Coach Sandi Nypaver discusses what matters when training for a race.
 |
I’ve always enjoyed looking at the training of professional runners and the recurring theme is that while there are similarities, there are also some significant differences. This is especially true when looking at elite trail and ultra runners.
If you were to look at the training of the past 10 winners of the Boston Marathon, you’d see both similarities and major differences. The same is true for races like Western States. While there are certainly best practices, there’s no single “best” way to train that works for everyone.
Some runners even find that a method of training works well for years—until suddenly it doesn’t. At that point, something has to change for progress to continue. Among elite road runners, you’ll see not only different types of workouts but also very different ways of organizing them within a training cycle.
When it comes to elite trail runners—or runners in general—the variety only widens. Weekly mileage and elevation gain can look drastically different, even for athletes preparing for the same exact race.
As a coach, I have my own training philosophy, but I also take into account many factors. I look for where a runner has the most room to improve, whether the race profile requires specific adjustments, and when it might be more beneficial for an athlete to simply repeat a similar training cycle to build confidence and consistency.
Just as important as the training itself is trust—trust in the process and in your coach. If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, it’s much harder to reap the benefits. You’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing. If you’re not enjoying it, you might have success for awhile, but that success isn’t going to last.
For me, good coaching isn’t about declaring myself “the best” or trying to establish authority. It’s about recognizing that there are multiple effective ways to train—and then helping each runner find the right path for them.