So, having read all of this stuff about how more is more on this board I read a very interesting article regarding Hamish Carter and his training for the Athens Olympics today. It essentially echoes previous things I’ve heard about his training, but since he recently retired having won Olympic Gold, 3 World Champs medals, 12 World Cup victories, a Commonwealth Games Bronze as well as World Xterra champs I think it is worthwhile to consider what type of training he used to achieve the best he was capable of.
Here’s a few quotes:
“I think knowing when to push, and when not to train was a crucial factor for me as an athlete”
“It wasn’t so much the training that I did that made me fast, it was the training I didn’t do”.
Hamish’s training structure was based around several days of hard training followed by 2 or 3 recovery ones. He felt that it was the resting and recovery sessions that really made him fast.
Some people on here seem to advocate no recovery days. Obviously a different approach worked for Hamish at the Olympic. So perhaps, less can indeed be more and there is no reason to feel guilty about doing less if it works for an Olympic champ.
“So perhaps, less can indeed be more and there is no reason to feel guilty about doing less if it works for an Olympic champ.”
Just because someone who is very fast does something one way doesn’t mean (1) that he wouldn’t have been even faster doing something different, or (2) that even if that was the best option for him, it’s not necessarily the best option for everyone.
He was doing something different previously. Hamish Carter went to Chris Pilone after the Sydney Olympics and togther they developed a training system based around several hard days followed by 2 or 3 recovery days. From what I can gather it seems that previously he was not having as much recovery or rest. It definitely seems like it was the best option for him considering his performance at the Olympics and other big time races for which he has aimed to peak since then (in particular races held on ‘strength’ focussed courses).
I think you’ll find that many of the elite NZ itu guys follow Hamish Carter’s lead to an extent. I have read somewhere that Kris Gemmel wasn’t yet at a level where he could do as many hard days in a row (ie “several”!) as Hamish Carter so that suggests he is doing EVEN LESS and he is one of the top triathletes in the world.
Even if it was the best option for him, that does not mean it won’t work for others (!!!). So instead of slavishly trying to stick to a program of more is more, perhaps it is better to try out different approaches and see what works best for you. Most people doing triathlons have enough stress in life without having training as another stress.
You got a point there but I guess you cant exactly follow what works for an extremely talented guy. The ones who lack in talent must compensate in training. And even though I bet Hamish had to work hard to achieve that level of fitness.
Another quick example: Andy Potts. He could probably skip swimming for two weeks that he would still be first out of the water.
Interesting. I’d be curious to know what constitutes a rest day - sitting with his feet up or an easy swim, easy bike, etc. I certainly always have 2 hard days in a row, just because I need to pack everything in on the weekend. But I’m not exactly on a World champ level!
i don’t think you read it correctly. He said “Hamish’s training structure was based around several days of hard training followed by 2 or 3 recovery ones”.
Those several days could have been 5-7 hours a day. And then his recovery days could have still been 1-2 hours.
the top marathoners are all doing ~120 miles a week.
If you are approaching that level of effort, maybe you should consider backing off.
If you are running 30-50 miles a week and still trying to make up excuses about less being more, you are nuts =)
What exactly did his week look like and how many hours per week?
Matt Reed said the other night that he trains on average, 25-30 hours per week. He’s a short-course guy who is racing ITU races and doing maybe one or two half IM distance races/year.
Recovery day is different than a day off. I seem to need a day off each week. Actually I’m 52 and I train long and hard Sat and Sunday. I take Friday and Monday off. Tuesday Wed, and Thursday I train. I race better and stay healthy doing this. My 27 year old training partner doesn’t seem to need as much time off. Also when I say I train on those days I ALWAYS train on those days. I have heard some say " I never take a day off. " Then later say “Well with work I can’t always train.”
I read one time that the difference between a Pro training full time and a regular guy working 40 hours and training was that there was more stress on the reg. guy. No resting between sessions etc. Don’t know if it’s true but something to consider.
I bet the guys who say I train everyday are the same ones that say" I was just riding along at an easy 23 mph" At most tri’s around here 24-25mph is the best average speed we see at sprint tri’s. I had the 2nd fastest bike split last week at 24mph over 14 miles. So if you solo easily at 23 mph for your training rides move here you’ll be GREAT.
the top marathoners are all doing ~120 miles a week. ]]]
What’s kind of funny about this is, that for the top guys doing this mileage, it is only about 13 or so hours a week. Timewise, it is definately in the low hours per week category compared to triathletes. I would guess that most ITU guys are doing between 20 to 25 hours a week, Ironman guys 10 hours more… As the OP said, it is how you spend those hours that really matters. I knew a guy that trained 9 to 11 hours a week, and he was world champion, and won dozens of big races in his career. He was all about power and speed, no fluff and lots of time off training to recover…
Some people on here seem to advocate no recovery days. Obviously a different approach worked for Hamish at the Olympic. So perhaps, less can indeed be more and there is no reason to feel guilty about doing less if it works for an Olympic champ.
Woah there Fulla. I have never seen ANYONE here advocating not having any recovery. I think you might be confusing recovery days with rest days. In a well structured program, rest days (that is, days where the hardest thing you do is brush your teeth) are not neccessary. But recovery days should be scheduled every week, usually multiple times each week. For a world class athlete such as Carter, I would think that recovery days consist of moderate volume, low intensity swim/bike/run. No way is he taking three rest days per week.
A recovery day DOES NOT have to mean NO training. I bet Hamish was out spinning easy or spending an easy 2K in the pool doing stroke work on his recovery days. There is a distinction between a recovery day and no training. For some they are the same, but for others a recovery day can include some training.
Did that guy you are talking about have a huge base or is the short stuff really all about speed and intensity? ]]
Suprisingly enough, no he didn’t. He started training this way as a young teenager, his father was his coach, and also coached many top triathletes in AUstralia and here in the US. It was Miles Stewart, and he lived next to me in San DIego for a few seasons, so I witnessed his training program up close for awhile. We would do a 100 mile ride out to Palomer mountain and back, but his dad would drive him to the base, and have him ride up the 11.6 miles in the big ring, pick him up at the top, day over. They would go to a park, and Miles would jump from a stationary position up onto a picinic table. Then he would do it one leggeded onto the seat, over and over. Then he would run barefoot on the grass there, doing a few 400 meter or so all out sprints. ANother day in the bag. His longest ride would be the Wednesday ride(100k) that incorporated about 5 intermediate sprints with full time bike racers, and win most of them. That would be 80% of a weeks riding mileage. I didn’t see him at the pool but about two times a week, and he would just blast about 3000m wokouts. This was when he was about 18 years old, and we all second guessed this program, but it wasn’t long before Miles was winning big races. He then went on to have a very long, stellar career as a sprint triathlete, having been known as the guy that no one wanted to race down the shute in the last 1/2 mile…
A few years ago I remember one of the elite Kenyan runners saying that American runners dont train hard enough on their hard days and train to hard on their easy days. Of course his easy day was probably harder than my hard day.