Key principles of any Running Workout
- The goal is not the quantity of covered kilometers but quality implementation of every workout. I mean, if you can do sufficiently well only five out of eight 100-meter races, there is no reason for you to run more than six of them.
- If at the end of a long cross-country running you have strength for speeding-up, it means you are doing everything right.
- Never engage in a workout if you are tired. If you feel that you are accumulating exhaustion, I recommend that you decrease the load or have a several days’ break (no matter what awesome mountain you dream of).
- Never engage in a workout if you are ill or have fever.
- Never engage in a workout if you suffer from a trauma, inflamed joints (arthritis) or any other conditions.
- Never workout with your pulse being over 180 beats per minute.
- Never over exhaust yourself: after workout you shouldn’t feel any discomfort but muscle pain.
- Never get too hot when running.
- Avoid serious dehydration. Active sweating during long distance workouts is not good, so select your cloths wisely.
- Never eat fat-rich food three hours prior to workout. Avoid using carbonated drinks and exercising when you are absolutely hungry – all these factors dramatically affect the results.
- Be careful with outdoor spring workouts in cold weather.
- Take care of your knees and ankles: select your footwear carefully, avoid falling or hitting hard surfaces.
- When running, always track time – down to seconds – in order to compare results. For instance, in stadium a good GPS gives error of 500–600 m for every 10 km. This makes at least two minutes at the end. And one can keep trying to cover those two minutes for half a year. For some time I was exercising with people who thought they were running 17 km (in park), whereas it was only 10 km. Before that, I was thinking about why trained climbers sometimes have such poor timing. So, if you are not training in a stadium, try to verify from time to time your results running in areas with correctly measured distances.
Running Workout Tips for Mountain Climbing
- Interval running on a race track is less successful that in stadium, speed-ups are less dynamic, and you have to rely on the speed developed on track rather than on one’s own perceptions.
- Even long distances are more challenging and unnatural on a race track, since when running 10 km, “steady pace” means steady pulse beat and not a steady speed. And you adjust your speed to be comfortable for you, while on an electrical running track it works just the opposite way. Don’t be embarrassed to set different speed for different times.
- Remember to observe techniques of running which are different for sprint and cross-country. But we won’t delve into this topic, since it’s vast and debatable.
- Don’t underestimate sprint. On average, you get tired faster; “hills” are counted into the number of kilometers for orientation.
How to Train for Elbrus Climb and Other Non-Technical Ascents
First of all, try to determine your level of fitness. The following exercise programs are meant for a pretty high level of general physical preparedness, so if you can’t run 5 km in 30 minutes (or 35 for women), you’d better quit reading this article.
Here are three training program for Mount Elbrus for you to select from:
- Beginner level – if you run 5 km in 30 minutes or less
- Intermediate level – if you run 10 km in 50 minutes or less
- Advanced level – if you run 10 km in 45 minutes or less.
Have you made your choice? If so, switch it for a program one level lower and begin your training. In two months you can switch back to your originally selected program.
Please note that foot strength exercises are omitted on purpose – you can add them on any day you need. Some prefer to do them after long distances, some – after short ones. Here is just a couple of those strength exercises: 100 knee bending at a speed, with 2–3 intervals, without muscle relaxation, up to the position of the thigh being parallel to the floor (no deeper). You can do the exercises with jumps. Actually you can do both of them in turns, though personally I prefer knee bends.
For full-featured sprint you will have to exercise calf muscles. To do so you will need as little as a street curb or a stair 7–10 cm high.
Stairs/hills with weights on feet and/or belt can be added once a week on any of workouts.
Beginner Level Training Program for Mount Elbrus example
Week 1
Monday or Tuesday: 5 to10 km of cross-country.
Wednesday or Thursday : 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400 (70-80%, total of 2 km), warm-up and 2 km of jogging.
Friday or Saturday: 5 to10 km of cross-country.
Week 2
Monday or Tuesday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, 4 x 100 with 100 m slow down intervals.
Wednesday or Thursday: 5 to10 km of cross-country with accurate time measurement.
Friday or Saturday: warm-up, 2 km of jogging, “hill” 100-200-300-400 (70-80%, total of 2 km).
Intermediate Level Training Exercises for Mountain Climbing example
Week 1
Monday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 (70-80%, total of 4 km).
Tuesday or Wednesday: 10 km of cross-country with accurate time measurement.
Thursday or Friday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 (70-80%, total of 4 km).
Saturday or Sunday: cross-country if you feel like exercising.
Week 2
Monday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, 8 x 100 with 100 m slow down intervals (total of 16 km).
Tuesday or Wednesday: 10 km of cross-country with accurate time measurement.
Thursday or Friday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 (70-80%, total of 4 km).
Saturday or Sunday: cross-country if you feel like exercising.
Advanced Level Training Exercises for Mountain Climbing example
Week 1
Monday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400-500-600-600-400-300-200-100 (70-80%, total of 8,4 km).
Tuesday or Wednesday: 10 km of cross-country with accurate time measurement.
Thursday or Friday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, sprint 8 x 100 with 100 m slow down intervals (total of 16 km).
Saturday: cross-country 20 km.
Week 2
Monday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, sprint 6 x 400 (70-80%, total of 4,8 km).
Tuesday or Wednesday: 10 km of cross-country with accurate time measurement.
Thursday or Friday: 2 km of jogging+warm-up, “hill” 100-200-300-400-500-600-600-400-300-200-100 (70-80%, total of 8,4 km)
Saturday: cross-country 20 km
Some Extra Tips and Notes
- Weekly programs can be interchanged or separated by a week of rest (with as little as a couple of simple cross-countries).
- When doing “hill” exercises, you shouldn’t stop or switch to walking. The 100-200-300-200-100 mean that you should run 100 m fast, then 100 m slowly (even as slow as 2 km/h, almost running in place – just don’t stop; your goal is to restore for the moment when you have to speeding-up). Then 200 m fast and 200 m slowly, 300 m fast and 300m slowly, 200 m fast and 200 m slowly, 100 m fast and 100 m slowly.
- Percent in the brackets is a subjective factor: while it’s obvious with 100%, 70-80% mean that you are running with some reserve of strength – it’s pretty hard getting to the “hill’s” top with your pulse rate reaching up to 160 beats.
- 4×100 with 100 m slow down intervals should be implemented without breaks or slowing down to walking. It means that 100-meter dashes at maximal speed are intermitted with 100-meter intervals of jogging between sprints.
- To climb Elbrus (Kazbek, Ararat, Demavend, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi and some others peaks) an average climber needs just the abovementioned beginner level training plan. For climbing Aconcagua and Lenin Peak you will need to select the intermediary level program.
Sergey Baranov