Frequency, Volume and Intensity

Roy Benson writes about masters training in Running Times. He likes to call us old guys (and, I guess, gals"geezers" and "grizzled veterans". I don't mind this name-calling at all. In fact, I revel in it. What I don't like, however, is the way Coach Benson is always telling old folks that they must slow down.

I understand that runners slow down as they age. But I don't need people to keep reminding me of this. I'd rather hear from the experts how to run more and faster, rather than less and slower.

That said, I do like this month's (jan/feb 2009) article. Coach tells us that we can experiment by manipulating our frequency, volume or intensity. He says that if training isn't yielding better performances, then it may be time to experiment by varying one of the three factors. Of course he says that us old folks should be varying them *downward*. But here's the important part: try *not* to reduce intensity. I think this makes a lot of sense, especially as I wind down a bit at the end of the year. I've got to try to keep the intensity, which has indeed been slipping, from going down too far.