The Flying Finn – Lasse Virén – Training
There was a mystic period of running history, and one name that continued to be the throne in the side of many of the world’s best was Lasse Virén. A Finnish born athlete who dominated the world running scene, pocketing four gold medals across the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, the only man in history to do a double at consecutive games. Viren was blessed with both talent and a gigantic work ethic and off the back of his rise the phrase was coined the “Flying Finns” that was established by Annes Kolehmainen, Paayo Nurmi and Ville Ritola in the 1920’s. Being awarded the Finnish Sportsman of the Year in and 1976 Viren ventured into politics later in lave and was a member of Finland’s parliament in 1999–2007 and 2010–2011.
Virens initial notable performances came in the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki, where he came 7th and 17th in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter events respectively. Seeing that he needed to adopt something new, he ventured to Kenya in a training block on the way to qualifying for the 1972 Olympics. This was the start of Virens ‘god like figure’, where in the in the memorable 10,000-meter final. Around halfway, Mohammed Gammoudi clipped his heels (with Gammoudi also falling down, leading to a DNF). Virén tripped and rolled into the infield, being passed by the pack. But this unfortunate twist of events certainly did not count the Flying Finn out as he was able to get-up, regroup, chase down the pack and in superhuman fashion win in a world record time. To add salt to the wound of his would-be competitors he backed this event up a week later, when he chased down Steve Prefontaine (among others) to win gold in the 5,000. The mystic double and the foundation of Virens legacy.
“Dream barriers look very high until someone climbs them. They are not barriers anymore” Lasse Viren
This is where the story of the great Lasse Virén deviates from the norm. Immediately post the 1972 double and a handful other other quality races he simply seemed to disappear for four years from the international running scene. It has been stated that Virén has a singular focus on the Olympic Golds but this time is shrouded in mystery.
Fast forward to 1976 and it is Olympic season. At this time most sovereign African nations boycotted the Montreal Olympics after the IOC refused to ban New Zealand, who had recently played rugby in Apartheid South Africa. Viren once again was in the mix and won the 10,000, then backed up once again to win the 5,000 in another last mile all out sprint. As an encore, he entered the Marathon the very next day and ran an extremely handy 2:13! Only one other person in history has topped this and that was the great Emil Zatopek and win the 5000m, 10,000m and Marathon gold medals at the one Olympics. Needless to say his results made Virén a fairly controversial/polarizing figure, because he was certainly able to deliver his best performances when it mattered the most.
Training and key sessions
“The import things are to train hard, and not give up hope” Lasse Viren
The structure of Virens training was pretty standard in the way that winter consisted of mainly base/endurance work, speed training commenced in spring and then he usually raced from May through to September. However, he had bouts of hard training mixed in during the racing period. Viren would always take a short break at the end of the season to re-charge his batteries.
Viren’s training was different to the ‘complex system’ of de Castella as he didn’t have a weekly re-occurring routine or schedule but instead switched his training around from week to week. However, he did have his favorite workouts that he would complete regularly. Examples of these are below:
50 x 100 meters all-out as 5000m around the track of sprinting the straights and floating the bends or 10 by 400m in 59 seconds with 200m jog recovery. Notably this session was paired with the ritual of Viren climbed over the fence at the track in Helsinki, as a kind of mental stimulus. Climbing the fence instead of walking through the gate was symbolic of getting over the problems he had faced.”
Viren also regularly trained at altitude.
“Run as much miles as I did and you’ll learn the secret of running, but I can’t guarantee you’ll win in Olympics” Lasse Viren
Typical training week
A typical weeks training during the winter base phase is outlined below. It is clear that he covered massive mileage (approximately 250km/week during base phase).
Monday:
· AM: 12 km, with 8 by 600m surges up a hill within the run.
· NOON: 15 km fartlek run with surges at will (usually every 2-4 minutes).
· PM: 12km fartlek run. Would take approximately 52 minutes.
Tuesday
· AM: 12 km easy
· NOON: 12 km of intervals around a track. Examples of such sessions include 2 sets of 10 by 200m with 200m float recoveries and 5 minutes rest between each set.
· PM: 17km fartlek run.
Wednesday:
· AM: 15 km fartlek run.
· PM: 20km at a steady pace.
Thursday:
· AM: Rest or easy 12 km run.
· PM: 22km keeping heart rate at approximately 122 beats per minute.
Friday:
· AM: 12 km fartlek run, with one flat out kilometer within the run.
· NOON: 15 km fartlek run with surges at will (usually every 2-4 minutes).
· PM: 12km fartlek run. Would take approximately 52 minutes.
Saturday:
· AM: 12 km fartlek run, surges at will.
· NOON: 16 km fartlek run, surges at will.
· PM: 10km at recovery pace.
Sunday:
· AM: 25 km easy run
· PM: 12km fartlek run. Would take approximately 52 minutes.
Lasse Viren Training Log Oct ’71-Sep ’72
Month: Miles, Rest Days, Training Sessions, Races
Oct ’71: 244, 1, 60, 0
Nov ’71: 331, 2, 62, 2
Dec ’71: 459, 3, 70, 0
Jan ’72: 395, 2, 62, 3
Feb ’72: 524, 0, 76, 2
Mar ’72: 512, 1, 66, 0
Apr ’72: 391, 0, 64, 2
May ’72: 366, 0, 62, 4
Jun ’72: 304, 0, 55, 7
Jul ’72: 347, 0, 62, 7
Aug ’72: 420, 1, 61, 8
Sep ’72: 273, 1, 52, 9
11/20-27/1971
Sun AM: 6.2M (45m)
Sun PM: 12.4M (1h32m)
Mon AM: 6.2M (45m)
Mon PM: 14.9M (1h45m)
Tue AM: 6.2M
Tue PM: 13.7M (1h35m)
Wed AM: 5.0M
Wed PM: rest
Thu AM: 6.2M (50m)
Thu PM: 6.8M (42m)
Fri AM: 5.0M (40m)
Fri PM: rest
Sat AM: 5.5M (48m)
Sat PM: 13.0M (1h22m)
mpw-101
3/19-25/1972
Sun AM: 6.2M (40m)
Sun PM: 13.0M (1h23m)
Mon AM: 11.2M (1h10m)
Mon PM: massage
Tue AM: 5.0M (34m)
Tue PM: 12.4M (1h15m)
Wed AM: 6.2M (40m)
Wed PM: 10.0M (57m)
Thu AM: 5.0M (33m)
Thu PM: 12.4M (1h20m)
Fri AM: 6.2M (41m)
Fri PM: 9.3M (52m)
Sat AM: 5.0M (30m)
Sat PM: 13.0M (5M@25:10, 5m rest, 5M@29
