Can too much Threshold running make you slower?
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the importance of a balanced training approach for runners, cautioning against over-reliance on threshold training. They argue that while building a strong aerobic base is crucial, neglecting high-intensity workouts like V2 Max and 5K pace sessions can limit race performance. The key is to integrate challenging, uncomfortable training to push personal limits and improve race outcomes, suggesting that a mix of steady runs, threshold work, and intense efforts is essential for optimal performance.
Takeaways
- πββοΈ The speaker emphasizes the importance of including hard, race-specific training sessions at least once a week to improve race performance.
- π The script discusses the limitations of solely focusing on threshold training and the need to balance it with high-intensity workouts.
- π The speaker shares personal experiences, suggesting that a mix of training types, including threshold and V2 Max efforts, is crucial for progress.
- πͺ The importance of pushing through discomfort and negative emotions during training is highlighted as a way to improve mental and physical resilience.
- π The concept of a 'pyramid' of fitness is introduced, with the foundation being steady and threshold runs, and the peak being the race potential achieved through harder training.
- π The speaker warns against becoming too comfortable with steady running and neglecting the harder, more intense training sessions that are necessary for race readiness.
- π€ The script encourages runners to question their training routines and to be open to trying different types of workouts to find what best suits their goals.
- π« A caution is given against becoming addicted to or stubbornly sticking to a single training method, such as threshold training, without considering the need for variety.
- π§ The psychological aspect of training is underscored, with the speaker noting that training should prepare runners to handle the mental challenges of racing.
- π The speaker suggests that incorporating a variety of training methods, including those that are uncomfortable or challenging, can give runners an advantage in races.
- π The importance of building a strong foundation with steady and threshold runs, while also pushing the limits with high-intensity sessions, is reiterated for achieving peak performance.
Q & A
What is the speaker's opinion on threshold training?
-The speaker believes that while threshold training is important for building a foundation, it should not be the sole focus of training. They suggest that it may not yield the best results without incorporating harder, more race-specific efforts.
What is the role of V2 Max efforts in training according to the speaker?
-V2 Max efforts are crucial for pushing the limits and improving race performance. The speaker emphasizes that these once-a-week hard sessions are what truly push the body's potential and should not be neglected.
Why does the speaker feel that some athletes might be getting frustrated with their race performance?
-The speaker suggests that athletes might be getting frustrated because they are not seeing the expected results from their training during races. This could be due to an overemphasis on threshold training without enough high-intensity work.
What does the speaker mean by 'the pyramid' in the context of training?
-The 'pyramid' is a metaphor for the structure of an athlete's training. The foundation represents steady and threshold runs, while the peak represents the athlete's race potential. The speaker argues that both are important, but one cannot reach the peak without a strong foundation and hard training sessions.
What is the speaker's advice for athletes who feel their race performance is not improving despite training?
-The speaker advises athletes to incorporate harder training sessions into their routine, such as V2 Max efforts and race-specific workouts, to push their limits and improve their race performance.
How does the speaker describe the importance of psychology in training and racing?
-The speaker highlights the psychological aspect of training, emphasizing the need to overcome negative thoughts and discomfort during intense sessions. This mental strength is crucial for pushing through during races.
What is the speaker's view on the balance between steady running and high-intensity training?
-The speaker believes in a balanced approach where steady running and threshold work build the foundation, but high-intensity training is necessary to push the peak of one's performance pyramid.
Why does the speaker warn against becoming too comfortable with steady running?
-The speaker warns that becoming too comfortable with steady running can lead to a plateau in performance, as it may not challenge the athlete enough to improve their race potential.
What does the speaker suggest as a strategy to avoid getting stuck in a training rut?
-The speaker suggests varying the training routine by including a mix of steady runs, threshold workouts, and high-intensity sessions to continuously challenge the body and mind and avoid stagnation.
How does the speaker describe the importance of practicing uncomfortable rhythms in training?
-The speaker emphasizes that practicing uncomfortable rhythms in training helps athletes prepare for the demands of a race, making it easier to push through when they need to during an actual competition.
What is the speaker's final advice to athletes regarding their training approach?
-The speaker's final advice is to not get addicted or stubborn with a particular training method, but to be open to a mix of training types that will help move the athlete forward and prepare them for race day.
Outlines
πββοΈ The Importance of V2 Max Training
The speaker discusses their experience with threshold training and its limitations. They emphasize that while threshold training is essential for building a foundation, it's the V2 Max efforts done once or twice a week that truly push performance boundaries and improve race outcomes. The speaker shares their frustration with races feeling laborious despite consistent training, attributing this to neglecting the harder, more intense training sessions. They advocate for a balanced approach that combines threshold training with challenging workouts to enhance both physical and psychological readiness for races.
ποΈ Building the Pyramid of Performance
This paragraph delves into the concept of building a solid foundation for athletic performance, likened to constructing a pyramid. The foundation represents steady and threshold runs, which are crucial but not sufficient for peak performance. The speaker warns against becoming too comfortable with this 'safe' zone and neglecting the harder training sessions that elevate the pyramid's peak, which represents race potential. They stress the importance of incorporating intense sessions like V2 Max and 5k efforts to push beyond the foundation and reach higher performance levels.
π₯ The Role of Intensity in Training
The speaker reflects on the necessity of including intense training sessions in one's routine to avoid stagnation and to continue improving. They recount their own training history and how a mix of hard work and challenging sessions contributed to their past successes. The speaker encourages runners to experiment with a variety of training methods, including long runs and high-intensity intervals, to discover what drives them forward and to avoid becoming complacent or stubbornly attached to a single training method. They conclude by reminding viewers of the importance of adapting and challenging oneself in training to achieve better race results.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Addiction
π‘Threshold
π‘V2 Max
π‘Foundation
π‘Race Potential
π‘Psychology
π‘Intensity
π‘Training Pyramid
π‘Lactate Threshold
π‘Mileage
π‘Performance Plateau
Highlights
The speaker discusses the limitations of threshold training and its impact on performance.
Emphasis on the importance of incorporating V2 Max efforts into training once a week for optimal results.
The role of threshold training as a foundation for building fitness, but not enough for peak performance.
The necessity of pushing beyond comfort zones in training to improve race performance.
The psychological aspect of training and how it affects race day performance.
The frustration of not seeing improvements despite consistent threshold training.
The analogy of building a pyramid to represent the balance between foundation and peak performance.
The dangers of becoming too comfortable with steady running and neglecting harder training.
The importance of variety in training to avoid stagnation and promote progress.
The speaker's personal experience with the benefits of harder training sessions over threshold work.
The concept of practicing uncomfortable rhythms in training to improve race performance.
The need to push through negative emotions during training for better race outcomes.
The speaker's realization of the importance of a mix of training intensities for optimal performance.
The idea that runners should challenge themselves with uncomfortable training sessions to see progress.
The potential for addiction to certain training routines and the need to break free from them.
The importance of not clinging to past training successes and being open to new methods.
The speaker's advice on finding what type of training makes one question running the most.
Encouragement to try different training methods to discover what truly helps move one forward.
Transcripts
and I clung to it I became addicted to
it I became addicted to it's just about
the work this threshold stuff if I keep
doing it it's just about to work I'm not
saying it doesn't work for everybody I'm
just saying threshold I'm just telling
you that I've tried it and done it and
repeated almost the same patterns a few
times now and it's not getting the
results out of me that I've previously
been able to achieve doing less time at
altitude doing less mileage the guys
that are doing the threshold stuff well
the guys that are achieving success
doing the threshold work they're still
ones per week doing really hard V2 Max
efforts on Saturdays or or whatever day
per week that they pick that specific
hard day that's what people need to be
talking about not the threshold stuff
that's building this Foundation it's the
V2 work that once a week pushing really
hard that's pushing your ceiling higher
and pulling you up to towards that sort
of race potential as you neglect that V2
stuff that Mac stuff you're just
dropping down down down closer to
falling back on wherever your foundation
is so if you haven't raced lately or
ever at all and felt you know just like
the race feels like hard work that
you're you're trying to push you're
trying to sort of run it whether it's
the goal piece that you'd like or you're
you're trying to keep up with a group
you know mid race that you've tried to
sort of like attach yourself to and you
just find that it's hard work you just
find that just trying to get the body to
you know go in that direction to move at
that piece it just feels like hard work
and it's frustrating because you know
when you've trained or when you've been
pushing in training it hasn't felt that
way and so you're frustrated because
naturally it's like you know what is
going on here this is not how it felt a
week ago this is is not how it felt 10
days ago 2 months ago and suddenly then
on race day it just feels
labored that's probably how I've felt in
a lot of you know races lately and it's
not always how it's been and the reason
I'm telling you that is because I've
started probably pushing a bit more in
training and I've probably adapted the
attitude of you know sorry for the
bluntness but you know this threshold
stuff all the time and see getting back
to just pushing and almost like making
sure that at least once a week maybe
twice a week you're in that like
uncomfortable state in training well
then I think for sure as when it
comes to that next race and you're you
know being asked the question to push a
little bit well the body and brain it's
going to be able to respond because
you've been practicing that
uncomfortable Rhythm that pushing when
you don't really feel like it when you
have to like refocus when you have to
recompose yourself because naturally you
just want to slow things down the last
few sessions that I've done I was in
Flagstaff Arizona I got the teeth pulled
that had probably hindered a lot of the
London
buildup that's gone so that excuses are
gone and now it's like now you have
permission to work now you don't need to
control the lactate now you don't need
to control the effort levels but then
with that comes but that's harder but
I'm not here to preach that you know
threshold isn't important I'm not here
to preach that you know you do need to
build a foundation you do need to build
layers and layers of Fitness but it's
almost like if you're not doing
something pretty hard in training you
know once a week possibly twice a week
your body physically your physiology and
your psychology they're going to find it
very difficult on R EST day when
suddenly you're asking them to do
something they're not capable of doing
so the role of the foundation you know
the the steady runs the threshold stuff
you're you're building a layer you know
you're you're building this very bottom
like if we if we picture a pyramid right
this whole bottom layer is is is going
to be your your foundation that's your
steady state stuff that's your threshold
work and that's where you're building
you know this foundation and as your
foundation then gets a little bit higher
so does your probably we could name it
your racing potential but while you're
building that sort of foundation it's
still only potential so the more of that
stuff you do likely the more potential
you have have to race well but the
problem is that in order to build your
pyramid almost upward and and get closer
to that you know really good race
potential you do need to do the harder
trading we're talking about V2 Max
efforts we're talking about 5k effort
sessions we're talking about you know
maybe doing like instead of where you've
got your threshold piece and you do your
maybe you do four times 2K well suddenly
you do four times 2K that little bit
above that threshold piece and then
actually towards the last few they're
they're that difficult that you kind of
want to quit early but you don't you
push through it and that's what then
starts to you know push this pyramid up
towards the this is where your best
potential race lies if you don't have
the foundation and you only do the
harder stuff you can't build a pyramid
from the middle up so that's your you've
got your upward you know you're trying
to get to to the top of this pyramid but
if you just stack all the way up the
middle it'll fall over it'll collapse
because you do need the foundation but
the danger is that you just get too
comfortable in the steady running zone
two zone three you cling to it you get
excited by the fact that it's getting
quicker but you've built the foundation
right but you haven't really inflated
your your Peak right so you're the peak
of your pyramid is still down here down
at the foundation and even though that's
in a really good place a really sexy
place and I am the word worth it getting
at the a bloody brilliant position
higher than it's ever been before faster
than it's ever been before but then I
neglect pushing it upward and what
pushes it up when you start to do those
harder intense sessions when you start
to do that stuff that really starts to
test you in training because let's make
no mistake here running is brutal racing
is brutal and if you haven't done stuff
like that in training if you haven't
pushed yourself to a place in training
where you're thinking H I can't be asked
I don't need this and then you're like
that's just those negative thoughts
coming in love this I want this and you
push through it and you remind yourself
it's okay one lap at a time 2 minutes at
a time one minute at a time break it
down to every 15 seconds it doesn't
matter but you push through those
negative emotions you push through that
little uncomfortable State and a week
later you figure it out better you deal
with it better because a lot of things
have moved on physically you've moved on
psychologically you've moved on and
guess what your physiology has moved on
you're starting to bring that sort of
pyramid to a better Peak and you're not
just sitting down at this Foundation
stage a lot of people are finding a lot
of success in working on threshold PES
and they will improve that potentially
really good race result that can come
but you must still at least once a week
be working on those harder efforts those
more race specific efforts and that's
something that I'm learning I'm falling
into sort of the Trap of I'm falling
into this trap where you know I go out
there this morning I'm in St meritz I
flown from Flag Staff and now I'm in S
meritz I could have gone and done what I
always do you know four to five times 2K
kept the lactate sort of two and all of
a sudden I'm like no you know we'll do
and it was mile reps and then some at
hundreds and because I'm having to run
the best part of 30 seconds per mile
quicker than I would have done in you
know the sort of like 522 lactate type
stuff all of a sudden I'm running at 445
ps450 and it sucks honestly it sucked I
think my exact quote after the first
mile was this is Hell on Earth obviously
it's not but because I've neglected that
stuff because I haven't been doing that
work then I'm not used to it so the
effort feels really hard but actually
it's an effort that I can sustain for
quite a lengthy period of time when I've
put in the work when I've built that
capacity to be able to do that work when
I've got the psychology used to doing
that work and I thought this sort of
YouTube was really important because
there's so much information out there
now about training there's so much about
this threshold that threshold as much as
getting your threshold Pace to you know
a faster place is really important
you'll still be limited because
threshold effort and threshold pace is
never going to be the same as 5K Pace or
V2 Max Pace you know you're 78 minutes
of hard work you're sort of like 15 to
20 minute range that harder stuff and
you can get addicted to just getting
into this routine of you know it's easy
to just go do that five or six times six
minutes at threshold and Runners have
quite addictive personalities so just be
careful that you're not clinging to
something because you're being stubborn
because you're desperate for the work
because you've clung to it because
you've stuck to it now that I've started
doing a mixture of harder sessions a
mixture of maybe some faster work it
just brought back memories of this is
how I used to do it this is how I
trained in that buildup the 209 this is
how I trained in the buildup the running
61 108 this is the stuff that I was
doing when I was 18 19 20 years of age
I'm bloody racing quicker over 10K and
half marathon that I am now when I was
doing probably half the mileage that
I've done now when I wasn't doing
altitude camps when I wasn't as focused
this is the work that I was doing back
then that pushed me forward you're
always trying to find what will help
move you forward you're always trying to
find what gets your body going what gets
your psychology in a really good place
what tests you so that on race day
you're not found out so that on race day
you can handle that race better than
perhaps you've ever handled it before
that's the bottom line start doing a
mixture of training and see what makes
you question running the most see what
makes you uncomfortable maybe you don't
like long runs add in a long run maybe
you don't like doing 10 * 400s at your
V2 Max X effort with maybe 60 to 75
seconds rest maybe you don't like being
at that Max effort maybe you don't like
doing five times a mile at perhaps what
you can currently race a 5k or a 10K in
that's going to be tough sessions when
you're starting to run at those sort of
like efforts those efforts above
threshold and because the reps are a bit
longer mile 2 Mile perhaps suddenly it
asks the question of the psychology do
you want this and if you think about it
if every everybody bloody else is doing
threshold and you start get getting good
at not only doing threshold but the
other stuff that's going to move you
forward well then you've got the
advantage think of your steady running
think of your threshold as building that
Foundation but do not neglect the harder
stuff that pushes that potential forward
that pushes that this is where my race
potential is right now this is where my
race p is at right now do not neglect it
don't get addicted or stubborn to I'm
two weeks away from this working I'm 3
weeks away from this working but I've
done it for that long now that I want to
keep doing it you know get rid of that
attitude that attitude it doesn't
matter what you done last week or the
week before it doesn't matter that
you're clinging to it and you're
desperate for the work start figuring
out what really helps you move forward
and dedicate time to that I hope you
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