Better training was just the catch all term use to explain why Americans under Salazar and Schumacher were suddenly competing for global medals around 2010-11.
A lot of people started taking after Marius Bakken/the ingebrigtsen/Gjert.
when it comes to the top runners in 1500m/5k, threshold training/measuring lactate/running a lot of kilometers has become the standard. The training has become more scientific overall.
also, the new shoes enable you to run more kilometers at a higher speed, without getting injured. So people like Jakob/Narve/almgren run their threshold sessions with super shoes. In that way, the new shoes enables a ”new” training.
if they would run a 5k in old shoes, they would run almost as fast as they do in the new shoes. People like Sindre speaks about less than 10 seconds for 5k that comes from the shoes ”on race day”. And for 1500m, Jakob would probably run almost as fast in ”old” shoes as new ”super” shoes.
but it is also products from Maurten (especially for longer distances), that has had a positive effect. People like Jakob and Almgren take bicarbonate before running, which affects your lactate levels/how long you can run with a certain lactate.
And the hydrogel products is a main reason to why people run faster for the marathon. It is a lot easier to get enough calories during the race, so runners dont slow down as much for the last 10 km anymore, because they dont run out of fuel as often.
I keep hearing about “better training” that accounts for the faster running, that coincides with the super shoes.
What is it?
Seek not the tangible, but the transcendental; where the essence of training transcends the earthly plane, and the secrets of swifter journeys unfurl in the mystic winds of dedication and revelation.
I'll give you the first 4, but would add the caveat "the popularisation of these methods", as they all pre-date 2017.
And the second last one obviously goes without saying.
The others have all been used for decades, and I don't think there was any uptick from 2017 onwards.
I would add to the list that there are more people than ever who are able to make a living from running. There are also more people who work part-time and supplement their income with the money they earn through running. Therefore, you have way more people living a professional runner (or semi-professional) lifestyle than ever before, which will inevitably translate into better results across the board.
I keep hearing about “better training” that accounts for the faster running, that coincides with the super shoes.
What is it?
Exogenous testosterone microdosing to max out the 4:1 ratio limit (T/E) allowed by WADA before they are allowed to even BEGIN to suggest that future tests may be indicative of illegal administration of exogenous testosterone.
ensuring that microdosing is done between 11pm and 6am. utilizing your 2 allowed unpublished absences from testing in an 18 month period when necessary.
normal limit for men is 1:1. Doesn’t take a molecular biologist to tell you that you will be capable of recovering and training more frequently at higher intensity.
Ah yes live high/train low. Never been tried before until 2021
Sure, people have been doing this for many years; but there has been a distinct and noticeable increase in the sheer numbers of athletes/clubs doing this. I mean, EVERYONE does this now. Sleep in Flag/Park City, then track session low in camp verde/hs if you can get on/Phoenix for big sessions/univ Utah/byu/Heber. As the first super shoes debuted in early 2016, it also coincided with a drastic increase in the numbers of people traveling to flagstaff and park city. I would say almost triple the numbers of athletes.
I'll give you the first 4, but would add the caveat "the popularisation of these methods", as they all pre-date 2017.
And the second last one obviously goes without saying.
The others have all been used for decades, and I don't think there was any uptick from 2017 onwards.
I would add to the list that there are more people than ever who are able to make a living from running. There are also more people who work part-time and supplement their income with the money they earn through running. Therefore, you have way more people living a professional runner (or semi-professional) lifestyle than ever before, which will inevitably translate into better results across the board.
And starting pro-level training and coaching in middle school.
And tracking your training relative to your peers thanks to social media (Strava, Garmin, etc.)
And traveling to race at invites against the best comp in the country instead of just racing dual meets against your neighboring schools.
And running way more miles in HS than we did in the 1990s...
There are lots of things that kids do better these days. This is why they are better when they get to high school (and then go to college and go pro).
For HS, Ruxton's answers make more sense than Olaf's. It's wonderful seeing my own kids' using strava and garmins to motivate each other. They are not doing mega mileage or double threshold and most don't have supershoes but they're working consistently, keeping each other accountable and not settling for mediocrity.
I have to laugh because a lot of regular people are using super shoes to train easy runs in. However it's probably still making them 'faster' and giving old folks some more longevity that keeps them in the game.
My old man is a perfect example - wears vaporflys, runs about a 10-11 mile pace but is mid 70s. So all the power to him to keep at it. Otherwise would have probably given up all together. He also still looks better than all his overweight peers.