RUN EASIER
The bad news? You can’t cheat your way to amazing run endurance, says tri coach Mark Livesey. But smart progression will see huge improvements
Take your time
Long-term run endurance gains take time (often years!) to achieve and this is something you can’t hack or expect to find a short cut for – and athletes should ensure all running that is done is developed progressively over time. With that out of the way, though (sorry!), the good news is that there are definitely things you can do to see improvements.
Any increase in volume and intensity undertaken should be realistic, but should be enough to elicit the best physiological adaptation for the time you have to train. Keep in mind the biggest threat when trying to train consistently for triathlon is injury, with the majority of overuse injuries occurring from running, so it’s important to be sensible here.
Use brick sessions wisely
The brick training session, where you practise bike to run, is one of the best ways to develop running off the bike. However, there’s a fine line between the training effect you’re aiming to achieve and the muscular/ skeletal damage you experience after the brick session. You’ll also need to consider how much time you require to fully recover before you can train effectively again.
Training for short course…
In conjunction with some consistent 45 to 75min steady state runs (SSR) and interval work, the short brick session should aim to reduce the run distance/volume with reps of 400m/800m or 1km efforts, the aim being to run faster than current 5km or 10km pace. This reduced distance will help ensure good run form is kept and will also mitigate the chances of injury, but still allow for sufficient adaptation.
…and for long course
Running negative splits – especially over Ironman distance – very rarely happens, it’s usually a case of who slows down the least! Sarah Piampiano was the only pro athlete, male or female, to run a negative split at Kona 2016 (Triratings.com). Introducing functional running strength into your already consistent run schedule will help you achieve this. Additional balance and proprioception work, including single leg strength work can help your functional running development, basically by keeping you stronger for longer. You can incorporate these exercises as part of a running circuit.