Hobbs Kessler training (all constant runs < 7 miles, 6 doubles)

Ben Flanagan from the same group is public on strava. They do double threshold so that’s probably where at least 2 of those quality sessions come from. Otherwise training is probably very similar if you want to take a peak.

Until further notice I'm ranking him as a cartoon player in the chess table of the worldwide middle distances. Let's hope there are positive sign that change my mind about him.

Ordinarily I'd agree with this post, but one is a 5k/10k guy and the other is an 800/1500/3k guy. Sure there is a bunch of crossover on the easy to moderate intensity stuff, but Flanagan and Kessler do very different specific work. From 30,000' the training looks the same, but it's super tailor to each athlete daily.

As malmo always says, long runs are overrated (for track distances) if you get in good mileage. Kessler has one of the best mile coaches in the world and has learned a lot of training wisdom.

(Imagine if Alan Webb stayed at Michigan.)

Yeah, I was more interested in the speed dev stuff and if their quality sessions are always together. Like I get Ks/medium to long reps at threshold, but if his runs are all below 7 miles does this include the workout sessions? With 1.5 warmup and cooldown, the max value that a single workout can have would be around 4 miles or just under 7k. That seems on the lower end of top athlete sessions. I get that he maybe does 7k in the morning + 7k in the afternoon, but looking at the Bakken Norweigan model, he shows an athlete with double threshold training fitting in 10km in both sessions. I just don't know how one would arrange the 3-5 workouts within the week effectively while still balancing the speed dev and lifting.

I believe there is a fair amount of speed development stuff in there. They do some 100m, 150m, 200m, 150m, 100m speed stuff after easy runs. I get what you mean by looking at a true mile program. But if you’re interesting in looking at the fundamentals it’s better than nothing.

The quote posted above doesn't say that Hobbs doesn't run longer than 7 miles. It says that he's focusing more on fueling well so he doesn't get the feeling of bonking on runs longer than 7-8 miles.

I interpreted this as all easy runs are less than 7 miles, and workouts are what varies over the season and changes weekly mileage. Not too different from Ingebritsen standard easy days with 10k/10k easy doubles.

100% correct, Hobbs read Bakken's blog and is working with Ronnie to adapt it to suit himself. Really shows how great of a coach Ronnie is to take athlete feedback and be willing to change even with so many years of coaching.

He definitely said his longest run is 7 miles. He said he did some 12 miles out of season.

This is completely made up. But it works pretty nicely.

Mon am - track workout 2 miles up, 5 miles of work, 2 miles cool down

Mon pm - 6 miles moderate working down to T last 2 miles

Tues - weights + 6 miles recovery am / 6 miles easy pm

Wed - 6 miles easy am / 7 miles way pm

Thurs - am - track workout 2 miles up, 5 miles of work, 2 miles cool down

Thurs pm - 6 miles easy

Friday - weights + 6 miles easy / 7 miles easy

Saturday - 7 miles tempo am / 5 miles recovery pm

Sunday - off

This would be 80 miles with 4 quality sessions including 2 track workouts. 2 weight lifting days.

Exactly. I assume they’re following the same system as Ingebrigtsen, or at least something very similar. 5 quality = 2 x double T days + 1 hills or track session. Like Jakob, the easy days are probably 2 x 10k runs. Those double T days are easily 18-20+ with warm-up and cool down. Slot in the speed development after two of those easy runs. Add some weights. There is your plan.

I’m surprised this isn’t getting more attention. I’ve never heard of an athlete at Hobbs’ level training like this. I know some guys like Brazier may only do 30 mpw and focus on speed. But I’ve never heard of someone running 75-90 per week without at least a 10 mile run, instead doubling every day.

I’m actually curious if this style could work for hobbyjoggers like myself. I think it’s a lot easier to find time for two short runs - before work and after work - than trying to block out 70-90 min sessions a few times a week. Plus, coming off the couch with little fitness you can get all the runs in without having to work up to handling 10+ mile long runs.

Excuse me, but what the f*ck does this mean?

I am nobody special, but I tried this method a while back when I was training hard -- more or less 10-12 miles a day in two short runs. Had a great season and ran some of my all time PRs. I did it because I felt a bit overtrained with the longer singles. If you have the time and flexibility to do it, can be very effective. I think especially so for more speed-side 1500/5000 oriented guys.

A year ago I'd average 45-50mi/week, peaking around 55. I started run commuting several days/week this year, about 5mi each way (almost always easy, sometimes add a couple miles or a few hill reps to the evening run), and I've been able to average 55-60 peaking at 70. The doubles make it super manageable compared to simply hitting a single 10mi run most days. I definitely feel the fatigue when the miles add up, but two 5mi bites are a lot easier to chew than one 10mi bite every day.

I do have the commute logistics nailed down so I only need to carry my phone, ID, keys, and airpod case. Do I miss out on training benefits from not having miles 6-10 come immediately after miles 1-5? Eh, maybe. But I definitely gain benefit from adding miles 8-10 that I previously wouldn't have run. Still get weekend long runs in too.

He says "typically, the longest I run CONTINUOUSLY is 7 miles." That seems pretty obviously to leave room for him to add warm up and cool down miles to a workout in a session that totals more than 7 miles.

Yes the unique part is no long run/medium long run. And he prefers doubling over stretching out easy runs. Sounds like 11 runs a week. The math works because double T workouts will be 7-10 miles but it’s not continuous.

Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron though?

The athlete approaches their coach with another training model after doing their own research, then the coach incorporates it with minor tweaks with feedback from again, their own athlete? That just makes Ronnie a consultant.