Alan Webb – Training Towards The American Mile Record (3:46.91)

Alan Webb enjoyed an incredible season in 2007, ending his campaign with the fastest times in the world in the mile (3:46.91 – American record) and 1,500 meters (3:30.54), and also posting the second-fastest time in the world in the 800 meters (1:43.84), all of which were personal best times.

On July 21, 2007, Webb broke the American record in the mile, clocking 3:46.91 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet in Brasschaa, Belgium.

Before his phenomenal season of personal best times, Webb strung together an uninterrupted 6 month base period consisting of 75-85 miles (120-135km) per week of running plus 2-3 sessions per week in the gym.

By April/May he was well and truly ready to transition to racing season. During this time his week would consist of 2 track sessions on Tuesday’s and Friday’s and a 12-15 mile (18-24km) long run on Sunday’s, normally clipping along at 5:30-5:45/mile (3:25-3:40/km) which was comfortable for Webb. He also kept the gym sessions in his schedule.

Some of the mind blogging training sessions Webb completed in the spring of 2007, before embarking on his stellar track season are below.

4 x 1 mile
Times: 4:24 (2min rest), 4:20 (4mins rest), 4:13 (3mins rest), 4:03.
“I ran 4:03 and it was a surreal feeling. I went out in 59-high and I was like, Oh my gosh, I’m doing mile repeats and this is the fourth one? I ‘settled in’ and ran a 62 in the middle of this workout. I was like, This is insane…I don’t think I had ever cracked 4:10 in mile repeats.”

9 x 800m
Times: 2:13, 2:11, 2:09, 2:07, 2:05, 2:03, 2:01, 2:00, 1:48.9
Recovery: Starting with 1 minute and increasing to 3:30 before the final rep.
“I was doing it with Kevin Sullivan and Rod Koborsi and Chris Lukezic. And those guys did eight and we thought we were going to get down to faster than 2:00. We thought the last one would be like 1:55. Those guys only got down to 2:00. Raczko was like, ‘I want you to do another one’… It was this magical time…It blew my own mind. I was like, How did I do that?“

5 sets of (4 x 400m)
Times: First set averaging 61’s. Second, third and fourth sets averaging 59’s, fourth set 57-56-55-50.
Recovery: 1min between intervals in first 4 sets, 3mins between intervals in final set. 3mins between sets.

4 mile (6.4km) tempo run + 8x200m
Times: Tempo run @ 4:48/mile (3:00/km). 8 x 200m starting in 26, ending in 24
Recovery: Unclear between tempo run and 8x200m. 200m jog between 200m intervals.
Webb completed the 4 mile tempo run with American Half Marathon record holder Ryan Hall.

“You take all those workouts, you put them together, you’re like dang, that’s everything. All the pieces. Strength, speed, the speed endurance, anaerobic, anaerobic threshold. It was all there.”

According to an article by Letsrun.com, Webb’s gym sessions would be equally as intense as his track sessions.

“He’d finish up workout days with an hour-long lifting session, and like everything else in his training regimen, that session was meticulously planned. Webb used a rotation of 11 lifts: power cleans, squats, dead lifts, lunges, calf raises, bench press, bent-over rows, military press, upright rows, biceps and triceps. He’d do three sets of each, the number of reps varying from six to 14 depending on the day (for every two additional reps, Webb would remove five pounds). Webb had precisely two minutes to complete each set, with the beep-beep-beep of his watch ushering him to the next station.

Webb could have trained in a local gym but did not want any outside distractions to interrupt his focus. Instead, he converted the dining room of his house into his own personal gym. His sweat would pool in the middle of the floor, leaving an unsightly stain in the middle of the room when Webb moved out a few years later.”

“Lifting gave me power off the line and I also felt like it helped my form, it helped me maintain my form,” Webb said. “I didn’t break down because I was strong.”

“One new part of Webb’s routine in 2007 was the addition of what he called a “mini” workout of hard 200s, 150s and 120s followed by plyometrics on Mondays and the day before meets. Webb would start out around 29 seconds for the 200s, but by the end of the session, he was moving; he’d always try to run the final 100 of those 120s in under 13 seconds. These sessions had two benefits. First, they helped Webb drill his speed while remaining short enough for him to recover quickly.”

References:
The Summer of Webb: An Inside Look at Alan Webb’s Magical 2007 Season – Letsrun.com
USATF – Alan Webb bio