Marathons
More people run in the Marathon than in the 1,500m in one year. The marathon is the most run event, it’s also the worst trained for. A survey of marathons revealed that half of the competitors ran only 42 km in total in a week. That’s about 7-9 km a day for six days. They then expect to run reasonably well, 42 km in one day However, there are those who believe it is necessary to run four times the distance in training in one week (168 km), usually at one pace. Such people who average 7 min/km in their excursions believe that on the day some magic will enable them to run at 6 min/km.
The marathon is 99 per cent aerobic. This means that all predominantly aerobic running should be exercised:
a) Jogging (100%) for recovery
b) Target marathon pace (99%)
c) Half marathon pace (99%)
d) 10k pace (90%)
e) 5k pace (80%)
f) 3k pace (60%).
The percentage of the VO2 max utilised in these speeds in order is:
a) 60% b) 70%
c) 80% d) 90%
e) 95% f) 100%.
Planning Your Track Season
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Aim for a target time or championship goal.
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The target time or championship goal must be achievable.
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The target or goal must be challenging.
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Decide what amount and quality of work is required to reach your goal.
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Plan out the necessary number of under-distance and over-distance races required to peak at the right time.
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Discuss with your coach the tactic be used in each build-up race.
Some athletes may have solely a time target in mind. For example, a female with a time of 2mins 3secs for 800m, may have a burning desire to crack 2 mins and once achieved the rest of the season is an anti-climax. Other athletes may wish to win or get placed in one of the many championships at hand (County Area, National, Commonwealth etc). To do this, they must estimate the possible winning time and train accordingly.
Pie-in-the-sky ambitions should be expunged from the mind. We have to be realistic. There is not much point in talking about wanting to run a sub-4 mile if you haven’t yet run under 4mins for 1,500m. The ultimate goal is a long-term plan, you need to concentrate on the now.
In deciding whether your goal is challenging or not, some statistics are worth studying. For example, Sebastian Coe at 15 years of age, had best times of 4mins 25secs for 1,500m and 2mins 13secs for 800m. Exactly 10 years later his times were 3:31.95 and 1:41.73.
That works out at 5.4secs average improvement per year for the 1,500m and 3.2 secs annual improvement in the 800m event. It should also be noted that the average peak age for peak times is around the age 25 years. This does not preclude faster times being done before or after that age; however, it is a strong indicator.
In working out what training is required, there are several factors to consider:
a. The amount of time available for training and the amount of actual training you wish to do.
b. The physiological indications of the event. Here, there are several choices: 1) Using A.V. Hill’s aerobic/anaerobic table. 2) Using Matthews’s and Fox’s energy pathway requirements. 3) Using empirical methods. Hill stated that the 1,500m event is half aerobic and half anaerobic. We have to understand what is meant by those terms. Also, we have to be clear in our minds that there are several predominantly aerobic speeds where the majority of the oxygen needed can be breathed in. For example, running at 3K speed, about 4secs per lap slower than in the 1,500m is 60 per cent aerobic. We must also understand that anaerobic running involves a wide range of speeds and includes: 200m (95 per cent), 800m (67 per cent) and 1,500m (50 per cent).
To Improve Performance, You Have to Start by Fortifying the Mind
Start small and then grow
Training must have a point. It is a journey towards a destination, a fixed point in our minds. The terminus must be both reachable and challenging. It may be to run a mile in under four minutes. What will it take to do this? First of all we have to become familiar with the pace, 59 secs per 400m, not 60 secs per lap which is only 4 mins.03 secs / mile. We can achieve this by taking segments of the distance and running them at the appropriate speed. We may have to start with very small sections such as 200m until we can do twice the actual distance, ie, 16 X 200 in 29.5 secs. We want to get them all done on time but with some difficulty; a recovery time of double the time of the run will suffice (59 secs). When we can handle that, we can extend the segment a further 100m to 300m at the same speed with the same rest as before (59 secs). We are getting used to sustained running. Eventually we reach the point where we can run 1,200m non-stop in 2 mins 57 secs, and we are on the way. This is progressive training - we have started small and grown.
In order to help the body's acceptance of 59 secs per 400m we need to train faster than that, say, 55 secs per 400m. For this we will have to do less and with more recovery, eg 4 X 400 in 55 secs with 3-4 mins rest. When we can handle that comfortably we can consider reducing the recovery time in blocks of 15 seconds until we may eventually repeat the session with only half of the original rest time. This may take several weeks, months or even years. We are still travelling towards our destination; it may be long and difficult but we must stick to the route.
Do more of what you dislike
Whatever distance a race is, that distance assumes major, and often exaggerated, proportions in our mind. To a predominantly 400m runner, the 800m event looks like a marathon! We have to conquer that fear of the distance. Roger Bannister did it by running 3 x 1½ miles slower per lap than his intended sub-four minute mile. If the mile seems formidable, it will be less so if we regularly run two miles. We can start cautiously by running eight consecutive laps of the track 10 secs per lap slower than in our target mile, ie, 69 secs/400. We should keep practising this until we get major reductions.
Glen Cunningham (USA), former holder of the world mile record, as a novice was ignorant of training methods. He repeatedly ran the mile distance in training and racing and tried to reduce the time for each race. He got used to the distance all right but he reached a plateau of performance. Then he met a coach who encouraged him to race 880 yds and two miles and then the mile; he also encouraged him to train at these different speeds. He broke the world record within a year.
There are many 800m runners who shun the 1,500m event, and many 1,500m runners who avoid 3000 and 5,000m races. Similarly, they do not entertain running under-distance. Like Cunningham, they stick to one distance and stagnate. They are scared of not looking as good as they do in their main event.
This brings me to a very important maxim for fortifying the mind: whatever you most dislike in training and racing, DO MORE OF IT. Derek Ibbotson disliked sprinting, and consequently he was outsprinted in many races. He decided to spend a winter with his club's sprint group in addition to his normal cross-country training. He became one of the fastest finishers ever in mile races. He also broke the mile record.
Training the will-power
Professor McDougall, a famous writer on psychology some 40 years ago, stated that the seemingly useless practice of getting a box of matches and each day taking them out one by one and arranging them in a line on a table was an exercise that would strengthen will-power. We don't hear much about will-power training in sport. We often hear about "the will to win" but where does this will come from? Are we born with it or can we acquire it? Oscar Wilde summed up the weak-willed aptly when he said: "I can resist everything except temptation". Athletes have to resist certain excessive social behaviour patterns which are accepted as the norm. This is defensive use of the will. Can we go on the offensive? We can - and in doing so improve our performance.
A middle-aged female took up running for the marathon. She had not participated in sport of any kind for 25 years. She was told to run for one minute and each successive day to add a minute. Because she had such a short stride, her leg strength was tested by making her hop 25 metres. She took 22 hops to cover the distance (world-class middle-distance runners can do it in nine). She was told to do hopping exercises every other day. After 100 days this woman was running for 100 minutes and had reduced her total hops to 15. The secret of her success was to start with a very minor challenge and to build on it. Many start too ambitiously and break down, giving the will a severe dent in the process.
To sum up fortifying the mind
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Start each day with a declaration of intent: "I am going to enjoy this day".
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You can run; many cannot and will not run. Some have never known what it is like to run. Make the most of it while you can.
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You can train every day for at least one hour. There is no excuse not to.
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Train with a goal in mind.
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The method of achieving this goal must involve rehearsing the activity and aids to that activity.
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Competition must not only include the specific event but other events which will test endurance and speed.
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Exercise your will specifically by devoting time daily to the task you dislike most in training - or to a known weakness. Start small and progress.
A competition is a competition; if you have trained diligently and intelligently and done your best, you have succeeded. You are only a failure if you have not done these things.