Hello ,,
The improvements you're looking for might not be where you expect...
People are often focused on trendy or traditional performance markers like FTP, critical pace or time trial performances, but meaningful metrics often come from unexpected places.
3 Insights About Training Patterns
I. The Unexpected Sources
Progress can begin where you least expect it. Your breakthrough might come from mastering recovery, building efficient easy running, or simply maintaining consistency in training. While everyone watches their interval times, these foundational elements often drive the biggest improvements. It might be that changing your sleep routine is what improves your interval sessions.
II. Be Patient
Improvements can also be dangerous, so when you start noticing improvements it can be better to ease off rather than push on. Stay consistent and watch the gains come rather than working harder and risking injury or illness. You can't force fitness, you can just provide a stimulus and the right environment for improvements to happen.
III. Hidden Indicators
The most telling progress markers aren't always obvious in your planned metrics. Watch for casual observations - like running your usual route feeling easier or getting faster, or recovering faster between intervals. These everyday indicators often reveal more about your development than formal testing and can be great predictors of when and how to move things forward.
2 Questions For Your Next Session
I.
Looking back at your last month of training, where have you seen improvements that caught you by surprise? How can you use this information to keep these improvements happening?
II.
Looking at your easy or recovery sessions, which ones are showing progress you haven't given yourself credit for? How can you use this information?
1 Real-World Example
When Clare and I started training together, Clare was doing all her sessions quite fast with no easier running. Partly because I didn't like working hard to keep up and partly because we thought backing things off might lead to gains elsewhere, we slowed things down. The focus was on not going above Zone 2 heart rate, so heart rate based training.
Initially, this meant running slower than Clare was comfortable with, but we committed to the process. Within weeks, our pace at the same heart rate began improving consistently. In fact we were actually running faster on some days than the original sessions had been but at a much lower level of effort due to the fitness gains that came from the new regime.
This improvement in easy running efficiency created a chain reaction. Because she was maintaining lower intensity during endurance work, her recovery between sessions improved dramatically. This enhanced recovery allowed her to push harder in her quality sessions, particularly her intervals and race efforts.
The progress revealed itself initially, not through formal testing, but in the everyday numbers: specifically how much faster she could run while maintaining that same easy heart rate. This information showed the process was working and gave confidence. Success came from slowing down and being consistent to give space for the good things to happen naturally.
This foundation of efficient easy running ultimately translated into race performances, leading to a 10th place finish in the McCain UK Athletics Mountain Running Series and winning the Skiddaw race in the Lake District - some of her best results ever.
