Periodizing Special Endurance 2 Sessions: Middle Distance Multilateral training done in planned balance is the general theme of modern middle distance training. Much has been learned over the past couple of decades about the value of concurrently training all five of the primary physical components to achieve a better runner. Sport scientists working with sizeable…
Archives for VO2 max
“Booty Lock” Workouts for Middle Distance Runners
Competitive running events between the 800 meters and 10,000 meters have a strong mix of aerobic and anaerobic energy system contribution. The strongest mix occurs in the middle distance events of the 800 and 1600 meters. In order for a middle distance runner to be truly successful they will have to tolerate both a small…
4 Goals of 800 Meter Training
The 800-meter is a unique event. According to a study done by the University of Western Australia, there is a 60% aerobic energy system contribution to top male athletes and 70% aerobic energy contribution for top female athletes running at 800-meters. It is important to note that the slower the athlete is, the more aerobic…
Aerobic Power Training
Documented training schemes designed to improve aerobic power velocitym (vVO2 max) in distance runners were first described by the Soviet Sports Institute in the 1970’s. Besides the Eastern Bloc countries, one of the athletics organizations to quickly pick up on the training concept was the British Milers Club in the early 1980’s. Frank Horwill and…
Aerobic Power Principles
Aerobic power is considered a good measure of aerobic fitness. Commonly known as VO2 max, it is useful for the running coach to determine what velocity is associated with present day aerobic power development in an athlete at that moment in time. Once the vVO2 max is determined it can be used to structure aerobic…
Aerobic Power Primer
All of the standard distance races including cross country are combined zone races. Combined zone means that energy needed for muscular contractions at race pace is derived from both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems in combination. Improvement in both the capacity and efficiency of these independent energy systems, and how they work in tandem,…
The Athlete Profile – Part 3
Training science, like all science, is about replication of procedure to attain the same data sets. Yet each runner is a unique person. Track coaches use sciences of physiology and psychology to develop successful athletes in hopes of replicating data from person to person and season to season. This can be difficult in part because…
The Genius of Frank Horwill
Frank Horwill was a middle-distance coach in Great Britain during the heyday of the British Milers Club, a training group that he founded. Before there was David Rudisha and Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, there was Steve Cram, Steve Crabb, Sebastian Coe, and Steve Ovett of the British Milers Club in the 1980’s and early 1990’s…
Categorizing Training Paces For 400/800 Runners
How do we decide what to train and when to train it? That is part science and part art. Let’s establish a menu of paces for available to us while planning training for 400/800 runners . Coaches of different disciplines and different influences use a variety of terms that often mean the same or similar things. …
The Curious Case of Lactate
Lactate is produced in the cells of the body on a constant basis. Quick, blink! You just produced lactate in the muscles of your eyelid. Because these sorts of activities produce very small amounts of lactate, the body disposes of it quickly and efficiently by transporting it to the liver where it is filtered…
Aerobic Capacity and Aerobic Power
There are several critical aspects to aerobic fitness in all endurance sports, including cross country running in particular. For instance, aerobic capacity is an important factor, and is defined as the maximal oxygen intake in liters per minute for an athlete. It is a true measure of individual work intensity, and its measured value…