Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Tuesday 18 miles. 2:05

am) I woke up with a scratchy throat and Jo is home from work feeling very sick. Today was my first aerobic test- 8 miles with my HR averaged at 145 (max 150) in 54:08 (6:46 pace) This gives me a starting point for the next 32 weeks of training. As per Chuck's suggestion I will also be doing this on a track. HR felt elevated and legs feel out of rhythm. My back is still aching. It was a good first test though.

pm) Started with a goal of 6 easy and ended up with 10 miles- avg HR 132/ max HR 140.

I have hemmed and hawed about what approach I want to take for my training this year and I will be using a mix of ideas. I have the knowledge of my own intensity "sweet spot" (if you will) for my base building. From lab tests and most importantly real world data from my past 3 marathons I am going to use a HR of 140-150 for the next block of training. Chuck had suggested a slightly lower HR to start with- a max of 144 but I am going to bump that to 150 with my lab results as my guide. For this first week though I will follow Chuck's suggestion (minus today's test) and hold it back in order to insure adequate recovery for all of my systems.
My thoughts on the periodisation for the next 32 weeks is going to use primarily Chuck's outline plus Lydiard's "base" training ideas. Basically to run 100+ miles per week with as much of it as possible at aerobic steady state (or MAF). I plan on 20 weeks of this- but I will let my test results dictate the length of time. I want to hold back early on (as Chuck is suggesting) and simply spend the first training block with the focus on 140-145 (some 150).. wait for a plateau.. then bump it to HR 150-160. After I plateau at this intensity I will then start a fundamental phase of training followed by a specific phase of training- both of which are Renato Canova based periods and are very marathon specific. Not a lot of work near LT but enough I think.
I will also be incorporating Lydiard's 100m strides (also known as Kenyan "diagonals") in to the program. These will basically be for speed work and will never be longer than 100 meters.
My first time trial will be Bolder Boulder in May.
So- a mix of Chuck/ Lydiard/ Canova and Lucho. Sounds like a freaky scary animal.

3 comments:

dude said...

And dare you stay away from da bike. Put yourself on a nice 853-LeMond and the drug immediately creeps under your skin.

keep up the good work mate

uli

scott said...

Hi Lucho
listening to some great progressive house music and browsing thro Cierpinskis biography from 1985..its a good read because he only spends 1 page on his training ideas...the rest is about his life and motivations...the real message here is that even the training of a double olympic marathon champion is simple.
He worked on a 4 year block.
He started from his goal in 4 years,a marathon pace of 2:08 which he estimated he had to run to win
First year after Montreal not much running for him with main concentration on Football Volleybal and genreal gymnastics(about 1000hrs)..so he was building his overall body fitness up with high volume non specific training(think about all those farm worker kenyan steriotypes working on the farm after school and sneaking in a run after this work was finished!!)
But he still ran his races and wasnt woried he was not running to his potential <>(he new why)..so a lack of ego here!!
The real running workouts he did in this phase was much faster than race pace intervals of 100-200m..in this time his non interval days were much slower than his planned race pace...as he progressed towards Moscow he increased the pace of his runs more towards fartleck efforts over 20km and more longer runs 25-30k at his middle speed.In the fourth year the goal was to get his 20k plus longer runs towards the planned marathon tempo
in the book there is a simple chart
that pretty much sums it up in one look
His Marathons
Month Year Time
10 1974 2:20
10 1975 2:17
4 1976 2:13
5 1976 2:12
7 1976 2:09 Olympic Gold
12 1976 2:14
10 1977 2:16
5 1978 2:14
6 1978 2:14
9 1978 2:12
12 1978 2:22
9 1979 2:15
12 1979 dnf
5 1980 2:11
8 1980 2:11 Second Olympic Gold
10 1980 dnf
12 1980 2:10
9 1981 2:15
12 1981 dnf
1 1982 2:14
6 1982 2:13
9 1982 2:17
2 1983 2:12
6 1983 2:12
8 1983 2:10
12 1983 2:15
2 1984 2:12
10 1985 2:19

so he raced a lot at the marathon....and didnt kill himself in the training

hope the post isnt too long
cheers scott



10

Chuckie V said...

This is good Lucho...

I always tell athletes, especially those who have the desire (and the time available) to be their best, to give the base training an HONEST effort. Because, really, it all comes back to it.

You can't be your fastest until you're your healthiest and your most efficient-est. The body won't have it any other way and until an athlete can stop the cycle, they'll never see the change they desire. Just be patient in your approach, because with your past we see the cycle and we see it developing here with your past few marathons.

There's nothing to lose now anyway, so take the road less traveled: the slow road to full body recovery. You wrote that your body can just about take anything you throw at it, but we know this isn't true...a simple one-time massage proved that. So just take your time and take care of yourself!