How To Ramp Run Volume

5 Ways To Avoid Beating Yourself

A slow ramp lets you figure it out. “It” being the amount of load you can tolerate without breaking down.

Breakdown is what limits progress:

• Not protocol.

• Not willpower.

• Not pain tolerance.

I’m going to share five concepts to speed your running progression.

1. Run Stress

2. Minimum Effective Dose

3. Cross Training

4. Compounding

5. Compression

Applying these concepts, over multiple 1000-day time horizons, is what it takes.

The fastest way to improve your running is to use an approach that lets you keep running.

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Run Stress

To become a better runner we need to run, consistently.

Sounds obvious.

Surprisingly difficult to achieve.

Our instincts lead us towards breakdown.

So the first thing we need to overcome is a belief system that lead us towards injury and inconsistency.

Remember:

• Running at ANY speed is stressful.

• Running slowly? Still stressful.

• Overuse injuries take weeks to manifest.

The implications:

1. All running creates beneficial adaptations.

2. There is a lag between a niggle arriving and our training load.¹

Why does easy running work?

• Less Injury

• More Consistency

• Longer Compounding

Also, “easy” is more stressful than we realize.

From Training Essentials for Ultrarunning by Jason Koop. I highly recommend this book for all endurance athletes.

When we start running, we subject our bodies to increased ground reaction forces. These increased forces are present at every speed.

How do we counter this tendency to progress pace and protocol towards breakdown?

1. Do not sign up for a race that is beyond your current capacity.

2. Set your minimum with intent.

Be patient. The process will take as long as its going to take.

Rushing will reduce consistency.

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Minimum Effective Dose

What does it take to improve a new runner?

1. Three short runs

2. All easy pace

3. Every week

That’s it.

• No intervals.

• No long run.

• No threshold sessions.

• No sprinting.

• No races.

Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1

Keep It Simple Play The Consistency Game • 15 weeks (105 days) • 20 minutes a day, minimum What is your score (out of 105)? Pay attention to choices that caused an unplanned "miss" in your training Before you add... REMOVE the choices causing misses

Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1

As I'm experimenting with a month off coffee, this seemed like a good one to re-up for Archive Saturday The 30-Day Test is my favorite way to add, or remove, from my life If I am unsure about a relationship, habit or choice then a pause helps clarify https://t.co/NdHc8jAqVR

Here’s a video about the first six months of my return to running.

Each time I deviated from my three-a-week protocol, I had to back off.

While, three is not a magical number… it is enough stress to make consistent progress.

My point => every athlete has a load limit. Train below the limit and let the gains compound.

But what if you have the time, and desire, for more?

Consider bike-focused cross training.

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Cross Training

For every minute of running I have in my week, I have 4-5 minutes of cross training.

The “other” slice is backcountry and alpine skiing

Cross training allows the body to develop faster than running alone. It also reduces the temptation to ramp to the point of breakdown. Give yourself plenty of non-running options.

Cross training works because fitness improves faster than load tolerance.

Ignore this reality and your consistency will suffer. Choose an approach that will let you keep running.

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Compounding

It’s going to take many years to develop your running capacity.

Time is a powerful ally.

• The optimal protocol is the one we can sustain.

• Start by building the capacity for three runs per week. Do this for 25-30 weeks.

Once you establish your base, you will be tempted to add intense running.

Don’t.

Start by running more often.

• 1 or 2 additional workouts

• Each additional workout not more than 50% of your typical duration

Example: Rosie the runner has been tolerating 3x45 minutes in her weekly program. She wants to experiment with increased frequency.

• Rosie should add 1 or 2 additional 20-25 minute runs.

  • She can run on days where she doesn’t run already. Example being a run off the bike.

  • She can run in the evening after she ran in the morning. A double run day.

This might not seem like much of an increase.

It’s a big jump.

Two extra runs would be a 30-35% increase in weekly volume. Rosie will need to be cautious.

To achieve long term compounding, we need to stay healthy.

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Compression

Here, I’m writing about time. Specifically, the amount of training done in a period of time.

Compression is how you decide on training for a specific distances.

Let’s consider a marathon, and use Rosie as an example.

• Rosie averages 9 minutes per mile for her run sets.

• Her base mileage is 3x5 miles = 15 miles per week.

• By adding two frequency runs she gets herself up to 20 miles per week.

• Assuming a 10 minute PowerWalk to start and a 5 minute cool down, her total run:walk duration is ~4 hours per week.

• Cross training on top, brings her to 12-15 hours per week.

Rosie has a profile like the one I shared in the video, above.

Consider distance and duration over time.

Distance: Depending on her supplemental run frequency, it takes Rosie 10-14 days to cover the marathon distance in training.

26 miles in a single day is a massive, and risky, increase for her.

Duration: Consider how long is takes Rosie to cover the marathon duration in training. She expects to run 8 minute miles in her marathon race, 3:30 split time. That’s the equivalent of her weekly “long day” of cross training.

3.5 hours in a single day is not a big increase for Rosie.

Rosie is looking good for duration, but risky for distance. The right decision will be based on her body type, prior experience and injury history.

My advice to Rosie, and any runner building capacity…

Train long, race short.

• Continue building tolerance for weekly volume.

• Focus on easy running.²

• Use shorter races for the intense part of the program.³

• Wait until the goal race distance is tolerated weekly.⁴

• Then, start the process of training for the distance.

Above all else, Just Stay Healthy.

Avoid any decision that might interrupt compounding.

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Distance & Duration

The protocol I recommend:

• Patiently compress the window of time.

• Before training specifically, build general capacity.

A Slow Ramp Lets You Figure It Out

Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1

Something most of your competition miss with their programing It has to do with the relationship between => goal event output & => training load placement Athletes and coaches get locked onto chronic training load and lose sight of the ability to deliver load on game day

Next in this series will be how to manipulate load based on your profile and race goals.

Back To Table of Contents

1. Even sudden injuries often track back to past sessions. When we start to breakdown, it is the overall approach, not luck, not a single session.

2. Specific preparation advice is coming. For now, keep building your base.

3. Look for a race duration that won't disrupt your week. Think about your standard training day. Cut the duration of your standard day in half and find an event that long, or shorter.

4. Tolerate for months, not weeks.