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The secret to adaption speed?
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Angelo Z
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:28 pm    Post subject: The secret to adaption speed? Reply with quote

The majority of people have goals and patience, but none really think about how fast they think they'll reach their goals. So I've been thinking, what must a runner do in order to make the fastest gains possible? This question can even be applied to bodybuilding, etc.

So what is the secret? Like bodybuilding, running is about damaging the body itself so that the body can adapt to the stress at a much higher level. The end result of this is reflected by performance trials (racing, max rep, etc.) I have looked at a few things:

1) Training
-Quantity
-Quality
-In general, quantity and quantity are associated with training specificity. Ex. you are a 10K runner. What will it be? For quantity: 10x1000m or 8x1000m, for quality: 10x1000m at 4:30 mile or 10x1000m at 4:40 mile pace? I'm referring to quantity and quality from the perspective where you already have someone training for a 10K for example. They will automatically have to do more reps compared to milers.

2) Recovery
-Sleep
-Food
-Frequency
-Intensity (bringing down the hammer one day, and taking it easy on another day)

The issue is this: the faster or harder you do a workout, the more damage is done and the greater the stimulus BUT with one exception...recovery time is longer. So if a runner tries to keep this up everyday, he/she will eventually break down very quickly. Even if stimulus and recovery are balanced, there must be another way around it. Eating and sleeping. If we had a runner with 6 hours given to eating, drinking, bathroom, training, etc. with 18 hours of deep sleep, then theoretically it should allow that runner to use a much higher intensity on average compared to other runners that don't sleep as long because that extra sleep allows for faster recovery time so there isn't as big of a restriction on how much stimulus the runner can get from a workout.

Going back to the quality vs. quantity example, what would really help a 10K runner more, running 10x1000m or 8x1000m at a slightly faster pace? Which one calls for a greater stimulus and is it also determined by an approximated "feel" coming from the runner himself? Ex. I definitely felt like I was closer to death when running 10x1000m compared to running 8x1000m at a faster pace. However, if we literally took a microscope and examined the damage from both types of workouts, can we conclude that personal "feel" definitely correlates with the given data extracted via a biological sample/experiment, or not?
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Angelo Z
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Joined: 11 Aug 2007
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Location: LA, California

PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The main reason I'm asking this question is because I've been wondering about whether it's really worth going at 100% effort for every workout except recovery days. On a team, there are runners that typically play the role of the leader or the "beast" and there are the other runners that don't quite sacrifice themselves as much. Common-sense wise, we think that the hardest working runner is the one that ends up with the greatest rewards, but what happens when the other type of runner beats that extra hard working runner in most races which skews that whole common sense principle of "working hardest will get you the highest benefits"?

Hicham for example, from what I've read, was one of those mental runners when it came to workouts, going balls to the wall every single time. It doesn't really matter what type of workout it is. If the workout is to run 12x400m at 60 second pace you can mentally force yourself to run 12x400m at 55 second pace even if it means throwing up afterwards. Could this be the best approach to making the fastest improvement?
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ssteve235
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dude, before i even read this...there is no secret. Im gonna take a quote right out of Once a Runner (greatest book ever written), "What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared, to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with the most unprofound and sometimes heartrending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprosed the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials."
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Angelo Z
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I must say, that was a hell of a paragraph by John Parker. I read that book, and indeed, it is one of my favorite books. I understand the meaning-you persist with numbers, experiments, and a wide range of sciences until you finally get so perplexed in the whole situation that nothing else makes sense anymore.

However, I do have a comment on that. The training itself is based on science and we wouldn't have gotten so far along that "development curve" (Thanks Dan) today if it wasn't for the research.
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¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥
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ssteve235
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah i totally agree that new training techniques help make a person faster. But theres no one formula or one fail proof training technique that will automatically make a person better. That entire book by Parker was just amazing. The training that Cassidy did was ridiculous, the interval workout... I dont even know if that is possible.
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Angelo Z
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, there are various formulas. I would say that the broadest formula is running itself. Can't really get anywhere without actually running...People just want to simplify everything, so they try to stick with one thing only.

The 70s were all about mileage and I'm saying this because that book was published in 1978. "The prevailing training philosophy in 1977 was 'more is better', and weekly mileage was the stuff of competition. If Derek Clayton was quoted as running 160 miles per week, then someone else would try 175 miles per week... This approach to training may sound harsh - and it was - but it reaped rewards. Distance running in the U.S. improved markedly, and although there were a few casualties along the way, pure hard work generally paid dividends." - Pete Pfitzinger, two-time Olympian and exercise physiologist.

I have a new theory. Each distance requires a certain amount of mileage. This only differs by just a few miles from person to person if you truly want to bring up genetics. For example, take two elite milers. Generally, the maximum amount of mileage that is required is about 75, but one of them runs 70, the other runs 73, etc. The faster you run those 70-75 miles as a miler, the bigger the improvements. However, that conflicts with Lydiard's theory of developing that aerobic base through easy running. The key is time. If you give yourself 12 weeks of base building...you will automatically have to run at a slow enough pace to not break down. You just have to run at the fastest pace possible for those 12 weeks, without breaking down. This is why Hicham's training cycles were only 21 days long. His average pace was about 4:40...and that was for 30-60 minute runs, not always intervals.

Another issue is that there are milers out there that run 100-120 miles per week which means that they should have better 5K/10K times. However, when the track season comes, they'll automatically have to do mile-specific training. The missing piece is long tempo training. Of course it's hard, and that's why Hicham would only run for 3 weeks at a pace like that. Everything just kind of falls into place now.
_________________
My favorite all time race: Hicham El Guerrouj - Prefontaine Classic Mile 2002 http://youtube.com/watch?v=4YykUTHzOL8
¥London 2012 XXX Olympiad¥
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