Louis Zamperini of Unbroken - 880/mile Training in the 1930's

It would be interesting to see someone of decent ability copy those methods of years ago. No jogging. Either walking or race pace fast.

He did do a 3mi in 15:00...look a tempo run in the 1930s!

Alab

interesting how good 421 and 408 were back then. Nowadays kids wouldn't make it to state with a 421 in most states and 408 might not score at conference even in d3

A 4:21 would make state in virtually every state and a 4:08 mile would certainly score in any D3 conference, as well as qualify you for nationals and likely the final.

...without getting into the discussion of imperial/metric and how crap the track was.

HardLoper what happened to jamin? It's been a week =(

runningart2004 wrote:

It would be interesting to see someone of decent ability copy those methods of years ago. No jogging. Either walking or race pace fast.

He did do a 3mi in 15:00...look a tempo run in the 1930s!

Alab

Decent ability??

He held the NCAA record for the mile for FIFTEEN YEARS. He is STILL the youngest person (19) in America to qualify for the Olympics in the 5000....and he tied the American Record holder (Don Lash) in the OT to get there.

As noted above, if you separate out the 15 minute 5000y and the 6X440, sprinters today would refer to much of the rest as intensive tempo (80-90% speed with relatively short rest). This is not all that unlike what Bolt does in general prep (repeats of 350-450 @ 80-90%) minus the power development (sleds and hills).

Part of this is why Dean Cromwell is one of the all time greats (coaches).

But we have known since the days of Dudley and Holoszy that distance runners also need training in the 70% VO2max to MLSS level to provide optimal stimulus to slow twitch fibers.

You need both for optimal results. But I think too many distance runners emphasize way too much of the misfit side, and more speed balance likely produces better results.

And for the record, I believe the qualifying standard for the state meet in California is still 4:16--and not on a dirt track.

So, pretty much zero aerobic development.....amazing he ran the times he did, considering heavier shoes and cinder tracks.

If this type of training represents what the majority of T&F distance types were doing back then (I have a few other training samples from other runners of the day and they are similarly low volume, high intensity), then it is easy to see why Iglois guys tore stuff up when they came on the scene in the 50s and were subsequently supplanted by higher volume, more aerobically oriented Lydiard guys in the 60s-70s. There is no doubt that aerobic endurance and aerobic power are the keys to success in distance running and that training has evolved more and more toward the aerobic end of the spectrum over the years.

The question is, "How much anaerobic tolerance work does an athlete need to add on top of the aerobic base in order to reach peak performance?" This is a question that cannot be answered, because each athlete is slightly different and constant re-evaluation of the athletes training plan is needed in order to help him get to his highest level.

BTW, I believe it took 4:11 to advance to the CIF SS masters meet last year. CA has an "at large" standard (which I believe is around 4:13-4:14 now. This year's is not posted yet), but it has to be achieved at the state qualifying meet. So the kids who ran 4:12 at the SS divisional meets are SOL when it comes to qualifying for state. True that 4:16 will often make it out of some of the other CIF sections, but it is by no means a guarantee of qualification. 4:21 usually won't sniff a state meet qualification anymore unless you are from one of the smaller, weaker sections (SF, Oakland, LA City, or Northern...)

Excellent post re: training!

To add onto your CA State meet, 4:21 won't even get you close to the finals.

Excellent post re: training!

To add onto your CA State meet, 4:21 won't even get you close to the finals.

Tsup Brah wrote:

To add onto your CA State meet, 4:21 won't even get you close to the finals.

Duh. I said a 4:20 would qualify you in "virtually every state." California isn't "virtually every state." It's probably the only state where you wouldn't.