How on earth did Bannister & Chataway run the times they did on this schedule?

Peds

Don't forget that Bannister took five days completely off--no running at all--before his first sub-4:00 (and Chataway was a smoker)! Basically:

*They did a mix of running through the year--the emphases shifted, but there was never an all-slow or all-quality period.

*They did a goodly amount of racing and time-trialing, again throughout the year.

*They went to public (i.e. prep) schools, an environment in which almost any boys with running ability would be discovered.

*They chose their grandparents very carefully.

Extremely talented and undertrained

You could make the argument, however, that this schedule optimizes recovery which is where the real secret lies anyway.

Talent and a modest amount of training to develop that talent to a level that was "good enough" for the times.

People rarely think that they can train at a level that is so beyond the norm in the belief that they will make a quantum leap past what is considered practically unattainable.

Bannister was running a few seconds outside four minutes on less training so he's not going to suddenly start training like El G and aiming for 3:45.

Sub four was apparently supposed to explode his heart.

How does the training optimize recovery? Suppose they were on running 25 miles a week.

"How on earth did Bannister & Chataway run the times they did on this schedule?"

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask "What am I doing wrong in my training?"

From all accounts, Bannister and Chataway used stimulants and herbs. I.E. they cheated as was the rule during those times.

In pre-4:00 times, wasn't walking part of some runners' regimen as well?

I find that very interesting. A sort of quasi-double for the same benefit of loosening up your legs from a morning workout

One workout that's not on here is one that they did. The workout is 3 x 1.5 miles in 7 minutes. Not sure how much rest they took, how often they did it, etc.

Interesting that they backed off on the 10 x 440 times from 60 to 65 and 62 seconds during racing seasons.

Day 5 - Indoor calisthenics= Kettle Bells & Box Jumps 'til You Puke Baby!

But seriously, looking at the range of numbers from 800m through 5000m, on CINDER, in a 2 year period to short for event-specific prep, on THAT schedule, either:

A.) That's a "Coe Log" where recovery running is not highlighted

B.) Chataway was a genetic freak who had a strong training group and positive supporting environment and could have succeeded on any schedule

Their times do not sound that fast anymore, but were WRs at the time (1mile WR and 4x1mile for Bannister, and the 5000, 3 mile and 4x1mile for Chataway). Such light training was not unusual for the time for the British and many other runners, and what is also just as extraordinary is that for runners of the era they tended to have fulltime jobs (or for Bannister he was in med school) and generally had no professional coaches. The gentleman Brit runners from that era of amateurism were eventually displaced by runners from the Eastern Bloc countries (Zatopek and the Soviets), who tended to be “in the military,” which meant they were fulltime professional runners paid by the state, and who trained much more intensely, and later by the Australians and New Zealanders, who followed much better and/or more intense training under coaches Lydiard and Cerutty.

jono wrote:

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask "What am I doing wrong in my training?"

No. 3:59 mile means jack sh*t nowadays. That will barely qualify you for NCAA indoor meet, big whoop.

However people who medal at the most recent Olympics frequently sh#t the bed and run outside that time.

They were training on a wartime diet. They were running on cinder tracks that made their spikes heavy. Chris Chataway smoked!

"What didn’t help was the fact I smoked. During the season, when I was competing, I cut down to seven cigarettes a day — but I spent a large part of the day thinking about nicotine and how long it was until the next one. Harold Abrahams, “Mr Athletics”, wrote me a letter saying: “Once you have given up [running] you have the rest of your life in which you can smoke.” -Chris Chataway

'Episode 108 - Sir Chris Chataway (Part One)'

http://marathontalk.com/podcast/episode_108_sir_chris_chataway_part_one.php

'Episode 109 - Sir Chris Chataway (Part Two)'

http://marathontalk.com/podcast/episode_109_sir_chris_chataway_part_two.php

Yeah Chataway was practically an addict. He was so ridiculously talented, that he could run that fast while smoking that frequently.

They believed in their training. That accounts for a lot more than most people these days think.

did you try do the same training with the same interval pace ?

SlowFatMaster wrote:

One workout that's not on here is one that they did. The workout is 3 x 1.5 miles in 7 minutes. Not sure how much rest they took, how often they did it, etc.

Interesting that they backed off on the 10 x 440 times from 60 to 65 and 62 seconds during racing seasons.

Bannister has said that he didn't put the 3 X 1.5 mile in his book because he thought it would be too hard for people reading the book to attempt.

One thing that is in the book is that he got to 10X400 in 57 seconds with 2 min before the sub 4 attempt, not what is listed above, and then they backed off the 400 times for comp.

Compare some of the training (and idiotic comments) to what Dr. Li said Lagat ran in 2009 (his second consecutive double medal performance remember) in the winter:

Mon AM 25 min jog

.......PM 8 miles @ 5:50

Tue 7 miles, last 4 in 20:11

Wed 30 min easy

Thu Hills 5X800, 2:40/2 min rec

.......3 mi wu & cd

Fri 30 min easy

Sat 12 mi in 70 min

I'm sure the posters above have run a lot faster than 3:26.34 due to their much higher mileage.

The Red Fox did The Great North Run in 1:38 at age 75. Enjoyed a fine cigar afterwards I do believe.