Sustained SpeedOne of the great things of working with different coaches is learning new training techniques. I have been preparing for IM NZ in Christchurch, and have been fortunate to to train under Dr. John Hellemans. John is an excellent coach and has been training champion athletes (including himself!) since the 1980s. Those of you who read my article for first-timers probably noticed that I am a fan of building endurance before speed. My views on this subject are based largely on watching numerous friends suffer running injuries, as well as my own experience in trying to improve my times. However, I have been trying to put a little extra zip in my run and John had some suggestions for me. John coaches a weekly speed session that is attended by the likes of Ben Bright and Craig Watson, New Zealand's Olympic Tri Team - these boys are FAST! Eight weeks ago, with fear in my heart, I turned up for my first Kiwi speed session. I am grateful to John for sharing his experience with Sustained Speed (SS). What I am going to present is a simplified version of a technique developed by Veronique Billat, a French scientist. Those of you who are interested in the full version can have a look through the references at the end of this article. Dr. Billat has done a lot of very interesting research into this subject. Those of you who subscribe to Inside Tri, will have seen an article on this subject by Joe Friel. I am grateful to Joe for sharing his thoughts with me. The beauty of SS is that it takes the guesswork out of speedwork. At the track, I have the toughest time finding the right pace. Almost all of the time, I start out too hard and end up dying at the end of the session. SS tells you the pace to run, doesn't hurt (much) and, according to Dr. Billat's research, is just as effective as extremely painful super-threshold running that many athletes do. To kick off we need to define a few terms: vVO2 Max Pace - This is the speed that you are able to achieve when running at VO2 Max Pace. VO2 Max is your maximum rate of oxygen consumption. For ease of reference, I am going to express vVO2 Max in seconds per 400m (one lap of a standard track). This makes it easier to explain the actual workouts. TlimvVO2 Max (T lim v VO2 Max) - This is the length of time that you can sustain your vVO2 Max Pace. This gives a stamina component to apply against the vVO2 Max Pace. To find your vVO2 Max Pace, Dr. Billat suggests using a protocol of continuous 200m intervals at an increasing pace (see references). We used a quicker method. John had us run a six minute all out time trial. Six minutes is the length of time the majority of athletes can maintain their vVO2 Max. I will use myself for an example. After a good warm up of 20-30 minutes, we started the test. Under strict instructions not to blow up, I ran a series of continuous 400m intervals - 80 secs, 79 secs, 78 secs, 77 secs and then an extra 250 meters before time ran out (and I collapsed to my hands and knees). My result was 1850 meters in six minutes. To get your vVO2 Max Pace (in seconds per 400m) you divide 360 by the number of 400m segments you complete. I managed 4.6 segments, so my vVO2 Max Pace is 78 secs per 400m. Let's call this my SS Pace. Dr. Billat suggests a second test 48+ hours later to determine your TlimvVO2 Max, but seeing as this can be quite stressful, I don't think this test is strictly necessary to achieve the desired results. The test is simple enough, you run at exactly SS Pace until you miss a 200m split. The time that you lasted is your TlimvVO2 Max. The references explain how to use this figure. Armed with your SS Pace, there are a series of workouts that you can do. Workout #1 Workout #2 Workout #3 Workout #4 There are a few points to remember with this type of training: #1 - Once per week. As an IM triathlete, you only need to do one of these sessions a week. More will likely leave you tired for your other key sessions. #2 - Start out easy. Dr. Billat had elite runners doing 15 minutes of this type of work once a week and achieved great results with improving threshold speed as well as economy. For your first few weeks, I would recommend running at 4-10 secs over SS Pace. Gradually, increase the speed and the workload. #3 - Focus on technique. Something John made very clear to us is that we must hold form when doing this work. Surprisingly, when we focused on form alone, the intervals became easier and our times improved. #4 - Timing. I would start to add the SS work 8-11 weeks before your first A race of the year. For those of you racing IMCali, that means starting in March, hitting it a little harder in April and easing off in May as you approach race day. For IMNZ, I started eight weeks out and my last session was 12 days before the race. #5 - Watch your speed. If you are a good runner then you will be able to run these sessions at faster than SS Pace. Dr. Billat's work has shown that this is not necessary. Stick to SS Pace, you will get the same benefit and recover quicker. #6 - Warm-up and cool down. I have enjoyed doing a long warm up before the main set. Typically, my warm up has been 30-45 minutes, a good time to do core conditioning and technique drills. After the main set, I have been doing a 15-30 minute run at long slow distance (LSD) pace. #7 - Testing. You will probably want to repeat the six-minute test every 4-6 weeks. It's a "nice" session in itself. If you are new to running or injury prone, then the risks of this technique probably outweigh the benefits. However, if you have a solid running base, you will want to consider adding a weekly SS session to your build preparations. See you at the races, gordo Billat References General Information on Billat's Study: Specific Methodology for VO2Max Test: Note the 200m protocols (referred to above) are summarized here More on Billat as well as some specific training ideas: Billat, V., et al. 1999. Interval training at VO2max: Effects on aerobic performance and overtraining markers. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 31(1): 156-163. Véronique L. Billat, Jean Slawinski, Valery Bocquet, Alexandre Demarle, Laurent Lafitte, Patrick Chassaing, Jean-Pierre Koralsztein:Intermittent runs at the velocity associated with maximal oxygen uptake enables subjects to remain at maximal oxygen uptake for a longer time than intense but submaximal runs. Eur J Appl Physiol 81 (2000) 3, 188-196 |