Kilian Jornet shares insights in his summer training

S. Canaday wrote:

I just don't understand why he apparently ran 136 miles in training (with 40,000' of climbing) the week before Sierre-Zinal?

That would absolutely flatten me (even if all done at an Easy intensity).

He obviously kicked my butt at SZ and at the Pikes Peak Marathon, but generally most runners (even top guys) "taper" a little bit 14 days out from a shorter mountain race? (SZ is only 19-miles and its not like he needed a huge base for Pikes..which was only 2 weeks later too).

And Anton Krupicka did a 180mi week the week before he beat Kilian at the 2010 Western States 100. To them it’s not “training”, it’s fun, therefore, not a cognitive threat so their body perceives the stress differently. You see it as a threat or “work”, they don’t. Big difference.

I don't get the impression he views the sport the same as you do and training either. The racing is only a part of his plan. Not the end. Big mountains to climb, skiimo, big projects upcoming.....You don't understand(or I either) because you are thinking from your perspective.

Look up Geoffrey Mutai training log on here leading up to his NYC win. Highest mileage week in that build up was 146. His mileage the week before was 127 and the week of the race was 58. So clearly some elite marathoners do a short taper. Unless you don't consider him decently good/fast runner.

S. Canaday wrote:

And I'm sorry but no decently good/fast runner has their "highest volume week" the week before racing a marathon (esp on the roads).

Just Another Run of the Mill ex-D1 er wrote:

That's me too - and most especially (relatively) shorter races such as S-Z where I believe retaining the muscle memory of fast turnover running is important. Too much rest = legs that are too 'loosy-goosy' (vs sharp). It's just a different strokes for different folks thing.

S. Canaday wrote:

I just don't understand why he apparently ran 136 miles in training (with 40,000' of climbing) the week before Sierre-Zinal?

That would absolutely flatten me (even if all done at an Easy intensity).

He obviously kicked my butt at SZ and at the Pikes Peak Marathon, but generally most runners (even top guys) "taper" a little bit 14 days out from a shorter mountain race? (SZ is only 19-miles and its not like he needed a huge base for Pikes..which was only 2 weeks later too).

Easy: Killian eats meat

Piano_Man87 wrote:

Maybe his log is fake just like his Everest speed ascents.

Can't vouch for the whole log obviously but I bumped into him completely by accident at the end of July and the log entry matches that. I was riding an electric bike and saw him coming from a distance and thought to myself, wow that guy is flying and then I recognized him, he was indeed flying ! Very impressive, on a pretty rocky trail too.

ready made wrote:Easy: Killian eats meat

Kilian Jornet, 30, who is Spanish by birth, and also lives in Norway, has never eaten much meat, according to Forsberg. In fact, his mom is a vegetarian. He leans toward being a pescatarian, making him and Forsberg prime examples of the athletic achievement that can come with vegetable-based eating.

Cb wrote:

I don't get the impression he views the sport the same as you do and training either. The racing is only a part of his plan. Not the end. Big mountains to climb, skiimo, big projects upcoming.....You don't understand(or I either) because you are thinking from your perspective.

Though I agree that mind plays enormous role in racing, unfortunately it is not the sole determinant of the performance. No matter how much you try you can't make your body believe that you are fresh when you are not. You can definitively improve performance considerably by achieving state of the flow (no mind state) but still you are bound by physical rules of this universe which includes biochemistry and physiology. Otherwise the world champion would be not the fittest but the best meditater

Rumor is that he was seen doing "5k repeats" on the track in Nepal.

They knew it was Jornet because they saw him cutting curves and going straight across the field.

You know, Euro UTMB style.

"You mean those silly switch backs on the track??"

"Thats not how we do it on Everest, Bro!"

Not Geoffrey Mutai wrote:

Look up Geoffrey Mutai training log on here leading up to his NYC win. Highest mileage week in that build up was 146. His mileage the week before was 127 and the week of the race was 58. So clearly some elite marathoners do a short taper. Unless you don't consider him decently good/fast runner.

S. Canaday wrote:

And I'm sorry but no decently good/fast runner has their "highest volume week" the week before racing a marathon (esp on the roads).

You just proved his point. Mutai did not run his highest mileage week the week before NYC marathon and 127 the week before is a good bit off from his high of 146. You also conveniently left out the fact that after running mid 140s for a few weeks he went 5 weeks without hitting 130 and a couple weeks in there were low 120s. I agree that a short taper is better though and indeed Mutai did a quick taper. It just didn't immediately come off of seriously high volume(for him).

Also with this type of training Killian is doing he should really just go and compete in a road race at least once. If you're running 5k repeats in 15 as part of a larger workout what's that level of ability equate to? 13:40s or so? Faster?

S. Canaday wrote:

And I'm sorry but no decently good/fast runner has their "highest volume week" the week before racing a marathon (esp on the roads).

]

Bill Rodgers seems to have.

S. Canaday wrote:I just don't understand why he apparently ran 136 miles in training (with 40,000' of climbing) the week before Sierre-Zinal?

That would absolutely flatten me (even if all done at an Easy intensity).

He obviously kicked my butt at SZ and at the Pikes Peak Marathon, but generally most runners (even top guys) "taper" a little bit 14 days out from a shorter mountain race? (SZ is only 19-miles and its not like he needed a huge base for Pikes..which was only 2 weeks later too).

He actually discusses his training in some detail in a podcast he did with Lets Get Running. The hosts are mainly road guys but one of them is now working with Martin Cox and moving into mountain running.

ready made wrote:

Easy: Killian eats meat

Is this forum sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association?

Boston '75 wrote:

S. Canaday wrote:

And I'm sorry but no decently good/fast runner has their "highest volume week" the week before racing a marathon (esp on the roads).

]

Bill Rodgers seems to have.

Yeah. As I recall, Rodgers (a "decently good/fast runner") described his "peaking" for a marathon as an increase in mileage followed by a three-day taper immediately before the race. Over the years, I've seen considerable variation, with some very smart coaches and very good runners using very short tapers, and there are substantial physiological bases for that practice.

I don't understand why he and Remi ran up the entire ascent of Pikes peak 4 days before the race.

I am pretty sure that's why his legs where heavy (as he mentioned) and Remi did very bad in the race.

notkilian wrote:

I don't understand why he and Remi ran up the entire ascent of Pikes peak 4 days before the race.

I am pretty sure that's why his legs where heavy (as he mentioned) and Remi did very bad in the race.

Those guys have a culture of competing a lot and are not very familiar with tapers. Davide Magnini has ran about 8 races jus just this summer and same Remi.

To run fast, Kilian dropped this season a lot of races compare to previous seasons in order to focus on training and increase speed, but the last missing component is tapering.

Indeed - this is lack of knowledge about the professional road/flat running.

kilian himself said he learned a lot and never trained this way

qw wrote:

ready made wrote:Easy: Killian eats meat

Kilian Jornet, 30, who is Spanish by birth, and also lives in Norway, has never eaten much meat, according to Forsberg. In fact, his mom is a vegetarian. He leans toward being a pescatarian, making him and Forsberg prime examples of the athletic achievement that can come with vegetable-based eating.

He loves ham and cheese sandwiches during races:

Boston '75 wrote:

S. Canaday wrote:

And I'm sorry but no decently good/fast runner has their "highest volume week" the week before racing a marathon (esp on the roads).

]

Bill Rodgers seems to have.

Rodgers ran 4-5 miles very slow each day for like 4-5 days leading up to Boston. Which for a marathon is indeed a short taper, but still a taper.