How many pairs of shoes does Nike provide to this guy? If he can do a majority of his runs in Vaporflys then he's going to be able to train faster yet not beat up his legs so badly.
So in theory he might be getting superior recovery, just through the shoe technology instead of doping.
I can't believe the magical properties attributed to a strip of foam.
Salazar's competitive decline is often attributed to the stress on his body from that memorable Duel in the Sun detailed in the eponymous book by John Brant.[10] Salazar recounts falling into a "more-is-better" mindset which led him to reason that if 120 miles per week yielded a certain level of success, then 180 miles (290 km) or even 200 miles (320 km) would bring even better results. This intense and grueling regimen of such extremely long distances led to a breakdown of his immune system, and he found himself frequently sick, injured, and otherwise unable to continue training. After failing to make the 1988 Olympic Marathon Team Salazar opened a successful restaurant in Eugene, Oregon. Although only able to stagger through four or five miles per run, he remained obsessed with training. Brant wrote that "He couldn't run, yet he couldn't stop running." Salazar unsuccessfully visited the Stanford Sleep Clinic and a cardiologist, had surgery, and trained in Kenya. In 1994 he said that "For most of the last 10 years, I hated running. I hated it with a passion. I used to wish for a cataclysmic injury in which I would lose one of my legs. I know that sounds terrible, but if I had lost a leg, then I wouldn't have to torture myself anymore."[10]
It is, in fact, true. Seems most runners nowadays refuse to acknowledge the effectiveness of mileage. If you’re able to handle it and recover, it WILL increase your aerobic fitness.
So what is it that enables athletes today to run double the mileage of runners in the past without fatiguing? We know the answer.
Maybe. But the standard for what constitutes incredible mileage has dropped a lot over the years. Jeff Julian was doing volume in the 60s that was well beyond 300 km a week and there was never any reason to think he was on something.
He also wore himself out. Lydiard experimented with very high mileages and came to the conclusion that at a certain point past 100mpw the body couldn't adequately recover. Of course doping has changed all that.
Julian was still racing pretty well in his forties. How do you know he wore out? Remember that Arthur meant those 100 miles were run in your main session and at your "best aerobic speed" and also recommended "supplemental jogging." Yes, doping could allow someone who struggled to get much past 100 a week to go much farther but there are plenty of people who could go well beyond 100 a week without drugs.
People forget Lydiard advocated 100 MPW of steady state in the base phase and didn't even count the recommended 5 mile easy morning jogs as apart of the 100 MPW
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How many pairs of shoes does Nike provide to this guy? If he can do a majority of his runs in Vaporflys then he's going to be able to train faster yet not beat up his legs so badly.
So in theory he might be getting superior recovery, just through the shoe technology instead of doping.
I can't believe the magical properties attributed to a strip of foam.
It is, in fact, true. Seems most runners nowadays refuse to acknowledge the effectiveness of mileage. If you’re able to handle it and recover, it WILL increase your aerobic fitness.
So what is it that enables athletes today to run double the mileage of runners in the past without fatiguing? We know the answer.
Zatopek and Pirie did +300km weeks. Pirie brags in his autobiography that he averaged over a marathon per day. So mileage like this is nothing new. What's weird is how much faster these East Africans are.
He also wore himself out. Lydiard experimented with very high mileages and came to the conclusion that at a certain point past 100mpw the body couldn't adequately recover. Of course doping has changed all that.
Julian was still racing pretty well in his forties. How do you know he wore out? Remember that Arthur meant those 100 miles were run in your main session and at your "best aerobic speed" and also recommended "supplemental jogging." Yes, doping could allow someone who struggled to get much past 100 a week to go much farther but there are plenty of people who could go well beyond 100 a week without drugs.
Julian's career faded early, by Tokyo '64. One of the reasons given was he overtrained.
So what is it that enables athletes today to run double the mileage of runners in the past without fatiguing? We know the answer.
Zatopek and Pirie did +300km weeks. Pirie brags in his autobiography that he averaged over a marathon per day. So mileage like this is nothing new. What's weird is how much faster these East Africans are.
What's weirder is that E African women are now almost as fast as Zatopek and Pirie. On the same (or even lesser) training.
People forget Lydiard advocated 100 MPW of steady state in the base phase and didn't even count the recommended 5 mile easy morning jogs as apart of the 100 MPW
They forget that because he didn't say it. 100mpw was just that. When Snell ran 100mpw he wasn't supplementing it.
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Are you sure about 300+ km per week for Zatopek and Pirie on a regular basis? Zatopek is famous for his Nx400 intervals, but not for huge total mileage. Vladimir Kutz outperformed both of them but he did not run that much. And all 3 were 5-10K runners, not marathoners.
AFAIK, it was Derek Clayton who first started running for 200+ mpw...
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I believe that Kiptum might be running 300k on occasion, and I believe he might be a freak talent. But the 2:00 marathon just raises suspicion in the same way Assefa’s 2:11 raises suspicion.
I am old enough now to remember the Djiboutians talking about how a 2:04 marathon might be possible and how Dinsamo ushered in the new era by dipping below 2:07 for the first time in history, though his record stood for some time. All of these guys were extremely high mileage, especially the Djiboutians.
Something else has changed. Yes, the shoes help, but they aren’t worth 6 minutes.
But the most direct way to get better at the marathon is to run more miles. As long as it doesn't kill or injure you. That is a different story.
The mystique of marathon was solved by them. They do a lot of 40K long runs. With the benefit of hindsight, it only came down to specificity of training like in any other sports. If you want to crush the marathon, you better run a lot of miles and do 25 long runs. 17 mile long run won't cut it. Even 20 is for amateurs.
I believe that Kiptum might be running 300k on occasion, and I believe he might be a freak talent. But the 2:00 marathon just raises suspicion in the same way Assefa’s 2:11 raises suspicion.
I am old enough now to remember the Djiboutians talking about how a 2:04 marathon might be possible and how Dinsamo ushered in the new era by dipping below 2:07 for the first time in history, though his record stood for some time. All of these guys were extremely high mileage, especially the Djiboutians.
Something else has changed. Yes, the shoes help, but they aren’t worth 6 minutes.
Maybe the new Alphaflys are a gamechanger, but wouldn’t Mantz have had a pair?
True. However the key training venues in Japan are also NOT at altitude either. 20 years of living at and now training at high altitude pays big dividends.