The following article was provided by McMillan Running, a recommended resource for distance running coaches.

By Greg McMillan

You know how the McMillan Calculator works. You put in your current fitness (either a recent race result or an estimate) and then the Calculator determines training paces that will challenge your body to advance to a high fitness level. The genius, if I may say so, is that it calculates precisely just how much added training stress each of the four training zones can take to push you enough but not too much.

For most runners, using it in this way works perfectly. That’s because most of us are “combo” runners, meaning that across race distances from the mile to the marathon and within each training zone (endurance, stamina, speed and sprint), we are pretty “equal”. We may tend toward shorter races or longer races or do slightly better in short/fast workouts or long/steady workouts but overall, we have a good combination of all four fitness traits.

I’m a good example. If you put in my 5K PR of 14:55, you’ll see that my actual performances at other distances (handwritten) are pretty close to the predicted performances. For example, the calculator will predict from my 5K of 14:55 that I could run 4:17 for the mile (I’ve run 4:13), 30:59 for 10K (I’ve run 30:57), 1:09:04 (my PR is 1:10:28) and 2:25:21 for the marathon (my PR is 2:31:58). From this quick survey of my PRs, you see that I’m pretty close across the board but tend to match or exceed the prediction in the shorter, more speed oriented races. That’s why I call myself a combo-speedster – a runner who is pretty good across all aspects of fitness but do a little better in the speed department compared to the endurance department.

One note: I’ve been lucky to compete from a young age and to compete in all distances, from middle distances of 800m to 5K in high school up to longer distances including the marathon when I was still in peak shape in my late 20s and early 30s. This gives me a really good look at how I compare across distances. If you, however, have never competed on one side of the race spectrum (e.g., you got started during the marathon boom and never really did much speed work or shorter races) then your evaluation may be slightly skewed since you don’t really know your capabilities in shorter races till you spend some time working in your speed and competing more frequently in these races.

That said, I think you see my point. I can insert my current race times (shown below) and get a perfect set of training paces for all my workouts. Since I’m a combo-speedster, I usually find that I’m more on the faster end of the suggested pace range in the speed and sprint workouts whereas I’m in the middle or slow end of the pace range in endurance and stamina workouts.

What if, however, you are not a combo runner but much more of a true speedster or endurance monster? With these athletes, I use a “hybrid” McMillan Calculator. Here’s a real-life example:

A few years ago, I coached a young woman named Jill who is a true endurance monster. If you put her marathon PR into the McMillan Calculator, you’ll see that her long distance races match up but she can’t come close to the predicted times for short races no matter how much we tried.

What happens with athletes like this (or ones who are on the opposite end of the spectrum and true speedsters) is that they can easily hit the training paces for the training zones that match their type but have to kill themselves just to hit the slow end of the range in the training zones that don’t match their strengths. For example, Jill could easily hit the paces for the endurance and stamina workouts but clearly had to strain to hit even the slow end of the range for speed and sprint workouts. Obviously, this isn’t optimal training for an athlete like her. It’s overtraining.

So, for Jill, I created two sets of training paces using two race times. For endurance and stamina workouts, I used her marathon time since these training zones fit her strengths as a runner. For speed and sprint workouts, however, I didn’t use the paces derived from her marathon time. Instead, I put in her 5K time and used the speed and sprint paces from this time. Below, you can see a side by side comparison of the difference in pace ranges from these two calculations.

For Jill and runners like her, I simply use this “hybrid” version of the McMillan Calculator – some paces from one race distance and some paces from another race distance.

The end result is that her training was now optimal, not just for training zones that matched her strengths but also for those zones that she had struggled with before. The benefit of using this Hybrid McMillan Calculator was that her training was so dialed in that she not just got a whole lot fitter but went on to win the US Marathon Title in our second year working together. Not bad and clearly shows that for runners who are true speedsters or endurance monsters, they need to implement this hybrid system to dial in all workouts and get the most from each training zone no matter if it’s your strength or not.

Ready to take your training to the next level? Learn more about our Personal Coaching where you can train with a coach by your side to plan your training and talk about race strategy, performance nutrition, injury prevention, stretching, and much more.

“I have achieved my goals for 5K, 10K, and now a Half Marathon – thanks McMillan Running!”
-James W, RunClub member

This article is provided by McMillan Running a recommended resource for running coaches.

WHILE DIFFERENT IN STYLE, THE BEST SHARE SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS

Our sport has had several truly great coaches over the last few decades. Each has his or her own style — some militaristic, others more Zen, all caring deeply about their athletes. Their training programs, while all sound, are as varied as their personalities.

I’ve been fortunate to spend time with several of these coaches, most notably Arthur Lydiard, David Martin and Joe Vigil. Here’s what they, along with a few others, taught me:

FOLLOW THE FUNDAMENTALS

Every sport has fundamentals. Great coaches hold to a few principles that have been proven throughout history. First, all believe in gradual progression in the stress (mileage and workouts) on the athlete. The best know that it takes time, a lot of time, to build the athlete. No instant gratification with these coaches. Second, they know that basic fitness is the base on which fast racing sits. Each uses the bulk of the year to do preparatory training so that the athlete is ready for the race-specific training that leads to a peak performance. Third, great coaches hold to Lydiard’s “train, don’t strain” mantra. They spend more time holding their athletes back in training than they do pushing them to exhaustion.

EXPERIMENT OF ONE

Talented coaches recognize that each athlete is one grand experiment. They are masters at modifying training programs to better fit the individual. As I joined Lydiard on his last U.S. tour, I commonly heard him provide different (and sometimes opposite) answers to what, on paper, would appear to be two similar athletes. He was a genius at figuring out the subtle differences between athletes, and this informed his answer to each. Great coaches seem to have this ability to see past the training plan and into the athlete. They seem to care more about “How did you feel?” than “What was your time?”

PLAN FITNESS DEVELOPMENT

“Hold, hold, hold.” We all remember this scene from “Brave-heart” where William Wallace makes his band of brothers hold their position until the very last, precise moment when their attack would be the most effective. Great coaches don’t get the athlete as fit as possible as quickly as possible. They plan fitness development across the training cycle, often holding back so as not to peak too soon. This is why their athletes seem to consistently perform their best in championship races. The best coaches control the fitness buildup until the last, precise moment — the peak race..

MENTAL MASTERS

Performance is a collection of many variables, but all great coaches are able to maximize this one: the mental state of the athlete. Each uses different approaches, but the end result is the same — the athlete is ready for anything and everything and willingly goes outside his or her comfort zone. One example: When Deena Kastor won the U.S. cross country championships early in her work with Vigil, everyone around her was celebrating. Her coach, however, wasn’t joining in. “Deena, I’m not going to pat you on the back till you can beat not just the best in the U.S. but the best in the world,” he said. Vigil knew Kastor would respond to this approach — and she did. Working together, they turned women’s distance running around in the U.S. This hard-nosed approach works with some athletes, but it would crush others. Great coaches know how to tell the difference.

MISSING THE MARK

Here are two approaches that mark a not-so-great coach.

1. Including heavy race-specific training throughout the training plan.

The idea of specificity lures some coaches into including too much of it across the training plan. Instead of building basic fitness, they focus too much attention on race-specific training. Runners love this type of instant gratification, as they get fit quickly, but the long-term result is often peaking early and reaching a quick plateau in performances. Watch out for coaches whose athletes have a history of plateaus..

2. Trying to force fitness instead of letting it come.

Great coaches know that fitness builds at its own rate. Poor coaches try to force fitness gains. These are the coaches who are pushing their athletes to exhaustion on a frequent basis. It doesn’t work and is not in the best interest of the runner. Beware of coaches who are pushing their athletes more often than holding them back. Leave the throwing up after each workout to the football players.

This article was provided by McMillan Running , a recommended resource for running coaches.

The proper running mechanics are essential in order to maximize the efficiency of your stride and to reduce the chance of injury. Running properly makes you faster and also allows you to train regularly by not having to modify your workout schedule due to injury.

In the video clip below Coach Eric Orton, author of The Cool Impossible guides your through some critical aspects of the running mechanics. It his belief that a fore foot strike is the single most important aspect of proper running mechanics. In the clip he use slow motion video to illustrate the fore foot strike, stance leg stabilization and knee drive. He emphasizes how important it to absorb the force of the strike from the big toe, to the ankle, to the knee and finally the hip to provide the appropriate stabilization and power necessary to provide propel you forward. He also offers a few drills to help you “feel” the proper form.

For more information form Coach Orton click on the link Running With Eric

The YouTube video has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on.