Looking at some very special athletes in all sorts of sports, what distinguishes them is always high work volume. That is only one thing, but high quality work, like high workout volume. We don't just talk about recovery runs, warming ups and cooldowns, to jog around 250km a week. We talk about endless intervals. We talk about long long runs. Bike intervals. Tempo runs and so. We can talk about elites, like Seb Co, Marius Bakken or Kenyans. Killian or Blumenfelt. Nadal or Djokovic. Devon Larrat or Ramon Dekkers and Buakaw. I talk about martial arts as for instance Buakaw has like over 200wins, as he won most of the time, but that is only the strictly registered internet number. I think I saw somewhere that he has well over 400 total fights since child hood. As example Prince Nassim had like 37fights, so probably around the double of that in reality, what is nowhere near around Buakaw.
That also shows passion and love. Making the possibility of overdoing it, in order to get out something extraordinary from the body. Look at Killians Training right now. He is coming off ski season. He wants to pound his legs, but he is doing t smartly. He runs only every second day, but he clocks a 40km run un der 3hours each time, with around 1500m of elevation gain. Certainly some road sections included. It is blazing fast, but probably over time, he is going to lower that down to around 2:40 to 2:45 especially if he wanted to mark his time in Zegama. Imagine running 3:36 with 2700m of elevation gain and loss on trails ? You need to be a very special human to do that. You also need very special training.
This is just to heat up the conversation, but how can we, normal humans, integrate this high volume approach. And also become, unbeatable, immortal superheroes.
First of all, of course, you need quality movement, quality body and ultra high quality fuelling. You cannot go out empty, dehydrated, with nothing on you. You need your gels, sugar, electrolytes. You need to be ready and prepped. It is not about time. It is about making it happen.
Second most important thing in the same importance level is intensity control and race specificity. We have GPS watches for pace, optical heart rate for control, our own mind and body to feel. We also have references and understanding of effect of training stimulus.
So, if you ran faster, just a little bit than you race pace, you are training well and stimulating your nervous system just enough, to make improvements happen. The more you increase the lengthy end of the races, the least true it becomes or the training itself becomes the least realisable. For instance a race that is so long that it it is won by 12min par kilometer, see TOR, doing intervals at 9 to 10minute pace is not really going to bring you anywhere. After of course, there is specificity, so 9 to 10minute pace, with a fully loaded backpack on tough and steep terrain, during a long run can be still very stimulating. Context is key ! Always, in anything ! Context !
The weaker, the more beginners we are, the shorter the intervals should be and the longer the recoveries should be.
To start out, during a run, this could be 100 x 10 seconds of fast running with 30 sec recoveries. This could be later on of course 100 x 1 or two minutes 30 x 4 minutes. There are not strict number on the other hand. It can also be tree to tree, fartlek, climbs and descents. For instance, a parcours that has 5 climbs can be completed 8 times, pushing the climbs. Nutrition can be also practised well during these efforts. Especially if we did tours and rounds.
Strength and conditioning can be included too. Like doing that but mixed with running too. Even if you did little, after 40 sets, it will be a lot !
Like doing 25 times 1min uphill. Each departure you do 4 ass to grass squats and 4 lunges and each time you finishes you do 4 pushups. You'll be at 100 of each at the end.
You'll see, this works like a charm. Actually it is also very addictive, as you feel a lot that you accomplished something during the workout. !!!
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