Gebrselassie returned to the marathon in 2005 with a win at Amsterdam. Starting that year, he ran the fastest time in the world for four years straight, including his 2:03:59 world record at Berlin in 2008.
After all this time, he remains as motivated as ever to train three or more hours a day at altitude. Why? “It’s not for money,” he says, “because I have enough, and I am making even more with my investments and my businesses. It’s simply the thrill of racing.” Finding meaningful goals – in Gebrselassie’s case, an Olympic gold medal in the marathon and a sub-2:04 clocking – are key to any long career in the marathon.
Gebrselassie is steeped in the Ethiopian tradition of near-daily form drills and calisthenics. No doubt his long career and beautiful stride reflect his dedication to them. But even the man whose biography is simply titled “The Greatest” has chinks in his armor. Gebrselassie has been bothered by Achilles tendon problems for much of his career. If he slacks off on doing calf raises and shin-muscle-strengthening exercises, his aches resume. All of us can have healthier, longer running careers if we’re diligent about addressing our inherent weak spots with the right stretching and strengthening exercises.
To get a similar workout to running requires about three times as long on a bike. But because the main rationale for recovery runs is simply to increase blood flow through the muscles, you can replace a 30-minute recovery run with about 45 minutes on the bike.
Because cycling is highly repetitive and uses a limited range of motion, it presents a danger of shortening your stride. You can minimize this concern by walking and then running slowly for several minutes after cycling and then stretching your hamstrings, quadriceps, and hip flexors. Also, be sure to keep the bike in an easy-enough gear, with RPMs of at least 90, so that cycling doesn’t detract from your running turnover.
Unfortunately, a number of running injuries are aggravated by some types of cross-training. Fortunately, with most running injuries, you can safely run in the water. Deep-water running with a flotation vest provides an excellent training stimulus and simulates land running more closely than most other cross-training options. Running in the water is a total-body exercise that works your legs, trunk, and arms and positively stresses your cardiovascular system.
Several studies have verified that runners can use deep-water running to maintain aerobic fitness, lactate threshold, running economy, and time-trial performance for at least 6 weeks. There’s little question, then, that water running is an effective method for runners to stay fit.
Water-running technique is an area of some debate. Some coaches insist that you should try to simulate land-running form as closely as possible. Though that’s a nice ideal, the most important consideration is to maintain your training intensity to the highest degree possible; if your form needs improvement, so be it.
Regardless of your running form, your stride rate will be slower during water running because of the increased resistance of moving your legs through water. If you try to simulate land running too closely, your stride rate will be even slower. For that reason, don’t worry if you don’t bring your leg behind your body to the same degree as in land running; just find a happy compromise with decent form and a reasonable rate of leg turnover.
Some athletes move forward while running in the water and (very slowly) do laps during their workouts. Whether you move forward or remain relatively still depends on subtle changes in body position. Try to maintain a relatively upright posture during water running; this posture will work your trunk muscles and result in only a slight tendency to move forward through the water.
You won’t be able to achieve as high a heart rate running in the water as when running on land. A study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that heart rate is 8 to 11 beats per minute lower for the same oxygen uptake when running in the water compared with normal running (Svedenhag and Seger 1992). This study also found that, on average, maximal heart rate is 16 beats per minute lower during all-out water running compared with land running. Lower heart rates during water running are primarily because of the pressure of water on the body; the water pressure makes more blood return to the heart so that more blood is pumped with each heartbeat.
A useful rule of thumb is that heart rates during water running are about 10 percent lower than during land running. For example, if you get your heart rate up to 140 beats per minute in the water, that’s roughly equal to 156 beats per minute during normal running. In addition, the temperature of the water affects your heart rate during deep-water running – your heart rate will be lower in cool water and higher in warm water. Interestingly, two studies have found that women have slightly lower heart rates and oxygen consumption than do men during deep-water running. This is thought to be because of women’s generally higher body fat content and resultant greater buoyancy as compared with men.
The Karolinska study found that perceived exertion is higher during water running for a given heart rate or level of oxygen consumption. In other words, to get a beneficial workout in the water, you’ll feel that you’re working harder than during land running. (We can speak from experience that perceived effort at a heart rate of 140 in the water is much higher than for a heart rate of 156 running on land.)
For this reason, if you’re injured and replacing land running with water running, you’ll need to emphasize interval workouts in the water. If you do only steady water-running sessions, your effort won’t be high enough to maintain your fitness. Interval sessions in the water, however, give you brief breaks, both physical and mental, that allow you to work harder and obtain a superior workout. Another plus is that time passes relatively quickly when you’re doing intervals, whereas steady water running is terribly boring. A typical 40-minute water-running workout consists of a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 10 repetitions of 45 seconds moderately hard with 15 seconds recovery and then 10 repetitions of 1 minute 40 seconds moderately hard with 20 seconds recovery, and a 5-minute cool-down. Even if you’re using water running on your recovery days while marathon training, to get in a halfway decent workout you’ll probably need to concentrate on maintaining intensity more than if you were going for an easy run around the block.
Advantages of in-line skating for cross-training are that it’s fun, it gets you outside with the wind in your hair, and it has some similarities to a running stride. Disadvantages are the time it takes to develop reasonable skill and the safety factor. You may reduce your risk of running injuries by adding in-line skating to your training program, but you could end up with a few scrapes and bruises instead. Once you master it, though, in-line skating can be an effective form of cross-training. After a series of running injuries, Olympic 10,000-meter runner Steve Plasencia successfully used in-line skating to maintain his fitness and reduce his injury risk for several years while continuing to compete at a world-class level. You can use in-line skating for recovery training and general aerobic conditioning.
Rowing on the water is a wonderful whole-body exercise that requires a fairly high degree of skill. If you know how to do it, rowing is a great replacement for recovery training and a portion of your aerobic conditioning. Rowing on a machine, such as a Concept II rowing ergometer, is much more forgiving – if your technique is poor, you stay dry. Rowing emphasizes the legs, back, shoulders, and arms. When starting out, ask someone who knows what he or she is doing to show you the correct technique because improper rowing technique can put a large amount of strain on your back.