Mediocre to Elite: Hypothetical

Jaouad Gharib did not begin running until he was 22. Sean Wade (2:10 marathoner, 96 Olympian for NZ) played tennis until his senior year of college. With the right amount of talent and training, it should only take a few years to get to the trials.

As for training, look at the E. Africans. They are skipping development on the track and going for the marathon from a very early age. Emmanuel Mutai had very little experience on the track and pretty much went straight into running 1/2s and then marathons. Goeffrey Mutai has a 10k pr of 27:19 and pretty much started running competitively in the marathon. The age of track development before the marathon is over.

You're going to need to break 15 to really do anything at all noteworth in any event up to the marathon. So don't totally ignore speed or ignore racing. But attack the 5k (and 1500 at first) by building strength: progressive runs at (current) marathon pace and below, controlled 1000's /w 60sec rests... instead of pounding 400s until you puke. And steady, consistent, not excessive, slowly increasing mileage.

no.

This is not an either/or situation.

The way you want to approach this is to build a sustainable training schedule that includes all the components you will need and gradually increase it over time.

Go with this:

1 Stamina workout every week (i.e. tempo run)

1 Speed workout every week (intervals)

1 long run every week

All other runs being easy mileage.

Start at whatever number of miles and days per week you can comfortably handle now.

Very gradually over time add to your weekly mileage and number of runs per week.

Be sure to keep your workout lengths in proper proportion to your weekly mileage.

Be sure to give your body plenty of time to adapt after each mileage/frequency change.

Do this and you will continue to improve until you can see if you have the talent and persistence necessary to reach your goal.

If you need help, let me know:

Coach Mark Hadley

www.mprunning.com

Kenyans and Ethiopians, develop a huge aerobic base of 17,000 miles by the time they're 16, on average, then generally start running fast. Also, at the same time as this, you need to get a standing desk, get some good food, walk a lot, and do a lot of just strength building by doing functional exercises, google movnat. And all your mileage should be done on dirt roads or trails.

You cannot, like already mention, ignore your 5k/10k times. You have to be low under 14:30 to do anything worth while. For the first few years you should focus on combing your plans, start increasing the mileage while getting fast on the track. If you commit and have the cardiovascular system you certainly can make the OT trails in 2020. Good luck pal.

Coach, while I tend to agree with this from a bird's eye view, let's caution the OP away from over-simplification. If you were to follow that format without variation in the style of workouts or seasonal progression, the runner would quickly plateau or burn-out. Furthermore, some distances require race-specific training. You won't get better in the mile by training like a marathoner, for example. I used to be in the OP's situation and constructed a plan similar to what you, Mark, have outlined. But every week was the same....intervals, tempo, long run.... it wasn't until I got a coach that I realized how the devil is in the details. You can definitely go from mediocre to elite but if after a few years of systematic training, you're not seeing exponential gains then it's time to be more realistic with your goals. And that's perfectly fine. I stayed in the sport because I still enjoy running 15 minute 5K's and winning most local road races.

That's a pretty long term plan. You sound like you're a younger guy, so who knows what will happen in another decade, or even five years. How many college kids get some "sweet" looking tattoos that look like crap and they regret down the road?

My advice would be to enjoy training and racing now before you enter the real world. Having some long-term plan sounds cool in theory but the odds of that staying consistent and on track is very slim. If you want to be good in 10-15 years, take it one year at a time.

Long Term success comes from long term health. When you have average talent level, your long term improvement must come from this. That said, I think that someone who is inexperienced currently (not training too serious or for too long) and has a high 16 minute 5k from high school has as good a chance as any to make a Marathon Qualifier in his thirties, but he has to stay healthy and work for it. And remember, a lot of people will never make a marathon qualifier in their thirties. Not from lack of talent, but because they quit running long before.

I would tell this person to not think about the future right now, but to get into a small college program with a good coach that is known for developing runners. You need to get faster and stronger and the easiest way to do that is to join a team and train with others when you're young. In this hypothetical college program, you would gradually build your mileage while also becoming a more seasoned and competitive runner. It does you no good to go out and run mileage that you can't sustain and are too tired to run workouts off of, so never overdo it.. injuries are your enemy. When coaches tell you to take a few weeks off after a season, DO IT.

After college, find a coach. A good coach. Also find a few very good, like minded friends to train with. Live like a nun for a few years (eat, sleep and live for your training) and see if you can make a breakthrough in your racing. After this, I think you will know if you have a shot of continuing and running an OT qualifier in the marathon.

Good luck.

Ask Wejo. Seriously.

So much depends on the will and intent of the runner. Herb Elliot was good when he came to Percy Cerutty, but they both believed in their shared mission 110%, and Elliot became one of the best ever.

As for starting late, didn't Vladimir Kuts start competing at 23? Can you tell I'm a f'ing geezer from these references????

With regard to winning races, when I was a kid, most of the time I got to the starting line thinking I was going to win, I did. Most of the time when I got to the starting line thinking I was not going to win, I did not.

Amazing how these days, you could be a sub 27:00 10K man and not even make your country's national team.

It's a question without an answer. I know people who meet your description...some made 2:21-2:26 in the marathon, others trained as hard for 2:45.

It all depends what level of talent they had which was not tapped to run 16 high.

I trained to the limits of what my body would handle and never quite made the cut. I know others who ran 2:18 on way less.

Clarification:

What I described was the framework, but of course the specifics will vary depending on the individual, their race schedule and personal situation.

As was pointed out by another poster, you should not do the exact same workouts every week. There needs to be a variety and progression to your workouts. This can easily be done under the frame work given.

Whiel you may have 1 stamina, 1 speed and 1 long run each week (most weeks), they should not be the same stamina, speed, or long run workout each week.

Stamina workouts can and should vary between tempo runs, tempo intervals, long tempos (AT), short tempos (LT), progression tempos, tempos with alternations/waves, etc.

Speed workouts can and should vary working different speeds (mile to 10k pace), varying lengths, different recoveries, progressions made in speed/length/recovery, etc.

Long runs can and should vary from easy paced long runs to steady state long runs to fast finish long runs.

All of this done regularly while slowly building your mileage/frequency over the next several years. This variety and progressions coupled with increases in capacity/frequency will keep improvemenets and adaptation happening and progress will be made, allowing the OP to find out over time what their true potential is in the sport.

I have found the best way to make increases in capacity/frequency is to do it slowly and so the body has a chance to adapt and adjust to the new level and so that you have a chance to adapt your personal life and routines to it. By keeping the changes small and gradual significant increases can be made over time without it seeming too significant to the person. The body/person keeps slowly adjusting to the increased stress level and time demands.

A minimum of 6 weeks and usually closer to 26 weeks between changes in capacity/frequency are best. It is important to remember that sustainability/consistency must be maintained over the long term, so there is a real risk in pushing the envelope too quickly on building up your capacity/frequency.

It is when people try large increases at once or small ones too frequently where they begin to run into problems physically and mentally.

The OP is right in taking a long term approach that keeps his eye on the big picture.

Coach Mark Hadley

www.mprunning.com

It is also important to note that your sustainable weekly routine needs to include proper strength and core work to maintain proper balance between muscle groups, enhance your form and efficiency and recruit new muscle fibers.

This needs to be included from the beginning, but does not have be overly time consuming nor require special equipment.

MPR wrote:

It is also important to note that your sustainable weekly routine needs to include proper strength and core work to maintain proper balance between muscle groups, enhance your form and efficiency and recruit new muscle fibers.

This needs to be included from the beginning, but does not have be overly time consuming nor require special equipment.

How do you know when you have muscle imbalances? I feel like this term is used a lot, but no one seems to mention which muscle groups should be targeted and how they should be optimally developed. Any suggestions?

MPR wrote:

It is also important to note that your sustainable weekly routine needs to include proper strength and core work to maintain proper balance between muscle groups, enhance your form and efficiency and recruit new muscle fibers.

This needs to be included from the beginning, but does not have be overly time consuming nor require special equipment.

How do you know when you have muscle imbalances? I feel like this term is used a lot, but no one seems to mention which muscle groups should be targeted and how they should be optimally developed. Any suggestions?

Joelturn,

You will get some varying opions on this but there are a few very simple tests you can do to see if you have any glaring weaknesses that need to be immediately addressed. But in the absense of any major problems, it is best to get on a balanced strength program that address each area and that will strengthen those areas in the proper proportion over time.

In general you want to work and strengthen the muscles used in running in the ways we use them in running. This means staying away from isolation exercises/machines and instead staying with more running type natural motions where ancillary muscles can be strengthened along with primary muscles.

You want to be sure to work each major muscles groups along with their supporting muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, abdonimals, lower back, feet.

Examples of exercises to consider including are: form drills such as high knees, butt kicks and b-skips; plyometrics such as cone hops and bounds; strength exercises such as walking lunges and box steps and toe hops; short hill sprints or acceleration sprints; and core exercises such as bicycle crunches, prone alternate arm/leg raises, dynamic plank, basic push-ups, etc.

To me there are 4 major goals in strength work for distance runners: reduce the risk of injury, enhance form, improve power/weight ratio, recruit new muscle fibers.

Like I said, there will be people who disagree and or have a different view, but this my take on it and what I have had lots of success with.