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Herb Elliott

BROWSE ALL +65 ATHLETES / Herb Elliott

Herb Elliott – 1500m/mile


Coached by Percy Cerutty who coached Herb as 4:20.4 miler in high school through his career which saw a peak 3:54 mile performance. Cerutty’s public reputation most likely kept his naming from becoming well known, despite the influential role he’s played in training methodologies and practice to current time. A few things Cerutty believed were:

  • Majority of running should be done at varied paces (including easy runs) to avoid “zombie like” metronome running that most athletes practice.
  • Teach athletes what was needed, and then let them play a role in deciding what to do.
  • Build mileage to 60-100mi per week for a 1500m athlete like Herb.

Herb Elliott’s training sample week during race practice period:

Monday:
morning – seven miles, varied pace.
afternoon – circuit running (long cross-country intervals)
evening – easy five miles.

Tuesday:
morning – five miles, varied pace.
afternoon – repeat hill training
evening – weight training

Wednesday:
morning – seven miles.
afternoon – six miles, varied running and sprinting

Thursday:
morning – seven miles, varied pace.
afternoon – fifteen miles.

Friday:
rest

Saturday:
morning – five miles, varied pace.
afternoon – weight training
evening – five miles, varied running and sprinting.

Sunday:
morning – six miles;
afternoon – intervals, golf course.
(source: Training with Cerutty by Larry Myers, page 94)

A younger Herb Elliott training sample week at age 18y/o (in 1956) during race practice period:

Monday:
6-10 x 400 or 800

Tuesday: 8k at “peak speed”

Wednesday: with sprinters

Thursday: 30 min of sprint 30 sec, jog 90 sec

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 4-10k on track at “peak speed”

Sunday: 16k hard

(source: The Golden Mile by Herb Elliott)

Below are Percy Cerutty’s sample weeks of his 5-10k athletes:

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