Bob Kennedy's Run to the '96 Olympics

PROLOGUE Interview

Recently Marc Davis (fellow 1996 Olympic team member) sat down with the American distance star to have him better explain his base build-up to the 1996 Olympic season. Here's what he had to say:

Marc Davis- When did you start what you would consider your base phase for the 1996 Summer track season?

Bob Kennedy- "I finished the 1995 track season in early September, so I took a few weeks off after that and started back running easy by the beginning of October. My volume from Oct '95 through Dec '95 would have been around 90 miles per week. We did a lot of tempo running, fartlek work, etc. In reality we combined a lot of the base and transition phases, with not a clear cut beginning or ending. So, I would say my base training went from October '95 all the way through April '96."

MD- At your base phase peak, what was your average mileage per week?

BK- "I was running between 100 - 110 miles per week in months of January, February, and March"

MD- Were there any periods where you backed off for any reason? And why?

BK- " We backed off any time I were traveling. We spent January, February, and March in Australia training. When I came home I was a bit flat from the intensity down under. I remember struggling for a couple of weeks in late March and into early April so I backed off a bit then."

MD- When did you start to look at cooling off for racing in the Spring and Summer?

BK- "The intensity of sessions remained the same or actually increased at times through most of the Spring and into Summer. I began to back off on total volume, though, in early May."

Read the rest of Kennedy's Log [ next ]