How to measure the success of your training

Sunday, October 16, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Grab your coffee and pull up a stool.

What is successful training? Certainly that answer varies based on each runner’s predetermined goal. We at “No Finish Line Running” get runners come to us with goals that range from getting to a finish line to qualifying for Boston. This past week alone we had 4 emails that wanted help with; improving there 5K, running healthy, qualifying for Boston and one looking for group training. Can we help all of these runners find their ultimate success? I will answer that in a few minutes.

A friend of mine who is one of the most talented runners I have ever known has done amazing things in various races. In a short time (for a runner) my friend jumped to marathon running and quickly it appeared that he could compete at the highest level. This was very exciting to witness and yet I was extremely grateful not to be his running coach. It is not that I do not think I could have helped him, but more because of our differences in training philosophy. Ultimately my friend endured serious enough injuries that he fell far short of his goal.

A runner came to NFLR some time ago wanting to get faster in various distances as well as feel stronger in longer races. Fairly common goals for our team of coaches the hear from those that seek out professional running coaches. The training was a challenge from the get go as this runner had signed up for an inordinate number of races as well as varied distances. It did not take long for frustration to set in for both the runner and the coach. With so many races to try and work around it became impossible to properly train. Rest and recovery days were nearly impossible to fit in and target workouts that would task the runner were risky because of all the scheduled races. Ultimately that runner got frustrated and left us. That was probably for the best.

If a runner is shooting for a 5K personal record (PR) or to qualify for Boston, I guess the success of the training is easy to measure? Runners are certainly time minded people and if you do not think so, just observe the starting line of most races and how many people are looking down as they move across the starting line. It is a wonder that we do not see more people trip over each other as they engage their Garmin watches! I am certainly guilty of this myself and I well understand that not every person is utilizing their Garmin purely to maintain a pace but, in more cases than not they are. So the results that are Garmin so conveniently gives instantaneously tells us at the finish line if our training was successful or not?

I can go on and on about our philosophical beliefs at “No Finish Line Running” and how we focus on running from belief that it should be less about a finish time and more about a life style. I will not try to make that case as we understand that many runners have goals for their training as well as long term enjoyment. “NFLR” embraces all of the various goals our runners seek and we enjoy the challenge of the process to help the runner. The difference is that we strongly feel that all training despite the end result is not good training. My friend that I spoke about earlier experienced so great success with some pretty outlandish training and that success created quite the buzz. Ultimately though that success was short lived and injuries ensued. Was it bad training? I can’t say for sure, I only know that for whatever reason things did not go as my friend would have liked.

It is easy to use results as the measurement of a training program yet that can be very risky. We certainly use results to guide training but, we consider many factors as a part of what consider a good training plan. Instead of pursuing a short term race result we focus on a long term blueprint. This can be challenging for those that seek success within a limited window of time and we do our best to communicate the importance of “intelligent training.” Some get it and others struggle with the concept of big picture training. We truly believe that training for a Boston qualifying (BQ) should be a 3-year partnership. Yeah, I know that sounds like a long time and quite an investment but, good training takes time and investment for both a runner and a good coach. Naturally there are runners that are more prepared to attack a marathon and possibly qualify however that is not most runners.

Results are not a good measurement of training. Many factors should be considered before determining whether a particular training program was a success or not? Measuring such factors as the runner’s overall health, mental state, overall enjoyment and other factors, all combine to determine the success of one’s training. We work closely with our runners and groups to help them develop their running in a way that gets them stronger while not sacrificing the importance of healthy and fun training. We certainly are thrilled if their Garmin shows a “PR” but, only if they healthy and happy enough to run another day!

Have a great week!

God Bless!

Mike