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Meet The Guest
Scott Overall
Scott Overall is a British athlete based in America with the Indiana Elite team and one of the countries best 5,000m runners. Scott Overall runs for Blackheath & Bromley Harriers AC and has competed for Great Britain as recently as last November 2008 at the Ekiden Relays in Japan. Scott will surely be at the London Olympics if he continues the way he has.
Personal bests
| Distance | Time |
|---|---|
| 1500m | 3:41.9 |
| 3000m | 7:48 |
| 5000m | 13:28 |
Questions
Q. So your in a team in the USA, what's it like over in the states?
A. The set up in the USA is very good, for an 18yr old going into university who is good at running has endless choices. There are the usual Universities that most athletes over here are aware of such as Butler (where I went), Florida State, New Mexico, Providence, etc. I went out to the states having been to university over here.
I knew I wanted to carry on running but would not receive any help in doing so if I stayed in the UK, going to Butler was the best choice I have ever made, had I not gone there I have no doubt I wouldn't have achieved the times I have now. I was at Butler for 3 years and had the opportunity to train with some great guys. People like Alex Haines, Andy Rayner, Olly Laws, Andy Sherman, Nick Goodliffe, John and Thomas Frazer, Vin Ambrico etc. The whole university system out there allows you to focus on your running.
Obviously you are still going to classes and having to study, but running I would say, comes first. Perhaps the greatest difference is the strength in depth the USA has over the UK, the competition you get in the NCAAs is amazing and you have no choice but to run faster if you want to go to these top competitions.
Q. What happens once you leave University?
A. That's the downfall with the US system, once you finish university there are limited options if you want to carry on running. For the top guys, they will get a sponsor and get paid to carry on running. For those guys that are not quite at that level the chances are they would not run a step again. These guys are good runners as well, we're talking 13:40 guys that would just go, get a job, and never run again. Perhaps we should see if they have any British parents?! However they are getting better and setting up post colligate groups like Team Indiana Elite, McMillan Elite, Hansons, Oregon Track Club, ZAP, among others... Here runners can be provided with the help they need to carry on running and see what they can achieve.
Q. So what team are you currently with?
A. Team Indiana Elite, I was fortunate enough to gain a place and it was only 50miles from Butler. The old coach at Butler, Joe Franklin, who is now coaching at New Mexico suggested it for me. The coach there, who is my coach now is a guy called Robert Chapman. He set up the group about 2 years ago and is something he does as well as lecture at University of Indiana, the website for the group can be seen here ...Team Indiana Elite Website
Ethiopia
Q. I read you went out to Ethiopia, how was it out there?
A. Ethiopia was a great experience, it was my first time to Africa and it was a real eye opener to say the least. I was there for about 4 weeks and we were staying in a guest house in Addis. The training was good, however most of the time it did mean a good 30min drive to where we wanted to run and this would sometimes stretch to over an hour due to cows, goats and other such items on the roads. The Ethiopians would train very slow, their runs would be crawling along and rather then run on a nice gravel path they would choose to zigzag through trees. Unfortunately I didn't get to see or take part in the 10k race that was there as I left a week earlier to race in the Ekiden Relays in Japan.
Training
Q. Can you give a typical week in full training?
A. A typical week in the winter would consist of...
| AM | PM | |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 19mile long run | |
| Monday | 10miles, plus strides on the track. Core | 5miles |
| Tuesday | 3 x 3mile session. | |
| Wednesday | 14miles | |
| Thursday | 10 miles, plus strides on the track. Core / hurdle drills | 5miles |
| Friday | 3 x 8 x 60on/60off on the grass. | |
| Saturday | 9miles | 4-5 miles |
If I were racing in the winter I would cut the long run down to 14miles, and only do the one session a week and run about 70miles.
Easy runs
Most of my runs are easy runs, I tend to run more on how I am feeling than anything if, so if I'm tired from the session the previous day then I would take the run easy and not worry about how slow I was going, as long as I am getting the miles in its not a problem. People get too caught up in how fast they are running and think just because they are not running 6min miles they are not benefiting from the run.
Steady runs
Like I said most of my runs are easy and ran on how I feel that day, sometimes on a Sunday run I would make sure the middle part of the run was at a good pace, which is around 6min per mile or slightly quicker. My runs are mostly always done with other people, living in Twickenham there is always someone to run with. When Mo Farah is around I would always run with him, and if not then there are the boys at St Marys plus people like Michael Skinner and Andrew Baddeley.
Speed/interval work
I normally do 2 interval sessions per week in the summer and maybe just one during the winter. The other session in the winter would be an LT (Lactic threshold) run which can be anywhere from 6 to 10 miles. I think the 10 mile tempo is really important in building strength and you get used to running fast without killing yourself. Normally in the winter the pace for the 10 miler would be around 5:20s - 5:00 per mile.
Q. What would be your shortest session?
A. My shortest session would be in the middle of summer when I was preparing to race on the track, I think it would be something like 3 x 5 x 200m off a 200m jog recovery.
Q. What's your hardest session?
A. The hardest session I can think of was 3 x 5 x 1k on the grass. The first set was done on the flat, the middle set was done with a hill in the middle of the rep, and the last set was back to the flat with the aim of running faster on the last set. Recovery was 1min between the 1k's and 3-4mins between the sets.
Q. Do you change surface dependant on time of year?
A.I live within close proximity to 2 quite big parks, Bushy park and Richmond Park, so almost all of my running is done in these parks and the surface varies between grass and loose gravel paths. During the winter most of the sessions would be on the grass, and the LT runs on the road. In the summer I would normally be on the track twice a week and then every other week do a shorter LT run.
Q. Do you ever use races as training?
A. If there is a race and it fits in well with training then I would do it, normally these would be road races during the winter. On the whole though I don't tend to do races just to race.
Group training
Group training is the perfect situation to be in, if you have a group of guys (or girl in someone's case) to train with then things are easier. Who doesn't find it easier to go running when you are actually running with someone and not on your own?! Having people to run sessions with make it easier as well, you wont have to tough out running every rep on your own and you will no doubt run faster times in a group then you would do on your own. When I am out in the USA I have a great group of guys to train with, we all have the same coach and we get along great. There is a real sense of everyone focusing on the one goal which is to run faster. For the last few years I have been running on a slightly different schedule then most of the UK guys simply because the US season is slightly earlier.
Mileage
Q. What sort of mileage are you doing in training phases?
A. At the moment and during most of the winter my mileage has been about 90-110 miles per week.
Q. What was your longest run of the week?
A. The longest run is about 2 hours on a Sunday.
Q. Do you run big mileage when racing?
A. During the winter I would still run about 70 miles in that week and then during the track season this might come down to about 60 miles.
Q. What's your opinion on mileage in general..quantity or quality?
A. I think it depends on the person, for me I think hovering around the 100 miles per week is a good way to build up into the track season. The whole goal with this plan I am doing at the moment is a solid aerobic / mileage / strength block which should stand me in good stead for the up coming track season. If you are trying to run 100 miles per week, and hammer 2 sessions a week your body is just going to break down and it will not benefit you at all.
Cross country
I would be the first person to admit that I don't enjoy cross country, I would not call myself a cross country runner. I would say however that it is good to do, for starters it breaks up the year and it gives you something to aim for in the winter. I would find it very hard to motivate myself to keep going out running everyday if I didn't have something to aim for.
Strength work
I do core twice a week and within this would be different exercises using weight balls and medicine balls, the whole thing takes just over an hour and apart from this I don't do any weights or circuits.
Massage
I have never been one of these people to get a massage every single week and have to rely on getting it all the time. If I feel I really need it then I will go and get it, but on the whole its probably about 6 times a year.
Diet
I don't have a special diet or anything I just try to eat healthy. Living with a load of other runners makes this quite easy to do. I currently live with Susan Scott, Mo, Moumin, Jemma Simpson and Kate Reed.
Altitude / warm weather training
I went to altitude in March last year to Flagstaff in the states. I was there for 4 weeks with my group, with the exception of one of the guys it was our first time at altitude. Since then I have also been to Addis in Ethiopia and I am going back to Flagstaff in a few weeks. I used to go warm weather training to Portugal when I was younger, that was only for about 1 or 2 weeks, it was just nice to go somewhere warm.
Rest / Recovery
I would always take a break at the end of the summer, this would normally be 2-3 weeks and at least one week would be complete rest with no running whatsoever.
Present day
Q. How's training going now?
A. Training now is going well, and I am just building up to the outdoor track season. I am going to Flagstaff for 5 weeks in March and then racing a few races out there before coming back to the UK. I wont be racing indoors this year or any more cross country.
--Scott--
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