What did Farah under Salazar to become so fast in the final lap?

There was a whole discussion back about the increase of intensity on easy days i thought it dropped from 6.30 to 5.40 or 5.45 per mile.

52.43 wrote:

I think the extra endurance without much stress on the bones is of course good, but what I meant above was more the effect of fast movement with the legs under water. Not so much for endurance but more like for recovery of the legs. So I imagine them doing a hard workout in the morning the treadmill in the evening and then the legs feel fresh again, for what you would need a day or two days of normally. So they can go on the track or for a tough tempo right on the next day again.

Jim Ryun also used to kick his legs lose in the pool every day.

Many thanks for elaborating on your previous post. If your line of reasoning is correct and the key factor is indeed the effect of fast leg movement under the water, I was wondering what is the difference between running on the underwater treadmill and aquarunning, with or without the flotation vest. Could this kind of non-impact running motion in the water yield similar benefits?

>>> Jim Ryun also used to kick his legs lose in the pool every day.

Doping was allowed when Ryun competed and Ryun most likely was on drugs.

I've heard somewhere that the York team used to do kicking and bounding exercises in a pool once a week.

according to the latest article on the LRC front page. Salazar didn't do anything specific as far as pure speed goes, so now he plans to get Mo in some 1500's and 800's. Ironically it's the same plan that Rupp already did a year ago (and we saw how well that worked out in the World Champs).

IMO a 52point lap is plenty fast and why risk injury doing more sprints in training. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But Sal being Sal always has to tweak something and let everyone know about it.

classof89 wrote:

according to the latest article on the LRC front page. Salazar didn't do anything specific as far as pure speed goes, so now he plans to get Mo in some 1500's and 800's. Ironically it's the same plan that Rupp already did a year ago (and we saw how well that worked out in the World Champs).

IMO a 52point lap is plenty fast and why risk injury doing more sprints in training. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But Sal being Sal always has to tweak something and let everyone know about it.

I don't think it was a matter of Rupp not having enough speed. He just wasn't fit enough to hang with the top guys at the end--Farah was, though.

classof89 wrote:

according to the latest article on the LRC front page. Salazar didn't do anything specific as far as pure speed goes, so now he plans to get Mo in some 1500's and 800's. Ironically it's the same plan that Rupp already did a year ago (and we saw how well that worked out in the World Champs).

IMO a 52point lap is plenty fast and why risk injury doing more sprints in training. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But Sal being Sal always has to tweak something and let everyone know about it.

I agree. Rupp was not as fast as those who beat him.

Reducing recoveries is not the answer, and neither is pure speed the answer.

Running indoors is likely to lead to injury.

Every time a thread like this pops up, I say the same thing, but nobody ever seems to have anything to say about it.

The answer is...

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DARREN TREASURE!

Press 1 for English.

i think all the marathon training mo farah did for years helped to increase his strength, which then helped in rebuilding and improving his speed. it's common for marathoners to uphill sprint repeats early in their training to help build specific strength, but it also helps rapidity, or how quickly the nervous system responds to stress.

same thing happened with jen rhines (after she came back from marathon training, she went sub 15 for the first time in the 5k)

same thing happened to ritz (training for half and full marathons, then ran 12:56 out of nowhere, and had never been known for having the speed to do it)

same thing is happening with rupp. recall he did train and plan for a tough 10k in late winter/early spring, but decided to run the half marathon instead because his strength training was still somewhat suited for it. he want on to demonstrate how he has developed good finishing speed (minus worlds 5k final).

i see this as a common type of 'cross-training' within running. train at a distance that will give one more strength and improve running economy, then come back down and develop better speed with that new strength. i'm obviously no scientist of running or a super-knowledgeable coach, but it seems to be a trend these days.

Could someone please explain how the underwater treadmill works specifically? During injury, deepwater running is quite common, and I could see how any runner might increase their "milage" by adding deepwater workouts to their regular schedule. However, if that were the key, I suspect it would be much more common, and even underwater treadmills aren't that expensive (much cheaper than hypoxic tents, for example, which are widely used).

It should be noted that Mo Farah's performances were on an upward trajectory even before he moved to Oregon, but the success he has enjoyed since the move was still quite unexpected.

I am also curious on stuff Salazar has his athletes doing and have been searching/watching these forums for multiple months looking for solid info. Hopefully something comes up!

I saw a documentary on Farah talking with Steve Cram for the BBC about 3 months ago.

He said he was doing a lot more gym work and weights than he used to, trying to build a stronger inner core.

This is similar to what Coe did when going to Loughborough in 77 under the tutelage of George Gandy (Lisa Dobriskey's coach). There was a significant development in the musculature of his legs with this work between 77 & 79, when he developed a much better "kick" although his overall weight hardly changed at all.

I think this is probably the sort of thing Mo is doing now with Salazar, although I have to say his legs still look pretty skinny. He's also probably doing a lot more shorter reps with short recovery (e.g 200s) like other posters have commented.

It's been touched on here.

Farah was not as fatigued with one lap to go as everyone else was. So he had the strength to give everything in the last lap.

I am sure his leg speed and core strength has improved a bit too.

I raced Mo in 2003 (when he was 20) in a tactical British league 800m race. Mo ran 1.48.69. That is pretty quick for a 20 year old 5km/xc runner, so he's always had the speed he showed in Daegu.

In 2006 he had a break through year running 13.09 and winning a European silver medal (in a very close race vs Espana where they both ran a very fast last 400m). This was after he'd spent the build up to the commonwealth games in Australia with Bideau/Mottram. We was never coached by Bideau, but his coach, Alan Storey, influenced a lot of what Bideau did with Mottram. Mo frustratingly didn't progress from sub 13.10 to sub 13 for 4 years, but he did clock 3.33 for 1500m in 2009. In 2010 he finally ran sub 13 with 12.57 at Zurich. He also won double euro gold but perhaps most indicative of his potential was the solo 27.28 he ran in the wind of the europa cup 10,000m - many believed this showed he was in sub 27 min shape (with pace makers and good conditions). Here's his progression:

http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=482

In short, Al Sal was handed a runner with more or less 15 years of aerobic development and excellent natural speed, who'd been coached to world class by Alan Storey. His improvement in 2011 could be more due to belief and being told (and made to beleive) how good he is, rather than any physiological adaptation from his last 7 months training.

I probably offer a little more than most. I frequently ran with Mo when he was based in SW London and recently asked him this exact question.

Even going back 4-5 years, Mo had excellent 400m speed for a distance runner. He could run 50s in training and I'm told had been timed running a 48.

When I asked him directly he just put it down to 'short reps' without really giving anything interesting way.

He also mentioned that Galen had better base speed. Apparently he can run an '11 second' 100m, where Mo is in the '12s'.

My own view is that Mo is just in a better aerobic position after 11.5 laps which allows him to use more of his existing speed once the bell rings.

Thyroid meds ...thats like the legit answer. They do it all within the "rules" but the push the boundries of what is "legal"

Stopped racing in adidas spikes

Its possible for anyone. All you need is a daily swing/injection of uncle al's secret oregon fun juice.