Find Your Running Program

Looking back on this year, it truly has been a wonderful running season. As this year comes to a close I am thinking about all the great lessons I learned this year about the sport and customizing my running program. First, to be successful as an athlete, you need to love it and be passionate about it, and to train well you need to be fully recovered.

As an older athlete I use to push myself constantly to never miss a workout, sleep in the altitude tent, religiously visit my massage therapist, etc. It was chaotic to say the least.

I tried a different approach this year and found that when I cleared my schedule, tweaked my running program, reduced my miles and number of workouts, I actually ran better.

Last Year’s Running Program: 90 miles a week or more, ran 2x day, slept in altitude tent, and did three hard workouts a week.

This Year’s Running Program: 80 miles a week, ran 1x day, slept outside the altitude tent. This year, I set an American master record, set a PR in the half marathon, qualified for trials and was top us master in my age group.

I’d say it worked! The moral of the story is to analyze your running program and make sure it is the most optimal training solution for you. Everyone’s body is different, requiring unique and tailored training methods. Has anyone else seen an increase in performance by tweaking your running program?