[…] for a thrill. Maybe we are “team training” for lots of reasons.

Lisa Reed

Grand Ledge, Mich.

MORE ON VO,MAX

Greg Diamond makes some valid points in his letter in your May/June issue. However, there is an oversimplification in what he says. The lactate threshold is a percentage of the VO,max, and, therefore, maximizing the latter is number | on the athlete’s list. While physiologists keep on repeating that the VO,max is apoor predictor of performance, I have not found this to be so when using the 15minute running Balke Test I described in my article (see the Jan./Feb. 1999 issue). Quite clearly, a runner who covers 5K in 15 minutes can run 5K in 15 minutes! He can also, in 95 percent of cases, run 10K in 31 minutes. The Balke Test has this advantage over treadmill testing where the distance run is not considered of major importance.

It’s true that when every effort is made to improve the VO,max, it does not show up in laboratory testing, but it does in the Balke Test.

Bengt Saltin of Sweden, one of the world’s greatest physiologists, has stated that “lactate threshold running is a load of rubbish! Kenyan runners concentrate on running between 80 to 100 percent of their VO,max.” These Kenyan athletes have the highest lactate threshold running paces ever recorded, according to Saltin’s work with them in Kenya.

Those percentages correlate to half-marathon speed (80 percent), 10K speed (90 percent), SK speed (95 percent), and 3K speed (100 percent). Recent research from Canada has revealed that one group of athletes who relied on tempo running (about 10 seconds per mile slower than for one’s best 10K time), when compared to a group doing 3K, 10K, and halfmarathon pace for a month, failed to improve their lactate threshold speed as much as the long, fast, repetition running group.

VO,max improvement is very important. For every world-class freak who can run a good marathon with a VO,max figure of 70 ml/kg/min, there are 10 runners who have a figure of 80 ml/kg/min.

Frank Horwill London, England

YOU GOT THE WRONG GUY

In your May/June 1999 issue, you incorrectly state that Bob

Kempainen’s 2:08:47 from the 1994 Boston Marathon was the American record. USA Track & Field officially recognizes Jerry Lawson’s 2:09:35 from the 1997 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon as the U.S. record. Based on USATF Rule 185, the Boston Marathon course is not record standard because it has excessive elevation drop (i.e., greater than one meter per kilometer). In addition, because the Boston course is point-to-point, it

[…] also can be aided by a tailwind, as in 1994,

USATF editorially lists Kempainen’s 2:08:47 as the U.S. best. A best, run on a certified, non-record standard course, is listed if it is faster than the U.S. record—like Lawson’s 2:09:35. In the USATF lexicon, a “record” and a “best” are not interchangeable. A record is a record and a best is a best.

Ryan Lamppa

USATF Road Running Information Center Santa Barbara, Calif.

POINTS OF CONTENTION

Twoitems in your May/June issue call out for comment:

1. The article on marathon training by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas says “no walking breaks allowed!” Why not? Is there anything in the rule books that prohibits walking breaks? I’ ve never seen anything! Walking breaks have been proven by the experience of many marathoners (including your author Helen Klein and myself) to be effective in enhancing endurance and average speed. Why, then, are they not a legitimate technique to be considered seriously? Is it mere snobbery?

2. The article about the Achilles tendon by Perry Julien says that one should stretch the calf muscles and not the tendon directly. Since the stretch is transmitted to the muscles

through the tendon, how do you sepa

rate the two? I could use some more explanation.

Charles Cohn

Pete Pfitzinger replies: Dear Charles,

Walking breaks during training and racing serve a useful purpose for runners whose goal is to finish the marathon in a reasonable amount of time. Forrunners who wantto achieve their best performance, however, walking breaks during long runs are counterproductive.

Walking will not “enhance endurance and average speed” for the serious runners for whom we wrote our book, Road Racing for Serious Runners. That is because when a serious marathoner includes walking breaks he/she provides less of a training effect to stimulate the physiological adaptations that are crucial to marathon success, such as increased capillary density, increased glycogen storage, and increased ability to utilize fat at race pace.

Peter Pfitzinger, MSc, MBA Auckland, New Zealand

Dr. Perry Julien’s response will appear in our next issue.

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LETTERS @ 131

I’M LOOKING INTO training for my first marathon in October. Currently I run and lift weights regularly. I was wondering what type of weightlifting is recommended during marathon training?

Josh Stewart, Greencastle, Ind.

AS Atrainer and coach, I feel strength training is very important to the runner’s overall training program. However, once you get into longer distances, any type of leg workout should be kept to a minimum. If you have been doing leg work three times a week along with upper body workouts, I would decrease the leg workouts to twice a week with very light weight and higher reps. This will keep your legs fresher as you get into the longer distances prior to the marathon. I would also quit leg workouts entirely two to three weeks before the race.

The countdown period that most runners are encouraged to use is there to give your body rest and to allow it to refuel before race day.This means leaving off the weights, especially on the legs. Maybe do abit of light weight work for the upper body in the final two to three weeks if you’re afraid you’ ll lose some muscular strength, but stay off the legs.

132 Mi MARATHON & BEYOND

On THE Mark

Gayle Barron

won the 1978 Boston Marathon and coaches Team Spirit out of Atlanta; she also coaches runners by e-mail at gbarron@mindspring.com.

I RECOMMEND focusing on the upper body, doing circuits with light weights and reps of 8 to 10. For example, on a Universal machine, focus on the military press for deltoids, trapezius, triceps, and biceps. Do three sets of 10 at a manageable weight. A circuit on the Universal machine touching on each station should be enough to cover all muscle groups.

Mark Conover

was a 1988 Olympic marathoner and now coaches at Cal

Poly San Luis Obispo; he also coaches via the Internet at mconover@ slonet.org.

WEIGHT LIFTING is a “must” supplement if you want to improve or finish a marathon as strong as possible. For general fitness, the recommendation of the American College of Sports Medicine is to do strength training exercises two to three times per week, doing one set of 9 to 10 exercises that condition the major muscle groups. Altogether, that should give you “general body” strength but not “running specific” strength. I recommend that you work on both types of strength simultaneously. Specific resistance training for the back, abdominals, quadriceps, gastrocnemius, and hamstring muscles are the

key ones to improve your muscle endurance for running. For marathon runners, lower weights and higher repetitions is the rule to follow. If you do, I guarantee you’ll be a better marathon runner.

Sally Edwards

is a pioneer in ultrarunning and the triathlon; she currently runs Heart Zones (www.heartzone.com)

THE TOPIC of weight training for distance running (especially marathoning) is controversial. Research studies on weight training have pretty much confirmed what many athletes have known for decades: strength improves athletic performance. Baseball has been the most obvious recent beneficiary of strength training.

As for distance running, most studies show strength training prevents injuries, and a few demonstrate that it improves running performance at 800m up to the 10K. It should follow, then, that strength training would improve marathon performance. By improving leg power, you naturally improve running economy, lactate threshold, and even endurance, as improved power makes all running paces feel slightly easier. Slightly less effort on each stride over the course of a 26.2-mile race could make a big difference in your total time.

My experience is that weight training can enhance performance as long as it does not inhibit the running training necessary to run a marathon. But all runners are different. A relatively

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ON THE MARK @ 133