Training for your sport can have many different variables. Depending on what you are training for you need to adjust how you train. This applies to the variations in different sports, for example, mountain biking vs cyclocross vs road biking, etc. and road running vs trail running vs technical mountain running vs non technical mountain running.
We used to train athletes with a single formula that was mainly focused on training for road events. With the gain in popularity in mountain and trail sports that recipe can lead to disappointment and injury.
When beginning your fitness journey in any discipline a solid base in the sport is important. You need to be able to adapt to consistency and the simplest way is to begin on easy and predictable terrain. Once you have gotten in a solid base (usually 4-8 weeks depending on your starting fitness) you can begin to modify your workouts specific to your goals.
I love the 80/20 training method and it was where I learned to train. It was once the Maffetone Method and I had great success in training easy in order to have active recovery and focusing on only a couple of key workouts in my training cycle. Adapting to this style of training can be frustrating because you need to let go of having to be fast all of the time but if you stick it out the results will be amazing!
Once you decide on what style of your sport you want to focus on it is important to find terrain that can simulate what you need to focus on.
For road running and less technical trail running your runs will be focused on key speed workouts and easy runs where you pay attention to form and running with a relaxed and consistent form.
When training for non technical mountain running you will focus on hill repeats and learning how to efficiently move up and down the hills. Body position when ascending and descending is very important. You will want your easy days to be on flat or rolling terrain and your workouts to be on steeper ups and downs to get your body prepped for your events.
For technical running you will want to practice getting used to moving efficiently on technical and steep terrain. Foot placement is key to not falling and you will want to have your strength training routine focus on having a very strong core, upper body and lower body. Most of your runs will be in the easy zone and you do want at least two of your weekly runs to be on flat or rolling terrain. Practicing your transition from hiking to running to jogging to hiking is important to getting up and down the mountains as quickly as possible. If you don’t have access to mountains you can train on a stair machine and set up an obstacle course in your yard to run through.
Your strength routine will vary slightly depending on your goals but the most important workout you will do is your core work. Your core will keep you upright and prevent fatigue while running.
Ultra running brings another piece to the training puzzle and when training for long distances you typically don’t need specific speed work more than one time a week and for certain races that are very technical your runs should be focused more on moderate efforts instead of speed work. You want to have plenty of easy days to allow you to run for several hours without being overly fatigued. This will allow you to recover and feel great for your next runs!
If you have any questions feel free to ask! Always adjust your training to reflect your goals and if you are looking for guidance check out my coaching packages and training plans.