Nothing... And I Mean NOTHING...Tops Easy Running!

fastboy77 wrote:

Who have you coached? What success have you had in running or coaching?

Just curious. Not meant to be a smart comment.

I've coached as many people as you have. Also time trialed 4:52 as a freshman during my canceled spring season, ran 17:03 n an xc course this fall and ran 15:19 on a 2.5 mile course

not meant to be a smart comment

im gonna be honest my friend fastboy 77

You've posted a lot on these boards, and clearly are lacking in a basic understanding of training physiology, so dont get a big head when you come up with the amazing concept that aerobic running is good for primarily aerobic events. Just a few eeks ago you posted a thread about having a training schedule of 6 miles in the morning and 4 in the pm for the whole week. You have very recently started to understand that gasp some max velocity workouts are helpfull for increasing speed. You call yourself an expert on lydiard and you dont even know all of his training phases. In your thread about your mile time trial you said you did it while sick, wearing sweatpants and without stretching. It doesnt take a genius to realize your not one. Ill be staying off the boards for some time so dont expect a response

I would expect those training for shorter races (1 mile/1500 etc) will have different views on this subject, to those training for a marathon. The context is important, with runners from different backgrounds all chipping in.

Be jealous, kiddie!

jealous of a 5:37 miler?

The main point everyone is making is that everyone's body is different and the distance they're racing. So training mostly easy miles may work for you, but not for a person who is a miler. And even XC runners need speedwork sessions to run fast on the course. One person may benefit from multiple speed sessions, while another person benefits from easier miles. I personally wouldn't see much benefit from more easy miles, but more speedwork and tempo running as I am more speed based. And you of all people can't be talking, Mr. 5:27 miler (or 4:40 miler)- that is no reason for you to be cocky. Break 4:30 and you'll get everyone's attention.

All those distances that have a competitive time that brings you into needing the aerobic processes (>30 sec) do need that their aerobic capacity is developed. So a 400m runner needs the aerobic capacity too. Now Marathon is special in that it is way above 1 hour race and will depend a lot on fat metabolism so it relies heavily on the easy run and highly developed aerobic capacity. A 400m runner depend a lot on the anaerobic processes so the emphasize is different and less on aerobic training, but it is still a key part.

800m depend substantially on anaerobic processes, but at least 60-70% of the distance one relies on a well developed aerobic capacity to work with lactate. So it is the major part of the capacity even if the speed and anaerobic work is very important for the 800m runner. For the 1500m runner, it is the aerobic capacity that is the main thing, even if he/she needs to be fast, have a well developed anaerobic capacity and so on.

So I guess below 400 it is of less importance, but above it is the most important