Training to Tarawera – here and now.
We are in August! 28 weeks until Tarawera 2022!
So what should you be doing with your training now?
The training you should be focusing on now always needs to take into account what you have been doing, and where your training needs to be to get you there (in this case your Tarawera finish line).
For all athletes training to Tarawera, you should be aiming for peak loading no later than the end of December.
To do your most in December you probably want to do more than you did in July.
We think about training sessions like putting coins in the bank. Build the coins up over time and when it comes to race day you will have lots to spend.
With this in mind, your goals for August should be to maximise your training frequency (number of sessions per week), and to build total volume (time/distance).
This is measurable in review of August mileage or time compared to July.
The caveat of course being that the primary cause of injury is increasing loading too quickly.
To this end we recommend increasing weekly volume but around 10-15% of the previous 4 weeks rolling average. This prevents a runaway, exponential loading approach using the ‘age old’ 10% increase per week.
Basically, take the total kms from the previous 4 weeks and divide by 4. Multiply that by 1.1 and you have a relatively safe distance objective for the upcoming week.
Always listen to your body and adjust accordingly. How you respond to training stress can be plainly felt and as your training load increases so will your rest and recovery demands. Prioritise rest to allow for adaptation.
Keep doing what is best for you so that come race day you are ready to run, if you would like support with your training we are here and happy to help.