The Basic Idea

So the point of all of this is to test power training against traditional marathon training. The goal being to increase both the anterior and posterior chain muscles ability to produce power while maintaining a neutral pelvic girdle. This increase in power coupled with an efficient stride may create an advantage over traditional training.

Usually a conversation like this would lead into a muscle fiber type discussion as to why training sport specific is important for endurance vs power activity. Our idea is to focus more on functional strength. A runner performing traditional training will have access to much less on demand power making each stride require more energy relative to their max and therefore more stress on the body than in a more powerful athlete.

Example: Runner A has done traditional endurance training and has a max output of 100 Watts (just for ease of numbers) and uses 35 Watts per stride. Compare that to runner B that has trained more power and now has a max output of 300 Watts and uses 40 Watts per stride. The relative load for runner A would be 35% while runner B would only be at around 13% load. The idea being that runner B would be placing much less stress into the system over the course of a long run.

This is a simplification of what is a complex system. Concurrent training of power and endurance has a threshold of 6-7 weeks hence the timing of this training. Succeeding in an ultra endurance race there are a lot of factors such as body weight, 02 utilization, route planning, diet, body composition and sleep pattern to name a few. The actual efficacy of this type of training will be unknown until the results of September 22-24.

-Trevor Macintyre-