Wednesday 28 February 2007

Train harder

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 with
Hi folks, a very brief check in as I am busy today! I ran a clockwise BBQ Stakes pb today by three seconds, 25:00. Helen also ran a three second pb, 26:24. See, train for the marathon and all your times improve! (unless and until you actually run the marathon, that is). Actually, that's not what I really think. What I really think is, 120km per week is training for the 3k. When I was coaching my squad of good athletes 20 years ago, that is what we did. The girls: Susan, Mary, Carol, Karen, Isabella, Glenda all ran about 110k per week of hard training to improve their 3k to 10k times. The boys: about the same but they/we were B graders unlike the girls who were A graders. The last ten years of training Vets I have been more cautious, but I am starting to rethink and now believe the longer distances are fine. One important concession I would make with Vets is, when they do a fast session or race, they need a little more recovery time. So instead of three long hard days a week I would recommend two; instead of three fast days a week I would also recommend two, but the effort and intensity does not need to be diminished. The main problem I see with most Vets is they don't train hard enough, they are happy just to potter along from day to day. If your health isn't suspect, go for it, don't hold back! But do allow a little extra recovery time than you would have twenty or thirty years ago. There, that's my two minutes flat stream of consciousness post for the day. Back on my head.