Let me get into a point that is often misunderstood. It has been remarked that Lopes could not change pace during races. That is not true.
On 26 June 1982 Carlos Lopes ran a European Record of 27:24.39 in Oslo, beating Fernando Mamede. During that race, Lopes took the lead at 7 km. He broke away by increasing the pace to 57-58secs for both of the next two laps. He then ran the last 1500m in about 3:52 and the last 1,000m in 2:32. Is that not change of pace?
What Lopes did not have was a good final sprint, but that is because he was essentially a slow-twitch runner (ST) and Mamede was a fast-twitch runner (FT). And this is a topic myself and Hadd hope to develop more fully within our thread, because it is fundamental to knowing how best to train, and what events will best suit each individual.
This difference in the physical properties of both Lopes and Mamede basically pre-determined their different training and race strategies.
Lopes knew by trial and error (like all ST’s – see Radcliffe) that he needed to take the lead at some point in the race and run away from the lead pack if he wanted to win. He knew that if he was with anyone at the bell who had a better kick than he did, he was almost certain to lose. We saw this in global finals with Radcliffe who would lead for something like 24 laps and then get passed by three runners in the final sprint (e.g.: Ribeiro, Tulu, Wami).
Mamede, on the other hand, who knew he was fast over 200-400m, simply needed to bide his time within the pack and then try to out-kick the opposition on the final lap. Both of these race tactics had their roots in the physiological differences between both runners. The title of the Cabral & Hadd thread is “Two types of runners…”, and both these world-record holding Portuguese runners offer ideal examples of both types: Lopes (ST) and Mamede (FT). Hadd and I will get into this more deeply in future posts on that thread.
What happens in a race is that Lopes does not have a huge reserve of anaerobic capacity to call upon at the bell. He does not have a sizeable percentage of FT fibres (unlike Mamede) to recruit and use to fire up a faster final minute in a 5,000m or 10,000m race.
In saying that both runners were physiologically different in muscle fibre type, and that this necessitated different race tactics to best suit their individual strengths, it should now be understood that both of these runners (types) also needed different training approaches to maximize their individual abilities. And these training approaches were different despite the fact they both trained under the same coach.
Moniz Pereira’s coaching methodology was strongly based in the intermittent and interval-training style. Later, I will continue the discussion on what his coaching methodology was based upon.
But what I can note right now are some fundamental differences between the training of Lopes and Mamede:
Lopes ran long outdoor tempo runs several times per week: MaxLaSS runs almost daily. He used interval training like cruise “soft” training.
Mamede was the opposite: very easy runs on a daily basis, but then he regularly performed very strong track workouts and most of them as intervals with short recovery.
Lopes would take a longer recovery for the same interval workouts that Mamede did, and he would not be able to run the intervals as fast as Mamede did. This difference is fundamental to the training of both types. ST’s do not need to (and indeed, cannot) run the reps as fast as FT types, plus they need more recovery.
Allow me to clarify one aspect of the training of Carlos Lopes that I have read recently on this board, as well as often heard mentioned in several threads and in Noakes’ book as well as in studies by Billat and other articles.
Those who say that Carlos Lopes did not run tempo runs are wrong. Very wrong.
First we need to decide which Carlos Lopes we are talking about: The young Carlos Lopes junior runner, or the Carlos Lopes from the European Championships of 1971 or from the 1972 Olympics who was lapped in the heats of both events by Lasse Viren?
Or are we talking about the Carlos Lopes after 1975, when he won his first World Cross Country Championship (76 Chepstow WCCC) and was second in the 1976 Olympics, at the finish line just some feet behind the self-same Lasse Viren who had lapped him four years before?
Because if we are to talk about Lopes after 1975, let me assure you he was running very fast on a daily basis and no-one could live with him on those tempo runs.
One of the main aspects that characterized Lopes’ training during his best seasons up to the 2:07:12 World Marathon Best or his 27:17 10,000m run, or the 1984 LA Olympic Marathon win or leading up to his 3 WCCC wins (and 2 seconds) was that fact that he would run 20-40 mins of tempo runs at a paces ranging from 2:55 to 3:05-3:07 per km, several times each week. We might consider these efforts as MaxLaSS and LT pace.
(Note here that Hadd makes a distinction between both paces, Lactate Turnpoint (LTP) pace and Lactate Threshold (LT). “LT corresponds extremely well (and is useful) with training for marathon performance, while the Lactate Turnpoint correlates better with MaxLaSS (Maximum Lactate Steady State) and thus HM and 10k performances.”)
Also on the runs that Lopes considered “easy days” he would often cover 16-17 km or even 18.5 km for a one hour run.
You can believe me on this, because I am Portuguese and the above information has been related in a number of books, interviews and studies, as well as from the mouth of Lopes’ coach and Lopes himself. I trained and followed Lopes by direct observation on a near daily basis for a period of almost 20 years. I was personally present when he (and Mamede) would do their track workouts. I spoke to many runners who would try and go with him on his tempo runs. No Portuguese runner of that period, including Fernando Mamede (13:09 and 27:17 WR) could live with him when he decided to run his 20-30-40 mins tempo runs. Okay, Mamede could, but he chose not to, because he knew he would not be able to handle his planned training for the day after !
I read that Mr Noakes insists on evidence, that only from evidence shall we have a reliable source. Is scientific evidence somehow different from empirical? But then I also realise that he draws some wrong conclusions from wrong information.
I do not know from where Mr Noakes got his information about the training of Carlos Lopes. I am left doubting the conclusion he draws from what he claims are facts and evidence. I believe he had some source of information, but it must have been the wrong source, and I would urge him to go back and check the information once more. No scientist can draw correct conclusions if the initial data/evidence is flawed.
If required, I can provide copies of several publications stating that Lopes performed what we call hard tempos on a several times a week basis. I still have regular access to Lopes and see him frequently – indeed I saw him last Saturday. So, if you are interested, you can come to Portugal, and I can arrange for you to hear what I say confirmed from the mouth of Carlos Lopes himself or his coach !
Soon I will write something I consider very curious and interesting about how Lopes and Mamede trained differently in the 3-day period between the Oslo 5,000m run on 28 June 1984, and the Stockholm 10,000m WR set on 2 July 1984 (in which Mamede ran 27:13 new WR and Lopes ran 27:17 PB).
Post on Cabral & Hadd thread
2 kinds of runners. Which are you?
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2375989&page=2