Running is like baking a cake…….

Progressing in running is like baking a cake….

A sponge cake is from the simple ingredients of eggs, flour and butter when mixed together in the right way create a solid foundation that can be decorated with frosting, fillings and sparkles resulting in a work of art!

Running is similar starting with simple ingredients of basic movement patterns, easy effort miles, rest, and recovery resulting in a strong base of aerobic endurance. And from this running base you can achieve things that you might never have thought was possible, strong foundations are the springboard for improved quality and performance; from 5km to ultramarathon.

 And just like making a cake there can be no short cuts to gain amazing results; all the basic ingredients need to be present for your cake to be the best it can, if you miss out the eggs, the cake will be dense and may not hold together properly. Miss out the flour you will end up with a souffle and if you forget the butter, it may taste ok, but it will be small and never reach its full potential.

 So, think about your running as you would baking a cake, as tempting as it might be to head straight to the speed work, skip the recovery runs and rest days and gorge on the delicious butter filling and sweet decorations of getting faster, because let’s be honest, we know that getting faster tastes so good. But soon, if you just aim for the good bits without the “boring” base, you’ll soon end up feeling sick and unsatisfied, butter filling and decorations should be eaten with cake, they complement each other.  And just like speed and strength work, these ingredients should enhance a solid aerobic base so your approach to running is holistic giving you the greatest chance to perform at your best.