A recent chance encounter with a very gifted aging athlete running too many miles and not enough speed got me back up on the soapbox again. Man, some of you need REAL help out there!
I once read a quote from a coach who promoted 800's (1/2 mile repeats) as the doorway to developing lightening speed. He stated his runners might not be the fittest runners at the finish line, just that they would be there first.
Yet book after book ,by mostly the GGGS's (genetically gifted genetically sifted) extol high mileage, ever increasing mileage programs designed to test the stamina and commitment of even the most ardent of athletes. Time and again, people come up to me for my opinion, all excited, showing me detailed schedules with ever increasing miles, numerous long runs well over 15 miles, and weekly totals that only GGGS folks seem capable of executing. But what about the rest of us???? (YOU is almost surely US)
(My personal view is... any runs over 20 miles require me to get a medal, and smoke a cigar, or fogetttaboutit)
Check the running results of any marathon. If you run in the top 10 % of all runners, there's a good chance you may finish somewhere around and hour or less AFTER the top finishers! (if they're not Kenyan, they are writing a book)
And you're STILL in the top 10%!!! I finished a few under 3:10's and always "lost " my overall race by about 50 minutes to an hour or more. 2 minutes a mile AVERAGE slower!!! I have run tens and tens of Boston Qualifiers, and would "lose" by up to an hour and a half! About 3 minutes a mile slower, and yet STILL be in the top 10% of my AGE Group! This is a REAL TOUGH RACE!
http://www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?MIDD=57101002
In any other sport, it would seem ludicrous to follow the training regimens of top athletes. But not us runners. We somehow believe that if we follow the schedule of a winner, we will be a winner! Try Weiner instead!
Try the NBA, NFL, etc. training schedules and hold a job, handle 3 kids, a spouse, and the weekly "you never visit me" call from dear old mom! Then go mow the lawn.
Deet deet deee dah dah deet! This just in......Hold the presses!
Just FINISHING these damn things is quite an accomplishment!!!!
Here I go again on the running book rant..... It's SPEED training, not JUNK miles that will make you a better runner, all other things equal. Bang for your Buck, so to speak, is in speed, man!
The LITMUS TEST for running books:
Go ahead, get out your favorite running author ( XXX or YYY) book. I got'em here on my shelf too....
(I don't want to piss off the you know whos who have been writing all these damn books)
I'll wait...... ok got it in front of you? GREAT! Now go to the table of contents.... hmmm ammm ummm... ok got it? Tell me if there's any info on:
1. look up the schedule on adjustments for weight to height......or ecto/endo/mesomorph types
2. look up the notes on adjusting speed and miles for age.......
3. look up the chapter for "I only have time for 30 miles a week"...
4. Look up the chapter for "I have a REAL job".
5. Look up the chapter for "how to adjust my schedule because my VO2 max is just above a snail's"
Don't bother sending me your answers. Kreskin Eddie already has a pretty good idea what your answer is. Zappo Dappo. Yet we each have a unique set of stresses, abilities, time etc. But not these here books written by the nearly starved, no man muscle, last guy you call for help in a fight. These dudes are very specialized!
If you are running 40, 50,70 or more miles a week, and you're just plain tired, worn out, beat up and crabby with the spouse and kids, stop kicking the dog and follow me to the Land of the Balanced, and I will show you how we can all run LESS miles with the same or better results!
next: To Run Fast, Train Fast
Part Deux: Let's talk muscle
Part Tres: How to "MIX" the ingredients of a schedule
Part Quatro: The CORE.... 800's every other week
Part Cinco: Crosstraining substitutes and alternatives to make you FASTER yet!
Part Six: Your REASONABLE Goals
I once read a quote from a coach who promoted 800's (1/2 mile repeats) as the doorway to developing lightening speed. He stated his runners might not be the fittest runners at the finish line, just that they would be there first.
Yet book after book ,by mostly the GGGS's (genetically gifted genetically sifted) extol high mileage, ever increasing mileage programs designed to test the stamina and commitment of even the most ardent of athletes. Time and again, people come up to me for my opinion, all excited, showing me detailed schedules with ever increasing miles, numerous long runs well over 15 miles, and weekly totals that only GGGS folks seem capable of executing. But what about the rest of us???? (YOU is almost surely US)
(My personal view is... any runs over 20 miles require me to get a medal, and smoke a cigar, or fogetttaboutit)
Check the running results of any marathon. If you run in the top 10 % of all runners, there's a good chance you may finish somewhere around and hour or less AFTER the top finishers! (if they're not Kenyan, they are writing a book)
And you're STILL in the top 10%!!! I finished a few under 3:10's and always "lost " my overall race by about 50 minutes to an hour or more. 2 minutes a mile AVERAGE slower!!! I have run tens and tens of Boston Qualifiers, and would "lose" by up to an hour and a half! About 3 minutes a mile slower, and yet STILL be in the top 10% of my AGE Group! This is a REAL TOUGH RACE!
http://www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?MIDD=57101002
In any other sport, it would seem ludicrous to follow the training regimens of top athletes. But not us runners. We somehow believe that if we follow the schedule of a winner, we will be a winner! Try Weiner instead!
Try the NBA, NFL, etc. training schedules and hold a job, handle 3 kids, a spouse, and the weekly "you never visit me" call from dear old mom! Then go mow the lawn.
Deet deet deee dah dah deet! This just in......Hold the presses!
Just FINISHING these damn things is quite an accomplishment!!!!
Here I go again on the running book rant..... It's SPEED training, not JUNK miles that will make you a better runner, all other things equal. Bang for your Buck, so to speak, is in speed, man!
The LITMUS TEST for running books:
Go ahead, get out your favorite running author ( XXX or YYY) book. I got'em here on my shelf too....
(I don't want to piss off the you know whos who have been writing all these damn books)
I'll wait...... ok got it in front of you? GREAT! Now go to the table of contents.... hmmm ammm ummm... ok got it? Tell me if there's any info on:
1. look up the schedule on adjustments for weight to height......or ecto/endo/mesomorph types
2. look up the notes on adjusting speed and miles for age.......
3. look up the chapter for "I only have time for 30 miles a week"...
4. Look up the chapter for "I have a REAL job".
5. Look up the chapter for "how to adjust my schedule because my VO2 max is just above a snail's"
Don't bother sending me your answers. Kreskin Eddie already has a pretty good idea what your answer is. Zappo Dappo. Yet we each have a unique set of stresses, abilities, time etc. But not these here books written by the nearly starved, no man muscle, last guy you call for help in a fight. These dudes are very specialized!
If you are running 40, 50,70 or more miles a week, and you're just plain tired, worn out, beat up and crabby with the spouse and kids, stop kicking the dog and follow me to the Land of the Balanced, and I will show you how we can all run LESS miles with the same or better results!
next: To Run Fast, Train Fast
Part Deux: Let's talk muscle
Part Tres: How to "MIX" the ingredients of a schedule
Part Quatro: The CORE.... 800's every other week
Part Cinco: Crosstraining substitutes and alternatives to make you FASTER yet!
Part Six: Your REASONABLE Goals
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