Taoufik Makloufi Mile Training: is it the right way to train for the mile?

It is if you were born with an already highly developed aerobic system. Also if you have an enhanced one.

People on Letsrun have a mileage fetish. That said, Makhloufi's training is not the right way to train for the mile unless you are naturally incredibly gifted aerobically and/or are taking performance enhancing drugs. His training is similar to how clean Americans trained in the '90s, following the lead of dopers who were doing this training. The clean Americans SUCKED. Dopers ruin training theory, because they either don't need to train aerobically, or can train incredibly intensely without getting injured or burnt out. Unless you have significant stockpiles of EPO, HGH, testosterone, anabolic steroids, and drugs to make you leaner without sacrificing muscle, I don't recommend you do Makhloufi's training. It may be similar to what worked for Coe, but Coe discovered what worked for him over a period of decades. He didn't read an obvious doper's sweat elite article about his training and then decided to base his own training around it.

I set a mile PR recently and I train 15% like a 400m runner, 65% like an 800m runner and 20% like a 5000m runner. I can't remember the last time I ran a lap at mile pace in training.

Think of it this way. Renato Canova says the staple workout of his Kenyan runners who can marathons at 3:00/K is running short intervals at 2:50/K in heavy shoes on dirt.

jamin wrote:

I set a mile PR recently and I train 15% like a 400m runner, 65% like an 800m runner and 20% like a 5000m runner. I can't remember the last time I ran a lap at mile pace in training.

Think of it this way. Renato Canova says the staple workout of his Kenyan runners who can marathons at 3:00/K is running short intervals at 2:50/K in heavy shoes on dirt.

The funny part of this post is not the ridiculously specific percentages of your training breakdown, but that you have no idea how any of those types of athlete train (400, 800, 5k)

Wait a second...there are still people out there who think Coe was clean?

David Rudisha wrote:

Wait a second...there are still people out there who think Coe was clean?

Forget about Coe's 800m, 1000m, 1500m and one mile performances for a minute. Think about the individuals you know who went from 56.xx 400m PB at age 14 to 46.xx 400m PB at age 22. Many of us know males who made that exact time improvement from age 14 to age 22. All the men I know who made that time improvement were built like robust 5'11" to 6'3" men by age 22. Coe went from 56.xx 400m as a runt 14 year old to 46.xx as a runt 22 year old. I doubt Coe's improvement in 400m more than his improvement, 800m and longer events.

ex-runner wrote:

jamin wrote:

I set a mile PR recently and I train 15% like a 400m runner, 65% like an 800m runner and 20% like a 5000m runner. I can't remember the last time I ran a lap at mile pace in training.

Think of it this way. Renato Canova says the staple workout of his Kenyan runners who can marathons at 3:00/K is running short intervals at 2:50/K in heavy shoes on dirt.

The funny part of this post is not the ridiculously specific percentages of your training breakdown, but that you have no idea how any of those types of athlete train (400, 800, 5k)

Any moran knows how they train, even jamin.

Forget about ... wrote:

David Rudisha wrote:

Wait a second...there are still people out there who think Coe was clean?

Forget about Coe's 800m, 1000m, 1500m and one mile performances for a minute. Think about the individuals you know who went from 56.xx 400m PB at age 14 to 46.xx 400m PB at age 22. Many of us know males who made that exact time improvement from age 14 to age 22. All the men I know who made that time improvement were built like robust 5'11" to 6'3" men by age 22. Coe went from 56.xx 400m as a runt 14 year old to 46.xx as a runt 22 year old. I doubt Coe's improvement in 400m more than his improvement, 800m and longer events.

uhhh....what?

Mahk Daddy does heavy squats and hill sprints.

This is the key to running fast.

Winning wrote:

Mahk Daddy does heavy squats and hill sprints.

This is the key to running fast.

lol

do you know? wrote:

ex-runner wrote:

The funny part of this post is not the ridiculously specific percentages of your training breakdown, but that you have no idea how any of those types of athlete train (400, 800, 5k)

Any moran knows how they train, even jamin.

From reading the discussions of training on this site, they really don't.

Not to mention the training for those different events varies significantly between athletes. Such as mileage in the 800m

jamin wrote:

I set a mile PR recently and I train 15% like a 400m runner, 65% like an 800m runner and 20% like a 5000m runner. I can't remember the last time I ran a lap at mile pace in training.

This is an idiotic post. 800 runners, at least real ones, train at a variety of paces from top speed (100/200 pace) to 800 pace to VO2 max and LT pace, as well as slower running. The proportions will vary over the course of the season, of course. 5000 runners hit most of these paces, too. To say "I train X% like a XXXm runner" just shows you have no idea about training.

Enchanted Spikes wrote:

I have recently read the sweat elite article on his training. He goes on about how his longest run was 70 minutes and he trains a lot of quality rather than quantity do to the nature of the 1500m race, only 3.5 minutes long. His training is very reminiscent of Coe's 5 pace training. Is this the true way to train for the mile?

He gets most of his endurance from EPO micro-dosing, just needs to work on finishing speed.

1. Coe ran lots of miles, maybe not 100/week but more like 60-80/week regularly including the occasional long run (ask Renato Canova), and running the occasional very fast 10 miler. He doubled regularly, even during competition phase with 5 miles in 30 minutes regularly in the morning prior to a track workout later, so there's no way he was regularly running 20-30/week.

2. It is safe to assume that Makloufi artificially raised his hematocrit as his coach was arrested with large quantities of EPO. Therefore his training would not be sufficient aerobically for someone who is not willing to inject themselves with EPO regularly. However, being very strong and fast are good qualities to have for any 800/1500 runner. To be elite you want at minimum to have sub 50 sec 400 speed, preferably more like 47-48, and a fantastic aerobic system from regular runs at near marathon pace. For example, Steve Scott's training log is absolutely chalk full of 10 miler runs at good aerobic and even tempo/threshold type efforts in substitution for becoming a needle junkie.

Forget about ... wrote:

Forget about Coe's 800m, 1000m, 1500m and one mile performances for a minute. Think about the individuals you know who went from 56.xx 400m PB at age 14 to 46.xx 400m PB at age 22. Many of us know males who made that exact time improvement from age 14 to age 22. All the men I know who made that time improvement were built like robust 5'11" to 6'3" men by age 22. Coe went from 56.xx 400m as a runt 14 year old to 46.xx as a runt 22 year old. I doubt Coe's improvement in 400m more than his improvement, 800m and longer events.

The runt is a the new paradigm. Compare the squat powerful Maurice Greene and Ben Johnson types from 80s and 90s to todays' sprinters. Now you got DeGrasse and van Neikirk, relatively slim and slight (Lemaitre is another example, not too shabby with 9.92 and 19.8 speed but injured a lot last couple of years). As for middle distance, ya coe was scrawny (possibly his East Indian heritage) but the new mid D guys like Kejelcha and of course Mo Farah are walking sticks yet with strong sprint finishes.

The Aussie and Kiwi milers from the 60s-70s were maybe "robust" as you describe, and Bannister/Landy as well, but the kiwi Zane twins are also walking sticks that were scared sh**less of playing rugby. Robust monsters like Tegenkamp and Solinsky were fun aberrations i'd say. At least that's my cherry picked data....

"All I know is that I know nothing"

Let's say you want to run a 4:20 mile. That's basically saying you want to run 4 65s in a row. You can maybe do that by doing workouts of 65s repeats with 1:00 rest every week. That's what I did to run 4:20. But like Roger Banister my form was breaking down in the second half and I collapsed at the finish line.

When I switched to training like an 800m runner I ran 4:16 with a slight negative split and my form was smoove and at the finish I didn't fall on the ground or lean over gasping. That's because if your legs have endured a high volume of 25-28s 200m efforts in training then 32s in spikes feel like an easy effort.

jamin wrote:

Let's say you want to run a 4:20 mile. That's basically saying you want to run 4 65s in a row. You can maybe do that by doing workouts of 65s repeats with 1:00 rest every week. That's what I did to run 4:20. But like Roger Banister my form was breaking down in the second half and I collapsed at the finish line.

When I switched to training like an 800m runner I ran 4:16 with a slight negative split and my form was smoove and at the finish I didn't fall on the ground or lean over gasping. That's because if your legs have endured a high volume of 25-28s 200m efforts in training then 32s in spikes feel like an easy effort.

I don't know who bought Jamin's account, but I really like this new guy on the forums.

jamin: If you practice running right at race pace in interval sessions and start dying at the end, then you are teaching yourself to die at race pace, which inevitably will be how you race. If you train to handle race pace and then kick at the end, that would be better. That's why most milers mix near race pace intervals with faster ones at the end in an individual session.

It's quite simple really but we still seam to have debates over and over and are considering Makloufi's artificially high hematocrit training as an example? You can't reach your potential as a miler without combining aerobic endurance, anaerobic endurance, and sprint speed. Lets not forget the mile is something like 3/4 aerobic capacity, which still dominates most athletes training regimes...unless your coach is injecting you with exogenous red blood cell boosters then fine, jog a couple miles and train like a 400m runner and you can win an olympic gold medal in the 1500m. That's why nobody like Aden's group, they ignore the massive ethical/spiritual ramifications of such actions...and possibly have other elite runners whacked.