Tinman wrote:
The beauty of running around CV or threshold workouts is they replaces high mileage. A work out of 6×1 km at CV or 4-5 x 1-mile at threshold is the equivalent of 9-12 mile distance runs in terms of aerobic development but with less total pounding, better mechanics, and it is invigorating for the athlete.
That doesn't make sense. A classic CV workout, including a PROPER warm-up, maybe some drills for some runners, and a long, easy cool down SHOULD be 10-12 miles long for a 9 flat 3200 and 14:30 5k runner. In a 6x1k@CV+5x200 workout, which is 7200m+2000m=9200m of quality+rest, Puffer should be able to handle a WU and CD of about 3000-4000m each EASILY (on 8 min miles, he would take 15-20 min for WU and CD). So we are looking at a total workout volume of 15200-17200m, or roughly 9-12 miles.
Now running a CV workout with 9-12 miles in total IS more pounding and stress than a standard 9-12 mile distance run.
CV workouts are incredibly effective, but they do NOT replace distance runs / easy mileage, and neither are they similar in stress. They work the anaerobic threshold MUCH better than distance runs, and the aerobic threshold around the same. But they are higher stress and do take some time to recover, otherwise everyone could just do CV intervals every day since they are so effective.
Also it's very easy to do them too fast, especially if it is a guy with a lot of basic speed (neither Hunter nor Puffer are overly talented in raw speed, but prescribe a CV workout to someone like Mamede and there is a big risk he will do it too fast. Each HS team probably has some speedsters that might do them too fast, and miss the stimulus for long-term development because they are running them at their 5k or even VO2MAX pace instead. Works well for 6-10 weeks, they improve a lot immediately but then tada! - peak early, under-perform in key races and fall back to the level they were previously without improving much in the long-term.
I don't think there is anything better to build fitness gradually than doing proper CV and threshold workouts week after week, but they need to be done correctly at the right pace and in the right volume that's appropriate for the runner.