Real Low Mileage performers.

Damn, I'd ignored this thread until now. What a goldmine!

Thanks for sharing, Jim!

haha thats why i use the treadmill, so i can actually sweat in the winter. i cans see the cold outside the window while busting my ass of in the gym. Also works handy since weights are near as well. I am als an avid swimmer so i can use the treadmill as excuse for lifting weights (wich improved especially my ball game) as a kid i really used to suck inb asketball, volleyball, table tennis actually now a few pounds heavyer and leaner + more fit i am getting quite good at it(not world class but i can play publicly now).

Did you ever wet to the gym to work your legs or arms?

"this work was run at temps between 0 and 30 degrees, with hat, gloves, gore-tex ASICS suit"

Haha, great! (This thread will rival The Great Threads here Jim. Are you in for a long haul?) :)

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I think Matt Giusto was a pretty low mileage/high quality guy as well. He ran in the 13:20s.

Jim:

Thanks for your insight here. I heard you speak at the Charleston Distance Run clinic and it was wonderful meeting you.

Do you think low mileage vs. high mileage has any relevance to a runner with more fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscles? Would a sprinter type who's now doing the recreational running circuit in his hometown benefit more from any particular type such as low mileage over higher mileage?

Jim, I am also wondering, did you do cross training of any sort or lifting to supplement your running? Would you recommend any cross training for a person who competes best on a lower mileage training program? Thanks!

cross-training -

This is a good way to work on the cardio, and give the body a rest from the pounding. Bike, pool, e-machine (sorry, too late to try and spell elypitcal). I think 25-40 m's (minutes) on the bike would be good for a morning run; or 35-60 m's for a recovery day bike workout. Free spinning. Pool is good as well.

One note - you only get better by running. C/t is used so that you can keep running and avoid injuries. If you want to get fast, you need to get on the track.

For mileage, it would seem that slower fibers would need more volume, but having said that, they may enjoy running long and putting in the mileage as well. Dr Dave was always on me to run my long run at 615 to 625 pace, depending on where my vo2 max was for that test. I enjoyed running long, but at a pace that was comfortable for the day. I would say most of my long runs were between 645 and 650 pace. To me, it was more about gettingin the long run and being ready to workout on the track the next day, rather than overrunning the long run pace and being tired for Monday.

js

great info., thanks a lot!

Jim,

It would also be interesting to know what you did after you

got back from Europe summer season in Fall. Oct - Nov timeframe. Did you have a couple of weeks easy to build up to those Dec - Jan weeks? how did those look ? it would also

be interesting to know if you took 2 -3 weeks off early fall.

Rememeber meeting you at Notre Dame Invite in 89. I ran for Edinboro and do recall seeing you compete there.

Thanks for all of the great info

When returnig from Europe mid-September, I was always being pulled in different directions. Most of me, wanted to get a treadmill test in with Dr. Dave and then take 2 weeks off. No running. This was difficult, to believe in, from ages 23-29, but Mike Durkin would say: "You need to take enough time off, that when you start back into running, you are not sore." If I would take 3 days off, I would feel the same. Taking 2 to 2 1/2 weeks off from running, I could say that I did feel pretty good when I stated back.

The problem lies in that I was also being asked to run road miles at this time of the year. New York, Toronto, and others. The pay would be between $3000 and $4000 to show, and prize money on top of that. You can look in the mirror and say, "what are my goals?" World Championships in '91, '93, or '95? Olympic Games in '92 or '96? Run fast in August?" And you know in your heart, that you need 1) time off and the 2) slow base build-up. Running a road mile or jumping into 5k's on the roads, was going to put you in a position to train for these events.

I would run NY, as it usually fell within 2 weeks of returing from Europe. In the 90's, Kim McDonald my agent, helped us with the Edinburgh road mile, another excellent event, and I would fly to Glasgow from Chicago to run that event. 5k and other road events, I would stay away from, unless it was involved with Cary Pinkowski and the Chiacago Marathon which I always wanted to support.

What would you do: A few great pay days? Or, start training for your goals?

Being with ASICS since 1989, I can say that I was able to know my bills would be paid if I became injured, so did not have to run a number of these events to make ends meet. I am sure for today's 3:55 miler, that is not an option, nor the events are available to choose from.

I have a boat load of work to to with my new job with ASICS today, setting up colleges to purchase our product, and some high schools, so need to put this away. I will look at my log books from a couple of seasons, and write what time I took off, and what I did when I started to run again, maybe for a break from work today.

Remember: Wear ASICS - race fast!

js

Jim Spivey wrote:

I have a boat load of work to to with my new job with ASICS today, setting up colleges to purchase our product, and some high schools, so need to put this away. I will look at my log books from a couple of seasons, and write what time I took off, and what I did when I started to run again, maybe for a break from work today.

Remember: Wear ASICS - race fast!

js

I usually do. But if you have any pull with them, could you get them to sell their Japanese models in the US?

Asics rock!!!

HRE wrote:

But if you have any pull with them, could you get them to sell their Japanese models in the US?

Ditto!

PLEASE Jim? Can you get them to do that? PLEASE?

at the age of 4 I ran 7:59 in the steeple off of 36.5 miles a week.

That's only better than more than 99% of the U.S. male marathon runners. Yeah, he's a real low performer.

Just 1.6% of all marathoners - about 6,300 - broke the 3 hour mark - a goal for the faster marathoners.

http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/2005RecapOverview.cfm

With a 88ml/kg/min Vo2max and good speed you don't need much aerobic training to run a good 1500m.

That may be true, but in 1992, tested on the same day but a year earlier, my max was 75 and sustainable 72. What do you do, with Olympic Trials coming up 2 months, or 8 weeks of training... and then if you make the team, how do you train for the Games in August in Barcelona? That was best max ever, so don't read so much into that number. It is, just a number, on a given day. As Seb said to me, 'It is the inches between your forhead and you chin that makes an athlete.'

So what would you do in your training?

js

Tony Simmons (Luton Athletic club) was one of a number of Britons at a world class level in the mid to late 1970's, and most of his training was at around 50 miles a week, often with joggers and slower runners.

Tony worked at Luton College of Further Education in Luton, England, and his usual routine was two 30 minute runs a day (two four mile runs) at lunch time and the evening.

On this schedule Tony Simmons turned out times like a 4.00/mile, 13:21/5000, 27:40/10.000, 47:00/10mile, and 2:12 marathon. In one race in Helsinki (can't remember the year) Simmons actually contributed to the world record in the 10.000 by ''pacing'' Samson Kimombwa (Kenya) for most of the race. In that race Kimombwa ran about 27:30 with Simmons a few seconds back.

Gerry Helme (Liverpool) ran a 2:10 marathon on a schedule of 50-60 miles a week.

Mark Smet (Belgium) ran a 2:10 marathon on exactly one hour of running per day.

My personal hero - Karel Lismont, had perhaps an unusual training regimen...he would simply run for 30 minutes three times a day - morning, noon and afternoon, and on that regime he became European champion (Helsinki 71), Olympic silver (Munich 72) and bronze in the Olympics four years later (Montreal 76). Lismont, perhaps impressed me the most when he ran a 27:55 track 10.000, because he was not really fond of the track. He also finished well up in the World Cross long course on many occasions, with a bronze (individual) on one occasion. Lismont had an incredibly long and consistent career, and toward the end of his career once ran back to back marathons (separated by just one week) in around 2:12.

Lismont is now a cafe owner in Borgloon Belgium, and still runs three times a week (for 30" a time...you guessed it!), and claims that veterans like Shorter and Rodgers are not sensible to keep pushing their bodies in races at ages 50 plus.....very wise words from the modest and unassuming Belgian.

coach:

christophe_moulton@yahoo.ca