Remember that he also does recovery runs at 7-7:30 pace (hr was 127 for his 5k recovery run with the reporter from the Harvard Crimson on a bike). Easy runs at 6 flat are in fact easy for him. If he can run at least a 27:30 10k (he beat a 27:20 10k runner at NCAA xc), he's running 4:25 pace for 10k, and dropping about 1/3 of that pace to 6 minute miles, which is easy. A 37:12 10k runner (6:00/M) would run 8:00/M easy pace with almost the exact percentage slowdown.
He does day-of warmups and cooldowns (recovery runs you could call them) at slower paces. But if he did a hard race or workout the day before he runs at 6' pace, which is how many people deem a recovery run. Again, you are right that is not super-fast for someone of his ability (it is too fast to be optimal for some slower teammates I'm sure). It's also of course a guy not running at altitude or or very hilly routes. The shoes definitely factor in.
Maybe I'm judging him differently because he goes to Harvard but he said on the podcast he runs 100 miles a week on 6 days with 1 double. That's 16+ miles a day.
Am I missing something? Anyone else thought this was really high?
If you told me the NCAA XC champ was running 100 miles a week I wouldn't be surprised, but the way he's doing it indicates even more volume than the actual mileage totals.
16 mile workout todays sounded common. 3 mile warm-up, 3 mile cooldown. Then a 10 mile workout. That is a lot of volume.
Then he laughed when Rojo said he might be good at the marathon.
Any other college kids train like this. We never did more than 5-6 miles of anything hard.
So he does one double and 16 miles a day which means 5 days he's doing a 16 mile workout or a 16 mile run?
Then the one day 16 miles in two runs?
If that's what he does I'd love to know the rationale for having that one day when he does the 16 in two runs.
Am I crazy or is this the exact opposite of where pro training has been headed lately? I could’ve sworn I remember Jakob criticizing competitors for going too hard on recovery days.
Heres a thread where people claimed that Jakob runs easy days at 7min pace and Kipchoge sometimes at 7:30+, but idk if any of that is true
Did anyone see the interview prior to him demolishing the 2 mile? He was asked to comment on what he thinks runners do wrong. His quick response: overtraining.I paraphrasing but he said that too many people overtrain because...
His Strava says 15 @ 6:05 the day after NCAAs with a 176 heart rate. Nothing slow race week. They seem to warm up slow before the races but the week leading in was a lot of 10 in 60 type stuff. Fartleks each of the 2 days before the race. Fine if you can handle it but I doubt it works for everyone on that team. Don't think this kind of training is realistic for the long term no matter how fast you are.
He is at Harvard. It's hard to get in but once you're there, the work load isn't as hard. Probably better than living the pro life. No worries about paying the bill. Have you seen their cafeteria? He probably gets the best calories in.
The "pace" you are looking for is referred to as "base pace", roughly 50-60s slower than Marathon pace. For him, it would be around 6min/mile on the slower end.
Athletes can physically run Base Pace every single day up to around 75% of the LR distance. College runners might benefit from it to fill in between the quality run/recovery run days. It develops a mental toughness. Most athletes cannot handle it, but those that can will thrive with it.
He is at Harvard. It's hard to get in but once you're there, the work load isn't as hard. Probably better than living the pro life. No worries about paying the bill. Have you seen their cafeteria? He probably gets the best calories in.
I'm sorry but what?? how on earth is going to harvard & training like a pro easier than.. being paid to run & training like a pro. That couldn't make less sense. It's basically the same training and the Harvard student has all those academic responsibilities on top, whereas the pro has.. what? some sponsor commitments? meet & greets?
It's obviously easier to focus on running/reach your potential as a PRO than as a student at a rigorous college. cmon.
He is at Harvard. It's hard to get in but once you're there, the work load isn't as hard. Probably better than living the pro life. No worries about paying the bill. Have you seen their cafeteria? He probably gets the best calories in.
I'm sorry but what?? how on earth is going to harvard & training like a pro easier than.. being paid to run & training like a pro. That couldn't make less sense. It's basically the same training and the Harvard student has all those academic responsibilities on top, whereas the pro has.. what? some sponsor commitments? meet & greets?
It's obviously easier to focus on running/reach your potential as a PRO than as a student at a rigorous college. cmon.
Based upon some articles I’ve seen on pro runners, many focus on video games and naps. Don’t some pro athletes attend school?
Maybe I'm judging him differently because he goes to Harvard but he said on the podcast he runs 100 miles a week on 6 days with 1 double. That's 16+ miles a day.
Am I missing something? Anyone else thought this was really high?
If you told me the NCAA XC champ was running 100 miles a week I wouldn't be surprised, but the way he's doing it indicates even more volume than the actual mileage totals.
16 mile workout todays sounded common. 3 mile warm-up, 3 mile cooldown. Then a 10 mile workout. That is a lot of volume.
Then he laughed when Rojo said he might be good at the marathon.
Any other college kids train like this. We never did more than 5-6 miles of anything hard.
The "easy" days usually start off with a 6:30 first mile or two and then quickly get under 6:00 for the rest of the distance.
It clearly works for him now. I'll be curious if it's a good long term plan. Didn't Josh McDougal similarly hammer big singles every day, win NCAA XC, and then blow up and disappear?
I think this type of training can work for a while for a very few talented, durable guys, but most will underperform, get injured, or both.
I ran for a top 20 d1 NCAA XC team, and we hammered everything, workouts as fast as possible, tempo runs a race, "easy" days 6:00 flat (We didn't do 100mpw though, more like 75-80mpw. Almost everyone underperformed and struggled with injuries. Blanks training is much more like our dumb 1990s --early 2000s training.
I'm a prime example--I had almost identical HS track PRs to Blanks--4:15, 9:10. But I sure wasn't running 13:27 a year later!! I was injured and underperforming, like the majority of my teammates, like I suspect most athletes training like this will be.
But again, it certainly works for Blanks, so kudos to him.
I came into college running around 70 mpw as a freshman (which is what everyone would do their first year). Gradually built up to 100-110 mpw and steadily got faster to where I was an individual national qualifier. My teammates did not increase their mileage like me, lingered around 80, and they did not get significantly faster throughout college. Mileage is pretty important, and Graham running 100 on 6 days is not outrageous at all. If you pulled the peak volume of all top 20 regional runners I'd say the median weekly mileage is probably 95, a lot would be at 100 or slightly more. And the people finishing in the bottom half of each region are probably peaking around 80 miles per week. I'd love to see those stats pulled to confirm.
For those saying the shoes help... I assume most competetive collegiates and pros where the super shoes just for workouts, right? Or are they using them on all their runs now?
His Strava says 15 @ 6:05 the day after NCAAs with a 176 heart rate. Nothing slow race week. They seem to warm up slow before the races but the week leading in was a lot of 10 in 60 type stuff. Fartleks each of the 2 days before the race. Fine if you can handle it but I doubt it works for everyone on that team. Don't think this kind of training is realistic for the long term no matter how fast you are.
Yeah. He is winning NCAA so props to him, but the rest of Harvard are doing this training, where are they? Iverson getting worse year on year, and I don't even know who else is on the team...
Imo it's way too fast to do 100 mpw at 6 flat easy pace, I don't think it's sustainable long term at all. When I was hitting 100mpw, albeit my 5k PB is 30s slower than his, but I would be running 7 flat pace and splitting them up into doubles, because otherwise it's just not sustainable. Probably why the rest of Harvard are underperforming and/or burn out. Blanks is running amazing but surely he has to be a RARE anomaly for this type of training??? Wouldn't encourage anybody to train like this because you are more likely to get injured or burnt out than have success.
For those saying the shoes help... I assume most competetive collegiates and pros where the super shoes just for workouts, right? Or are they using them on all their runs now?
Only for workouts. Typical trainers for easy runs and long runs.
The "easy" days usually start off with a 6:30 first mile or two and then quickly get under 6:00 for the rest of the distance.
It clearly works for him now. I'll be curious if it's a good long term plan. Didn't Josh McDougal similarly hammer big singles every day, win NCAA XC, and then blow up and disappear?
I think this type of training can work for a while for a very few talented, durable guys, but most will underperform, get injured, or both.
I ran for a top 20 d1 NCAA XC team, and we hammered everything, workouts as fast as possible, tempo runs a race, "easy" days 6:00 flat (We didn't do 100mpw though, more like 75-80mpw. Almost everyone underperformed and struggled with injuries. Blanks training is much more like our dumb 1990s --early 2000s training.
I'm a prime example--I had almost identical HS track PRs to Blanks--4:15, 9:10. But I sure wasn't running 13:27 a year later!! I was injured and underperforming, like the majority of my teammates, like I suspect most athletes training like this will be.
But again, it certainly works for Blanks, so kudos to him.
Lol, that pace on easy days is something else. I think it's easier to do when you're young, can recover faster, and don't have too many other responsibilities to wear you down. But as you get older, recovery becomes more important. Just hope he doesn't start picking up injuries and stalling his career. I would run myself into the ground if I did all my runs at a similar pace for my ability.
A helpful term here is the LT1, the slow threshold, right around the fat max pace. If LT1 is sub 6 - expected for sub 14’ 5k guys - then it’s not physiologically overwhelming. It still may or may not be mechanically advisable to attempt.
where a program that prescribes sub 6’ pace for everyone from freshman milers to NCAA cross country 10k champions goes wrong is some athletes probably have LT1 slower than 6’, so those guys are going to the well everyday. There’s no published word on whether the program in question tests to determine the thresholds and therefore appropriate recovery day pace for each athlete. JD provides tables that show a regression of averages. Those calculations are averages, and every athlete gets to a similar race time via different physiological tools.
feedback from athletes also matters. Some athletes would prefer not to endure the mechanical load of 10mph everyday, and those folks might benefit from slowing down or supplementing w cross training. Absent appropriate coach/athlete communications, some athletes will hammer until they break a bone. Even sub 14’ athletes with LT1 faster than 6’ are unlikely to be that aerobically fit upon return to run from cross training post injury. We don’t have enough information to determine how the program in question handles return to form and if that 6’ mile is adjusted or if athletes get caught in the injury hamster wheel.
on a 5-zone model, where both one and two are below the LT1, it’s been an open debate whether zone two is advisable bc it’s more “efficient” for the fitness gained per mile, or more likely to cause harm.
there is such a thing as garbage mileage - an intensity below which even large volumes doesn’t bring physiological benefit. The last study I saw put this at 55% of HRmax. If LT1 is somewhere 70-80% max, it’s an open question if you train non-workout days at 69-79% to stay just barely below, or 60-69% to leave a gap.
As this thread shows, and the contribution from athletes who were once in the sub14 camp helps to clarify, is that sub6 pace can have multiple different outcomes for athletes of similar ability.