Running stadium Bleachers/Steps Question?
Looked in the wiki and the OS plan for any thoughts on the +/-'s of doing some bleachers at the local stadium. I run at a very nice track/stadium at Duke University. Lots of peeps there running repeats up the stands in the stadium. This would be about 75 steps, maybe 50-60 yards long depending on what part of the stadium. I've done it in the past, run up, walk over 1 set of bleachers~25 yards, light jog back down to the bottom. Run up, and repeat the process until I've gone around the stadium and back. Usually would take about 30 minutes to make a trip around the "U" shaped stands.
My question is, does this type workout have any place for the OS or not? Its a real leg burner on the way up, but probably more like 30/30's than the threshold stuff I'm doing currently.
Thanks
Comments
What if you did 1 min of bleachers and 3 minutes of recovery (coming down easy)? That wouldn't be 30/30...
Yea, these steps are not long enough to take 1 minute to go up, more like maybe 20 seconds, depending on how hard you go at it. Making the U an out and back would be about 35 ups and 35 downs. Next time I go there, I'll time a run up and get a good number. all I know is when I've done this in the past couple off seasons, my legs were really tired for a couple days, so I thought this must be good for you. But, I'm not so sure how it relates to running speed and whether there is a better use of time.
I could see it more if the target race course was a hilly one versus a flat one. I'm in for IMLP next year and while it has a couple hills each lap, I consider it a fairly flat course.
It sounds like you have a lot of residual fatigue from something that seems like a VO2 workout. Usually those hurt, but you recover by the next day. What if you broke them up? Say, do 6Xstaircase, full recoveries between. But doing that straight for 30 minutes is very tough on you, and what system do you want to work? Your getting to the point of doing anaerobic capacity type work or repetition work as Daniels' would call it and how much do you need of that for a race of our distances? So I would do them in sets, or try them as a plyometric workout where you can do single jumps up one set, the other leg up the next, both feet for every step for the next, both feet and skipping a step on the next, running up one, then running up the next skipping a step and then full recovery and repeat as necessary. All those would strengthen your tendons and ligaments and make them more tight for injury prevention and more stiff for better rebound off the ground thus making you more economical. Good off season work. Anyway, I hope that sheds some light on it for you. Good luck.
Dan
My feeling- you can get a LOT of benefit from adding these in...just do it with your head.
Mike
Given the choice of where to put extra time, I would suggest a extra weekly 30' EP run. The bleachers sound like a great fitness experience, but there's plenty of work and recovery to be done in the program as it is, and the intensity and fatigue cost of these bleacher runs would surely impair more important SBR stuff that you're paying $ for in your plan.