Advice from Ultra Runner Robbie Britton

In uncertain times many are asking what they should be doing in training and, possibly more importantly, why?

Depending on which Twitter accounts you follow the “rules” vary, it was one of the difficult things a few weeks ago in Italy. The uncertainty of what was allowed led to two things; people took advantage or people felt anxious about going out for a run.

Neither is ideal. If we take advantage of the ambiguity then harsher restrictions may come, but it is the pressure, maybe guilt, some are feeling, that should also be of concern.

There have been suggestions of 30 minutes, 60 minutes or whatever you like, but if we stay within our own locales, run solo, keep it to one outside session and don’t start doing anything particularly out of the norm, then the running community needn’t be an extra burden on the country.

What should we be doing?

The honest truth is that no one needs to be putting in the high mileage and the long runs at the moment anyway. With most races postponed until the Autumn and any summer races with a little uncertain, what training is needed right now?

Many will have worked hard in the spring for marathons that did not materialise, but the training beforehand would still have needed some recovery and rest. It’s not just race-day that takes it toll, but the months of pavement pounds and work beforehand.

By now many might have had a few weeks of limited running, just going out for a solo workout each day, but if you haven’t it’s the first thing we would recommend. There’s no need to rush to peak fitness as you cannot hold it for months.

Related article by Robbie Britton: Advice on how to use an off the shelf training plan

So what might a week look like?

One thing to remember is that rest and recovery is still key. It might be tempting to go hard every run, but it won’t really help and it might even leave you exhausted and more vulnerable in difficult times.

I wrote recently about how training hard can be good for your immune system, but overreaching on a regular basis can run you down. Plus we must maintain a good dietary balance, try to achieve good levels of sleep and take into account the added stress and anxiety of difficult times.

With that in mind, you can still afford to train well and maybe also utilise some of the excellent online resources many are putting out these days for core and strengthening workouts specific to your own sport.

So without further ado, here’s an example of a good week.

What’s important here is:
1) Thinking about what’s right to do at the moment and
2) What you feel comfortable doing.
You do not need to run a long way right now to run long races in the summer and autumn.

What can be really important is consistency. Think about maintaining fitness you’ve already built this year and maybe working on some areas, such as recovery or slightly faster speed endurance, that you’ve neglected in that past.

Stay safe and we’ll keep trying to come up with some useful advice for everyone.

Thanks to guest writer and Profeet Ambassador, Robbie Britton www.fastrunning.com