Two Mistakes Not To Make

Hi all,

I found this blog entry online written by "The Squirrel" and rather than re-invent the wheel I am posting this for your reading pleasure....I could not come close to writing anything this good and it sums up what the coaches try and ingrain into your heads....running too much AND/OR too fast doe not help BUT ACTUALLY HURTS YOU RACEDAY....Enjoy!

"Two mistakes not to make

Two weeks ago I talked about the importance of the long run for successful marathon training. I don't know if I would say it is the most important aspect of a training plan, but it is definitely up there. One thing that I have done in the past which I will probably be reluctant to do going forward is to somehow rank by importance, different aspects of a marathon training plan. I really think that every plan has to be (as corny as it may sound) a recipe. In other words, when you bake a loaf of bread, for example, even though the amount of yeast that goes in is far less than many of the other ingredients, one cannot say it is somehow less important. Every single thing that goes into either your mixing bowl (your training program) needs to have a reason for being there. I may not be able to physiologically explain every single run and its overall or specific benefit, but I have a basic understanding of why I'm doing it. And I know that whether you're baking bread or training for a marathon, you cannot cut corners or haphazardly rearrange the measurements without getting something utterly disgusting when you open the oven. You can try, I certainly have, it isn't pretty. But it does teach you a lesson.

There are, like it or not, those runners among us that are just naturally gifted. They have that "recipe" already made for them. I have a good friend that recently ran a 2:42 marathon who, in his own words "rarely hit 60 miles a week". Bastard. My usual a-hole reply to him would be, "Yeah, but imagine what you'd run if you really trained." Of course, he has plenty of other priorities in his life, and honestly, who can argue with a 2:42 race. Not me. But a lot of folks don't run those kind of times and they don't even come close to what our Lord God McMillan says they should run and they can't figure it out. Most likely, it is through their own faulty training.

There are too huge mistakes I see when people train for marathons. A marathon is not a mile. It's not a 5 or 10K. It's not a half, obviously. It is twenty six miles three hundred eighty five yards. In my opinion much further than any sane human should attempt to run. But we do attempt it, sane or otherwise. Some attempt it with the goal to finish the race. Look, anyone who can complete a race like that gets a big "Bravo" from me. I don't care if you do it in 2 hour or 5 hours, that's a long way. If you are looking to finish the race, that is a different story, you can go about things differently and still accomplish your goal. For now though, I'm discussing people that are looking to run their best time and maximize their performance. The first of these mistakes is simply not running enough miles. I don't know that there is any rule of thumb or formula for figuring out how many miles you should have in your legs before toeing that line, or any magical miles per week number that will get you to your goal, but most likely if you were disappointed in your last race, it's more than what you are running.

I didn't keep a log during my training for my first two marathons, but I could guess that I probably averaged somewhere around 40 miles a week during both of them. Considering I had normally been running 25-30 miles a week, that increase seemed quite significant. But considering I was attempting to run 3:10 or better, that mileage was far less than what I needed. Running, whether you choose to accept it or not, is a movement specific activity. What does that mean? It means that in order to become a better runner, the best approach is to run. That doesn't mean that cycling or swimming or rowing isn't going to help, but the less running you do, the less likely you are to succeed. I know, I know, plenty of folks out there have run very well while utilizing cross training like I have mentioned. I understand that. If that works for you and if you truly believe that this is the best way for you to train to meet your goals, I'm not gonna argue. But, for most of us, running is the way to the means.

During my training for my fall races, I averaged over 65 miles per week for about 22 weeks. I was able to drop my marathon PR by 18 minutes. Not convinced? Okay, maybe there's more to it.

The second biggest mistake goes hand in hand with the first. It is running too fast, too often. Again, personal experience here. I don't know of a single run under 10 miles during my first two marathon training periods when I ran slower than 7:30/mile. If I wasn't running long, I was running hard. Then on weekends, I'd go out on my long run and slog home barely making it to the door. I see tons of runners that have slower times than me in all race distances that are training faster than me almost every day of the week. I just don't get it. What are you trying to prove? I guess if you don't get the feeling from a race that you're fast, you're gonna try to get it in training. As I said, I was like that. I used to hammer all my shorter runs. Start fast, finish faster. But why? What purpose did this serve other than to wear me out, prevent me from running my important runs effectively, and above all, prevent me from running the mileage I needed to meet my goal.

During my training for any of my most recent races (fall 2007-current) I run five out of seven days at an easy, recovery pace. For me that means anywhere from 90 seconds to two and a half minutes slower than my current marathon pace. That's a big difference.

What has this done? Well, first off it has allowed me to run more miles than ever before. You saw what I ran last fall, and this winter has started out even higher. I have been above 70 miles a week for the past 6 weeks to start off my current training period. Second, it has allowed me, despite this new higher mileage, to race well, earning PR's this winter in the 4 mile and half marathon. Finally, it has allowed me to run hard when I'm supposed to. That is either once during the week and once on the weekend, or twice during the week. No more.

Being a successful marathoner is not about running the most miles you can. It's not about running the fastest you can. It's about mixing the proper combinations of everything. I'm not an expert, but I'm learning. I was pretty happy with the result last November, but I'd like to tweak it even more this May and October. Time will tell.

My Run Today: 20 miles. In Jersey. Awesome. Didn't get lost, but I kinda got to a point where I had to make a decision between continuing to run and possibly extend my run by a few miles or doubling back and make it home in 20. I chose correctly thankfully. I headed out my door at 6:30a. I wanted to try to increase my pace throughout the run and hopefully average around 7:30 or so. My first mile was 8:32. Ouch. It turned out just fine though. Following are my 4 mile splits:


32:52 (8:13 average pace)

30:43 (7:41 average pace)
29:53 (7:28 average pace)
28:57 (7:14 average pace)
26:47 (6:42 average pace)
2:29:29 (7:28 pace) Very happy with this. I wanted to get it in strong at the end and I was able to despite heading home into a headwind. This is a very good run for me and a great indicator of the shape I'm getting myself into. Sorry, no pictures this time. It was too dark when I left, and there wasn't much to look at anyway. But I did see 4 deer. That's not something you see in NYC, ya know." Blogged by The Squirrel