The following the newsletter that I sent out to subscribers a month ago. I shared the first three parts of it here and I thought I would be appropriate to share the rest of it. I hope you enjoy it. You can join the newsletter at the bottom of this post.
There is a project called “This I Believe” – http://thisibelieve.org/ – that is based off of the same series done by Edward R. Murrow. Here is my list as it applies to training. It is not a comprehensive list, but it’s close.
I believe if an athlete wants to run faster, they need to run. The Law of Specificity for a runner means that you have to spend a significant amount of time running to get better at running. Now, the ratio of running to non-running work may (and probably should) change throughout the life of a given athlete. Early in a career, when the athlete doesn’t have a very good aerobic foundation, more running needs to occur. When the athlete is in their late thirties and beyond, a bit more general strength (potentially weight room work) and a bit less running is probably the best recipe for success. But the bottom line is that if you want to improve as a runner then you have to run.
I believe that the long run is the key workout for developing the aerobic metabolism (though many would argue that threshold training is better). [Read more…]