Marcus O'Sullivan: Advanced Methods for Lactate Threshold Training

With Marcus O'Sullivan

Villanova Head Track & Field and Head Men's Cross Country Coach, 4 X Olympian, 3 X World Champion, 100 Sub 4-minute miles in a 15 year pro career, voted NCAA National Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1998.

In this presentation O'Sullivan delves deeply and precisely into a narrow and targeted focus for threshold training. He begins with a brief review of the basics of lactate training including the three energy systems used in training and their relationship to understanding how to streamline training around the "aerobic/anaerobic line." Through all of the physiological discussion, you will greatly benefit from O'Sullivan's unique knack of making the complexities of the science simple to grasp and understand. The overall goal of threshold training is to try to get the heart stronger allowing it to pump more blood, carry more oxygen, and do more work, and hence run faster. Through this methodology the athlete will run consistently faster and further throughout each season during the career of the athlete. The "advanced" aspect of the presentation is in its specificity with regard to training as it relates to an athlete's particular event. O'Sullivan includes sample workout sets that are event specific, with detailed outline on how to increase the production level of a threshold workout without adding to the volume. He deals with training each system as it fits with a season and a segment of the season. He also shares considerations for a long and short season and how competition fits into the training equation.

53 minutes.

Sample video