Jan Birkelund, who I met at Oracle Corporation, was nice enough share his running background with me and then submit his very specific question about a most interesting race in his home town.

Here’s what Jan had to say with my answers to follow:

My athletics background has mainly been to play soccer but I ran while

in the airforce, did orientation for a while and then stopped running

when I hurt my neck (while mountain biking).

As I am getting back into running I had a question about uphill races.

In my home country of Norway they are becoming ever more popular

http://fredrikolmqvist.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/the-only-way-is-up/

and I was wondering if you had any advice for me as I am really

interested in training for Stoltzekleiven up which is my hometown’s

big uphill race. The race is only 910 meters long but with 313 meter

ascent and 600 stairs!

Many of my friends back home train for this race all year and it would

be great to join them in the race which I have been told is much

harder than it sounds.

How would you suggest I go about training for such a race? The best

time ever is 8.13 (Jon Tvedt) so it is over in a flash but due to the

type of running people often crash and burn when opening too hard or

when they have not trained specifically for the race.

Provide any running data relevant to your question, i.e. frequency,

weekly mileage pace of training and racing if you know this.

I run 3-4 times per week each time about 3-5 miles.

My pace is quite moderate to slow as I have just started running

again.

List any other physical activities you engage in regularly. Include

frequency.

Skiing – 20+ times per year

Mountain biking – 30+ times per year

Injury history: What has been outstanding and/or recurrent?

Neck injury but it is fine now.

Goals you may have:

Complete the race described above on a decent time 15-17 minutes and

increase my running to 5+ miles each time I run.

Finally some pictures that show the race and the amazing view you get once you are up:

https://www.google.com/search?q=stoltzekleiven&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=_FZ_T7G_HIeg8gT5xZTcBw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=679

Art’s Recommendations:

With any training plan I always get to know the individual variation in a runner’s physical structure, movement patterns and psyche. So before implementing any of the measures in my sketch (see below) of the ideal training periods leading up to Stoltzekleiven (WHAT A COOL EVENT!) I would want to find out more about you and be fairly involved in the details of your preparation, even though you’d be doing most of the work independently.  I am essentially a trail runner with a middle distance background so am well suited to understanding the trainable elements that contribute to improved performance of over such a distance and terrain.  We won’t have to be 100% perfect with the regimen below, we just want to get you in the best possible place to start the race at a sustainable pace from which you can finish strongly and still have the surplus energy to deal with anything unexpected that may or may not come up in the race itself.

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

Bruce Lee

I’m really pragmatic in my approach to training. Timing of the work and the readiness of the runner is everything when comprising a plan to prepare for such an event. So here’s an ideal layout of the work you will need to do. Then we will have to be conservative in the early going and remain adaptable around the obstacles that may arise in the process. If we achieve 60-80% of ALL the factors that have a bearing on you reaching your race goal, you are likely to succeed. You will have a good experience that you can both learn from and build on in the future OR even a breakthrough performance where you surprise yourself by demonstrating your true potential.

April/May:

Make a general form and fitness assessment

Conceive a physical conditioning program that is safe, practical and includes mental training  (energy management and solid nutritional support)

Organize running frequency to 5 days according to your readiness to do so, establish consistent sequence of running workouts

Instate variation in training plan with new workouts

Prescribe pace and terrain of respective training runs

Build “hill base” as well as mid-distance endurance runs, short easy recovery runs and light speed-work

June/July

Regular form-work + rhythm drills

Gradually add more specific speed/interval and hill training to your base mileage

Work on up-hill technique (specific to stair-climbing)… power-hiking technique + specific power-hiking workout  for leg strength

Simulate “degree of difficulty,” elevation profile and trail conditions, locally ( I know exactly where we might do this) utilizing progressive overload and sufficient recovery

Maintain base of easy runs and speed-work on alternate training days

August/September

Regular form-work + rhythm drills

Peak of mileage, specific terrain and speed, 1 month before race day

Begin taper 3 weeks before race day

Sharpening workouts, allowing for full recovery from peak volume while maintaining race pace intensity on select days

Practice rhythm of starting pace on race simulation course (to be determined)

Specify optimal pre-race acclimatization time in Norway

Resolved Question
Help with Plyometrics for a Novice Lacrosse Player

I’m currently a junior in high school who would really like to play lacrosse next year and… I’ve never played a game in my life. The way I see it, I have a year to beat some lacrosse geared athleticism into me before I embarrass myself in front of my friends and about 6-9 months before I embarrass myself in front of an indoor team.
My goal is to prevent this embarrassment from happening. So I’ve begun a pretty demanding training schedule: Day 1 Upper Body Mandatory Day 2 Lower Body Mandatory Day 3 Minor Muscles (Semi-recovery day) Day 4 Plyometrics Day 5 Lacrosse technical skills. This is done for 3 weeks, then a rest week and then it begins again with workouts on different days and hopefully different exercises. My main problem is, I don’t know a good plyometrics workout routine. The other problem is I don’t know any exercises that would improve my stick skills.

Current athletic ablitity and other info:
I’m approximately 165 pounds and 6 feet and 1 inch tall
I can bench 160 pounds
I’m more than capable of running a six minute mile
With arms fully extended I can jump and reach a basketball rim.

When I weight lift I do not max out, the bench press is a max but a friend was over and he wanted to know yadayadayadyada, so I obviously cannot give you any other max outs. I apologize for all the approximates, I don’t know what I’m “officially” capable of but I figured they would help in determining an appropriate routine. I would greatly appreciate help.
Art’s Response, Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
Hi, I have some experience teaching speed & explosion of which plyometrics are part but not all of the formula. To improve your athleticism, you’d do well to learn sport specific “grass drills”, with straight ahead speed, lateral movement and first step quickness and explosion all as essential elements. It’s also important to both limit and gradually build up the quantity of reps, jumps and landings, with plyo’s, so you don’t exhaust or injure yourself from the impacts which are a form of progressive overload (very intense on the  human structure). Think of it like “a little is a lot” and then you can add more frequency by combining the plyos into your various routines (although not on your lower body day, given your current sequence). This way you’ll get more lasting conditioning out of what your doing.
Good posture, alignment and jumping & landing technique with reflexive ground reaction is the key. Keep it simple. There’s a great book by Doc Kreis the ex-CU strength and conditioning coach that gives both exercise technique and seasonal workout structure for lacrosse and a number of other sports. Also see Human Kinetics, Vern Gambetta or Don Chu video materials which are very instructive.
If you can run a sub-6 you have a lot going for you in the way of endurance and flow which will serve you well. Use this base of conditioning as confidence booster and push yourself from the same place you would with running with the demands of your new sport (your coaches will take notice too). With sport specific speed your training your nervous system to fire more rapidly… it’s like anything you’ve ever worked at systematically; coordination, rhythm and speed are a result of training the nervous system in a specific pattern through repetition. It’s similar to going to the driving range or batting cage. Once you’ve got the foundational movements down and you can anticipate and change directions well in order to get to the place in the field and cover your responsibilities and/or make a play… think about how rapidly and numerous the transitions from offense to defense can be in a short span of time. Developing the hand-eye coordination for stick handling on the run will follow (not my expertise really) although I’d spend just as much time playing with the equipment in a relaxed way with your friends to get a body sense of how to handle it. The resistance training/weights are actually secondary/non specific although the strength gains and toughness in your shoulders and hips will help you tolerate the contact and wear and tear. Remember, the body is the “ultimate free weight.” Medicine ball work could be fun and beneficial as well.

Hope this gives you some direction. Enjoy!
Source(s):
Human Kinetics Publishing
Vern Gambetta
Donald Chu
(search should bring them up)

Sport Agility, book by Doc, Kreis (could be out of print, maybe Amazon?)