[Anonymous]

After some thirty odd years of running using the good old “run hard, injure, recover, repeat” method my age has finally bought some sense and over the last 4 months I’ve been building consistency and increasing volume with a view to beginning long races with a 55km trail race at the beginning of March.

As a Cat 1 runner I’ve been working in zone 2 and following the ethos within TftUA. But as I get closer to the point when I should be starting the plan at Fig. 11.7 in the book my weekly mileage should have peaked at 70km (started at 30km). The drop from 70 to 48 in the plan is not small, and the weekly long run will drop by 12km.

So would it be better to start the book’s plan as it is or maybe blend into it at week 9 thereby keeping the mileage up and not losing any fitness? Maybe doing a bigger final long run in the base building period followed by a recovery week and then into the plan might be an option too.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on September 13, 2019 at 8:41 am #28404

Bear in mind that training plans are never absolutes. They’re always built relative to the fitness of the athlete. The plans in the book are based on the best estimate of a generic runner at a certain level.

So if the plan varies from your current fitness, it’s fine to adjust it. More important than the absolute numbers are the relative changes in volume and intensity. Think in terms of percentage changes from week to week, and then apply those to your own training plan.

Does that make sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on September 13, 2019 at 10:50 am #28416

Thanks Scott, yes it does make sense. Whilst posting I did consider that this is a coach kinda question.

I’ll just keep with the percentages and the plan should come together.