A few posts ago, I alluded to the fact that I was going to write an entry about "scarring." Well, coming off of my track workout from last night, this is the perfect time to take virtual pen to virtual paper. But first...what the heck am I talking about here?
The harsh term is somewhat meaningful in that the essence of scarring is to put your body through efforts that "scar" it - that is, essentially toughen it through effort - to prepare for future hard efforts. For running, this translates to running at faster than race pace in your workouts to condition your body such that actual race pace feels easy(er) on race day. There is a mantra I subscribe to that says that the race should be the easy part and the training is where you pay your dues. While we all know that one's actual race isn't typically easy, if you've done the conditioning and the scarring right, your body and mind will both know what to expect when called upon to deliver the effort on race day, and since you would have exceeded that effort in training, your body/mind should respond with, "Hey, this isn't THAT bad. I can do this."
Let's use my workout yesterday as an example. First, let me set the stage: a primary goal for me this year is to once again go sub-40 minutes for the 10K in an Olympic distance triathlon, or maybe in the 37s without the swim and the bike. The latter is essentially 6 minute/mile pace, and I know that if I want my body to be able to achieve that on race day, I will need to train a bunch faster than that before the race. Thus, my track or speed sessions need to be geared to sub-six-minute pace. Yesterday, my workout was 5x800M at a pace faster than my 5K race pace per quarter mile (thanks, coach!). Ultimately, this became a set of 800s run at just under 2:50 each, or at about 5:40/mile pace. Having done that, I know that running 3:00 for an 800 (6-minute/mile pace) will be easier. As the season progresses, I will do two things: run that same workout a bit faster; and run longer intervals at the faster than race pace (I will likely also do tempo runs that approximate race over a distance of 3-5 miles).
You can easily translate this sort of effort to your goals and your intended pace. One of the reasons to baseline, which I've done for myself and am now doing with my triathlon club members, is to figure out the pace at which to run the speed sessions. Someone running a test mile (85-90% effort) in 6:30, for example, suggests to me that that athlete might run repeats of 6:15-6:20 miles or 3:05 800s (which is basically what that athlete did this week). Given a goal of roughly 42 minutes or better for 10K, these repeats will help the athlete prepare physically for the pace and mentally for the effort of sustaining it.
It's also important to realize that you can't simply rush into hard workouts like these with no base. Sure, everyone can come out and run one fast workout, but you don't want to pay the price with an injury (worst case) or a week of soreness (which happens often early in the season). Thus, I'd recommend coming in with a couple month base of miles if possible vs. starting off with speed. If you've not put in those couple of months, there's no harm in ratcheting down the speed for a bit until you've got the strength base under you.
Interestingly, as the season progresses, it's useful to incorporate shorter bursts to facilitate turnover and leg speed. Indeed, I often incorporate striders (essentially 50-100M sprints to open up one's stride) into warmups and warm downs now, and while I am very protective of my achilles (partially torn in 2011) and hamstring (sprained last December...getting old stinks), I will begin to add 400s and (maybe) 200s into the repertoire as the speed gets more comfortable.
So...don't be afraid! If you've built your base, come get scarred! On race day, you'll appreciate it.
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