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We recommend keeping a training journal, to
record all information regarding training and racing. What we
strongly suggest for a format is keeping “Black Days”
and “Red Days.”
Black Days
include all aerobic running, the vast majority of training,
and are written into the training journal in
BLACK.
Red Days
include all races and anaerobic workouts and are written into
the training journal in RED.
(Generally, anaerobic intervals over 1 mile in total volume
would be a Red Day)
The number of Red Days should rarely exceed
10% of total training days or volume, except when leading up
to a peaking phase. Too many Red Days will sacrifice long term
gain for short term results. At least 90% of all training
should be BLACK DAYS, for better long term development. “If
you ever look at your training journal and see that it has
become bright red, there may be trouble ahead. Every Red Day
is money coming out of the bank. We want our young athletes to
be working on building a strong aerobic endurance
foundation.
Best advice - Put money
into the bank.
"Black Days/
Red Days" is a method we use
to
| 1. |
Fill out the training
journal |
| 2. |
Get the kids to think about training
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| 3. |
Red Days are
anaerobic and Black Days are
aerobic |
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Using this method, simply looking
at the training journal will tell you a lot---you don't even
need to crunch the numbers, if 5 days per week are in
RED, you
have a problem.
BLACK is money in the bank
(hr <170/175)
RED is money out of the
bank
We want to look at Black Days/Red Days two
ways;
| 1. |
as a percentage of total
miles (90% of miles should be aerobic, excluding peaking
phase) |
| 2. |
as a percentage of total days
(9 out of 10 days should be
aerobic) |
What happens is; the kids start to
think in these terms; even if they don't fill out a training
journal, they are aware of if their training is RED or BLACK. It is like
accounting---a lot of red ink is not good
WHERE IS THE
LINE?
Some ways to measure Red Days
| 1. |
Breathing/out of
breath |
| 2. |
Rising HR; Heart rate should
be relatively stable, or rise very slowly |
| 3. |
All Racing |
| 4. |
Recovery rate |
| 5. |
Volume of intervals is over 1
mile |
| 6. |
Pace gets slower over the
course of the workout |
TEMPO RUNS - Tempo runs must
always be even or negative split HEART RATE <170/175
RETURN TO INDEX
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