10:12 for 3.84km, circuit training and thoughts on racing Hicham El Guerrouj: Craig Mottram
Here are some highlights from the interview:
Still just 4 months after starting consistent training (post 7 months of injury), Mottram ran a 10:12 for a lap (3.84km) of The Tan, a famous loop in Melbourne, Australia that is a trail surface and includes a few hills. That is 2:39/km!
“I train on the Tan regularly and I knew that a Kenyan held the record so I thought, “we can’t have that!” I also knew that 1 kilometre was about a third of the way up the Anderson Street Hill so I relaxed to there, then really pushed over the top of the hill. I was pretty happy to run 10.12. (Lee Troop finished second in 10.42)”
“I’m pretty sure I can run faster than 10.12 as I was not in my best shape at the time.”
On supplementing training with circuits and gym work…
“I do circuits in the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This involves lots of body weight exercises like chin-ups, dips and push-ups, some light upper body weights and core stability work but obviously, the running is the most important training. A month ago I did a stint of lifting weights, things like squats and lunges but I found that the quality of my running sessions was affected so we decided to stop the weights. Now I just concentrate on core stability and body weight exercises and let the terrain at places like Falls Creek and Ferny Creek give me the strength in my legs.”
On Hicham El Guerrouj…
“Everyone thinks he’s unbeatable but he’s been beaten twice over 5000 metres in the last twelve months. At the moment he’s certainly dominant over 1500 metres but he did lose at the Sydney Olympics so everyone is beatable. But he’s definitely human, although he’s probably a better model than most. So, we’ll see next year.”
“He’s a really nice guy to talk to and he’s really encouraging. He’s a little baffled too as to why people let him go to the front and just dominate races. But he honestly believes that he’s better than anyone else. Perhaps his incredible self belief intimidates his competitors into thinking, hey, El Guerrouj is in the race – I can’t possibly win, so they’re already running for second.”
‘In the 1500 metres he just winds it up and with the help of the pace-maker early on, he runs 1.47 – 1.48 for the last 800 metres, which is amazing running. In the 5000 metres at the World Championships he tried to do the same thing but ran out of legs. I’d like to see him race a few more times when the pace is not on from the gun – that would be interesting.”
On diet:
“I’ve learnt a lot over the last few years about diet through living with Nic and Sonia and Benita. They are very strict on what they eat. Diferent things work for diferent people but up here at Falls Creek I concentrate on foods with a high iron content, things like red meat and iron supplements, so that our blood gets the greatest benefit from training at altitude. Basically, most foods are suitable as long as they don’t contain too much of the bad fats. So I don’t cook with too much oil, I don’t have butter or margarine on my toast, I only eat lean meat and I eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables – all the little things that can make a diference if you want to compete with the best in the world. And especially up here at altitude, I drink a lot. I also have a lot of sports drinks and recovery supplements straight after a session so my body can recuperate, refuel and rebuild quickly. If you run 160 kilometres a week, you’re going to look lean even if you only eat Doritos and pies all day, but you certainly won’t run to your potential.”
On using heart-rate monitors:
“Yes. Back at sea-level we do a lot of threshold running at varied heart-rate. As I was saying earlier, a lot of people train too hard and don’t leave themselves any room for improvement when they race. Up here at altitude you can be feeling great for the first half of a session but can fall in a big hole and fatigue so quickly. Using the heart – rate monitor as a guide, you can sustain the work load for the whole session. We’ve done VO2 max and maximum heart – rate tests so we know exactly how hard we should be working in different sessions and at different times of the year.”
“I think the easy runs should be done on how you feel. If you’re feeling good – get rolling, if not – go very easy. When I first started back from injury I used my heart – rate monitor a lot because I didn’t want to work too hard and become injured again. Nic would for example say, “do not go over 140 beats per minute!‟ And because I was unfit for running, it meant that I would occasionally have to walk.”
