Kev's Koaching Korner

Fraserburgh Running Club

The place for News, Gossip and Results about Fraserburgh Runners

Last updated on September 15 2008

The place for ideas to turbo boost your running performance

Can Science be used to beat Charlie?

A heart rate monitor is an underrated misunderstood training companion. Many runners use them but don't get their money's worth from them, they can be used for three important things, 1-Training 2-Self-assessment 3-Racing. But before you start to use a monitor it is vital you know your maximum heart rate, so how do we find this out, one formula is to subtract your age from 220 but this is not always the best way, a more accurate method would be to run flat out 1 min, with 1 min recovery repeated 3 times with the last one giving you your MHR. Once your armed with this information, your ready to do scientific training with a heart rate monitor. Sports Scientists say you should do all your aerobic training between 60% and 80% of your MHR, so for example if your MHR is 180 your steady endurance runs should be in heart range of between 108-130 beats per min. Faster threshold running should be between 85%and 90% of MHR, and all anaerobic running i.e. speed work and reps should be in the 90%-95% heart range. Some runners use them racing to keep their correct pace, although having tried this myself i feel this is not a good idea. Several years ago when i used a HRM regularly on training runs it helped give me a self assessment of my fitness, for example if my 10 mile training rout was getting quicker in the same heart range i knew i was getting fitter. Another important benefit from monitors is recovery runs after racing and all hard training, to many runners go out the next day and run to hard for any recovery to take place, remember your traning is only as good as your rest keep recovery runs in the 60%-70% of MHR range. I personally feel heart rate monitors are a good investment, when i was at my fittest i was regularly using one for most of my training (glory days) so i have decided am going to start training with a heart rate monitor again. WATCH OUT CHARLIE.

I'm Looking for a Volunteer!

I recently finished reading a book called train like a Kenyan and I have now worked out how to beat them. I have developed a secret 10 point blueprint of how to compete with them.

1- Get rid of television. Only one in 50 Kenyans have a one.
2 - Sell your car. One in three Kenyans travel by bicycle
3 - Cook all your own food. They do not have any fast food shops in Kenya.
4 - Do not buy kids computer games. Buy them a pair of trainers instead.
5 - Ban all shops from selling tobacco and booze. Optional!
6 - Make all kids walk to school in bare feet.
7 - There is no unemployment or welfare benefit in Kenya. They have learned that man's destiny on earth is work.
8 - Train at altitude for a month at a time, 3 times a year.
9 - Run 100 miles a week.
10 - Be carried off the running track once a week on a stretcher, due to exhaustion

Don't think a'll find any one to carry them out though.

Quantity v Quality - or more Bang for your Bucks

So what's best then, high mileage or high intensity? Different runners swear by both methods to get them fit so its a good argument but what's really best. Well a couple of years back a group of German scientists carried out research into the subject. They took a group of 50 athletes and broke them into two groups of 25. Both groups averaged 30 miles per week before they took part in the experiment. For the next 6 weeks one group increased their mileage by 25 per cent while the other stayed at 30 miles but added 3 interval workouts per week to their training. After six weeks, the high mileage runners improved their 10k times by over a minute but the interval trained runners improved their 10k times by over 2 minutes. So then it appears you get more bang for your buck when you raise the intensity of your training rather than up the mileage. Ed Whitlock from Canada seems to knock all this science on the head. He holds the over 70 age group world records ranging from 5k to marathon. The 74 year old 10k time is 37 mins. and a 2.54 marathon his training regime is a 2 to 3 hour daily run round his local grave yard.

Have you tried Kenyan Hills?

Rolling hills are not just for easter eggs: you can use them for a great training session. Sometimes called kenyan hills because the kenyans do this type of training a lot in their homeland to great effect. Speed work in disguise, one famous coach described them, but not to get confused with the dreaded hill reps. So how do we approach this type of session. First find a hill 200 to 400 metres long with not too steep a gradient, then run up at a good steady pace at about 10k pace intensity. Once you reach the top, immediately turn round and run back down at a fast pace then turn and run to the top again. Continue this for 20 - mins remembering its not hill reps your doing but keep the good steady pace going up and down. This training session can also substitute a tempo run [check previous article on tempo training]. You will have had a really good hill workout by the time you finish.

Remember the Three Day Week

I was checking out my past race results the other day. When I realized my personal best for the10k; 10mile and half marathon were achieved during the year 2000/1.
Finding this very interesting I raked out my old training diary for that that year to analyze what type of training I was doing.
My club back then was Metro Aberdeen and rarely missed Tuesday club night. My mileage at the time wasn't big but I stuck to a basic training structure of three primary sessions, none of which were rocket science.

Tuesday Club night was a fast 10 miler round a hilly route, which could be quite competitive.
Saturday was reps or a hill session.
Sunday was a long steady run of around 2 hours.
The rest of the time was steady runs or out on the bike.

So what does this tell us you may be asking. Well once again it gets back to the value of threshold running and speed work to raise your vO2 max and the long run to improve endurance.
So if you add these 3 sessions to your training week you could be on your way to a few personal bests

Cruising with Kev

Speedwork is a session most runners dread. You think of intervals as painful lung bursting sessions. But the good news is it doesn't have to be like that. The renowned American coach, Jack Daniels PhD invented a more humane approach to intervals and called them Cruise Intervals.

Here is a session I have tried in the past and found to be quite enjoyable and effective.

So how do we go about it.

Well Cruise Intervals are like running in cruise control: you can do the intervals from 5mins to 15min but the most key ingredient is you run at your threshold pace i.e. 15 to 30 seconds slower than your 10k pace with short recoveries. For example try 6x1mile with 1 min rest in-between efforts; or you could do 3x2miles with 2 mins rest in-between.

The point of these sessions would be 6 good quality miles which would go along way to improving your LactateThreshold.
Give this a try sometime you might enjoy it.

Make the most of your training:

Run slow to run fast. No this isn't one of Charlie's quotes. Most sports scientists agree that it takes 48 to 72 hours to recover from a hard workout: even more after a race. Top American coaches say you need a days rest for each mile raced. From personal experience I tend to agree. So after a 10k race 5 to 6 days of easy running to recover fully. To carry on training or racing while still feeling tired is counter productive. This leads to over-training. I can vouch for that. Scientists tell us it takes 10 to 14 days to get the benefit of a hard session. It is pointless to do 2 hard workouts in a row. So to get the full benefit of hard training, run easy between all your hard sessions and races for your body to recover and get stronger. This will enable you to race faster next time. So if you think about it it's not so silly to run slower to run faster.
P.s. Bannister took 5 days off before he became the first man to break the 4 min mile.

Fast tempo running is good for boosting your lactate threshold but not so good for increasing your VO2max. The best way to do this is sessions that raise your heartrate to between 95 to 100 percent max. There are lots of ways to do this.
One good session would look something like this.

1x30secs fast x 30secs jog
1x1min fast x 1min jog
1x2min fast x 2min jog
Start again.
Do six sets
By the end of this your lungs and legs should be burning .Great for getting race fit. ps. this is not lazy runners or the faint hearted.

Do you want to make your 10 k pace feel a little easier - try the following session:

5X5 MINS AT 5K PACE I.E SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN 10K PACE. TAKE 5 MINS RECOVERY IN BETWEEN REPS.

Three Golden Marathon Sessions:
Is there a right way to train for a marathon? Everyone has there own favorite schedule. So what do the top coaches and physiologists have to say on the subject. Well they appear to agree on 3 prime sessions:
Session No 1: A long slow run of up to 3 hours to increase muscle endurance.
Session No 2: A series of runs at your target marathon pace starting with 9 miles building up to 18 miles to give you the feel for that pace.
Session No 3: A series of tempo runs of 5-8miles: 15 to 30 seconds slower than your 10k pace to raise your lactate threshold.
So there you are - it seems to work for most people, although Charlie might have other ideas