Beginner’s Guide to Distance Running Training – Day 3/3 – What Are You Doing After the Workout?

If you missed the first two articles in the series:

• Beginner’s Guide to Distance Running Training – Day 1/3
• Beginner’s Guide to Distance Running Training – Day 2/3

This is the third and last article out of the three article series. In this article, I want to explain why it’s absolutely critical that you utilize a training log and/or journal, ways to rest (not just sleeping), ways to keep yourself motivated to get out there day after day and nutrition. If you haven’t read the past two articles, I highly suggest going through them first: Day 1/3 and Day 2/3.

At this point, I hope you have followed through with each article prior to this one and have everything in place. Here is a checklist of what you should have at home or know what each point is talking about:

• The purpose for running and why you will continue training through thick or thin (this isn’t marriage counseling….I charge extra for that ;)
• Proper clothing and shoes to allow to train properly without injuring yourself
• A plan suited for your goal and purpose – Ex: weight loss, 5k race, etc
• Warming up and stretching
• Learning to pace yourself and listen to your body

If there are some things you are a bit confused on or if you need more help, it’s best if you go back to the first two articles, reread them and post a comment to get some help :)

Using a Training Log to Perfection

photo credit: marj k

It’s important to understand why you are writing in a training log so you will be more prone to writing everything down. Let me give you an example:

Terry is training for the marathon which is around the corner. Terry is relentlessly running everyday BUT not writing anything down because he thinks that if runs until he gets tired, that will be good enough to train him for the race. So fast forward two weeks, Terry is running the marathon. As he is running, he feels so exhausted at the 16 miles mark that he drops to his knees. The only thing going on in Terry’s mind is: “why wasn’t I able to finish? I ran the hardest I could each of my training sessions…WHY?”

There are many things that Terry needs to do to prepare him for the race better. Instead of running aimlessly, he needs to write down what distance he should be running based on the plan that he chose for his goal to run the marathon successfully. He also needs to set a time in which he must finish that distance. Once Terry has a time fixated in his head, he will have an increased desire to match that time and this will result in more effort and perseverance.

In order to prevent the same mistakes Terry made in his attempts, you need to be proactive. After you have gone through your workout, it’s a good idea to write down a bit about your run that day. There are many different components of your training you can track. Here are some of the necessities of tracking your workouts:

• Date
• Planned Distance
• Actual Distance
• Planned Time
• Actual Time
• Post-Training Comments

The post-training comments section is, in my opinion, the most valuable section. The reasoning for that is because say if you ran Monday and realized that the distance and time was too challenging, you can write it down so the next time you run, you know you need to decrease the intensity, or vice-versa. In the post-training comments section, you can talk about your stress, fatigue, soreness, weather and anything else that may have made this run better than other runs or caused it for the worst run.

Rest Your Way to the Finish Line

photo credit: driki

Your ability to rest your body after a high stress and high pressure activity such as running is important to the quality of your performance on race day. There is so much emphasis on flashy training techniques that many runners simply overlook resting.

During your regular workouts, the amount of rest you need before your next workout is based a lot on your experience level running and the work load. The lower the experience level and the higher the intensity, you will be challenged in many ways while running and feel overwhelmed (HINT: this is where the running log comes in). Here are some methods to effective resting:

• Proper Night’s Sleep – 8 hours is recommended. Honestly, it depends on you as an individual. I know people that can sleep 6 hours and wake up like they slept 12  hours. On a day where you might not have anything to do early in the morning, try sleeping without an alarm and see how many hours your body thinks you need to rest properly.
• Practice Yoga – Yoga is great for relaxation and reducing excess stress that you place on your body. If you are inexperienced with stretching and yoga, just perform light stretches to release tense muscles. If you are uncomfortable of doing yoga, that’s fine. You can pick up a DVD and do it in the comfort of your home. Give Yoga for Runners with Ann Richmond a shot.
• Deep Relaxation Breathing – deep breathing does wonders after a grueling workout. Deep breathing is very straightforward. Sit down on the floor cross legged with your palms facing the ceiling (or on a chair) and breathe into your stomach. Each inhale and exhale should be 10 seconds each (it’s hard to count sometimes so I go old school –> “one on-thousand, two one-thousand, etc.”)

If you are a true beginner, starting from scratch, you need to run at most 3 times a week. Most marathon programs require that you can run at least for 30mins without stopping. The plan that you chose must be low intensity with a low workload in the beginning. As you develop stamina and the ability to run for longer periods of time with less fatigue, you can train more often, increase your weekly distance and be more prepared to competing in the upcoming race.

Motivation – Why Are You Running A Marathon?

This is a very challenging section for runners. Sometimes, you are lying on your bed and all you can think about is the struggle, aches and pains you will have to deal with after the workout. Believe me when I say this, I have been there, just like you have in the past.

There are many ways to get around the lack of motivation but the results you will see are solely based on your desire. Ask yourself: How bad do you want it? How badly do you want to complete the 5k, 10k, or the marathon? What are you running for? Is it a cause or maybe you’re running for someone?

Just imagine yourself crossing the finish line with your family cheering you on and congratulating you on this huge milestone in your life. It all comes down what you are running for that drives the motivation to run the marathon. I still face obstacles when training and sometimes, you just don’t want to. Here are some ways I turn it around:

• Vision Boards: a collection of images that relate to your goal. You may have heard about these from John Assaraf in “The Secret”. I heard about vision boards first there and created one for myself. The goal is to keep them somewhere you will look often and believe that you have accomplished your goal now.
• Affirmations: speaking and telling yourself that you have accomplished your goals has been helpful. Repeating to yourself “I will finish the marathon”, “I’m a strong runner” tells your subconscious those thoughts and you will perform based on those affirmations. I was a critic of this for years and then began practicing it. In my experience, the higher the belief one has while repeating these affirmations, the stronger the effect. (I know it sounds all weird but believing that you have already ran a successful marathon further proves to yourself that you will be able to do it race day)
• Writing Out Goals: It’s a great idea to write goals because now, you have made a commitment. Some people are visual in their learning and if a person looks at the goals in front of them, they have a direction they can move towards. This works really well when you are confused about what you want to accomplish from running or why you’re running in the first place. Try this at work and instantly become clear on your path.
• Support Group: these could be your close friends that you tell everything to or the group of runners you run with often. If you don’t have a support group in place, there will be times where you will have your lows in running and there will be no one to uplift you that can give you the kick in the pants to get back out of the track. If you prefer running by yourself, tell others about your running whether they are friends or in forums. The more people you share it with, the more you will feel as if you now MUST achieve run your marathon.

Once you light the fire in your belly, there’s really no limit to how well you can develop your running abilities. Do you realize we just went through a deep journey that now has built the foundation for your future running workouts?

To summarize, we talked about how to use a training log properly, why resting is important and how much to rest and how to motivate yourself to accomplish the goal you set in the beginning of this series.

Your Task:

What steps are you taking in starting a training log? How many hours did your body tell you to rest? (it was 12 hours for my first time because I just slept like a baby)  and what motivation tool are you going to commit yourself to?