Renato Canova is a master coach. When he speaks others listen. When I first read his book:
Marathon Training - A Scientific Approach by Renato Canova
[click here for an in depth summary]
in 2010, it was 11 years old. I ordered it from the IAAF in Monaco and as a young student-athlete I was blown away at the kind of training his athletes performed.
His approach teaches valuable lessons in perspective, showing that we are capable of far more than we might initially believe. The comprehensive and insightful guidance demonstrates a profound understanding of an athlete's potential and the complexities of training, highlighting that with the right direction, we can achieve remarkable progress and overcome significant challenges.
I have accumulated a ton of his writings from forums, presentations etc and it always makes me chuckle when he casually drops athletes doing volumes like 170-200km per week.
Below is a little summary I found in some of his writings for a middle aged beginner:
Heart Rate
Why Cardio Isn't Always Precise
Your heart rate (HR) needs to be interpreted correctly to understand its significance. For instance, if your maximum HR is 200, reaching 150 could mean you're working at 75% effort. However, it could also mean that your heart is struggling to work harder because the peripheral resistance in your blood circulation is too high at the moment. This can happen, for example, during a long run the day after a very intense workout, when your muscles still contain more lactate than usual, causing congestion in your blood flow.
Understanding Peripheral Resistance
When our peripheral resistance is high due to "rubbish" or metabolic byproducts left in our muscles after tough training, the heart struggles to reach a high rhythm. This is because it has to work harder to push blood through the congested system. Conversely, when our muscles are clear of these byproducts, the heart can easily reach a high rhythm because the blood flow is unimpeded.
Monday:
Long Run at 70% HR: Aim to increase duration. Start with 1 hr 20 min, adding 5-10 min each week, maintaining the same HR.
Tuesday:
30 Min Easy Run + Hill Sprints: Improve mechanical engine with 10-20 x 80m sprints at max speed. Focus on speed, not recovery. After some rest, run 2-3 km fast.
Wednesday:
Easy Regeneration: Run 1 hr to 1 hr 20 min at an easy pace.
Thursday:
Long Fartlek: Start with a 20 min warm-up, then do 5 x 5 min at 90% max HR, with 5 min recovery at 60% HR. Gradually increase intervals to 5 x 10 min at 90%. Once you reach this, work on faster recovery at 65%-75% HR.
Friday:
Easy Regeneration: Similar to Wednesday, an easy run to recover.
Saturday:
Very Long Run with Progression: Run 28 to 34 km over 6-8 weeks. Begin at 60% HR to build muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Gradually increase intensity, finishing the last 10-20 min at 80-85% HR.
Sunday:
30 Min Easy Run + Fast Run: Run at 85% HR for 5-10 km. Maintain pace until HR rises too much.
Duration:
Follow this schedule for about 2 months. After this period, you can move to a SPECIAL PERIOD with more specific workouts tailored to your race goals (e.g., 5k or 10k, but not yet a marathon).
Additional Tips:
Include exercises to improve elasticity, flexibility, and reactivity. Also known as: a comprehensive, repeatable and do-able services and coaching from Kevin @ Kinplus. Lets talk about it!
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