Kieren It is good to hear that you are making progress with easy running. Note that low aerobic running helps increase VO2max, largely by promoting development of mitochondria and capillaries. As you say, it is also important to build up the strength and resilience of your muscles and other connective tissues. Easy running will provide a foundation for this, but it is almost certainly beneficial to do the weight training as well, provided you do not overload the ankle.
J2R - thank you and sorry I wasn't clear enough initially.
For my few months of summer and track I feel great running at pace. I think it has helped set me up for the winter as well. I was first vet 50 at my XC race yesterday after my 2nd overall at parkrun last week. I think since track season ended I have done 1 speed session, there has been some progression running where I have finished running quickly but nothing you would call a very structure speed session.
I have added a link to another video by Stephen Seiler to the side bar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GXc474Hu5U
He discusses the issue of the optimum intensity and duration of low intensity sessions. Although the answer ‘depends on circumstances’ he proposes that a low intensity session should be long enough to reach the point where there are detectable indications of rising stress (either the beginning of upwards drift of HR or increased in perceived effort). If longer than this, there is increasing risk if damaging effects. A session shorter than this might not be enough to produce enough stress to achieve a useful training effect.
I have myself have this way of assessing the likely benefits and risks of low aerobic sessions for many years. If you use this guide, you can gradually increase the tolerable duration (or intensity) of low aerobic sessions. If like most recreational runners, you have limited time for training. it might be sensible to adjust intensity of easy sessions so that you are approaching the point where HR drift (or increase in subjective perceived effort begins at the end of the time you can afford ). Be aware that you need to be aware that temperature, humidity and other life stresses also contribute to stresson the body).
TeeBee, it might be that if you used this way of quantifying the training stress of low aerobic sessions, you might be able to gradually increase your maximum training load, but it requires patience.
Does duration of training come into play here at all, or are we just talking about a subset of runners for whom running 40 miles a week (say) can be achieved in perhaps 5.5-6 hours of activity per week vs someone for whom that might take them 8 hours per week.
It's often struck me that seeking a 5k PB at 16mins is quite a different ask compared to seeking a 5k PB at 29:59. I'm acutely aware of this as my wife is currently a 30min 5k runner, so a long run for her might be 8.5 miles in 90 minutes, whereas for me that would be 10-11 miles in a similar time.
Very interesting Canute. I think i still run a little to fast/hard, but im getting there. And i now "know" for how long i should do that, to get the best of it.
The physio recommended loaded dorsiflexion so the weights help with that. I'm tending to do more reps and sets than go too heavy. I lost about 3cm on my injured upper leg after the injury but amazing it returned to equal to the right in less than a month. Lower legs remained equal size but the left, injured leg was weaker and has take longer to strengthen.
Im hoping strong legs will allow me to build up to more volume in Q1 2022.
‐-------- Larkim, time on feet, I would imagine. The body doesn't really know distance, only time under stress and load.
There just needs to be enough strain to prompt the body to adapt. Too much strain can prolong recovery and take away the ability to be consistent.
Interval sessions include lower intensity breaks as a way to get a lot of time in target zone, perhaps more than a single time trial.
Equally, longer runs seem to have most gain up two hours. After that, the gains slow but risk increases. Hanson Marathon Method) is one plan that recommends stopping out long runs at 2 hours or 16 miles for most. Of course, faster runners may run over 20 but they'll be spending about the sane time on feet and probably more durable / conditioned than a more recreational runner.
I think Seiler had a video on stress and strain. I'll see if I can find it when I'm not at work.
Its worth checking out his channel. If you prefer written, both the Jack Daniels Formula of Running and Hanson Marathon Method explain quite well I think.
Polarised training is a form of training that places emphasis on the two extremes of intensity. There is a large amount of low intensity training (comfortably below lactate threshold) and an appreciable minority of high intensity training (above LT).
Polarised training does also include some training near lactate threshold, but the amount of threshold training is modest, in contrast to the relatively high proportion of threshold running that is popular among some recreational runners.
Polarised training is not new. It has been used for many years by many elites and some recreational runners. However, it has attracted great interest in recent years for two reasons.
First, detailed reviews of the training of many elite endurance athletes confirms that they employ a polarised approach (typically 80% low intensity, 10% threshold and 10% high intensity. )
Secondly, several scientific studies have demonstrated that for well trained athletes who have reached a plateau of performance, polarised training produces greater gains in fitness and performance, than other forms of training such as threshold training on the one hand, or high volume, low intensity training on the other.
Much of the this evidence was reviewed by Stephen Seiler in a lecture delivered in Paris in 2013 . vimeo.com
In case you cannot access that lecture by Seiler in 2013, here is a link to his more recent TED talk.
ted.com This has less technical detail than his 2013 talk, but is nonetheless a very good introduction to the topic. It should be noted that from the historical perspective, Seiler shows a US bias.
Here is another useful video by Stephen Seiler in which he discusses the question of the optimum intensity and duration of low intensity sessions. Although the answer ‘depends on circumstances’ he proposes that a low intensity session should be long enough to reach the point where there are detectable indications of rising stress (either the beginning of upwards drift of HR or increased in perceived effort). If longer than this, there is increasing risk of damaging effects. A session shorter than this might not be enough to produce enough stress to achieve a useful training effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GXc474Hu5U
The coach who probably deserves the greatest credit for emphasis on the value of low intensity training was Arthur Lydiard, who coached some of the great New Zealanders in the 1960's and Scandinavians in the 1970’s. One of his catch-phrases was 'train, don't strain'. However Lydiard never made it really clear what he meant by ‘quarter effort’. I have discussed Lydiard’s ideas on several occasions on my Wordpress blog. For example: canute1.wordpress.com
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80/20
Jun 2019
