“Base ability what you have naturally”

Hi there,

This is Hiro. A distance runner in Wellington. I start to write this blog to record and report my running experience in Japan, Australia and NewZealand.

Originaly, I organize and write my blog in Japanese website that is called "Sakaine So-yu-kai no Blog". This blog's containts are linked in the articles. Because the Skaine So-yu-kai no Blog has been publishing since 2013. I accumulated a lot of my experience and what I learnt in my Japanese blog in Japanese. This blog is an English version of the original Japanese blog. So if you have any particular topic, please let me know it. I will choose from them and write it in English for the next article.

Now I would like to share my experience with this blog in English. I hope it will become a platform to discuss our experience and knowledge for distance running.This is my opinion. So I am happy to know what you think and let's discuss about it!  

  

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Today's topic is "Base ability"

 

Distance runners have a lot of variety workouts to develop each ability or prepare for coming races in their training plan.

However, we should know that simple and minimum amount training recognizes us about our base ability and notices how simple training is working well for us.

The simple and minimum amount training is called base training. That includes Jog, strides, Sprinting, drills and mobility exercise. That’s all. Tempo, Long run, 200s or other speeds are not base training. Away from workouts and keep doing the base training that makes us realize our base ability and a potential as a distance runner.

 

 

1, To find base ability that you have naturally

 

・    No fatigue

We have to analyze how much fatigue we hold after a workouts or on our training progress that might be from every single day or weekly training.

When we have a big goal or stick tight into a training plan properly, we ignore our fatigue sometimes. It takes us to have no effective workouts and no improving performance.

If we are struggling in this situation, we might be out of control of our training balance and recovery.

Jog and strides are base training for distance running. So when we focus on to have only the simple running training that are Jog and strides, we can improve our base ability without any fatigue. Because the base training stress will be 50-60% for our capacity. There has no dropping down or jumping up our performance level and we can recover quickly from the training stress.

We can feel that the running gets better every single running with fresh body and mental. We don't have negative feeling for running then. Of course the improvement will reach to the limit. The performance level will also be steady one day but it is not coming soon. So we do not need to be rush to move to a specialized phase which has a lot of specific workouts.

・    Finding a strong point as a distance runner

We can find our running type or a strong point as a distance runner when we do just base training. Because the strong points are not hidden by adapted specific abilities or fatigue.

“You are great for long run and tempo even you have not done any volume or tempo run yet.”

“Your 400m speed is amazing.”

We can find like this.

Our strong points and running types are different each other. Each athlete has each strong point. We have similar type and make groups which are Speed based, Endurance based or something else. However, there has no same parson that means there has similar but not same.

When we follow a training program in a group, we cannot see the strong points well. Therefore we lose it sometimes. Training program and workouts are going to take us to the top shape of specific event that we aim for a big goal each plan. Focusing on specific event and abilities training develop the specific part, but it also lose base abilities. We have to remember this.

For example, when you have huge mileage on your marathon training, your natural speed will be hidden. On the other hand, when we focus on to 1500m and anaerobic speed, we feel 10k pace is slow but hard to keep it 20 minutes or 30minutes.

When we are specialized for an event, we lose some abilities that are not showing on the race.

When we have just base training, the training is not specialized or tend to an ability. So we can find our strong points that naturally we have.

 

(What is your strong point? It is sometimes hidden and can not see in a hard training)

 

2, The capacity of the base

“He ran 8:30 for 3k even he only has been doing Jog and strides for his training.”

We can hear this conversation on our training place or event place sometimes.

We sometimes run well without any workouts. How can we improve it?

 

・    Expand the base ability

If you racing 5000m, 10000m or 1500m every day, you might be getting faster every day when you are young or a beginner athlete. However, we will be hit our limit one day. What do you think to improve your running? Probably you think that you have to develop maximum speed. Or you think you have to develop more endurance strength. That are outside of the racing pace. Our abilities of distance events are based on those abilities basically that are “Speed” or “Endurance”.

So, that means when we develop Speed and Endurance both together, the performance of 800m/1500m to HM/marathon is improved. Your easiest event or best event will be different on the same training that is base training each athlete. Then we can make a good plan to develop the next ability what we need with the best amount and balance on the base.

 

 

・    Origin of training

When we are kids or juniors age, we can feel “Getting faster” each training with “Just running”.

We have two reasons for this.

Firstly, the body is on growth period. Therefore even if we don’t have any training, the running will be faster or stronger.

Secondly, the body is neutral. That means we have not had any stimulate for running abilities yet.

Our bodies are easy to develop with new stimulate. However, when our bodies are over stimulated from similar stress, it has had no or very small effect from them.

No stress from specific training is ok when we are young because of our body is neutral.

We can get a lot of effect from variety of stress and are able to absorb them when our body is neutral.

So remember when you started your running, everything was working great, wasn’t it?

 

(We have to make a smooth flat land before we plant for new season) 

 

3, To be neutral

We think ,“We have to have specific workouts” to improve our performance when we accumulated our running career long time.

So we believe “Having workouts is the best way to improve the running performance.”

If you only find the reason to improve your running in workouts and don’t look the base training, you might be got into a slump yourself. So, relief from the specific stress is the best way to remind how the base training is effective and valuable.

We have to be away from our workouts, it will be off season, after a big event or got into a slump. Coaches and athletes need to analyze after the workouts that it worked well or not.

Sometimes we forget the priority and what we need. Especially, when we are aiming a big goal or under a pressure from teams or coaches, we think we have to do “more”, we worry to skip workouts even if they feel tired or the running is going down.

 

(Do you remember when you went for a running for the first time?)

We need to remember, “How did we run when we started our running career?”.

We can enjoy each run with no pressure, no workouts and fresh body and mental.

Then the first training was little training, but it was effective and gave a good result. We could find fun in there and keep going the sport.

The memories of career base will remind us our base abilities and how to be neutral. It will also produce a potential for developing our running anytime.