Base Camp

By accident rather than design my current training plan might have some sort of basis in theory, as it seems to have some similarity to 'reverse periodisation'. Amazing - it only goes to show that there is a concept and name for everything and that most things have been tried at sometime. For me concentrating on gym work, trying to build up strength and leg speed is not just a soft way of keeping out of the of grey, cold, wet, windy weather - oh no it is an bona fide training technique!

I typed the phrase into Google and most of the reference came from triathlon. Quite a nice post is this from The Triathlon Book. I also found out that it is common in cycling and neither Greg Lamond or Lance Armstrong believed in bashing out the long miles in winter (probably the only thing they do agree on). However, for me, that is purely coincidental; my plan is based on observing my running and the need to try something different.

I am convinced that a large part of running is mental i.e. based on an internal sense of what you can and cannot do. There is an in-built sense of self-preservation linked to a voice wanting you to ease back, keep comfortable, keep something in reserve. This means there is an internal feel for a comfortable pace dictated both by the body's capacity and an idea of the body's capacity. The purpose of training is not only to develop muscle, sinew, heart and lungs but also extending the internal model of what you can do. For me that has half worked. I have confidence in the ability to keep going but my pattern of mostly running easy miles has reinforced my comfort zone rather than stretching it. My internal rhythm running rhythm is now calibrated at a fairly slow leg turnover.

Something needs to be done to shake this up. My plan is thus to recalibrate my sense of cadence before gradually extend distance. This is combined with the idea of improving general strength, especially of the core and shoulders, which will help the maintenance of good running posture for longer. Also I read somewhere about the need for more resistance exercise as you get older to ameliorate the natural wasting of muscles - so that is what I am trying to do.

So far this month I have been to the gym 5 times a week, alternating cv and strength days. I have not run any long sessions on the treadmill (I don't know why but I find that mentally quite hard), it has been fairly short bursts at a pace that feels slightly uncomfortable. I have also used the bikes at a cadence of 90 to try to make that rhythm feel normal.

I do not know whether this is a good plan or not - if I run better than last year it is good, if I don't it is not. I just tend to think of it as base training - i.e. building a base of general strength and fitness.