at how during restoration important exchange processes occur, which you must allow for, encourage, and facilitate. It further develops the theme fo a holistic approach to running in which evrything is integrated into a lifestyle.

Jun 6, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

The second part of the quartet of articles on how important restoration in running is - you need more than to rest in order to recover. This article concentrates on getting your heart, lungs, blood and circulatory system ready for your next intensive training session. It tells you how to monitor your body, how to help your body recover, what signals mean things are going wrong, and how to put them right. As ever, diagrams and exercises help focus your mind on the key points. So do yourself a favour, understand that restoration is as important as the running itself which you do.

Apr 25, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

After explaining the need to monitor your heart rate and blood pressure, and to keep a training diary as a useful tool to aid your training, now I would like to examine the training factor of restoration in detail. Restoration, or resting so as to recover between training sessions, is the key to your success in long distance running. However, a great many people who train for long distance running do not realise this, train too hard, do not allow enough rest, and leave their races behind in their training. So read on to find out how to recover, how to restore your body before training again, and particularly, before training hard again.

Mar 21, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

If you train frequently, is it worth keeping a diary or log? The pros and cons of doing so, what information you need to record, how to analyse it, and where on the web to find PC friendly training diaries, widgets and further reading. There's more to running than running!

Feb 28, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Two key medical indicators of whether or not you are overtraining and heading for illness, and whether or not you have let your body recover enough so that it benefits from the training runs you do, rather than be destoyed by your efforts. These are your heart rate (pulse) and your blood pressure, so you need to know haow and where to measure them - and where to buy what you will need!

Jan 31, 2004 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Further theory - how and where to fit circuit training into your yearly cycle of training - and further practical suggestions on how to do your circuit training using steps.

Dec 26, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Ancilliary activities in training for running long distances are not to be disdained or neglected: a cornerstone of training is making sure your body is robust and strong enough to digest the fatigue of racing and training, and recovers quickly ready to go again the next day. The key to this is circuit training. So to enjoy running by overcoming the fatigue more easily, read on ...

Nov 22, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

After treating four different types of training separately in the previous four articles, I now summarise the three which involve contiunous running so that you get a feel for the pace differences and distances you need to run.

Oct 25, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

How to insert a sustained continuous swift 20 to 30 mintue run into your training schedule. This up tempo type of training develops the physical fortitude to maintain your pace to the end of a race without 'dying' and fading away. But be careful, it is a type of training to be carried out with care. Read on, please.

Sep 20, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Run long, run slow, that is to say, long slow distance (LSD) is often seen by serious runners as one of the cornerstones of their training. So why is this? Is it really so important? Which type of runner is it for? How many times a week or in a month should you do a slow long distance run? What race distances does it help towards training for? How far should you run in relation to the distance of the race you want to peak for? Read on please.

Aug 25, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

The role played by repetition training during the preparatory foundation period in laying a foundation for later peak performance. How far to run, how much recovery rest to have in the interval between efforts, the correct pace and how to calculate this, your heart rate, how frequently to do a session of repetitons, and how many days' recovery is required after a session of repetitions. So slightly slower is better than you might think!

Jul 27, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

What is the best way to train? Continuous running or in intervals with rest periods? Which is beneficial to what? How much of the long-distance runner's time should be spent in steady continuous running, and how much in interval training? And what pulse rates are appropriate? Read on please!

Jun 29, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

After reading Part 1 of this article you know about maximum oxygen uptake, and about the various types of endurance required to run a long distance. Now you learn what the oxygen requirements of different distance are - what proportion of the distance is the aerobic and anaerobic. Then how your lung size affects your performance, then how your will power rather than determination should be used to control your running speed. Pace judgement can be worked out from your heart rate, which then gives you empirical speds for which respect for the times you are capable of doing i.e respect for your stopwatch (cronometer) is crucial.

May 9, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Long distance running gets painful if your leg muscles receive too little oxygen. Why is this? And how can you run comfortably with enough oxygen? Does the size of your lungs and the maximum volume of oxygen they can hold affect your ability to sustain a pace for a long distance? How can you discover the optimal paces you as a unique physical secimen should run at so as to enjoy your running in comfortable conditions instead of in a lot of pain? If you race, is some pain to be expected, and if so, how does this affect training?

Apr 27, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

An overview of why you need to do stretching exercises and what the benefits of warming up are - and of what the role of stretching exercises is in warming up and warming down. Explanation of the various types of stretching exercise, followed by all you need to know on how to do stretching exercises correctly and avoid them being counter-productive.

Mar 30, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Continuing the theme of stretching exercises, their role in warming up is emphasised. An alternative warm-up stretching routine is presented, namely the 'eight fine treasures' of Ti Chi. These are excellent exercises and should be in the vocabulary of all athletes .

Feb 15, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

This article continues from Stretching Exercises Parts 2A, 2B and 2C, concludes the exercises, and recommends web sites to visit for your further education on this topic. So if you have not read these three previous parts, or Part 1A and Part 1B, please read these articles first.

Jan 28, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

This article continues from Stretching Exercises Parts 2A and 2B.

Jan 28, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

This is the second part of my article on 'Stretching Exercises' continuing from Part 2A. If you have not read Part 2A yet then please do so and return to this article to learn more!

Jan 28, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Specific stretching exercises for specific sports - running, tennis and so on - are given in tables, and these exercises are then explained and illustrated in diagrams. From hte previous two articles you should know why these exercises and finding time otdo them is important - you will avoid injury and perform better!

Jan 28, 2003 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Why anyone, including sportsmen, should do stretching exercises, debatable points discussed, which type of stretching exercises are most suitable for you, and the why of the how to do static stretching exercises. How a sports warm-up and warm-down routine includes stretching. Seven essential stretching exercises for runners.

Dec 29, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Why anyone, including sportsmen, should do stretching exercises, debatable points discussed, which type of stretching exercises are most suitable for you, and the why of the how to do static stretching exercises. How a sports warm-up and warm-down routine includes stretching. Seven essential stretching exercises for runners.

Dec 27, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Injury to a runner/athlete can be psychologically devastating. You not only need to know how to cope with injury, but how to turn it into a positive advantage - you need a wide and varied life in which running is but one element of many things you do in a balanced life which is therefore whole.

Nov 24, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

How having an efficient running style saves you bags of energy, an explanation of what constitutes an efficient running style, and how to develop it.

Oct 13, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

How to avoid blisters and how to treat them if you do get one - oh dear, the runner's curse.

Sep 14, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Orthotics are shoe inserts which do a lot to help prevent injury. You may not need them now, but you may when you are older as you body wears and tears through all those miles of running.

Aug 23, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

The essential wet foot test is described, how this relates to which type of running shoe you need to buy is explained with a practical example and an exercise for you to do. How the various types of training shoe are made is explained - on lasts, and how these lasts influence your choice of training shoe.

Jul 15, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

More technical aspects of choosing running shoes to suite your own particlular feet and running style are considered - (i) medical conditions arising from wrong shoe selection, (ii)your gait and its pronation, (iii)and how to tell which pronation type you are by looking at the wear on the soles of your running shoes. More next month.

Jun 30, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Thought provoking questions and graphics on buying the right running shoes for you, with emphasis on avoiding injuries. What specifically to look for in a shoe, and do’s and don’ts on finding the right pair in the shop. Why you need to save regularly for your next pair of shoes.

May 26, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt

Ideas on how to avoid injuries are given in the form of questions and exercises, with case studies of actual athletes, football comments, and personal experience used to stimulate your thinking. The expression ‘Prevention is better than cure’ and the maxim ‘Train, don’t strain’ sum up the advice.

Apr 30, 2002 - Clive Maxwell Prestt