Dave Bedford is one of the great characters of athletics. He’s famous for having set a 10,000m world record in 1973, loving a beer just as much as he loved to train hard, and in the 21st century for the 118 118 adverts which...
Thresholds on the hour. Every hour. Train like a champion today!
At my HS we did a 24 hour relay where the legs were 1 mile long and we'd keep the baton going for 24 hours straight. Seniors got in ~10 miles on the track, and in between we'd play frisbee, spikeball, swim, etc. The track miles were pretty close to threshold pace a lot of the time, and I swear every year coming off of it we were in way better shape. Just something to think about.
The current best North American marathoner trains as much as 180 miles per week. Maybe he has hit 200 before? You would have to ask him. In any case, he trains more than other North American runners I've heard of, so certainly more is better in his case.
The punchline is that triple thresholds are just marathon workouts with long rests. 4 x 5K with 5-15 minute rests? Quadruple threshold workout!
I seem to remember Lydiard stating that his foundational idea was, more or less, that all mid-distance and distance runners can improve by including marathon training. That's paraphrased heavily from something I read ages ago of course.
Maybe he was on to something that still holds as marathon training has evolved, because the physiology was right even if the knowledge of it was mostly empirical at the time, though less so today.
The punchline is that triple thresholds are just marathon workouts with long rests. 4 x 5K with 5-15 minute rests? Quadruple threshold workout!
I seem to remember Lydiard stating that his foundational idea was, more or less, that all mid-distance and distance runners can improve by including marathon training. That's paraphrased heavily from something I read ages ago of course.
Maybe he was on to something that still holds as marathon training has evolved, because the physiology was right even if the knowledge of it was mostly empirical at the time, though less so today.
I agree with this. My biggest training break through was brought on by running 10-13 occasionally up to 16 miles daily of super easy miles, true spontaneous fartleks, tempo runs, and strides. I was essentially doing marathon training without the glycogen depletion long runs.
I don’t think 3 threshold sessions a day would work unless you’re sauced up or a genetic freak though.
This is a hilarious scene from the movie There's Something About Mary! HD quality - This is what kettlbell is NOT about :p. Stop looking for the magic exerci...
Running is still an underdeveloped sport, most young runners that go pro change almost nothing except slowly ramping up weekly volume and taking rest hours where they in college had to attend classes.
Dude/Dudette: You have ALL day to train now - you don't have to rush to get the training in any more, take ten minutes between reps instead of thirty seconds, take all day to get your long run in if that what it takes to portion it and do it at race pace.
Thresholds on the hour. Every hour. Train like a champion today!
At my HS we did a 24 hour relay where the legs were 1 mile long and we'd keep the baton going for 24 hours straight. Seniors got in ~10 miles on the track, and in between we'd play frisbee, spikeball, swim, etc. The track miles were pretty close to threshold pace a lot of the time, and I swear every year coming off of it we were in way better shape. Just something to think about.
Was it a fundraiser relay or a track team-only event?
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