02.12.07
Freshening Up
Freshening Up
During the last one-and-a-half weeks, you should try to freshen up by lightening your training so as to
build up your reserves mentally and physically for the coming important competition. Some call this
“Super Compensation” and other words. This is important and the time for this freshening up should be decided by the individual through trial and error methods as individuals differ in this respect, though usually 10 days is about right on the average. You should train every day, but easily. The fast training should be small in volume and the longer runs should be at very low efforts.
When the main competitions are reached, it is important to realize that you have trained for the race. You
should not continue to train hard as many athletes make the mistake of doing. It is necessary to keep fresh
and sharp. You cannot be fresh and sharp if you are doing hard repetition training, etc. Therefore, a typical
training week during competition season would go something like this; Saturday - race, Sunday - long
easy run, Monday - a few sharpeners, Tuesday - sprint training or leg speed, Wednesday - race at a club,
Thursday - jog, Friday - leg speed, etc. Reserve your energies for your races.
Just train enough to keep your condition to a good level. Your races will indicate your general condition,
they are all you need in hard work.
Every morning except upon days for your long run, you should go for your morning easy runs, as this
helps keep your blood pH level high and makes your recovery better. It also continues to further develop
general cardiac efficiency.
Without being too specific, this is basically the way to approach training for the middle and longer distances. As long as the exercises used daily are evaluated and you decide that the training to be used is
what is required, then you are sure to start to gain a fine balance in your schedule and get the results you
desire. You can train hard and not succeed unless the training is approached in an intelligent way.
