Dwain Chambers' secret weapon

[pierrejean]

@Charlie_Francis

depends entirely on what you’re trying to work. If you are working to enhance lactic tolerance, this is helpful for your SE session, and has the benefit of reducing the need for separate SE and lactic tolerance sessions, but if you’re trying to enhance alactic qualities, you’d steer clear of this for that particular session.
That said, the line is a bit blurred and occasional SE sessions like this might shift the line before lactic sets in and help you stay in alactic conditions longer BUT it might also work the other way!
I suspect the former because Marita Koch improved in both 100 and 400 in lock-step till 1983 and might have officially improved her 100 if she’d competed there up to 1985 (she did unofficially lower her 200 to 21.56 in a time trial in 1985). I simply don’t know for sure but perhaps PJ has seen something in the East German literature to suggest a definitive answer.

Koch focus on 100m/200m in 1983 because injuries prevented her to go any further in the speed endurance development. She ran 7.08 at 60m indoors, and outdoors 10.83 for 100m, 21.82 for 200m and in relay 400m anchor leg 48.55. Her best flying 30m that year was 2.86.

1985 was the year she broke the 400m WR to 47.60, she improved indoors to 7.04 (WIR), then outdoors she ran 10.97 (w-0.3) in August in a rare attempt. At 200m, Charlie mentions 21.56 time trial before the World Cup which is in accordance with 21.78 in August (wind -1.3), also 21.90 in October in lane 1 (w-0.7) at World Cup 2 days before the 400m WR. Her flying 30m was 2.86 which equaled her lifetime best when she was focusing on short sprints in 1983, so her speed in 1985 was at her highest level the year she set her last 400m WR.
By the way, Koch had one of the lowest blood lactate level after competition races from 60m to 400m among the GDR crew.
What’s your take on that?