Pfitz....no hills!!!

Other Running Related Topic

16 years ago 03/09/2008 11:23am EDT

Hey all!! I have a question in regards to Pfitznger's marathon plans found in the book "advanced marathoning". I have followed one of his plans with success in the past. It seems like a complete system and I got to admit I felt real fit in the peak of the program. The only missing component in their seems to be hills. I will be following another plan for a fall marathon and was considering adding hills in one of two ways-

1)During the first mesocycle replacing those strids sessions with a hill/stride session. Short hills done fast with strides at the bottom.

2)During the last mesocycle replacing those V02 max workouts with long hills done at about 5k effort. This really wouldn't be replacing the v02 max workout, just doing it on a hill as opposed to the track. The pace would be slower of course.

Anyone ever tweak Pfitz to allow for hills? Good, bad?

16 years ago 03/09/2008 12:17pm EDT

re: Pfitz phan

16 years ago 03/09/2008 4:20pm EDT

re: Pfitz phan

Strides during Pfitz plan are not a separate session. They should be done after a distance run.

A marathon is most often not run on a hilly course and important quality workouts should, logically, be done on the flat. If you want specific leg strength you could do one or more of your distance runs each week over hilly courses.

16 years ago 03/09/2008 6:35pm EDT

re: mr R

You need to train on hills for a marathon even if its a flat course. They improve your strength and stamina.

I dont know if you need to incorporate them specifically into your training. Perhaps just include them into your run. i.e. on your Sunday run, do it over a hilly course. So you're training in the hills but not doing specific hill efforts. It works for me

Good luck

16 years ago 03/09/2008 9:01pm EDT

re: mr R

The main purpose of the strides is to improve efficiency, to practice a full running stride. Hills would not be a logical substitution for that.

Pfitz may not include hills in his sample workouts, but he does write about the principle of specificity in training - if you're running a hilly marathon, incorporate those hills into your training runs.

16 years ago 03/10/2008 3:45pm EDT

re: mr R

Actually, strides are often separate sessions according to Pfitzinger's plans. They are done on either general aerobic or easy days, not after distance runs (medium-long runs or long runs).

16 years ago 03/10/2008 5:37pm EDT

re: another guest

If you read what Pfitz says about strides he clearly is talking about working on basic speed. In his other book "road racing for serious runners" he has a whole chapter about "basic speed" he goes on to describe strides in more detail than also talks about hills, weight training, and plyometrics as a means of improving basic speed(stride frequency&stride length). Thinking about the general purpose of this "stride session" I'm seeing Pfitz strides in that first mesocycle akin to Lydiards philosphy on "hill circuits". Any thoughts?

Reply Replying to

Username

Password

Leave the password field blank to post anonymously.

Post Preview

By posting you acknowledge that you have read and abide by our Terms and Conditions.

Remember me on this device.

Pfitz....no hills!!!

Of General Interest

This thread has already been deleted.

You have been subscribed.