I can't believe she told Kyle Merber the key to being good as a pro distance runner. I'd think she'd want to keep it to herself but she's shared it to the world.
I copied it down real quick and started this thread in case she changes her mind.
Here it is: Double and run more.
I've never really done double days before. Well, I did back in like 2013, but I was just injured all the time with the steeplechase. I just did too much volume and was trying to hurdle and it just wasn't right. I wasn't doing enough gym work....
Some years I was only running 40 miles a week and still able to muscle it out and make it to a championship, but it was obviously not optimal for what I was doing. It was just getting there. Last year was a little bit of an increase to getting up to maybe 65 miles. And then this year we've gone up and the last five weeks I've averaged 80 to 85 miles a week.
What a talent. In some ways, it reminds me of an interview Rupp gave at the end of college. He said something along the lines of how he like doing intervals and needed to learn how to do continuous thresholds. I was like "My god. If he's that fast while not doing tempos - imagine how good he's going to be. Tempos are distance running."
If she was that good on 40-60 mpw, imagine what she's going to do if she actually can stay healthy on 80-85 mpw.
It’s a fascinating topic. I wonder if you plot the curve for all elite distance runners when you see the plateau on average in terms of benefit and when the curve begins to deteriorate for most? How unique is the curve to an individual? Would Kipchoge run 1:58 if he ran the same mileage as Cam? Anyway, the fact that she was doing so well last year on 65 miles is amazing. What sort of mileage does Chebet or Gidey run? Is that all Eilish needs to do to be in true medal contention on the last lap in Budapest?
Lol! Yes the greatest marathoner of all time [easily] needs to possibly do more miles and train like "Cam", a guy who has never medaled or Podium finished in any major championship or World Marathon major. Because...... well, just because. [ I guess the "logic" is- because he is a white guy who has "overachieved" and because... well "mileage, bro!"]
Lol! Yes the greatest marathoner of all time [easily] needs to possibly do more miles and train like "Cam", a guy who has never medaled or Podium finished in any major championship or World Marathon major. Because...... well, just because. [ I guess the "logic" is- because he is a white guy who has "overachieved" and because... well "mileage, bro!"]
Honestly Kipchoge might actually run more with additional mileage. Kipchoge is super talented, he was world champion as a teenager. He has since increased his mileage and become world champion and record holder for marathon. It is reasonable to think that if he ran even more mileage he might even be faster in the marathon. But with increased mileage comes increased risk of injury, and he's already the best so he doesn't need to do more than he's doing. He can do what has proven enough for him to win. At one point in Cam's life he wasn't running 140 miles per week. And at that time he was running slower than he is now. At one point Kipchoge was running less than he was now, and I'd bet he wasn't able to run as fast when he was only running say 60 miles per week. The vast majority of people's PRs come from the year they're running the most mileage.
I think VO2 max is, by far, the most important thing for shorter racing. I was a 3k/5k specialist, but I could run a competitive-enough 10k. I ran better 5ks and even 10ks on moderate mileage with high intensity than high mileage. I think I could have broken 29 if I trained specifically for the 10k, but I ran sub 8 and later sub 14 and sub 13:45 off moderate mileage. It makes 30:00 pace feel like a jog
No, it isn't. Running economy trumps all.
Lance Armstrong had a Vo2 Max somewhere in the 80s, but I doubt he'd run a good 10k (given that he struggled to break 3 hours in the marathon).
Vo2 Max is simply a metric of how much oxygen your heart is able to pump. It says nothing about how well your working muscles are able to utilise that oxygen, how efficiently you move - so as to need less oxygen - and so on.
And secondly, have you ever heard of anecdotal evidence? Your experience is different from 99% of elites, sub-elites and any other runner who has upped their mileage, so it can hardly be the rule.
I think VO2 max is, by far, the most important thing for shorter racing. I was a 3k/5k specialist, but I could run a competitive-enough 10k. I ran better 5ks and even 10ks on moderate mileage with high intensity than high mileage. I think I could have broken 29 if I trained specifically for the 10k, but I ran sub 8 and later sub 14 and sub 13:45 off moderate mileage. It makes 30:00 pace feel like a jog
No, it isn't. Running economy trumps all.
Lance Armstrong had a Vo2 Max somewhere in the 80s, but I doubt he'd run a good 10k (given that he struggled to break 3 hours in the marathon).
Vo2 Max is simply a metric of how much oxygen your heart is able to pump. It says nothing about how well your working muscles are able to utilise that oxygen, how efficiently you move - so as to need less oxygen - and so on.
And secondly, have you ever heard of anecdotal evidence? Your experience is different from 99% of elites, sub-elites and any other runner who has upped their mileage, so it can hardly be the rule.
I am guessing the guy with elite running economy and a 50 vo2max also isn't running a good 10k...
There are plenty of stories of guys running faster on low mileage. The run a 2:12 on 120, up to 140 and don't break 2:15. Cut it back to 120 and they go back to rubbing 2:12. Most people improve a lot up to 80mpw. After that it gets a lot more hit and miss.
And then their are the truely low mileage guys. You might go they were just lazy but I have to figure most of them at one point or another tried more mileage and they just didn't respond well.
And how does an injury-prone 32-year old runner tolerate a sudden uptick in mileage?
Drugs…..
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