Quarantine guidance and resources

2 APRIL 2020: I have been updating each of the sections of this post on their own individual pages. The latest versions of each page can be found at:


This is my first post of 2020. I was planning to have a report on the series of cross country races I did over winter or to share my planned races for this year as my first posts. Unfortunately neither of those are happening as planned. Like many people I'm adjusting my training and refocusing on what's possible and what's important right now. Fortunately a large part of the running community is thinking in the same way as I am and many coaches and athletes have shared their thoughts on how to make the most of our training time in this period of uncertainty.

In this post I've collected all the articles and advice I've been reading. I've also included a list of resources that we can take advantage of to become smarter runners while we have to decrease our training loads. As I mention at the end of the post, if you have any suggestions of things for me to add to this list, please let me know.

UPDATE 21 MARCH: In the following sections the links of the authors' names lead to their twitter page so you can follow them directly. The other links lead to the articles that are referenced. As an alternative, you can follow this Lockdown_Guide list which includes all the people referenced in this post.


Adjusting Training

There is evidence that hard training and high training load influence immune function and decrease immunity as shown in this study in the European Journal of Sports Science. This is obviously something that we want to avoid at the moment:

  • "Numerous studies over the last 35 years report an increase in upper respiratory infection (URI) symptoms in athletes during periods of heavy training and competition."
  • "Recent studies have identified prominent risk factors, including: intensified training in the winter; long-haul travel; low energy availability; high levels of psychological stress and anxiety; and depression."

Together with the lack of races because of cancellations it is clear that adjusting training to maintain immunity is vital. Many coaches have provided advice in the last week that give you guidance on how to make these adjustments and how to think about your training in this time of uncertainty.


Greg McMillan presents some options for how to adjust your training when your race has been cancelled. He explains that "never-ending training cycles lead to mental burnout and a fitness plateau. Without the goal race, it may be difficult to feel like you never really finished off your season". These options are definitely not possible for everyone, some areas have all races cancelled and it may not make sense to run hard because of the immune system impact, however these options are still useful for some depending on where they are:

  • find another race in the near future
  • find another race of any distance within a few weeks
  • organize a time trial or virtual race

Reid Coolsaet recommends "back[ing]-off full marathon volume/intensity (which isn’t usually sustainable for longer than 16 weeks) and shift[ing] training to a level that will reduce risk to injury and leave room to peak for a new date". His article on iRun is very interesting and he offers some good perspective. Reid's goal of qualifying for his last Olympics is not something that can be easily shifted to next year like most other race goals.


Jason Koop explains that "so called ‘make up’ races are a classic trap". I've fallen into this trap before and I know that trying to prepare and then run well at a race that I'm not motivated for is a recipe for poor performance. His first point about adjusting after a race cancellation resonated with me: "first, do you still WANT to do it?". I encourage you to read the article and follow the guidance he provides:

  • it does not have to be perfect
  • don't cram
  • prioritize the process
  • your fitness won't evaporate
  • commit

Stephen Seiler asked on twitter how his audience was adjusting their training. He also provided his suggestion which is great advice as always:

My strategy is to move a couple steps down the pyramid. Drop the anaerobic cap training (fresh fruit). Make intervals more extensive and less intensive. Emphasize primary resources like strength and speed, but cut down on specific race pace work that can lead to a "false peak".


Jay Johnson shared a newsletter which include some wise advice about how to manage easy runs and to focus on consistency:

This is not the time to crush your normal easy run because you’ve got a bit of fear and anxiety, fear and anxiety you likely wouldn’t have at the end of a hard run. Consistency with exercise is key, but at least in my case, as a man in his mid-40s, I’m better off with low heart rate work and some strength work every day.


Robbie Britton provides some perspective about motivation in answering an athlete's question about whether or not to do a long run when faced with race cancellations: "Why wouldn’t you want to spend a few hours enjoying the pleasures of the long distance run?". While the advice below can be applied at any time of the training cycle, it is particularly relevant at this time:

Slow the pace of that long run by 10-15 seconds a mile and add in some decent, race practice fuelling in and it’s a whole different story. Finish the long run feeling like you could go on and you’re full of a feeling of competence.


Asker Jeukendrup shared an article with a variety of different actions to take to limit infection risk. I recommend taking the time to read the whole article. Some key advice that I took away from the article was:

  • If you participate in regular exercise, avoid very prolonged training sessions (longer than two hours) and excessive periods of intensified training as this can depress your immunity.
  • Get adequate sleep (at least seven hours per night is recommended).
  • Vitamin D plays an important role in promoting immunity, and this is a concern as vitamin D insufficiency is common in people especially in situations where exposure to natural sunlight is limited (e.g., during the winter months or when living or working mostly indoors).
  • Avoid crash dieting and rapid weight loss.
  • If you plan to do a prolonged (90 minutes or more) moderate to high intensity exercise session, ensure adequate carbohydrate intake before and during exercise in order to limit the extent and severity of exercise-induced immune depression.
  • The consumption of beverages during exercise not only helps prevent dehydration (which is associated with an increased stress hormone response) but also helps to maintain saliva flow rate during exercise. Saliva contains several proteins with antimicrobial properties including immunoglobulin A, lysozyme, a-amylase, and defensins. Saliva secretion usually falls during exercise, but regular fluid intake (water is fine) during exercise can prevent this.

Raúl Celdrán and Javier Sola put together a webinar about how to adjust your training during the corona virus [in Spanish]. I haven't watched this yet, but it's lined up for my next trainer session on the bike!


In this post for The Growth Equation, Steve Magness explains that "you can't boost your immune system, but you sure can suppress it!". This is a nuanced and useful perspective on how to think about and consider your training right now:

Rather than defining hard/moderate/easy for your training, think of it as drastic changes which alter your risk of infection. If ‘normal’ for you is running 10 miles per day and you continue doing that, you’re likely fine. If normal for you is running 2 miles per day and you try to run 6 miles per day, your risk of infection likely goes up.


Joel Friel explains how to adjust training if your race has been postponed and pushed 12 weeks into the future. He recommends returning to base training:

From what I’ve seen so far it appears that the rescheduled races are 12 weeks or more in the future. If that’s the case for yours then the best option is to immediately return to base fitness training as described in my Training Bibles. This involves four training abilities: aerobic endurance, muscular force, speed skills, and muscular endurance.


Robbie Britton and Tom Craggs shared some advice on the Fast Runner website to answer the question "My marathon has moved, what should I do?". The various options they suggest include detailed explanations of:

  • recover and rebuild
  • shifting long runs to every 3-4 weeks
  • a 5/10k focus
  • testing where you're at
  • workouts from home

Christie Aschwanden posted this article on "the Exercise Your Body Needs During the Coronavirus Outbreak". There are recommendations for athletes of all levels and a measured and smart set of recommendations for what exercise to do now:

A good rule of thumb is to limit sustained exercise (greater than 60% effort, which means 60% of your max heart rate) to no more than 60 minutes at a time. One way to do this while still getting in some harder exercise is with intermittent intensity, where you mix some high-intensity efforts with rest or low-intensity exercise.



Training education and resources for your free time

Now that we've established that training will likely be a lower volume than planned, many athletes will have some extra time (and they may have extra time at home anyway because of self-isolation). Here are some useful things that you can do to use that time effectively to become a more knowlegeable athlete.


Kilian Jornet shared his Summits of My Life videos for free so we all have something awesome to watch while on the home trainer or treadmill. He also shared a list of resources that he uses for organizing his training and planning:


Jonathan Marcus and Steve Magness have offered one month for free of their High Performance West Scholar Coaching Mentorship Program. This is an amazing opportunity to "learn about the history, science, and art of coaching distance running". The program is available at High Performance West and the code for a free month is: BetterTogether.


HIITScience is offering large discounts on their training courses.

These are tough times. Many of us have been asked to stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus meaning we are unable to coach, teach or practice as usual. We all have our part to play. For those who want to use their added time for professional development, HIIT Science will be offering our largest discount ever across our online course offerings for individuals and institutions. Until the end of March, use this code for 40% off any of our course packages: HIITSCIENCE40.


ALTIS is offering a 20% on all of their courses with the code ALTISEDUCATE. There are plenty of courses on coaching, performance therapy, and various track and field disciplines.


Martin Gibala and Stuart Phillips have offered a free course on Coursera called: "Hacking Exercise For Health. The surprising new science of fitness". This course aims to:

teach the surprising new science of cardio fitness and strength-building—and then provide you with hacks to get fit and strong (and healthy!) in less time than you ever thought possible... [it's] a course designed to provide even the most inexperienced of exercisers the tools you need to design time-efficient workouts that can be done virtually anywhere.


The lecture on "Protein for weight loss" at mysportsscience academy is currently available for free. You can also read my notes on all the courses from the 2019 LPC Nutrition conference here:



Training that you can do at home

vert.run has prepared a home training plan designed for trail runners. It's available at vert.run.


Podium Runner shared a list of exercises that you can do during daily life in January. These are all things that you can incorporate into your day or do indoors during a lock-down.


HIITScience shared a fantastic post that I found very useful. They have a routine that includes jump rope exercises, squat jumps, burpees, press-ups, and a combination of these different exercises. The post is informative and helpful because they explain the de-training process and how to best minimize the reduction in fitness over time:

Short sessions of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) appear to be the simplest and most time-efficient way to maintain fitness during those periods of reduced activity (3, 4). HIIT consists of repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise, involving a total of 10-15 min of effort. These exercise bouts are short (from 15s to 3 min) and intense (perceived exertion of 8/10, targeting HR close to or above 90% of maximal HR), and separated by short (15s to 2 min) relief periods.


David Roche shares fantastic articles on the Trail Runner website and has also shared a number of different exercises that I have been using for a while for strength, but they are also perfect for doing inside now:


HMMR Media has been sharing a series of articles on staying fit in a pandemic. This article has some good advice and a great video of a lunge routine that you can do at home. It's useful to see a slight variation on lunges that you can add as another set of exercises for your indoor training.


Mario Fraioli put together a series of strength exercises for runners called "The No Excuses Strength-Training Circuit For Runners" in 2016. These exercises are just as useful now and worth adding to your lockdown routine.



I hope these articles and resources are useful for you. Please feel free to share this post and also to send me any updates or additional resources if you have anything I should add to the list (you can tag me on twitter @dwrowland or send an email through the contact page).

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