Why Epic Runs May Fail in your run to greatness….
For young and competitive runners of all ages….
How To Train….
I’ve learned a lot over the decades of running and racing and being a physical therapist…
Ran some pretty good times,
5k 15:18
10k 31:07
Half Marathon 69:57
10 miler 52:25
Hour rAce on the track 45 laps (5:18/mile pace)
and
Marathon 2:28 ….
I missed one very important piece that would have helped me run even faster and stay injury free….
Here’s the thing.
I ran some Epic workouts… the kind of workouts you “see God”…
workouts like this:
16 miles marked course at 5:31/mile. I did that twice…
12 miles of in and out miles continuous alternating 5:10 and 6:00 minute miles.
20 milers at under 2 hours in the Texas heat…
So what’s the problem?
What we’ve learned and it was talked about by the great physiologist, coach and Olympic athlete Jack Daniels PhD in The Running Formula was the importance of threshold running, gentle aerobic running and plenty of rest days… with just a sprinkle of mile race pace 200’s, 300’s with plenty of rest interval.
Why?
I had 2 times in life when a coach told me to scale back the hard work and do more threshold running… even sub-threshold, meaning a pace that I could run a full hour race at but only running repeat miles or 5 to 10 minute efforts at this sub-threshold pace…
and
to take plenty of easy jog days…
That’s how I ran my 2:28 marathon on the lowest mileage of my years at the time (69 miles per week average) instead of the usual 80, 90 and over 100 miles per week.
That’s how I ran 31:07 on 30 miles a week with 3 times a week running 6:00/mile pace 3 mile runs) that’s sub threshold….
There’s a sweet spot to training. And why so many high school runners are breaking 4 minutes in the mile now and sub 9:00 for the 2 mile is because they are not over-cooking the training. It’s very specific. You can read about it in Jack Daniel’s book The Running Formula and there’s an excellent article here. https://www.mariusbakken.com/norwegian-model-revisited.html
Just a word of caution. Just because you see some runners running more mileage and having success doesn’t mean that’s best for everyone. What I find that’s key is to dial back the intensity and frequency of the hard work and the overall mileage and let the years build you.
That way you can stay healthy and the progression is the key. Years of uninterrupted training at sub-threshold and easy running will pay off.
Let me know what you think and how it’s going. And if you need help getting over injuries let me know, because that’s what I do.
I help runners get their health back, recover from injuries and run happy and free.
Ralph Havens PT IMTC
Beyond Limits Physical Therapy
Bellingham, WA
& worldwide via Zoom
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