10 October 2009

Group training, both at altitude and sea level, is integral to endurance performance gains, according to the panel of experts who gathered in Birmingham for the UKA Endurance Conference on Friday.

In a hugely successful forum for endurance athletes and coaches, 140 flocked to the Jury’s Inn in Birmingham, to hear from the superb array of endurance expertise brought together by this weekend’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

The panelists, Wilson Kipketer, three times world 800m champion and World Record holder; Alberto Salazar, triple New York Marathon winner; World Championship 1500m silver medallist Lisa Dobriskey and her coach George Gandy; former World and Commonwealth 10000m gold medallist and Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan; Chair of Men’s Long Distance Running for USATF Glenn Latimer and UKA Head of Endurance and Meeting Director Ian Stewart, agreed that individuals benefited from the competition generated through group sessions and from sharing knowledge, but that it must be underlined by a hard work ethic and increased training volume.

“Endurance is a numbers game,” says Gandy, “it’s possible to work in large groups in endurance and out of large numbers we’ve developed quality.”

“I’ve trained with 60 athletes in workouts,” adds Dobriskey, “I’m targeting guys ahead of me, while there are a group of female athletes behind me closing the gap.”

Salazar, the force behind the ‘Oregon Project’, is relieved to have witnessed a revival in track clubs across the States – a re-invention of a previously successful concept.

“In the 1970s/1980s this happened all the time,” he explains, “but by the late 80s/early 90s that had dissolved. Since around 2000 we’ve started to see a gradual revival. Things had got so bad that we were celebrating real mediocrity. The Oregon Project was created to promote US distance running and to ensure US athletes had the opportunity to train together and access support. As athletes have started to migrate to create groups across the country, we’re now seeing more track clubs starting up.”

“The groups have come together through frustration,” adds Latimer, “in the same way it’s happening in the UK now. You have to do something about it.”

The man charged with leading the UK revival is Ian Stewart, Olympic 5000m bronze medallist in Munich 1972 and former European and Commonwealth champion. While he strongly advocates group training – including endurance training weekends, which, he says, “should be about running, and not just talking about running” – he wants to take that concept to altitude. “I don’t think we’ve embraced altitude training,” he says. “We also need to open it up to a broader base – the pyramid needs to be wider than it has been over the past 15 years.”

Mileage is key, the panel agreed, but only with controlled progression. “We’ve fallen into a malaise of ‘less is more’” says Stewart, “but that should only ever come into effect prior to a major championship.”

In short, the focus should be on building quantity in order to develop a significant aerobic base.