How to win over Paul Tergat in an Olympic marathon !
PART 1
Of course this is a my own private joke, but that´s also true, that Alberto did win over Paul Tergat in Athens marathon (and also WC Gharib), but this my post title sentence is simply to get the attention and you may analyse how the Portuguese Alberto Chaiça did prepare his second Big Games marathon that ended in a 8th Olympic place, after his first Big marathon achievement
4th place in 2003 Paris World champs.
http://www.iaaf.org/OLY04/results/gender=M/discipline=MAR/combCode=hash/roundCode=f/index.html
I do post the Alberto Chaiça training because I think that´s a good example of the use of the intermittent training outdoors and by time duration, with active recover, in this particular case.
This is the complete marathon training programme for Alberto Chaiça in the road for 2004 Athens Olympics that he did 8th place.
The programme starts in May 01, after 3 weeks of complete rest.
About the training programme I want to say something that you may understand all, programme contest:
1/the training follows basic principles that we adopt for the marathon: mileage volume, long one sessions and also Lactate Training Management that in the case of Chaiça that´s merged in daily continuous runs – in a pace that i estimate that have his maximum intensity in 3:18-3:20 by kilo (sea level) and 3:25-3:27 (in altitude). Some runs are aerobic easy runs, but some other intense continuous runs that start in warmup pace but soon that speed up to intensity to what we consider Continuous and Intensive Pace, done by feeling and HRM accuracy (up to max.HRM less 20 beats).
2/Apart from that the Chaiça´s marathon training still follows basic elements that we preserve from the typical training programme, as 1-2-3 basic workouts (1=faster than race pace by reps in short duration ; close to Race Pace in long duration reps – converted to marathon pace/duration; and 3= that I did mention in point 1/).
3/ For several reasons we decide that all training programme – workout included – would be done in outdoor. Thus, Alberto Chiaça he did several altitude stays durng this specific period, stays in hilly places – remember that Athens marathon course was very hilly also indeed. Why, the workouts were all out of track ? In several altitude stays Chaiça haven´t no easy access to a track, and as Chaiça - during all his long career - uses to train on track every week on, for that Olympic marathon - for physical and physiologic arguments we decide that´s time to change.
Other reason is the fact that most of the track that exists are down the altitude that Chaiça want to run the marathon workouts. Chaiça still feels comfortable training workouts higher than 2000 meters.
Meanwhile we didn´t change too much the workouts in his inner structure – that means relate paces and intensities to routine track pace workouts that Chaiça is used to do. The last argument for not to use track is that Athens course isn´t a flat one but an irregular course, an hilly one. Consequently with an irregular main even pace pace. Then if the marathon have that terrain conditions we may simulate similar terrain conditions in the plan.
4/One point we think that´s the key for the marathon success – at least it works with most of the runners we did train for that event distance. We try to be Extensive and Progressive along all the plan (as far as the plan goes further and further (more sets, more distance, more and more time duration). The other rule that we consider the key for the marathon that´s Active Recover. In a marathon training all training is active, including the recover – of course.
By Extensive and Progressive straategy, that means to add more sets, more reps, more total distance or longer sets as long as the programme goes on. That´s a good key to training adaptation to the the volume and the extend.
5/in the Chaiça case -as you may see - our 1-2-3 formula is (1) solved by 60sec fartlek - short duration sets with active recover. We estimate that the pace is 2:50/by kilo (sea level) and 2:55/by kilo (altitude) and the active recover period that´s 3:18-3:20 by kilo (sea level) and 3:25-3:27 (in altitude).
(2) The case of the long sets that´s quite close to what would be Chaiça marathon Race Pace – 2:07 estimate for a perfect run (but his PB that´s 2:09 in paris World Champs. Of course because that all is done in hilly terrains, the pace flows a lot, but that´s important to run “by feeling” despite he did that in very irregular course terrains.
(3) intense continue runs – LTM training and tempo runs – that is present in Chaiça schedule but not in the isolate/discriminate workout for all the rest, but simply that intense LT runs the are all merged in the daily runs. Ex: when we mention a session unity like this one 40min=10 kilos, despite that the average is 4:00 by kilo, you may consider that a run that starts in ex: 4:20/4:10 kilo pace for the first the first minutes changes for 3:30/3:20 by kilo in the next minutes and ends in 3:10/3:20 by kilo in the last period.
6/The case of hill workouts– we would like that Alberto Chaiça did more of that stuff, but since as Achilles tendon injury appears in the first altitude stay, that needs Chaiça to stop the training programme and come to Portugal to look for treatment, we exclude that good training format from the Chaiça fix schedule. We need to “sacrifice” something to solve the injury, and as they said that too much fast runs in a hilly surface that could cause Achilles tendon problems we give up. But we never give up to use hilly courses in altitude to do all the rest of the runs.
7/About flexibility exercises he did that after each training unity with no exception.
8/Some other training details as “condiments” that you can see in the training schedule as 40 kilos (26miles) in one training session in a hilly course in 2h22min – a super/extra long one, 2 hilly runs as competition time-trails or Check control tests – that´s all in the file. As you may see he did high volume mileage, and to be sincere this is in the first line of our training priorities for the marathon. In some weeks he did 160miles total.
Before to post the Chaiça training schedule to the road for Athens marathon, once again I want to say that i´m not the head coach of Alberto Chaiça. The coach that´s Americo Brito. But since i´m a very close friend of Americo, we are like close brothers, thus I have a deep knowledge what´s Chaiça training. I´m also a good friend of Alberto Chaiça.