Train Like a Champion
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Transcript of Train Like a Champion
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Train Like a
Canadian Running July & August 2009
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In late March,Adidas hosted a running camp
in Santa Monica, California, with seven of
their top athletes, who demonstrated their
preparations for the World Championships in
Athletics in Berlin, Germany in August.
We sat down with each of the Super 7
athletes to get some advice on how to
prepare for a major goal race.
By Michal Kapral
The thrill of road racing can be addictive, but having an
ambitious goal race in your calendar can also lead to pre-race
jitters and general panic over whether youve tra ined properly.
Runners of all levels, even the worlds best, face the simila r fears,
so we asked seven champions for some advice on how to get the
most our of training a nd final preparat ions for the big event.
Haile Gebrselassie says he still has the same motivation now as he did when he
was a young runner. Despite having set 26 world records, he says hes always
targeting a new goal. Gebrselassies advice to stay motivated leading up to a
big race:
Target a new race distance
If you find your running is getting stale or tiresome, that means
its time to switch things up and t ry something different maybe
add some hills or some tempo runs, or train for a different race
distance. The former 5000m and 10,000m champion has moved
up to the marathon, and now says hes been thinking about
dropping down to t ry some 800m or 1500m races.
Dont do too much
Gebrselassie says its important to maintain a balance with
your training and racing. Running is a very tough sport, he says,
and it can be easy to overtrain and burn out, so its key to not do
too much, or you wont enjoy running anymore.
Don't fear failure
Bad results happen, Gebrselassie says. Some runners get
so upset when they drop out or have a bad race, but I think bad
results can teach you things you need to improve.
marathon world record holder
Gearing upfor a big race
this summer?
Follow theserace-ready tipsfrom six world
championsand a world
record holder.
Photos:www.p
hotorun.net
Left HaileGebrselassiewinningthe2008real,-BerlinMarathonOppositeHaileGebrselassieandasectionoftheBerlinWall
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Jeremy Wariner has an exceptional combination of power and speed that enables him to hurtle
around a 400m oval in just over 43 seconds. Interestingly, his bodys build is much leaner than
the typical 400m runner, but his performances over the last few years, including a string of
eight straight wins in the Golden League in 2006, and an Olympic gold in 2004, have made the
track world redefine the optimal body type for the distance. The soft-spoken Texan has this
advice for runners:
Eat real food
Because he trains a lot a nd has a high metabolism, Wariner says he doesnt
have a strict diet. He eat s what he wants, when he wants a nd doesnt monitor
how much he consumes. But a few years ago, he realized t hat eating too much
processed food was making him feel sick, so he cut out fast food and began
cooking more meals at home, including Texas barbecue. He says this made
him feel much stronger.
Train through the pain
With its combination of sprint speed and distance, the 400m is often
considered one of the most painful events in t rack and field. Coming down
the fina l straig htaway, oh, its hell, Wariner says. But he makes it hurt even
more during practice sessions to teach his body to fight through the pain. He
says runners racing any distance can benefit from training through the pain.And once the pai n subsides, Wariner says, its heaven.
JeremyWarinersracingshoesbyAdidas,
usedduring400m
competitionatthe2008
BeijingOlympicGames
400m Olympic gold and silver medallist
Photos:ClausAndersen/MundoSportsImages
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The Jamaican 100m and 200m runner says shes not looking around
to see who her rivals are for the World Championships. Whoever
makes it to the final is a contender, she says. And Ill be watching
them when the gun goes of f. Her words of wisdom for racing:
Visualize the race
To stay calm before a big event, Campbell-Brown
uses visualization techniques. Leading up to the race,
shell have gone over the race hundreds of times in her
head, imagining a perfect scenario. She says runners
can use these techniques to stay calm and win the
mental battle at the start line. If negative thoughts
or worries creep into you mind, you can just replay
the race in your head to banish the negative energy.
I think the mind is one of the most powerful instru-
ments, Campbell-Brown says. Its amazing what it
can do. As a distance runner, if you believe that you
can sprint at the end of a race, then you can do it.
Channel your nerves
When Im nervous at the start of a race, its good. It
means Im ready. But I keep it under control.
100m world champion
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As a pure sprinter, most of Allyson Felixs workouts involve short bursts of speed and various
drills. The relaxed, 23-year-old Californian says she considers herself a recreational runner,
since she often struggles with motivation to get out for a 30- or 40-minute jog for general
fitness. Her advice to other runners:
Find a friend
Felix always r uns with a small g roup of other sprinters on Wednesdays. At
first, she used to do these runs on her own and it felt onerous. When she took
along some friends with her, she suddenly found herself looking forward to
something she used to hate.
Channel your attitude
Felix says she grew up in a large, happy family, and her mom always
encouraged her to pursue different sports. She says parents should do their
best to keep their kids active, which will set them up to be happier and
healthier in the long run. Running ca n make you feel great, she says, and you
can channel this optim ism into your non-running life and vice-versa. In thissense, running and f itness can become an extension of who you are.
After running an American record of 9.77 for the
100m in the qualifying heats at the Beijing Olympics,
Tyson Gay suffered a hamstring injury that forced
him out of medal contention, but the American sayshes back in full form and ready to take on rival Usain
Bolt of Jamaica at the World Championships.
Work on your weakness
Gay knows hell have to have a good
start out of the blocks if he wants to beat
Bolt, so hes been fine-tuning his starts.
He says runners training for a race should
use the initial phase of their training to
work out the kinks in their running form,
or fix a ny weak links, whether it be a lack of
basic speed or poor runn ing for m.
The finishing kick
Gay sees a lot of long-distance runners
holding their arms and shoulders too high
and tight as they fini sh races. He says they
should do what sprinters do and use their
arms to drive the forward momentum of
the legs, keeping the arms and shoulders
a little wider to open up the chest, and
driving the hands back behind the hips
to generate maximum propulsion for a
strong finish.
100m and 200mworld champion
Beijing silver medallist,reigning world champion, 200m
Photo
s:ClausAndersen/MundoSportsImages
Canadian Running July & August 2009
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A Chat with Seronei Kibiwott
By Adeel Ahmad
Charles Seronei Kibiwott is a 34-year-old marathoner from Kenya.
He started running at 24 and went from a 34-minute 10 k to a 2:12
marathon in two years. He ran a best of 2:06:52 at the 2006 Rotterdam
marathon. Canadian Running had a chat with him before and after the
Seoul International Marathon.
TrainingTraining was quite good leading up to Seoul, said Kibiwott. He ran 120-
150k a week, with peak weeks over 200k, and ran as far as 40k in training.
He had not raced since his last marathon in October, but said this was not a
problem.
Pre-race preparationKibiwott arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, and all his runs there were short and
easy, 40 minutes at 5:00/km. On Sat urday, he did not run and went to bed at
9. He woke up at 4:30 on Sunday to eat a breakfast of pasta before going back
to sleep until 6, t wo hours before the race. He did a 20 -minute warmup.
His goalKibiwott laughed when asked about his goal. His goal is to win, he said.
No ones goal is to f inish second. He figured it would take a 2:07 or 2:08 to
win, though t he 2-degree temperature in the morning worried him.
The raceThe start was f ast despite the cold, with 15 runners reaching 10k in 30:04. Itslowed to 60:46 at 20k and continued to 30k in 1:31:17. Kibiwott was one of
seven in the lead pack at this point, but his bottle fell down at t he 30k water
station. When he stopped to get it, he lost contact w ith the leaders and faded
to seventh in 2:11:18. Moses Arusei won in 2:07:54 .
The aftermathAsked if Kibiwott was happy with the race, his manager Tom Ratcliffe
chuckled: No, no, definitely not. Kibiwott said he would spend three or
four days resting, then train easy for a week before training hard again.
Running and ageKibiwott plans to run until he is 40. He thinks he can run 2:10 marathons
until 40, citing Paul Tergat, who recently ran 2:10 at the age of 39. As he
gets older, Kibiwott said he would reduce the mileage but then corrected
himself, saying actua lly, it is the speed that needs to be reduced.
Advice for new marathonersStart training, increasing mileage step-by-step and rest in between. [You
need to] train for two, three or four years to be good at marathons. Run lots
of half-marat hons and lots of 10k races.
Kenyans versus WesternersPeople are the same, Kibiwott said. Kenyans are good at running
because we have to walk a lot. It is our lifestyle. In Europe and NorthAmerica, there are cars and people drive.
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Photos:ClausAndersen/MundoSportsImages
400m Olympic gold medallistOhuruogu, who won Britains only gold medal on the track in Beijing, says she
cant imagine what it will be like in the London Olympics in 2012. She lives a
stones throw from what will be the Olympic stadium and will have the pres-
sure of being the defending Olympic champion in the 400m. How does she
handle the pressure?
Find a coach
If you have a serious race target, Ohruruog u says finding a good
coach or trainer can make a big difference. The coach should be
reasonable someone you can work with as a team.
Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic has some words of wisdom
for distance runners:
Specificity
A lean, flexible 6'4", with elastic fast-twitch muscles, Vlasic is
built to jump. The Olympic silver medal list and current world
champion says runners should focus on training the muscles
and the movements for their sport. As a high jumper, she doesnt
do any running longer than 150m, and performs circle drills to
work on generating centripetal force on her approach to the bar.
Runners, she says, should work on drills that m imic the runn ing
motion to improve their eff iciency.
world-champion high jumper
Canadian Running July & August 2009
Train Like a Champion