Tag: plan

Have a plan to get lean, to get fast

Getting to a healthy race weight is a crucial part of performing well in endurance events. You need to have a target weight, a plan to get there, and then weigh yourself each day, adjusting the programme when required based on your weekly average weight. A simple strategy is to eat better and move more, but what if you need more guidance?

Researchers at the University of Oxford have created a list of 53 weight loss actions as part of their PREVAIL programme to help people make daily action plans. The weight loss actions are divided into seven categories:

  1. Eat in a structured way
  2. Avoiding or swapping specific foods
  3. Changing what you drink
  4. Creating a healthier diet
  5. Meal-time tactics
  6. Burn more calories
  7. Be more active as part of your daily life

The Oxford researchers carried out a study measuring the effectiveness of self-regulation on weight loss, allow individuals to weigh themselves daily in the morning and then create an action plan from the list for the day based on the result. At the end of the week, they evaluated the effectiveness of the actions chosen and their effect on weight change. Over an eight week study, participants, all starting with a BMI of over 30, lost an average of 4.18kg, 3.2kg less than the control group.

How to create a self-regulation intervention plan for weight loss

  1. Find your A: Weight yourself first thing in the morning
  2. Find your B: Set a target weight
  3. Weigh yourself first thing each morning
  4. Choose one or more actions from the list for the day
  5. Perform the planned action(s)
  6. Reflect on the effectiveness of the actions weekly
  7. Repeat until you reach your target weight

Aim for no more than 0.5kg per week, increase your protein intake, and do regular resistance training to avoid muscle loss. If you are continuing to train hard while losing weight, make sure you have a clear plan for fueling pre, during, and post workouts to ensure you have the energy to perform the planned activity and feed your body with what it needs to recover. This fueling plan should be differentiated for the various intensities and durations of your workout; fuel long and intense workouts but perhaps do some of the shorter, less intense workouts fasted.     

My plan

My current average weekly weight 83.7kg, according to my Withings Body+ scale weekly email. I have a target race weight this season of 78kg based on the Stillman height/weight ratio table and my current body fat percentage. I have signed up for the Maderia Skyrun, so I aim to hit my race weight for the 8th of October. This goal gives me just under 24 weeks to lose 5.7kg or 0.24kg per week. 

Each day this week, I will weigh myself immediately after waking up and pick at least one action from the PREVAIL study to focus on that day. My Witherings email summarising my weekly weight is sent on Mondays, so I will use that day to evaluate my progress. I prefer the positive actions where you add things rather than remove them. I will focus on these actions first, including burning more calories, drinking at least a litre of water a day or a pint of water before each meal, and using fruit and veg or a protein shake as snacks.

Running programme duration

I have just completed my final hard weeks of training in the sharpening phase of my half-marathon plan and now have two weeks of taper before my time trial on the 20th December. I am 25 miles ahead of my target 2000 miles for the year, and blogger Geek in the hills has suggested instead of taking half a week off after my virtual race, I should aim for 2020 for symmetry. We shall see.

With two weeks left of my current plan, I have started to think about what next. In last weeks Sunday Runday post, I talked about creating a plan, and the week before I talked about picking a peak race. This week I wanted to cover step two of programme creation and talk about plan durations and start dates.

With any plan, you want to prepare for an event to improve fitness significantly. The peak race must be far enough in the future to prepare for optimal performance but not too far away to lack urgency and motivation to train for it. Suppose your goal race is significantly in the future such as the end of the summer next year. In that case, you might want to commit to a more immediate goal, such as the next step on the distance runners progression and start the preparation for your goal event later in the year.

Choosing the ideal programme length depends on two things, your current level of fitness and the distance of the peak race. The fitter you are, the less time you will need to prepare so the shorter the duration. More extended distance events such as the marathon require more preparation time and so longer plans. Maintaining a base level of fitness at all times and never dropping training completed will allow you to skip the first few weeks of most programmes. The longer the peak event, the longer the recovery period after so remember to take at least two weeks of rest at the end of the year to recover.

Aim to peak three and no more than four times per year.

Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald

Optimal training plan duration by peak-race distance*

5k: 12-16 weeks

10k: 14-18 weeks

Half-Marathon: 16-20 weeks

Marathon: 18-24 weeks

*Running Faster, by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald

Spring in the UK starts on the 21st March next year and the start of the road Marathon season begins towards the end of April with the London Marathon (it has been moved to October again this year). If we start training at the start of winter (20th December this year), we could peak for a 5k in mid-March, or a 10k in April towards the end of April, a half marathon in May, or a marathon in June. These lengths could be shorter if you carry fitness into the new year but allow you to have an enjoyable festive season too.

Pick up a copy of Run Faster by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald and contact me on Twitter if you have picked a peak event for Spring next year and have started training already.