JohnnyO
I was under the impression you were bored with this topic ...
In any event, I disagree with a few of the points you\'re trying to raise.
By posting the log at the beginning of the thread I wanted to try and illustrate two things:
1. Dispel the myth that morning runs "weren't counted" by Peter & Seb, which has been posted here more times than I care to count and 2. To show that a mileage figure for a given week includes ***at least an overwhelming portion, if not all, of the miles covered in a given week***.
As I said before, I\'m not going to go through the maths -- but if the figures don\'t add up *to the last metre*, well, then, feel free to add 5 miles to a given week, if you feel you must.
That said, this in no way vaults the totals of miles covered in a given week to 100 -- as has also been sworn here on various occasions -- or to anything approaching that.
As to your second point: recovery jogs and easy miles are two VERY different animals in my book.
Three sauntering laps after a hard 10x400 metre session is simply not *mileage* in the sense that most people who follow the sport understand it to be.
Thus, in that respect, I can\'t imagine any coach/athlete - Coe, Ovett, El G or Alan Webb - who would make an effort to include these *miles* in their weekly total.
You also seem to think that slower-paced running is the garbage laps an athlete does before and after an interval session.
It isn't.
Slower paced running is indeed important -- very important, in fact -- and it was a part of Seb's training. Check out the entries for Week 1 - Thursday "easy recovery run of 6 miles".
That, for Coe, is slow paced running at that point in the season. It\'s included in the logs and included in the totals for the week.
I really don't know how to be any more clear about this.
But if you feel you must - go ahead. Add 2 miles warm up and warm down to Seb's track intervals.
That **still** wouldn't vault his winter base phase miles to the levels that were being bandied about here: as I'm sure you'll agree that it's unlikely he did a 2 mile warm up, ran for 7 miles, did a 2 mile warm down and logged "7 miles steady" in his training log for November.
What I was trying to show here was the *detail* that went into Seb's training diaries, and thus to dispel the notion that morning runs were somehow "forgotten" or that warm ups and cool downs would push his mileage numbers into the upper stratospheres.
Even if we disagree here, surely you'll concede that a winter base phase would include fewer interval sessions, and thus fewer opportunities to "miss" warm up and cool down miles. (And I'm not saying that this was even the case in the summer, lest I be taken out of context)
Thus, while a summer log **might** look to exclude **some** garbage laps - perhaps even 5 miles of said laps in a given week - it's unlikely that a winter base log would exclude morning runs (as have been shown in the summer log posted, which included them religiously) or warm up miles, as there would be no need for separate warm ups during a base phase of 85% distance runs.
Please tell me that you at least accept this as fact.
As for your point about truthfulness -- well, you must understand that if you approached Peter and asked him about this, and said you wanted to have a figure upon which you could base a training system for either yourself or another athlete, he'd probably tell you to get lost.
Seb's training is not a template -- it worked for him, it might not work for others. The exact numbers aren't important (49 miles 55 miles, 63 miles) -- the range of numbers is very important (60 miles ... 80 miles ... 100 miles).
If you're looking for cooking recipe -- you won't find it. What you will find are a set of principles around which you can tailor a training programme.
Here's what Peter himself said:
"What is special is that Seb's training is tailored specifically for him and his requirements, by a coach who is in a unique position to have a detailed knowledge of his charge.***MY POINT IS THAT THERE IS NO MAGIC FORMULAE*** A logical and intelligent application of widely known acts, damned hard work by athlete and coach alike, no neglected details, meticulous care, dedication. These are the requirements."
I really don't know what else to say.
Martin