Sunday Long Run: A Chat With Dylan Spina
Sunday Long Run: A Chat With Dylan Spina
Beating the same drum over and over can become monotonous, or even annoying, to your ears. It’s because you’re tired of hearing the same old training advice or jargon.
My greatest leaps in fitness over the course of my life have been looking at what my peers are doing. There are often nuggets in there that I passed-over in my own training, and need to start implementing. It’s easy to operate in a bubble—take a look around every once in a while.
Well today I decided to reach out to a friend on X, Dylan Spina, to ask him some questions pertaining to his training.
I noticed him posting about his running a few weeks ago and took a close interest in it. What I found was a great example of a more “normal” runner getting after it! It’s a great example of how plugging away at the long term results will make you an injury free and overall successful runner.
Read what he has to say about his training and overall journey to endurance.
Q: Off the bat, what is your background athletically and in fitness?
A: Started in middle school lifting weights for football, track(throw), and wrestling.
Stuck to football and track throwing discus and shot early in HS. Then just football until I graduated HS. Started caring more about the best ways to do things fitness wise going into the Marines. Stuck to strength sports Powerlifting, Strongman, until my mid 20’s.
Q: Can you also extrapolate how this has turned you towards the endurance route? Is it wired within you to enjoy it, or do you just see it as the next peak to summit in your career?
A: Never was a good runner. I’d fall out of most hard runs in the Marines if we’re being honest.
Was a bigger guy most my life so stuck with my strength literally. Started running more in 2021 due to lockdowns and Injuries preventing me from lifting as heavy as I was. To be honest I was terrible. But being challenged by friends to an Ironman in ‘22 forced me to face my demise and start improving my running.
So I signed up for a 100km to prove to myself I can run. That’s where I discovered how much I enjoy it as the challenge it can be.
Q: Admittedly, I have been following your Strava anonymously for a few weeks now and I am in love with it. It’s a great example of adding time on your feet and not being trapped into running nice & perfect clean mileage. I want to ask, what race are you training for?
A: haha thanks man! Just following the plan my coach Ryan Dreyer has laid out for us. I am running the Zion 100 miler with 9 other team mates from Tribal Training.
Q: Have you always trained this way when it comes to endurance? How or when did it start?
A: It started in February of 22 prepping for my 100km. Time on Feet has been a big part of the training for me since the beginning. Even when I got hurt in that first prep, we focused on just getting out and increase time even it meant just hiking for 6-7hrs on a Saturday.
Q: What does a normal “long run” look like for you?
A: In this prep about 3-4 hours time on feet.
Q: How do you plan nutrition on these longer efforts?
A: Making sure I get 75-90g CHO an hour mostly from liquid sugar water, along with cliff bars/fruit. About every 4 hours I’ll eat something more substantial.
Q: Are you tying your pace/effort to a certain heart rate on these efforts?
A: Honestly very easy effort is the goal something high Z1 low Z2. Utilizing a run walk effort is key on them … usually 6 minutes running / 2 walking.
Q: Do you plan on running more long distance races in the coming years? What are you long term goals with endurance?
A: Absolutely. I’m aiming to start bidding for Moab 240 come 2025. Multi day races intrigue me immensely.
Q: Where can people find you on Social Media?
A: All socials are @dylanspina61
Good luck to Dylan in his upcoming race in April, I urge you all to follow him on X @dylanspina61.
If you want to take a look at his Strava, you can do so here. I always feel it’s great to see how your peers are training, not just viewing what the top elites are up to.
Sometimes the best training advice comes by simply looking to your left or right.
Happy Sunday!
BTR