THE ACTUAL BASE OF PORTUGUESE METHODOLOGY
The Portuguese runner generally does a pattern of two specific track sessions a week and at least one intensive continuous run session a week outside of track. The most important point of reference is the predictable pace race. The levels of training, are conditioned and derminated by pace race. All other came in function of the pace race. Even if sometimes we try to develop or to focus on a particular type of physical demand, velocity, VO2, resistence, AT, or so, it´s the pace race that pays a major role.
- THE TYPICAL WEEK (the short ones and the long ones repetitions)
This is done exclusively on track. Why? A question of precision. When you do a workout on track, you have exact distances, precise results, and the same circumstances (flat round run over a track) except the weather conditions. The result never lies, you need to be specific and compare and analyse the progress you did, by the crono results. You don´t need sophisticated apparatus to see your shape. If you progressed the times and averages of the specific workouts, this is a indication that you may hope to progress in a race. Basic and simple.
The two track sessons are considered as elitists pieces of train.
1. THE SHORTER REPETITIONS (faster than pace race ? type interval training)
Once a week a track session with short/fast repetitions (200m or 300m or 400m). 800-1500 pace for 800/1500 runners and 1500-5000pace for 5000/10000/road/cross runners and 5000-10000 pace for long/marathon runners. This is pretending to give in a row speed over rythm (more fast pace than competition pace), resistance (VO2 effort) (by the acumulation of effort each time you do the distance again in a incomplete recuperation by the reduced time of active pause.) It´s a kind of intervall training.
An example: After 30 minutes of warm-up light endurance, the session begins with 5 strides on track. Then, 10-15X400 with 1m recuperation jogging for 100 meters.
This is typical done at the middle of the week, Thuesday or Wednesday. They do that even in the week of a major competition. The middle distance runners (1500-3000) eventually do even shorter distances (100 to 150 m). They do that all year round, mostly all the same sets with the same number of repetitions, and with the same intervall time pause. And they don´t vary the distance in the same day session. They begin with 300m, as an example and they finish with the same 300 meters. But they do that with a little more intensity (faster pace) as the shape of the moment. They take the times at the end of each run, and made the average time at the end of the workout. They try to progress the average result next week if possible, as a factor of good condition and progress. This is done with effort, but don´t go out of limits. Don´t transform that on a race day of repetitions. Do it with natural capacity.
Pay attention ! Even if we try to progress in the workout, you cannot be slave of the times, and do records on train.. It´s consistence that makes the difference ! A true story, A Wednesday a group that included the great Carlos Lopes, goes to do a workout of 15X400m with 1 min recovery. All the group was selected to World Cross Country that came the follwing weekend. Lopes had done 64s average. The others 57-59s average. Lopes became last in each repetition. Result: Sunday, Lopes is World Cross Winner (1st place) defeating Kenyans, Ethiopians, and others and the others guys came in 35th, 37th, 47th and so on. In Portugal we had a sentence that illustrate ?-The train need to enter inside of you?. That means, - don?t go out of the limits.
Talking of Carlos Lopes to ilustrate this point. He was a special case. He never did a repetition of 200m faster than 28, or a 400m faster than 61 seconds. In his entire live he never did, a repetition with lesser pause than 1 minute ! Lack of velocity. Comparing to others, he did poor faster repetitions. We think he is not able to do better. This didn`t stopped to win so many races to great runners. With a tremendous resistance and perseverance he made a very fast sustained pace to run away from the leaders before last miles of the runs. But with that apparent limited potential he was gold (marathon) and silver (10K) at the Olympics, he won 4 word cross titles with more two second places, was European record holder (10K) and Word record holder (marathon). At that time, he won important cross, road and track races all over the world. And, he never did a single day of altitude training.
The case of Fernando Mamede, of the same generation, was the opposite. He did 10X200 at 28-29 sec. just for warming-up, and later he open his really workout with 20X200 for 26-27 average with 30sec. intervall. He is able to to 10X400 for 56-57 seconds with only 40 seconds intervall. But he never won a Great Championship.
2. THE LONGER REPETITIONS (pace race ? type tempo run)
The second important specific type workout of the week is done on the track also and once a week. Long/tempo run repetitions. They do that every week, but only if on weekend there´s no competition, because race and competition substitute in the schedule the effort of this specific workout. The more common is Saturday morning, if the next day you don´t run a race. The session begins with 30m of endurance. Outside of the track. And then on track some strides and ? 2X3000m or 3X2000m or 4X1500 or 4-6X1000m. Classic distances. with 2 to 4 minutes recovery ? here the rest is not so important than in short repetitions. If possible, this is done in group (that had the same level of performance) to help each other. The middle distance runners (type 800/1500) do that in the shorter distances 500 to 1000m (what are longer ones for her competitive distance) and with a larger time of recuperation. The tempo, is similar to tempo pace race. Again, you do the average. The time recuperation is less important, than on shorter repetitions. It´s supposed you had complete recover.
Another true story to illustrate this point. Once, a week before European Cross Championship, Paulo Guerra did 3X2000m with a group of guys. Again the other guys, were like him, selected for that race. Paulo did that at 5:45 average, and the others 5:25 aprox. On the last repetition Paulo Guerra always lost lap track (400m). The next week Paulo Guerra won the European Champ. And the others lost more than a minute to Paulo. Talking about Guerra, like Lopes on the past, he is not able to do the training performances that a lot of Portuguese elite runners can do. But when a muddy cross apears in competitive schedule, he is the best of all Portuguese runners these days.
In the case of short as well in the case of longer repetitions they had a preferences in training stuff, and each one tres to do the same stuff, despite the nest distance competition, and all year round. Lopes learned do do 4X1200m faster (pace race for 5K) to get in shape, for 5K as well as the marathon. Maybe this has no great scientific evidence or validity, but it came from empirism and experience, and specificity train is more a question of giving a ?body charge impact? to a certain level and repeat and repeat again to give body acceptance and less resistence, than to work at classified levels: VO2, AT or LT.
3. CONTINUOUS RUNS (specific work, but slower than pace race, type AT workout)
For the rest, I mention the continuous runs, during the week. The most part are easy endurance runs to recover. Base train. They are done out of track, road, cross, beach, grass, and all type of terrain. Sometimes, endurance train is transformed in specific training, because they put the pace faster and faster. They do this almost in a group, again to be easy, because they help and motivate each others, and some times they compete each against other (of the same value). It´s a kind of a playing game run. They begin slowly (the first 10-20 minutes), with pure endurance or warm-up, and then they increase the pace, to AT values, or at the end even to near tempo pace race. They do that only if they are not tired enough of the track train mentioned above. This is the similar way like Kenyans originally do. Not planned, but cames spontaneously.
Carlos Lopes, like António Pinto (2:06 marathon at London; 13:01 at 5K track ; 27:12 at 10K track) and Paulo Guerra (4 times European Cross Champion) sometimes they run continuous sessions runs of 30/40min. sometimes 50/60min. at 95% - 98% run pace of those distances with up and downs. Lopes was known for nobody can follow him in a continuous run. Sometimes he put a pace of 2:50 for a continuous 30/40min. This is a hard AT run, and I think that part of his success been supported by great amounts of harder AT trains.
CONCLUSION
As you saw, the Portuguese runner had what I call a typical way of training. People like Carlos Lopes, Fernando Mamede, António Leitão, Domingos and DionÃsio Castro (twins), António Pinto, Paulo Guerra, Aurora Cunha, Fernanda Ribeiro, Rosa Mota, Manuela Machado, Carla Sacramento, or Rui Silva and others train or trained more or less by this lines with success or had been influenced by the Portuguese methodologie adapted to his objectives and specificities. The training vary as the speciality of the runner. For a 800-1500 runner, the shorter one may be 100m or 200m repetitions (velocity or velocity/resistence), the longuer/pace race may be 400 m and the specific/slower may be 1000m (VO2). But for a 5-10K run, doing shorter may be 400 m repetitions, doing pace race may be 1000 m (VO2 pace), and specific runs slower than pace race may be AT continuous runs, as for marathon racers, the faster/shorter repetitions may be 1000m (VO2); longuer/pace race 2000m to 5000 repetitions pace race, and slower may be Long Runs.
This may sound naïve, but looking more deeply, is a depuration and a syntehsis of various methodologies. I supposed that this methodologie has a effective value.
If you look in synthesis each week, there´s, one time a specific workout faster than race pace (shorter repetitions), one time a specific workout at race pace (long repetitions) and at least one time a specific workout slower than race pace (even being a spontaneous session). This is something similar I read once on the internet of Mister Peter Coe train advice, I supposed it was a plan for develop the middle distance elite runners in England. Everyone played attention to his role, a positive role, in the theorical and experimental coaching methods. Perhaps we all came to the same answers or similar by differents types of experiences, with more or less expected results. Perhaps we all were taken influence ones from the others. To me, behind Portuguese, or Kenyan, or American, or Nordic or Finish, or English, or Italian, or French or other experience and methodology, it is on DIVERSITY that are beauty and the interest and couriosity. This give us KNOWLEDGE to train properly and better.