Training ManifestoPAGE 5 by Sage CanadayPrinciples of Training:Training theory has changed over the decades and it is at first worth mentioning some historical achievements that have influenced the world of distance running and my thoughts on training principles. 1. To improve, to win, to reach your potential you have to work HARD (high mileage and appropriate intensity to back it up).Back in the 1956 Olympics Emil Zatopek won the 5k, 10k, the marathon. He revolutionized the way people thought about distance training by a) running high mileage and b) backing that high mileage with high intensity. He did single workouts in excess of 20 miles such as 2 sets of 50 by 400m daily�..for consecutive days! Jim Ryun and Gerry Lindgren both ran over 100 miles per week in hs. Lindgren claimed that he hit over 300 miles per week several times later, and Ryun repeatedly ran workouts like 40 by 400m. Obviously these training volumes are a bit too much for any runner, but it goes to show that you have to sometimes be a little crazy in order to succeed in athletics. Frank Shorter, (the great) averaged nearly 120 miles/ week for an entire decade! (Bloom 22). Leading up to his gold medal in the marathon for the 1972 Olympics he said he ran weeks of 170 miles at 8,000ft of altitude in the mountains of Colorado (22). Alberto Salazar once told me that to improve I must be willing to train �haaaaaaard� and �really hurt��the fiery look in his eye conveyed his message of masochism. 2. Periodize your training so that you never lose touch with your sprint speed or your base-building endurance:When Arthur Lydiard developed what many would refer to the � aerobic base building� phase in training many people mis-interpreted him. They watered it down to simply �running slow and easy for weeks on end while increasing weekly mileage totals by no more than 5% per week.� While some of Lydiard�s work is what I�d consider outdated, it builds the back bone of most successful training programs because it introduces periodization (read: changing training stimulus) which allows a runner to build on their levels of fitness through different adaptations week after week, season after season and year after year.
Lydiard�s general �base phase� was 10 weeks of 100 miles/week with a weekly long run of over 20 miles, and several runs at ��� effort �steady state runs.� He also incorporated hill workouts (running up and down hills as well as sprinting on the flats) to promote speed, strength and good biomechanics.
But 3. Different Paces and Intensities work together as complements (much like amino acids to form proteins �or ingredients in a cake recipe) in developing the program as a Whole.
Think of the big picture. Where do I want to be a year from now? 4 years from now? Your Coach Mark Wetmore at Colorado is an example of a coach that utilizes many of Lydiard�s principles without all the �watering down.� Most importantly, I think, is Lydiard�s idea of �steady state running� combined with high mileage and a day were the athlete only runs once but runs LONG at a relatively fast pace. What Lydiard�s steady state runs were leading up to was the modern concept of �Lactate Threshold� intensity and progressing at increasingly faster and faster speeds on relatively �easy runs.� This is much like the way that African runners train without realizing it�starting out at a slow shuffle, but eventually building into a pace that capitalizes on faster a faster aerobic development by closing runs at under 5min/ mile (which may only be marathon pace for them). Like a �random� fartlek this kinds of runs explore the pace range spectrum from a slow easy jogging pace all the way down to all-out sprint surges.
In more recent times, we�ve seen evidence of periodization in dividing training into specific �periods� or �phases.� for an emphasis on one type or stimulis/workout type or another�.however this does not mean that all those other stimuli can be neglected. Sometimes there are two or three �sub-periods� or �sub-phases� within a phase. Things get complicated with a 3-10 week block of training chunked off and devoted to different systems emphasis. However, this amount of detail is important because knowing what weeks of training are devoted to developing certain qualities of training lead to appropriate planning of the overall season or �the big picture.� What is more important is being able to see the system, the whole program and its phases and to have it planned (roughly) ahead of time. This is best done by working backwards from the day of a championship race (end of season) and building the program around a time frame leading up to that cumulating event where the main focus is. While some may call this a �peak� I tend to think of it as being time when the athlete is at a very high level of fitness. I don�t believe in true �peaks,� and I think that the athlete can perform at a relatively high level of fitness nearly year-round. This is done by integrating all intensities/velocities of training somewhere within each phase/period of training.
For example, American great Bob Kennedy was once quoted saying: �At any time during the year, there has to be an element of base, V02max workouts, and speed work in your training.� (Pfitzinger 106). Coach Joe Vigil from Colorado State has mentioned having elite athletes do a session of 4-6 by one mile at 5k-10k pace with a short rest once a week nearly every week out of the year (Sandrock 36 ). Jack Daniels, who in |