I can see that many countries in the Northern hemosphere are suffering with snow at the moment which will affect many peoples training. Remember you can always cross train or even better take 5 mins to prepare for the hard training ahead by reading my blog!

This week I am going to explain something that most runners are about to go into before racing this spring: A Training Program.

Regardless of your event if you are about to enter a period of structured training peaking with a race you will should be using a training program to help you. Today I am going to basically outline what this means and give you a few buzz words to impress your friends and family (oh, and educate your running mind!). The challenge with your training is to develope a periodized training plan that will decide how many hard sessions you do, what types of training sessions and when to do them.

Here come the (Real) buzz words:

A useful framework is provided by organising your training into macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles. Over the next couple of blogs I will explain what these are and what they mean to you and your training (i promise not to give you a headache!).

Buzz word no.1: Macrocycle (aka A race training program) For marathon runner a macrocycle is simply the entire training period leading upto raceday. You could define a macrocycle as any race training program that many runners are about to start in preparation for spring half and full marathons.

Buzz word no.2: Mesocycle (aka A Block Training with a specific aim) A macrocycle (training program) is divided into several mesocycles that for an endurance runner (in this case 10km races upwards) may last for 2 to 10 weeks. Mesocycles are very important building blocks in your training and are included to help condition your body to peak on race day in best condition it can be. On monday I will explain microcycles but for now I want to explain how training programs (macrocycles) use mesocycles to get you a personal best! How a Training Program is broken down. A training program will generally be divided into five mesocyles in preparation for a half or full marathon.

Here is an example of a typical Marathon Training program (Macrocycle).

Mesocycle no.1 will have a primary onjective to increase your mileage and to improve endurance. This is likely to be the longest mesocycle in your training program and may last as long as 10 weeks. If you look at your training program you will notice your training runs gradually getting longer and longer each week.

Mesocycle no.2 will continue improving your endurance but mainly will focus on improving your speed endurance. The aim of this period of training is to get your legs moving faster than your race pace so that when you go back to running at race pace your body will feel confortable. You will see this in your training programs as fartlek sessions or short efforts repeated. This will prepare you nicely for mesocycle no.3

Mesocycle no.3 will focus on your race preparation and will probably include tune-up races (distances for a marathon tune-up race could be 13-20 miles depending on your ability and program). These races will typically be included in a training program 6-3 weeks before a marathon. A training program might not always suggest a race and could ask you to run at race pace for a long period to mimick race conditions. Again you will not just be racing all the time and there will be training from previous mesocycles pushing you to become faster and stronger.

Mesocycle no.4 is your taper and the race itself. You have pushed your body as much as you can and now it is time to gradually reduce your training effort and mileage in preparation for the big day. Your body needs to adapt to all the training you have put into it and needs to time to recover and freshen up before the race. Marathon tapers are usually 2-3 weeks long.

The 5th mesocycle is called defined as recovery. This can last several weeks or with many runners a lifetime (only the brave and/or stupid put themselves through more than 1 marathon!).

I hope this will make you look at your training differently and reassure yourself that your training program is not just randomly made up with training that will ruin your weekends but, is designed to help you achieve your best performance.

On Monday we will look at your weekly training often known as a microcyle. If you have any questions regarding the above please get in touch. Remember I am a foot and I therefore kick, not bite!

Tags: What is a training program, marathon training program explained, mesocycle, macrocycle, microcycle, marathon training explained

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