So if Solinsky always trains at 5:40ish, does he ever take days off/recovery days?

Do some simple math:

vVO2 max pace for Chris is about 4:05-4:10 per mile

Easy runs should be 70-75% of vVO2 Max pace

That makes the appropriate easy pace for him

5:30-6:00 - right in the range at which he normally does his easy days.

What is the issue?

You recover when you are not running. Whenever you are running you are training.

For a guy who has run sub 27/13 5:40 pace is walking.

The idea that sleep = rest and recovery is lost on most people.

Also you only run for 1-2 hours a day. That leaves 22-23 hours for recovery. The problem is that most don't know how to relax and actually recover.

Alan

Answer this wrote:

I've heard that Solinsky typically trains at around 5:40 pace. Even when he does recovery, he goes fast. Apparently no one on his team can stay with him on easy days because he runs fast.... Do you guys think I would have ran faster if I would have taken some days easier, or do you think some people just revoery faster and can push themselves everyday.

here's the excerpt from the article:

"On assigned "easy'' days, Solinsky will drop his pace steadily below six minutes per mile, sometimes under 5:30. Training partners like Tegenkamp (fourth-place finisher in 5,000 at the 2007 Worlds and a 2008 Olympian) and Bairu will purposely avoid Solinsky on these easy days because Solinsky inevitably turns the runs into death matches."

Read more:

- To the first point as the posters above have pointed out sub 6 pace is not blistering for Solinsky, and I think his teammates avoid him because of his competitiveness when he runs with them and/or their preferences to go a little slower than perhaps is necessary on recovery days (this can be beneficial for some mentally and to a lesser degree, physically). I think that addresses your second point somewhat, and I think what pace you should go on "easy" days and "recovery" days is different for every runner. On my team in college there was a sub 15 guy that never ran a slow run and was almost always successful in races/workouts and there was a 1:53 800 guy who never ran faster than 7 minute pace in a distance run and focused almost entirely on his workouts. If your workouts and race are suffering because you never feel fresh than I think that would be the time where you could reconsider taking some of your mileage a little slower.

Did Solinsky take any significant break after this track season? When he went home after Europe he was talking about off-season running and the lonely trails, and now he's back in oregon.

I guess he knows his body best, but given the intensity of his training and racing, I would've expected him to take a proper break...

Runningart2004 wrote:

The idea that sleep = rest and recovery is lost on most people.

Also you only run for 1-2 hours a day. That leaves 22-23 hours for recovery. The problem is that most don't know how to relax and actually recover.

Alan

Well yes, but most of us have to work 8 or more hours a day, so we not only have to recover from the workout mentally and physically but also the workday.

I am lucky now that I use my mind instead of my hands to work, but not everyone is so fortunate.

I didn't know you posted on LRC

http://rocknrollghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/dinner_for_schmucks_shmuks_movie_poster_steve_carell_paul_rudd_film_Zach_Galifinakis_pics_stills_images2.png

Look, I don't want to sound like a jerk here, but people- use some goddamn common sense.

I'm going to guess that, yeah, Solinsky has days where he does not run. I'm going to guess when he's really really tired or really really hurt, he doesn't run. I'd also guess that it doesn't happen too often, because he knows his body, has a great coach, and as a professional runner, it is his job to monitor these things carefully.

I'm also going to guess that, no, Solinsky is not "hammering" his easy days. Seems like he prefers to run on the "faster side" of his easy pace compared to some runners, which is neither unusual nor particularly notable. Like malmo said, 5:40 a mile is a walk for a sub-27 guy. Someone else calculated that 5:30 a mile is roughly 70% of his 5k pace (I didn't check the numbers, so bear with me if that's off). For a 15:30 5k runner, that's roughly 6:30/mile. That might be on the "quicker side" of an easy pace for a guy running 80 a week with a full time job, but somehow, I think Solinsky has a sneaking suspicion as to what he's doing.

No, he does not take days off, and he does not sleep, either.

Alan,

Can you be a bit more detailed about how to properly relax and recover? I'm curious to the specifics (anything a guy can pick up, you know?)..Tks.

This is all relative, I guess. I was a 24:30 five-mile guy. Most of my training runs of between five and eight miles were done at 5:40 pace or faster. I considered 6:15 pace a slow day, never ran slower. Yeah, I'm an idiot and I'm physically cracked today. But it was fun while it lasted.

How does volume come into play here? If I only ran 80mpw then 6:00min/mile wouldn't be terrible. But at 120mpw 6:00/mile would probably make me quite tired, so I do most my easy runs @ 6:30instead.

I feel like everyone has misunderstood what Solinski does on his easy days. He does not go out and run 10 miles, each in 5:40-5:30 miles. He goes out at a solid pace, then picks up the pace to whatever he feels like. He probably only runs his last half under 5:40 pace or so, and probably goes even faster the last few miles, like near 5:00 pace occasionally. That is what I have understood from his quotes. This training is nothing new, many many Kenyans and Moroccans did the exact same thing, and Malmo often posts about 'bringing it home to the barn' on 'easy' days

If you run too hard on your easy days, or you race too hard all the time, even the greatest of runners will collapse. Ask Salazar, ask Jim Ryun.

The only way around the over training is epo. Ask Bernie Lagat. Ask Barry Bonds.

craigmac4h wrote:

I'm also going to guess that, no, Solinsky is not "hammering" his easy days. Seems like he prefers to run on the "faster side" of his easy pace compared to some runners, which is neither unusual nor particularly notable.

For as obsessive as many who read and post here are, memorizing every bit of useless minutiae about training, for the life of me, I cannot understand why a statement like this isn't understood clearly by all.

Nice point made here:

"Well yes, but most of us have to work 8 or more hours a day, so we not only have to recover from the workout mentally and physically but also the workday.

I am lucky now that I use my mind instead of my hands to work, but not everyone is so fortunate"

As a long time HS and college coach I have numerous examples of athletes who saw huge improvements when they were able to quit working. Especially work where they carried items and were on thier feet all day. The biggest mistake most runners make IMHO is to not get enough rest. School and studying zap an athlete more than most ever realize and then if they are working on top of that or in the summer while trying to train it doesn't matter how good their training or coaching is, the lack of rest kills it all. Throw going out partying too often into the mix and I can cite numerous All-Americans that have tanked or been inconsistent in their development. The problem when you are 16 to 22 you think you are invincible and can handle it all.

Guys like Solinsky, Rupp, Wheating are never seen outside their hotel rooms when they are in Europe except to eat and sometimes after a race they will throw down a couple drinks but they are not even drunk or staying up all hours of the night. I know for a fact Wheating was sleeping 10-12 hours a day before his big races in Monaco and London. So instead of worrying so much about pace look at the other 23 hours of your day.

Runningart2004 wrote:

The idea that sleep = rest and recovery is lost on most people.

Also you only run for 1-2 hours a day. That leaves 22-23 hours for recovery. The problem is that most don't know how to relax and actually recover.

Alan

Could you enlighten us? I really want to know.

I had a 28:40 guy on my college team who would train at 5:40 pace. 5:40 pace is a joke for Solinsky.

someone else wrote:

Could you enlighten us? I really want to know.

Seems straightforward to me.