Transitioning From Junior Under 20 to Senior Under 23 and beyond. 

Age Group Training Part 3

Transitioning From Junior Under 20 to Senior Under 23 and beyond. 

Ok this article is more about pitfalls  and distractions that can be encountered, tips on how to go about handling training to best effect to develop into the Senior athlete that you should be.

I will give an outline of the Pre competition training phase needed for a successful  track season in a few months.

The learning curve, where a patient persistence is the key to success. Everybody evolves, nobody knows everything about themselves at one particular time.  It takes layers upon layers of that building to get to your full potential. And It may be against most peoples' and runners' nature, but patience when it comes to middle distance and long distance running is really vital. 

As Juniors you still have some years before you reach the conventional peak for distance events, so having the confidence to just gradually chip away and not lose your mind and focus, when things don’t go well, has to be there.

Even if track PB’s are not happening frequently enough for you all across the summers and you are not winning those county and Area or National XC titles, it doesn’t mean anything in your training system is broken, it just recognises mistimed injuries and illness, changing environments and circumstances, family, social, educational and career wise distractions.

It’s a frustrating fact, but one that will change if you follow through on what you are currently supposed to be doing. So believe in your training system, your coach and your agreed long-term plans and the little milestones will fit into place making your development much easier and enjoyable. Have faith in what was working for you, will carry on working.

As long as the training & racing progression & development relevant to your journey are in place. No one guarantees a smooth learning curve, it takes time for all the training principles to take effect.

You are learning about your physiology and body generally, learning to read the signals it tells you, finding your comfort zones and discovering that all so important sweet spot where you are racing at optimum pace where you are so efficient and economical and able to step up if necessary then relax back into your best pace, before winding up for the finish.

Some reach racing maturity at 24 to 26, others older than that, particularly if moving up through distances or changing summer emphasis from track to road.

Always remember the good times, 

When your progress and development towards your early goals and PB’s felt easy and those weeks and months of training and racing where almost nothing could go wrong. 

Despite tough times maybe having a feeling of being far removed from it, but you should be remembering the feeling of those good times which will still stand you in good stead and remind you that it can be done, and also that it can come around again even when you least expect it.

Stick to the process in a consistent and persistent way and it will produce those times again and once it all feels right, it can happen once again and the results will be shown in your races. So never lose sight of what can be, and how fun that process can be.

Don’t be just a runner. 

As your successes come and you progress up the rankings, and maybe some pressures increase as the stakes get higher, and so it becomes more and more tempting to abandon things around you in pursuit of the running lifestyle. 

This can work very well for some people, but not everyone and there is nothing wrong in admitting that it isn’t best for you. Find things that interest you and don’t be afraid to explore them, it’s ok if they are running related, once it isn’t all about your own running. 

Days will come when you need to not be concerned about your own racing and training; and other aspects of your life take priority for a while, you need to realise that these other things are just as important to give you a great balance to your life.  It is very easy to lose sight of these things when caught in the minute details of it all, but there is always a bigger picture to view if you look up.

Development and progression takes the pace it needs to for you as an individual

Growing up competing in both cross-country and track and field, many Juniors have shown impressive results and subsequently suffer from chronic injury or health issues. Illness and injury are almost inevitable as an elite athlete, due to there being such a fine line between optimal fitness and pushing your limits slightly over the line. 

However, understanding ways to minimise the risk of this happening will hopefully reduce instances of illness and injury, especially those that are long term.

Many of the previous national elite junior track and field athletes over the   decades never made a full transition to elite senior level, furthermore over 50% of junior track and field world medallists in the last decade, did not even compete as seniors.

Warning signs to look out for that can lead to loss of form or motivational problems

• They can include obsessive nutritional habits although this is mainly related to women, but can apply to men. So can be calorie counting or cutting out certain necessary food groups.

• Overtraining either in the form of too high a mileage or training volume or intensity than you are progressing to, as Levels will be on your progressional curve leading to levels needed for senior athletes.

• A Change of environment, training system, University, career, coach etc any of these changes may not suit you as an individual and play against your personal development or even the training may not suit your physiology or even goals.

• Moving your approach from motivated and enjoying your running, to obsessive and losing your enjoyment leading to a mental staleness.

• Irregular menstrual cycle or none at all, is a  sure sign of energy imbalance for the female athlete – without it, the body is showing that it is in an energy deficit. You cannot fool your own body and it will show you clear signs.

Some talented athletes burn out (physically and psychologically) following years of physical and psychological stress, prioritising results at the expense of enjoyment, and decide to leave the sport altogether.

• But taking a step back from training volume, taking stock of your direction and what your realistic goals are,  doesn’t mean that you are settling for average, mediocrity or that you won’t have success as a senior. It’s oh so easy to get absorbed in this “more is more” mentality, when in fact, consistency is the key to building great training blocks and foundations for racing success.

And without having a sensible approach, consistency is not going to be a possibility.

• Enjoy your  racing and training, have fun and good banter with your training mates. Listen to your coach, discuss with your coach, plan with your coach, tell your coach of any problems or hindrances to  your progression, consistency or ability to train effectively. They, with you,  will help to solve any hiccups  or problems.

• Insufficient or disturbed sleep patterns make it extremely hard to train and race to progress consistently.so this must be addressed for whatever cause.

• But you must talk and express your feelings and concerns.

N.B. Ok the above may sound a little gloomy and depressing,  this is really all  about pointing out warning signals, do’s and don’ts, so that your running can have some longevity going into Seniors.

 It’s great to have week on week successes as U15, U17, U20, but life is not like that. 

But you can learn so much when there are those losses of form.

Don’t forget that peak racing is at your main goals for that Quarter, season or year.

The rest is a building process of adding the training / racing layers to achieve main goals

The actual training for all your relative successes can be discussed, and as I say, good running is not rocket science, but you are all individuals with your own nuances in life, application week by week, even though the  training is quite generic, is applied relative to your own event needs and preferences.

But make use of group sessions as they can be great fun and bring you on gradually to step up to peak to achieve your quarterly or seasonal goals, sometimes to levels that may surprise you.

David Rodgers :  2024