Marc Nenow and training style

Fellow runner, I think that you are doing the right thing!

When I was definitely ready to run 2;19 for the first time, back in 1990, I did ZERO track workouts for about 6months.

Keep in mind that Nenow was doing his workouts on hilly country.

I encourage you to run your ten-milers on a very hilly course at least 2 times/week and also do farlek and ten miler tempos once a week.

Best to you...

jason

i was gonna post that link...

where was mark living/training during his peak years?

Lexington, Kentucky?

Yes, it was Lexington.

he would run his 2nd run at around 11pm! trained the same year round, raced into top form.

Lots of mileage(usually 140 a week) but very unstructured. When he felt like training hard, he ran hard. The big key must have been the consistency and the high volume. I know the month or so before he set the AR of 27:20 he consulted a coach who suggested some track repeats at race pace.

The amazing thin is I'm pretty sure he did this all alone. This type of training I wonder is often overlooked as being to simplistic and not enough emphasis on quality. Then again perhaps Nenow was capable of going much faster through a more structured program. I doubt it though. He did the training that suited him and kept at it. A pretty low key guy it seemed.

Also it should be mentioned he had one of the more unusual body types for an American. More like a Kenyan. 5 foot 8 with extremely long legs and a large rib cage. A running machine.

Unstructured? Runs hard when he feels like running hard? Easy when he feels it? Runs a lot of hills? Sounds like smart training to me.

Fredo, a piece of paper isn't a program. Running isn't rocket science.

How true, Malmo. We can read volumes of training programs, cycles, periodization plans from men like Vigil, Coe,etc. For a lot of us there is the perfect plan or "recipe" we're always tring to search for and constantly try to change things. I think my main point was Nenow had it right. He had consistency and stuck to what worked. He had it down to intuition and listened to his body, not a complicated workout plan that he followed to a "T".

That's what I meant when he probably wouldn't have fared better under another style.

Its kind of the oppostite to what they teach us in business school of always looking to innovate and to try different things, the opposite of the old-school "if its not broke don't fix it." But you right, running isn't rocket science. I side with you on that.

Nenow was only really criticized for being unable to peak properly. He did peak of course, but just when it happened, not when he planned to. Ron Clarke ran exactly the same way. That's the only thing wrong with this program. If you have an absolute need to peak properly(Trials and Champs)you have to plan very well. Tough without some periodization.

Thanks for the advice guys. I did my half-marathon today in just under 1hr 20 min, a bit slower than I expected, but I have not raced for over 5yrs!! I'm going to keep the training going and see if I can improve.

I feel I'm improving and like Nenow said, he " raced himself into shape" I'll just keep plugging away!!

and a former wrestler!

This is a great topic. Nenow trained like a mad man. He also was very quiet in letting people in on his goals and training. Which is the way it should be.

I remember when I was back running at Bend High School in Oregon, Nike sent some guys to talk with our team and let us test out some racing shoes. None of us kids had any idea who he was. We were asking him stupid questions like, "are you a runner?" He didn't care. He never even told us who he was and what he had done. We all felt like idiots when our coach let us in on the "American record" that Nenow had.

He got the job done, and didn't show boat. A class act.