Articles

• Your zone 2 pace in July is different than your zone 2 pace in December ❄️🌡️

• Your zone 2 pace is different than your training partner. Just because you and your training partner are 2 different individuals 🏃

• So when you train for your fall marathon in zone 2 at a certain pace, you’ve seen that pace for 80-90% of your training 🛑

• Your “Mind” is your biggest obstacle that tells you to stay in that pace/zone - a.k.a. Your comfort zone 🤯

• When fall and winter comes and you physically can go faster, some training theory is slowing you down 🦥

• Don’t fear to push for a faster training more often, than you currently do ⏩

• Keep pushing for faster runs back to back to get comfortable with the faster pace 🔂

• Add strength training and cross training. This has 2 advantages - 1. You get stronger, 2. You don’t get bored of running 💪

• Follow rule of 3rds 🤔

• 1/3 of the runs are the best 1️⃣

• 1/3 of the runs are okay 2️⃣

• 1/3 of the runs are bad 3️⃣

• Running slow to go fast does help, but what if I tell you that if you don’t flirt with a faster pace, your philosophy of run slow to go fast is useless 🦥

• That philosophy will work if you run 6-7 min/mile ⏩

• But if you are an average runner like me, you need to reverse your training ⏪

• Meaning, 80% of the runs are with moderate intensity and then remaining 20% can be slow and recovery runs ⏰

• Do you think this is controversial and BS? 🤔

• Try it for a month and let me know the results 🗓️

• Everyone follows the textbook philosophy…a textbook philosophy is developed in a laboratory ⚗️

• A laboratory is a perfect place to get the desired result 📊

• You need to shake things up… 🫨

• You can’t control the weather, head wind, your GI issues or even your anxiety on the race day ❌

• So if you aren’t used to the fast runs, you will fall in your comfort zone of slow pace  😯

• Rather…pick a pacer who is 5-10 mins faster than your comfort pace and run with them 😲

• You’ll have positive splits for sure (maybe), but you won’t see those positive splits for the last 20-30% of your race. So you still will hit a PR 🏁

• Train Real….not Theoretical ✅

I often pace Half Marathons…I ask all the runners in my group if it is their first race, and what are they aiming for

Reason to ask these two questions

If you are first time runner - start with a faster pace group. Let’s say that your goal is 1:50 HM, start with 1:45 or even 1:40 ☝️

Being a first timers you will have the excitement and the adrenaline rush to go for it. Naturally you may slow down if that’s not your training pace 💪

However if you just make it, you might be faster than what you anticipated 😃

I’ve tried all the strategies

- start with the desired pace group with an intention to stay consistent ❌

- start with a slower pace group with an intention to get faster ❌

- go fast and slow - 80/20 concept ❌

With all these strategies, by the time you get to mile 8 - 10 you have accumulated fatigue and it’s impossible to catch up 😵

I always start faster and then slow down (if needed)

Building a race strategy with an intention (elevation gain, elevation drop, aid stations, accumulated fatigue) is really important 📈

If you would like to build your race strategy and run your next race “smart” and not do a lot of donkey work, lets talk ✋

I am not a huge fan of random technical things ❌

- Gait analysis, Stride analysis, Foot strike, Body postures, VO2 Max, metabolic testing, etc. 🥴

- I am not saying that those things are bad to look at, but if you are recreational athlete (like myself), there are much bigger things to consider and conquer before getting into the above mentioned technical details ⁉️

- There is always a Right vs Wrong technique, however there’s always a natural way your body works. No amount of work will fix your body’s natural movement. Also the way your body moves for a 5k and the way your body moves for a marathon are way different ‼️

- The way you run the last 500m of a 5k vs the way you run at mile 17 of a marathon are way different ‼️

- Before you get into the finer details, let’s fix one basic thing 👇

*** MENTAL BLOCK ***

A MENTAL BLOCK will stop you from running. It will take you everywhere including, buying new shoes, new watch, chest strap, HR monitor, carbon plated shoes, doing all sorts of things with an expectation that you’ll run longer and faster 🧐

This happens to me, this happens the best of the best

How do you break that Mental Block

1️⃣ You need to learn to let loose 

2️⃣ Let your steps and let your mind run free

3️⃣ Don’t be mechanical and take yourself to the finish line 

4️⃣ Let your body take you to the finish line. If you want to hop, skip, jog or sprint, let your mind and body combo do the work. Don’t have a textbook approach 

5️⃣ Don’t worry about how you look or how your stride is, Just keep moving 

Eventually you will push the invisible visible wall and you will break the MENTAL BLOCK

✅ Quick 4 mile run followed by a 500 swim 

💯 I am trying to work through some startup issues 

🔆 The best way to be race ready is to try out all the possible combinations that will get you ready in the morning

1️⃣ 1 cup of coffee vs 2 cups?

2️⃣ A banana or a bread toast or both? 

3️⃣ A Gu gel 15 mins prior or 40 mins prior

‼️ The key is keep doing these things until you stop failing and you get a kick start every morning

🤷🏾‍♂️ Also for me personally, all the inputs necessary to get me ready in the morning change weekly, monthly and seasonally 

This purely is because of work, travel and family 

Learn how be race ready.