[Scott Johnston]

James:

Great question.  I am familiar with the ‘greasing the groove’ concept and it may be worth trying.  But it is going have a different effect than the gym ME.  The GTG training would fit in “my” strength training library as conditioning to prepare for ME or heavier loading. It should do a good job of strengthening connective tissue and reinforcing movement patterns through myelination.  With the volume of reps you’d probably be doing there would no doubt be an ME training effect.  All this is for the good so I think it would be a good approach

However the difference between that sort of training and the gym ME program is the eccentric loading that goes on with all the jumping exercises in the ME workouts.  That eccentric loading is what is making you so sore.  BUT and it is an important BUT:  That eccentric loading is the same sort of loading you get running down hill.  By doing that eccentric loading in the gym you can build the fatigue resistance to make you more durable running our side.

You may have already tried this; but to avoid extreme soreness from the ME workouts you need to be very gradual in introducing the loading and volume.  You might want to try reducing the intensity of your jumps. Dial back to 75-80% of max. Don’t drop so deep. You might also want to reduce the number of sets.  Start with 3 sets at 75% effort and see if you can handle that without such severe soreness.

I hope that helps.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

With no more than 8-10 weeks till you want to run sub 6 minutes for a mile, you do need to start adding in runs that are at your targeted pace.  You can’t do that on rolling or hilly trails. Best to do this on a track.  One day/week, do 10x400m at the target pace (1:30). Take as long a rest as you need at first.  In subsequent workouts, reduce the rest between reps while maintaining the 1:30 time.  When down to 1 min rest go to 4×800 done the same way.    10 weeks may seem like a long time, but genetics and training history will be big factors in the improvement rate.  One steady state run/week of 2×10 min at about 7 min pace with 4 min walking recovery.  One day of strides on the rack 12×100 at a floating fast pace with 3 min recovery.  Any other running now should be very easy and fairly low volume.  On such a compressed schedule, you are essentially going to need to do this on whatever your current aerobic base is. You can’t do enough volume to build aerobic base and handle this intensity without the intensity being affected.  You can go back to base building when you do this thing. But for know the goal  is to get a bit faster.

Good Luck,

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Since you know what AeT feels like running, I would shoot for that same feeling on skis.  However, skiing is a quadrupedal sport, so a higher HR will be natural as more blood is needed for the arms and poling.  You may notice that your legs get more tired in skating than in running because there is more isometric flex in the knee and hip and more quadricep work when skating.

Have fun with your new cross-training sport.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Sophia Laukli’s win on the final stage of the Tour d’Ski up that 450m steep climb on the Alpine ski run is a really impressive accomplishment.  I don’t know her or her training. However, I see that she is connected with and trained by a top Norwegian coaching program.  I suspect that her summer running program is just part of her overall base-building approach, which can then be tuned to the higher intensity required in Nordic ski racing.  Sophia also has a light body and small size that really helps her on courses with a lot of climbing.  Nordic skiers have historically done well in off-season running, even when not specifically trained for running races.  In other words, in the summer, they are just racing off their base.  Several years ago, US Ski Nordic Ski Team member David Norris broke Kilian Jornets’ record at the Mountain Marathon in Alaska.  Kilian needs no introduction. David is not so well known. He was a very good US skier but not world-class by any means, and he did this as part of his summer training program.

Accumulating a high volume of aerobic base training on your feet will always be helpful in any sport.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Great question.  I suspect that during the down-hiking 30-40sec each lap, your HR does not drop more than 5-10 beats, which will still keep you in Z2 even though the down portions are loading the muscles eccentrically and the up bits are loading concentrically.  So there will be some difference in training effect when compared to, say, spending 2 hours going up only on a Stairmaster.   I’d add in one Stairmaster session a week.  All that downhill that the stadium gives you is going to be very useful for going downhill in the mountains.

Keep up this training, and you will be a beast in the mountains.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

The reason we suggest wearing stiff mountain boots for some of your training is because of the rigidity and lack of ankle flexion as compared to running shoes or light hiking boots.  The weight is a much smaller factor. Hiking in stiff boots is far less economical than in shoes that bend like your foot does.  You do not need to wear $800 Everest boots in your training. Just something stiff like a summer mountaineering boot.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Thanks for your question.  The ME workouts are designated as such. The long weighted hikes are not intended as ME workouts.  I’m not sure what the UA site site says about ME. There is a good chance they have changed what I originally wrote. For a complete discussion of ME, I suggest you read this article https://evokeendurance.com/muscular-endurance-all-you-need-to-know/

The ME workouts use a very heavy weight. Heavy enough that the local fatigue in your legs is the limitation to how fast you can hike very steeply uphill, not your breathing or heart rate.  The long weighted hikes with 10 and then 15% of your body weight are aerobic capacity building training, not ME workouts.

We do not use long hikes with heavy packs and have never recommended that sort of training.   We do not use that for any of our mountaineers or our military athletes (who have to carry considerably more weight than mountaineers. Over the past 20-some years of coaching this stuff, we have found that the combination of the very heavy ME sessions (done as per the instructions) and long, moderately weighted hikes produce the best results with the least chance for injury and overtraining.

I hope this helps.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Great question;

You can add in climbing sessions to this plan.  If the climbing session is mainly to get volume at your on site grade or lower then doing this in the PM after an Am aerobic run or hike is fine. However, if you plan to do hard bouldering or working a project or red point attempt then the climbing should come when you are most rested.  Like in the AM with the easy aerobic workout in the PM. Or, doing the hard climbing after a rest day.

I hope this helps and good luck with your training.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Luka:

The term “pick ups” is the same thing as runners call “strides”.  You pick up the pace a bit to a fun fast effort, not a full sprint, just running faster during an otherwise easier run like Zone 2.  It has nothing to do with heart rate.  It to bet your legs stronger and used to making more power and longer strides.

I hope that helps.

Scott

 

[Scott Johnston]

Yes, I think that is a reasonable interpretation. Frequency and duration both matter of course but if you are limited by time constraints then frequency is more important.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Jim:

Thanks for writing in with your questions.  I see a very positive trend here but first I have a question:  I assume that it was 6 weeks between rounds 1 and 2 but how much time elapsed between the three tests 1,2 and 3?  And how much time between tests 4,5 and 6?  Since these tests are 1 typically hour long I am concerned that you did 3 consecutive hours of testing in each round.

The good news is that when we compare test 1 to test 4, test 2 to test 5 and test 3 to test 6 in every case you are doing the same amount of work at a considerably lower heart rate.  5bpm drop during the second half of the test when testing at 1.8mph, a 22bpm drop testing at 1.6mph during the second half and when testing at 1.4mph there was a 19bpm drop in the second half of the test.

Thinking about this for a metabolic stand point: This shows that your aerobic metabolism is significantly better at processing O2 now than 6 weeks ago.  Look at the starting heart rates.  It now only takes 108 vs 121bpm to move at 1.6mph  Similarly it now takes 101 vs 117bpm to move at 1.4 mph.  To me this indicates that training with 120 as your upper limit has resulted in text book improvement in your aerobic capacity.

I suggest redoing ONE test where you use a starting HR of 115-117 (the starting HR in test 3).  Adjust the speed during the warm up so that HR stabilizes there. Email me your results at Scott@evokeendurance.com

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

While it would be nice to get in a couple of 90 minute sessions through the week, if that is not possible then daily 45 minute sessions as Brian said is probably going to be best.  Frequent stimulus to the aerobic metabolism gives the best results.  If at all possible to sneak in one longer session on the weekend that’ll pay big dividends.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Nick:

I’m glad that info helped.  The only reason I can figure that most labs don’t allow enough gradual warm up time is that they are trying to maximize the $/hour they get from the tests.  I would hope they understand well enough that the aerobic metabolism takes many minutes to come to full capacity and if you rush it with too fast a ramp rate or too short of a warm up you will miss the lower threshold.

I also prefer field tests to lab tests. Especially if you have a lactate meter.

Keep up the good work!   This stuff is not rocket science and just understanding a few basics will get a long way.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Yes, this approach seems perfectly reasonable.  The training must fit your schedule first and foremost because being able to do the work consistently is the only way you will see results.  Something to keep in mind about this plan or any “stock” training plan is that it is a one size fits all approach.  Which means it probably won’t fit anyone perfectly.  That is the reason we provide so much educational material in the books and on the site.  With that knowledge we want to empower you to make adjustments to the plan as needed.  Those adjustments can be due to scheduling challenges or fatigue.  So, pay attention to how the training is affecting you.  Are you seeing a slow and steady trend of progress (despite some days being not so great)?  If so then you are doing about the best you can without a coach.

From the sounds of it you are think about this in the right way. Keep up the good work.

Scott

[Scott Johnston]

Josh:

Yes, I would recommend adding in sustained Z3 on longer runs.  Dip your toe into this cautiously as you need to see how that added stress combines with what you are already doing.  Start with 20min during one of your normal 1 hour runs.  Increasing Z3 volume in these shorter runs will be safer.  It may well be that after a few weeks of that you will feel confident to bump up Z3 volume in a couple of runs and even  during a longer run.  This will be some very specific training if your goal is trail running.

I hope this helps.

Scott

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