Is Training Working?

How do you know if your training is working when you can’t race?  A lot of the satisfaction and motivation for training comes from knowing that it is making you quicker, but with many races being cancelled right now, it is very difficult to know where your fitness is at.  Below are a few suggestions to help and some points to bear in mind if you want the results to be meaningful.

1. The Cooper test: how far you can run in 12min https://www.brianmac.co.uk/gentest.htm or there is a similar 15min test called the Balke test: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/balke.htm. Both of these can be used to predict your VO2 Max with the tables on the links.
2. A flat out time trial can provide results similar to a race, if you are self-motivated enough.  Don’t be surprised if you are slower than you think you could race.  Several scientific studies have shown that having others to run with improves performance.  You want to pick a route of 3k/5k with a smooth, hard surface, where you are unlikely to be impeded by others.  Repeat the same loop to check for improvements.
3. The number of intervals you can complete at a set speed with a set recovery.  If staying focused for a long time on your own is difficult, then you can track fitness by running repeated intervals until you can no longer maintain the pace. This will work best on a track. Suggested sessions would be continuous (400m at 5k pace + 400m at marathon pace) or 800m at 5k with 2min recovery. Once you are more than 2s off the pace, record how many reps were completed.
4. Completing the same run at the same heart rate, your time will improve with fitness improvements. Keeping your heart rate in the required zone may be difficult, but this test requires less self-motivation.
5. Believing what your smart watch tells you!  There is now loads of fitness data you can get from your watch.  A quick search of some watch forums will show plenty of debate on how accurate all of it is, but if an estimate of your VO2 Max is improving it is showing training is working.  Believing predicted race times may be more problematic.

A flat out race in near perfect conditions, or a lab test, is going to give the most accurate measure of your true fitness. What you are really looking for though, is improvement so the most important thing to remember is that any test of your fitness is best compared to the same test done in as near as possible to the same conditions.  This includes the same level of motivation.  Think about which sort of test you will be most motivated to work all out for and repeat this every 4-6 weeks, if you can’t find any races.

Factors that may result in slower times:

Too hot or too cold

Wet and windy weather

The surface you are running on

Insufficient warm up

Certain times of the day (or times of the month for females)

Lack of sleep