What was the most important thing you did in training before a big breakthrough?

It was the week before the nationals. I had been struggling to break 47 secs.

I spent the week working on shortening my stride at the front, and getting my hips a little higher. I took a half second off in the next race.

skinemax wrote:

marke wrote:

Anyone else able to report what kind of 5k gains were made from big jumps in mileage?

2010 - 18:36 5K on 40 mpw

2011 - 16:11 5K on 65-70 mpw

Not a huge jump in mileage - but as I got more in shape via easy miles my body was able handle longer intervals...say 5x1200 with 400m jogging rests. Run easy all the time (all of my runs were 7:30-8:00 pace)...BUT NEVER miss the mandatory two workouts per week.

Also, race at least 10 times per year. Nothing prepares you for racing like racing itself. You also need to establish a pre-race routine and race strategy.

This sounds like a great post. I am feeling like racing after many many years of no running or racing until the last two years is just a whole different animal from running alone for training runs. The races are bringing out a whole near gear and seem to be forcing my lungs to grow a little.

I think I am on the verge of a break through: I focus on the mile, yet run xc. My 5k PR heading into the summer was 16:03. This summer, off of base training I just ran a 15:49 in an random 5k road race. Some major changes that I have made:

-Instead of 4am/8pm double I will do 13 in the pm (it is when I feel best)

-Starting runs easy and then try to blow away the second half. Ill start out running 7:15's then the last six miles average 6:00 to 6:15

-Listen to body. I felt tired after a hard run on tuesday, so I kept my 13 miler on wed at 7:00. A recovery run does not have to be short, just not too taxing.

-Taking a day a week "off". I ride my road bike for about 30 miles every Sunday. Feels good and my legs are fresh for a week of 70-80 mpw

-Lifting lower body. Always did upper but I used to ignore the legs. Lots of squats, calf raises and lunges. Really helped with some patella tendonitis issues that I have had for years and years.

Long post but hoping this new training helps my next xc season. Great thread.

Consistent, but, moderate mileage (55-60 a week). Also, I took it easy a few days before my race and got a really good massage/stretching session the day before.

Established a base before marathong training, though not much of one, and then also ran higher mileage. Went from 3:14 to 2:55.

Hump de Bump

Coach Owl Birdo wrote:

Olympic weights, plyos and max V work - Got me a 400 meter breakthrough.

Also a big breakthrough after a summer of approx. 80 miles per week - 10 -12 mile singles. Some slow - some progressive. Ran my first Fall track workout of 10 x 800 in 2:02-2:06 on 2-3 min rest. I shadowed a 4:10 miler that workout. Then I had a motorcycle wreck. (I was a 2:00 800 guy the spring before that.)

Had my best XC race after 4 weeks of 90-100.

didnt read the thread but what the hell kind of 4:10 miler can do 10x800 in 2:02-2:06?

For me the two breakthroughs in my career were preceded by two months of extremely high-intensity training

cmurph wrote:

Coach Owl Birdo wrote:

Olympic weights, plyos and max V work - Got me a 400 meter breakthrough.

Also a big breakthrough after a summer of approx. 80 miles per week - 10 -12 mile singles. Some slow - some progressive. Ran my first Fall track workout of 10 x 800 in 2:02-2:06 on 2-3 min rest. I shadowed a 4:10 miler that workout. Then I had a motorcycle wreck. (I was a 2:00 800 guy the spring before that.)

Had my best XC race after 4 weeks of 90-100.

didnt read the thread but what the hell kind of 4:10 miler can do 10x800 in 2:02-2:06?

For me the two breakthroughs in my career were preceded by two months of extremely high-intensity training

Can you describe what you mean by high intensity?

Any tips from those who made significant jumps in mileage from one year to the next?

I have been reviewing all my past log books, of which there are 30. There were many things i can identify as fundamentally important before made noticeable and significant breakthroughs.

Having long breaks after a long bout of training was one I identified in earlier posts. This has happened more times than chance would suggest, so I believe this was something to first mention.

There were other factors that after reflection I believe helped me progress, perhaps not in a short period, but over a longer time. The most obvious was when I started up at the University of Oregon, my miles were averaging between 50- 60 miles per week. I noticed some improvements all around after increasing this to 70-80 miles per week.

Additionally, I found that in between Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday official work out days, that varied through the year, I started to run my alternate days at what I called "steady run pace", So if I were running tempos at 5:20, steady runs were run from 5:40-5:50 for example.

The other thing I did, that Alberto actually scoffed at when I told him was replacing my Sunday "long run" with a Sunday 4 mile jog recovery run. This helped me tremendously, even though I thought Alberto was a God, I didn't think running 18 after the hard week worked for me.

I went from being a 35 minute 10 k runner in high school at 60 mpw to a 31 min guy and 14:48 5ker at 90-95 mpweek, including hard 1000s on Tuesday with 200s in 30 30 afternoons and Tempos Thursday with a longer workout Sat running mod rate in between and slow and short one day.

I can say also definitively what did not work. I went from 14:48 Junior year to 15:45 Senior year by trying to diet. I was already good race weight, but trying to thin even more made me weak. I could hardly run 32 seconds 200 when 27-28 was easy prior. My steady runs went from 5:30 per mile to 6:00 per mile.

There was a lot of pressure I placed on myself to get better, but doing it by starvation did not help my cause.

Another thing that does not work is running miles for it's own sake without considering performance. Running as many 90 milers in a row did nothing to get me better. I only got burned out. To perform, I needed to practice what I was after,e.g. faster 5 K etc.

Long and slow jogging has made me very stale, so I typically have tried to steer clear of plodding. I understand others have gotten good results this way, but I found it too foreign to what I was after, fast 5Ks and 10Ks.

Lots of other interesting things in these log books. There were many ways I got better and I am convinced, there is no absolute right method that I can identify as most efficient. I have seen things that at one time worked for me, and not work at other times.

The log book has many paradoxes, or seeming paradoxes. Such as how many miles or types of workouts that got me good or made me stale has not always been consistant. The things I have identified so far have generally, but not neccesseriy been true.

In the end, the most important variable is desire to achieve a goal, finding a method that produces positive feedback and maintaining that until the endgame is achieved. Without vision, excitement and a method that seems to be working, running becomes a chore that is far from the ideal I was looking for in the first place.

Thanks Art

Had run 8:10 for 3000m, and wasn't able to run any faster for about 3 years despite being clearly fitter based on work outs. Was down for 6x1000m 10 days out from a 3000m, ran the first 4 in 2:42 (2min rest). Coach told me to stop session and only jog for the next 9 days 45-60min per day with a few stride outs. Trusted him, did what I was told and ran under 8min. Realised I was trying too hard in the weeks before races and not trusting the basic training (mileage, tempos, long runs) I had already done.

the Donny wrote:

Had run 8:10 for 3000m, and wasn't able to run any faster for about 3 years despite being clearly fitter based on work outs. Was down for 6x1000m 10 days out from a 3000m, ran the first 4 in 2:42 (2min rest). Coach told me to stop session and only jog for the next 9 days 45-60min per day with a few stride outs. Trusted him, did what I was told and ran under 8min. Realised I was trying too hard in the weeks before races and not trusting the basic training (mileage, tempos, long runs) I had already done.

nice

Winter before a great outdoor season last year (I run the 800 & 1500)

-held mileage at what it was before (55-60) but worked on dropping pace from 6:45-7:00 on normal training runs 6:20-6:30

-built up core and upper body lifting from pretty much nothing to 5x a week of core and 3x of upper body

dropped 14 seconds in the 1500 and 3 seconds in the 800 that outdoor season (soph in college)

Did form drills, believed in myself ran more miles, went from 3:32 > 2:53 for the marathon (and hopefully am still improving)

i don't think i responded to this yet but am too lazy to double check. most important thing i did was run more miles at a moderate pace. i ran many miles 30-75 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace and i think that helped tremendously.

bump

bump again

60x440 was the workout that really caused a big breakthrough for me. I ran 3:52.5