Flying home from the World Masters Championships in Germany some years ago, trapped in a tight seat, surrounded by strangers, I began to think about my next important race—not my next race, but my nextimportantrace—one I hoped to win. It was the marathon at the next Worlds in New Zealand, which was still another year and a half away.
如果您想成为长途跑步者，则需要长时间看。
By any measure, I had achieved success in Germany, winning bronze and silver medals, but that was less than at the two previous Worlds, when I took home the gold. The bigger problem was that in New Zealand, because of my birthday, I would fall five months short of moving from the M45 age division into M50—which would presumably have easier competition. Almost all my rivals were younger than me—youngsters who had just moved into the division and were ready to take down the old coot. To match my previous record, I would need to train much harder and, more importantly, much smarter.
So I pulled out a sheet of paper and began to plot my training for the next 18 months.
Other than at the elite level where runners look from one Olympic Games to the next, I suspect this is something that few runners do—but maybe they should. Consider the following suggestions as you map your training for the coming year:
1. Plan Far, Far Ahead
Not far ahead, but far,farahead. Not weeks ahead, or months ahead, but years ahead. What activities should you be doing now to enhance the quality of your life all the way to the end of that life? Today, running sits at the center of your universe, but look to the future. Running scores high when it comes to cardiovascular benefits. Our sport is also a great (not merely good) tool for maintaining weight and strengthening the lower body—but what else should you be doing?
While still in my 20s, I began supplementing my workouts by lifting free weights. Few runners strength-trained back then, but I was thinking ahead. Later, I added cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and even competed in triathlons, adding swimming and cycling to my workout routine. In planning far, far ahead, you should seek total fitness—not just running fitness.
2. Plan Far Ahead
新年决议的时间滑过了我们，但是您仍然可以做出跑步决议。您在日历年的跑步主题是什么？不仅是哪些特定种族，而且导致了这些种族的动机？也许是时候认真对待这项运动并努力训练，也许是针对某些PR（个人记录）或令人垂涎的BQ（波士顿合格时间），这使您在您的跑步职业生涯中躲过了。
Or, perhaps you are burned out from the training it took to reach previous goals. Don’t just stop running, but maybe realize that it’s time to cut back on both the quantity and quality of your workouts to refresh yourself psychologically for the next big push.
大学时代的学生经常做类似的事情，他们称之为“差距一年”。他们找到一份工作，赚钱，有时旅行，休息后 - 上大学或研究生院。之后，在新西兰的世界上，我不仅在马拉松比赛中抓住了黄金，而且我在10,000米的比赛中获得了奖励铜牌。然后，我回到家，两个月没有跑步（我越野滑雪）。
3.提前计划
Goal-setting (as suggested above in steps one and two) has provided you with a theme for the full year. What about the smaller increments of that year? Often a major race, such as a marathon, attracts our attention. But while having a single major goal for the year, you can also have interim goals. For example, a half marathon or two in the spring leading up to a full marathon in the fall. My half marathon training programs last 12 weeks; my marathon programs, 18 weeks. That allows for several training cycles.
Both my新手Supremeand个人最好成绩training plans combine 12- and 18-week programs for a total of 30 weeks.This permits a gentler ramp-up in mileage and—although I can’t offer any research studies to prove it—decreases the risk of illness and injury that comes with overtraining.
When it comes time to achieve success as a runner, proper planning should rate high on your list. Plan ahead. In fact, plan very, very far ahead.
