"They have a couple weeks with no running whatsoever. Then Galen and Mo will start building up for outdoors."
Zero zilch nada?
I dont buy it. Why would you work your fitness up til the end of February and then take two weeks off and have to start up again in mid April?
They must have 428 gizmo's to play with to stay fit in the state of the art lab .
Sure I believe they could take a break from running and not hurt their ability to get back on the track as strong as they left it.
You must remenber that their thyroid problems are under control now.
2 weeks really isn't that much.
Trollist wrote:
2 weeks really isn't that much.
Really? Have you ever trained or coached at the professional level? Two weeks is a serious chunk of time to completely unplug.
not so sure wrote:
http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2013/02/track_field_notebook_mo_farah.html#incart_river"They have a couple weeks with no running whatsoever. Then Galen and Mo will start building up for outdoors."
Zero zilch nada?
I dont buy it. Why would you work your fitness up til the end of February and then take two weeks off and have to start up again in mid April?
1. Alberto totally ruined his health and his running health by over training.
2. He learned the lesson.
3. He's copying other coaches/advice, and it is working.
He says no running, not no exercise. If they do some basic cross-training then they won't lose any real fitness in two weeks. Short breaks in between seasons are very good things. Most runners are just way too Type A to take them without a good coach to tell them to back the hell off. Alberto Salazar is being a good coach. Big surprise. It's almost like he coaches some of the world's fastest distance runners.
Two weeks off is not an excessive amount of time, especially if their next oeak has to be well into August.
Two weeks off will do nothing to interrupt fitness, but continuing to stress could do much more harm than good. Time off is important and misunderstood.
Salazar said Rupp hasn't missed more than 5 days of training (on hydroworx or alterg) in years.
So I take that two weeks to mean running outside and they'll only take a few days of no training at all.
h2o2 wrote:
Salazar said Rupp hasn't missed more than 5 days of training (on hydroworx or alterg) in years.
So I take that two weeks to mean running outside and they'll only take a few days of no training at all.
"Hasn't missed more than five days of training" could just mean that he hasn't had to miss out on five days where training was scheduled. So if they had scheduled a recovery period lasting 10 days and he took all those days off, he didn't miss any days of training, because none was planned for those days.
And really, is this that surprising? It seems like plenty of the top runners take lengthier breaks than most of us non-elites on here (myself included). Just look at Lagat taking a month off every year, and some of the East Africans who take rather lengthy breaks after their seasons. Rupp has obviously been working hard this winter, no one runs 3:50/7:30 taking it easy everyday. But his next big goal is Moscow, so it makes sense to take some time, recharge, then come back and hit it hard to get ready after his break.
Salazar has said they do two 20 week cycles of training followed by two weeks rest, and two weeks of no workouts. Yes, that adds up to only 48 weeks, but the 20 weeks is geared towards peaking at the global finals and is extended sometimes for late season races. And with Moscow approximately 5.5 months away, this sets up perfectly for a 20 week build up.
Not long ago it was announced that both of them were running the NYC half, which is March 17th. Unless they have both withdrawn I do not see that happening until after that race. For Mo, I am wondering about his decision to run half of London this year after having a few weeks off. Clearly he will have lost condition and the stress of going out with the leaders in London can result in an injury. Unless the plan is for him just to do a glorified tempo run @ 5 minute pace then I can believe it.
Alberto Salazar talks about his philosophy on periodization and when he does workouts and when he takes time off. He talks about taking 2 weeks of no running at 3:48
http://nxn.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13&do=videos&video_id=77597
I don't know why it's so ridiculous.
Here's an article where Bernard Lagat talks about his training and rest:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444032404578006274010745406.html
He takes 5 weeks off (absolutely nothing) at the end of his 11 month cycle, doesn't run on Sundays, and takes another week or two off after indoor. He's been doing it since 1999 and it seems to be working pretty well for him.
He also talks about American runners' obsession with not taking rest. The article quotes Centro as wanting to negotiate with Salazar to not take two weeks off like Salazar tells him to do
Obsess much?
Elites take time off, they have down weeks.. it's the ultratrail runner guy that runs a bazillion miles with no down time and just counts miles in his log but never runs fast. he just works out so he can work out some more. elites are concerned with racing.
I don't believe they will be doing nothing. I think he means no coached structured workouts and maybe no communication between athlete and coach to give them a break. They could maintain fitness during the two weeks but just jogging 30 minutes a day and doing some light weights and drills. I don't think they will be on the couch for 2 weeks.
Worlds is over 5 months away. Now seems like a perfect time to take two weeks off, recharge the batteries, then start training again. Not sure why the idea is so shocking.
And when Alberto says no running, I would bet that Galen is really doing no running (that includes underwater and low gravity treadmills). I doubt that he even cross trains. The point is to rest.
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mellorunner wrote:
h2o2 wrote:Salazar said Rupp hasn't missed more than 5 days of training (on hydroworx or alterg) in years.
So I take that two weeks to mean running outside and dhey'll only take a few days of no training at all.
"Hasn't missed more than five days of training" could just mean that he hasn't had to miss out on five days where training was scheduled. So if they had scheduled a recovery period lasting 10 days and he took all those days off, he didn't miss any days of training, because none was planned for those days.
Could be. But in the context of what he was saying (consistency), I don't think so. He made it sound like he's never missed more than 5 days of training in the last few years.
I don't care who you are or what you say, 2 weeks of NOTHING is a TON. And doing it twice in a year? No way. You'd spend 6-8 weeks just regaining what you lost in that two weeks. That was a huge change from the "norm" that Lance Armstrong made, saying it was pointless to take so much time off and then waste time rebuilding to that point.
not so sure wrote:
I dont buy it.
What reason does he have to lie? I'd sooner think you're lying by posting this than he is for doing it.
From my experience, it seems that after a solid training block of 5 months, I take two weeks off, then start running again. By the 6th week back running I find I am just about as good as I was at the end of the last block, just off base pace running. Then over the next few months my fitness improves past where I was at the end of the last block.
I believe the lifetime miles allow you to easily reach your last fitness. The two weeks off is a recharge that allows you to train that next cycle without frying yourself.
I'm not even injury prone, it's really a matter of getting fried, if you know what I mean. Not mentally, the legs and energy systems simply get fried if you don't allow for some down time. And each time you're ready for a breakthrough shortly after the 2 weeks off.
I mean hell, these guys are running what, 120 miles a week? That fitness dies hard, and that stress needs a break.