Throughout my life, I’ve done my best training for running with the help of fantastic running coaches, who helped to dictate a lot of the intense workouts and running efforts I conducted. But since leaving university, I’ve failed to get coaching advice from others, and I’ve failed to follow a distinct plan.
Instead, I’ve followed my own body and ‘intuitive training’ methods of running for feel. This worked for a while in keeping me fit and floating along, but ultimately ended in injury. You see, whenever I felt good, I often went longer or harder than I originally intended. Why stop when I’m having fun, I thought.
But through what is now entering nine weeks of injury rehabilitation, I have now completely recognized the need for a training plan, and the value of implementing one at any level of running. Not only can this help you stay in line, but it can help to erase the doubt in your mind of how fast or far you should run.
The golden rule of increasing duration or intensity in endurance efforts is to increase by no more than 10% per week. Without a training plan, I often thought that I was increasing by no more than 10%, but I had no real clue as to whether or not that was true. I also had no idea how many kilometres I was putting on my body, and wasn’t even accurately logging the progress.
Having a training plan and a ritual around reflecting after your runs is an essential process to racing your next P.B. It’s also critical to ensuring that you’re doing work that will actually benefit you in the long run (or in the short run depending on your distance).
Without that plan in place, injuries are bound to follow, as you increase too far and too fast. Take it from me, the injury prone runner who hasn’t had a coach since 2018 – having a coach and a training plan is one of the best things you can do for your training, and something I will be implementing every step of the way here on out.
If you want a coach to design a training plan around your specific needs as a runner, simply reach out to me. But first it’s time to reflect! Why do you think it’s important to have a training plan? Share your thoughts below!
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Thanks for reading & see you soon!
Rhys Desmond 