Sunday 12th June 2011
High levels of intense training, coupled with good diet and plenty of rest may have performance enhancing effects, a new study has shown.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Academy of Research in Sports and Exercise (ARSE) has shown there to be an overwhelmingly strong correlation between the volume of training undertaken and the performance level of a sample of both elite and non-elite athletes. In this groundbreaking piece of research, athletes were given a 6 month training schedule devised by the world renowned coach, Dr Gillian McKeith, before undertaking a 5km time trial. The results were staggering. Around 98% of participants showed an improvement over the half year period, whilst the other 2% made some excuses about the conditions not being right on the day.
This news comes after the recent Prefontaine Classic, where Mo Farah beat a world class field to win the 10,000m in a new European record and Moses Mosop broke the world record for 30km. Asked afterwards what the main factors in his success were, the Kenyan Mosop replied “I just run 200 miles a week no slower than 5 minute mile pace and when I do this for a while I feel quicker,” whilst Farah said “Usually I train 4 times a day, except during Ramadan when I cut it down to 2 sessions a day. Oh, and when Wimbledon’s on the telly.”
When questioned about the project, McKeith said “I am extremely proud of the whole team at ARSE. This is a huge discovery and will forever change the way sports scientists view elite level athletics.” Her claims have been supported by a number of high profile former athletes. The former world record holder at 10,000 metres Haile Tergat, now president of Eritrea, said “In our day it was all blood doping this and EPO that. No one ever said anything about training hard. Yeah, we used to run a bit but it was mainly about who could inject the most oxygen-rich blood into their bloodstream before a race without getting caught.”
However, as with any new discovery, some sports scientists remain cynical about the new research. It was previously thought that talent was the key factor in determining the potential of an athlete and that training had a negligible effect of performance. Most leading academics used to believe that it was God who would determine who would win a race, but this theory was called into question earlier this year after Richard Dawkins’ scientifically rigourous proof that God doesn’t exist.
Meanwhile, amateur runners all over the world are taking to the roads and tracks in order to try out this new ‘training’ phenomenon. Roger Hammond, caretaker at the athletics track at the University of Hemel Hempstead, said “the place is packed now. The university has doubled my hours because of the demand. We used to just get the odd skinny middle-distance type down here knocking out a set of 400s, but now it’s the world and his dog. Literally.” Hospitals are now at capacity due to the number of runners who have been struck by cars, thought to be linked to the increase in the number of people training on the road.
It remains to be seen what the long term impact of these new findings will be, but it is widely believed that the athletics record books will have to be rewritten to reflect the huge leaps in performance that are now inevitable.
Athletics, General Running | running, spoof, training
Friday 3rd June 2011
Pre Classic This Weekend
What a field in the men’s 10,000. Should be a cracker!
Athletics
Saturday 28th May 2011
No, this is not a music blog. I’m not referring to the Kate Bush song, excellent though it is, nor am I referring to Placebo’s equally brilliant cover. This is about some of the training I’ve been doing recently.
Having fallen on a run a few weeks ago, I have been suffering from some muscle tissue damage in my right knee and have gradually been trying to regain strength in it and not lose too much fitness. Two weeks of almost no running were followed by two more of some jogging combined with massage and icing on my knee. I have not been able to train on track but have realised that running hard up hills has a similar training effect but is much less punishing on my knee.
Hill sessions were an element of my training that I had neglected in the past, prefering to do either speed or endurance sessions on the track, but as I stood breathlessly slumped against a wall after my 8th and fastest hill rep on Thursday evening, I realised that hill sessions are the real deal. You get the same anaerobic workout as you do on the track and a nice long recovery as you jog down the hill.
My particular favourite is shown below, a hill that starts flat and gets steeper and steeper as your legs fill with lactic acid. It is also exactly 400m, so although you can’t compare your times to one lap of the track, you’re doing well if you can get close.
Even once my knee heals, I’ll still be running up that hill.
General Running, Training Summaries | hill, knee, running, training
Monday 16th May 2011
Samuel Wanjiru was a man who did things young and quickly. He moved to Japan aged just 15 to pursue his running career, ran a world junior record of 26:41 in the 10,000m aged 18, broke the half marathon world record at the same age, and stepped up to the marathon barely into his twenties. He married young and tragically died young too, passing away yesterday at the age of 24.
At this stage, the details of Wanjiru’s death are unclear, but what is known is that he fell from a balcony at his home following a dispute with his wife. Wanjiru was a troubled athlete, famous not just for his incredible marathon performances but also for his drinking and his erratic behaviour. Only months ago was he arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his wife with an illegally acquired AK-47 rifle. Though the couple publicly resolved their differences, it was clear that there were deep-lying problems. Matters came to a head yesterday, when Wanjiru’s wife reportedly found another woman in the house and the ensuing argument led to him being pushed or jumping from the first floor.
A sad end indeed for a man who should rightly be heralded as a marathon running legend. Quite simply, he has pushed the limits of marathon running like no other man has done before. He has no world record to show for it, and in today’s era of super-fast times his 2:05:10 personal best is a modest one, but the times do not tell the whole story. His gold medal winning performance at the 2008 Olympics was a breathtaking display of powerful front running, and changed the marathon forever. Wanjiru’s style of marathon running, and indeed his attitude to his competitors, was like nothing ever witnessed before. Rather than sitting back and hanging in behind the leader, he would push the pace from the gun, constantly asking questions of his rivals. If you wanted to compete against him, you would have to do it from the start. Every time he raced a marathon, Sammy Wanjiru grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck and kept shaking until no one was left. His slowest ever marathon was run in 2:06:39 on his debut.
He also broke the mould in other ways. Stepping up to the marathon was once the preserve of seasoned track runners, moving up in distance once the top end of their track speed had gone. No longer is this the case. Along with his great rival Tsegay Kebede, he started young in the marathon and reaped the benefits of racing 26.2 miles at the peak of his powers. Wanjiru burst on to the scene in an era when Haile Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat, Hendrick Ramaala and Jaouad Gharib were leading the world marathon circuit, all well into their 30s. What he lacked in experience however, he more than made up for in grit, determination and an unrivalled work ethic. Most ahletics fans are unanimous in the opinion that it was only a matter of time before the world record would have been his.
It is fitting that his last race was a race that epitomised his style of running. In an epic battle of wills against Kebede, he dug deepest to win the 2010 Chicago Marathon. Dropped repeatedly in the last few miles, he put in a powerful surge near the finish to shake off his rival and claim the World Marathon Majors title. He will not be back this year to defend his Chicago crown, nor will he be present in London, scene of his 2009 London Marathon victory, to defend his Olympic gold medal.
He leaves behind his wife, Teresa, and his two young children Anne and Simon. Almost as importantly he leaves behind a legacy in his event and the memories of the most exciting marathon racer the world has ever seen.
Samuel Kamau Wanjiru, 10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011
Athletics | death, marathon, obituary, sammy wanjiru