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Lisa Dobriskey – Her Coach, Training and Diet for 800m and 1500m
Lisa Dobriskey is an up and coming middle distance runner from Kent, UK. The 25 year old from Ashford is coached by George Gandy, who she describes as a bit of a character (he also trained Seb Coe a few years back, introducing him to new weight training methods to improve his running) and also Stella Bandu (an endurance and steeplechase coach based in Ashford).
Lisa won the gold medal in the women’s 1500m event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and finished 4th in the final of the 1500m in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. As of 22 August 2008 she is ranked fourth in the world for the 1500m, but hopes to show are true potential this weekend in London. Her personal best is 4:02.10. The Women’s 1500m final starts at 3.30pm BST on Saturday 25th July 2009.
Lisa Dorbriskey’s Diet
Lisa has had trouble with iron deficiency in recent years. This is not a rare condition in runners, in fact one study of female athletes suggested that 50% of all women runners are deficient in iron. She now takes an iron supplement that she also endorses through a sponsorship deal, call Spatone.
“I started to take Spatone before the Olympics in 2008 which has really helped my iron levels. I haven’t had side effects and my iron levels have really improved.”
Lisa does not follow a high protein diet like sprinters require, she just eats a balanced healthy diet, and treats herself every now and then. She does not worry about her weight until the big championships, and then she works with a nutritionist to get leaner just for the competition.
Lisa Dobriskey Training Regime:
Like all athletes Lisa follows two different training schedules, one for when she is competing, which is generally lighter, and one for the rest of the time, which is more intensive, which she calls full training.
- Her full training week starts with a one long run of 90 minutes every Sunday (shorter in winter).
- Mondays are for running drills and functional weight training.
- On Tuesdays she goes for an easy recovery run in the morning, followed by a track session in the afternoon.
- Wednesday starts with another long run (about 60 minutes) and the circuit training in the afternoon.
- On Thursdays she does a relaxed run in the morning, and then concentrates on speed drills and preds (preds define a running speed that is calculated using a formula based on age and maximum heart rate to improve endurance).
- Friday is rest day!
- Saturday varies during the year, generally more track work in summer.
Track sessions often involve interval training. It always varies, but generally follows a routine like this:
- Start with three 400m runs at a pace a little faster than 1500m, with 5mins recovery after each.
- Then two 400m runs at 800m pace with 1 minute recovery between them, with 10 minutes recovery period.
- Finally a 400m fast run
- The total session lasts about half an hour. Intense, but effective!
Competition Training Schedule
This schedule assumes that the race is on the Saturday, obviously the schedule will shift if the race is on another day.
- The week starts the same with a long run on a Sunday
- Monday morning is tracks training, concentrating on running and drills, following by an easy loosener run later in the day.
- Tuesday morning is another easy run, and then in the afternoon a track session, but less intensive, about 80% work level
- On Wednesdays she starts with a short run of about half an hour, then an easy run in the afternoon / evening.
- Thursday is time to start concentrating on competition day, with warm up and warm down rehearsals plus some strides.
- Friday is rest day again!
- Saturday is competition day. Rest, with the rehearsed warms ups, then a 1500m run, followed by television interviews and warm downs!
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She is running again today in Berlin. We wish you the best of luck Lisa!
Lisa has just won bronze in the World Championships She started the year suffering stress fracture in lower back, and picked up a thigh injury. But she struggled through, and managed her training well to win a bronze medal in Berlin. She was so close to silver too.
Update – Lisa wins Silver! Lisa Dobriskey has been awarded silver for the 1500m final in Berlin, after Natalia Rodríguez was disqualified for pushing.