More on the importance of speedwork

from a training Boston marathon training manual - Bill Rodgers and Billy Squires for John Hancock's marathon group.

Two points underlined in the manual:

a) intensity of training pace, not duration of the training run, is a more important factor in developing fitness for the marathon. The best predictor of marathon pace is the average speed of 6-10 mile training runs.

b) as the intensity is increased, you must also couple the increased intensity with appropriate rest and proper nutrition. Rest is a critical element in training.


from Tim Noakes --The Lore of Running ( I have his 900+ page book if anyone wants to borrow it)

When evaluating the training patterns of 88 runners in the 1982 Glasgow Marathon, Grant and colleagues found that that average distance run in training was 37 miles per week for the 12 weeks prior to the race, and this ranged from 15 to 64 miles. This study also debunked two important myths.

Firstly, there is no relationship between weekly training distance and marathon time (as shown by Franklin and others)(2).

Secondly, despite their apparent inadequate training, the runners did not slow down dramatically after hitting their predicted ‘collapse point’ at about 17 mile. Thus, they could find no evidence to support the collapse-point theory proposed by Ken Young(3). This theory holds that runners who do not train more than 63 miles per week ‘collapse’, and are reduced to a ‘shuffle’ when they race more than three times their average daily training distance for the last eight weeks before the marathon.

For the first six to eight years of my running career, I trained exclusively by running long, slow distances. However, I now firmly believe that this training approach, which emphasises distance training to the virtual exclusion of speedwork, although very safe, is not the best way to train for any distance, including ultra-marathons. I endorse Roger Bannister’s view that high mileage distance training increases the athlete’s speed of recovery from effort, but does not increase racing speed. The athlete must achieve a balance by doing just the right amount of speed training.