Prefontaine training, can someone explain this?

Sorry, here's better link to the article, go to page 3 for the training block:

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/beginning?page=1

bump.

This must have been early on in his HS career. I know he was doing 100+mpw his senior year in HS.

"Date pace" and "goal pace" were a big part of Bowerman's training. I assume it filtered off to other places in Oregon as well.

At the start of the school year he had his athletes run a time trial at their race distances as a measure of their fitness. Whatever pace they ran became their "date pace," i.e, the pace they were capable of running at the current date. It should get faster as time goes along and the athlete got fitter. Then he and the athlete would set a time goal to reach by the end of the year. That became the "goal pace."

If a miler ran 4:20 in the initial trial, his "date pace" would be 65 for the 440, 2:10 for the half mile, etc. If his goal for the year was 4:00, his "goal pace" would be 60 for the quarter, etc.

Bowerman mixed both sorts of reps into most workouts, usually starting with short reps at goal pace and lengthening the distance at goal pace as the year went on, so that miler might do 1320s at 3:15 initially and 110s or 220s at 15 and 30. Later on the 1320s might drop to 3:10. 3:05, etc. and the 110s and 220s at 4:00 pace might become 220s and 440s.

Really? It has been published many times in the last 40 years that his mileage progression was: 50-60/wk hs senior, 60-70/wk college frosh, 70-80 soph, 80-90 jr. and 90-100 as a senior.

Really? It has been published many times in the last 40 years that his mileage progression was: 50-60/wk hs senior, 60-70/wk college frosh, 70-80 soph, 80-90 jr. and 90-100 as a senior.

Thanks HRE. So one of these days is a typical Bowerman mix of date and goal pace interval bouts? That's a lot of work for a high schooler.