When I read the interpretation of my training phylosophy, analyzing the programmes my atlete REALLY carried out, I smile.
The most important point of my training philosophy is the INDIVIDUALIZATION.
I never prepare training plans longer than 2 weeks. This because a coach is like a taylor who has to make a good cloth, and for doing this the first step is to MEASURE the client, analyzing his body.
Following this idea, the first step is TO ANALYZE THE ATHLETE : his morphology, his specific attitude, his career, his mentality, his motivation, his running technique, his previous adaptation.
Only after this first step I provide for making a plan OF TWO WEEKS, because every plan has to produce some variation in the body and in the mind of the athlete, AND I HAVE TO BUILD THE NEXT PLAN STARTING FROM THE REAL SITUATION at the moment.
This means that every athlete is ALWAYS in the first day of his training plan.
This means that IS THE PROGRAM FOLLOWING THE ATHLETE, NOT THE ATHLETE FOLLOWING THE PROGRAM.
In many cases, training is HOW TO FACE SOME EMERGENCY. For example, in 2011, before WCh, Abel Kirui had 17 days off training (including some day with 30’ easy jogging only) during the last 41 days, because he had a problem in one knee, and in my opinion the only way for being competitive was to carry out some tough specific training (long and fast run, several times with variations of speed, NEVER SHORTER THAN 24 KM and frequently LONGER THAN 32 km) alternating with total resting days, for having therapies twice per day without stressing the body with some activity useless under metabolic point of view.
Of course, THIS WAS AN EMERGENCY, and to try to deduce my training philosophy from what Abel did is not possible (or can bring to some big mistake).
Coming to Arne, the analysis before to prepare his training plan was as follows :
1. Athlete 33 years old
2. Career 16 years long (he started in 1999 running 5000m in 14’26”)
3. Athlete with good PB on track, reaching his best results during the last two years, when already changed his type of training becoming “more Kenyan” : 7’35”43 (3000m) and 13’13”43 (5000m) in 2012 (with an ecceptional 8’10”78 indoor in 2 Miles), 13’12”50 in 2013, and in 2014, in spite to look at longer distances (HM in 62’09” on 16th March), his PB in 1500m (3’41”17 on 7th June), meaning that his speed was still at the top
4. Starting the real preparation for the Marathon after a full track season, including 2 competitions of 1500m, 3 of 3000m, 7 of 5000m, 1 of 10000m and one HM (last competition on 21st August in Stockholm, 13’31”91).
With these previous situation, we had only 9 weeks before the Marathon.
The technical goal was to try to maintain what he already had (a high level of Aerobic Power), growing under the side of long endurance.
The first choice was to have all the training at sea level : there was no time for going altitude again (that in my opinion is not something so important for the last part of training, for a marathon), because Arne could not spend some time with the adaptation.
Technically speaking, the goals were essentially two :
1. To adapt his body to stay long time “on his legs” (training for the body structures)
2. To extend his specific endurance at a well identified pace
We decided to start with a target of 3’06” per km, for a final time of 2:10’50”, looking at possible arrangements according to the training’s results.
In order to adapt the body structures, we planned the first 4 weeks looking essentially at volume at middle intensity.
Supposing 3’06” (18”6 every 100m) as 100% of speed, middle intensity is the speed about 80% (in my way of calculation, 18”6 x 2 = 37”2 is 20%, so 80% is 3’06” + 37” = 3’43”). This means the most part of volume was at a pace of 3’40” `` 3’45” per km.
But at the same time, we needed to put in his training some session of specific speed, in order not to lose the aerobic power he already had.
Also, we decided to have workouts in direction of specific endurance with good frequency, ready to open the recovery only if the body could give signals of overtraining.
Here you can see the workouts from 10th September (after 3 weeks of big volume at intensity 80%) :
Wed, 10.09
5 x 5 km (rec. 3’ jogging) in : 15’37” – 15’12” – 15’04” – 15’05” – 15’10”
Sat, 13.09 (Special block, 53 km in the day)
a) 1 hr 26’ at 3’35” / km (24 km)
b) 30’ at 3’20” (9 km) + 4 x 5000m (rec. 3’ jogging) in : 15’30” – 15’16” – 15’22” – 15’40”
Tue, 16.09
10 x 1000m on track in 2’48” %%< 2’49” (rec. 400m in 2’)
Sun, 21.09
Competition of 10 Miles in Amsterdam (Dam to Dam) in 46’59” (2’55” per km)
Tue, 23.09 (Mixed special block, 45 km)
a) 30 km in 1 hr 43’ at 3’26”
b) 20’ warm-up + 5000m (track) in 14’33”
Sat, 27.09 (total 36 km)
a) 30’ at 3’20” + 17 km fartlek (10 times 2’ fast / 1’ moderate + 10 times 1’ fast / 1’ moderate)
b) 10 km in 38’
Sun, 28.09
Competition of 6.4 km (Biberach Cityrun) won with 17’39” (2’45” average)
Tue, 30.09
20’ easy (5 km) + 4 sets of (3000 / 2000 / 1000m, rec. 2’ jogging) recovery among sets 6’ jogging, in :
9’10” / 5’51” / 2’50” – 8’55” / 5’52” / 2’53” – 9’08” / 5’52” / 2’52” – 9’02” / 5’53” / 2’53”
Thu, 2.10 (35 km)
a) 10 km easy
b) 1 hr 11’ progressive (last 10 km from 3’30” till 3’10”)
Fri, 3.10
42 km in 2 hr 32’20”, using easy pace of 4’ per km for 25’ + 5’ at 3’, for every 30’ (it means at the end 5 times 5’ at 3’ inside an easy pace)
Tue, 7.10
30’ at 3’20” (9 km) + 24 km alternating speed every km (2’55” / 3’25”) in 1 hr 16’ (3’10” average)
Sun, 12.10
Competition of 10 km in Berlin (4th in 28’08”) at 95% of effort
Fri, 17.10
30 km with first 20 km at 3’30” and last 10 km in progression till 2’55”
Mon, 20.10
1 hr fartlek (4 times 3’ fast / 2’ moderate + 5 times 2’ fast / 1’30” moderate + 6 times 1’ fast / 1’ moderate + 11 times 30” fast / 30” easy) for a total of 18.9 km
How it’s possible to see, approaching the race we decided to have more recovery, while during the period of September there were more session of specific marathon speed-endurance, since Arne had to use in the most aggressive way th short time at his disposal for preparing the race.
After the 10 km of Berlin, looking at his feeling, we decided he could run a little bit faster (starting at 3’05” with the possibility to run at 3’04” at the end), and he was perfect in the interpretation of the competition.
I think Arne can look for running under 2:08’ in 2015, because has a great feeling with his body, great personal maturity, and very good knowledge of physiology due to his studies : an athlete and a person like him can always produce big joy and satisfaction for somebody with the fortune to collaborate with him.