Run 5 days, rest 2 days? Run 4 days, rest 3 days? Is cramming your running into a few days, followed by a rest period of 2-3 days, better than spreading running over 6-7 days? Perhaps the body responds better with mini phases of running and resting as described.
Discuss.
periods. damn.
have never tried the \\\"hard-hard-hard, e, e, e, e\\\" method
something to chew on
i\\\'ll try it this winter and let you know
When you say "rest", do you mean easy recovery running or no running at all? If you're talking about no running at all, I'd say a day off every two or three weeks should be plenty.
none at all for 2-3 days. cram in the running, crash it into 4-5 days then have a real rest, not a fake rest. this must be better for the bod.
take two days off completely each week spread out
eg.
monday:off
tuesday:double - one a workout
wednesday:double
thursday:double - one a workout
friday: off
saturday:workout
sunday: long run
or wrote:
take two days off completely each week spread out
eg.
monday:off
tuesday:double - one a workout
wednesday:double
thursday:double - one a workout
friday: off
saturday:workout
sunday: long run
Appreciate your thoughts, but I'm putting forward the idea that lumping the running, then lumping the days off, is better. Who agrees, and can bring forth some reasons, scientific or otherwise. And, who disagrees, and why? Why spread out, "or"?
the training style you may be looking for is called "crash training"
the first mention of crash training and crash cycles that i could find is under the heading "Is it Mileage or speed". You probably should just read the whole article.
I think what it is on the surface is whatever percentage increase you do for a few days must be followed by an equal number of days with the reverse percentage of running.
Hard-easy is a peaking routine, whether we're talking hard day/easy day, hard half-week/easy half-week, whatever. So bustin' it for four days, then taking three off, might actually work (for *some*) as a peak-season routine.
Bear in mind that before his first sub-4:00 mile, Roger Bannister had *five* days with no running at all. Today's runners generally train at a higher volume than he did, so adapting four on/three off might mean: Friday, a fairly light session with some "turnover" and/or a little pace work, to loosen up; Saturday, peak race(s); longish aerobic work on Sunday morning; easy running with strides on Monday morning, followed by a race-like session (moderate volume, pretty high intensity) that afternoon; and then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off.
Not the way to make steady progress through the year, but--depending on the runner!--potentially a very effective way to peak at the end of a season.
Herb Elliot did a form of chrash training that looked something like this:
M: off
T: 10 miles easy to steady
W: 2.5-5 miles fast
T: 10 miles easy to steady
F: off
S + S: 60 mile weekends! Long runs, 3 runs a day, track sessions, sprint sessions, sandune reps, swimming, hiking, constant movement, heavy weigths, everything crammed into the weekend...
I wrote this on another thread but didn't get too many replies. This is copy of what I wrote since the subject is very similar.
Mon : Off or very easy and short
Tue AM: Short REPS of 45sec to 90sec. These are fast but controlled and grouped into sets to insure lactates don't get out of control. 2-3 min rest between reps and 5-7 min between sets.
Tue PM: 30 min THRESHOLD at 80-85% maxHR. 20/20 for warm up / cool down.
Wed AM: VO2 (5-6 x 1200 - mile repeats) at 90-92% maxHR at the end of each interval. 30/15min for warm up / cooldown
Wed PM: Short run with several strides and then into the weightroom for max strength
Thurs : Easy Distance (65-70% maxHR) of 60-80 min
Fri AM: Speed (10-15 x 60m-150m strides at 400m race speed keeping technique highest priority) 30/20min for warm up / cool down.
Fri PM: Easy Distance (65-70% max HR) of 60 min
Sat AM: VO2 very similar to Wed AM
Sat PM: THRESHOLD very similar to Tue PM then into the weightroom for max strength.
Sun : Long Run 2hrs
I am 25 years old with a very good base and seem to be very resistant to injuries. However I have only been on this schedule for several weeks and would appreciate all knowledgeable feedback. So far the amount of intensity has been more than I am used to however my energy level remains high and I seem to be able to recover very well since there are still 2-2 day periods of easier training. My new coach, who designed this schedule, has tried it on himself with success and is also well known to be very sound and educated.
My goals are for the indoor 800/1500.
The idea behind stacking the workouts together is this:
1) to keep all of those efforts within a 36 hour window so that any delayed soreness doesn't take effect during another fast workout, and
2) to apply that theory of converting the fast twitch type II fibers to work more aerobically by using them when exhausted, and
3) this allows to have 48-72 hour (depending on how you look at it) periods to fully recover. Often after only one easy day's recovery after a single hard session the legs aren't quite back yet.