MARATHON NEWS & REVIEW:

By Columnist Ron Byland – USATF, RRCA and Lydiard certified Running Coach:

For those of you here in the US, most of us have completed our goal spring race and I hope it went well for you. Now is the time to look back and review what you’ve done and put in place the changes that will help you improve on your times and goals. For those of you who are in winter and about to hit spring, then it’s time to get running fit so head over to my May and June column articles.

To those runners that I’ve coached throughout my career, one thing I always emphasize is that the off-season is the perfect time to review and improve on your weaker areas of your performance. You should always review your progress regardless of whether you had a great 1st half of the year or missed your goals, or your goal race was a 1 mile or a 100-mile race. I’ll use the marathon as an example here as many of my runners have just completed their spring marathon goal races.

Many runners that I talk to after running their marathon won’t take enough time to recover from their race and rush to get back into full training thinking that they will lose all their fitness. They will pick up where they left off but don’t implement the workouts needed to race at the next level.

Running the Same Paces

I find that many runners run the same paces day in and day out and expect to race differently or even worse try to run their Goal Race Pace every time they run. If you do this, then your body will only know that pace. The way you get faster is by allowing your body to recover from the quality sessions, gain strength and then repeat the process.

My motto is “To get faster you need to slow down!” That being said, once I have my runners recover from their marathon effort, I like to have them focus for several weeks on high-quality threshold work to raise their fitness level, and increase their efficiency and confidence running at a faster pace as they begin to prepare for their next upcoming race in the fall. An excellent example of this is US runner Shalane Flanagan. After finishing 3rd in the US Olympic Marathon Trials, she recovered, hit the track and has since improved her ½ marathon PR and has set a US 10K road record as she prepares for Rio.

If you are looking to start your running program or take your running to the next level, I invite you to drop me an email at Coach@MiletoMarathon.com, and I’d be happy to share with you how I can help you achieve your running goals. I have coached 1000’s of runners from beginner to those with Olympic goals.

See you on the roads!

Coach Ron

About Our Marathon News and Review Columnist

Ron Byland is the current coach of Kelly Brinkman, 2013 USATF-MN Female runner of the year. He has an extensive competitive racing background that spans over more than 30-years, and he has been coaching runners for over 25-years. Ron is USATF, RRCA and Lydiard certified. He lives and works in Minneapolis, but also offers online training options for runners via his running club.

As the founder and coach of Minneapolis based Mile To Marathon Run Club, Ron Byland,  offers runners many coaching options, such as:

• Customized Personal Training Program
• Personal One on One Training Sessions
• Virtual Training
• Corporate Run Programs for 5 -500 runners
• Couch To 5K Programs
• Corporate Speaker

Disclaimer: The information published in this column are based on the author’s own professional and personal knowledge, and opinion. This information and opinion are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment of any manner. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding any medical condition and consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on InShape News.