What is the most overrated part of training? What is most overlooked that shouldn't be?

Dial it up wrote:

sleep is good wrote:

The long run is the most overrated. If you're doing decent mileage, you're getting sufficient aerobic work that one single run of extra-long mileage really isn't going to make any difference compared with covering the same weekly mileage without a long run.

Sleep might be the most underrated. I couldn't believe how much faster I recovered and how much better untrained once I started really being disciplined about getting enough sleep.

While I agree the long run is somewhat overrated, the purpose of the long run isn't just to add more total miles to your week.

This couldn't come at a better time I was just second guessing myself about only getting in two 22 mile long runs for Boston. I have 7- good 16 mile runs in and normally run 8 miles a day for the last 14 weeks. Also raced two halfs in the last 30 days.

Just talking to myself out loud.

Underrated:

- Easy days easy

- hills

- fast finish long runs

- core & hip strengthening

Overrated:

- worrying too much about pace/splits on every workout (often better to rely on effort)

- cross training

- finisher medals and t-shirts

- excessive mileage for recreational runners

On this last point, I get the general concept that more mileage = better runners. But I see too many recreational runners trying to leg out 100 mile weeks to BQ or go sub-3 only to blow up at the end of the cycle and need several weeks/months off because of injury. Sorry but if you need 100 mile weeks to BQ or sub-3 you need to find another hobby. There are more efficient ways to train with less mileage and more strategic intensity to get fitter and faster.

Canova specifies- you are what you train to be.

Western runners who are not "aided" run themselves into the ground trying to train the Canova way.

underrated- easy/recovery days. Most people I know don't take them easy, then never see any gain in fitness. They go out and run 6:00-6:30 miles when in reality they should go 730-830- to even no watch jogging

The difference between my workout pace to recovery pace is often 4 minutes

5:25pace marathon - 9:30pace recovery runs. If you don't recovery you don't get better[/quote]

Overrated - speed work at VO2 max

Underrated - "active" recovery. In other words, not just sitting around to "recover", but eating carbs/protein within 60 minutes of your run, stretching, sleeping well, ice/hot when applicable, strength/flexibility, etc.

As I get older, there is much value in being active in recovery, because it lets me reap benefits from the run I just did, and also puts me in a good position to have a great next run.

Of course, it's not always possible when working 60 hours per week, and your wife is asking you if you could please not use The Stick at the dinner table!

Overrated: Weekly club speed workouts where you run 3*1 mile at faster than your 5k pace.

Underrated: Specificity in your training/workout paces. To my first point, too many people do what I see as random "speed" workouts. I also agree with the others on recovery days. That's the day to go for a jog, not your long run day.

On long runs, I think there are advantages to them if run at easy pace and aren't long slow slogs in the woods. I've had fitness gains on them and found an ability to recover before my Tuesday workout even after fast finish marathon training long runs.

Some people should do more quality mileage, some slower...some high mileage, some low mileage...

It depends on what you're training for, if you're fast twitch or slow twitch, etc.

For me, I can handle one hard workout and one medium workout a week. One long run and the other 4 days consist of two runs at a medium, 6:00ish pace, and recovery days at 6:30-6:45 pace. Total of ~75-80 mpw. I'm a sub 14:30 runner in 5k for perspective.

Some people can handle hammering 3 workouts a week with a long run. I personally can't. Some respond to faster easy days, some respond to slower easy days.

IT ALL JUST DEPENDS.

Underrated:

- Core/hip strengthening exercises

- Progression runs

- Recovery doubles

- Strides

- Sleep

Overrated:

- Nutrition

- VO2 max work

- Hitting specific splits

Core/hip strengthening exercises are incredibly underrated. Stanford University did a study a few years back that demonstrated the injury rates between runners who did hip abductor exercises and those who didn't. Progression runs need to be done more often. Maybe not always at a tempo pace, but finishing runs faster is essential for muscle memory in finishing hard. Same with strides. Recovery doubles are important to clear lactic acid out of the muscles in order to hit the next big workout in training. Sleep is incredibly important.

Nutrition isn't too important. There are so many theories about caffeine, fat/carb diets, supplements, that nobody really knows what works. I do know that the body burns more fat during easy work and carbs during vigorous exercise. With that being said, I know a lot of runners who excel at the sport and eat candy all the time. Candy = sugar = carbs. VO2 max can increase but not as easily as many anticipate. This correlates with hitting specific splits. If you're having an off day, don't sweat the small stuff. Go back to the drawing board.

What is muscle memory? Muscles do not have cognitive abilities.

Recovery doubles do not clear lactic acid to hit the next big workout, your heart continues to pump blood at rest thus clearing lactate.

Thus far in this thread all types of training techniques seem to appear nearly equally in the "underrated" and "overrated" lists I think I can distill the thread down to be slightly more concise:

Most underrated:

The thing you just started doing, or don't do yet.

Most overrated:

The thing you had been doing forever.

If you might as well play basketball for two hours as jog around easily for that time why not also just play basketball for an hour or so on your easy days rather than jog around slowly for that time? And if 5:25 marathon pace equals 9:30 recovery pace how do you account for the fact that it's almost impossible to find anyone who runs marathons under 2:30 who run that slowly?

Precious Roy wrote:

Nailing splits on every workout is the most overrated. In the US, we are so OCD about workouts and statistics that we end up wrecking our athletes just to follow a somewhat arbitrary training plan. The E. Africans understand that you sometimes have bad days and sometimes are not in good enough shape to follow the schedule. They will bail from a workout and do it again later in the training cycle instead of forcing themselves through it or getting all psyched out by not hitting splits.

Most underrated is hill training. People never do it with enough consistency to fully realize the benefits. Too many runners just do it during a "strength" phase and then lose the benefits by neglecting it during a "specific" phase.

This ^ was the first thing that I noticed when I did workouts in the USA. Honestly guys running 5:10 p/mile on a tempo instead of 5:00 p/mile or whatever split your coach gives you isn't the end of the world, there are too many variables to have a perfect workout everyday.

Many if these have been mentioned but in my opinion:

Overrated

Weight Training (IMO, until you cant get any benefit from running more this just tires you out. Do core and some basic stuff (push ups/sit ups) instead.

Cross Training (Unless you're injury prone or running more than 100miles p/week and want to get extra aerobic work in, just run more and skip the bullshit)

Carbo Loading (unless you're doing ultra, otherwise you're just getting fat)

VO2 Max (I have the same VO2 as Frank Shorter but I'm not running 2:10 marathons any day soon)

Underrated

Long run (From reading some of the other posters. I wouldn't do a 20miler in the middle of track season but during specific blocks of training these are crucial IMO).

Slow/Easy/Recovery runs (If you race fast and do hard workouts running 8-9 min p/mile twice or so a week won't make you slow)

Soft Surfaces (Do as much as possible on grass even if it means running over people's lawns)

The most overrated part of training is taking advice from runners, coaches, or authors who do not speak from their own experience, but merely regurgitate stuff they have read about or been told.

Overrated:

The things you do well and have been working on consistently for the last several months.

Underrated:

The things you've been ignoring thinking they don't matter.

come on, be serious... wrote:

What is muscle memory? Muscles do not have cognitive abilities.

.

Muscle memory and intramuscular facilitation are the same thing. It is the foundation of all athletic activity.

The reason a lot of people don't like the long run is that it is hard, if done right. You don't do this every week, but every other week you should run a good number of hard miles at the back end of your long run and you'll see major benefits. You get that experience of grinding out the miles that is irreplaceable for marathon and toughens you up for every other run, but there is also that series of physiological benefits that have been cited many times for runs of 90 minutes or longer, namely, marked increases in capillary and mitochondrial development.

Race pace work is probably not valued enough, the specific training that Canova talks about.

Tempos are often not done or not done hard enough to really toughen you up and get you used to a faster pace. When done right they really help you bridge the fast sub-race distance trackwork and the races. 2M repeats also do this really well for 5k-10k.

short answer wrote:

Overrated:

The things you do well and have been working on consistently for the last several months.

Underrated:

The things you've been ignoring thinking they don't matter.

This reminds me of what bad poker players do -- they play their strong hands weak and their weak hands strong. Exactly opposite of what they should be doing. This is a formula for failure.

As far as training for athletics (or life in general): you should emphasize your strengths, mitigate your weaknesses.

Got to give a bump to the underrated aspect of regular racing. I've had numerous talks with tons of coaches about why so many really solid high school kids struggle to race well in years one and two of college. Very difficult to really learn how to race 8K or 10K XC when they do one or two races in Aug/Sept and then hit the major meets in Oct. and get their clocks cleaned. Same goes for the girls but their basic race distance hasn't changed a lot so at least they don't have that to adjust to. Add to that the over-emphasis on tempo runs and kids get really good at running 10 to 15sec per mile slower than their race pace. Lace em up and put everyone on the line and knock out 6 or 8 or 10 x 1000m at race pace or faster with a couple min rest. Kids learn the mental part of hanging on and fighting through discomfort along with the really solid aerobic strength development.

Overrated:

As far as training I'll agree with the long run and add to that total miles.

Clearly the most overrated trait in racing is "the will to win". Everybody seems to buy into that nonsense. I've had races where I had negative splits or edged out opponents at the end of races and I would have sworn it was due to my stronger "will to win". I deluded myself. As I have gotten older, my will was just as strong, but my finishes were not. Racing comes mostly down to physical ability particularly at the end of races.

Underrated:

Its not just sleep but life stress management. If you have excessive employment, relationship, school or financial stress it will negatively affect performance.

For older runners, I would also include running variety. Many older guys seem to train at the same pace. Controlled intervals and running specific weight training are important.

I strongly disagree with part 1. Cross training while injured does a ton to help with the return to training.