| Watch over 50 IAAF Events Live and On-Demand at WCSN.com |
This article is posted with the permission of Peak Running Performance
Training All Systems of Your Body
by Alberto Salazar
A few months ago the editors of Peak Running Performance asked if I
would be interested in writing an article or two discussing my training
programs and philosophies. My response was that while I could easily
accomplish this, one or two articles would never allow me the space and
time to clearly explain myself and the training methods that I would
address. My proposal was to instead begin with an article that outlined
the main components of my training programs, and then follow this
introduction with 5 articles to further clarify each component and the
workouts necessary for success in running.
Part 1 of 6
I was fortunate to be influenced by
some of the great minds in the history of
distance running from a very early age.
In 1972, when I entered my freshman
year in high school, I began to hear
about the University of Oregon – Bill
Dellinger and Steve Prefontaine, from
my older brother Ricardo, who was a
freshman on the Naval Academy’s
cross country and track teams. His
coach, Al Cantello, was a former world
record holder in the javelin and had
been an Olympic teammate of
University of Oregon coach Bill Dellinger.
Al Cantello used to get distance
training ideas from Bill Dellinger, and
those were passed on to me.
The next influence on my high school
running career was Don Benedetti, the
Wayland High School coach, who was
successful while not overtraining his
athletes. Equally important, he allowed
me to train with Bill Squires, coach of
the Greater Boston Track Club, starting
my junior year. At the time, the Greater
Boston Track Club was the preeminent
distance club in the country. It included
Bill Rodgers, who was soon to become
the world’s dominant marathoner of
the time. After graduating from high
school, I was coached directly by Bill
Dellinger during my tenure at the
University of Oregon. My training
programs and philosophies are a
culmination of what I learned from all
of these great coaches, as well as the
knowledge I have gained in my
capacity as a Nike employee. Since
1992, I have had direct access to all of
the top Nike distance runners in the
world and their coaches. Through
them, I have continued to learn and
modify workouts and overall training
regimens for my athletes.
People often ask me what the
biggest change is in training from my
era in the 1970s and 80s, to the training
that takes place in the 21st Century. My
answer is always that the primary
reason why the athletes are running so
much faster as a whole is not a result of
drugs, but rather because of the
advances in training knowledge. The
training programs for the most elite
distance runners in the world is not just
one of higher volumes, but programs of
much greater complexity, breadth, and
scope. In the old days, running high
miles, fast intervals, and small amounts
of weight work were considered to be
the only necessary components of a
successful distance training program.
We now know that there are dozens of
different elements, exercises, and
activities that one must incorporate if
optimal performance is to be
achieved. Training for two to three
hours a day was once considered to
be a maximum amount of time that
could be devoted to one’s career.
However, it is now known that an
athlete can clearly spend five or more
hours per day doing all of the possible
and necessary activities to maximize
their performance. The object of this
first article will be to briefly outline the
different systems of the body, and the
different training programs and
activities necessary to fully develop the
body as a whole. Obviously, the
majority of the people reading this
article probably will not have the time
to fully engage in the training of all the
systems in the body and complete all
of the necessary workouts that I am
outlining. However, all runners can
decide which of these components
they have the time, energy, and
inclination to develop. It may be that
within the time available for training,
the reader may be able to incorporate
another 4-5 exercises or programs that
they can use on alternate days to get
better results.
Looking At The Body As A Whole
Twenty years ago, when I was
competing, the primary emphasis was
on the cardiovascular system. The main
concerns were to strengthen our hearts,
increase blood pathways, and make
our bodies more efficient at
transporting oxygen to our muscles
through training. Success in distance
running was a function of a
continuously improving cardiovascular
system. Doing sufficient amounts of
aerobic work meant high mileage run
at a slow pace. The anaerobic work
consisted primarily of long or short
intervals at race pace or faster. Even
tempo runs played a much smaller role
than they presently do. The concern
was with simulating the exact
cardiovascular requirements of races
through one’s training. The heart rate,
lactic acid levels, and oxygen
consumption had to be driven up to
match the levels that they would reach
during a race. The key was to find the
right amount of short and moderate
length intervals to allow one to run long
intervals, ranging from 1200 meters to
1600 meters at a pace just faster than
race pace for 5000 and 10000 meters.
Once that was accomplished, it was
believed that by doing more intervals
at that pace, or more mileage, one
would encounter great improvements.
Now we know that there are many
systems within the body that need
particular workouts to optimize their
individual performances and your
overall running performance. Similar to
an Indy racecar, there are several
systems in the body that need to be
evaluated, monitored, and trained in
order to have optimum performance
on race day. An Indy racecar’s
mechanics might be concentrating on
the fuel system, the engine’s
horsepower, aerodynamics, chassis,
suspension, tire pressures, heat
regulation, hydrolics, and a myriad of
other systems in the racecar. Like the
systems of a racecar, all systems of the
body must be honed to their optimum
level and compatibility. Having too
much power without adequate
flexibility can lead to injuries.
Copyright Peak Running Performance
This article is posted with the permission of Peak Running Performance
Subscribe to: Peak Running Performance.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
