Why can't you run VO2 Max and race pace intervals year round?

Nobody wants to run their fastest times (even if they are world records) by the time you are 20 and then go downhill from there. That's not a CAREER to emulate. Even Ryun and his coach admit they overdid the anaerobic training.

Or especially if they are world records.

Les wrote:

Nobody wants to run their fastest times (even if they are world records) by the time you are 20 and then go downhill from there. That's not a CAREER to emulate. Even Ryun and his coach admit they overdid the anaerobic training.

So you would rather have a CAREER where you never the world record holder? Not sure I would agree with that. It is easy to look back and say, "we should have done something different" but they obviously had a good training program that got a lot out of the talent. And yeah everyone would love to have a career where every year they set PRs in the distance they concentrate on. Nobody does that. Should Ryun have trained a little differently sure. But only a very little differently. There are a lot more runners that never met there potential because they were not willing to train hard enough.

So is it a good rule of thumb that in the preseason you should try to maximize aerobic training through long runs, uptempo runs, and "threshold intervals"--intervals run at about 10k pace--and speed through short reps with lots of rest while minimizing your body's production of lactic acid?

I like running intervals all year. But during times when races are few, might just do a single interval during a distance run. Just a little stimulation for my body to adjust to before I run again tomorrow.

Training is Stimulation -> Recovery -> Repeat

Why have periods when you totally slack, and why have killer workouts to make up for it? Is your body stupid or something?

Although the pH of muscle cells can drop considerably during exercise, in particular very intense isolated muscle groups ~6.3 - 6.2 blood pH DOES NOT change much during exercise. This is because blood, red blood cells in particular has a huge buffering capacity. Even small changes in blood pH would be fatal for example 7.2 or 7.1 if not corrected quickly.

Ed Eyestone said he's been running 4-5 1-mile repeats every Tuesday for 20 years and it's kept him fast and strong.

You can't???

Carlos Lopes and Fernando Mamede did it, Seb Coe did it, El Guerrouj did it, Paula Radcliffe does it...

Frank Shorter would also run some pretty hard intervals weekly, year-round, for 10 years in a row.

Why can't you run VO2 Max and race pace intervals year round?

Lydiard says i can't.

4. VO2 Max intervals have a lot to do with VO2 Max, hence the name. Reference to Peter Coe (RIP) in Better Training for Distance Runners - one of the goals of interval training is to increase the size of the heart. This directly effects VO2 Max, since the heart is the pump that drives the whole aerobic system. His research indicated that significant heart growth occurs when the heartrate is pushed to at least 98% of maximum, which can be achieved during an intense interval.

Coe Knows wrote:

4. VO2 Max intervals have a lot to do with VO2 Max, hence the name. Reference to Peter Coe (RIP) in Better Training for Distance Runners - one of the goals of interval training is to increase the size of the heart. This directly effects VO2 Max, since the heart is the pump that drives the whole aerobic system. His research indicated that significant heart growth occurs when the heartrate is pushed to at least 98% of maximum, which can be achieved during an intense interval.

A few factual issues here. First, Peter Coe, although a great coach, was not a physiologist. The physiology talk in Better Training For Distance Runners likely came from his co-author David E. Martin, a professor at Georgia State, now emeritus. So, Mr. Coe never performed any research that indicated anything about cardiovascular adaptation, aside from trial and error work with Seb. I don't think that Dr. Martin contributed to any of this body of knowledge through his research either, and just relied on his reading and understanding of the work of others.

Second, a lot of different training protocols increase VO2 max, not specifically work at 98% max HR. And, as for the original question about year round interval work, if you think that you're going to get significant cardiac hypertrophy if it is only stimulated by 1-2 VO2 max sessions per week for at most 2 months, you are mistaken.

3rd, just because a workout improves performance does not mean that reason it does so is universally understood. Folks knew how to breed cattle long before they knew what DNA was. Peter Coe knew what worked with his son, but may not have always known the real mechanism. Training at VO2 max pace has systemic effects on the cardiovascular system, and local effects at the muscle. I guarantee the local effects are more important.

True, Coe may not have been a "scientific researcher", but I use the word research to mean extensive study of a subject. Researching the research. Might be a better word to use and I'm open to suggestions. I do think Peter Coe's background as an engineer helped him glean meaningful insights from the mountains of information out there.

As far as VO2 max in general, you are correct. There are various proven ways to increase it, not just 98% HR. You can build more mitochondria, increase red blood cell count, etc. But a rather large part of achieving your genetic POTENTIAL VO2 max is increasing the size of the heart. Normally, you can tell if you have increased the size of your heart by your resting HR. Lower resting HR generally means your heart is moving more blood per beat, due to a larger size, so it doesn't have to beat as frequently.

So why not keep the intervals up in small doses year round and spread the growth over a longer time?