10 years since HMM 2nd edition? Something I’d update.
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What’s even more impressive is that Kevin and Keith developed these plans 30+ years ago. They have withstood the test of time. That’s not to say that things haven’t changed, but overall, the book is the backbone of my coaching philosophy. The idea of cumulative fatigue, the marathon-specific training, and the aerobic base of bigger overall volume still rings true. However, I have been using this method since 2006, and in that time, I have looked at hundreds to thousands of training logs of runners. With those observations, it’s not about changing the system, but now having the tools to individualize it better. Today, I want to focus on three different areas where we can modify, but still maximize the idea of Cumulative Fatigue.
Since CF is the hottest topic in the book (bigger than a 16-mile-long run?), it’s a great place to go in depth. Since writing the book, technology and sentiment have changed a lot! With all the wearables and new metrics, we have become so optimized that we’ve optimized ourselves out of our own discernment. On the other hand, it does feel like we have shifted our beliefs from lower-mileage trainers to higher mileage. Maybe that’s more the younger generation. However, my observations over the last decade are that more and more people want to put in bigger weekly volumes. Given all that, I think the idea of Cumulative Fatigue has been misconstrued to some extent. I have three areas I’d like to discuss that could help you.
In the 2nd edition of the book, there’s a little callout that defines Cumulative Fatigue as “the accumulation of fatigue over days, weeks, and even months of consistent training.” Looking back at it today, I realize how vague that was. I should have said something to the effect that it starts in the days, but should take several weeks to show itself. The problem with that definition (besides being too vague) is that so many runners interpret it as if they should be feeling that fatigue within the first few weeks, and then they have to manage it over the remaining months. I get it; I just read it, and it’s easy to interpret that way. The truth is that it is a slow buildup and it’s not just one workout. It is a slow buildup of that fatigue that, hopefully, doesn’t really show up until you get to the last 8 weeks, or so, of the plan. I’ve always viewed it as when you start the strength segment, which is really the full race-specific segment, is when you should be experiencing cumulative fatigue.
A term that has been used more recently (at least since the second edition came out) is running resiliency. And that is the ability to perform a task at a specific pace, despite being tired. This lines up with how I have recently described cumulative fatigue as feeling tired before and at the beginning of the workout, but getting done with it feeling better and being on pace. With cumulative fatigue, this should describe the last 6 weeks of training, so if you are saying you are dog tired during your speed work segment, then we need to take a look. That’s not cumulative fatigue! In terms of Cumulative Fatigue, or resiliency, the training we do is going to be a large determinant of that. The HMM plans handle that beautifully. However, there are a couple of areas where clarification and updating can take you to the next level of success with this plan.
The first area that I would address with individuals is to take the plan as it is laid out in the book as a best-fit template. People will look at the plan and think that’s the only way to get to cumulative fatigue. The truth is, I make adjustments for people all the time. As it stands, the plan is laid out with Monday, Friday, and Saturday being easy. Saturday is typically a longer easy run. Tues is either speed or strength. Thursdays are tempo days, and Sunday is long run day. Wednesday is the off day. Many people become afraid to move days around because they don’t want to mess it up! They fear that if they do, they’ll mess up the development of cumulative fatigue. I am here to tell you that is not going to happen. You are still going to be plenty tired. The truth is, we have to find a way to allow you to be tired from training, but not overtrained.
I’ve said this before, but the biggest thing I see is with Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday is a speed or strength day, then Wednesday off and then turning around and doing a tempo run on Thursday. For many people, this is the start of trouble and has cascading effects over the following days and weeks. I really like doing workouts on Tuesday and Friday, followed by the long run on Sunday. You can switch this around for whatever works for you. A lot of people really want Sunday off, so we go Monday, Thursday, and Saturday for SOS days. It doesn’t have to follow the layout in the book, exactly. It can be what fits your recovery and schedule. And as far as days you do specific workouts, you
The two caveats to this: I really discourage going back-to-back SOS days. I think if you are limited and have time to get two SOS days in, then do the Speed/Strength when you can and then combine the tempo into the long run in some capacity. The second is that I believe one of the things that makes the 16-mile-long run work for so many people is that it is preceded by a longer easy run the day before. If it’s laid out correctly, you will actually run 24-26 miles in 24 hours, at the peak of the schedule. If at all possible, I’d love to see you try and keep that layout.
The second area that I should address is the progression of paces from your current pace to your goal pace. If you are an advanced runner, it may not be a big issue. When I was at my peak, we were always just trying to chip away at end times. If you can run 5 seconds per mile faster in the marathon, that’s over 2 minutes faster. For me, that would have taken me from a 2:14 guy to a 2:12 guy real quick. Even 10 seconds/mile takes me from a very good runner to an Olympic hopeful in one shot! So, in training, a 5-10 second variance isn’t much that you really have to worry about, current vs goal pace. However, many of you are either newer to the sport or going for broke to get a qualifier. We are talking about a 20-30 second difference between what you can run and what you want to run. That’s something we need to address and adjust.
Again, to be fair, it was my wording. So, you were all just following the schedule as written. The problem with just making a big jump is that we are making the workouts harder than they need to be. Instead of marathon effort, some of those tempos are really more like half marathon tempos. The 5k-1k work is probably like 2 mile effort, and the mid-range of your easy days are close to what your current marathon pace is. The bottom line is that we haven’t created an environment that is one of growth, but rather, survival. That’s why so many of you are just fried 6-8 weeks into the plan. We set it up to just be too fast at the start.
Here’s what I would do- use your most recent race as a guide. Nothing new there. If you aren’t sure, coming off a longer downtime, or something where you just need a baseline, then I’d perform a 6-minute test at the beginning of your segment. Compare that to where you were at for your last race. Essentially, I just want you to have a couple of data points to compare and then just use some discernment. Be conservative and then adjust every few weeks until you feel like you are getting closer to goal pace. If you are within 5-10 seconds a mile with 8-10 weeks to go, you are probably in a good spot. Remember, especially for marathon pace, you have to run that pace for 26.2 miles, so if a 4-mile tempo is wiping you out, you probably need to adjust for the current pace.
Rarely do I have to tell an athlete to work harder. 99.9% of you work really hard, and that is a trait to have! However, what takes you from a hard worker to someone who can perform to the best of their ability is the one who can learn the nuances of training. You get to a point where you can’t just will yourself to be faster by doing more work faster. It’s about knowing how to adjust based on your situation, being at the right intensities for where you are in training, and then maximizing adaptation and recovery through the right nutrition strategies. If you can work on these areas, you’ll no longer be getting into cumulative fatigue sooner than we are looking for. You’ll be at peak performance ability when you need to be and not 4-6 weeks too early. Hope that helps some of you out!
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