Cal Poly SLO Training

probably since it is perfect weather there all year long and they don't race indoors so they can just train through the winter they are able to run fast now.

I remember this university when all those San Diego Mesa guys transferred over there all at once, now they destroy people, anybody remember the Mesa guys dominating Juco in Cali?

they have more scholarship money than most schools in the big west. plus, being a state school it is cheap to go there anyway. conover was a badass in his day, and he can turn other guys into badasses as well it seems. they got a great thing going there.

What the hell are you talking about Snookie. Any coach worth shit would be turning out better performances with the resources (full scholarships all for distances, weather, facilities) that are available at SLO.

Snookie wrote:

Ok, tell me what the hell they are doing up there. Today they have 2 guys under 3:50, 7 guys under 14:38, and Ben Bruce. Also, 10th in XC. They have little to no scholarship money. What the hell are they doing up there for training?

Stanford Results:

Ben Bruce SR Cal Poly Slo 13:40.90

Ryan Moorcroft SR Cal Poly Slo 14:06.05

Alex Dunn FR Cal Poly Slo 14:04.48

Troy Swier FR Cal Poly Slo 14:07.12

Phillip Reid SO Cal Poly Slo 14:28.10

Blake Swier Cal Poly Slo 14:30.16

Brandon Collins JR Cal Poly Slo 14:34.43

Jameson Mora SO Cal Poly Slo 14:38.98

Mt. Sac

Matt Johnsrud Cal Poly-SLO 3:46.48

Brandon Collins Cal Poly-SLO 3:48.39

Other Performances include Ben Bruce's 8:33 to open the season, not to mention an 8:40 this weekend at Mt. Sac. Luke Llamas is an 8:50ish steepler and continues to improves, but you questions asks the "important" WHAT?

The answer to your question is one you've heard many times. They touch on everything, but a majority of what they do is tempo runs and kilos. I was never on the team nor do I attend the school, but I have heard from Alumni and friends of current athletes that they pretty much stick to tempo work and kilos. Threshold training and VO2 max training are probably the "most" important aspect to distance running and when you get a good group/bad ass group of guys working together that buy into what their coach is saying, that program will have great success. Some may say, Conover has really good talent and that's why they are great, and maybe that's true, but he did take Matt Johnsrud a 4:08-:10 HS miler to 3:44 in his true Freshman year. He's been batling injuries and is now just start getting back into the swing of things. Conover is arguably the best coach in CA right now because he is producing solid D1 times year after year with little money, not to mention he doesn't have the pull that a Stanford does. Congrats to him and his program.

Idioteque wrote:

but he did take Matt Johnsrud a 4:08-:10 HS miler to 3:44 in his true Freshman year. He\'s been batling injuries and is now just start getting back into the swing of things.

he was a redshirt freshman...his true freshman year was 2 years ago

Well if the coach can get a no talent Clydesdale to a 3:10 marathon, imagine the possibilities of what he can do with real talent. He's a real babe magnet too.

"Who the hell is Mark Conover?"

EITS,

You know who he is, and I know you know being that you, like me, are PR.

~Idioteque

He's the coach at Cal Poly SLO, and he won the Olympic Trials Marathon in '88 in about 2:12.

ummm, that was a joke.

After Conover won the trials in 88 as a relative unknown, there were a certain number of bumper stickers (I believe) made w/ the aforementioned phrase on them.

When you say alot of threshhold running, what is your definition of alot? Alot of 2x week at 60 min. or 3x week at 35 min, please explain.

Snookie wrote:

When you say alot of threshhold running, what is your definition of alot? Alot of 2x week at 60 min. or 3x week at 35 min, please explain.

I'm going to take a wild guess that they run anywhere from 2-3 tempo/threshold workouts a week earlier in the year. As the season progresses, I'm sure the number decreases as they need to refine speed, become more comfortable running VO2 max pace, and in general training for the event they will compete/be most competitive in. During this phase of the season, I'm guessing there is at least 1 threshold workout a week if not 1 every other week. As far as duration, I would say that your estimate is pretty close.

I would guess:

1 longer workout:

(i.e. your example of 1x60 minutes; )

10M tempo run/4-5x2M/3x5k etc.

and another shorter one (i.e. 1x35 minutes)

5-6x1M/3x2M/8-10x1k/etc

Hopefully that helps.

I feel like with all the speculation on Cal Poly training methods, and the apparent lack of any actual information, someone should lay out a weekly schedule before the drug accusations start flying. I graduated before the latest crop of athletes, so things have changed a little, (for the better – as Mark gets more experience), but overall his top-secret recipe for success stays mostly unchanged.

So here it is. The program is highly technical, and I honestly doubt most people will understand it in all it’s complexity. But I’ll try my best to explain…

Sunday – Long run.

Monday – Easy run.

Tuesday – Intervals. The distance, speed and quantity of the aforementioned intervals depends upon what event you do and how fast you do it.

Wednesday – Easy run.

Thursday – This is the hard part, stay with me here…

Cross-country season: Hills.

Track Season: Shorter intervals.

Friday – Easy run.

Saturday – Tempo run. Word on the street is that it is much more relaxed and more distance now. Which is great.

Mileage is mostly left up to the individuals.

WOW!! I have never seen training that follows this weekly pattern. The hell with Lydiard, Conover is the greatest.

He was operating under a different name at the time, but I'm sure that his training regimen was responsible for David Krummenacker's one year stand that every coach and 800/1500 runner thought was the magic elixer.

Come on, there are no magic elixers for college distance runners. Recruit well, monitor the miles and intensity to stay healthy, don't overrace, get your runners to BELIEVE in your program and then tweak each guy individually as needed. No big shakes here guys. Sounds to me like Conover does this very well.

yeah, long intervals-short intervals-a tempo and a long run...isnt everyone following this weekly pattern?

Shorter,Meb,Lopes,...

While Conover is being anointed, you might want to take a look at what is going on about 100 miles south of the Poly campus.

Pete Dolan at UC Santa Barbara has far fewer scholarships and tougher entrance requirements than Conover, yet his runners continually improve and develop.

Two good programs and coaches.

do you mean 100 miles north?

You must be a Poly undergrad if you think that Santa Barbara is north of SLO.

More appropriate moniker for you is dumbass.