Running Training Essay -- Compare Contrast Papers

Running Training For the past several years runners all over the world have been trying to figure out and arguing over the simple question: â€Å"Is high mileage training better than low mileage, during training season?† Kenyan’s in Africa have been running unbelievable amounts of mileage for years, and tend to always be in the top field in any race over five thousand meters. While Africans have been leading the fields for years, where do the best US runners end up? Not in the lead pack! Perhaps they are training too hard to be like their Kenyan counterparts. I think a lot of runners believe that if they train like the runners from Kenya that they will have the same results. When in truth they end up running themselves into the ground. Perhaps that is why there are others that think that if they train light and more to their athletic ability level that they will have better results. Many runners think that less mileage is better for a runner during training season, as does George Sheehan who wrote the essay titled â€Å"Training: More or Less.† In his essay he claims that he believes the optimal distance for athletes is twenty to twenty-five miles per week, including speed work, and races. While his theory on training might be correct for his level of training, it may not be sufficient for other runners who are serious about training with all they have. Many believe that in order to get better they must put in the miles on the road, which will get their legs used to the stress put on their muscles and feet during the course of a race. As a distance runner for the Buena Vista University Cross Country and Track team, in Storm Lake, Iowa, my experience with low mileage training and high mileage training came out wit... ... further distances. Runners are entitled to their own opinion, because everybody’s bodies are different and are more fit for running different levels of mileage. While those runners are training with low mileage, others who are against running low mileage because they believe that getting the body used to running further distances will improve their running. The above research gave plenty of examples of how there is a rebuttal going on where some runners believe that less training means more output, as well as how some believe that more training means more output. Examples are given throughout the paper to support both ideas. Works Cited Hage, Jim. When Less Really is Less. 15 Apr. 2002 . Sheehan, George. Training: More or Less. 1991. 15 Apr. 2002 .