After the first few years of heady progress, runners often find that their improvement curve plateaus. Though they continue diligent work, new PRs—even incremental gains—become difficult to achieve. But once in a while, veteran runners experience the type of breakthrough they dream about, where a small change in training spurs a new level of excellence. This week, Running Times is highlighting runners who made tweaks to their routines—like increased intensity, more strength training or even new running partners—that lifted them to a new level of performance.
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The Runner: Lois Keller
Age: 30
Breakthrough: 18-As a starting point, Keller recommends squats and Romanian dead lifts
In 2009, Lois Keller recorded a 10:14 mark in the 3,000m steeplechase. A Montana native whose high school 1600m PR was a modest 5:27, Keller expected her rapid ascent to continue.
It didn't. For three years, Keller lingered in the 10:10 to 10:20 range.
At the suggestion of her husband, Levi Keller, a national-class pole vaulter and certified strength and conditioning specialist, she began hitting the weight room twice each week, adopting a revised routine every four to eight weeks.
Her typical sessions included squats, calf raises, hamstring curls, shoulder presses, rows, pullups and dead lifts—work that improved her agility and strength.
"As [distance] runners we tend to do everything in a single plane of motion—forward—and it is really good to work the other areas with lateral motion and lesser-used muscles," says Keller, who prepared for each weight-room session with hip mobility exercises, body-weight squats and easy plyometrics, such as butt kicks and skipping.
In 2012, just months after adding strength training to her routine, Keller dropped her steeplechase time to 9:56 and earned a spot at the U.S. Olympic trials.
The Coach's Take
Levi Keller understands that time and access lead many distance runners to reject strength training, but incorporating weight-room work, he says, prevents injuries and increases performance.
Though traditional thinking holds that distance runners should embrace high volume with low weight, Keller defied that conventional wisdom in crafting a program for his wife. He bumped up the weight and challenged Lois with three to eight reps over two to four sets, a program designed to enhance power.
Distance runners, so accustomed to hefty aerobic work, can become more complete, versatile athletes by strategically adopting more intense, anaerobic exercises. "It can't just be all endurance, all the time, or we run the risk of the body becoming rather one-dimensional," Keller says.
How to Increase Mileage Running.
Squats, he says, build range of motion while improving leg strength, though he cautions runners to exercise proper form, with the back straight, chest and shoulders upright and knees in line with the feet.
With Romanian dead lifts, athletes hold a barbell and, with knees slightly bent, bend forward at the hips keeping the back in a neutral position. Keller says this exercise increases flexibility and strengthens the hamstrings, glutes and back.
Runners should also address the upper body with balance exercises, such as incline dumbbell bench press, and pullups or lat pulldowns. Using dumbbells will foster balance and keep stabilizer muscles engaged.
"Although strength training for the upper body is not a priority for most distance runners and most likely won't result in major performance gains," Keller says, "its value comes from making runners physically more well-rounded."
More breakthroughs:
At 30, Lois Keller clipped 18 seconds from her 3,000m steeplechase PR once she hit the weight room
Increased Intensity
Periodized Training Can Help You Hit Your Goals
Nutrition - Weight Loss
