Saturday, June 11, 2011

Malmo Training Update

I posted my "Summer of Malmo" training plan on May 27.  You can read that original post, and the follow-up explanation on May 29, or just read this quick summary.

Summer of Malmo training boils down to two concepts:

1. Run more miles every week (lots of double-days)
2. Add weekly speed sessions (tempo and track)

For both 1 and 2 above, keep yourself under control.  Don't run too fast on your daily runs and don't push too hard in your speed workouts. A touch of speed is all you need...the key is adding more miles to your weekly training. How many miles are enough?  That's for you to figure out!  Run more than you do now.  Run even more next week. Double-days allow you to pile on more miles.  Keeping the speed sessions "disciplined" allows you to recover and run the next day. You can likely run more than you think. I'm not that special, but I still managed to run 303 miles in one week about 3 years ago. I didn't get injured. I couldn't repeat that week after week, but it was a good test to see what I could do when I set my mind on nothing but running.

I normally run about 25-35 miles per week...and this summer I'm trying to steadily increase that number...maybe I'll plateau at 50-55 miles/week, maybe 70-75 miles...maybe more.  I'm already feeling stronger after just 3 weeks of this commitment.  I haven't done the regular doubles like I had hoped, but I'm consistently running and tossing in tempo runs and track workouts (more tempo than track). I'm feeling stronger.  And I have a secret weapon arriving next week...stay tuned.  I'm about to "take it up a notch."

2 comments:

Wesley said...

I'm also working on increasing my mileage week over week. This post motivates me. Thanks!

Chris Ⓥ said...

Wesley,

I figure posting this on my blog will motivate me too! Keep up the gradual mileage increase. It's the surest way to become a better runner. More miles = more aerobic capacity = faster running.