Renato Canova wrote:
I don't want to waste my time replying somebody as Gypsy that doesn't want to understand any other option but Soviet periodization (now no longer used by Russian coaches...) and Lydiard, mixing marathon with decathlon.
But one thing I want to clarify for the knowledge of everybody. IT'S NOT TRUE THAT 800m ARE AN EVENT BASED ON 60% AEROBIC AND 40% ANAEROBIC.
One of the biggest mistakes of the past, that of course all the coaches looking at the past only continue to do, is TO THINK THE PERCENTAGES OF AEROBIC/ANAEROBIC ARE CONNECTED WITH THE EVENT.
The percentages, instead, are connected with THE ATHLETE.
I want to gice you practical examples.
In Italy, we had 4 athletes running under 1:44 in their career : MARCELLO FIASCONARO (1'43"7, WR in 1973), ANDREA LONGO (1'43"74), ANDREA BENVENUTI (European Champion 1994, 1'43"92) and GIUSEPPE D'URSO (silver medal in WCH 1993, 1'43"95). So, practically the same performance (incidentally, all better than Peter Snell's PB...).
Fiasconaro came from 400m, he won silver medal in European Champs 1971 in Helsinki (45"49), with a background as Rugby player. When he came Italy from South Africa, the head coach for 400m was Salvatore Morale (WR holder of 400 hs with 49"2 in Belgrade 1962), and I was his assistant. Fiasconaro NEVER ran longer than 30' easy, and started running 50' at easy pace only during his first training camp, before ECh, in Abetone, together with me. I told him "you can be resistant, and if you increase your endurance you can become one of the top three 800m runners in the world". He answered "I never will run 800m", but at the beginning of 1972 he ran his first 800 winning in Italy with 1'47"7. After, he had a stress fracture in one foot (staying in Formia, with a tartan track, because he was used to train on grass tracks in RSA, or on cinder tracks in Torino), and had to stop training for 3 full months. He started again from December 1972 to train in RSA, running a little bit more on golf fields, and moved to 800m, running immediately 1'45"8, and after one month 1'44"8. After he came Italy, and I followed his training in Torino. We organised for him 3 sessions per week with long run in the morning on the golf fields in La Mandria, one of warm-up + 30' fast, one of 1 hr moderate, one of 45' with variations of speed. This was the support he had ALREADY IN FULL SEASON, and we used this TOGETHER his basic lactic training. Also during the last two weeks before bettering the WR in Milan, we went for this schedule of long run SUPPORTING his best specific workout, one week before the WR : 3 times 600m (recovery 12') in 1'18"7 / 1'19"1 / 1'18"6.
Fiasconaro had the Lactic Threshold (LT) at a speed of 17,220 km/h in 1971, and of 18,250 before his WR. The speed of his WR was 27,772 km/h.
GIUDSEPPE D'URSO was the Italian Youth Champion in 2000m steeple. He was aerobically strong. In 1993, two months before his silver medal, his LT was at 20,850 km/h.
The speed of his PB was 27,705 km/h.
ANDREA BENVENUTI has a PB in 400m of 46"7, was a really specialist from the beginning of his career. In 1994, his LT was at 19,330, and the speed of his PB was 27,720 km/h.
ANDREA LONGO was a very heavy athlete, with great muscle power (when was young, somebody in Italian Federation thought for him was better to try to become a javelin thrower...). He NEVER used long run, but specifically he grew with his coach (Scapin) using interval training and intermittent training. At his best, he had a LT of 18,450 while the speed of his PB was, as Fiasconaro, 27,766 km/h.
Now, we can have a very simple calculation, LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SPEED OF LT AND THE SPEED OF THEIR PERFORMANCES :
Fiasconaro 17,220 27,772 10,552
Benvenuti 19,330 27,720 8,490
D'Urso 20,850 27,705 6,855
Longo 18,450 27,766 9,316
It's clear that HIGHER IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LT AND SPEED OF THE COMPETITION, HIGHER IS THE PERCENTAGE OF INTERVENTION OF THE LACTIC SYSTEM IN THE PERFORMANCE.
This because THE ATHLETES ARFE DIFFERENT. Somebody can remember the thread of Antonio Cabral and John Hadd about the TWO DIFFERENT TYPOLOGIES OF ATHLETES FOR THE SAME EVENT (fast and resistant), and this happens FOR ALL THE DISTANCES. In any case, FAST athletes have a higher percentage of Fast Fibers, Resistant lower percentage.
This shows without any doubt that the idea to have a training for an event is something completely wrong. Of course, to increase the personal aerobic ability is something very important for every kind of athletes : however, to decide that the percentage of Aerobic in 800m is 60% IN DOGMATIC WAY shows clearly that who believes in this HOLY numbers doesn't have any connection with the reality.
Apart Snell, the 95% of the best 800m runners in the world NEVER used Marathon Training. We can discuss about the ability of Lydiard in training the athletes (without any doubt he was a great coach), but we cant think that this is the best training system when we speak about 800m.
And personally I think that if Snell could have another type of training he had the talent for running 1'42", and absolutely 3'26" in 1500m, where he never was really specifically prepared.