Mon and Tues on the bike. Did a Roark's Cove Rd climb on Monday in under 24 min, not fast but still hard as my VO2max is gone. On Tues just a 9 mile local ride with some hills. Had to do a full effort sprint away from a pit bull toward the end of my ride and my foot felt sore afterward. Maybe put off running another week.
Finally some cooler weather. Was 59º this morning. Dry weather for the foreseeable future. By early next week, back in the mid 80ºs and swimming weather.
Training Methods
I had always been using the tried and true long to short method of training. Working on long sprint foundation early in the season (800s) and transitioning to speed work, with only spare max speed or race pace work mid season. A radically different approach is being championed in Masters circles focusing on max speed almost exclusively. Tony Hollers so-called 'Feed the cats' approach. It focuses on specificity of max speed only. No intervals, no V02 max development. No training runs ever longer than 200m and mostly very short. Lots of plyo type drills, etc... It's a short to long approach. I've enthusiastic to try anything new but a bit skeptical that it would satisfy the needs of an aging 400m sprinter who is running just under 60 sec which undoubtedly has an aerobic element, unlike elites that run under 48. But, I do recognize speed reserve is improved by top speed. This year was the first year I've ever failed to break 26 in a 200m, came very close (26.07, 26.10) and I really could use some work on max speed and acceleration. Perhaps it would be better than the soul crushing volume I have been doing in sub maximal intensive tempo workouts, as many very reputable coaches have used (Clyde Hart, R. Banta, etc...). I'm reaching the end of my competition viability in the M60 age group and may only do indoor season next year so maybe I'll try to develop my 60m speed. Here's more on this philosophy.
Jeez, be careful if you're ramping up quality with lots of flat-out stuff. Prehab, muscle imbalance, surfaces and everything else that could flare up. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting document. Much of what he writes is well supported with studies. For instance stretching before running only reduces max contractile force (tires fibers) and does nothing to prevent injury. Stretching is better at the end of a workout when muscles are warm. His neurological arguments are well supported, practicing sprinting is what makes you fast. (I’ve thought that way about your sled pulls better to just run some 60’s or something). He provides a lot of anecdotes along those lines. He’s fundamentally wrong about electrical vs chemical- electrical is chemical in the body. He’s falsely using those terms to emphasize neurologic importance. Term or definition corruption. I only care about that though. It suits his agenda purpose. Some of his examples are poor evidence for his claims - for instance it is true that the best power cleaners are not good sprinters, but that doesn’t answer the question of whether power cleans can make good sprinters better sprinters in some way. He’s right about mitochondria and you need to pay very close attention to that as developed, healthy, abundant mitochondria is absolutely critical for longevity, which is unimportant if you are 15 but really important if you are 63. So if you are truly interested in longevity, you would include several (long for you) aerobic exercise sessions remaining in fatty acid oxidation mode (fat burning, 60 to 80% max HR), 45 minutes or so. Preferably a different mode than running to not diminish your sprinting neurological response. BTW, same thing for VO2 max as it has the strongest correlation of any physical parameter to longevity. Strength has the second strongest correlation. As you have said there are many roads to Rome and absolutely his approach for kids would keep them fresh and happy and that is probably more important than anything. Have to keep as many in the program as possible as finding and developing exceptional athletes is a numbers game and the larger the population the greater chance you will have the outliers with the traits needed for greatness. Definitely interesting with good things in this doc especially for youth. I think you are right to be skeptical in its strict application for a 63 year old sprinter but maybe it will get you to drop the sled pulls (ha ha). Definitely not applicable to longevity though. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy personal rule of thumb for quality versus quantity is that most runners need to run at race target pace around 2x per week. For true short sprinters these would be FTC short efforts. I find the 2x per week race pace applies to distances up to around 5K. Other training sessions are of course valid but the above have always given me the greatest benefit.
DeleteTo some extent FTC meets this criteria. My concern over Tony H arguments based on personal experience is they are based on teenagers who are going through other growth related events that will muddy the waters of training method cause and performance effect. They are also playing other sports, doing S&C workouts etc that provide other relevant training stimulus. As he admits in another paper there is a lack of elite results using the FTC model.
However the 400m race is a possible exception to the benefits of pure short sprinting. I am not aware of many athletes, at all levels, that ignore efforts of 200m to 400m at race pace/lactic levels. The Masters 400m runner is therefore at the very edge of FTC benefits.
Nevertheless FTC is an attractive proposition for effiicient use of training time and receovery.
I agree with JP on the health benefits of aerobic training at easy/steady/zone 2/VO2 levels. "The training that is optimum for your sport is not necessarily the best for your health". My own quote I think.