The Training of Stefano Baldini

Doesn't look like marathon training at all, this most be during his competition period. 90 minutes for long-run!??

copied/translated it from his homepage, he also says something like he is not doing typical marathoners-mileage, maybe he is doing this kind of training after some weeks of higher mileage base training with more long runs...on the other side Steve Jones and Carlos Lopes also didnt do a lot of 2h(+) runs and performed very well in the marathon.

Maybe its more about the intensity of a long-run than distance/duration)

Whats the adress for his home-page?

you have to search in the diary section

Those are not "lunges". Those are "strides" after the run. Mr. Canova already clarified this in an earlier thread. He also expounded on how Baldini is a "fast" marathoner and does not have the patience of a traditional marathoner in that he does not like the long runs, but excels in quality of pace.

You called Baldini a "fast" marathoner. I'm pretty sure you are referring to his training and not his marathon times (not that his marathon times are not fast). I have been thinking about this while evaluating my own marathon preparation. I know several runners with prs between 2:10 and 2:17 and I can classify them into two categories. There are the runners that came from a cross-country and road race background, who tend to do higher mileage (120 to 170mpw) at a slower average pace with a lot at threshold pace. Then there are the guys with a track background (1500 to 5000 runners),who run lower mileage, but at a faster average pace with a lot more track work at faster than marathon pace.

I don't have a specific question; I was just wondering if there was a previous thread that discuss these two different schools of thought.

Got me thinking wrote:

You called Baldini a "fast" marathoner. I'm pretty sure you are referring to his training and not his marathon times (not that his marathon times are not fast). I have been thinking about this while evaluating my own marathon preparation. I know several runners with prs between 2:10 and 2:17 and I can classify them into two categories. There are the runners that came from a cross-country and road race background, who tend to do higher mileage (120 to 170mpw) at a slower average pace with a lot at threshold pace. Then there are the guys with a track background (1500 to 5000 runners),who run lower mileage, but at a faster average pace with a lot more track work at faster than marathon pace.

I don't have a specific question; I was just wondering if there was a previous thread that discuss these two different schools of thought.

Oops, I caught you "thinking," I guess.

Noooo Baldini isn't fast, he's just the gold medalist.

A sub 2:06 marathon guy does not win olympic gold in my life time and I should live for another 55 years atleast. A 2:06 guy and a 2:10 guy run different races. That 2:10 guy is much better suited for a tactical race.(granted I can't proove this) Just give it a open minded thought.

Thomas

Thomas Heidbrier wrote:

A sub 2:06 marathon guy does not win olympic gold in my life time and I should live for another 55 years atleast. A 2:06 guy and a 2:10 guy run different races. That 2:10 guy is much better suited for a tactical race.(granted I can't proove this) Just give it a open minded thought.

Thomas

Ok, thought about it and its still wrong and dumb. ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL a 2'06 stands a better chance of winning any marathon than a 2'10 runner.

2'06 guys and 2'10 guys might run very similar races, indeed indentical but for the speed. You are (I guess) assuming that 2'06 and 2'10 runners are inherintly of different 'type', implying a need for different race strategies. This is wrong.

At the extreme there are 2'06 runners who suffer greatly toward the end of the race and then there are those whose greater strength allows them come-through at the. The same could be said of a 3'06 runner - many of these are very strong, 'relatively speaking' towards the end of the race.

Lone Star wrote:

Those are not "lunges". Those are "strides" after the run. Mr. Canova already clarified this in an earlier thread. He also expounded on how Baldini is a "fast" marathoner and does not have the patience of a traditional marathoner in that he does not like the long runs, but excels in quality of pace.

You are correct. the comparison he made was to Bordin who loved to get into the forest for a 3hr+ run at easy pace. Baldini, he added, hated this training and preferred shorter/faster runs of circa 2hr.

Baldini, is however, a very strong runner who doesnt run with the lead regardless of pace (as ramaala or tergat would). I've seen him 100m behind the leaders by himself in London at 6miles and come through for 2nd place. 'Type' I guess is not determined by specific training alone and is more genetic or at least determined over a very long period.

Interesting topic that has probably been discussed, but nevertheless...

Who are the fastest marathoners to perform well in Olympic and World Championships?

The men's comparison seems fairly complicated, but there is one recent woman that had done it all: Catherine (Ndereba) the Great!

stipe...agreed.

it can be argued that Catherine is the greatest female marathoner of all time.

WC gold

OLY silver

Former WR holder

Winner of many major marathons...on both flat and hilly courses

There have been others

Bikila was WR holder and Oly Champ

Lopes was a WR holder though he won the Oly ebfore he set the record.

Deek was WR holder going into Helsinki

In general though, the Oly winners have not nec been amongst the fastest in the field with Oly often resembling more of a lottery owing to adverse conditions.

Perhaps the Marathon WR is not considered as special as other WRs?

OR maybe, in general WR holders haven't done as well as one might think in the major champs. Coe never won the 800m title despite his WR standing for 21yr's. Rono or Moorcroft never challenged for a title. Clarke never struck gold despite having upteen WRs. Komen/Kipketer/Kiptanui never took gold and komen never even medalled. The list goes on.

Personally, I feel the chase for fast times has left some athletes unable to manage a true run race. Are WR holders victims of their own success?

You mentioned "Deek" in your post, the amazing Aussie Rob De Castella, any idea whatever happened to him? I was just pondering this the other day and then saw your reference to him, hence the inquiry :O)

The Olympics can be a lottery. It's once race every four years -- a lot has to go right for you to be in place, ready to take the title.

Coe never won an Olympic 800m gold because he made tactical erros in '80 and because he was racing Cruz in '84 (although Coe was able to snag the European title in '86).

Komen won world and commonwealth titles, but suffered a combination of physical burnout and lack of motivation.

Kiptanui ran superby in WC finals, but couldn't do it in Atlanta. Kipketer would have been a sure lock in Atlanta, but couldn't get a Danish passport. In 2000, it was just the nature of the 800m.

Rono got screwed from the boycott, and Moorcroft was constantly injured.

Lots of stuff can get in the way.

Coe lost the 800m in 1980 because he was burnt off the track by Ovett, no tactics would have beaten Ovett that day. Ovett did also beat Coe at 800m in the 78 European Championships in case people think that Ovett's 1980 win over Coe was lucky.

Coe then made one of the all time great turn arounds in history to win the 1500 in 1980, but it is disrespectful to Ovett to say that he won the 800m just because Coe "got his tactics wrong".

sarah wrote:

You mentioned "Deek" in your post, the amazing Aussie Rob De Castella, any idea whatever happened to him? I was just pondering this the other day and then saw your reference to him, hence the inquiry :O)

He had a great career, wrote his autobiography, retired and then his house burned down. See below. His book is called DEEK: The Making of Austrailia's World Marathon Champion

Rob de Castella by David Monti

The inaugural world marathon champion in Helsinki in 1983, Rob de Castella of Australia, lost his home and all of his possessions when a wildfire swept through his town of Chapman near Canberra last January. Since then the burly 46 year-old has set about rebuilding his life, and through the efforts of his friends throughout the athletics family, has been able to replace some of the mementos of his career. "Deke" had a sensational marathon career, which included victories at Boston in 1986 (2:07:51, his personal best), Fukuoka in 1981 (2:08:18, then the world best), Rotterdam in 1983 (2:08:37) and again in 1991 (2:09:42), and the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and 1986. In the Seoul Olympics of 1988 he finished eighth. Runner's World Daily caught up with him at the Honolulu Marathon on December 14 where he and new wife Theresa were on their honeymoon.

Runner's World Daily: When exactly was the fire?

Rob de Castella: It was the 18th of January, earlier this year. It's been hectic and tumultuous. It's been a pretty phenomenal year for us because it started off, obviously, with the fires, and then, because we lost everything, we had to start from scratch. We were away down the coast on the day the first (fire) came through. It burnt one car, and we lost two cars, motorbikes and everything else. We had a car with a couple of beach umbrellas and a couple of boogie boards, and that's about all we had with us.

RWD: Where was the home located?

RDC: In Chapman, in Canberra.

RWD: What happened next?

RDC: Well, the first thing then was to just look after the kids. It takes you back to the very basics, the essence of survival. And, when you lose all of your material belongings, it gives you an opportunity to reassess and makes you realize what's important in life. That's your health, and luckily, none of us were injured. A number of people died in the fires. A lot more people were permanently disfigured and very seriously burned. We were lucky that we didn't have to go through any of that.

RWD: These were wildfires, right?

RDC: It started with lightening strikes and turned into a raging firestorm and tornado, a fire tornado that came through and just exploded buildings, and the winds were snapping eucalyptus trees about three feet in diameter, snapping them off mid-trunk. The force of the tornado was very savage, and the destruction was huge.

RWD: When you say you lost everything, do you mean everything?

RDC: Yeah! Absolutely. We had nothing.

RWD: Friends and the public were trying to help you rebuild a library of your running memorabilia...

RDC: We had a wonderful outpouring of support from all around the world. We received clippings and photos and books from people throughout Australia and just every corner of the globe. A lot of the major events, the races that I had won, restruck medals. A number of trophies I had been awarded were re-presented to me. So, it's been really, from the lows of devastation and loss to the highs of the support and the caring and the sense of community, sense of family, that we experienced. Some of the other people in the community experienced the same sorts of things. It really galvanized the whole community of Canberra together; nothing has ever done that before.

RWD: What are you doing professionally now?

RDC: I left the Institute of Sport about seven years ago. For the last six years I've been developing and running my own business targeting children's overweight and obesity in schools. So, we do a range of statistical analysis and benchmarking and then provide programs to the schools to help them target issues, whether it's coordination, or motor skills, or cardiac fitness, or whatever it happens to be. So we work with the schools and we work with the families.

RWD: In the United States obesity amongst children has tripled since 1990. Does Australia have a similar problem?

RDC: Yeah. We're not far behind. Obesity has tripled in Australia as well in the last 20 years. It's exactly the same issues: affluent lifestyle, electronic entertainment, time-poor parents, single (parent) families, obligations, all those sorts of things are making it more and more difficult.

RWD: People said you lacked the natural body type to be a marathoner.

RDC: Absolutely!

RWD: Yet, you achieved great success. What was your secret?

RDC: I think it was as much my attitude--I had a healthy obsessive attitude towards my training--and I loved my sport. I had a wonderful coach who instilled sound values and principles. I came along at the right time. I came into the sport in the mid to late '70s and through the '80s which was almost a golden era. Maybe I've sort of lost touch a little bit, but through the '70s and the '80s with guys like Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers the running boom was taking off. There was a large Anglo-Saxon presence in the running community, and the sponsors were coming into the sport, Japan was right into it. So, I think as much as anything, I was in the right place at the right time, and I just loved it. I'm also physically very strong, so I was able to handle the training. I was always wise enough to know what I could do and what I couldn't do.

RWD: What's your personal fitness program now.

RDC: My sporting passion at the moment is karate. I've been doing karate for four years. I'm one level below black belt. So, I train specifically for karate sessions three times a week. I lift weights three times a week. I do stretching, a little bit of yoga three mornings a week, and I run about three mornings a week, and I do a bike ride for two, or two and a half hours with a group of mates on the weekend. I still keep very active.

RWD: Any ill effects from your running career?

RDC: My back was getting very bad before I started doing the karate, but the flexibility has been very good for that, all of the stretching and the strengthening. Karate focuses very much on core strength and stability, so that's been a very healthy area for me. So I've come out of it pretty well. I lost my hair [rubs his head and laughs]; that might have had something to do with all the running.