Your 3 Crucial weekly training sessions and how they’ll help you succeed
Waterford Viking Marathon has teamed up with the Department of Health, Sport & Exercise Science in the Waterford Institute of Technology to provide expert training information in the run up to this year’s event. This week we’ll have a look at 3 types of fundamental training sessions and the reason why they are crucial for success.
1. The Long Run
The Long Run is the staple part of any endurance race training plan. Whether you are signed up for the quarter, half or full marathon you will need to gradually build up your capacity to run greater distances - this is achieved through the long run. A few reasons the long run is so important to your success are:
- It will help develop your aerobic threshold. This is the training intensity you can sustain for a prolonged period of time without excessive fatigue – think of it as your marathon race pace.
- It will improve your body’s ability to use fat as an energy source. During your long runs, you will gradually deplete your carbohydrate (glycogen) stores and rely more on fat for fuel. Your body will adapt by becoming more efficient at burning fat to fuel your running, which should improve endurance performance.
- Depleting your glycogen stores causes your body to increase its ability to store glycogen in the future. This adaptation is crucial for many aspects of endurance performance. A good example is if you to finish fast; you’ll need the glycogen reserve to fuel this effort.