Using the program for racewalking..

by Matthew
(UK )

Using the 100 day plan for racewalking :

"Hi Marius,
Have read that some people are using the program for other sports but what about applying it to racewalking? This is an endurance event and, although has a greater technical emphasis than running, racewalkers can still hit the wall just as hard, if not harder than a marathoner when on their way to a finish in a 50km race. As you know, the main racewalking distances are the 20km and 50km. How would you adjust the program for a 50km?

Robert Korzeniowski, possibly the greatest racewalker of all time, places emphasis on fartlek training on the roads rather than track sessions which leads me to think that the application of your program is probably fairly easy.

Any input/advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Matthew
UK"

Answer: Hi Matthew and thanks for your question.

You can definitely use some of the workouts (and structure) of the 100 day plan for racewalking as well - BUT you do need to add substantially more total mileage to the program. So you would use the harder workouts in the 100 day plan as a "base" - and then add in there longer, sustainable efforts at race pace + you'll need some very long sessions, to be able to do the 4+ hours of the 50k.

I've discussed training with 3:41 50km racewalker Trond Nymark, quite a bit (2nd at the World Champs in 09) and he does LOADS of threhold work - in addition to that type of longer sustained effort.

I wish you all the best,
Marius