ADVICE REQUESTED: Please Help a Stagnated Distance Runner in His Last Season

help? wrote:

hmm, obviously you know what "works best for you". thats why you've improved so dramatically over the years you've been training yourself. right. well even though i do think you do think you know everything about running i'll give you some advice. how is your form? have you ever tried to improve it? do you try to stay relaxed and in control during your workouts? have you tried to emulate the 4:29 miler's form? that might help. oh yeah, and stop making excuses and acting like you've tried everything.

My coaches have all seen me run. I also asked a nearby coach, who advised an All-American 14:27 5K runner, to watch me do a session of 150's about a year and a half ago.

All remarked that my form was fine. A quick stride frequency and a generally smooth style.

I have tried tinkering with my form. For shorter workouts it can sometimes help, but I have never been able to maintain an entirely different form for a whole race.

I started doing regular 60-80m sprints up fairly steep hills (some very steep hills of 20%+ grade) but everyone on this thread told me to stop doing that so I stopped. The aim was to increase my stride length that is shorter than the 4:29 miler's and most eveyone else's.

This is probably also a function of my small stature, being that I resemble a high school freshman at best (though I should grow some more soon enough).

Well, it sounds like you've got all your bases covered. Just stick with what you've been doing & eat your Wheaties.

No really, listen to the guys that have said you should be emulating this 4:29 miler on your team. He is obvioulsy doing something right (going from a 5:15 to 4:29) he didn't just fall out of the sky & run 4:29. Think about what you've been saying for a second. You want to run a 4:40 mile. In what world does that require 70 miles a week? The best thing for you, is to have OTHERS to run with & push you. If your team sucked, I'd still tell you to run with them, but instead be the one that pushes them. & as someone that definitely knows what he's talking about said before; find some people or a running club in your area to run with. DO IT & DON'T MAKE EXCUSES!!

i thought running uphill made you shorten your stride length? if you think stride length is a problem, then downhill strides on a soft surface might be a good idea. it seemed to work for me at least

Uphill running would shorten your stride some. Generally, it is thought that strides over a slight downhill are supposed to lengthen your stride some. Then again, I don't consider stride length to really be all that important. If you have a shorter stride length, then you have a quicker turnover (or vice versa).

Forgot to add, that this is in relation to traveling at the same speeds (though maybe that was obvious?). Therefore stride length isn't that important.

Improving things like VO2max and efficiency as a runner ought to be looked at instead, as these are the things that truly affect performance. VO2max can be improved (though it is genetically determined to a certain extent) through workouts that bring one to the limit of oxygen consumption, while also working on neuromuscular specificity and lactate tolerance. This means you want to reach maximum oxygen uptake (generally thought to be reached after about 3 min of working hard, and it is the pace you can sustain for running all out for 9-11 min) and hold it for a specific amount of time, or you can improve it by working just over or under VO2max (for example: 5-8 x 3 min on/2-3 min off at 100% of VO2max, 12+ x 400 @ 105% VO2max, or 5 x 5-6 min on/3 min off @ 95% VO2max).

Efficiency can be improved through numerous means, including the above mentioned VO2max workouts (especially the longer ones, which force your body to become a bit more efficient). You can also do hill repeats, tempo runs, long runs, form drills (teach your body good, efficient form).

However, you do not want to focus completely on these workouts every single day, or even the vast majority of your days. Generally, you would want to set aside 3, maybe 4, days of "quality" days. For example: do a long run one day (maybe sunday), and then take 2-3 other days to do some combination of other workouts. The days between these workouts, it is best to run at an easy pace in order to let your body recover by replenishing glycogen stores, rebuilding muscle tissue, etc.

Hope this was, in some way, understandable.

bizzump

I can't believe this thread has lived this long. Dude, you have received tons of advice and seem to dismiss all of it with excuses. At some point you might have to accept you're just a pussy. I call bs on your mileage too -- if you are really as slow as you say you are you would have to run for hours to get in the 70s. If 13 minutes+ is a hard 2 mile to you, your mileage must be run at ten minute pace. That means you run six miles in an hour. How long do you practice? I expect you will respond to this post with some bs about how I'm an asshole. Honestly, I think I gave you good advice on page one but I'm beginning to realize you are a tool. You either work hard and run fast or you don't. You need to find another sport or shut up already and enjoy the fact you can run at all. Sorry this is so blunt, but it's time for threads of this nature to go away.

Wow, I am surprised this thread is still around, and I am also surprised that, for asking advice, I am attacked. I took people's advice, so I wonder why you attack me for "not taking it." I am badly injured now, but when I could run, I might do a 10 mile run starting very slowly, around 9:30-9:45 for the first mile, eventually working down to 8:30-8:40 in the middle. I have not been able to run recently both because of injury and a very bad problem with continual fatigue all throughout the day, tired even warming up.

I suppose I should leave now, dare I offend again for asking advice. My sincerest apologies.

"At some point you might have to accept you're just a pussy."

From an anonymous message poster. Classic, classic, classic. I love it when cowards don't put their names and tear someone down. I love it. Again, classic.

I wonder what happened to this dude. Did he ever improve? I want answers!