[John H]

John H on May 20, 2022 at 10:09 am · in reply to: Unable to Complete Stair Workout: Tips? #67415

Thank you both. Makes sense that initial training volume is too high, and I’ve reduced it a bit but probably not enough. Will revisit and make sure to cut down some of the workouts some more and also ensure at least two full rest days a week.

[John H]

John H on May 17, 2022 at 10:57 am · in reply to: Adapting beginner marathon plan for a half marathon #67301

I haven’t taken a look at the UA marathon training plan, but in general training for half marathons will look really similar to training for full marathons for people who will run a half around 2 hours or more. I have experience with other marathon and half-marathon training plans, and the main differences are the emphasis on long runs and Z3 (“tempo”) efforts.

For people running under, say, 4:30 for a full marathon, it’s important to get long runs up to at least 16-18 miles, and more like 20 miles for most folks, for full marathon training. While that’s certainly helpful for a half, you can easily cap the long run at around 15 miles (if not less) and get pretty good performance. And for half marathons run under about 2:00, you’ll want to throw in more time at Z3 than most “first-time” marathon plans will have – say, one tempo run a week where you warm up for 1-2 miles and then spend 20-30 minutes in Z3.

I’m a big fan of UA training, but for a first-timer running a road half-marathon you might be better served by seeking out another resource. My advice is Daniels Running Formula, 3rd edition.

[John H]

John H on May 16, 2022 at 9:51 am · in reply to: What to do when recovering from ME workouts #67241

I am honestly dealing with this exact same issue now. At the end of the day, I’ve taken it back to basics: Aerobic fitness is the most important thing. It’s not worth sacrificing a lot of it for muscular endurance. Indeed, sacrificing too much aerobic fitness for ME will be counterproductive, because the ceiling to how much ME you can have is set in large part by your aerobic fitness.

For me, this has meant slowing the progression of the gym-based ME program. I found the first couple weeks too easy so skipped ahead a bit, but progressing every week has left me hobbling for 2-3 days after each workout. So I am going to repeat last week’s workout this week.

From everything the UA folks write here, and from my experience with hard intervals back when I was a runner, a little bit of this kind of work goes a long way. You don’t need to let it totally wreck you, because the benefit you get from a workout so hard that it leaves you totally wrecked isn’t much greater than the benefit of a workout that just leaves you a little sore.

It’s all about recovery. Especially if you’re an “aging athlete” over 35 like I am…

[John H]

John H on May 16, 2022 at 9:45 am · in reply to: Choosing a program to combine with Cham Mtn Fit #67239

For what it’s worth, the recent UA podcast on the Cham Mountain Fit program teed it up as a “transition strength” routine. Based on my understanding of the book and from that discussion, it’s basically something to do in the early stages of structured training. I believe that in TFNA they state that if you’re regularly in the gym doing a diverse array of strength work, you can keep the transition period to a few weeks before moving on to a max strength phase.

For me, I’d been out of the gym for about two years so did a longer (8+ weeks) transition strength phase, using the routines in TFNA. It looks like the 5 week alpine rock program includes a general strength day each week, for which you could substitute a CMF workout.

[John H]

John H on November 17, 2021 at 11:07 am · in reply to: General Strength Workout Question #59429

I haven’t done that plan, but am doing a plan I constructed from TFNA and think I have a grasp of the concepts.

I believe it’s telling you to do 10 reps of a weight that you could do 12 reps of. According to the UA folks, lifting until failure will stimulate muscle growth, which you theoretically want to avoid because you want to maximize your strength-to-weight ratio.

As someone approaching his late-30s, I am personally not trying to avoid muscle growth because I know it’s all downhill from here in terms of my body’s ability to build muscle. But that’s another discussion.

[John H]

John H on July 2, 2021 at 4:07 pm · in reply to: Return to training after 4-5 week rib-injury #55385

As someone who just injured himself idiotically (and has done so many times in the past with overuse injuries), I feel compelled to jump in to also urge a slow and cautious approach. I have experienced – painfully – what Scott said about modest long-term ramp-ups being way better than more aggressive ramp-ups.

In my experience, your actual fitness isn’t usually the problem. Instead, the fitness comes back rapidly, but your soft tissues take longer to get back up to speed after some time off. After a couple weeks max, you’ll start to feel super fit again. And that’s a dangerous time, because you might go for a hard workout that some part of you isn’t yet ready for.

Good luck!

[John H]

John H on June 28, 2021 at 2:52 pm · in reply to: Speedwork on flats: How to alternatve between Z3 and Z4 #55208

David, that’s an interesting issue that I haven’t personally experienced, but having done a lot of flat-ground running training in the past, I believe you’re correct that speed work to improve your economy could be helpful. On hills, your legs just don’t have to turn over as quickly – or stride as far, it seems – to get your heart rate up.

My running training has revolved around Jack Daniels, who explored (and originally researched) a lot of the concepts contained in TFNA/TFUA, and Daniels’s plans always include several weeks of 200- to 400-meter repeats at about your 1-mile race pace with full recovery between reps. He refers to this pace as repeat or R pace.

If you have run a road race recently, you can use that to calculate that pace. If not, you can do it by feel – it’s basically just glorified striders, going fast but relaxed. It doesn’t correspond with an HR zone, because you don’t hold the pace long enough to get your heart rate that high. The idea is to purely stress your legs mechanically and to improve your efficiency at speed, hence the full recovery between reps. In my experience, it always felt like a light workout, and yet I would be a bit sore the next day if I hadn’t been training seriously.

Maybe give these a try once a week for four to six weeks. Start with 200m reps and bump them up to 400s after a couple weeks (or a mix of the two). Make sure your total distance spent at this pace isn’t more than 5% of your total weekly mileage: Even though these workouts may not feel that hard, they do introduce a new stressor to your training and will require some recovery. After a bout with these sessions thrown in, your legs should have an easier time with the turnover and power required to hit zone 3 on flat ground.