Anyone familiar with or previously coached by this late great runner? Seemed to have a solid all inclusive training model and focused on 70% workout efforts, which could be threshold type stuff.
Runner's World had a profile of his training once. I really wish I could find the issue. He said that he believed in Lydiard's principles but didn't want to spend a long time away from any particular kind of work so he worked the Lydiard cycle into a week's training.
The profile had him running 40 mile days on three runs a day for the first three days and ending with shorter mile days and intervals. I can't recall if there was a "hill" day in the middle or not. It's been a long time since I saw that RW and I have no idea how typical that week was. But it was impressive.
I trained 4 yrs with Paul and my sister was training with when he passed. His philosophy was easy to follow. I doubled pretty regularly in high school intervals on Monday 2-3 miles of 70% effort, Wednesday was 1-1.5 miles 95% effort or race pace depending on where I was in the training or season. I did my 70% effort workouts at about 6 minute mile pace. My Wednesday workouts were closer to 5 minute pace. I ended my high school career with a 18:02 5k, 10:58 3200, and a 4:52 1600 and 2:12 800....he was amazing and I have dug up my old workouts to help my son who is a high school runner.
I trained 4 yrs with Paul and my sister was training with when he passed. His philosophy was easy to follow. I doubled pretty regularly in high school intervals on Monday 2-3 miles of 70% effort, Wednesday was 1-1.5 miles 95% effort or race pace depending on where I was in the training or season. I did my 70% effort workouts at about 6 minute mile pace. My Wednesday workouts were closer to 5 minute pace.I ended my high school career with a 18:02 5k, 10:58 3200, and a 4:52 1600 and 2:12 800....he was amazing and I have dug up my old workouts to help my son who is a high school runner.
Runner's World had a profile of his training once. I really wish I could find the issue. He said that he believed in Lydiard's principles but didn't want to spend a long time away from any particular kind of work so he worked the Lydiard cycle into a week's training.
The profile had him running 40 mile days on three runs a day for the first three days and ending with shorter mile days and intervals. I can't recall if there was a "hill" day in the middle or not. It's been a long time since I saw that RW and I have no idea how typical that week was. But it was impressive.
I had know idea he ran such crazy mileage. I believe that 140mpw at the most, would be the point of diminishing returns:
Thanks for digging that up. Makes me feel good that I remembered what I thought I did. There's probably a different point of diminishing returns for different people. I recall thinking that too when I was around 150 but now I wish I'd done more. Diminishing returns are still returns.
Runner's World had a profile of his training once. I really wish I could find the issue. He said that he believed in Lydiard's principles but didn't want to spend a long time away from any particular kind of work so he worked the Lydiard cycle into a week's training.
"He did something completely different, that was Lydiard's principles in one week."
The thing I liked about Cummings was that, unlike the weak top runners of today, Paul raced and raced often.
Just wasn't that good of a swimmer.
Yeah. Given that the majority of this planet is covered by water, I suggest that we all learn how to swim/tread water. Now, I understand how even people who know how to swim can drown, given car crashes or boats capsizing, or even being trapped when your boat turns over for some reason. Maybe that's what happened in this event.
Paul is my father. He swam well. His canoe capsized in the middle of September. It was farther to swim to his canoe than the shore. The water was mossy and the weather was really cold. Making the water even colder. He had lots of layers and steal toed boots. We were also told he was hot by the canoe. I am sure you never thought one his family members would see this but it was really calloused. You should be more careful with flippant comments as they are hurtful.
Paul is my father. He swam well. His canoe capsized in the middle of September. It was farther to swim to his canoe than the shore. The water was mossy and the weather was really cold. Making the water even colder. He had lots of layers and steal toed boots. We were also told he was hot by the canoe. I am sure you never thought one his family members would see this but it was really calloused. You should be more careful with flippant comments as they are hurtful.
Well did you ever do any running Heidi? I am sure your father inspired you. He was quite talented and could race well from the mile to the marathon.
The thing I liked about Cummings was that, unlike the weak top runners of today, Paul raced and raced often.
Just wasn't that good of a swimmer.
People raced more because they needed the money and not because they were tougher. Looking back,Rogers believed he raced too often.
Cummings dominated the 1984 OT 10000m but didn’t make the final at the Olympics. He ran several road races between the trials and Olympics and people blamed that for his poor showing.
The thing I liked about Cummings was that, unlike the weak top runners of today, Paul raced and raced often.
Just wasn't that good of a swimmer.
People raced more because they needed the money and not because they were tougher. Looking back,Rogers believed he raced too often.
Cummings dominated the 1984 OT 10000m but didn’t make the final at the Olympics. He ran several road races between the trials and Olympics and people blamed that for his poor showing.
He took a lot of criticism for racing so much between the Trials and the Games which I think was totally unfair because I don't recall any of the critics offering to compensate him for the income he'd have lost by racing less.
People raced more because they needed the money and not because they were tougher. Looking back,Rogers believed he raced too often.
Cummings dominated the 1984 OT 10000m but didn’t make the final at the Olympics. He ran several road races between the trials and Olympics and people blamed that for his poor showing.
He took a lot of criticism for racing so much between the Trials and the Games which I think was totally unfair because I don't recall any of the critics offering to compensate him for the income he'd have lost by racing less.
Cummings’ problems at the 84 games stemmed from his severe allergy issues. He had a doctor suggest changing up his medical routine, which resulted in him suddenly putting on 15 pounds of water weight. It took him a few months to recover. His constant racing had nothing to do with it. Heck, in 83 he ran a 1:02 half in Pittsburgh only to come back 7 days later in Ohio and set the world best with a 1:01:32.
The man was a different animal. As a master, he experimented with running thirteen miles per run, three times per day, five days a week, with a 20-miler on Saturday for over 200 miles in the week (he took Sundays off). He was still hitting over 100 miles per week towards the end of his life even though he was 48, worked full time swing shifts at a steel mill, and wasn’t training for anything. He just loved to run.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Runner's World had a profile of his training once. I really wish I could find the issue. He said that he believed in Lydiard's principles but didn't want to spend a long time away from any particular kind of work so he worked the Lydiard cycle into a week's training.
The profile had him running 40 mile days on three runs a day for the first three days and ending with shorter mile days and intervals. I can't recall if there was a "hill" day in the middle or not. It's been a long time since I saw that RW and I have no idea how typical that week was. But it was impressive.
I had know idea he ran such crazy mileage. I believe that 140mpw at the most, would be the point of diminishing returns:
He took a lot of criticism for racing so much between the Trials and the Games which I think was totally unfair because I don't recall any of the critics offering to compensate him for the income he'd have lost by racing less.
Cummings’ problems at the 84 games stemmed from his severe allergy issues. He had a doctor suggest changing up his medical routine, which resulted in him suddenly putting on 15 pounds of water weight. It took him a few months to recover. His constant racing had nothing to do with it. Heck, in 83 he ran a 1:02 half in Pittsburgh only to come back 7 days later in Ohio and set the world best with a 1:01:32.
The man was a different animal. As a master, he experimented with running thirteen miles per run, three times per day, five days a week, with a 20-miler on Saturday for over 200 miles in the week (he took Sundays off). He was still hitting over 100 miles per week towards the end of his life even though he was 48, worked full time swing shifts at a steel mill, and wasn’t training for anything. He just loved to run.
Great post. I did not know about the allergy problems and I'm glad someone has verified the 3 x13 mile days.
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