"You'll laugh at this, but the downfall of being a forefoot striker is that I never look awesome in pictures, unless I’m in an all-out sprint. My legs are always underneath me, so I look slow. It's kind of depressing when I look at pictures of myself and my much slower friends, but they look fast and badass, and I look like I’m jogging."
-Rachael Shanley
Running doesn’t have to be all about training to get faster or run farther. Once you reach a level of ability you’re happy with it’s perfectly reasonable to settle into a routine where you enjoy running for fitness and as part of a comfortable, active lifestyle. Even if you do go to races, you don’t have to train for them. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy getting together with new and old friends and running as well as you can that day, without worrying about whether you could go faster if you "trained".
I, on the other hand, have often wanted to see how fast and how far I can run, and then I wanted to see if I could go faster and farther than that. I also want to see if I can beat my running buddy or that guy I see every morning running the other way in his Boston Marathon jacket. Running haphazardly won’t get me there. When I want to step up my running program, I need to follow some kind of training plan.
If you want to train as hard as you can tolerate in order to see how fast you can run, more power to you. It’s a risky choice. The more you push yourself, the more likely you are to have a problem. To maximize your potential, you have to work right along the edge of what you can tolerate, and sometimes you're going to go over that edge.
These days I skip track workouts and most other forms of high-speed training. Those high-intensity workouts are more likely to cause injuries and I’ve always been injury-prone. Sadly, healing takes longer with each passing year so the increased risk of injury just isn’t worth it.
Everybody has to make choices. If you want to be the best runner you can be you have to choose to take risks and skip other opportunities. You have to spend time on running that you could have spent with your family, on biking or other sports, or on writing, singing, painting, carpentry, or whatever other activities interest you. On the other hand, if you want to be the best father, biker, writer, etc…, that has to cut into your running time. There’s no reason you can’t be good at multiple things, but if you want to be your best at any single thing, you have to focus on it and leave the others for cross-training or relaxing.
I'm not going to give you any specific training plans. There are plenty of examples of detailed plans available online, in other books, in magazines, or from other runners, or maybe you belong to a running club with a coach who can help you get started. Whatever you start with, don’t take it as gospel. Feel free to make changes based on what you learn about how you react to the program. One size does not fit all. Build your personal training plan based on what it is you are trying to accomplish. Then, as you progress keep the following guidelines in mind.
Endurance is the base upon which everything else is built. You can’t worry about how fast you can run 5 miles until you have the endurance to run 5 miles. Then, the best way to make that 5-mile run easy is to develop the endurance to run 10 miles. If you run 20 miles a week, you’ll probably improve more by moving up to 30 miles a week than you will by making some kind of speed workout part your 20-mile week.
Once you’ve built a reasonable base the concept of "specificity" comes into play. It's a simple idea. To reach your maximum potential, you need to make some choices.
If you're training for a short, fast race, more of your training should consist of shorter, faster running. If you're training for a longer run, you want to spend more time doing long runs. If you're training for ultramarathons, you might not do any speed work at all. If you want to do everything -- if you want to run 5Ks, marathons, and maybe even longer races -- you probably won't be as good at any one of them as you could be.
Once you start doing specific hard workouts, whether they’re speedwork or long runs, it’s important to realize that improvement doesn't happen just from doing hard workouts. You need to work hard, but you also need to allow yourself time to recover from working hard. A hard workout (or a race) tears your body down. If you don't allow your body enough time to recover after a big effort, you just keep tearing it down further. Then, instead of improving you get slower. You may find that you lack the energy to get out and run. You’re more prone to injury or sickness. Life sucks.
On the other hand, if you allow enough time for recovery after each hard workout, you end up fitter than you were before. People who study athletic performance call this "supercompensation," but most of us call it "getting better".
The trick is to figure out how long you should allow for recovery to get the best results. Just like everything else about running, the ideal amount of recovery time is different from person to person. And, of course, the harder the workout, the longer your recovery period should be.
If you're trying to train with maximum efficiency or you're just a masochist who likes to train as hard as you can as often as you can, you’ll want to make your recovery periods as short as possible. Where some people might do a hard workout every two days, you might try reducing the recovery period to a day-and-a-half. Instead of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, maybe you’ll try Monday morning, Tuesday night, Thursday morning, and Friday night. That lets you squeeze in an extra workout every week.
Most people should choose a more conservative schedule to ensure that they allow enough recovery time between hard workouts and don't overdo it. Maybe one fast workout and one long workout a week is enough for you to make progress while staying injury-free and allowing time for fun.
If I start to have too many days where it's hard to get out the door and run, that may be a sign that I've been overdoing it and need some extra rest. I’ll schedule a few days of shorter runs or tell myself that I can cut my planned run short if I want. When I back off for a little while, my zest for running returns.
The great thing about allowing plenty of recovery time is that it allows you time to run with your friends, even those who aren’t as fast as you are, and enjoy talking, running different routes, and running for its own sake.
Whatever your weekly routine, you’ll also want to build larger cycles into your training routine. It's a good idea to routinely take a longer break than usual from your hard workouts to ensure that you get enough rest. My larger cycle consists of four weeks. For three weeks I do my regular series of workouts with the harder workouts mixed in. The fourth week is an easy week. My easy week has no speed work and no long runs. There’s just some easy running that allows me to recover from the previous three weeks.
If you're running mostly for fun, and you like to race regularly, your training plan probably doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
If you're trying to maximize your potential for a special goal race you might want to organize your training in even larger cycles, a concept called "periodization". You could spend six months focused on building your endurance, a month building strength with extra hill running, a month focused on honing your speed, and then wrap it all up with a little extra rest just before the big race. Once you finish your target race, it’s time to take a nice break to recover. Then you can get started on another cycle. You can run other races while you're training, but think of them as tempo runs or some other form of speed training when you include them in your schedule. Save your all-out effort for your goal race.
When setting up your training plan, be careful about scheduling so much running that it takes away from your family or other important and fun activities. If you trade TV watching time for more time running, that’s great. But if family, work, or weather get in the way of your plan, be flexible. One day here and there won’t matter much in the long run. Adjust. Run at night instead of the morning if you have to. Or cut your run short. If you don’t have time for the 10-mile run you planned, a 3-mile run is better than nothing.
Whatever you do, be realistic. Make sure your plan is achievable. As much as I would like to win every (who am I kidding, any) race I enter, I’m not that gifted. If I train with the goal of running a 2:10 marathon, I’ll end up frustrated and injured.
Speaking of marathons, a lot of people who have been running a while and are ready for a new challenge think about giving the marathon a try. If you’ve been training regularly and you’ve done a number of races, you already have some idea how fast you are. Trying to finish a marathon sounds like a fun alternative. You’ll need to run further, but that only requires doing more of what you already know you like to do.
Running a marathon is also good for your ego. Your friends who don’t run may not know that the marathon is a little over 26 miles long, but they do know that a marathon is something that those odd people who enjoy running think of as an important challenge. When you go out for a run in a snowstorm they may just think you’re weird. But if you say you’re running in the snow because you’re training for a marathon, that impresses them. If they know you’re a runner they’ve probably already asked if you’ve run a marathon, especially if you live in an area like Boston where the local race is a big event.
If your longest run is 10 miles once every week or two you can find plenty of training plans that will set you up to run a marathon in four to six months. If everything goes well, you can sign up for the marathon, quickly ramp your long run up to 18 or 20 miles, and head to the start knowing that if you're determined you can finish the race.
But you will almost certainly suffer more than you have to. You’re more likely to get hurt during training if you build up your mileage too fast. If you don’t run more than 20 miles (or do multiple 20-mile runs) in training, the last few miles of your marathon will probably be hellish. I know this from experience. It’s better to take a little more time and prepare thoroughly. There’s always another race. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. Your running will always be better in the long run if you’re patient.
Training isn’t just about building fitness. It’s also about learning to run efficiently.
Nobody thinks they need to learn how to run. We've all been running since we were kids, using whatever style we picked up along the way. But if you try to run a marathon with the same form that you use for a mad dash around the bases in a softball game, you're going to work a lot harder than you have to, you're not going to be as fast as you could be, and sooner or later you're going to get hurt.
I have days when running is effortless. I just seem to flow along. I can increase my speed gracefully, without excessive pounding and flailing about. Running forever seems like an option. Those days are one of the main reasons that I’m addicted to running.
Unfortunately, those days are few and far between. But they’re wonderful when they occur, so I keep fighting, through numerous runs full of effort and pain, trying to get that good feeling more often. I can compromise and minimize my suffering by running slowly, but that’s not what I’m looking for.
I’ve been running for years, but my ability to find the most effective and comfortable running form still wavers from day to day. It’s hard to keep everything operating properly all the time. There are a lot of things conspiring against me. My body, like most, has structural irregularities that I have to accommodate. Ice, snow, curbs, potholes, hills, rocks and roots, and the camber of the road all have an effect too. When I get tired my muscles don’t always respond the way I want them to and it gets harder to stay focused.
To run well I need a body that’s healthy and fit, but I also need the knowledge of what it means to run properly, the skill to apply that knowledge, and the focus to hold onto good running form once I find it. My goal is to ensure as much effort as possible is directed towards moving me forward while minimizing the pounding that occurs with each step and also minimizing anything that causes my head and torso to bounce up and down or twist excessively from side to side.
The most important thing I try to keep in mind in order to run efficiently is to keep my stride short and quick.
Try this for yourself. Stand up straight and start marching in place. Keep your lower legs, ankles, and feet relaxed. Notice how the muscles in your abs, hips and quads work together to lift your knees. Notice how your hamstrings work to keep your lower legs from swinging out in front of you. Notice how your feet come off the ground heel-first. Notice how your feet land on the ball of your foot, then your ankle flexes until your heel reaches the ground and supports you.
Easy isn’t it? There’s hardly any stress at all when your foot hits the ground.
Now lean forward slightly. Don’t bend at the waist, lean from your ankles so the rest of your body keeps its upright posture. Once you lean forward just a tiny bit, notice what happens. Your center of gravity moves ahead of your feet, you lose your balance, and gravity pulls you forward. When you start to fall forward, you automatically reach out with your leg and foot to brace yourself and keep from falling on your face. Your leg acts like a brake. You can feel that braking force jar your body as it stops your forward motion. Both of those, the jarring and the stopping, are bad things for a runner.
Start over. Stand up straight. Start marching in place. Lean forward again, just the tiniest bit. This time, step forward far enough to keep from falling, but not far enough to stop your forward motion. If you strike the right balance, you'll keep going forward with very little effort.
As you move forward keep your lower legs and feet soft and relaxed, just like you did when you were marching in place. Remember to lean from your ankles. Keep your lower back relaxed too. Use your abs to support and balance your upper body. Don’t bend forward or back at the waist. If you do, your low back muscles need to do more of the work of holding you up and you’re likely to end up with a backache.
That’s what I try for when I’m running. If I do it right, each stride is short and quick. With each step I can feel the force from my legs pushing against the road traveling straight through my hips and the rest of my body, smoothly propelling me forward. When I want to go faster, I just lean forward a little more. My cadence, the number of strides per minute, remains about the same, but my stride lengthens a little (not too far though) and I go forward faster. Gravity does most of the work to pull me forward. All I have to do is keep from falling.
If I’m not running smoothly that usually means I’m reaching out too far forward with each step, or "overstriding". When I overstride I’m fighting gravity instead of letting it carry me ahead. My muscles, especially my shins and hamstrings, have to absorb extra pounding with every step and I have to expend more effort to keep running at the same pace.
When things start to go wrong my first reaction is to tighten up and try to fight through. That’s exactly the wrong thing to do, but it’s a hard habit to overcome. When I start to overstride I need to adjust my lean and shorten my stride until I get comfortable again. Once I’m able to relax, I usually end up going faster than when I was tense and trying too hard.
I don’t need to worry about understriding. If my stride is too short, I have to keep increasing my cadence or I’m going to fall on my face. I can’t keep that up for long, so understriding is self-correcting.
Going uphill I have to fight against gravity, so I’ll shorten my stride a little more to keep my feet underneath me and ensure that each step pushes me forward and up. Leaning forward into the hill comes naturally. All I have to do is make sure I’m leaning from my ankles and not bending at the waist.
It’s harder for me to maintain good form when I’m running downhill. The principle is the same – short strides, a slight forward lean, keep my lower legs relaxed, and let gravity do the work. Curling my upper body forward slightly can help keep me balanced. I’m fine until the hill gets just a little too steep. When that happens, I usually start going too fast. I can't move my legs fast enough to keep my balance, so I end up leaning back. My feet get out in front of me and I overstride to slow down and keep from falling. If I’m not in a hurry, I can slow down enough to minimize the pounding that follows, but if I’m in a race I have a bad habit of gritting my teeth and clomping down the hill. I get down the hill faster but my legs and back get beat up. That affects me for the rest of the race and often leaves me sore afterwards.
It’s also hard to maintain my form when I’m tired. When I’ve been running for a long time and start to get weary I have a tendency to sit back on my heels and plod. The extra pounding from that makes me wear down even faster. If I keep it up my stride deteriorates into a survival shuffle. It takes a significant mental effort to focus on keeping good form when I’m tired, but if I’m successful I run better, and concentrating on my form also helps keep me from thinking about how tired and sore I am by the end of a long, hard run.
All this is a lot to keep in mind when you're running. Trying to get all of it right at once can be confusing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it’s work. I still struggle with my form daily, but I keep plugging at it.
I can tell my form has improved because my shoes last longer than they used to. When my form started to get better I could run longer without the extra cushioning that I got from a new pair of shoes.
Overstriding is so common that most running shoes are designed with thicker cushioning in the heels to help protect runners who land on their heels. If you’re not running properly that extra cushioning will help temporarily, but if you’re racing or running long distances and you keep grinding along with poor form, sooner or later you will break down.
To check whether I’m landing on my heels I put a thin layer of Shoe Goo, a rubber adhesive, where the wear shows on the bottom edge of the heels of my shoes. If the Shoo Goo is still there after my run, I’ve done well.
There are shoes designed to help improve running form. Some of them have extra cushioning in the forefoot and less in the heel to help encourage runners to keep their weight forward. Other shoes try to mimic barefoot running. They provide very little cushioning while still furnishing some protection for a runner’s feet. The idea is that if you run properly you won’t need the cushioning. The downside is that you’d better run properly, or else.
I’ve tried those shoes, but I’ve found that I need some heel in my shoes. Shoes with lower heels put more stress on a runner’s calf muscles and achilles tendons. My calves are not very flexible, so I use shoes with some lift in the heel to reduce the strain.
A metronome can help you learn to use to a shorter, quicker stride. I have a small clip-on metronome that's suitable for running and I have a metronome app for my iPod Touch. With a metronome to guide you, you don't have to think about your cadence as much and you can focus on the other elements of your form. For most people, a cadence of 85 to 90 steps per foot per minute is about right. I set my metronome to 180 beats per minute, so there's a beat for every step. If I set it at a lower rate so there’s a beat every other step or every third step, I start to hammer out the beat with whichever foot happens to be landing at the time instead of running smoothly.
Everybody's body is different, so each person's correct running form is a little different from everyone else's. Read about "pose method running", "chi running", or the "Feldenkrais Method" for different discussions of efficient running form. Experiment with yourself. Try changing things a little bit, following the tips you’ve read or ones you get from a coach or another runner. See what works for you. It’s worth the effort.
If you have the time to try other things, or if you start to get a little bored if you don’t do anything other than running, try crosstraining. Adding other activities to your routine can be fun and help your running too. Exercising the muscles that running doesn’t use helps maintain a balance that keeps you healthier and gives you a break from the pounding of your running workouts.
Almost any physical pastime can count as crosstraining. I do some biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, weight training, and kayaking. I know other runners who are into yoga, pilates, elliptical trainers, and swimming. That’s just a start. Even work can count. If you move boxes, lay brick, or pitch hay, you’re building strength that can help your running.
I never thought much about kayaking until I met Ruth, but I was surprised how much it helps with my running. It’s especially good at helping to develop strength in my abs, and it helps with my cardiovascular conditioning too. Sitting in a kayak cockpit for long periods with my legs stretched out in front of me also serves as a good reminder to keep working on the flexibility of my hips and hamstrings.
Crosstraining isn’t just about fitness. It can expand your social life. If you start working out with a skiing, swimming, or biking group you’ll make a whole new set of friends.
When I’m injured I try to find a crosstraining activity that doesn’t aggravate the injury. It takes the place of running temporarily to help me maintain my fitness until I’m ready to run again. It also helps to keep me from going mad from inactivity while I’m healing.
I do have to be careful when I jump into things I don’t do regularly. For example, even if I haven’t been skiing much, I’m fit enough from running to ski all afternoon but I’ll be really sore afterwards.
One downside to crosstraining is that some things, like biking, kayaking or skiing, require a lot more gear. This adds to the appeal for some people but it can get expensive. When I met Ruth she got me into kayaking and cross-country skiing while I was getting her back into running. She only had to buy some shoes, but I had to get a boat and all the gear that goes with that, plus a ski package. But it was worth it.
Whatever training plan you choose, it takes pure faith to stick with the plan. It takes faith that your plan will prepare you to run fast enough or far enough to meet you goals. Then, when race day arrives, that faith helps keep negative thoughts out of your head so you can do what you’ve trained to do. Some people get the reassurance they need to be a successful runner by working with training plans they get from running experts, or by discussing their plans with more experienced friends. My greatest source for the necessary faith is my own experience from years of running. Other people taught me a lot, but I needed successes and failures of my own to learn what works for me.