Supertraining

Relevant to recent discussions:

What's The Best Way To Train For A Marathon?

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-12021-0,00.html

Tricky question. There isn't one right marathon training plan. But
these principles help you figure out what works — for you.

By Amby Burfoot
Runner's World

1. Run just enough

"Stay healthy" is the most important piece of marathon training
advice, and the most often ignored. It does you no good to train hard,
and then get sick or injured. Better to be slightly undertrained, but
feeling strong and eager, than to be overtrained. The trick, of
course, is finding that fine line between the two.

2. Build your training slowly

Increase weekly mileage by just 10 percent per week. Extend long runs
by just one mile at a time up to 10 miles, then by two miles at a time
if you want. Take recovery weeks as well as recovery days. Here's what
eight weeks of marathon training might look like, in terms of miles
per week: 20-22-24-20-26-28-30-20.

3. Recover, recover, recover

You don't have to train hard seven days a week. You have to train
smart three or four days a week. This was proven in a 1994 study at
the University of Northern Iowa, where four-time-a-week runners
performed just as well in a marathon as those training six times a
week and covering 20 percent more total miles. A similar approach is
now endorsed by the Furman FIRST marathon program, where 70 percent of
veterans have improved their times on three runs a week.

4. Do your long runs

This is a no-brainer. The newer you are to marathoning, and the
slower, the more important your long runs. You simply have to get
accustomed to being on your feet for three, four, or more hours.
There's no magic length. Most experts recommend stopping at two and a
half to three hours; Jeff Galloway advises going farther, but
including walk breaks. All systems work, as long as you get to the
starting line healthy and strong.

5. Practice your marathon pace

Ann Alyanak, a coach at the University of Dayton, took 10 minutes off
her PR at Boston last spring, finishing in 2:38. The key, she
believes, was the addition of "progressive marathon-pace" (MP) long
runs to her program. Alyanak would do a two-mile warmup, then six
miles at marathon pace plus 40 seconds, six more at marathon pace plus
20, and her final six at marathon pace. "I was able to run negative
splits in Boston," she says.

6. Extend your tempo-run distance

Tempo runs were born as four-mile efforts, propounded by coaching
genius Jack Daniels, Ph.D. Then another genius coach, Joe Vigil,
Ph.D., began asking Deena Kastor to hold the tempo pace
longer—eventually up to 12 miles. He got Meb Keflezighi to 15. Result?
Two Olympic Marathon medals. Gradually extend your tempo runs, slowing
by a few seconds per mile from your four-mile pace. "The longer the
tempo run workout you can sustain, the greater the dividends down the
road," says Vigil.

7. Eat your carbs...

To stay healthy and recover well during marathon training, you need to
fuel your body efficiently. First, consume some carbs—gel, sports
drink, and so on—during long, hard workouts to keep running strong.
Second, eat and/or drink a good helping of carbs as quickly as
possible after workouts. This will replenish the glycogen (energy
supply) in your depleted leg muscles. Add a little protein for muscle
repair.

8. ...and pay attention to iron

None of the Trials qualifiers in Karp's study identified themselves as
"vegetarians." Running increases iron loss through sweating and
pounding. You don't have to be a meat-eater to run a strong marathon,
but you do have to consume enough iron. Cooking in an iron skillet
helps, as does consuming iron-rich foods with vitamin C, which
increases the body's iron absorption.

9. Sidestep injuries

I recently asked exercise physiologist, author, and two-time U.S.
Olympic marathoner (1984, 1988) Peter Pfitzinger what he would do
differently if he were 22 years old today. He said that he'd rest
and/or cross-train for several days a week at the first hint of a
problem. And that he'd include core training in his regimen. "I'm
convinced that core stability helps runners maintain good running form
and pace late in a race," says Pfitzinger, now the CEO of the New
Zealand Academy of Sport North.

10. Taper for two to three weeks

Many runners hate to taper. We are cursed with a sort of sublime
obsessiveness—a big help when you're increasing your efforts, but an
albatross when you're supposed to be cutting back. A new study from
Ball State University showed a particular gain in Type IIa muscle
fiber strength—the so-called fast, aerobic muscles that can adapt to
improve your performance—after a three—week taper. Of course, as Ryan
Hall's experiment shows, you don't have to follow all these principles
to run a strong marathon. But the more you cover the basics, the
greater your chance of 26.2-mile success.

--------------------------
W.G. Johnson
Ubermensch Sports Consultancy
San Deigo, CA

===============================


--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "ckn1074" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Bill,
>
> Thanks a lot for that marathon info.  Can you post a link to the
> bulletin from which your information came?  I searched for it but I
> didn't find anything very specific.
>
> Kyle Norman
> Arlington, VA
>
> --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "W.G. 'Bill' Johnson"
> <ubermenschsports@> wrote:
> >
> > And now for something from the aerobic end of the training spectrum,
> > some marathon training tips from the Sports Performance Bulletin,
> May
> > 19 2008/Issue 169:
> >
> > Mistake No. 1
> > Carrying out three long runs during the four-week period before race
> > day - a 13-miler four weeks before the race, a 21-miler three weeks
> > before the marathon, and a 14-miler two weeks in advance of the big
> > day (we might also count the nine-miler at race pace one week before
> > the marathon, which would give us four long runs in the pre-race
> > month). For a runner with average leg strength, it takes at least a
> > month to recover from strenuous marathon training so that the race
> > itself can be completed with rested, healthy leg muscles; scientific
> > research suggests that during this month before the race no workout
> > should cover more than about 10 miles. This principle was violated
> > three different times by the runner above, and as a result his quads
> > were not really ready to race on marathon day - they were still
> > reeling from the punishing training which had been conducted.
> >
> > Proper strategy: to promote better recovery while still enhancing
> the
> > ability to run marathon-type distances, carry out a long run every
> two
> > to three weeks (not every week), gradually increasing the duration
> of
> > this effort to 22 miles, only 10 to 12 of which are covered at race
> > pace; on alternate weeks, complete shorter-duration quality
> training.
> > Complete the last long run at least four weeks prior to race da
> >
> > Mistake no. 2
> > Carrying out just one workout per week at faster than goal marathon
> > pace. For endurance runners in general, max running speed is a good
> > predictor of marathon potential, and for individual runners
> > improvements in max running speed almost always lead to upgrades in
> > marathon performance. It is difficult, however, to enhance max speed
> > when only one 'speed' session is completed per week, especially when
> > that 'speed' session is more of a tempo run than a higher-intensity
> > effort.
> >
> > Proper strategy: complete at least two faster-than-marathon-pace
> > workouts per week, mixing interval workouts at 10-K, 5-K, and 3-K
> pace
> > with neural training (see Mistake no. 3) and placing less emphasis
> on
> > tempo runs.
> >
> > Mistake No. 3
> > Failing to complete any neural training, i. e., failing to train at
> > VO2max speed (i. e., vVO2max) and omitting 'super sets' from the
> > overall programme. It is certain that vVO2max workouts produce more
> > gains in vVO2max, lactate threshold, and running economy than any
> > other type of training session; these three physiological variables
> > are great predictors of marathon success. It is likely that super
> sets
> > have a similarly strong physiological effect.
> >
> > Proper strategy: carry out a neural workout every 10 to 15 days
> during
> > the early stages of marathon training - and every week during the
> last
> > eight weeks before a marathon.
> >
> > Mistake no. 4
> > Emphasizing non-running-specific strength training. For the first
> four
> > months of the pre-marathon training period, this runner emphasized
> > strengthening exercises which involved isolation of particular
> muscles
> > or muscle groups and seated or lying-down postures. These kinds of
> > exercises are likely to have only a small (or no) impact on actual
> > running strength (i. e., the ability to consistently take longer
> > strides and the ability to be more stable and economical when the
> foot
> > is on the ground during the stance phase of the gait cycle; if you
> > doubt this, read Owen Anderson's piece on one-leg exercises earlier
> in
> > this issue).
> >
> > Proper strategy: start preparations for a marathon with six weeks or
> > so of whole-body strengthening, with an emphasis on exercises which
> > involve most of the muscles in the body simultaneously and which
> avoid
> > seated and reclining postures. Then move on to hill training and
> > exercises which duplicate key aspects of the gait cycle, including
> > one-leg squats, high-bench step-ups, one-leg hops in place, bicycle
> > leg swings, reverse bicycle leg swings, eccentric reaches with toes,
> > and arrested step-downs, focusing on weight-bearing exercises which
> > require high degrees of coordination and must be carried out with
> full
> > body weight supported by one leg at a time. Finally, finish with
> about
> > eight weeks of explosive work, including hops, bounds, sprints,
> > one-leg squats with lateral hops, in-place accelerations, Indian
> hops,
> > drop jumps, and high-knee explosions. These moves enhance the
> ability
> > to run fast, and as max running speed increases, it drags marathon
> > pace along with it.
> >
> > Mistake no. 5
> > Using gels during the marathon itself. This is very tricky business,
> > since exactly the right amount of water must be taken in with each
> > packet of gel. Take in too much water - and you end up with a
> > hypotonic sports drink in your gullet which delivers too few carbs
> to
> > your leg muscles. Take in too little water - and you concoct a
> syrupy
> > goo within your intestines which actually drags in water from
> > surrounding tissues and spurs diarrhoea. Pour sports drink down your
> > throat along with the gel, and you might as well begin scouting
> around
> > for a Portaloo.
> >
> > Proper strategy: it is possible to use gels during the race, but
> you'd
> > better have a sports-drink expert or exercise physiologist calculate
> > your water intake for you. It's far easier to simply use sports
> drink
> > throughout the race (remember never to mix sports drink with
> water), a
> > practice which will increase your chances of avoiding GI upsets and
> > delivering enough carbohydrate to your muscles.
> >
> > Mistake no. 6
> > Employing a training programme which is devoid of variety. Note that
> > although our marathon runner attempted to make the overall training
> > schedule progressive by broadening the duration of the cross-
> training
> > (aqua jogging, stair-machine, and bicycle) workouts, the easy runs
> on
> > Monday and Thursday, and the Saturday long run, the programme is
> > monotonously similar from week to week. Although the workouts get
> > longer, the types of training sessions utilized do not change.
> >
> > Proper strategy: avoid a too-heavy dependence on tempo and long
> > running, substituting an array of higher-quality workouts, including
> > neural sessions (see Mistake no. 3), lactate-stacker workouts
> > (two-minute intervals at close to max pace, separated by four-minute
> > recoveries), hill climbs, fartlek efforts, speed-strength circuits,
> > 800-metre intervals at 3-K pace, 1200- to 1600-metre intervals at 5-
> K
> > speed, 2000- to 2400-metre reps at 10-K pace, and competitions
> ranging
> > in distance from 5K up to the half-marathon. These kinds of
> exertions
> > will have a much broader - and larger - impact on the key
> > physiological variables which are important for endurance-running
> > success, including vVO2max, lactate-threshold running speed, and
> > running economy. They will also promote the ability to run faster,
> > which is critically important for all types of racing.
> >
> > Final Points
> > Completing our analysis, it's important to bear in mind that aqua
> > jogging does not remove lactic acid from the leg muscles (see
> Sunday's
> > workout above); in fact, if the aqua jogging is above a fairly
> minimal
> > intensity, it will actually increase muscle lactic-acid
> > concentrations. In truth, there's no need to fret about lactic-acid
> > levels in the muscles. Most of the stuff is removed or metabolized
> > within minutes after a workout is over, and of course lactic acid
> does
> > not cause muscle soreness or stiffness.
> > Note, too, that this runner can run much faster than 4:08 - or even
> > 3:57 - for the marathon. If he can complete 18-mile runs at 8:20
> pace
> > relatively early in the overall preparatory period (as indicated in
> > his letter), then the range of paces between 8:00 and 8:20 - not
> 8:57
> > - can be utilized to select a reasonable goal velocity, depending on
> > how aggressive one wants to be at goal setting. An 8:20 pace would
> of
> > course produce about a 3:38 marathon - and automatic qualification
> for
> > Boston for this runner. That can happen without problem, as long as
> he
> > doesn't get burned out during training.
> >
> > Remember that it is your overall fitness which will determine your
> > success at marathon racing, not the quantity of miles in your
> training
> > log or even the number of long runs which you have completed. In
> fact,
> > too many training-log miles will make your legs feel like logs on
> race
> > day. The idea in marathon training is to 'peak' in neural and
> > physiological fitness and in the ability to run long at goal
> marathon
> > speed about a month before the race - and then to reach an even
> higher
> > 'peak' in marathon capacity over the last four weeks by combining
> less
> > total running and greater rest with the right amount of intense -
> but
> > not prolonged - training. If you can pull that off, while retaining
> > your confidence, you will have the greatest chance of running your
> > best-possible race.
> >
> > Any others?
> > W.G. Johnson
> > Ubermensch Sports Consultancy
> > San Diego CA
> >
>