Time on Toes
On being an arrogant runner, a training approach and the Boston Marathon
On the journey back to competitive marathon shape after a few months of being undisciplined, it is important to take a rest day. So that’s what I did yesterday and why you didn’t hear from me. I rested.
If you’ve ever heard me talk about running, you’ve likely heard me say that I used to be an “arrogant runner” and it wasn’t until I learned to run slower that I unlocked another gear. Unfortunately, that sounds extremely arrogant when my “zone 2, easy” pace is someone else’s “zone 5, heart beating out of their chest, on the verge of throwing up, not going to run for a month after this” pace. It’s impossible to seem cool when talking about running. You can mostly sound like a jerk and you can sometimes be a little bit helpful depending on how much the person you’re talking to actually cares about running and wasn’t actually just being nice. I’m sorry to my friends, acquaintances and strangers I’ve just met who have casually dropped that they are thinking about running a 5k and have witnessed me launch into some long rant on heart rate, heel versus forefoot striking and during race nutrition. I just get excited that other people want to run in circles, too.
But if you’ll indulge me, I’ll explain what I mean about being an arrogant runner. It’s a real Ricky Bobby mentality. I used to never take rest days if I felt good enough to run. I took pride in ridiculous run streaks that weren’t actually improving my fitness or my times. I used to do every workout at full throttle, as hard as I could. Now it was never quite at race pace because races are their own beast and once the adrenaline and competition gets into the mix, it can push you to another level but I was disappointed in myself if I wasn’t running sub 7 minute miles in training. But that approach teaches your body and your brain the wrong lessons.
I’m 105 days out from the Boston Marathon, so about 15 weeks. Training for any race especially after a long layoff is like renovating a house that’s a real fixer-upper. When you only train fast, it’s like you moved in and even though the floors need work, the electricity is shot and the roof is leaking, you bought new furniture. Sure, the house is usable and hey, you’re using it! But you haven’t increased the value of the house at all. It’s all window dressing. Those constant, fast or peak pace workouts are window dressing. For many runners, that just means you are coasting on whatever natural talent you have or for folks just starting out, it’s a set up to burn out quickly. For both types of runner, you are increasing the likelihood of injury.
I’ve run a little under 20 miles so far this year. Nothing longer than ~6.5 miles in one go. But with my goal race pace at about 6 minutes, 20 seconds per mile, all of my runs have been in the 7:30-8:00 bracket. (My watch technically says 7:13 for one of them but I don’t think it was accurate that day.) Honestly, I think I need to be even slower and I’m excited to go for an 8 miler later this week and really hammer out consistent 8:20 or 8:30 miles. Renovating a house takes a long time but it’s important to start with the foundation. Running slow is the same idea. It trains your body and your brain to learn what that pace feels like and stay consistent even though you aren’t going as fast as you can.
I can hear some of you already. “But Pierce, it’s boring running slower than I can and I have shit to do.”
Well, tough noogies. (Is noogies okay to say? Feels like it could have some sordid origin…. looked it up, I think we are in the clear. Coined in 1968? Wild.)
Running is boring, sometimes! But it really doesn’t have to be. Run with friends. Run with audiobooks or podcasts. Join a run club. Explore your city by running somewhere you’ve never run before. The world is a lot smaller than you realize, especially when you embrace the fact that your two feet can get you there.
The goal for the large majority of your workouts should be to run at a pace where you can comfortably hold a conversation without huffing and puffing. (Call your mom next time you go out. I’m sure you owe her a call.) Call it 80% of your workouts so if you run five days a week, that should be four slower, easy runs. But what about the other one?
If You Think Running Slow Sucks…
“Run slow to run fast” is a bit misleading. Yes, you should be running slower than your goal pace to build a good foundation but what about the 20% of your workouts.
Time to hit the track (or at least some sort of closed course).
Speed workouts are my least favorite part of any training block. I’m a distance runner so the thought of going all out for 400m is my personal hell. And when I say all out I mean it. This should be the “pushed to the limit, lungs burning, run for your life” kind of running and it absolutely sucks. The goal here is to push past your lactate threshold, enabling your muscles to learn to take a little bit more punishment.
An easy one is a simple ladder workout 400m-800m-1200m-1600m-1200m-800m-400m. That one is easily customizable and easy to track by correctly programming your watch. Add in 90 second walking recovery between each section and you’ll end up with a total distance between 4 and 5 miles where you have cumulatively run faster than you ever have before. I usually set my goal pace to a minute faster than my marathon pace. The point is to be uncomfortable. You will crave those 90 second rests and they will seem to melt away, getting shorter and shorter each time.
This is where the foundational element of those slow runs comes into play - your body is able to handle this amount of distance, it’s just not used to the effort. This helps train the effort and hopefully, it gives a little confidence boost seeing that you can run a bit faster than you thought.
If you don’t have the foundation, you’ll fail at these workouts every time or worse, these workouts will lead directly to injury. I need to rebuild my foundation so I’ll reintroduce these in week 3 of training.
The Goal for Boston
I wasn’t planning on writing so much about training today but I guess I did say this was a running newsletter. Weirdly, I think that the approach outlined here can really apply to so many different disciplines. (And I should really take my own advice then…).
The Boston Marathon is my big race this year. I don’t have too much on the calendar. Here are the goals:
A Goal: Sub 2:45
B Goal: Sub 2:50
C Goal: Sub 2:55:53
The A goal is a pretty big swing but I think I can get there. I’ve been on that pace in both Chicago and New York but outside factors got in the way (lack of discipline and nagging injury). The B goal is still pretty sizable. The C goal would just mean setting a new personal record.
I can do it.
This will be a good year.
Today’s Distance: 3.64 miles
Time: 27 minutes, 58 seconds