Planning for runners

Why plan, how runners adapt to training and the five principles behind any plan.

1. 1.1 Why plan Two runners with the same goal, one with a plan and one without. Why a plan is a hypothesis and the three questions it answers. 2:30
2. 1.2 How runners adapt Stimulus, fatigue, recovery and adaptation; supercompensation and its limits; fitness and fatigue; and why tendons set the pace. 3:07
3. 1.3 The principles you don't negotiate Progressive overload, specificity, individualisation, reversibility and recovery, with a half-marathon week that applies them all. 3:48

Intake, field tests, thresholds and zones: what you need to know before planning anything.

1. 2.1 What to know before planning Recent history, real availability, goal, injuries and context; and when to refer to a doctor. 2:40
2. 2.2 Field tests The 30-minute test, the 5 and 3 km time trials and the protocol that makes them repeatable. 3:01
3. 2.3 Thresholds and zones The two thresholds, heart-rate and pace zones from threshold, and when to use each. 3:13
4. 2.4 Apply it in TrainerPlan The threshold in the athlete's zones, sessions by zone and the suggested threshold. 1:46

Planning backwards from the goal race: periodisation, phases and the taper.

1. 3.1 Start from the goal race Planning backwards, how many weeks each distance needs, and A, B and C races. 2:27
2. 3.2 Periodisation Macrocycle, mesocycle and microcycle, 3 + 1 blocks and the 80/20 split. 2:07
3. 3.3 The phases Base, build, peak and transition, with Martín's season. 2:21
4. 3.4 Apply it in TrainerPlan The A race in Events and the annual plan generated from the races. 1:41

Load, chronic load, fatigue and form, and the signs that tell you to adjust the plan in time.

1. 4.1 What load is Duration times intensity, external and internal load, and measuring it with heart rate or feel. 2:03
2. 4.2 Chronic load, fatigue and form Fitness, fatigue, form and relative load: how to read them and when to worry. 2:22
3. 4.3 When to adjust Signs to ease off or push on, adjusting from small to big, and coming back after illness. 2:16
4. 4.4 Apply it in TrainerPlan Each workout's Effort, the performance chart and the runner's comments. 1:23

A 10K, a half marathon and a marathon built step by step, with the complete plans to download.

1. 5.1 10K in 10 weeks Recreational runner, 4 days a week: from 55:00 to 53:30. 2:35
2. 5.2 Half marathon in 14 weeks Intermediate runner, 5 days a week: from 1:45 to 1:42. 2:14
3. 5.3 Marathon in 18 weeks Martín's marathon, with C and B races, and the course wrap-up. 3:09