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The Running Master
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I'm not sure what Jake thinks but he's more of a long distance wuss -whereas I'm a perfect fighting machine that thrives in the cauldron of pain:D
Ouch!
Its a good question, and I don't know if I have a precise answer... on the longer tempo runs, I'm just focused on staying smooth and relaxed... zoning out sometimes. For LT type work, I'm thinking more about my form, cadence, breathing, perceived effort. In some of my better races, I can't remember what was occupying my thoughts at the time... having people around you (or to chase) really helps... you have to convince yourself that everyone around you kills puppies for a living, and you need to put them in their place!
I'm going to have to come back to this at some point... the psychological component of great racing is really important. The best athletes have mastered this area.0 -
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KielyUnusual wrote: »I'm using that one. I'm never going to be beaten by one of those God damn puppy killers again.
I might just struggle to use that convincingly, but is there anything better than aiming for people in front of you and catching them? In a slightly more humble level than you or Jake, I had a 13k trail run recently where I started fairly conservatively and once we settled down not one of those puppy-killers passed me in about 11k. I picked off about 20. Sweet as hell it was.
Not quite in your DCM league where you passed a few thousand in the second half!0 -
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Great question and great answers.
I often find myself clenching my fist during races/hard sessions. It's interesting that you bought it up. Do you always try run with arms at waist level or above? The opinion seems rather split on that based on what I have read/heard.
Since I saw Kipsang running, I've started thinking more about keeping my arms just above waist level and not lifting them too high but then look at the little Ethiopian fella (can't spell his name
).
As much as possible, I think it's better to run naturally so long as you're not wasting too much energy and this normally occurs when you're tired/fighting the pain. You'll find clenching your fists makes everything tighten and impacts on fluency and running economy - slower. But then, everybody's different. I think we just have to find what suits us best as individuals. But it is worth thinking about. I suppose what you're really after is that floating feeling and trying to maintain it.0 -
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career_move wrote: »Good to see your girls are well in tune with the financial markets
:D
Wait till they get older and learn to account for inflation 0 -
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Cheers for the review. Having leafed through the previews on Amazon, I suspected as much - that it read more like a collection of individual articles, rather than a larger cohesive body of work. Well, if nothing else, hopefully he might address some of the questions I have surrounding the 5k plan I'm following (though I doubt it!). Might be an idea to post a review on Amazon, so there's a bit of balance to the praise. Also, must read 'The Road'.
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...In fact, it's his website in book form - that's a plus.
I've barely skimmed through it, but agree - it is a compilation of his website articles... which is somewhat expected. He's my age, so you can't expect him to have as much material as someone like Tim Noakes
I read the marathon section, and parts made sense to me which I liked, but it probably only hit home to me because of the background of the conversations we have been having for months about marathon training. The typical runner who isn't familiar w/ Canova, etc, is going to pick that up and think - WHAT? There isn't nearly enough detail (from what I read).
That being said I'm still looking forward to actually reading through the whole thing.0 -
Krusty_Clown wrote: »Cheers for the review. Having leafed through the previews on Amazon, I suspected as much - that it read more like a collection of individual articles, rather than a larger cohesive body of work. Well, if nothing else, hopefully he might address some of the questions I have surrounding the 5k plan I'm following (though I doubt it!). Might be an idea to post a review on Amazon, so there's a bit of balance to the praise. Also, must read 'The Road'.
There's some good stuff in there and the book's worth getting - it's just it could have been so much more. If he'd only taken more time he could have done a great job. I understand that he's passionate and wanted to get his stuff out there but after the initial euphoria I think people will begin to see the chinks and flaws.
On the 5k stuff - if it's specific 5k questions you have I doubt it'll answer them - the slideshow where you got the schedule from is more detailed than the section in the book.
One of my concerns with his 5k schedule is the hill circuits, which he took from Canova and mashed together into his hotchpotch version. If you look at the video of the KIDS doing the circuit, watch the first exercise they do and see how they are using different techniques - some are doing full squats with bad technique (massive load on the patella tendon and achilles) and that's very dangerous from an injury point of view, especially on legs with 80mpw+ in them and other workouts. Others are hardly doing squats at all and the benefit of the exercise is negligible. And the 'jump' element is bit iffy. Then in his slideshow his demonstrations/explanations of technique are poor too - this is really important: if people head for the hills and start giving it root-toot they are asking for injuries (happened to me and I'm conversant with the correct techniques - at least in theory and training it in others). The slideshow does make an attempt to explain what needs to be done before attempting the hill circuits but again it's not thorough enough.
But like I've said, there is some sweet stuff in there - some nice workouts, some good stuff on threshold training. The science stuff is basic and is a good introduction for those looking for a 'way in' - this is a plus of the book. There are some nice workouts too. But the marathon stuff is a major let down and exposes him. But the book's worth getting - better than most of the dross.
I like Magness too much to go slate his book on Amazon - I've picked up loads from his website.
The Road is a must - it'll blow you away: I can tell from the way you write and what you have to say that you'll love it:D0 -
I've barely skimmed through it, but agree - it is a compilation of his website articles... which is somewhat expected. He's my age, so you can't expect him to have as much material as someone like Tim Noakes
I read the marathon section, and parts made sense to me which I liked, but it probably only hit home to me because of the background of the conversations we have been having for months about marathon training. The typical runner who isn't familiar w/ Canova, etc, is going to pick that up and think - WHAT? There isn't nearly enough detail (from what I read).
That being said I'm still looking forward to actually reading through the whole thing.
As you know, I was really excited about this book – I paid for extra speedy delivery. In fact, I think I said to you that it will be an important book. Well, I stalked the door waiting for the postman and when he arrived with the parcel I ambushed him and that was it - I was off reading.
On the marathon section, his Base Period Plan and Pre-Competitive Period are ok, except for the lack of long runs. But his actual Competitive Period schedule is very poor and shows that he doesn’t really understand the marathon. What he’s actually done is lifted some Canova stuff and thought, well I can’t reproduce this and pass it off as my own so I’ll just play around with it and throw it out there – so long as it’s progressive and meets the pace extension criterion, it’ll pass. But he fails everywhere.
Long runs in the final 8 weeks:
1 run of 18-20 miles and that’s at easy pace!
1 16 miler progression from easy to just faster than mp.
Pace extension sessions in final 8 weeks:
5x1.5 miles @ mp - even as an 'early' session in the specific period this is boy scout stuff.
5x2 miles @ mp – about as much good as a chocolate fire guard
4x3 miles @ mp – volume wise, getting there; pace wise – too slow.
There’s too much stuff that encourages the body to burn glycogen at paces faster than mp.
And then the lactate shunt sessions are way off the mark: the balance is out – 400m @LT pace, 1200m @ mp over 7 miles is no good. Although you don’t want the body generating 4 mmols of lactate, it will not produce enough lactate @ LT over 400m to provoke a training stimulus in terms of shunting lactate for energy production @ mp. The body will not produce enough Lactate. This is a nothing session.
Paddy the Kenyan does 1km @ LT 1 km @ MP over 10km. Another athlete I train does the same, only they do 14km. There needs to be two of these session in the final six weeks – ideally to break up the 102% of mp extension sessions. Anyway – I’ll get to all of this in good time…
I think if somebody followed Magness' plan, they would bonk at the 20-22 mile mark - if they were lucky.0 -
I watched the video and it educated me in terms of the broader expectations for the session (I had originally thought it was supposed to be a tempo session on hilly terrain), but yeah, watching the kids I figured that the drills themselves were not being conducted correctly, so I reached for youtube for each of the specific drills and generally arrived at videos produced by running coaches. Sure, this may not be the best approach, but for want of a better solution, it will have to do! When will we see the Stazza AIS and drills on youtube?One of my concerns with his 5k schedule is the hill circuits, which he took from Canova and mashed together into his hotchpotch version. If you look at the video of the KIDS doing the circuit, watch the first exercise they do and see how they are using different techniques - some are doing full squats with bad technique (massive load on the patella tendon and achilles) and that's very dangerous from an injury point of view, especially on legs with 80mpw+ in them and other workouts. Others are hardly doing squats at all and the benefit of the exercise is negligible. And the 'jump' element is bit iffy. 0 -
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