Matt Long perches on the shoulder of Colin Lancaster who gives a wave to his former training partner Steve Ovett – the Moscow Olympic 800m Champion It’s exactly 40 years ago this week (26th July to be precise) that a man wear...
Why don’t more middle distance runners train like this? The only miler that runs that much these days is Jakob. I can’t seem to recall a top miler running that much even in the last decade or so. Most around around 150k per week give or take.
I’m also surprised he didn’t run that fast at 3k and up but I also remember that he had that unfortunate knee injury.
the training of Ovetee is out of style. Now we know that we know lots of work at LT2 threshold under a certain mmol. Like TAS. His work at 5:40 mile pace followed by mile pace work is the secret training
the training of Ovetee is out of style. Now we know that we know lots of work at LT2 threshold under a certain mmol. Like TAS. His work at 5:40 mile pace followed by mile pace work is the secret training
It's not about what's in or out of style. It's about what works and preparing the athlete to be able to compete at their highest level.
Why don’t more middle distance runners train like this? The only miler that runs that much these days is Jakob. I can’t seem to recall a top miler running that much even in the last decade or so. Most around around 150k per week give or take.
I’m also surprised he didn’t run that fast at 3k and up but I also remember that he had that unfortunate knee injury.
I’m also surprised he didn’t run that fast at 3k and up but I also remember that he had that unfortunate knee injury.
gee, I hope that wasn’t from running too much
The knee injury was from falling on ice and hitting his knee on a church railing. The damage needed surgery for repair.
As far as his training is concerned, Ovett was a very rare beast, I believe, a combination of a lot of fast-twitch muscle fiber with high biomechanical efficiency and a huge V02 max.
He was an English Schools 400m champion and record holder, but at the same time he was second in the English Schools X-Country Championships.
He also won the Inter Counties X-Country Championships over 7 1/2 miles (then the selection race for the British Team for World X-Country) and ran well in the National X-Country Championships at 9 miles in the days when all the best distance runners would compete.
Of course there is also his 65:xx half-marathon on the hottest day of the English summer, in which he comfortably beat Olympic Marathon runner, Barry Watson, this just two weeks before the World Cup 1500m.
Given the way he defeated Rono in a new world best in 2 mile race which was run like a fartleck, I've always wondered if had it not been for his knee injury and the problems he suffered in the LA Olympics (which had ongoing effects), he wouldn't eventually have been best at 5000m. When well past his peak he won the Commonwealth Games 5000m easily beating Jack Buckner (who would win European 5000m later that year) and Tim Hutchings (fourth Olympic 5000m two years earlier).
It's an interesting question. I see in his training logs he has 35 miles (I'm assuming the one 10-miler where no pace is listed is this) of slow running (7' pace), and 30 miles of moderate pace running (5:30-5:48 pace). I think most 1500m pros nowadays might find that (65 miles of easy/moderate running) excessive, and do a higher % of threshold training in an 80-90 mile week.
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