|
Lt. Wood's Running Program This program was designed by Lt Wood, a former candidate in our programs. He saw tremendous success by using it, and so we are making it available for others who wish to succeed. Let me start by saying that I'm no professional or competitive runner. I only run because I have to for the Marines. I had no serious running experience before I started training for OCS. My program is based only on my own experience and what I've read and heard from others who are wiser than me. I'm sure it's open to plenty of criticism, but this is what has worked for me and it might or might not work for you. Also, as you're sure to find out, every runner out there has a different opinion on a running regimen. All of those opinions should be taken with a grain of salt, just as my advice here should be. Some of you may just be starting out with running. Some others may already have experience with running, and if so, you should skip to the next section. You may learn to love it, but likely you'll hate it just as much as I do. You should understand that no one was born running, and it takes work to run at a high level if you're coming from nil experience. Focus on simply establishing a base of running habits. The first thing to know before running is stretch, stretch, stretch! These are muscles that may have been relatively idle for your entire life and now you're going to work them hard. They are going to yell back at you and hurt in new ways, and the only way to soften that blow is to stretch them plenty before AND plenty after. Make sure to do a light warmup when stretching before a workout, since it will make your stretches much more effective than if you stretch them cold. If you are brand new to running, then your running workout should look something like this: M: Mile run at a hard pace. I suggest doing this workout for anywhere from one to three weeks. Only you and your doctor will be able to know how your body is going to take to running. If you feel things like shin splints, knee pain, hip pain, etc. pop up, then take some time off, do a little research on your specific type of pain and start a stretching/therapy workout so you don't injure yourself by starting off too quickly. If you feel things like an urge to vomit upon conducting and/or completion of your run, soreness that will not allow you to ascend or descend stairs without looking like you've got Forrest Gump knee braces, and the great feeling of accomplishment of doing something that you previously thought impossible, then welcome to the world of running. The above workout is only to establish a base of running. It is not to bring you up to the standard you'll have to be at to become a Marine Officer. For that, you'll have to continue to add to this basic workout until you can competently run (not jog) at least 3 miles. You do this by adding a mile to each part of the workout at a challenging pace. For example, if you build up this initial workout and it seems to be getting easier as you go into week two, then add a mile for week two. At the beginning of week 3, as you continue to make gains, then add a mile for that week. Keep working until you are at a level where you can run 3 miles in a decent time (~26:00 or less for males, ~29:00 for females). Once you reach that level, then I would suggest moving on to the next stage. The gist of my philosophy here is that if all you're doing is running 3 miles, all that you are doing is slowly testing your body. What you want to do is shock your muscles and your lungs into the ideal paces where you want your 3 mile pace to be. However, since your body can't handle these paces for 3 miles, you need to introduce them for smaller intervals that your body can handle and progress from there. I do this in 2 ways: intervals and short runs. Intervals work by sprinting (ALL out sprinting, to where you are gasping for every ounce of air you can get) and then jogging (cool down, catch your breath, barely running/almost walking) and then sprinting again. Switch off at distances that are enough to where you are really pushing both your LEGS and LUNGS, but not to where you are just getting negatively worse. You should be able to keep at these intervals for at least a mile, then feel like dying after that. An ideal distance is ~200 meters, block to block, 45 seconds, or whatever else you can find to mark distances and times. You can switch off 1 to 1 or 2 to 1, so sprint a block, jog a block, or sprint a block, jog 2 blocks. Obviously you'll see faster results and it will be harder to do 1 to 1. I'll usually run 1 mile, then do intervals for 1 mile then a cool down jog at slower than PFT pace for a mile. The short runs are very short runs at max effort pace the whole time. So start with 1 mile or even less, but make sure the pace you run these in is at your goal 3 mile pace. Do this as your running workout for the whole day, because your trying to show your body what it's capable of and as you go on, every couple of weeks, up the distance, but maintain the pace, or as close as you can to it. So I started with 1 mile at a ~6 minute pace, then increased it to 1.5, then 2, then 2.5, then 3, and now I can run anywhere from a 6 minute to a 6:30 pace for 3 miles. Another important aspect of running is to switch up your terrain. Just like multiple types of workouts for different days of the week is the best strategy for weight lifting changing up the terrain is important for running. Hills provide a great way to get some variety in, as well as increase the strength of your leg muscles. Find yourself some type of hilly terrain, even if it is only small up and down hills, one giant hill, a switchback trail up a mountain, just something that allows you to really put some pain on those legs. Attack your hill with everything you've got. If you have to slow down, so be it, but keep putting pain into those legs and lungs. You're trying to break down your muscles so that they can rebuild themselves to be bigger, stronger, faster. I'll typically save the hill run for Friday so that I can take a couple days off to allow those muscles to heal and re-strengthen. So with these two types of workout, my weekly workout looked something like this: M: Intervals I don't believe that you need to run 6 or 7 days a week in order to get faster. As the saying goes, work smarter, not harder. Although this is definitely a hard workout, it's how I saw gains, but of course every body is different. I believe that what works for decreasing running times is just adapting your body to faster paces and shocking it into getting used to running A LOT faster than what you're used to. If you're just running 3 miles, 5 days a week, and not seeing any gains, it's because you're just pushing your body slowly and your body isn't seeing what it's capable of. Also, when you start really hurting on your 3 mile runs and you start pushing yourself, typically you're only maintaining or very slightly improving on your current pace, which doesn't do much for increasing run times. Make sure that you're hauling ass on almost all of these days except your easy and off days. You should feel like absolute crap towards the end of your runs, and you should feel an indescribable sense of relief and pride after the runs, knowing how hard you just pushed yourself. And after that, you'll feel a sense of dread knowing that you're going to have to do the same tomorrow. But you should see gains, and that's what makes it worth it. When you get to OCS and the runs where everybody is barely making it or really struggling and you're flying free and feeling good, taking in the beautiful countryside, you'll realize then how all your hard work has paid off. Good luck. For those of you that would like to seek some outside information, or try another workout plan, feel free to check out these other websites: |
