Training myths

[detritus21]

I know a lad who trains occasionally with some of the British Based Kenyans and says the steady runs start slow very slow then get faster and faster till you are pretty much racing over the last mile. My runs start fast and get slower and slower.

[david]

My runs start fast and get slower and slower.

Mine start slow and end at a crawl .

[TimW]

So to sum up then, if we look at the world's leading runners and say if they do it then it must be right (sounds fair enough) then "junk" mileage for want of a better word, is good for you. Provided (a) you don't do it to the detriment of quality AND (b) you can handle the extra volume.

I think between us we're dispelling that myth

[TimW]

Mine start slow and end at a crawl .

How about starting at a crawl then

[CL]

So to sum up then, if we look at the world's leading runners and say if they do it then it must be right (sounds fair enough) then "junk" mileage for want of a better word, is good for you. Provided (a) you don't do it to the detriment of quality AND (b) you can handle the extra volume.

I think between us we're dispelling that myth

World class athletes are often not good examples of whats possible to the rest of us.Many are taking huge quantities of anabolic steroids(and other drugs), which overcome the natural limitations of the body.

Athletes in this country look on in awe at the african runners, and assume that they're some sort of supermen.Well they are, but it isn't power produced from magical training programs of 50x400 in 64secs(propaganda),it's the power of a liquid in a syringe.

[CL]

To my knowledge many top Kenyan middle and long distance runners run quite a lot of miles, a proportion of which are at very slow pace. You can call the easy runs what you want, whether it is recovery running, junk running or whatever but Lydiard's point was that it all contributed to basic cardio- vascular efficiency, and it was able to do so because it was efficient and the body could tolerate huge amounts of exercise at moderate stress.

I find it hard to imagine that any top runner doesn't incorporate something of Lydiard's principles in their training.

Chris. Just because an athlete can tolerate lots of running, doesn't mean it's doing them any good.Instead of asking 'how much training do I need?',perhaps we should be asking 'how little do we need?'

[CL]

I keep a mental record of the climbing I do and for the last 5 weeks it's been between 6000 and 8000 feet each week, which is quite a lot for me. But then I cycle as well, so...

Quick question - It seems accepted that an hour of cycling roughly equates to 30 min running. But can you equate cycling to feet climbed on a run? ie. Cycle hard for an hour, can you say that's equiv. to running up Snowdon? (3,000') in terms of feet climbed I mean, the training effect on the quads, not running time equivilant.

Tim. One hour of cycling is roughly equivalent to one hour of running(provided you don't stop peddaling).As to the comparisons on the quads, it depends on how steep the hills are in running.Flat running does not work these muscles in the same way as cycling does.

[TimW]

Tim. One hour of cycling is roughly equivalent to one hour of running(provided you don't stop peddaling).

Interesting, because yes, people tend to equate turbo training as 1:1 because on a turbo you can pedal continuously. I always try and pedal whenever I can when I'm on the bike so I can get the most out of the time I have in the saddle, rather than freewheel the downhills for recovery like most cyclists do. Sometimes on downhills I put the brakes on for resistance!

[Corniceman]

World class athletes are often not good examples of whats possible to the rest of us.Many are taking huge quantities of anabolic steroids(and other drugs), which overcome the natural limitations of the body.

Athletes in this country look on in awe at the african runners, and assume that they're some sort of supermen.Well they are, but it isn't power produced from magical training programs of 50x400 in 64secs(propaganda),it's the power of a liquid in a syringe.

I think you are thin ice here. We all hear about stories of drugs and athletes but you dont know that all kenyan athletes are powered by syringe. If making such a generalised statement why are'nt you applying it to all runners including fell etc?

[CL]

I think you are thin ice here. We all hear about stories of drugs and athletes but you dont know that all kenyan athletes are powered by syringe. If making such a generalised statement why are'nt you applying it to all runners including fell etc?

Corniceman I was refering to world class athletes, and I didn't say all, I said many.If you want to know why I think this, go to the 'Drugs in sport' thread in the general chat section.