Track Training
A period of bout 10 weeks is usually sufficient to carry
out the necessary track training leading up to the first important competition. If
these 10 weeks are divided into three sections as described below, it is possible
to develop the necessary abilities and gain fine coordination, with the optimum performance
coming upon the desired date.
Anaerobic / Speed Development
The first four weeks should be used for the further development of the anaerobic
capacity to exercise and speed. When developing the capacity to exercise anaerobically,
it is important to realize what you are trying to do and what physiological development
you are trying to achieve It is possible to develop an ability to incur about 15-liter
oxygen debt and this is done by exercising anaerobically. Developing big oxygen debts
in training stimulates the body's metabolism to create buffers against fatigue. If
this is understood, it will be realized that it does not really matter what form
of running it takes, as long as you are making yourself tired with the volume of
anaerobic exercise: and finish the training session knowing that you could not do
much more nor any better. Therefore, it doesn't matter whether you use repetitions
or interval training, over different distances with different intervals, you don't
even need to time them: as long as you come off the track or from your training quite
fatigued. However, as a practical guide, it is advisable to get fast running into
a total of about 3 miles, or 5000 meters, or thereabouts; i.e. 12 X 400 meters, 6
X 600 meters, 5 X 1000 meters or 3 X 1 mile, etc.: with a recovery jog of a equal
distance in between. If one athlete takes longer intervals or more volume of fast
repetitions than another to gain the same reaction physiologically, then he will
just need to train for a longer time.
So in many ways, it is important to evaluate your training every day, so as to understand
the effects of each day's training; and not to follow some or any schedule blindly.
I advise athletes to run their hard anaerobic training during this period of four
weeks by doing it for three days weekly on alternate days. Never do hard anaerobic
training on consecutive days. as it is wise to allow your blood pH to return to normal
after the exhausting workouts.
The younger the athletes, the less anaerobic training should be used in the schedule;
and the ratio of anaerobic to aerobic training only increases as the athletes get
older and fitter.
It is only necessary to do four weeks of this training for three days weekly to gain
the desired results, to develop near to the possibilty to incur 15-liter oxygen debt.
If you continue with this type of training in great volume and intensity for much
longer, you will start to adversely affect your body's metabolism and pull the condition
down though the effects or lower blood pH.
On alternate days, it is wise to concentrate upon developong your speed to near it's
maximum by carrying out sprint training workouts of suppling and loosening exercises,
sprint starts and sprint races, and leg speed running.
A typical workout could be: Warm-up by running easily for about 15 minutes, doing
exercises for 10 to 15 minutes, running easily for 5 more minutes. Follow by runs
over 70 to 100 meters, concentrating upon the following elements; with a jog between each run of 3 minutes:
|