Mistake #3 - Neglecting speed. If you skip speed workouts, here's what happens. a) Intermediate and fast twitch muscles atrophy; b) neuromuscular recruitment and efficiency declines; c) lactate accumulation at high intensity increases; d) muscle buffering capacity decreases. Magill tried a summer of running in which he ran over 100 miles every week at 6:00 per mile or faster. Instead of getting better, his mile time slowed from 4:10 to 4:50. The fix - You don't have to do formal speed work. Do some form drills and strides. Do some fartleks. Do some modest tempo runs. Whether you want to be a speed demon or not, incorporate some speed into your workouts occasionally.
Mistake #3 - Neglecting speed. If you skip speed workouts, here's what happens. a) Intermediate and fast twitch muscles atrophy; b) neuromuscular recruitment and efficiency declines; c) lactate accumulation at high intensity increases; d) muscle buffering capacity decreases. Magill tried a summer of running in which he ran over 100 miles every week at 6:00 per mile or faster. Instead of getting better, his mile time slowed from 4:10 to 4:50.
The fix - You don't have to do formal speed work. Do some form drills and strides. Do some fartleks. Do some modest tempo runs. Whether you want to be a speed demon or not, incorporate some speed into your workouts occasionally.
Is this right? It say's "Neglecting speed" but the example of the mistake is Magill running 100 mpw at 6 m/m or faster. Isn't that doing excessive speed work? Or am i not reading this correctly?
Magill is a sub-15 5K guy at 50 years of age.
6 m/m isn't speed work for him.
MTA: I believe he was 49 when he ran the 14:45. He ran a 15:11 this year as a 50 year old.
Magill is a sub-15 5K guy at 50 years of age. 6 m/m isn't speed work for him.
what confused me is the "or faster". If it had said "or slower" it would have been clearer.
t.
what confused me is the "or faster". If it had said "or slower" it would have been clearer. t.
Yeah, I just re-read that part.
Good good stuff. Can we get part 2 plz
there's never a part 2 to stuff like this. Ever notice that?
I'll have Part 2 this evening. I meant to post last night but didn't have time.
I think what Magill was talking about was that, rather than doing plenty of slow running but combining that with some really fast running, he ran a whole lot of miles at a moderate pace (6:00 or so). It would be kind of like me going out and running all of my mileage at a 7:00-7:15 pace rather than running some stuff at a 5:20 pace as I did during "R" speed reps last night and some stuff at an 8:15-8:30 pace as I will on a recovery jog today.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
I so thought that this thread would be another "LTH calls a superior runner, a dumbass-know nothing". I am disappointed.
I'm a fan of 1 moderate paced day per week. If you run a crapload of moderate runs then it would make it difficult to go into hard runs/intervals fresh. It is very crucial to go into your hard workouts fresh and rested.
It's funny you said this because yesterday, i was going to do some sprint intervals after an 8 mile run. Then I remembered the whole idea of being properly conditioned for speed work and realized you should also be properly RESTED for speed work. Not that i was super tired after the run, but I wasn't fresh. So I didn't do it, and I'm going to do it today after work.
Up till now, i would often tag speed work onto the end of my run. It will be interesting to see if i get significantly faster with a new approach.
just kidding btw about the part 2. Thanks for posting this LTH.
I'm currently committing #3, which is leading to #2. Sort of.
My situation is that I have been trying to build my mileage up so have left out speedwork. So I have been running whatever I feel like, which I guess tends to be medium-ish.
"...You have to have faith, to know that you can do what you want to do." -Joseph Nzau
Meh... too much dissecting of everything. Running shouldn't be like engineering for people like you and myself. I know dick about methods and I race like a dumb-ass and I still get a 73% age-graded score and cross the finish line with a huge grin on my face. Why? Because I know how to challenge my body without getting it hurt. That's all. That's all I need to know. Try beating that with all your methods...
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
I've been trying to get my mileage up and doing most if not all my runs as easy runs. Guess I need to change it up a little after reading this.