Monumental Mile Crash Course

Let me guess? You are thinking about running the Monumental Mile, but although you are confident in your ability to run 13.1 or 26.2 miles, you are intimidated by racing one mile. That indicates you understand the difference in the intensity level of those distances. Your Mile goals might be modest and something like these. 1) Run as fast as possible, wondering if you can run faster than your mile repeats. 2) Give a strong effort commensurate with the distance without pulling a hamstring or some other important and useful body part. 3) Accomplish one and two without embarrassing yourself.

I am going to offer you a plan to check off all three goals. Be mindful, this is not a plan for true middle distance runners. Those hybrid aerobic & anaerobic animals have been working on the specific demands of such races far longer than this crash course. This is offered to those of you who are fit and healthy, doing plenty of running, just not much we would consider mile specific. If that fairly describes you, a runner with plenty of endurance and stamina, but short on fast high intensity running, this plan is for you.

Here are a few workouts you can do in the remaining weeks before the Monumental Mile without a complete overhaul of your training. Making a big shift towards fast anaerobic training in just a few weeks is a sure bet to end in injury. These workouts are safe and effective ways to run faster with your current fitness. With any of these workouts the warm-up is critical. It’s one thing to roll into marathon pace or even a threshold run after a relaxed mile or two. That will not be enough going into something this fast. Give yourself a few miles and at least four 100m striders of fast running. These are not sprints, just fast enough to be warmed up and loose enough to run at the speeds you want for these workouts.

Aerobic Intervals. Now I just indicated that you might be lacking higher intensity training, so why are we starting with something aerobic? The reason is you can run fast and stay aerobic. My favorite aerobic speed workout is 20/40's or 30/60's (or a mix). These are 20 to 30 seconds at mile race pace. Notice, I said mile race pace, not a 20 to 30 second sprint. At that pace you will still be aerobic at the end of the fast interval and then you get to slo-mo jog for twice as long, 40 to 60 seconds to get full recovery. I know your question. How can something that short possibly help me for a full mile? Because you will fire fast twitch fibers, elongate your stride, lift your knees, change to a more cyclical than pendulum stride, and improve mechanical efficiency. Yes, that is a lot of good stuff happening in a fraction of a minute. Of course, you will want to do some repetitions. Without knowing the details of your training, I will give you a broad range of 1-3 miles worth, including the fast running and the recovery jog. When in doubt do less.

Minute On/1-2 Minutes Off. To get a small taste of anaerobic running, run hard for 1 minute going as fast as possible while being able to finish the minute without significant slowing and being able to jog the 1-2 minute recovery without walking (more my preference than a rule). This will overload your legs and lungs, exceed threshold, become anaerobic, and start serious huffing and puffing by the end, but it is a short enough duration that the stress is manageable. I'll give another broad range of 6-12 hard minutes. You might start with a 1:00 recovery and add up to a second recovery minute as needed to feel ready for the next "on" minute.

Goal Pace Intervals. To get a feel for goal pace, run 4×400m at projected mile pace followed by 4×200 at the same pace or slightly faster. The recovery for both is a 200m jog. Warning! Even if you run a pace you can maintain, it will not feel easy and it will not be obvious you could keep it going for a mile. Again, if we had a full training cycle to prepare for mile racing, this workout would be much longer. But there is great benefit from this relatively short workout.

Time Trial. There is no better teacher than experience so I encourage you to add a time trial to your remaining weeks and if you have time, you could even do this twice. If you are not confident within a few seconds of what you can run, start with the first quarter mile at an effort that you feel sure, though it would be hard, you could maintain for 1 mile. In the second quarter mile some doubt should start creeping in whether you can maintain the pace for the rest of the mile, but you are still under control. In the third quarter your doubt will rise, and you may even slow down but realize this is harder, at least mentally, than the last 400. Work to maintain your speed without going to full all-out effort. The last quarter mile will get hard, but you are close enough to the finish that you will make it. This strategy helps you avoid the most common and costly mistake of starting too fast. But whether you still start too fast or too slow you’ve learned a great lesson and can adjust for race day. If you’ve done this early enough and still have time for another time trial, at least one week before the Monumental Mile, you can try to run even splits from the start at what you averaged in the first time trial. Hopefully, you will surprise yourself and be able to finish the last half or quarter-mile at a faster pace than your first try. There is a racing skill component to the mile that is significant. Meaning two people with the same fitness but one that has the experience and knowledge to get the most out of themselves over a mile will always beat the person trying to figure it out for the first time. That is why a time trial or two can be very helpful.

I hope these workouts turn your worries into excitement and I look forward to seeing you on Meridian Street on June 3!

FYI, here are the world record splits for the mile. Notice the even and negative pacing.

Men's WR Hicham El Guerrouj 55.07, 56.51, 56.33, 55.49 = 3:43.4. These are 440y splits.

Women's WR Sifan Hassan 64.26, 63.94, 61.93, 62.20* = 4:12:33. The first 3 splits are 400m and this one is 409m for the full mile.

Previous Mile Posts

5/5/19 Summer Vacation

5/31/18 Last Call - Mile Run

5/3/17 The Gold Standard

5/4/16 The Monumental Mile

6/3/14 The First Mile

4/24/14 First Call Mile Run

Why Keep Training Part 2

Stuart & Reed were ready for 26.2 for the opportunity was ready for them..

We find ourselves 5 more months down the road since the first Why Keep Training post and we are simultaneously and paradoxically closer to the end of the pandemic while case numbers are going up. That makes this a good time for more reasons to keep training in the face of a murky racing future.

Because Running is Fun. It has been a joy to hear people tell me after their planned race vanished, they realized they enjoyed training anyway. I learned this years ago and hope many of you have had the same epiphany. I have not trained with racing as my primary motivation for well over a decade. Once I realized my PR days were behind me, I thought I would settle into some pattern of comfortable running and other activities. I quickly found unearned easy running boring and draining of all sense of reward and accomplishment. Easy running is great when it is earned through previous and impending hard running. I found I needed the mental and physical challenge of hard running to make it interesting and fulfilling. I suppose that is the fallout from being in a perpetual training cycle for the previous 25 years.

Build Your Base without Distraction. Countless times after discussing the far-reaching benefits of building a base with a few months of uninterrupted mileage, I have had runners nod their heads in agreement and then tell me about a couple of races they wanted to be ready to run within that training block. Well, now is the time to accumulate miles at the right effort to launch you into a great season when the races come back. There are some links below to some videos I sent my team about base building.

Find the Level You can Manage. Finding a maintainable level of training that fits your life is key at any point. Finding the right flame level for your running passion is a sure way to maximize improvement over time. If you burn too bright it cannot last and you will mentally or physically fry yourself. This takes on new meaning if you find your motivation level challenged by lack of meaningful race opportunities. Be sure to manage your enthusiasm level and mental energy cost of your training to find your optimal level. A related blog entry is Protect Your Enthusiasm.

Set Training Goals. Effective training goals lead to good racing. Yes, the point is running faster, not a pretty training log. However, if the races are too far out to be motivational, focus on what is before you. You can think of the first goal as your first investment. The more vested you are the more likely you are to continue moving forward. As I write this, we are in the time of even a normal year, we would be thinking about building a mileage base for the spring & summer season. This is an ideal point to set a mileage goal, not for a week, but for 8-12 weeks. I set one for myself, not because of cancelled races, but because though I do it, I am not a fan of running in cold weather (yes, I know it is going to get much colder before it warms up).

For most people, the average weekly mileage should be higher than your 6-12-month average. This is for a few reasons. One, the intensity is at threshold (~85%) and below without any high intensity killer workouts. Two, higher mileage is the focus of base building. Three, without races you have the flexibility to run as slow as you need to get recovered from the mileage or if you have overcooked a run or two.

I encourage my runners to talk with me to help set goals. You can also talk to training partners and see if there is something you find mutually motivating and can help each other achieve. While many are burned out on virtual races and time trials, you might use them or key runs such as your favorite interval workout or long run course as a measuring stick. Just keep the weather and other variables in mind for comparison.

Set the Next Goal. I just completed the 7th week of my 8-week goal, and I am having fun and on track. When I reach this goal, I will need to have another ready to get through January and February, my hardest stretch of the year. I have already been pondering what will be motivational, challenging, realistic, and attainable.

Long-Term Development. (From Part 1) This is important enough it warrants repeating. With no sure thing remaining on your calendar the primary reason to keep training is your long-term development. If you consider the progress you can make in a 3-6-month training cycle it makes sense and has been proven by experience, that the real development of a distance runner happens when those training cycles begin to accumulate. Current You cannot hope to compete with Future You with more years of training cycles that have further shaped and hardened your running body's ability to move faster, longer, and more economically. Granted, training to race with no race in sight makes no sense, but as with many things, retrospect will show the wisdom of training anyway. Otherwise, you have given away time to become a better runner. As we know, time is something we cannot hurry or get back.

Races Will Come Back. And you can be ready when they do. I have mostly stuck to my conviction to avoid predictions because it has proven to be a foolish endeavor. With that in mind here are a few things that lead me to be optimistic. The uptick in cases with the drop in temperature was one of the few correct predictions. It seems the inverse should be true when spring in fully sprung. I recently received the brief idiots guide to vaccines from one of my M.D. runners and understand there are still many questions, but the progress so far has been encouraging. Additionally, race directors continue to develop a hybrid live/virtual race model. You can read what 398 race directors of events of 5,000 and less (85%) and over 5,000 (the other 15%) forecast for 2021.

Caution: Avoid Anticipation Fatigue. We know stress tolerance is an individual thing. It is also trainable, and we’ve been working on that since March! One of the things that can bring any runner down is a moving finish line. I won’t go as far as to say there is no past or future, only now, but some of that perspective is helpful. Once you have set the tolerance clock in your head only to be disappointed it’s hard to reset with the same optimism. When we realized the pandemic was real and it was going to fundamentally change our lives, we all knew we could withstand a few weeks of shelter in place and the other measures. Most of us did not think we would be returning to many of those measures 9 months later. Do your best to avoid setting “back to normal” dates. The path back to normal has been and should be expected to continue to be circuitous. Every deadline that comes and goes piles on the mental and physical fatigue from disappointed anticipation. You may fine Dr. Heiss’s explanation of the exhaustion response to COVID helpful to adjusting your expectations.

Kickstart Your Year. I have a menu of ways I can help you be ready when the races return. You can view the options under Programs or Monumental Training on my website. Bring on 2021!

Races have happened since Part 1 and those, like Collin, that kept training were ready. The rules and protocol were different, but the running was the same.

The videos below should be helpful if you would like to learn more about base building.

Part One - Origin & Evolution of Aerobic Base

Part Two - How it Works

Part Three - Getting Started

Next Race TBD. Why Keep Training?

Since March all of us have wondered, "What's the point?"  While this question applies to many areas of life, I'll keep it to running.  As each week rolls by the newest cancellations make further mockery of your 2020 race plans.  These were set out before your vocabulary changed and wearing a mask in public became viewed as socially responsible.  Since the surprise cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon, we have transitioned to only being surprised if a race is actually run.  While uncertainty hangs in the air, what is the point?  Why should you train for a race To Be Determined?  That is a very good question.

With no sure thing remaining on your calendar the primary reason to keep training is your long-term development.  If you consider the progress you can make in a 3-6-month training cycle it makes sense and has been proven by experience, that the real development of a distance runner happens when those training cycles begin to accumulate.  Current You cannot hope to compete with Future You with more years of training cycles that have further shaped and hardened your running body's ability to move faster, longer, and more economically.  Granted, training to race with no race in sight makes no sense, but as with many things, retrospect will show the wisdom of training anyway.  Otherwise you have given away time to become a better runner.  As we know, time is something we cannot hurry or get back.

You can use this time to experiment with your training without the pressure of an important race.  We know the basic principles of training are consistency, gradual and progressive increases, and variation of training stress.  You can check the consistency box by simply continuing while others may be on the sidelines adding stress eating pounds.  The gradual and progressive element is satisfied by adding a little more quality, or a little more mileage, or a little more supplemental training that allows better adaptation to running.  Have you considered adding more high intensity to your week?  Perhaps you've considered what more mileage could do for you.  With an impending goal race, it is easy to be conservative and stick with what you know.  Now is the time to experiment.  It's much easier to back off and be patient should your body give a warning sign if there is no major race next month (it should be easier if there is a major race, but human/runner nature dictates otherwise).  Those things can also give the variation your body craves to improve.  The same amount of stress from the same type of training eventually fails to challenge your body adequately to adapt.  That's why we need to provide a mix of workout types and intensities in your training plan to keep your improvement curve moving up and to the right.

Even if it is Do It Yourself or On Your Own, I encourage you to develop a race schedule of various distances to have checkpoints and mental challenges along the way.  One of the most common comments I heard from my runners during our "remote race series" was that they forgot how to push hard and stay focused after going too long without racing.  Racing is about fitness and skill and even this type of racing can keep those skills from going into full hibernation.  Seek out the smaller and usually shorter races that are making a comeback, just don't limit yourself to live racing if the options are lacking.  We also found that doing these in small groups or remotely while knowing results would be posted offered a good sense of competition and community.

Who should ignore this advice?  If you fall into the category of chronically injured or mentally exhausted, you will benefit more by addressing those problems than brute forcing your way through another training cycle.  If managing your injuries is as much a part of your training as your long run, it's time to seek out someone that can help you find the road map back to 100% health and rediscover the joy of pain free running.  This may not be time off, but a reduction in mileage and intensity while focusing more time and energy on the solution.  If you are mentally beat and running has become another job and not a rewarding part of your life, it's time to let go of the impulse of "have to" and measuring everything.  Your solution might be a meaningful reduction in training or just more variety in terms of types of running or cross training.  Try running by time without knowing your pace (such watches still exist).  It might be running in the woods or anything else that get your out of the draining elements of your routine.  

Let us use this time to move past the disappointment of canceled racing to being freed from the normal and expected.  This is a time to move your running forward limited only by your creativity and enthusiasm.

“You don't become a runner by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many day, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.”
― John L. Parker Jr., Once a Runner

Nothing Virtual About It

The watch rewards Rob Seymour for his solo half marathon effort.

I am sure we all have words or phrases that we would like to banish from the collective vocabulary that have been thoroughly worn out over the last months. I nominate virtual for expulsion. I understand that races and many other things are in some sense virtual (not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so), but when it comes to racing the effort and sweat and many of the rewards are still real. I prefer the race terms remote, time trail, or solo, but no matter what we call it, there is benefit to on your own racing when the start lines of the group versions remain closed.

What’s the Point?

The purposes of the race series I’ve established for my team are to promote a sense of community while giving some accountability to themselves and each other while we are not able to train and race together. Runner’s motivations vary and I hope this will serve as a competitive outlet for some while helping a little to replace the social aspect for others.

Each week or two that solo racing can boost motivation, it pulls us closer to the real thing. It can serve as a fitness check to keep you honest with you. Having something on the short term calendar can help maintain or gain some race sharpness (mind & body). If training has lagged it will give you a "before" picture to show your impending improvement.

It will also give closure to the most peculiar spring racing season ever and signal a time for a brief training break before pointing towards fall which promises to be interesting. But if things continue to progress, it will be much closer to normal than the first half of 2020.

Remote Racing Rules

Part of the beauty of this is that you can make your own rules and invite your friends to join you. Here are the guidelines I’ve set for our races.

Plan Your Course. Choose safe, GPS, traffic & social distancing friendly courses. Part of the challenge is to find a fast course (lot’s of great ideas for the Monumental Mile!).  You might even have a plan B if you get some of the crazy wind we’ve had recently. In your search for something GPS and traffic friendly be aware of places such as around tall building and under trees where GPS has a hard time following. If you use a track, use the track distances and not GPS.

Keep A Separate File. This ensures you get credit for the race miles and you don't loose speed in an auto split that averages in warm-up or cool-down.  This will also show moving time and total time. Like a normal race the clock keeps running, emphasizing choosing your course wisely.

Additional Perks

As the state begins to allow small group gatherings again, you can set up staggered or time trial starts (think Tour de France) while observing social distance. To avoid schedule conflicts I’ve offered short 3 day windows to complete the race. That could make a difference with weather, but I wanted to make sure the medical practitioners and first responders in the group could participate. I also like to age and gender grade the races to keep things interesting and level the racing field. You could also consider raising some money. There is no shortage of those in need right now, so your options are many. What I thought might be a few dollars turned into about $3,000 for our first race. Who knows what good things beyond running could happen?

Have Fun! This should be fun and pass one more day towards normal.

Next Step Join in the fun & challenge of the Monumental Mile between June 22nd-30th. Here are all the details.

A Whole New Meaning to Running Through

Find a way to keep it fun and keep it going!

Pandemic Running was never a topic I thought to address and I hope this is a one and done soon to be lost in the archives.  Some of you are on the front lines working in hospitals, as first responders, or other essential jobs that go on in the face of risk.  Thank you from all of us who benefit from your work.  My hope in writing this is that I can offer some guidance in how to best manage this unprecedented situation.  One of the many immediate lessons to all of us was the importance of running in our lives.  Running is about fitness and competitive sport, but more than anything it is a life affirming activity.  If the fitness and competitive aspects were to disappear, the mental, social, and for lack of a more comfortable term, spiritual benefits would remain making it an important part of our lives.  This is why it is important for us to figure out how to make running fit in our current normal. 

I doubt there is anyone whose daily routine is normal right now.  Some of you are wearing more hats than before especially if you’re spending 24/7 at home with your family.  I encourage you to find some semblance of routine because your body thrives on it.  Here are a few steps to establish routine through chaos.  You might not be able to give running its normal place of importance but try to find a spot.  That might mean 2-3 short runs a week instead of your normal 40 mile week.  Try to limit consecutive off days at 2 and run at least a few miles.  When possible run at the same time each day you are able to get out.  Additionally, make the effort to get out of bed at the same time everyday as that promotes routine and quality sleep.  Sleep is an incredibly important and undervalued health habit.

Respect the stress.  We all feel it.  For some it’s a constant low-grade nagging in the back of your mind and you can manage for the most part to ignore it.  For others this thing is in your face all day every day and it takes quite an effort to escape it. Be aware of what this kind of stress at either end of that spectrum can do to you. Many of us won’t know how stressful this has been until the veil has been lifted and we are back to normal (that will happen, right?). From a running standpoint we need to differentiate stress between acute and chronic. Acute stress is something that you feel in the moment. Maybe you’re running a hard interval and it takes a few minutes to get your legs and your lungs back after that kind of effort.  As rough as that sounds it is the least worrisome in this situation. It’s the chronic stress that can break you down and affect your immune system. For example, heavy segments of marathon training during a period of high mileage and significant quality when you just can’t quite catch up on recovery.  There are times and situations where that’s acceptable and even desired. However, this is not one of those times.  Add that chronic training stress to the constant weight of living through a pandemic and you have risen to an unacceptably high risk of injury and illness. Being injured robs you of a needed physical outlet and any illness makes you and those around you more susceptible to major illness.

How much running should you be doing?  Find an amount that feels good.  We know that at its core, exercise in general is recommended because it’s healthy.  It helps you sleep, combat stress, and it keeps your blood profile and other disease risk factors in line. The last thing that we need to do now is to give up something with those benefits.

Of course, we can take a good thing way too far and that’s always a temptation for a competitive runner. If you’re feeling worn down if you’re taking longer than normal to recover from a long run or quality workout, back off.  Even if you are doing less than what might be normal for you it still might be too much under the circumstances.  Keep a very close eye on recovery. One of the axioms I’m very fond of is recovery tells us everything. If it took longer to recover, then it is too much right now. You’re not sure?  Back off anyway. Take your time to get recovered and ease back into it.  We are all much better getting to the other end of this thing in somewhat reasonable shape while maintaining our health and our sanity.

Let’s address racing.  Like everything else in life, race plans all seemed to change overnight and continue to change.  It would be easy to throw up our hands, recognize there is nothing we can do about it and stop training.  We know if we look at what you can do even with semi magical training over a month or two, it is nothing compared to what you can do over 4 to 6 months.  This is your chance to put more training in your lifetime bank and be a better runner when it’s time to race again.  This is an opportunity giving you extra time allowing you to be more conservative and careful with your buildup and still end with more training and fitness heading into your next races. You may have enough time between now and your next meaningful race that you can focus on something in the short term of 2 to 3 months and then become more specific as your race gets closer. We know if we live the same season over and over training the same way for the same distance, you’re not going to see the progress as if you change things and refocus the mileage and the intensity in a cyclical manner.  This gives you that opportunity.

Stay safe & healthy and let’s run through this thing!

Postscript That’s all fine and well, but you say, “I can’t get outside (circumstances or local order) to run.  I have no treadmill and no exercise equipment.  I guess I have no option but to get slow and soft until things change.”

That’s up to you.  Remember maintenance does not take much and keeping your head in the game is as important as the physical training effect.  You are mostly limited by creativity.  See YouTube for good and bad ideas if that’s you.  Circuit training may be a good way to go.  Develop a list of exercises you can do with little to no equipment.  By the way, you can MacGyver some equipment, but things such as push-ups, planks, squats, lunges, etc. just require you.  To add an aerobic element you can jump rope, run in place, run or even walk stairs. No stairs? Use the Harvard step test (it’s a thing, look it up).  A half hour of this will give you enough for the most important benefits of exercise and bridge the gap to when you will again be free to run.

Protect Your Enthusiasm

The power of enthusiasm in your running is irreplaceable. The many rewards of running are on borrowed time without it. What is the point of running if it does not bring you joy? Enthusiasm is so important I encourage my runners to base training and racing decisions on it. The questions might be about types of training or race distances or specific events. My answer is often to do what excites them the most. Doubtless, some hard things will need to be done on the way to accomplishing worthwhile goals, but if the goal itself and the majority of the process does not foster joy and enthusiasm, you might well be able to find a better use of your time and energy.

I would like to offer some thoughts on possible ways to protect or rekindle your running enthusiasm. Because three primary enthusiasm “buzz kills” are performance plateaus, injury, and monotony, it makes sense to address them in the following ideas.

Get off the grid. Get off the road and go find a trail. In the GPS generation every run is so measured you know the split of every mile and how you rank in the Strava segment. It’s nice to get off the road and just run for time or distance with concern for pace. I know it is crazy and heretical but just go out and run. As a coach I love to measure things I need things measured so I can give feedback to my runners. However, the measurement can kill enthusiasm. Try to find some balance by running based on feel and for the enjoyment of it.

Run Longer. Stuck in a half marathon rut? Try a marathon. It doesn’t need to bring time pressure with it, but by running a marathon you will develop new endurance and possibly stamina that will bump your half marathon (and below) improvement curve in the right direction. If you’ve already run a few marathons a 50K or 50 miler might do the trick. It’s a new challenge and they will put 26.2 in a different context. You will be able to see that you can go longer allowing you to then redirect your energy towards faster because you know the distance is no longer an issue.

Run Faster. Many adult onset athletes have never experienced a track or cross country season and don’t know the benefits of regular short and fast racing. Many performance plateaus occur because the improvements in economy and speed have stopped. If you can raise those ceilings you can also run faster for longer distances. It’s self evident at the shorter distances and in the longer races it allows you to run competitively at a lower energy cost for deeper into the race.

Fun Loves Company. While some are attracted to running to find a slice of their day without outside human or electronic interruption, most people thrive best on a balance between running with others and running on their own. I remember in college what a treat it was to go out run a few miles by myself. Then after several years of doing it mostly on my own it was a newfound joy to have training partners again. Find the right mix to keep you excited about your next run.

Become a better athlete. One of the things I tell a runner when I begin coaching them is that I see my job as making them a better runner. My belief is that a better runner will be better at whatever specific race distance they choose. That also keeps them from needing a great deal of time to shift directions to another distance throughout the season or at some future point. I will also say that a better athlete will make a better runner. By that I mean if your body is strong, flexible, and in balance, it will better withstand and thrive on the specific demands of running. Spend some time and energy becoming a better athlete through strength training, cross training, circuit training, or whatever training you like. Pros: Stronger, more flexible, and more balanced runners don’t break easily. Cons: You can get hurt doing other activities (sometimes easier than running) and they can hurt your running without the proper stress and rest balance. Remember these other activities are to enhance your running not take precedence.

Find something new. Change your perspective. Get back in balance. Find the fun. Whatever your solution, value and protect your enthusiasm!

Run Faster/Join Personal Best Speed Sessions

Fun Loves Company/Join the Personal Best Running Club

Winterize Your Running

Friends will help winterize your running.*

I believe in the benefits of a post season break as much as the next guy. However, I shake my head when people talk about an off-season. Sure there should be a time of year when races are few and far between but it’s always time to prepare for your next racing season. Though the temptation is great, if you give away months each year because it’s too cold or too hot and humid it takes twice as long to make progress. That is if you can make it at all surrendering large blocks of time and giving back previous fitness gains.

Anyone that knows me and has had the misfortune of hearing me complain knows how much I hate running in cold weather. So you have my empathy and sympathy for what needs to be done in Indiana in the next few months. Now would be a good time to talk about some strategies to get you through a trying time of the year to be a runner.

It’s always fundamental to be able to answer the question “Why?” The answer will necessarily be based on what’s important and exciting to you. Those are the two primary requirements for an effective and motivational goal. What do you want to do in 2020? I like to break down a year into a spring and fall racing season but what’s most important to you might not fall into such a nice neat time frame.

We will skip a head in our story and assume that you’ve set a goal for at least the first half of the year. How do we spend the next three months to be well on our way to reaching that goal? The first thing to do is to be running consistently and back into some quality running between now and the end of the year. As I’ve been telling my runners since they’ve come off of their fall break, I want them to be in good shape when the calendar flips to 2020 with the bare minimum of mental energy to get there. You are going to need all of that mental reserve to get through January and February. Some of the weather we will have to run through in those months will make us question our life choices and those specifically about becoming a runner.

Let me offer you some survival strategies for winter. One, find a friend or a group. Misery loves company. It sure helps to know that there’s someone else out there committed or crazy enough to be training hard through this weather. I know there are times that I show up for our group run and at least a small part of me and sometimes a bigger part of me is hoping no one shows up so I can go home. But despite being -10° in the dark with a howling wind and questionable footing we have a dozen or so people that they were not taking a zero on their training day and are ready to go. The “Am I?” question has now been answered.

Two, set a short term goal that is an on-ramp to the bigger goal. That might be the number of miles you run in January and February similar to the high school summer mileage goals. You might decide to run a trail race or even an ultra as a base building goal that would be fun without the pressure of performance but be a motivator to really be ready to rock by March 1st. Or maybe find a race in a warmer climate with the added bonus of a few days in warm weather before and after the race.

Three, spend the money on good gear. Not always inexpensive, but quality winter running clothing makes an appreciable comfort difference and the stuff lasts longer than you will want to look at it. Clothing, headlamps, traction devices, warm hats, gloves and socks will make it much more bearable.

Four, make peace with your treadmill. Toughness aside, always ask the question, “Where can I get my best workout today?” If it’s indoors where you can really run without taking your life into your own hands or running at the mercy of texting drivers on ice, that’s where you should be.

Invest in your winter running and enjoy the benefit when it’s again time to go racing!

*Pictured Greg Humrichouser, Chris Galloway, Collin Trent, & Michael Shirrell. Not their natural hair or beard color.

Related Links

Post Season Break

R&R Required & Time for a Break

Goal Setting

Resolution Redo, Renewed Purpose, Do Your Goals Fit, What’s Next Part One & What’s Next Part Two

Training Seasons

Summer Vacation & Make February Count

Treadmill Running

Treadmill Peace

Landing the Plane (Tapering)

A friend once told me he thought of tapering as landing the plane. His meaning was that you want to come down from full training to race day smoothly and gradually, touching ground with plenty of runway. I think that’s a great way to think about tapering. Dropping abruptly might land you short of the runway leaving you to lose fitness or race on stagnant legs. An inadequate drop might leave you to overshoot the runway and race with a fatigued body. We want you to smoothly and gradually reduce the chronic and acute stress of training to have your legs optimally rested and tuned to race.

As with many flights, often your initial descent into the taper may include some turbulence. Some of this might be physical with some aches and pains you have been dragging through training or it might be mental with the craziness that an impending marathon will bring.

You may be tempted to cut way back in miles, workouts, or run days, but we know that your body thrives on routine and training rhythm so while there should be a noticeable reduction, your training week should still look very similar simply with reduced numbers and intensity. If you drop too much in these areas you can feel out of rhythm and have dead legs despite your fitness and rest. However, some runners will respond better to a greater decrease in training than others. Some might be able to back off by 25 to 33% while others might be better off just reducing by 10 to 20%. There are a number of factors that go into this but looking back at your training log and figuring out when your legs felt the best and what preceded those workouts or races will be a great clue for you.

Because the taper is prime time for your mind to run wild creating psychosomatic injuries and wearing you out by continuing to run you through the hamster wheel of crazy race day worries, it’s an ideal time to actually write out your plan. There is something quite calming about having a concrete plan to review when your mind enters the loop of doubt and fear. Your plan should include the agenda and time line for race weekend. For the actual race, think about how you want and expect to feel through the miles. Have contingency plans of what to do if there is a disconnect between how you feel and what your watch is telling you.

Of the many taper traps, perhaps the most compelling is to look for signs of fitness that cause you to overrun workouts. The faster you become the less likely it is that running goal pace is ever going to feel easy in training. There’s a reason why it’s called race pace and not training pace. There is a time for goal pace running but make sure it’s not when you should be resting for the real thing. If you want to look for signs of fitness, look back through your training log and your race results from the last few months to gain confidence.

In stressful and challenging situations I like to simplify. As we enter an important race week I like to remind my runners to run smart and run hard because those are the only two things that you can control. If you’ve done the work, running smart and running hard will allow a great performance to happen.

Same Distance, More Long Run Benefit

Feeling like Heather on race day is the ultimate long run goal.

Rather than the usual Long Run questions of why, how far, and how fast, let us focus on making the most of your long run distance. I’ve linked below my other long run posts for those answers.

The primary purpose of your long run is to train the muscle fibers (and the energy system feeding them) to become fatigue resistant and gradually raise the level of tension your muscles can withstand for 13.1 or 26.2 miles (or more!). With that in mind one of the first things that you can do to gain more benefit from the same long run distance is to reduce, if not eliminate, stoppage time during your long run. This is something that without technology is hard to measure. But to the chagrin of some of my runners it is easy to identify when I look at their watch download. I look at the differential between moving time and total time and can see how long they were stopped during their long run. I like to look at this from a standpoint of how much time per mile they were stopped. While we expect some stoppage due to aid stations, bathroom breaks and traffic, those things can add up if you’re not keeping an eye on them. It is not uncommon before I point this out to somebody to see that they stop 20 to 30 minutes over a 20 mile run. Because our sport does not have time outs this can be a problem. Every time you stop and let the muscular tension and aerobic pressure drop, recovery begins. The issue is that now you have to run even faster or longer to get the same training effect that simply continuing would have earned. So keep moving and keep any necessary stops as brief as possible. The most common problem with this is that with a group it takes awhile for everyone to get a drink while the clock keeps running. In those situations do a little out and back so you can keep moving but also regroup when everyone is ready to go again. I know that with 20 or 30 minutes to go in your long run you will be very happy to be done. Reducing or eliminating stoppage time is the best way I know to make that happen.

The next way to increase your long run benefit is to run on hills. It will become very obvious, maybe painfully so the first time, the extra special feeling that you get on a hilly course. While you might think it’s the uphill that is giving you the extra benefit it is also the downhill running. You know when the wheels start to fall off in a long run or race it is the impact that is the least comfortable. Conveniently enough, downhill running magnifies the eccentric contraction (lengthening of the muscle while it contracts) in the same way that landing with each stride stresses the muscle. This makes you more and more resistant to fatigue. Depending on where you live hill running may take a bit of planning. For most people it’s not too hard to find hills if you’re convinced that you’ll get more from your training.

I often tell people that getting in three-hour or four hour (or whatever your goal) marathon shape is not the hard part. It is actually running the time that is hard. One of the major variables between a successful day of cashing in training and a disappointing day is how well you manage nutrition and hydration. While there is no one fits all plan there are some guidelines from which you can start and determine your exact needs under various conditions. Any runner that does an exceptional job of staying hydrated and fueled has an incredible advantage over the others that are figuring it out on the fly. Use your long runs to learn your best nutrition practices beginning in the preceding days all the way through the run. This knowledge can prove to be as valuable as the long run itself. Taking this one step further, the more you can rehearse race weekend during your long runs or lead up races, the more it’s a matter of checking off the boxes on your way to achieving your goal.

While I have addressed this in previous posts, I think it’s worth touching on again. The first time you run a distance or the first time you run it at a faster pace there is incredible training effect. As those distances and paces become the norm that training effect begins to diminish. So you need to start running faster or longer to get the same benefit. If those solutions are unattractive or impractical think about the ideal way to run a marathon and the even pacing that it requires. It then becomes easy to go to the opposite end of the spectrum. Go ahead and do your long run inefficiently by running intervals at goal pace or faster, run positive splits (faster in the first half), or add a mix of stressors to make the run more challenging and engaging. These “mistakes” will increase the endurance benefit of the long run by building a deficit. You could also have the added epiphany of just how important good pacing is on race day.

The remaining question is how hard is too hard? The answers to many training questions including this one typically lie in recovery. If your long run is just nice easy jogging for a little longer distance than normal, one recovery day may be enough. But as the distance becomes significant and we start adding ways to make them more stressful, one day will no longer do. I like to plan two recovery days between a long run and the next run of consequence. My rule of thumb is that if two days are inadequate for recovery, then we probably overdid it. If we run into that situation we adjust the week and learn moving forward to the next long run.

Previous Long Run Posts

Go Long: How Far, How Fast, & How to Fuel.

Ideal Long Run Pace? Well, it depends...

The Same But More

Get the Most from Your Long Run

The Problems of Goal Pace Running

Rejuvenate Your Long Run

It All Matters

I appreciate complex things simplified to their essence as much as the next person, but some things are less easily reduced to a single bullet point. While running may be the most simple sport, not to be confused with easy, there is more to it than right, left, right, left, and repeat. To do it well there are a number of things of importance worth your attention. Here are a few of them.

Let’s start with the most obvious thing that matters but often hides in plain sight. Mileage matters. There is no substitute in training for mileage. Of the three basic things one needs to do to get faster, more running has to happen when one begins training and will have to happen again after the other two are addressed. Increases need to be gradual and progressive to be effective. Otherwise, injury or lack of improvement will occur. One of the things that only experience at higher mileage can tell you is that oddly enough you feel stronger with more rather than with less. While there is a level of chronic fatigue with significant mileage you will actually feel stronger while running. Yes, there are smart ways and not so smart ways to increase mileage, but don’t let that lead you to think mileage does not matter.

Quality matters. Finding the right balance between quality running and mileage is what any runner or coach should spend much of their time pondering. While doing a long run you have probably found as you get stronger it takes more and more miles before your legs become fatigued and your energy level starts to drop. That’s great news, you are improving! However, that’s also where the training effect starts to diminish from the same distances that used to be incredibly effective. There are only so many times a week you can run long enough to get that training effect, so running harder will now be necessary to get you to that point. Recently while doing a “short” long run with a mix of quality, it was very clear when our watches told us we were at 6 miles our legs where already telling us we were at 12 miles, we were getting great long run training effect on a shorter day.

The long runs, the mileage, and the high intensity workouts get all the glamour. Meanwhile, the small things matter. Small things like staying flexible, getting strong, maintaining balance, not letting your shoes get too old, warming up, cooling down, keeping the easy days easy, and the list goes on. These are all the little things that allow the big things to get done. Without the little things you become the fittest cheerleader on the sideline.

One of those little things is important enough to get it’s own category. Sleep matters. Sleep is the magic in training. Without adequate sleep you do not recover and you do not adapt to the training. Not to mention you’re worthless for everything else that you do during your waking hours.

Recovery matters. I have alluded to this in the last two subjects but again this deserves it’s own category. Recovery tells us everything we need to know about your training. How long does it takes to recover between intervals, from a hard workout, from a high mileage/quality week, and how many days of recovery or reduced training do you need to be ready to race? These answers tell us if your training load is being maximized or if it’s beyond your current ability.

Racing matters and is important for three primary reasons. One, it’s the best gauge of your fitness and should set expectations going into the most important races. Two, there’s no training quite like racing. It’s very rare to have a workout where you give a sustained effort at 100% with nothing held back. If you plan to give your best on marathon day it makes pretty good sense to practice giving your best even (& especially) at shorter and more intense distances a time or two before then. The last important reason to race is that it stirs up the crazy. To get into three hour marathon shape (or whatever your goal) is one thing. To actually run a three hour marathon is another. A big part of that is because of the race day crazy that happens and the decision making that is necessary during the race. Practicing making the right decisions under pressure will give you your best shot at cashing in your fitness.

Support matters. Most runners have a high level of self-reliance and as a matter of fact typically that’s one of the great attractions of running. You don’t have to count on a team, the coach doesn’t have to like you, there are no politics regarding playing time, you just go out and race and only your performance matters. However, the higher level at which you’re training the more important the support becomes. Support comes from many directions. The support of training partners, whether they are at the same level or faster or slower, and having some level of accountability and interaction with runners of a similar mindset is vital. Having the support of a coach or a veteran runner that knows what you’re going through, knows the pitfalls, and knows how to make the most of your effort will keep you on track. The support of the important people around you, especially at home, is critical. Make sure your training not only fits into your life but into the life of those that are important to you. Figure out the right level of give-and-take and where you can cheer them on and support them when you’re not running to make this work. Their encouragement and support and having them to celebrate with you makes all of your accomplishments so much better.

Plan Your Run & Run Your Plan

Plan your work and work your plan has proven to be one of the more useful phrases I’ve found and it applies as beautifully to running as with most things in life. The length of a blog post will not allow this to be a comprehensive look at planning your running, but I will offer a few very good reasons to have a plan and several essential ingredients your plan requires.

Establishing where you are and where you want to go are usually easily determined. The how to get there part is what requires a plan. By writing down the blueprint of your plan you will begin to determine if your destination is something that can be achieved with the training time available. At the onset, don’t get bogged down with too many details. You might see right away you don’t have the time to get in the necessary long runs or workouts or weekly mileage. Once you’ve determined a workable time frame, you can start to fill in the details and develop a step by step plan.

A good plan is an effective tool of challenge. A good test of a training plan is that each week on top of each other looks manageable, but if you just flip to the end, it looks beyond your reach. The challenges you can meet through consistency can be mind blowing.

A good plan will eliminate the fundamental debate* of what to run let alone should you run. The debating about the what and if will drain you of energy that is best spent getting on with the work at hand. If it’s clear what you will be running tomorrow and the next day and the day after that you can settle into working the plan and arriving at your destination.

A non-negotiable ingredient of any good training plan is that is must be gradual and progressive. If it’s not gradual, you will break down or at the very least not adapt to your work. If it’s not progressive you will stagnate and be busy without improvement.

Training also has to be balanced between workout intensities, stress and rest, and mileage. One dimensional or unbalanced plans will limit your ability to improve and leave you competitively vulnerable. We can look at this on a very basic level. Mileage is great, but without higher intensity training you won’t have the speed to be in the race. High intensity work is also great, but without the mileage you won’t be there at the end of the race. Your goal is to arrive on race day with the total package. Of course, what that requires will vary a bit from person to person.

While we are confined to training in the real world, your plan better be flexible. The best laid plans… Things will happen along the way, some that limit training and progress and at other times you may find yourself ahead of projected progress and need to update the workload and time table. You may also find upon review that parts of your training have become out of balance and a plan tuneup will have you back on track.

Need help planning your running? I have teamed up with the Monumental Marathon to offer several marathon and half marathon plans. You will see more about this in Beyond Monumental emails. Enjoy these free “Finisher, Pacer, & Racer” plans courtesy of the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon.

Other PBT Coaching Options

*One of my favorites from Once A Runner. “Quenton Cassidy’s method of dealing with fundamental doubts was simple: He didn’t think about them at all. These questions had been considered a long time ago, decisions were made, answers recorded, and the book closed. If it had to be re-opened every time the going got rough, he would spend more time rationalizing than training; his log would start to disclose embarrassing information, perhaps blank squares. Even a self-made obsessive-compulsive could not tolerate that.”

Heat Tested

Before we launch into our topic of training and racing effectively in heat, I want to recognize you may have heard much of this before. However, when I see the same avoidable mistakes made repeatedly, there must be some need for review. There are a number of important and helpful things that any coach repeats often enough even they get tired of hearing it. At some point the emphasis of repetition gives way to tuning out. My hope is that by putting these things in writing it will regain some status of importance that these points deserve.

Show up hydrated. Maintaining hydration in warm humid conditions is a losing battle. We can only hope to stay above the critical point where we feel terrible and slow to a crawl. Even that is a lost cause if you start a training run or race already dehydrated. The most simple and effective way I’ve found to manage hydration is frequent weighing. The most important times are in the morning, pre run and post run. Additional times will help you monitor your progress and let you know if you are back to a full tank or need to keep working on it. If you check your weight only in the morning or pre run, you do not have much recourse if you are too light. If weighing yourself stirs up crazy, there are tricks to be played to get the same information. It is not your actual weight we need to know, it is the differential due to dehydration. When you feel fully hydrated set the scale (you’ll need a less techie model) on a random number. Then use that random number as your set point. Interestingly, the same weigh ins can also give you an idea about your glycogen replenishment. Two very important things to monitor.

Drink early and often. I like the IV drip analogy. Before, during and after a run think of hydrating as a steady infusion like an IV drip. Too much at once does not get absorbed as effectively as a little bit at a constant rate. During exercise this also keeps the stomach happier and we know the workout and race often go as the stomach goes. While running, 6-8 ounces of fluid every 20-30 minutes is a good starting goal. You might be thinking, “I can’t drink while I run or I feel terrible.” Just like the running itself, this is trainable. Start small and build. There are plenty of days a year this is your limiting factor and no matter how fit you may be, it will not matter if you do not solve this problem.

Salt is a sponge. As the dew point and heat index head north the hydration battle becomes more bleak for your side. Salt tablets can be your not so secret yet effective weapon. Salt is what allows water to cross the cell membrane and become useful. If water does not get into the cell, it is not helpful at best and can kill you through hyponatremia at worst. You can get sodium through drinks, gels, and tablets. A starting dose is 150-200 mg per 8 ounces of fluid. However, I have many athletes that have become proficient at getting much more. These are the same athletes I will bet on as the temperature goes up. There are others that ignore this specialized training that predictably wilt and see the backsides of their less talented and trained competitors.

Hydration is key beyond the run. We know the body works best at rest in homeostasis and at exercise in steady state. Blood pressure, heart rate, and thermoregulation (body temperature) are all normalized with proper blood volume. Blood volume can only be in homeostasis with proper hydration. If proper hydration is key in keeping some diseases from killing you (Ebola virus, for example) I think we can accept it might help you recover faster from a workout or race and be better for just plain old general health.

You will need to adjust your Effort Dashboard in the heat. Pace will be slower in the heat. You can control the slowing effect by following the tips above and moderating pace early and voluntarily. You will also find HR climbs out of sync with effort with variation in blood distribution and volume. This creates the need to rely more on respiratory rate, muscular tension, and perceived exertion.

Learn to live by faith over the next few months. All of your work does matter and it will pay off with adaption and when the weather breaks. Until then the heat will disguise all positive evidence of progress and your training log may be reason for despair. Rest assured, those that rule in the fall, put in the work during the summer.

Links to my other posts about running and heat.

Living by Faith

Thriving in Heat

Training through the Ridiculous

Ugly yet Effective

Heat & Humidity Finally Show

Summer Vacation

Lucie Mays-Sulewski & Kristina Tabor speeding to the finish of the women’s masters Monumental Mile.

Many of you are wrapping up your marathon & half marathon season and are beginning to think about your plans for fall and exceeding your successes of spring. Before you launch back into training for 26.2 or 13.1, I want to encourage you to take a vacation. No, not that kind. While I do like runners to take a post season week or two of greatly reduced running for mental and physical refreshment, I am not talking about taking the summer off. Rather, I want my runners to get out of a perpetual marathon training mindset for a few months and focus on raising their economy and speed ceilings. Then when they do return to focus on the longer fall races, they are beginning with better high intensity fitness that will translate into faster more marathon specific endurance and stamina training. Perhaps it is counter intuitive to think training at intensity over threshold and faster than 5K pace will help your marathon. Think of it this way. If you are more comfortable at harder and faster running, the demand of marathon pace becomes easier for longer, allowing you to maintain a faster pace for 26.2.

As a refresher from earlier posts, economy is the physiological cost of running a given pace. The higher your economy the easier it is to run faster translating to great options. Run longer at the same pace or run faster for the same distance. Economy benefits can be had from all kinds of running, but the most specific way to push up your running economy is to run shorter harder sustained efforts (~5K-10K racing) or fast intervals (generally 400m to mile repeats). Speed is the ability to go faster for short periods through the conditioning of the neuromuscular system and fast twitch muscle fibers. Aerobic and anaerobic intervals as well as hill repeats can help with speed improvement. Keep in mind, when the hard days get harder, the easy day need to get easier. Maintain your stress and rest balance.

How this looks for you may vary with a number of factors, most importantly when you are done with long racing in the spring and target dates for PR assaults in the fall. Generally, I like to plan a year something like this, though I am all for keeping the races shorter for a full season and not being married to a marathon or even half marathon every spring and fall.

Spring Racing Season ending with your most important marathon or half marathon around May followed with a break of little and light running for 1-2 weeks.

Late Spring and Summer emphasis on economy and speed while maintaining reasonable mileage and long runs to ease the transition back into marathon training. This should also include a schedule of shorter races to show off your new fitness, but also for the training effect itself.

Mid to late Summer be aware of how many weeks to go until marathon day to ensure you have enough time to get in the weekly and long run mileage needed to perform at your best. I overlap workout types in this transition period and have found it results in lining up at the start line with the full bag of tricks and some great racing. Of course, some lingering hot and humid days may hide your new and improved fitness level, but it’s there.

Here are five steps to get you started with this summer vacation from the marathon grind. Step One: Get recovered from your spring races. Step Two: Work back towards your normal training level. Step Three: Add quality with economy and speed workouts in balance with easier mileage and moderate length long runs. Step Four: Join in the fun of the Monumental Mile on June 6th. If you are not close enough to Indy for the Mile, then find up to a 5K race in your area. This will give you an immediate target and checkpoint. Step Five: Join me for the Personal Best Training Speed Sessions on Tuesday nights and get a plan for the rest of the week. These sessions will include a mix of workouts to improve your economy and speed, but also have you ready for a great marathon or half in the fall. Send me an email at pbtau@hotmail.com for details.

Judgement Day

Wes Doty and crew fighting through some trying conditions.

Because you put a great deal of time and energy into your racing, forsaking other pursuits, it is worthwhile to examine and learn from each time into the fray. Let’s look at some ways you can judge and learn from your racing. The most basic and my favorite way of judging my own races is my feeling as I cross the finish line. If I am thrilled, relieved, or disappointed it usually outweighs time or place. The initial feeling at the end of a race is nearly impossible to fake and usually says much about that day’s effort.

To utilize racing to it’s utmost, let’s go a little deeper with further inspection.

• Did you race your plan? If so, was it the best plan for that particular race? If not, did your in-race change of plan pay off? The answers here will make for a better plan next time, but also help plan possible contingencies for what may happen in terms of conditions, competition, and how you are feeling that day.

• Did you accurately evaluate your fitness? I find predicting races from races is more reliable than predicting races from training. However, good training history with key duplicated workouts can be very helpful. This is also a good reason for some low key tune up races before something important rolls around.

• Were the variables as expected and did you properly account for them? You might very well be in 90 minute half marathon shape, but on a hot, hilly, or windy day, you better be ready to run a few minutes faster to hit 1:30 for 13.1.

Exceptional racing requires the right mix and timing of patience, aggression, and toughness. The wrong timing or a missing ingredient will lead to the charred ruin of solid training and high hopes somewhere between the start and finish lines. We can sugar coat and speak philosophically about racing, but it will always come down to pain tolerance. This is the sport we have chosen.

There are times I have a runner finish with disappointment which often warrants further investigation of their result. Here is the quick checklist I like to run through with a disappointed runner that seemed to get the mix right, but still had unsatisfying results.

• Was the course as expected?

• Were the conditions as expected?

• If not, were either or both of these accounted for in your post race expectations?

• Taking a look at the race results may prove helpful by looking how you fared against other known competitors. Did you get beat by people that don’t normally finish in front of you or did you finish before others that are usually faster?

• How are the time gaps if the order of finish was normal? Were you closer or further back? If time or place against competition is in your favor, it may just not have been a day to run fast. If these are not in your favor, you may be justified in being bummed about your performance. Occasionally, you can be happy when you cross the line only to find people ran out of their minds fast and you were just average, so this can cut both ways.

• Did you give in when doubt set in or when the race got difficult? Were you able to overcome the rough spots that tend to come and go even on great days?

When it comes to that last question, I cannot fully convey how important it is to keep fighting hard through a race. Racing is not simply about fitness, but also about the skill of racing. Knowing how to plan, adjust, and give your best are skills that will reward all the training miles and effort. We get good at what we train, and if you allow yourself to give in when races go sideways, you get good at giving up and this becomes your default race setting. Sure there are times when it’s smart to pull the plug, but they are few and far between. The skills of running are highly underrated. True breakthroughs in running are very rarely about undiscovered fitness. Almost always they are about racing skill meeting the right set of conditions.

Upon further review if you had a great race take it as confirmation you are doing the right things in the right way. If you had a not so great day, evaluate and figure out what went wrong. Bad days happen, but if bad days become a trend it’s time to make training adjustments or work on specific racing skills for happier finish lines.

Spring Forward?

Perfect running moments don’t always need perfect training.

If your last few months of running have been smooth sailing without injury, illness, weather interruption, or work or personal conflict, you can skip this post and file it for later. If one or more of the aforementioned have taken their toll on what was once a grand plan for a great spring racing season, then the following advice is for you.

If your training has been hit & miss…

If your training has been a little more hit and miss than you would like, there are some good things to keep in mind. Your head will decondition much faster than your body. The most common occurrence of this phenomenon is when you go from a great workout or race to one just a few days later that is disappointing. It seems all is lost but really we know you never gain or lose fitness that fast. Keep in mind a great performance proves you are in great shape. A bad day simply proves you had a bad day.

When you have not been able to check off every mile and every workout, do not underestimate the value of lifetime base and toughness. Of course, being talented also really helps smooth over spots of missed training.

But if you think you are beyond mental deconditioning and it’s going to take more than zippy mental tricks to get you back in racing mode, then it is time for a reality check. Pulling a workout staple with a long history or a short race will put your current state of disrepair into perspective. Maybe you’ve been doing a mile repeat workout, or threshold run for a number of years. Controlling the variables such as conditions, course, rest intervals, etc will give you a look at how you stack up historically. Then you can see how you’ve done after similar workouts. A short race will help you predict race performance from race performance which tends to be more reliable. If the news is good and you are not that far off course, pick up the plan with a few needed adjustments and resume your season. If the news confirms your fears of lost fitness, it’s time to reset.

Reevaluate & Reset

The first step is to reevaluate your goals for the next few months. You might need to adjust, reset or drop them. We do know that trying to make up for lost training in a compressed time frame is a sure bet to set yourself back even further with injury. The lesson I’ve had to learn more than once that is very valuable when rebuilding fitness is to just run the workouts at the appropriate effort level and let pace take care of itself. I’ve been amazed at how much faster fitness builds when overrunning the workout is avoided. Just run the workout and let your body work it’s magic.

How to Rebuild

If you do have significant rebuilding to do, following these steps should help you get there asap without undue injury risk. One, reestablish consistent running. Two, pick a day or two each week to push your aerobic limits. Ease into the run and then increase to high end aerobic running and stay there a little longer each week. At first you will find rapid improvement, but when this begins to plateau much of your basic fitness has returned. Along the way with steps one and two you can reestablish your long run without hurry to get to a big number. Just go long enough you are tired at the end. Step three is to add some aerobic intervals like 30 seconds fast and 60 seconds jog. Just get used to running faster than you can maintain. When this feels coordinated and comfortable, you have put together the pieces you need to resume full intensity training. This general approach is important because legs, lungs, and nervous system adapt at different speeds. Getting these back in balance is an important safeguard to keep you healthy and improving.

Silver Lining Skill

Let’s look at the silver lining of a training buildup gone wrong. Fitness gets so much focus, the skills of racing are often overlooked. Racing skills are what help you maximize your training. If the initial goals are now gone, you can still make this season count by learning an incredibly valuable skill. Rarely do a string of months go 100% according to plan. Learning to race up to your actual fitness through running peaks and valleys may end up yielding more in the long run than a beautiful training log.

Treadmill Peace

We have already had a few waves of bad weather that resulted in missed or sub par runs and in some cases injury from not sticking the landing after being launched by a misstep on snow or ice. I am betting we have not seen the last of rough running weather (it’s warm and beautiful outside as I write this) so it is a good time to make peace with the treadmill. The following are some things to help you make the most of your treadmill time.

Let’s first address the differences between outdoor and treadmill running. The major factors are related to impact and overcoming air resistance. The brain and body become very efficient at processing information to attenuate shock rather than slamming the foot down on the ground. Too much treadmill running tends to change how one lands because most treadmills are much more forgiving. Returning to a harder surface require a little time to re-learn how to land softly. The other issue is that your backside (glutes, hamstrings, and calves) are not used as much or in the same way during treadmill running as they are outside.  This is magnified at faster speeds. Maintaining strength training and easing into fast speed work outside after a prolonged break from fast outdoor running will keep your injury risk low. Balancing in and outdoor running will also mitigate these effects. There is no standardization among treadmills, but there are general rules. To make up for the absence of having to overcome air resistance, using an incline of 1-2% helps equate the treadmill to outdoor effort.

You may also notice a higher heart rate on a treadmill than outdoors at the same speed.  Because you are not being cooled by moving air, heart rate tends to elevate and stay higher on a treadmill. Simply using a fan to cool you and minimize heat buildup can help solve this problem. By doing this you can also begin to judge the quality of the treadmill pace. Initially, most runners will find pace to feel alarmingly fast on the treadmill, but with a slower warmup and a conscious effort to relax, eventually the benefits of perfect pacing become apparent. Of course, under-powered treadmills can lag when changing speeds or inclines. Adapt workouts as needed for your equipment, but there is not much you cannot satisfactorily replicate on a treadmill.

Then there is the problem of the clock seemingly turning backwards on the treadmill. As is the case outdoors, you can either focus or disassociate. The best way to focus is to play games with time, speed, and incline. This is why often hard workouts seem to go faster on the treadmill than shorter easier runs. Systematically changing speeds or incline break the run into smaller more manageable blocks of time. Even with easy running you can increase these elements until you get to the top of the appropriate effort and then back down the effort and bounce back and forth. One of the most simple and effective treadmill workouts is the progression run. Start nice and slow and increase your speed (or incline) by .1 mph at a predetermined time interval. This interval might change as the speed become more challenging. If you get to a speed that you cannot maintain while still having time or miles to kill, just back off at the same interval until you have recovered enough to go back up until backing off for the cool-down. Of course, under-powered treadmills can lag when changing speeds or inclines. Adapt workouts as needed for your equipment, but there is not much you cannot satisfactorily replicate on a treadmill. Music, video, podcasts, recorded books, running meditation (letting you mind wander where it will) and people watching at the gym are all ways to disassociate.

Keep in mind watches cannot really measure treadmill distance.  They can be somewhat close at a consistent speed, but once you start changing speeds the measurement becomes far less accurate. You can “teach to the test” and calibrate after a run, but once you begin to do intervals you will see the technology is not really there yet.  Manual splits based on the treadmill distance will solve this problem. I do recommend learning how to use your manual split button before starting the workout. The danger of landing on your chin and flying off the back is not worth a neat training log entry.

Making peace with a treadmill can help you balance getting in the quality that might be missed in bad weather with the mental toughness that comes from getting outdoors when common sense urges otherwise. Both will have you fit and ready when the weather breaks.

One Month to Go Checklist

A month to go before your marathon or half marathon is a great time to check off the things that will best help you get the most from all the work you have done. Here is a list of some things to consider between now and race day.

Have Faith in your training and resist looking for signs of fitness. A race or maybe two should tell you what you need to know. When workouts go from improving fitness to proving fitness, injury risk goes up. You also want to avoid having a training day better than your race.

Race to get a fitness test. I prefer to predict races from races and not training runs. Now that the temperature is heading to more like what we expect on race day, it is a good time for a final pretest.

Plan Your Race, Race Your Plan by being a true geek and actually writing out your plan with contingencies for things that could go sideways. Put at least as much focus on how you want to feel at points along the way as the splits you want to run.

Fuel the Fire with the proper amount of hydration and calories. Have your nutrition plan dialed in for race weekend. Show up at the start fully hydrated and fueled and follow your plan during the race to finish strong.

Know Your Logistics by reading the information provided about the race and plan your weekend. This will make sure something silly does not take a big bite out of the energy best used for racing. Mentally walk through at least the day before and through the race.

Break the Chronic Fatigue you have been training through by allowing more recovery between workouts and long runs. This allows full adaption to training and will have you at your best in a few weeks.

Be Kind to your body by paying attention and tending to any aches or pains that you have been dragging along through the last few weeks or even months. Be kind to your body and it will do amazing things for you on race day.

Meet ME at the Monumental Marathon Expo on Friday at 12:30 to go over the most common race day fails and how to avoid them the next day. We will also talk about the pace team.

How to Use Your Pacer

Get in line and work together for faster times.

If you take a look at world records and the PR's of average runners, it does not take long to recognize the common denominator is good pacing.  That is why when world records and PR's are attempted skilled pacers and employed.  We know that the best way to run fast is to run even or slightly negative splits (faster at the end).  You can visualize setting a treadmill to the fastest pace you can maintain and then speed up at the end to make sure your legs and lungs have been maxed.  Applying those conditions in the real world on the road or track is more challenging, but it is the goal.  The real trick comes when the pacing is not as smooth as desired or you hit a rough patch and need to back off a little to get back under control.  Using our treadmill visual, what happens when you hit a hill on a road course?  If you are not racing on the track it is unrealistic to think every split should be the same.  The elevation changes and even the turns of the course along with the wind and the timing of aid stations will dictate some splits will be faster than others.  Otherwise, to maintain that nice even pacing you will have to spike your effort and unless you are very close to the end, you have to slow to recover.  If you could do all of that without changing speed, then the overall speed is slower than your maximum maintainable speed.  You will have to make decisions along the way of when to slow and when to speed to net a even pace.  Perhaps you watched the Breaking 2:00 documentary and saw the lighted pace line.  It would be great to have one of those so after each slower segment you had a clear goal of the line to pull back.  

Not many things that have ruined more races than being committed to a pace at all cost.  Pace is simply a measurement of effort.  We all know that some days are better than others in how we feel or in the conditions.  Yet, it seems on race day many will ignore this knowledge and go full speed ahead with goal pace despite suspecting and then knowing it is not going to be an A+ day.  This is the easiest way to go from missing a goal by a small margin to a full blown crash and burn.  Amazingly enough there are many days when backing off a little early allows your body to come around to having a great day after all.  You know this happens during training so you know it can happen on race day.

So let’s figure out the best way to use a pace group to help you give your best effort on race day.  Remember there is no rule that you must start or even finish with you chosen pace group.  Use it for the part of the race you need.  You might just need help holding back the first couple of miles or need someone to chase and pass towards the end of the race.  When in doubt about the pace stay relaxed and keep putting miles in the bank.   A few more miles into the race and you may now be confident your legs feel good enough and you have enough fuel to speed up and make it to the finish.

Most pacers are running significantly slower than they race so it may take a mile or two for them to get in the right rhythm.  Trust yourself if it feels too fast and sit back and keep them in sight until the pace settles down.  Avoid any big moves to catch the group.  A comfortable pace is no longer comfortable after a big surge to catch up.

Remember you alone are responsible for your pace.  If it is too fast or too slow you need to adjust on your own don’t let anyone else determine your race.  It will be no consolation to have someone to blame if your race heads south because of bad pacing.  Run smart and run hard and good things happen! 

This year’s Indy Half Marathon, Monumental Marathon & Half Marathon Pace Teams are almost set.  There are perks for being a pacer and even bigger ones for pacing an Olympic Trials standard.  Please apply at Pacers Wanted if you are interested in learning more.

Go Long: How Far, How Fast, & How to Fuel.

Long run density and fueling will have you feeling strong to the end.

The long run is the most basic and important element of marathon training.  However, as you progress as a runner the details shift to maintain it's effectiveness and impact on performance.  Much more can be written about long runs than we are going to tackle in this post.  I am going to focus on the crucial questions of how far, how fast, and how to fuel your long runs.

How far?  The initial purpose of the long run is to extend the duration you can run (duh!).  This has nothing to do with speed.  It is pure endurance, the ability to go right, left, right left, many times.  When you decide to take on the marathon, you need enough endurance to be able to continue to run for 26.2 miles.  Thankfully, the best principle in exercise physiology is on your side for this one.  Your body not only adapts to training, it overcompensates to training. You know this because you have run longer and/or faster than ever before on several occasions.  Every time you have either run your longest distance or set a PR you prove this principle.  The obvious benefit for the long run is that you do not need to run 26.2 miles to run 26.2 miles on marathon day.  Remember, this has nothing to do with speed, simply finishing.  It seems in rough terms, endurance has about a 25% overcompensation effect.  So if you can get to the 20 mile neighborhood, you should be able to finish.

I used to have more interest in the discussion about the ideal longest run for a marathon.  While I still think 20-22 is a good answer to that question (20 is fine for your body, but 22 is better for your head), I am now much more interested in the density of long runs.  I know averaging a runner's 5 longest runs leading up to race day is a better predictor of a good marathon than their longest run.  

How fast?  My quick answer to this question is slow enough to make it the entire distance.  Here is where the shift kicks in for your long runs.  If the objective is to finish and live to tell the story, jogging long runs is fine.  The moment you start thinking if you can break 4 hours, or qualify for Boston, or win the thing, jogging your long runs will no longer do. 

Your most limiting factor on race day is how much muscular tension you can maintain for 26.2 miles.  Jogging, at least for those beyond the beginner stage, will not produce enough muscular tension to be able to maintain a faster pace to the finish.  You either have to run longer and longer or faster.  As with anything in training, this can be overdone.  The guideline I give my runners once they are able to cover a distance without concern, is to run it faster as long as they can maintain it without a crash and they are able to recover in time for the next quality workout.

How to fuel?  I like thinking about marathon fueling as an IV of sugar, salt, and water.  If you can keep these levels relatively constant and prevent any of them from dropping beyond a critical point, marathon running is a much easier game.  We expect you will be low on all 3 of these at the finish, it is your challenge to keep the levels as high as possible. 

Most people can store about 20 miles of fuel.  Thus the whole "wall" concept.  If you can take in another 500-600 calories during the run, you've added enough to get to the finish without crashing and slowing enough to live the cautionary tale.  Pick you favorite method of getting in this amount of carbohydrate, but gels are hard to beat for efficiency.  

Sweat rates and therefore fluid intake rates will vary with individuals and conditions.  Practice drinking with a beginning target of 6 ounces per 20:00 of running.  With practice you will be able to take in even more.  A little, more often, is tolerated much better than 18 ounces at once every hour.  Think IV drip!  When conditions are such that you cannot absorb enough fluid it is time to add sodium to the mix to aid in absorption.  There is no substitute for practice and paying attention to conditions, intake, and how you feel.

With the time remaining before marathon day continue to bank long runs at a distance and effort that challenge you, but allow you to stay healthy and enthusiastic about running.  Additionally, practice and train you body for your race day IV drip.  The combination will have you ready to be at your best when it matters most.

Living By Faith

Tracy Green knows drinking early and often helps level the playing the field against heat & humidity.

How was your running last week?  I thought so.  It's hard to believe how much fitness you've lost over the last few weeks after a good spring of racing.  Before you give up and take up another sport, possibly something of the indoor variety, let's talk about how you've been feeling.  In addition to the loss of fitness, have you also lost confidence and wonder if your watch needs a battery change because it seems to be running slow, especially on the hard days?  If so, let me invite you to join me in living by faith for the next month or two.  

Last Saturday's long run was a great test of my faith.  I started plenty slow and made a point to drink at least 6-8 ounces every 15-20 minutes and felt fine for about an hour.  At that point, without a increase in pace, the effort went up and I wisely decided to back off voluntarily to make sure I would get through the distance.  A few more miles went by and then I slowed down some more, this time involuntarily.  I had to remind myself that this was not my first summer of running and though I was running an effort that should have been a minute or more per mile faster, I was still getting the training effect.  It's not just you and me.  My smartest, toughest, and fastest runners are suffering the same symptoms.  Take heart that there is a crowd of good company in our boat.

Let's take a closer look at what the heat is doing to us.  Most information on the effects of heat on running performance use dew point as the primary factor.  If you don't know the dew point you can find it with this calculator.  A brief summary is that the following dew points result in the corresponding drops in performance.  60° = 2%, 65° = 3%, 70° = 5%, 75° = 12%, 80° = 15%.  Note the accelerating decline as it gets warmer.  Remember these are dew points and not simple air temperatures.  Add the rule of thumb that you will slow down by 2% for every 1% in body weight loss due to dehydration and you are fighting a losing battle.  There are several other factors including acclimatization (generally takes 2 solid weeks) and individual heat tolerance.

Let's say the dew point is 75° and you have lost 3% of your body weight in sweat loss.  If you would normally run 7:30 pace or 450 seconds per mile, the total of 18% loss of speed (12% for 75° dew point and 6% for the 3% dehydration loss) you could expect to slow down by 81 seconds per mile.  So now instead of cruising along at 7:30's, you are now feeling lousy and running 8:51 pace.  It's physiology.  You might be tough and might tolerate heat better than most, but you will be working much harder to be remotely close to your normal pace.

Calculating the dew point can help adjust expectations in heat and humidity.

There are a few other things you can do along with living by faith until the weather cools again.  Train consistently for adaptation and adjust expectations.  Stay hydrated using salt tablets when necessary.  Use your respiratory rate and perceived exertion as your primary measures of effort.  Pace and HR will be affected to a degree that their reliability is no longer as helpful.  Continue to rely on Run Smart, Run Hard.  Heat will require you to emphasize the smart, the hard just happens.

I'll look forward to seeing you again on the other side of summer when we are all running faster again!