Sunday Long Run: Take The Pill
If you are a less than great runner, or someone who has never ran before, and found yourself here…consider yourself lucky.
It happens to basically everyone that picks up running later in their life, i.e. they didn’t grow up running track/xc.
What exactly am I talking about?
Running only to a certain amount of mileage every time you run.
i.g. Running 3 miles, every single time you run.
Running only to a certain amount of weekly mileage.
i.g. Aiming for 20 weekly miles, no matter how long (or little) it takes.
The essence of what I am getting at is this:
And if you don’t take my word, trust Forbes Carlile’s word (Australian Olympic Swim Coach).
My favorite way to explain this is with visuals from comparable “normal” athletes.
Here is athlete #1 | 42 mile week, 6 hours of running:
Here is athlete #2 | 36 miles, 7 hours and 46 minutes of *aerobic* running
These two athletes are the same in output ability, but one is a doing *a lot* more quality work (hint: it’s the one with the higher number of hours ran during the week).
When athlete 1 is running, most of his runs are in zone 3, which in the short term is manageable—but when it comes to running we play the long game. (Hence the name of this weekly series). Burnout, fatigue, or forced breaks will come down the line from having to produce a surplus of lactate daily.
Example of a normal mid week run for athlete 1 (higher mileage, lower weekly hours):
Example of a normal mid week run for athlete 2 (lower mileage, higher weekly hours):
For both of these athletes, running in the ~150s BPM is zone 3.
While it might not seem like much, this 15-20 BPM difference per mile, actually accrues to a much more significant impact on your body and it’s ability to recover.
The problem is, both of these runners are decent back-pack fun-runners. Easily clocking in 3:20-3:30 marathons. Not bad for some weekend warriors though.
But that’s where the problem lies for athlete 1. He *can* run the amount of miles necessary to complete a race, but his limit is capped due to not being able to run higher volume (hours) per week. Running above his blood lactate threshold (zone 3 +) simply doesn’t allow him to rack up higher hours/mileage. It becomes impossible to clear the lactate between runs, DOMS sets in, muscles tighten, and time off has to be taken. A bad cycle to be in!
But the issue is that he’s too confident running these “faster” miles (relatively speaking).
What needs to happen for athlete 1 to become a better runner:
Extend his weekly hour goal from his peak (> 6 hours)
Try and run *less or the same amount* of miles than he did at his peak of 6 hours.
This is actually hard to do, as once you get comfortable in a certain pace and mileage, the body/mind becomes trained to it.
I would mandate that athlete 1 slow all of his mile splits down by a minute for a full training block. If he were to run a 40 mile week again, it would have to take him at least 6 hours and 30 minutes.
From there we would max out how many miles we can fit in 6 hours and 30 minutes, *while still being in an aerobic state* (zone 2 or less) before moving up to 7 hours.
Rinse and repeat all the way up to 10 hours and beyond if he wishes!
Note: this process takes a long time, and it only works if you force an overload of time on your body. I’ve seen people try this and get it wrong.
Example: Athlete 1 slows all of his mile splits by 45 seconds, but he *doesn’t* increase weekly hours.
This is a very bad formula, which will lead to a regression in training. Your body can handle the load of 6 hours in zone 3, it just can’t handle any *more*. So we need to “fake” the intensity by increasing volume of hours while decreasing output inensity.
This leads to less injuries and stress on your body, while still forcing aerobic adaptations.
Okay break, sorry if that was a lot, too much rambling, or confusing. Always available to answer questions directly!
Happy Easter Sunday!
-BTR