y run wrote:
...what would his motivation be?
my guess is that he thoroughly enjoys the fact that he can still kick guys' butts half his age. until you're over 40, you have no idea how hard it is to stay fit as an injury is always lurking around the corner.
Evan Jager is only 21
Scary thing is that I ran in the same 15k race on saturday and it was a far from ideal day... cold and very windy... scary to think what he could do under ideal conditions!
Mona's hasn't slowed down much in the past 10 years.
He's been to 4 Olympics already with 3 top 10 placings. His last was a 10th place finish in the Marathon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
I believe since retiring from International competition in 2000 he's cut his weekly KM's back from 200+ to about 100km. I remember him saying one of his main reasons for retiring was that he wanted to give other Aussies a chance to qualify for the Marathon. Since then our only representative in the Marathon at the Olympics has been Lee Troop in 2004 and 2008.
I don't think Moneghetti qualifying to run the Olympic Marathon in London at age 49 would be out of the question if he decided he wanted to go for it. Never the less it's great to see him still running so well and being able to train for the love of it rather then any other reason.
Sisay Bezabeh (2:11:03 PB) and Nick Harrison (2:10:22 PB) also represented Australia at the Athens Games...
hi skoolr wrote:
Sisay Bezabeh (2:11:03 PB) and Nick Harrison (2:10:22 PB) also represented Australia at the Athens Games...[/quote]
good that mona retired then, or one of them wouldn't have made the team[quote]
fantastic runner. What is the Mona workout again???
Monner Fartlek
Same recover as the time run
2x90s, 4x60s, 4x30s, 4x15s
i.e. 90s hard, 90s float, 90s hard, 90s float, 60 sec hard, 60 sec float...
Some people do two extra 30s rather than the 15s.
Good runners get close to about 7km covered for this 20 minute session
Monner fartlek wrote:
Monner Fartlek
Same recover as the time run
2x90s, 4x60s, 4x30s, 4x15s
i.e. 90s hard, 90s float, 90s hard, 90s float, 60 sec hard, 60 sec float...
Some people do two extra 30s rather than the 15s.
Good runners get close to about 7km covered for this 20 minute session
Show some respect, its MONA not Monner!
On July 19 the great man is aiming to go sub 30 for 10km in the Launceston 10. Check out
http://www.launcestonten.com.au
The Launceston 10 has produced the fastest 10km road times in Australia for the last 2 years and boasts a course record of 28:37 by World Champs marathon rep Mark Tucker.
Its a fast, flat out and back course that will no doubt be ideal for Monas attempt at cracking 30 minutes. Providing the wind stays calm I see no reason why he wont do it.
Hi, Steve Moneghetti here. just want to thank everyone for their nice comments about my run on the weekend.
I was happy with the result until I remembered that I ran under 44mins when I last won it in 1987!!
Cheers from Down Under.
Hi Steve((if it's truly you), long time fan. As I have entered my 5th decade and still have the love for running and racing. I am wondering if and how has you training changed from you 30's to mid 40's, in trems of w/o's and overall. What do you think of strengt training and flexiblity for the old guy's.
Bloody hell, Mona - was hoping i'd be running faster than you by now. Knock it down to 20K/week, can you?!!
That performance is awsome!!!
Here in Mexico, Martin Pitayo (winner of the Chicago Marathon in the '80s in 2:09 and Benjamin Paredes (runner up in the NYC marathon where German Silva was 'wrong way'- both olympians and 48 years old) are still running around in sunday races here in Mexico, and they run about 31' and 48' for 10k and 15 respectively. They are still good runners in the masters division, but trying to go sub 30 at that age is almost impossible. Good luck for Mona.... jjmr
Steve - I'm an Aussie living in Hamilton New Zealand and just wanted to say G'day, I am a massive fan of yours and have been for many many years. Keep at it mate. I read your book a few years ago and it gave me real good kick for my own training. I'm now 35 and running faster each year, coaching a squad as well. You are an inspiration.
Dasher wrote:
His last was a 10th place finish in the Marathon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Since then our only representative in the Marathon at the Olympics has been Lee Troop in 2004 and 2008.
Scott Westcott (2:11) ran at World Champs in 2005 and will run in 2009 at Berlin WCs in August. He was also 4th at Commonwealth Games in 2006. Should have been picked for Olympics last year since he had 2 IAAF A qualifiers and a IAAF B time which was way better than Weightman who was picked on the women's team. Difference was that she had her coach on the selection panel!
Mona's is a LEGEND and it is great to see him continue to race well and to have him as a selector for Australia now.
But he didn't have any of the AA selection times. Olympic marathon qualifying times from the IAAF are soft - only event where the female world record qualifies you to compete as a man
the female WR in the marathon is by far the toughest.
When Chris Wardlaw (Mona's coach) was living in HK, I had a chance to chat with him about training, and his ideas about "hard" work and "easy" work. It was interesting. He sent me a +20 page document w/ workout approaches for runners of all levels. I have never seen anything like it - a novice and a pro would both find it very useful.
Points:
1. The long run matters. If you can only do 1 run a week, do the long run. Do 2/week if you can
2. Volume of "fast" work is not that important. 4x800 or 6x400 was often cited. Chris said he thought 8-10x1k etc was needlessly tiring.
3. "Mona Fartlek" is something is named for 1 athlete, but can/should be tailored. Fartlek is by its very nature subjective, so the athlete should play around with it.
the fact that as recently as 2004 Mona finished 30th in World XC (19yrs after his first appearance in 1985), despite a long career of marathoning (14yrs at the intl level), is indicative of his talent, but just as importantly, the restraint that a system like Chris' can impose.
Is it possible for you to post the document or is it for personal use only?