13 replies to this topic

[FitzCameron]

I subscribe to Ryan's tweets - last night he sent this one:

"138 days till the Olympic marathon, which means roughly 2,100 miles of training to get me ready. Brick by brick!"

That's approximately 3,360 Kms in 138 days or 25Km average per day.....

Wowsa.....


FC

[Paul Every]

175km/week spread over maybe 12 training sessions for an elite marathoner who is training full-time. That's not extraordinary.

[MG4R]

He is only just over 100miles, which isn't anything spectacular for a marathoner. I am certain he is coaching himself, or should I say his 'faith" is his coach. He dropped out of his training squad to focus on the Olympics by himself, and word has it his top form is slightly suffering because of it. Great runner though, will be interesting to see how he goes with London.

Edited by MG4R, 29 March 2012 - 03:23 PM.

[Easy Tiger]

MG4R, on 29 March 2012 - 03:23 PM, said:

He is only just over 100miles, which isn't anything spectacular for a marathoner. I am certain he is coaching himself, or should I say his 'faith" is his coach. He dropped out of his training squad to focus on the Olympics by himself, and word has it his top form is slightly suffering because of it. Great runner though, will be interesting to see how he goes with London.

His top form seems pretty good to me, he coached himself to a 2:04.58 wind aided at Boston. Even though he only runs 6 days per week I'm sure he's doing considerably more than 100mile weeks. His sessions are tough and long!

[MG4R]

Easy Tiger, on 29 March 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

MG4R, on 29 March 2012 - 03:23 PM, said:

He is only just over 100miles, which isn't anything spectacular for a marathoner. I am certain he is coaching himself, or should I say his 'faith" is his coach. He dropped out of his training squad to focus on the Olympics by himself, and word has it his top form is slightly suffering because of it. Great runner though, will be interesting to see how he goes with London.

His top form seems pretty good to me, he coached himself to a 2:04.58 wind aided at Boston. Even though he only runs 6 days per week I'm sure he's doing considerably more than 100mile weeks. His sessions are tough and long!

I totally agree! Some have been saying his form is lacking but I am sure he is working to peak at London. I remember a video of him and a training partner absolutely smashing a session out in what seems like the desert. Coaching yourself to a 2.04 is bloody amazing.

[Colin]

Easy Tiger, on 29 March 2012 - 04:23 PM, said:

His top form seems pretty good to me, he coached himself to a 2:04.58 wind aided at Boston. Even though he only runs 6 days per week I'm sure he's doing considerably more than 100mile weeks. His sessions are tough and long!

Easy Tiger, you seem to be going against what the person himself is saying. 2,100 miles in 138 days is average 170/wk. You would hardly call that 'considerably' over 161km.

He left his coach in October 2010 and his 2:04:58 was in April, so perhaps not entirely his 'own' coaching.

edit, in his own words last year:

Quote

I realize this can be somewhat of a controversial issue and some will disagree with me, but I hope to maybe stimulate some different ways to think about training. I feel like in America we are overly obsessed with mileage, or maybe I have been the only one. I have time and time again fallen into the trap of heading out the door for a few extra easy miles on Sunday so I could meet that magical 100 mile a week number.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the principle behind mileage is important: we should run a lot. However, from my own experience I believe there are many great athletes and great performances that should have happened that are simply covered in junk mileage.
My perspective on mileage has changed a lot since those early years in high school and college from keeping copious notes on how many 100 mile weeks in a row I had build up. Now, when I look at a week I don’t see the necessity for mileage, I see the necessity for hard, quality workouts followed by adequate recovery and even making sure to over-recovering (if there is such a thing).
So what does adequate recovery look like? The answer to that question is obviously individual. Some people can recover running an hour run twice a day, some may only be able to do one short run. I have learned to listen to my body and if I am not seeing improvement in my workout than I know my body is not absorbing my workouts properly. The art of running is learning when to push and when to rest, but in general I have found that when in doubt it is best to error on the side of rest.
Mileage can be a good thing if it encourages us to run more, but not at the expense of recovery. I have certainly learned throughout my career that it’s not always necessarily he that runs the most mileage that wins the race.

i.e. he is not focussed on running 100miles if he can't recover from it, and quality miles are more important.

Where have I heard that before?

Edited by Colin, 29 March 2012 - 09:31 PM.

[ChrisMac]

DNF at 11 miles.  Shoulda done the hard miles.

[walker1st]

He has done the volume in previous years so he can afford to cut back the volume and increase the quality

that is exactly what Nathan Deakes has done leading into his medals and the WR

years of 300km/week and than cutting down to 200 increasing the intensity

but you need to have the good starting point to cut back from it

maybe this week he already had his volume quota covered and needed only the extra 11

[Tony123]

Ryan Hall's tweet after the DNF

A huge bummer of a day today.
Hamstring wouldn't let me go. But a huge congrats to @runmeb!
You continue to inspire me. #GodIsStillGood

[Colin]

Ratdog said there was too much cloud cover at the time for God...I thought it was because God had other problems to attend to, more important than marathons.

Anyway, what are the hard miles? I thought he was doing the hard miles, just not the junk miles.

[ChrisMac]

Colin, on 13 August 2012 - 11:11 AM, said:

Ratdog said there was too much cloud cover at the time for God...I thought it was because God had other problems to attend to, more important than marathons.

Anyway, what are the hard miles? I thought he was doing the hard miles, just not the junk miles.

The implication pre-race after he dropped out of squad training, was that he was backing off the Lydiard-esque 100 mile weeks in favour of fewer, but "quality" miles.  Who knows what works for some people.  I backed him for the win, to be honest.  I thought he would at least have finished.   That route must have been a killer.  The Kenyan selectors may be uncomfortable, but the Ethiopians will be positively fried alive.

[Colin]

ChrisMac, on 13 August 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

The Kenyan selectors may be uncomfortable, but the Ethiopians will be positively fried alive.

The Kenyans went with two Cannova guys and left the WR holder at home....what of Cannova's reputation now?

[speedmeup]

Tony123, on 13 August 2012 - 10:33 AM, said:

Ryan Hall's tweet after the DNF

A huge bummer of a day today.
Hamstring wouldn't let me go. But a huge congrats to @runmeb!
You continue to inspire me. #GodIsStillGood

Yep Ryans problem wasn't a lack of kilometres.. it was an injury.

[ChrisMac]

Colin, on 13 August 2012 - 01:24 PM, said:

ChrisMac, on 13 August 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

The Kenyan selectors may be uncomfortable, but the Ethiopians will be positively fried alive.

The Kenyans went with two Cannova guys and left the WR holder at home....what of Cannova's reputation now?

I didn't know that, good find, Colin.  There is another thread in the forum about Cannova's superstar status, which will need updating.  It's Alberto Salazar's time to shine now.
I would love to know the reaction of the Kenyans.  They are so enigmatic.  I would think they would be happy with the collapse of the Ethiopian runners as a result of Kenyans "racing from the gun", Sammy-style.  Hard to say if Mutai or Makau could have kicked on for a Gold.  I like to think Sammy Wanjiru would have.