The "just run, baby" plan

Good plan. I've been using it for years. My motto is "don't force the pace, let the pace come to you and it will"

That way, you train your potential and your true talent, not your abilitiy to burn out and injure yourself, get ill, stressed and depressed etc.

Jon Orange wrote:

Good plan. I've been using it for years. My motto is "don't force the pace, let the pace come to you and it will"

That way, you train your potential and your true talent, not your abilitiy to burn out and injure yourself, get ill, stressed and depressed etc.

I like the mantra.

Just run baby.

I've been posting that for YEARS!!!!

Depends on what events you want to run, but if you are a 5k and up runner, then you no longer need to do planned workouts. Go a little harder when your legs feel good, and slower when they don't.

Whitlock is the role model wrote:

Jon Orange wrote:

Good plan. I've been using it for years. My motto is "don't force the pace, let the pace come to you and it will"

That way, you train your potential and your true talent, not your abilitiy to burn out and injure yourself, get ill, stressed and depressed etc.

I like the mantra.

Thanks. It's the mantra of efficient and healthy running.

Just run baby. wrote:

Just run baby.

I've been posting that for YEARS!!!!

I acknowledge that.

It will be interesting to see how much unplanned time is spent each week at different heart rate zones.

This is basically what I do now that I'm older and no longer setting PRs. I don't really have a training plan...I just run. Faster when I feel good, slower when I don't.

Adapting the training of Ed Whitlock..........

Polarized training

The evidence regarding the relative merits of high volume training compared with high intensity training (reviewed in my post of 31st March) indicates that high volume and high intensity training are each effective in increasing aerobic capacity. However, accumulating evidence indicates that polarised training, consisting of a large volume of easy running and a small amount of high intensity running, produces the greatest increases in aerobic capacity in athletes who have already achieved a plateau of fitness, and offers the best prospect of long term improvement, year upon year.

Ed is the role model?

Ed was running 3 hours a day at 70 in singles at 8 to 8:30 pace. There aren't any other 70 year olds that can do that.

So how can Ed be the role model? Are you going to be running 145 miles a week?

I'm only 31 and this is already what I do. Lots of miles with progression runs and fartleks on days I'm feeling good and a few fast strides at the end a few days a week. Race times just as fast as when I was 20 and doing 2-3 structured workouts a week. Look at Bill Rodgers' logs, this is basically what he and a lot of other road warriors were doing back in the 70s. Granted this probably only works well for road racing longer distances. If you're racing faster stuff on the track you need that specificity.

fred wrote:

Ed is the role model?

Ed was running 3 hours a day at 70 in singles at 8 to 8:30 pace. There aren't any other 70 year olds that can do that.

So how can Ed be the role model? Are you going to be running 145 miles a week?

The name was not connected to the title of the thread. It is simply a statement of a wish to continue running as much as I can for as long as I can.

Ed is a role model for that aspiration.

Dingler wrote:

I'm only 31 and this is already what I do. Lots of miles with progression runs and fartleks on days I'm feeling good and a few fast strides at the end a few days a week. Race times just as fast as when I was 20 and doing 2-3 structured workouts a week. Look at Bill Rodgers' logs, this is basically what he and a lot of other road warriors were doing back in the 70s. Granted this probably only works well for road racing longer distances. If you're racing faster stuff on the track you need that specificity.

It's all half and full marathons. The speed work for the shorter stuff is much riskier for me than the longer, medium effort stuff.

Charlie wrote:

https://canute1.wordpress.com/category/training/page/2/

Adapting the training of Ed Whitlock..........

Polarized training

The evidence regarding the relative merits of high volume training compared with high intensity training (reviewed in my post of 31st March) indicates that high volume and high intensity training are each effective in increasing aerobic capacity. However, accumulating evidence indicates that polarised training, consisting of a large volume of easy running and a small amount of high intensity running, produces the greatest increases in aerobic capacity in athletes who have already achieved a plateau of fitness, and offers the best prospect of long term improvement, year upon year.

Thanks for the link - very interesting reading that poses some interesting questions:

1. For those of us who do not have Ed's gifted physique(5'7" and about 120), at what frequency do medium length, daily runs greater than runs become too stressful?

2. The feedback from my HR monitor, which I began using about 9 months ago, was one of the main reasons I considered throwing out the scheduled harder workouts. Most weeks, I am running about 25-30 % of my "easy" runs at 80% or more of HRmax.

3. I live in a very hilly region where it is not difficult to find hills lasting up to 10 minutes; will the increased spontaneous workload on hills as measured by the HR monitor suffice for the limited harder running in a polarised strategy?

Should have written, medium runs as usually defined as greater than 10 miles or so.

"1. For those of us who do not have Ed's gifted physique(5'7" and about 120), at what frequency do medium length, daily runs greater than runs become too stressful?"

You answered your own question with the word gifted.

Being able to run 140 mile weeks is a type of talent.

How well does it work?

Whitlock is the role model wrote:

Charlie wrote:https://canute1.wordpress.com/category/training/page/2/

Thanks for the link - very interesting reading that poses some interesting questions:

1. For those of us who do not have Ed's gifted physique(5'7" and about 120), at what frequency do medium length, daily runs greater than runs become too stressful?

2. The feedback from my HR monitor, which I began using about 9 months ago, was one of the main reasons I considered throwing out the scheduled harder workouts. Most weeks, I am running about 25-30 % of my "easy" runs at 80% or more of HRmax.

3. I live in a very hilly region where it is not difficult to find hills lasting up to 10 minutes; will the increased spontaneous workload on hills as measured by the HR monitor suffice for the limited harder running in a polarised strategy?

You are welcome.

Can't really answer your questions as I am not the author just a interested reader.

My plan is to really polarize as in doing the LSD walking not running.So far I have built up to 2 long walks/hikes a week of 12 miles. Plan to build up to 4 long hikes a week of 15 miles. The hard stuff will depend on how I feel and what works.

Whitlock is the role model wrote:

Charlie wrote:https://canute1.wordpress.com/category/training/page/2/

Thanks for the link - very interesting reading that poses some interesting questions:

1. For those of us who do not have Ed's gifted physique(5'7" and about 120), at what frequency do medium length, daily runs greater than runs become too stressful?

2. The feedback from my HR monitor, which I began using about 9 months ago, was one of the main reasons I considered throwing out the scheduled harder workouts. Most weeks, I am running about 25-30 % of my "easy" runs at 80% or more of HRmax.

3. I live in a very hilly region where it is not difficult to find hills lasting up to 10 minutes; will the increased spontaneous workload on hills as measured by the HR monitor suffice for the limited harder running in a polarised strategy?

Way to completely over analyze everything in a thread that's supposed to be about training simply. Just run, baby.

You sound like my dad.

Same idea these days just runs though 5-8mi regularly and on weekends can still churn out 13-16 milers no problem.

That doesn't suggest he doesn't get injured. And his pace has certainly fallen off, but I don't think he cares that much, just having fun.