Polarized training

1 lurker | 91 watchers
Sep 2014
11:19am, 22 Sep 2014
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Canute
Chrisul,
Averaged across a large population, I think that a person who was slower in their youth will deteriorate a little less rapidly so they will catch up relative to runner who was faster in their youth. In my latest wordpress blog I discuss the related issue of whether or not the strategy for maximising your best ever performance is one that might lead to the flashing meteorite time course exhibited by Paula Radcliffe.

canute1.wordpress.com

However genetic differences in rate of deterioration are likely to be even more important in determining rate of deterioration. I appear to be deteriorating faster than average –and there are some hints in my family medical history that suggest this is likely. Nonetheless, I am aiming to see if I can alter the expected rate of deterioration.
Sep 2014
11:44am, 22 Sep 2014
30,960 posts
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Velociraptor
Your blog is a goldmine, Canute :)
Sep 2014
11:56am, 22 Sep 2014
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FenlandRunner
I completely agree with the sentence:

A large amount of slow running will also help develop the muscle resilience to cope with a long duration of running, though perhaps not the resilience required to maintain marathon pace for a long period.

That is exactly what I suffer from :(
Sep 2014
1:39pm, 22 Sep 2014
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Chrisull
Thanks Canute for the reply, I suspected genetic differences were going to feature in the response. :-)

FR - it sounds similar to me, although what I suffer from is what I best describe as "my stride shortening" and feel like I am unable to physically keep running at the same pace. This isn't heart rate, which is usually where it should be, and it's not lactate - it isn't a burn, it is like an increasing stiffness or immobility, it can be improved by stopping and static stretching, but obviously I don't like to stop in a marathon.
Sep 2014
8:16pm, 22 Sep 2014
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Canute
FR You put your finger on a key issue: how to retain the resilience to required to maintain marathon pace for a long period. Some studies indicate that loss of muscle power and biochemical markers of muscle damage is a strongest predictor of slowing down in the second half of a marathon.

Chrisul., maybe part of this problem is stiffness but I suspect it is actual loss of power that is the main reasson for the shortening of stride.

It is more difficult to preserve power than strength as one grows older. Maybe explosive plyometric exercise might help. They did appear to help Paula Radcliffe in the short term but I suspect that strenuous plyometric exercises create a risk of long term damage. I do a small amount of skipping and hopping drills and also some trampolining, but so far I have not clear evidence that this is helpful.
Sep 2014
8:23pm, 22 Sep 2014
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Boab
It should be noted that plyometric exercises can antagonise old injuries, as I have found out over the the last couple of months. I ditched them when the achilles started to flare up and the pain lasted for a few days. Be careful and start the exercises gently, if you must do them at all.
SPR
Sep 2014
8:36pm, 22 Sep 2014
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SPR
Sprinting - the best plyometric exercise for runners.

I agree with Boab that 4 x 2 hours is a lot. Is it possible to split some those runs? The fatigue from running that long regularly must be a lot...
Sep 2014
10:00pm, 22 Sep 2014
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FenlandRunner
I'm pinning my hopes on quality over quantity plus cross training *swimming*.

So far so good. :)
Sep 2014
12:04am, 23 Sep 2014
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Canute
I agree sprinting is a good plyometric exercise for distance runners – though last time I did it regularly I did multiple 100m sprints. I think in retrospect that if the point is neuromuscular development, shorter sprints would be more beneficial.

My 4x2 hours schedule is the first stage of a systematic attempt to emulate Ed Whitlock’s approach. He eventually achieved phenomenal success with 3 or more three hour runs per week. Ed started by building up to 2 hour runs most days of the week. He himself says he does not know whether his approach would work for anyone else, so it is an experiment. I regard the key feature is progressing at a rate such that there is no cumulative fatigue. Last week I was aware of mild tiredness in the 4th long run, so I might have to cut the rate of progression. If I haven’t managed to get to 4x2hours without cumulative tiredness by Christmas, I will probably accept that this approach is not practical for me – but I do not want to give up too readily.
Sep 2014
7:52am, 23 Sep 2014
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Boab
If there is anyone on these forums who know what they are doing Canute, it's you :) Look forward to reading about it.

About This Thread

Maintained by Canute
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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