Is Your Training Unproductive?

HOW TO ASSESS YOUR RUNNING READINESS BEFORE PILING ON THE MILES

- Elinor Fish

After registering for his first trail ultra marathon, a 100K in Northern California, Ron Now land, a consistent runner with several marathons under his belt, began tacking more miles onto his Saturday long runs. His usual 10-mile Saturdays became 13, 15, 17 miles long.

After two months, however, rather than feeling fitter, Now land struggled to get through his long runs and experienced achy knees for days afterwards. Soon, even his short recovery runs felt like a chore that left him snoozing on his desk by mid-afternoon.

Even though Now land’s training approach had been by the book, his body wasn’t able to handle the increasing load. What he needed was to step back to assess his Running Readiness.

Are You Ready for More?

Running Readiness is the degree to which your body is able to assimilate the stress of training. A high degree of Running Readiness means you’re ready for more miles, harder races or tougher workouts. It means that your body is primed to make fitness gains in response to those workouts, which is considered productive training.

A low degree of Running Readiness, on the other hand, means your body’s already so overloaded with stress—from running and/or life in general—that it lacks the energy to build strength or endurance. In this state, each run could potentially make you more fatigued and susceptible to injury or burnout, known as unproductive training.