Most distance running coaches know that training for a 5-kilometer race involves a mix of aerobic and anaerobic workout sessions that will adaptively lead to improvements in a runner’s metabolic system. The work is varied, combined, and sequenced over a season in a way that is specific to the energy demands of the 5k race. …
Archives for middle distance athletes
Training Aerobic Capacity and Middle Distance Athletes
On the first day of track practice, a ninth-grader named Ryan, shows up to join the team. Ryan wants to be a middle distance runner, maybe run the mile for his school. Ryan admits to having not run much in his life, but he wants to start today. The middle distance coach sends Ryan out…
Advanced Warmup Routines for Middle Distance Athletes
When middle distance coaches cluster socially or professionally, and the inevitable training talk ensues, the topics generally fall into three broad categories: training mileage, peaking strategy, or warmup routines. While these are all fun to talk about and defend, the reality is that there is no right answer to any of these discussions. Mileage talk…
An Endurance Training Session for Middle Distance Athletes
A training session is a block of dedicated time containing various units of work that pertain to the specific demands of the track and field event that the athlete participates in. For a middle distance runner, a session more often than not contains a high degree of endurance work. Thus today we will discuss an…
Intensity – Can It Be Too Much In Middle Distance Training?
Middle distance events in track and field consist of races between 800 and 2000 meters because any races within this range share common energy demand characteristics. The three most common events found in this spread include runs of 800 meters, 1500 meters, and 1600 meters, with the anaerobic contribution of these three races varying between…
Intensity – What It Means for Middle Distance Training
Mitochondria are the aerobic powerhouse organelles of cells. If a type of tissue does little aerobic work, then there are just a few mitochondria in the cells of that tissue, but if the tissue is a real aerobic workhouse, then the cells that constitute it are loaded with mitochondria; with the capacity to build many…
How Middle Distance Coaches Coach Speed, Not Time
The athlete profile is a tool that knowledgeable coaches use to shape a macrocycle of training and physical development for a middle distance runner. At its core, an athlete profile is usually a well-documented history of past workout and race performances that is then used to guide the direction of future training. To that end,…
Training Sub-Elite Middle Distance Athletes
Building and maintaining a healthy population of middle distance athletes is important in achieving rewards for a team, and in having a pipeline for future success. Like it or not, individual performances are driven by internal dynamics directly related to the pyramid of numbers in a particular training group. The really good runners do ascend…
The 6-5-4-3-2 Workout in Middle Distance Training
During specific preparation and pre-competitive training periods there is a tremendous amount of work to be done to achieve future competitive season fitness for the middle distance runner. These two blocks of time are also the most crucial for including a close monitoring of workload by the coach in regard to under-recovery challenges. Middle distance…
Trainability of the Middle Distance Athlete
Why do some athletes develop into accomplished middle distance runners, capable of running fast and winning races, while others get just a little better despite doing similar workouts throughout their careers? Also, most young seventh and eighth graders are about equal in distance running ability after their first season and usually only a few seconds…
Using the Kosmin Test to Determine Middle Distance Athlete Fitness
Athletes and coaches need easy ways to predict race performances and adjust their training without running the full race distance at maximum effort. A coach can predict their middle distance runners 800 meter and 1500 meter times with the Kosmin Test in as little as ten minutes. The Kosmin test is one of the most…
Understanding the Competition Period in Middle Distance Training
In considering the unique construction of a middle distance training macrocyle, the first point should be the length of time available. Ideally, it should be set up to be between fifteen and twenty weeks in duration. Secondly, the macrocycle should be divided into two phases which are called preparation and competitive. In essence, the first…