The training secrets of Paula Radcliffe article written by Orlando Pizzolato in TN40 July 2003

Foreword

Paula Radcliffe's superb winning time at the 2003 London Marathon left all of us quite breathless. Already Paula's first marathon time (then reinforced by the new women's record at Chicago in 2002) hinted that a new era of women's marathon running was dawning due to the efforts of the 29-year-old Bedford Brit.. But it was not until the 2003 London Marathon that Paula exploded onto the scene as a lady with something out of the ordinary.

How did she do it? And just what were, and are, the secrets behind such an astounding feat of long-distance running? Probably not all of us remember a different Paula Radcliffe: dubbed at one time the eternal bridesmaid, swamped by an African tide towards the finish, time and time again. On track, cross country and road, after setting a pounding pace for the best part of the race - aimed at blunting her rivals' sting - Paula's finishing speed was not a match for African athletes. This achilles heel meant having to swallow many a bitter pill of defeat, with finishes even off the podium.

Paula and Achilles

Paula's main weakness was a lack of finishing spurt at races in which she had led easily all the way at a consistently fast pace. But unfortunately her "speed resistance" was just not enough to burn out the others before the sprint finish. This string of defeats at the big athletics meetings probably made Radcliffe think hard about some of her training strategies - and about adventuring into marathon running. And so it was that the ugly duckling with an awkward gait turned into an elegant - and flying - swan. Paula's running style is still not perfect. Despite some success in reducing her head-roll through autogenic training, the roll is still there. But a much more important transformation has come about through a new approach towards training and recovery techniques. So, putting it all together, what took Paula Radcliffe into the fastest lane?

Training

After the Sydney Olympics, Paula began thinking about the marathon. So she first set herself an interim racing goal, which was to compete in a big half-marathon event: the world championships race at Veracruz . The experiment was a success, with Paula romping home with a world title - and a blistering time (1h 09'07") considering the draining effects of the heat (32°) and humidity. The men's race was won, with some discomfort, by Paul Tergat in 1h 03'47" . In that period, the Kenyan star's form was sub-1 hour over that distance, so Paula's potential for the full marathon distance was clearly a lot better than her time alone revealed.

In her training for the marathons of London and Chicago in 2002, Paula followed a weekly schedule of 150 miles , which included four speed sessions for aerobic capacity and aerobic power totalling 25 miles .

This showed a strong specialisation towards an ambitious marathon goal. It was also borne out by her best track times (5,000m in 14'31" and 10,000m in 30'01"), which were a lot slower than her potential for the marathon. According to reliable forecasting studies, Paula's marathon time of 2h15'25" is worth these track times: 5,000m in 14'21", 10,000m in 29'24". But Paula's times over these shorter distances were affected by certain factors: she ran the shorter of the two distances without a very specific preparation as she was training for the Chicago marathon while the race over the longer distance was held during a violent thunderstorm. The weather also affected Paula's world-record road time for 10,000m (30'21") , which was in February but in Portorico, where the climate was typically tropical. For Paula, it also came at a time when her preparation was not fine-tuned for the distance, with just two months to go before the London Marathon.

Incidentally, before the 2003 London marathon, in training she ran a 10,000 in 31' and a 24 mile session in 2h 14'.

The high life

To prepare for her most important appointments, Paula takes to the high roads. She chose Albuquerque in New Mexico to train for her marathons, and Font Romeau, in the Pyrenees , for her summer training sessions (short races). Her choice of these two locations depends on the length of stay. Paula stayed at Albuquerque ( 5,250 feet above sea level) for some 4 months in winter and another 2 months in late summer. Training at an altitude that's not too high brings a lower level of discomfort from oxygen debt. So you can train profitably at an average intensity for long er periods - typical of marathon running. Spending long times at altitude allows the body to create longer-lasting adaptations, which make it more effective when dealing with oxygen debt. It also means less discomfort when going up even higher (e.g. 6,500-7,500ft onto the mountains around Albuquerque). 

Paula stayed for only 3-4 weeks at Font Romeau ( 6,500 ft ), which was just long enough to prepare for the shorter races (5,000m and 10,000m). Here she concentrated on higher-intensity workouts than the ones before the marathon. A Font Romeau, where many French and Spanish athletes train, there are fewer longer-distance routes, so runners concentrate mainly on track sessions.

The Hypoxic environment

To complement her altitude training, Paula - like other elite athletes - likes to reap the benefits of a lower-oxygen (or hypoxic) environment also when back in England. Many athletes (e.g. Lance Amstrong) create hypoxic environments, which use special equipment (tents and others) to recreate reduced-oxygen conditions. By spending some of the day - and all night - in this type of environment, the body is stimulated to produce more red blood cells.

Regeneration

This is the factor that probably boosted Paula Radcliffe's performance more than any other. Paula works under the watchful eye of physiotherapist Gary Hatmann. The day after her 2003 London marathon victory, Hatmann said he had Paula receive four hours of physiotherapy and massage. The goal of these particularly long recovery sessions - begun in February - was to give extra maintenance to the whole body. But above all it's to give Paula's muscles and tendons the best chance to recover from the heavy workloads she puts them through.

The accident

Not everyone knows that only three weeks before the London Marathon, Paula was hit by a cyclist in Albuquerque while on a long training run. The impact with the cyclist -and road- was frightening and Paula had to wear a neck brace for fear of a dislocated vertebra. She had also hurt her jaw. X-rays luckily ruled out the vertebra wrench but confirmed a dislocated jaw; she also had an impressive array of grazes and bruises. For a week Paula couldn't take in solid foods because of the jaw problem, so she went on a diet of liquids and oysters, which are rich in iron. At Albuquerque hospital doctors said recovery wouldn't be sooner than fifteen days but Paula was back training only four days after the accident. According to Hartmann, the secret behind this lightning recovery lay in a special treatment from an Australian doctor: emu fat, a natural product used for centuries by the aborigines, who claim it has special therapeutic powers.

Another special physiotherapy treatment Hartmann prescribes Paula are.. the vasoconstriction baths. After every hard training session, Paula takes a fifteen-minute bath in water and ice. She first sits with her legs in cold water, then the physiotherapist adds ice - shaken not stirred (!). Paula receives this treatment also the evening before races and after each competition. She concedes that these cold baths were tough going at first, but by now they've become an almost daily routine as they favour excellent muscle recovery and reduce inflammation caused by the impact of hard training.

Also the long socks Paula uses both when training and racing (and which initially were her hallmark) are there for a specific reason. Initially observers thought the black long socks (now lighter-coloured because Paula says people's attention was drawn more to these black stockings than her running) were for keeping her legs warm. Instead Paula has a slight problem with varicose veins and uses these elasticised socks to help with blood circulation. Hartmann says their value when racing is marginal but that they bring significant benefits during training. Paula uses these socks to reduce muscle stress from foot-to-ground impact and contraction during the thrust phase. She says her muscles tire much less when using the socks.

Before the race

In case you hadn't yet realised, as an athlete, Paula is both particularly demanding and extremely meticulous. Her pre-race routine already begins in the previous afternoon. At 5 pm she as an ice bath, at 6 pm dinner and at 7 pm goes sleep. She sets her alarm for 4 hours before the start of the race (5.45 am in London ). The day begins with breakfast: porridge, honey and a banana; then she has a light massage. While waiting for the race to start, she listens to some music and has a tape specially prepared for these pre-race moments. It's a motivational one, and the track she likes best is .. Tina Turner's "Simply the best". The warm-up begins half an hour before the starting gun: she takes a 10-minute jog, then come some joint mobility exercises (torso and pelvis) and stretching; then another 5 minute run and some 50-yard strides.

Once the race starts, she succeeds in concentrating totally on herself and the various types of effort she has to sustain. During the London marathon, Paula had to endure two calls of the loo . To pull herself through the discomfort without slowing her pace, she concentrated on counting up to 100, doing so three times for a total of 300, adding up to the seconds Paula took to run a mile.

Paula and Yasso

Although Paula doesn't use the Yasso test to predict her marathon time, there is a link between the Brit and the test invented by the American marathon runner, Bart Yasso. I recently read that there are still some runners who don't rate the Yasso test for accurately predicting marathon times. Instead I think that the Yasso test, if correctly carried out, gives a very good indication of your marathon time, provided that the precise technical assumptions hold true. These assumptions are: that the session's parameters are set correctly, that the person has suitable marathon preparation under his/her belt, in terms of training and diet, and that the other conditions are ideal, such as environment, the race route, etc..

But going back to Paula Radcliffe and Yasso, what's the link between them? Ten days before the London marathon, in training Paula ran 8x1,000m in 2'48" - 2'50" with 400m recovery intervals of 1'50/2'. If we convert her times over 1,000 metres into distances of 800m, we discover that a hypothetical Yasso test would have had her finish in 2h14'-2h16'.

The reliability of the Yasso test lies in its measuring athletes' ability to pace themselves during the race itself. It's worth underlining - as I've done before - that it's the result of the Yasso test which indicates your potential marathon time, and not the other way round: you mustn't think "if I want to finish in 3h30', I've got to run the 800 m tests in 3'30. No putting the cart before the horse!

The stopwatch in Paula's legs

 

I hope the contents of this article give many of you some useful recommendations and tips for improving your performance. I personally find Paula Radcliffe a particularly stimulating and motivating runner . A runner who has learned from her defeats. Rather than becoming demoralised, she has moved forward to reach new and truly astonishing achievements.

Paula is far from the stereotype "robot athlete" and is a normal person in every way. Perhaps it's her determination and motivation that sets her apart, like every champion. In short, she's a lady who knows what she wants. And watch this space: Paula still has more goals she intends to reach!

 

Italian to English translations by Ivor Coward

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