You have just decided to begin a fitness training program! You have never run consistently, before but you feel it is something you would like to do to take your fitness to the next level.  Inspired by watching people who ran your favorite marathon last Fall, you thought maybe next year I will take part. Now, it is next year! Having set a goal and made a decision to begin a training program, you now wonder how much should I be running? How often? How fast? How do I minimize my risk of injury?

The most important question to ask yourself is how much time do I have available to commit to a training program?  While every workout counts, it takes consistency to see progress.  Knowing how many days a week you can devote to a fitness program and seeing yourself maintaining this routine for a period of 15 weeks is the difference between making a life time change in your fitness level versus a short term change with few benefits.  Most people fall short of achieving their goals because they attempt to do too much, too soon and get burned out or injured before they see and feel the beneficial changes in their bodies.

You will need to commit a minimum of three days a week to see progress and benefits from starting a running program.  Doing more than three days will allow you to incorporate other activities into your program; this will also enhance your fitness level.  It is important to remember that regardless of the amount of time you train in a given week, you will need a day to recover and rebuild to become stronger and faster.  The key to a training program is adaptation to a given stress load.  For some individuals, taking a day off as a recovery day can be just as beneficial as doing an easy run for other individuals. Once you have established how much time you have for exercising, your program can then be designed to achieve your fitness goals.
Everyone who is starting a running program for the first time would begin their training with a Conditioning Phase.  Conditioning usually takes three to six weeks depending on your fitness level.  During this time, all running is done at an easy effort as you build your training base.  During this period, you are just putting time on your legs without worrying about how far or how fast you are running.  The Conditioning Phase starts at 30 minutes for a given workout building to an hour over a six week period.  Walking during your run is acceptable and a great way to build up your stamina.  During the Conditioning Phase, consistency is the key.  Remember, a little a lot is better than a lot a little.

After you have successfully completed your conditioning phase, you are now ready to move into the Strength Phase of your program.  It is during this phase that you will find exciting thing happening.  More variety comes into your training because of your increased fitness level.  You begin challenging yourself now that you have achieved greater confidence and a stronger mind set.  The average runner completes more weeks of training in the Strength Phase of their training program than other the other phases.  There are three important components that are integrated into the Strength Phase: a pace run, an interval workout and an endurance run. 
The pace run is usually a distance of 3 – 8 miles running above 80% of your VO2 max (see my article “Resolve to do Better” in the previous issue.) This type of pace run trains your body to work at a higher steady state VO2, which, in turn, improves your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.  The distance needs to be short enough to allow you to work at this given intensity.  As you get more fit, you can increase the distance over 3 miles providing you are maintaining your steady state intensity above 80% of your VO2 max.

An interval training workout is one in which you alternate a period of hard work—the stress phase—with a period of easy work—the recovery phase.  You have a certain distance to cover in a set period of time in the stress phase, followed by a set period of time to ‘rest’ in the recovery phase.  Usually this type of training takes place at a track, so you will know how far you have run.  If a track is not available, you can do a substitute workout called pickups.  Pickups are an interval training workout based solely on time, instead of distance.  With pickups, you complete repetitions consisting of the stress phase where you run for a set amount of time, followed by the recovery phase where you walk or jog for a set amount of time.  Interval training will have the biggest influence on improving your VO2 max.  Typical distances covered during each interval are between 400 meters to 1 mile for endurance runners.  The goal is to maintain a consistent pace throughout all intervals while maintaining your intensity above 85% of your VO2 max.  For example, if a runner can complete four, 800m intervals all within a range of five seconds, with a set recovery time, the workout would be considered very good.
The endurance run is the longest run of your week.  The distance you should attempt to run and the pace will vary depending on your fitness level.  These variables will also be determined by your training goals. Typically an endurance run would be anything over one and a half hours of continuous running.  During the endurance run, you are increasing your muscle's capacity to store more glycogen by increasing both the size and numbers of mitochondria cells.  The mitochondria are called the “power houses” and supply the energy required for movement.  The endurance run is usually done at an effort of 60% –80% of your VO2 max.

Following the Strength Phase, one of two things takes place depending again on your training goals.  You may move to an Endurance Phase in your program or a Power/Speed Phase, for the serious racer.  During the Endurance Phase, your volume of training increases, while during the Power/Speed Phase, your intensity increases.  The pace run and intervals training continues during the Endurance Phase along with an increase in distance in your weekly endurance run, which, in turn, increases the overall volume of your weekly training program.   The intensity in the Power/Speed Phase depends greatly on your fitness level, since this phase has a higher risk for injury because of the greater demands placed on your body.
Having set your goal to complete a 10K, half- or full-marathon, you would continue training in your Endurance Phase until three weeks prior to your goal event, at which time you will begin your Tapering Phase.  The Tapering Phase is when you decrease or “taper” the volume of work you have been holding.  Tapering takes place in all training programs to prepare you for your best effort on race day.  One of the most important elements of your training program is tapering correctly.  Everyone wants to have their best race on their race day and usually the results are directly correlated to how well you have tapered.

Once you have completed your goal race, a period of time follows to recover from the stress you placed on your body.  The time spent in the Recovery Phase depends on the intensity and distance of your race.   The longer your race, the longer your Recovery Phase. Just as you began your program with a three to six week Conditioning Phase, your Recovery Phase can also take three to six weeks.  Taking the right amount of time to recover should make you feel stronger and faster when you start training again.

Having balance in our life is what we strive for on a daily basis.  Balance is also important in a training program.  A well balanced program will have a cardiovascular exercise, strength/weight training, flexibility/stretching and good nutrition.

So, let’s get going on those goals!