COVID-19 Training Plan

You had big plans for a spring race. You had been doing your long runs. You had been doing tempo runs. You had been hitting the all-important track for some speed work. Basically, you have been doing all the things that you believe will make you run faster on race day.

Then, the bottom drops out. Your race is canceled or hopefully just postponed until we shake off this ugliness.

So what should you do know?

This is really good question. You are fit, you are strong, and you want to continue this upward trajectory. But should you really be attempting to do this.

I will share what I am doing and why.

In my case, I had a couple more weeks until my spring marathon. My training plan included a couple of more interval sessions, a tempo run, and one last long run.

With my marathon postponed and no race even on the horizon, I have reverted back to running base miles. Honestly, there is not much more that I can do and probably should be doing. Speed work needs an end date. No runner can get away with running speed work year round. They will reach a plateau that they can never climb above. No, the better approach here is to return to running base miles.

Once my race gets rescheduled, then, I can regroup and put together a new training plan.   

The other reason for my decision here is the following. Now, this is personal observation and may or my not apply to others.

Through years of running, I have come to realize that speed work and tempo runs put an enormous strain on my body. In a sense, my body is weakened after each hard work out. With COVID-19 running around, why jeopardize myself. I have much better chance of getting through this ugliness unscathed by doing my utmost to stay as healthy as possible.

Well, that’s my advice. Now, go get in some easy miles and stay at least 6 feet from others. Remember, wash your hands a lot. 

Kickin’ up trail dust,

The Cool Down Runner