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The “Masters Runner” according to Coach Bob Glover
Posted March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Jim Fortner
Section: News & Results, Running & Training, Motivation, Books, Masters
Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.
Respected running coach Bob Glover addresses the “Masters Runner” specifically in his books, “The Runner’s Handbook” and “The Competitive Runner’s Handbook”. Both books are very extensive and excellent training guides.
“The Runner’s Handbook” was originally published in 1978 and updated in 1985 and 1996. I have the 1996 edition. It covers mostly fundamental stuff, but over a wide range of running and running-related topics and is mostly oriented to the basic beginning runner and those running primarily for fitness and recreation.
It touches very briefly on training for racing (60 pages) and an introduction to speed training (10 pages). It does include a “Masters Runner” chapter that is mostly oriented to the beginning masters runner, but has a lot of fundamental stuff that applies to masters runners of all levels.
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Running Strength
Posted March 11th, 2007 at 10:21 AM by Jim Fortner
Section: Running & Training, Training Tips
Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.
Running strength isn’t quite as definitive as VO2max or LT. It’s a bit ambiguous. However, as I view it, it has two components … physiological and psychological.
The physiological component is related to running economy, but it is also different. I think of both running strength and running economy as sub-elements of a broader subject that I call running efficiency.
Running economy is a measure of how efficiently you use oxygen while running at a specific pace. Improving running economy means that you can physiologically sustain a faster pace at a given percentage of VO2max, or a given pace at a lower percentage of VO2max, for a longer distance.
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Stride Length Improvement
Posted February 2nd, 2007 at 10:00 AM by Jim Fortner
Section: Running & Training, Training Tips
Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.
Although both stride rate and stride length increase as runners become faster, greater gain is realized by more runners through the increase of stride length, not stride rate. And stride length is the ultimate limiter of how fast we will eventually become because it is the primary bio-mechanical determinant of running economy.
Certainly, a runner who has a very slow stride rate, such as 150 or fewer strides/minute, can realize a lot of pace gain through increased leg turnover as his/her cardio-respiratory systems develop to enable faster paces.
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It’s time! … To start rotating your running shoes!
Posted January 26th, 2007 at 9:00 AM by Jim Fortner
Section: Running & Training, Gear & Apparel, Running Shoes, Training Tips
Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.
Rotating two or more pairs of running shoes can produce the following benefits:
It takes up to 48 hours after just a few miles of running for the midsoles of running shoes to fully recover their shock absorption properties. Allowing them time to recover at least that long reduces one’s risk of injury and extends the life span of the shoes.
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Tapering 101: My Approach & the “Conventional Wisdom”
Posted October 19th, 2006 at 4:00 AM by Jim Fortner
Section: Running & Training, Training Tips
Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Make sure to also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.
I think that too many marathoners taper too far. If anything, I have always done the opposite and not tapered enough. However, I think that is the better approach….it’s also counter to “conventional wisdom” that says that it’s better to do too little than too much during a taper. I think that is the kind of negative thinking that has contributed to the decline of the American marathoner[…].
Who was America's most-valuable male runner in 2008?
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Joe said:
Hey Nick, First of all I want to tell you what an inspiration you are to me. I am an "old timer" (just...