Getting fit and fast requires the stress of training. That stress, or “overload,” is supplied by running faster or running longer, or both. In the simplest of terms, stress produces adaptation. A steady progression of training is usually enough to improve performance. Until it’s not.
The more trained the runner, the greater the stress required to eke out even small gains. To walk the tightrope between under and overtraining, training has to be a mixture of push and pull. Some days or weeks can be pushed, others pulled back for recovery.
When the usual steady slope of a training program isn’t getting results, or an athlete is ready for an added challenge, some coaches turn to a short-term, high-volume overload period. The training block, usually three days to three weeks in duration, can increase volume and/or intensity by 20 to 30 percent. Ideally, the tradeoff for that hard, long training and subsequent fatigue—when followed by a recovery or taper period—is supercompensation, a bounce back of fitness that boosts performance over and above what’s expected after normal training.
At least that’s the…
