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Run Elite by Andrew Snow

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Velociraptor Jul 2024 2:24pm, 25 Jul 2024 70,088 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor I'm sceptical too. With most of the running guru books I've read, there's an overall impression of groundedness and a good grasp of the established fundamental aspects of training. This applies even when the training plans are very different. I have complete confidence that Glover, Daniels, P&D, Hanson, Julian "Hey, I'm A Competitive Guy" Goater, Friel, Furman, Magness and probably several others I've forgotten are giving sound and objective advice in a sport in which the physiological principles are broadly constant but no one training method fits everyone. But I felt in places as if Andrew Snow was inviting me to join a cult. This may be because he's from an online influencer background and I'm not familiar with that culture; Matt Fitzgerald and Stacy Sims are probably as close to "influencers" as I've come. (I didn't get down on the floor and do some press-ups straight away when I reached that section of the book - p288.)
Ultracat Jul 2024 8:45am, 28 Jul 2024 15,722 posts	Quote Pin Ultracat Just read another chapter or two. Just have to start thinking I can win a gold medal, I wish just having the right mindset can lead to greater things was as easy as MR. Snow has written.
Velociraptor Jul 2024 9:23am, 28 Jul 2024 70,148 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor Worked for Eliud, innit? That's just the love bombing, @Ultracat. The stuff about running 10 miles easy followed by 10 miles alternating half a mile of MP+30s and half a mile of MP-30s comes after you've been sucked in (I've actually programmed a half-length version of that session into my Garmin for possible use because I think it could make a tempo run a little more interesting.)
Welshpoppy Jul 2024 9:50am, 28 Jul 2024 4,251 posts	Quote Pin Welshpoppy I am still not convinced enough to buy the book
SPR Jul 2024 1:56pm, 28 Jul 2024 45,456 posts	Quote Pin SPR Over/ under workouts are certainly things I've seen my distance mates do and alternations is something that Magness has highlighted previously from Canova's training (there some runs like that in Cairess's marathon training). Does Snow give any details on the reasons he advocates for it? Is the foreword for the book all about no human is limited? 🤣
Velociraptor Jul 2024 6:04pm, 28 Jul 2024 70,161 posts	Quote Pin Velociraptor Oh, the foreword is so much more than that, SPR, and it's preceded by three pages of testimonials starting with, "After just one month of implementing this training I had the best experience running the London marathon ... I knew when I got up on Sunday that I was on the verge of something great." Other training plans might give you small mundane incremental improvements but this plan will bring you success beyond your wildest dreams! (I should add that I'm only rolling my eyes at being sold a promise of miracles. I'm totally on board with the value of believing you can achieve difficult things strongly enough to be willing to do the necessary work, and I've seen plenty of athletes on this very website doing exactly that. I've always got a few whose progress I'm following because I admire the way they're getting stuck into chasing their goal.) Snow's explanation for the alternations is: "Typical interval running includes recovery that brings the heart rate down quickly, like walking between reps. However, because recovery during alternation runs is at almost race pace, your heart rate goes down much more slowly. This teaches your body that it's not going to get a huge break, and you learn to recover at a higher intensity level. This will both conserve glycogen and make you more efficient at race pace." He recommends doing up to three at the specified volume, 3-8 weeks out from the target marathon, with the option of doing the same sort of runs at a lower volume (and presumably with the fast sections faster and the slow sections slower, if it's to be consistent with his other training principles) earlier in training.
SPR Jul 2024 9:39pm, 29 Jul 2024 45,463 posts	Quote Pin SPR Agree with the mental side, it definitely helps and I'm sure many doubt themselves when they shouldn't. That's different from you can run a sub 2 marathon if only you believed. The description of alternations fits. Magness describes them as lactate clearance workouts.in his book he talks about a lactate steady state above the lactate threshold that some of the best runners can achieve. Also the workout schedule isn't too far fits off what Magness describes in this article (5 workouts over 10 weeks). runnersworld.com
DilligentMongoose Sep 2024 1:06am, 13 Sep 2024 First-time poster!!	Quote Pin DilligentMongoose I can't say I've read the book. I bought it on kindle after seeing a couple of his videos and looking at the goodreads that had a high rating and one review saying it was the Ultimate Runner's Bible. I've since refunded it before opening it. The author's youtube is heavily pro vegan, to the point that he says it's the only way to become a good runner. He also is super anti-salt and claims to run 200 miles with zero salt supplementing, which feels dangerous. And he's pretty argumentative or dismissive when he makes these grand claims and people question him.