Levels - Intermediate and Advanced Runners
After you go through the basics of running, it would be your choice whether to go on with what you usually do or take it a notch higher and take on more challenging tasks. If you decide to take on greater challenges, you could either choose to run farther or compete with other runners. Either way, the demands become higher than where you started. You would therefore need a different set of Training Programs tailored for the goal that you wish to achieve.
As a Beginner, you focused more on building up your strength and stamina. From there, you could start working on the economical use of your oxygen as an intermediate or advanced runner. You can do it by what is called interval training. It is a training which involves having a short burst of running fast around 1 to three minutes long which is then followed by a short jog for recovery. However, one thing you should keep in mind when doing this is never to overwork yourself. Limit interval training to only one session per week, since even elite runners only do that no more than twice a week.
At this point of your running, you should get yourself a good coach if your current one cannot take you a step further. It is important to have a good coach who will give you direction in terms of what you are trying to achieve. With his or her help, you can come up with a good training schedule depending on your availability and your current level of ability. This is especially true if you are running competitively. Your coach would act not only as a guide but also a critic who will be able to analyze your running style and show you ways on how to further improve it.
If, as a beginner, you were already logging down your times and distances, then continue doing that. Look at your past records and let them motivate you to better that. But if you cannot achieve your goal yet, try again another time. Do not overwork yourself. Remember that it takes time before you can get on into another level in your running, especially a harder one.
As you go along with your training, there may be times when things would seem to be repetitive, eventually becoming boring. If you are stuck in this rut, try to come up with more creative ways in your training. If you only run in a particular area, try go running somewhere else. The change of surroundings would certainly keep you interested in running again. But if you really cannot find another place to run, try reversing the direction where you run. This may be a minimal change in surroundings as compared to the previous one, but it is still a welcome change.
This section focused more on the psychological aspect of running instead of the more technical one since you can find a lot of them on the internet. This is to emphasize that running is not merely a physical sport but is also a mental one. There will be times when doing the same things all over again would bore you, or times when you really don't feel like running at all especially after months and months of training. You would therefore need things to motivate you to keep on your running. Your coach, running partner or running club and even your past statistics could help you strive to improve further your current performance. Remember, it is not only in a race where you need to keep on running but also while you train in the sometimes banal and repetitive normal world.
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Basics & Backgrounds
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