How do olympic runners train

So, they have to plan smartly and develop healthy habits to avoid overtraining or burning out. Cross-training also has the added benefit of decreasing the risk of overuse injuries or strains. For instance, frequent runners can reduce the repetitive strain on their knees by swapping in a day of weight lifting to their routine. Evan Weinstock , a member of the U.

Most athletes try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night — something we could all benefit from. Olympic athletes have dozens of recovery options, but what keeps them in tip-top shape is figuring out which option is best for them. There are a variety of recovery therapies from basic stretching to soft tissue massage, chiropractic treatments, thermal or cryotherapy, Ebner explained.

Her trainers may also suggest a mellow day in the gym. Nonprofessionals should consider taking at least one day off a week for active recovery. These off days are great days for a long walk, easy bike ride, or hike. Anything that gets you moving! For all that training, you might think Olympic athletes can eat whatever they want, but eating healthy and intentionally is a big part of making sure they can perform at their peak.

Freestyle aerials skier Ashley Caldwell explains that nutrition is important not just for the couple hours before or after you train, but all the time.

For Caldwell, who is now competing in her third Olympic Games, that means a lot of fruit, veggies, and protein. With the nail protruding through his boot, the man is rushed to hospital. In my experience, runners spend most of their. Does this. Holy crap! What was your rest schedule? My brother runs a marathon, and he trains 10 days on, 1 day rest. When I was training for my ! Singles are the way I measured how many miles I ran in the mornings, without the second double run.

I used it as another metric to analyze the total volume of work. The thing is, training is all relative — it took me a long time to build to that type of volume. Thanks for posting, interesting and insightful. Hard to imagine adapting to that volume, though I can appreciate the relativeness comment especially, as I work back from injury.

For me, that is an elusive feeling but one I encounter just often enough to be the ultimate motivation. Great post, very helpful to look at this type of training for a top-level runner. How did the marathon end up going? Thanks, Artie! Actually, I ended up getting in a car accident and breaking a rib about 3 weeks before this race. I ran , which was about minutes off my goal time, but considering the circumstances, I was ok with it.

How do you recover from race day? How soon do you start training again and what does recovery look like. Crazy, just read your post…the whole time I was thinking how did you only run until I read your last comment. Being around a guy myself your workout would obliterate mine.

I am impressed at how well you have handled the mileage and intensity together in succession. I am actually getting ready to prepare for another marathon and love to hear feedback from other runners. Thanks for the comment and I am glad you enjoyed the article and look at training. I definitely did spurts in college and then was consistent for two years before this segment. Great question about what I would have done differently. From a macro level, I would have listened to my body more and run shorter on days I felt like crap.

On a micro level, this segment I would have actually done a little more speed development work like explosive hill sprints and probably tried a few more long tempos without breaks. I thought he was an asst coach there still. Anyway, he would be a very good person to look up if you can. Hi there, I just ran the Boston Marathon this week. My previous best marathon was I followed this program to a T, only missing a few days. I really expected a bigger PR than I got, I ran a , was hoping for a I felt great the whole race, never hit the wall, the only problem was that I started getting quad cramps at mile 21, Is there anything more I can do to not get these, I consumed gels, and plenty of fluids.

The last 5 miles I had all the energy in the world, but the cramps held me back. Your training program above is crazy, would love to be able to run those miles. Maybe some day. Thanks for any advise you can give me on the leg cramps.

Hi Cody, congrats on the PR. Shaving 4 minutes off on a tough course like Boston is nothing to sneeze at, you ran well. Here is an article we wrote on leg cramps. I think it will help you uncover whether it was nutritional or muscular and take action to prevent it next time.

Best of luck! Also, you may enjoy this interview we did with Luke, author of the Hansons Marathon Method. Hi Jeff, If you could give any advice on how to run Twin Cities, what would it be?

I look forward to hearing your input. Stay tuned and it should be published in a week or two. A very interesting, if frightening article. I did the Athens Marathon in The course was very hilly, particularly between miles. I am doing London in Apr and training is well under way. Given that London is a flat course, if I am at roughly the same fitness level, what is a realistic target time?

I expect sub but am aiming for sub Is the change in course elevation from hilly to flat enough to knock off significant time? I have a PB of I was on course for a 2. Hi jeff just want to let you know I did a personal PR in the comrades marathon the 1ste of june on halfway mark 45k 4h59 better than my previous 43k that was 5h31 but tobad I could not keep it up on the second half of the I did my second half in 6h33 finish my ultra of 90k in 11h33 what made me go slower was because of my right foot the champion chip on my started to hurt my foot after the 45k mark and had pain in my hips any help or advice how to train for an ultra like comrades because entries open in 2 months for next years comrades?

Hi Jeff, I just was wandering if you could give me some advice on how I can improve my PB doing some changes in my training schedule that after have read this article makes me feel quite shy.

Should I do some double session during my weekends? Olympic runners know the importance of proper nutrition and hydration. Proper nutrition and hydration can make or break a workout or race, and also greatly affects how runners feel, work and think.

Olympic athletes get anxious before races just like everyone else. But they use anxiety-reducing techniques, such as visualization and meditation, to help that control that nervous energy and use it to their advantage.

Olympians need incredible focus and coping skills to get through pain, discomfort, and disappointment during both training and racing. To take your running to the next level, you need to learn how to run through discomfort and how to maintain your mental focus.

Even the best runners in the world know that they need recovery time to allow their bodies time to repair damage and build themselves to be even stronger. For both Olympic runners and recreational athletes, overtraining can lead to injury and burnout. Make sure you know the signs of overtraining — including fatigue, lethargy, irritability, and soreness — and give yourself some easy recovery workouts every week. I often repeat mantras to myself in races […].