Two choices: which is better overall? (Read 1503 times)

must be the badminton players

Did someone say badminton?

From Antelope: "What I have discovered from running and knowing other runners is runners come in catorgies. You have endurance oriented and what I term power oriented(myself). The endurance oriented runner probably will be able to increase mileage without much of a problem and will continue to improve by that alone(low Hr training). This guy probably is slow twitch endowed. This is the type that will injure easy from fast speed work and probably doesn't adapt to it fast(or enjoy it). If this is you and you race marathons your set with option B. In fact you may only need a few tempo's at best to sharpen up for your race. The power oriented runner will get injured from high mileage and will platue from it quickly. Speed work comes easy and you can usually sharpen up fast. Generally this runner gains more fitness(*even aerobic fitness)through some type of intensity. What I have noticed in myself and other power oriented runners is we adapt to a certain kind of running fast, platue and fall flat quickly if you don't switch the training emphasis. If this is you you would probably be better off following a 4 month cycle(3 peaks year), or finding a repeated cycle scheme(Lydiard race week non race week)to follow. So option A would work better. This kind of runner probaly enjoy's workouts and might bore easily from long slow distance runs(though he shouldn't neglect them)." I think your thesis is fundamentally flawed and false. How do you conclude that someone who is slow twitch is more injury prone from speedwork? How does your muscle fiber predominance predict the susceptibility of your bones to stress fractures or the strength of your tendons and ligaments? If anything, a fast-twitch type can generate more power and is therefore able to put more stress on these components than a slow-twitch person. You also conclude that a slow-twitch person gets more benefits from volumes of only slow work while a fast-twitch person somehow gets marathon conditioning through mostly intervals and speedwork. On what do you base this? Frankly in contradicts most runners of both "types" that I have known, including myself. This sounds like another way for a beginner doing decent on low mileage in the 5K to cop-out of working harder when their marathon doesn't live up to expectations. Quite frankly, almost every runner (and probably EVERY runner in the recreational realm) suffers from aerobic deficiency to some extent. Just because the fast-twitch guy takes to the 5K easier than the slow-twitch guy has NOTHING to do with their development for the marathon...he is simply trying to predict off a 5K inflated by his speed ability while the slow-twitch guy gets a more realistic prediction since they aren't biased by speed ability that won't translate to the marathon messing with their 5K time. I am the definition of a slow twitch guy (30:57 10K PR and 4:36 mile PR run within 2 months of each other and never broken 2:04 for 800m or 59 for 400m), yet I handle serious amounts of speedwork without injury and get tons of benefit from faster work and only moderate amounts of benefit from periods of all slow running. This "all slow" vs "mostly fast" thing is just ridiculous. People hold Lydiard up as the "father of LSD" but that is far from the truth, his guys did tons of fast work it was just highly periodized. High volumes of miles overall dictate that a large amount of that will be slow, but 15-20% of it will be fast. Different people benefit from different mixes but it's usually that....a mix. The training you describe is polar opposite but the fast vs slow twitch runners are not polar opposites, they are only moderately different. Fast twitch guy has an easier time at 5K, both need to run long AND fast to do well in marathons with the slow twitch guy having a little easier time with the long fast sessions.

I totally agree that most people won't get a ton faster off just easy running and no speed at all. Now if yoiu double your mileage doing just easy, you may see an increase....when I jumped from 70ish mpw to 100mpw overnight, a couple months later after I was no longer getting tired from the miles I was a ton faster before I even started serious workouts (though I ALWAYS keep tempos and fartleks in the mix)..

You mention that a lot of people who see success with MAF etc report having had injuries from speed etc before. I don't think they are successful on MAF because they are slow twitch types who do better off all eay miles....I think they are injury-prone types who do better off any plan that allows them to train consistently without getting injured..

I ran nearly 10 years (junir high, HS, college) before I ever broke 60 mpw. From there I escalated very quickly, I was running 100mpw often within 2 years and the buildup was more stepped and aggressive than gradual. THe primary thing to note is that my body had already had time to strengthen all my joints, tendons and ligaments before I pushed it that hard.

What if both trains have bars on them. Hmmmm What to do?