Ryan Hall Impressive Tempo Run 3 Weeks Before His 2:04:58 at Boston in 2011

Nice workout, but I was shocked to see Hall's apparent reliance on sports supplements. Hopefully he was just going over the top to endorse his sponsors and doesn't actually eat that way. Unfortunately, Hall hasn't finished a marathon since the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Ryan Hall Will Finish Top Ten in London!

We believe it is important to run fast on the track while preparing for a fast marathon - Greg MacMillan MY COMMENT: Good interview with Greg McMillan- unlike Ritzenhein, not afraid or revealing his runners "secrets." His comment agrees with what I've been saying all along about Ryan Hall's lack of racing at shorter distances. It remains to be seen if Hall can pop another good marathon without showing any improvement in his track times.

I posted this in Feb, 2010- and after 2 horrible races leading up to London, I believe Ryan Hall is finally beginning to figure it out.  In this interview with letsrun.com, Hall says "What I've learned recently is the importance of speedwork for me. I've been doing a lot more interval work than I've done for recent marathons. I've realized how important speed is for me. I have had to change my training to prioritize my training to emphasize that."

I've been saying this for a few years now about Hall's approach to marathon training, yet he has continued to hammer out one decent marathon after another.  But if he's looking for something new to boost his fitness besides more rest, he's probably found it.   Let's hope it's not too little too late for Ryan.  From the sound of this, he may be ready for a top 10 finish.

Ryan Hall Can't Break 30 Min for 10K

Last weekend Ryan Hall finished 15th in the Healthy Kidney 10K, running a dismal 30:15 seconds. According to Hall, he "just hasn't done the 10K work. My training is very specific to the marathon." From this, my guess is Hall does lots of tempo work at 4:50 pace (2:04:50 for the marathon, under 30 min for 10k), and maybe even Yasso type long intervals. Since he only runs 6 days a week, his weekly mileage is not excessive.

Is he in trouble? Based on past performance, probably not. While a medal in London is doubtful, he shouldn't be embarrassed. Hall has been very consistent for several years now, grinding out one good marathon finish after another, more often than not preceded by sub par races. Would he be a better marathoner if somehow he could run some fast times at shorter races? That is the question many are asking.

Hall has said he talked to lots of people when he decided to go it alone and self-coach, but I wonder if Frank Shorter was one of them. If I were in Hall's shoes, Shorter is the first I would have approached, a guy who before injuries finally took hold, seemed to always be at the top of his game, NO MATTER WHAT THE DISTANCE!   While Shorter is best remembered as a marathoner, he was also ranked in the top 5 in the world four times at 10,000 meters, and once was even ranked 10th in the 5000. 

Here Shorter describes his favorite 2 high intensity interval workouts, four x 3/4 mile, or 10 x 400s run very hard. Here he describes his intervals at "5K pace".

Interesting that Shorter describes 75-90% of his training as "conversational pace"- not anywhere near marathon speed. It wasn't all Long Slow Distance (LSD) training, however. In his book, Olympic Gold, Shorter wrote that when he's fit he'll run the second half of his weekly 20 miler at marathon pace.

I find an interesting contrast between Hall, who says he hasn't run any workouts at 10K pace, and Shorter, who believed his 5K pace interval sessions "were the critical ingredient in my training recipe".   And when Shorter ripped off 10 x 400 in just over 60 seconds at sea level, I don't exactly consider that 5K pace training. He ran hard! 

Shorter ran in the 70s and 80s, and unlike Hall, he never broke 2:10. But Shorter has 2 Olympic medals, not to mention a 5th place in the Olympic 10,000 meters. He could run both distances well, and even turned in many good 3 mile times, something that Hall the marathoner has yet to master, or apparently chooses not to.

Hall has proven time and time again he has the strength to run a good marathon but if he wants to take the next step and seriously go after a medal in London, I believe he has to show some speed at shorter distances.    Shorter's PR in the 10,000 was 27:45, run in 1975, the year before winning the silver in Montreal.  Hall ran an impressive 13:22 for 5K while still in college and 28:07 for 10,000 in 2007. 

I'd seriously consider Hall a threat to win a medal in London if he ever figures out a way to get back to running those times while maintaining his current long distance strength, just as Frank Shorter was able to do.  For now, it doesn't appear that is going to happen. 

Race Ryan Hall!

This is great! Get a real appreciation of how fast Ryan's sub 5 marathon pace actually is!

seoul marathon

Now, when I look at a week I don’t see the necessity for mileage, I see the necessity for hard, quality workouts followed by adequate recovery and even making sure to over-recovering (if there is such a thing). -Ryan Hall

MY COMMENT: Hard to argue with a guy that recently ran sub 2hr 05 min. I understand Hall is even taking days off now following hard or long workouts.

I took the quality approach in preparing to run the Seoul Marathon in March, setting a goal of running 26 sub 7 min miles in a week. I was only able to hit 25 twice using a mix of tempo and long intervals in the dead of winter, but it definitely paid off. But prior to getting into that I did a stretch of just miles (6-8 weeks) to prepare.

It was former Olympic champ and PhD Exercise Physiologist Peter Snell who perhaps summed it up best when he said "The ideal training is the maximum amount of race related pace running you can do without overtraining".

BOSTON!

I didn't plan it, but woke up right at 11 pm and flipped on the TV- surprised to find coverage of the Boston Marathon just starting.

AMAZING! I'll admit right here- I've been critical of Ryan Hall in the past for not racing more frequently, but this was simply unbelievable! Could he have run faster had he not jumped into the lead so early and run a more tactical race? I'll say probably, but how can you knock a guy that just ran the fastest time ever by an American (2:04:58)?

Kenyan Geoffrey Matai won the race in 2:03:02, the fastest marathon ever (this will not count as a WR since Boston is a downhill course)

And believe it or not, the women's race was even better. Underappreciated Desiree Davila , who was never even #1 on her team at Arizona State, showed the world what hard work can do. During the last 5 kilometers, it was clear that Davila held her form much better than her Kenyan rivals-to me it looked like they were all over the place with their arm swing. I thought all the way that Davila looked like she had a real shot at winning- just a gutsy performance. If you saw winner Caroline Kilel sprawled on the pavement after the finish, it was clear that Desiree did what she could to make her earn the victory.

Do not overlook the effort by Kara Goucher, who finished 5th in 2:24:52 less than 7 months after the birh of her son!

Tailwind or not, this was an amazing marathon. Results

Ryan Hall Carries His Arms Too Low

Compare Ryan's arm carriage in this video to the one below of his American record half marathon performance in 2007. I see a clear difference in the angle at the elbow and his hands are now consistently swinging below hip level. Unfortunately, the quality of the American record video isn't the greatest, and the soundtrack is even worse, but you can clearly see that his elbows are breaking 90 degrees and his hands are consistently held higher.

I believe a lower arm carriage can make a significant difference in energy cost over 26 miles. According to Coach Roy Benson,
To see how tightening the angle at your elbow will make your arms swing through their range of motion quicker, picture a pendulum like the one in a grandfather clock as it swings back and forth with a counterweight attached. The length of the arc of the pendulum swing will depend on the center of gravity of the pendulum, and that’s determined by the position of the counterweight. The lower the center of gravity, the longer the arc and hence the more time the clock takes to record each swing. Thus, If the clock is too slow, by raising the counterweight, you’ll raise the center of gravity and thus shorten the arc of the swing back and forth. In short, the clock speeds up and runs faster. -runningtimes.com

I know about this because I have the same bad habit.



In case you are not familiar with Ryan Hall, check out his bio at wikipedia.

Ryan Hall Withdraws From Chicago

Week after week I felt my overall energy and strength to be able to run the long tempo runs and long runs, which are so important to marathon training, gradually deteriorate. In an effort to restore my body I tried everything from nutritional supplements to acupuncture, yet nothing seemed to help. I tried resting from training for three days and I tried cutting all my afternoon runs until a couple of days ago, at which time it was clear that I was out of time and the only solution would be complete rest, which is why I am not going to race again until 2011. I am going to take a good break and then begin a much more gradual training cycle as I begin preparations for a spring marathon -Ryan Hall (Why I Decided To Not Run Chicago)

Besides the obvious (blood test to check for anemia other abnormalities) what should Hall do?

I found this interesting article Overtraining Effects On Performance: If you want to prevent staleness and overtraining, keep a record of your quality of sleep and levels of fatigue! that identifies poor sleep as a leading indicator.

From a personal perspective, I was running well a couple of years ago with a 2:55 at the 2008 Seattle Marathon and again in March 2009 at Napa Valley (see splits here). At the time I was only doing 17 mile long runs, and felt that I might improve if I got that up to 19 or 20. The problem was the longer run led to a longer recovery, and I ended up in a state similar to what Hall is describing. Looking back, I also underestimated the importance of sleep (I had my share of bad nights living upstairs in an adult family home).

Unless Hall is absolutely zapped, my recipe for recovery would be to come down from altitude for a month and just run comfortably as he feels and add some cross training until he snaps out of it. I'm not a believer in extended lay-offs because to do so requires a build-up, and those are never fun. Just my opinion, but I think that's the hard way to do it.

Here is more good insight on overtraining from Owen Anderson (I wondered whatever happend to him!) at educatedrunner.com.

Electrolytes, Hydration and Long Distance Running

With all due respect to this expert exercise physiologist's opinion, her advice on the importance of taking in electolytes during marathons and long runs is not accepted by everyone.

Currently there is no evidence to suggest that humans incur any meaningful sodium deficits during exercise, even when the humidity is high and the individual is sweating profusely. -The Science of Sport

Summarizing another article in The Science of Sport about electolytes during a 2 hour run:

1. If you don't drink at all, your blood sodium level doesn't fall, it RISES!

2. If you replace 50% of your sweat losses with plain water in the same run, your blood sodium concentration remains in the normal range.

3. If you replace 100% of your sweat losses with plain water (2 liters in 2 hours- 1 liter is approx. 1 quart), your sodium concentration falls dangerously low, leading to hyponatremia.

4. If you replace 50% of your sweat losses with Gatorade, the result is comparable to the water trial.

5. If you replace 100% of your sweat losses with Gatorade, again the result is not much different- a 4 hour marathoner will likely end up in the hospital with hyponatremia.

Interesting that Hall believes adding salt to his drink helps him retain more fluid in hot weather. I wonder why he thinks that's not as important on a cool day?

While you certainly need fluid replacement during a long hot run, be careful not to over drink. Practice by weighing yourself before and after, and note that while losing a few pounds is normal, any gain is not! As for Gatorade during a long run, the calories are what you need, not necessarily the electrolytes.

I love the Science of Sport blog!

Haile Gebrselassie Update

Geb’s next race is a half-marathon in New York in March, but he says he has no plans for his next marathon, apart from saying it will probably be in Europe. “I’ve no idea right now. Sometime after September. The Berlin course I like very much. But the big aim is to save my power ‘til London 2012. Until then, two marathons a year, or less. And keep my speed with 10k’s and half-marathons…. As long as I keep my shape”. -Pat Butcher's blog on marathon world record holder Hallie GGebrselassie,who is now 37 years old.

Is Ryan Hall, who never runs anything other than a marathon every 6 months and one or two half marathons, paying attention? In order to excel at the marathon distance, there is no doubt that sharpening speed at shorter distances is helpful, especially following a couple of sub-par races. I am curious why Ryan continues to ignore what other top marathoners such as Hallie do to remain on top. Hall's PR's are 13:16 for 5K and 28:07 for 10K, slow compared to his marathon PR of 2:06:17. (According to The McMillan Running Calculator, Hall's 2:06:17 translates to 26:55 for 10K and 12:57 5K.)

Ryan is a great runner, but until he or his coach figures out that you need to race and PR at shorter distances, it's very doubtful he'll compete with the best. I hope he proves me wrong.

I'd love to see Hall, Ritz, Tegenkamp, Solinsky, and the rest at the U.S. Cross Country National Championships.

Kastor Wins in Phoenix- Bairu Beats Hall!

Olympic bronze medal winner from 2004 won the P.F. Chang Half Marathon in 1:09:43. Too bad Shalane Flanagan wasn't in the same race!

Canadian Simon Bairu, another of those Jerry Schumacher's Nike runners who competed for the University of Wisconsin, won in 1:02:47. Hall took it out in 9 flat for 2 miles but paid for it later finishing in 1:04:08.

In the marathon, American Jeff Eggelston, who runs for Empire Athletics Management took 6th overall in 2:14:32- his debut at the marathon.

Marathon Tips from Ryan Hall

Ryan's golden rules for successful marathon training

1 SLOW DOWN ON RECOVERY DAYS
"For a long time, I lacked the confidence to back off on easy days. As a result, my body couldn't absorb all the great training. Now I have the confidence to run easy on recovery days, so I can bring the fire for hard workouts and race days."

2 EAT SMART
"I never have a problem consuming enough calories, one reason why I think I am a good marathoner. But I make sure each meal or snack has protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. Here's my favorite breakfast: Cytomax pancakes made with one scoop Muscle Milk, a half-cup Trader Joe's pancake mix, and topped with Smart Balance butter." (Hall and his wife, Sara, demonstrate the meal, below left.)

3 GIVE YOUR RUNS A PURPOSE
"Running for a charity—in my case, World Vision—has revolutionized my running. Nothing compares to the feeling of going out on a training run knowing that I'm part of an effort that's touching thousands of lives. I hope to build this into a legacy that outlives my records. I think everyone should run for a cause."

4 PRAY
"I'm not the best at sitting down for long prayer sessions, but I do short prayers as often as I can. I pray when I do the dishes in the morning before I run. Whether I win a race or not, I always find that prayer gives me perspective and opens up a world of possibilities."

5 GET ENOUGH SLEEP
Everyone else seems to call their afternoon shuteye 'naps.' I call them 'business meetings.' On my easy days, I schedule two hours for these meetings. When you're sleeping, your body absorbs all the hard work. It's ironic: one of the best ways to get better is to do nothing."

runnersworld.com

10 x 800 Interval Workout - Ryan Hall

Ryan Hall leads the workout- 10 x 800 meters with 60 seconds recovery- at 7,700' elevation! Forgetting the corny warm-up drills, this is a workout that I've been doing the last several years and consider an essential component of marathon training- right up there with long runs. Watch a video of Ryan's workout on flotrack.

By the way, what is Josh Cox training for next anyway? Another guy that seldom races.

Dathan Ritzenhein- 27:22 for 6th!

MY COMMENT: Good interview- Ritz seems very happy with the changes implemented by Salazar- the lesson here is not to focus solely on "marathon training" at the expense of track speed. I recall Frank Shorter at his marathon peak running extremely well on the track. Ryan Hall needs to watch this interview. My money is on Ritz in their next marathon showdown- unless Hall starts showing something on the track or fall cross country.