The Parker Valby Training Effect on College Track Times

After the success of a ‘broken runner’, Parker Valby, she first shared her amazement of the benefits of cross-training in Spring 2022, then reiterated it with more details after amazing cross-country success in Fall 2023. An unassuming broken high school runner, Elizabeth Leachman, took notice, followed Parker’s training ideas, and salvaged her career to become one of the best high school runners over the past year.

Have Parker’s training ideas been picked up by other successful collegiates over the past year, to partially explain the improved times?

I think Parker’s training can do a couple of things for runners:

(1) Keep them from excess physical pounding and overtraining;

(2) Improve their cardiopulmonary fitness, and leg strength.

I was prompted to quickly throw this thread idea out there after looking at the # of athletes with an in-season time that is better than the historical Indoor Championships Meet Event Records.

Edit: “…she first shared her amazement of the benefits of cross-training in Spring 2022, then reiterated it, giving more details after amazing cross-country success in Fall 2022.

She hit a speed bump injury in the Spring of 2023, and was almost forced to stick to her high level of cross-training, and subsequently won the 5000m Outdoors. She came back in the Fall of 2023 with even more amazing success in Cross-country, and provided more details on her rather intense cross-training. “

The influence is incredible. After graham blanks got injured, he immediately started cross training. He’s swimming and biking. Had Valby not started this trend, would Blanks be cross training? I doubt it.

promotional videos on elliptical:arctrainer both promote using their products for injury prevention. Arctrainer in particular reduces stress on the knee.

Mike smith at NAU promotes trend mill running as they reduce the pounding. Nico Young was running on the treadmill while smith explained why NAU cross trains.

Unsure when Nico started cross training but could it be the reason he’s having his best year?

It definitely takes a dedicated work ethic and drive to extract maximum benefits, but that’s up Blank’s alley.

Katelyn Tuohy was a gym-rat/swimming cross-trainer in high school. Parker Valby in a relatively recent interview said she didn’t even know cross-training was a thing in high school.

I remember seeing clips of Nico on an eliptical during an injury bout from (I think) his high school days.

The difference now is that Valby has brought lasting awareness and credibility to the potential benefits.

Edit: “…has brought lasting awareness and credibility to the potential benefits.and that it is legitimate training for runners even if not injured.”

Cross training is not new. Allowing healthy runners to race while running 3 hours a week or less, we will see. Are there enough gym aerobic machines at every school? It's still sub-optimal. Training in this manner, an athlete is missing some training aspects of training. Come Olympic Trials, you will see.

I already stated cross-training is not ‘new’, but what is different is that Parker Valby has shown an extremely bright light on it over the past couple of years. Cross-training was one of Katelyn Tuohy’s high school ‘training secrets’, but she was also injured in high school, so besides the lack of broad awareness and visibility back then, it would have still been primarily associated with just injury rehab.

Independent of the OlyTrials results, we definitely can see a big improvement in yr-over-yr times, which I don’t think is primarily shoe related. Even for the collegiate women not yet incorporating serious cross-training into their regime, there nonetheless may be some psychological fallout from Valby’s training success; I.e., ‘a rising tide lifts many boats.” “That girl is successful running only 3-days a week? I have to pick it up, to not look so bad.” , etc.

For someone to train like Valby, they would need to be in her situation, which is probably not having a choice. If Valby wasn’t so fragile, and could do most of her training in the form of running, she would be just as good.

Cross training has been around and used forever. Marlee starliper made it to NCAA 5k finals training on an elliptigo.

I just think that most athletes do not experience the fast success that Valby has had with it and take quite a bit longer to recover fitness from any injury, cross training or not. Countless examples of runners in the NCAA and out taking more than a year to recover fitness while cross training, let alone advance.

She had no choice initially, but to train with heavy cross training, because she was injured. (Injuries are very common in the sport.)

Valby and Leachman now keep it part of training even when not injured. Leachman indicated she thinks a back issue kept her from successfully doing high mileage. But there is no reason to think Valby is more “fragile” than other accomplished runners.

Injuries happen for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, it is typically due to the body not adapting to increased workload quick enough.

Your reply that Valby would be just as good if she instead mostly just ran is indicative of the short-sighted old-school dogmatic training philosophies that have hounded this board for years.

I don’t know Valby form looks a little different like steps are more labored. Looks painful these days running.

On the contrary, at SEC’s, her stride looked as balanced as I’ve ever seen from her.

It works for women, specifically the very fit tiny ones.

I think the cross training heavy program can get you in good shape but only to the level of a good high school boy (which is elite for college women). But if they are already super fit and have the right body comp.

I don’t think it works for the men.

The turnover required to run fast is still needed. Running sub 13:30 is hard on the body.

Many, many elite distance runners do no cross-training at all. Are you suggesting they would run even faster if they did the bulk of their aerobic work on an arc trainer? Training like Valby does, would be far too tedious for people that can easily tolerate normal distance training.

One person’s success, doesn’t prove that running to train for running, is shortsighted, old-school and dogmatic.

Building the fitness did not happen over night. She was running 70+ miles a week of Solinsky’s training before the injury in early Spring 2022. Her results at Outdoors from mostly cross-training was very convincing, that fitness triumphs ‘speed’, for fitness is essential, and ‘strength’ leads to ‘speed’.

Her intense cross training enables her to keep the ball rolling building fitness.

I think the argument would be that the use of intense cross training adds to the list of fast athletes by enabling some who can't tolerate a lot of running to still gain fitness. Cook, Valby, Leachman seem to be 3 examples of that. But I would be surprised if many are running less and cross training more. But I guess I could be wrong. And who knows, it might turn out to be a great idea to take some pounding off the legs.