While there are many paths to success when it comes to running, there are also wrong ways to train and race. As a coach, I see the wrong ways far too often. Although training and racing errors won’t result in as severe a consequence as electrocuting yourself, errors in your training and racing will prevent you from meeting your potential. In honor of my electronics teacher, here are some common running errors with advice to help you correct them.
One of the biggest errors runners make is to run workouts at incorrect speeds. Run your workouts too fast, and you may not meet the purpose of the workout. At the very least, you’ll add unnecessary fatigue to your legs without extra benefit.
For example, say you want to improve your maximal rate of oxygen consumption (VO2 max), and you plan to run mile repeats at VO2 max pace (100 percent maximal heart rate). If running each mile in 5:30 elicits VO2 max (and max heart rate), running each repeat in 5:15 will certainly also do so. But why run each mile in 5:15 when you can run 5:30 and still get the same benefit? Running faster is not always better.
On the other hand, if you run your workouts too slow, you may not obtain the desired benefit at all. For example, research has shown that cardiovascular benefits are minimal when running below about 60 percent of your maximal heart rate. As a coach, I’ve noticed that the most difficult type of workout to run at the correct pace is the lactate threshold (LT), or tempo, run. Many runners, especially those who are inexperienced with this workout, have a difficult time holding back and finding their fastest sustainable aerobic pace.
To meet your physiological needs, run workouts at the correct speeds. To determine the correct pace, you must know the purpose of each workout. Running at the correct pace will more specifically target the physiological variable you’re trying to train, such as VO2 max or lactate threshold. Since the goal of training is to obtain the greatest benefit while incurring the least amount of stress, you want to run as slow as you can while still obtaining the desired result. To optimize your training, follow the pacing guidelines below.
| WORKOUT TYPE | PACE |
| Recovery and Long Runs | One to two minutes slower than 5-K race pace or 65 to 75 percent max heart rate. |
| Lactate Threshold (Tempo) Runs | A pace that feels “comfortably hard.”For slower, recreational runners, approximately 10 to 15 seconds per mile slower than 5-K race pace or approximately 10-K race pace, or 75 to 80 percent max heart rate. For talented and highly trained runners, approximately 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than 5-K race pace or approximately 15 to 20 seconds per mile slower than 10-K race pace, or 85 to 90 percent max heart rate. |
| Long Intervals (2 to 5 minutes) | The speed at VO2 max: approximately 3-K race pace for highly-trained runners, reaching 95 to 100 percent max heart rate by the end of each work period. |
| Short Intervals (1 to 2 minutes) | Mile race pace. |
I used to coach a talented runner who ran the first mile of every race too fast, only to slow down dramatically during the latter segments and end up disappointed with the result. He thought he was better than his workouts and he let his competitive spirit and prerace adrenaline obscure his knowledge of his true fitness level. It was frustrating to watch him start off so well and get slower with each successive lap of the track.
The faster you run the first mile of a race, the more your muscles rely on anaerobic metabolism to produce energy. With the greater reliance on anaerobic metabolism and muscular work comes an increase in muscle and blood acidosis and the accumulation of metabolic byproducts that cause fatigue. Whether the race is a mile or a marathon, you can’t put running time “in the bank.” You will end up losing more time in the end than what you gained by being “ahead of schedule” in the beginning. No matter how strong your will is, the metabolic condition caused by running too fast too early will force you to slow down during subsequent stages of the race.
To run your best race, run even or negative pace. Although race strategy sometimes dictates that you change pace to challenge your competitors, the best way to run your fastest possible time is by starting out at the pace you can maintain the entire race. While it may feel easy, especially in a marathon, to run the first mile of your race at the same pace as the last, your patience will pay huge dividends during that last mile. Ideally, the second half of your race should be equal to or slightly faster than the first half (i.e., negative splits). To negative split a race requires accurate knowledge of your fitness level, confidence to stick to your plan when others have taken the early pace out too fast, and a good dose of self-restraint.
When you race, you don’t run at some arbitrary intensity. The percentages of your VO2 max and lactate threshold you can sustain for a specific amount of time are predictable. The longer the race, the lower the percent VO2 max at which you’ll run it. Research has shown that VO2 max pace can be sustained for only about 8 to 10 minutes. Talented, highly trained runners therefore race 3000 meters at 100 percent VO2 max, 5000 meters at 90 to 95 percent VO2 max, and a marathon at 80 to 85 percent VO2 max (about 95 percent of lactate threshold).
Your workouts, which should be performed at specific speeds that correspond to specific percentages of VO2 max or lactate threshold, are invaluable for providing you with knowledge of your fitness level and for predicting your average race pace (assuming you account for such things as terrain and weather). As I tried to convince my overzealous athlete, your workouts don’t lie.
Use the guidelines below to predict your race pace from your workouts. Then run the first mile of your next race at that pace. The pace differentials listed are for highly trained runners and will become progressively smaller in relation to your lactate threshold (LT) runs the longer it takes you to run the race.
| RACE DISTANCE | PACE |
| 5-K | Approximately 20 to 30 seconds per mile faster than lactate threshold (LT) runs or approximately 10 to 15 seconds per mile slower than long intervals. |
| 10-K | Approximately 10 to 20 seconds per mile faster than LT runs or approximately 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than long intervals. |
| Marathon | Approximately 15 to 20 seconds per mile slower than LT runs. |
While speedwork and lots of races seem to be the method of training at most high schools, they are not the best ways to meet your potential as a distance runner. Speedwork gives you more bang for your buck, improving your performance faster than simply running many miles. But any short-term success may likely occur to the detriment of your long-term development.
Interval training increases your heart’s stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat) and cardiac output (amount of blood pumped each minute), but sending more blood and oxygen to your muscles from a more powerful heart won’t do you much good if your muscles are not equipped to use the extra oxygen.
Before picking up the pace, have a solid aerobic base. As legendary coach Arthur Lydiard claimed, lots of aerobic running forms the basis of any distance runner’s training program. Whether you’re training for the mile or the marathon, it all starts with mileage. That’s because aerobic running develops many physiological and biochemical traits needed for good endurance. For example, it increases the number of red blood cells and the amount of hemoglobin contained within them, giving your blood vessels a greater oxygen-carrying capability. It also increases muscle capillary volume, providing more oxygen to your muscles. Finally, it increases mitochondrial volume and the number of aerobic enzymes, allowing for a greater use of oxygen.
The more you attend to these qualities of aerobic metabolism, the more you will ultimately get from your subsequent speedwork. Since recovery is an aerobic process, being more aerobically fit allows you to recover faster during the rest periods of your interval workouts, which means you can begin the next work period sooner. Also, a faster recovery allows you to run more repeats in a single workout. Since one of the keys to maximizing VO2 max is to spend as much time as possible running at that pace, the benefit to being able to run five one-mile repeats compared to three is obvious.
So, how much aerobic work is enough? That’s a difficult question. It depends on a number of factors, including your genetically determined propensity to continually adapt to high mileage and tempo runs, the amount of time you have to run, and the specific racing distance for which you are training. Obviously, the longer the race, the more mileage you need to meet your potential. In a study one of my colleagues and I conducted on the training characteristics of the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers, we found that the male marathoners averaged 90 miles per week with a peak mileage of 120, while the female marathoners averaged 72 miles per week with a peak mileage of 95 for the year leading up to the trials.
The best way to determine how much aerobic work you need is to slowly and systematically increase your mileage from month to month and year to year, taking care to note how you respond to the training stimulus. Don’t increase your mileage unless your prior training and racing experience gives you reason to believe that you will continue to improve with more mileage. If you haven’t reached a plateau in your performance at 60 miles per week, there’s no reason yet to increase your training to 70 miles per week.
Between running during your lunch hour and picking up the kids from soccer practice, it’s easy to not eat after a workout. But not refueling after you run is possibly the single worst thing you can do to thwart your recovery. Research has shown that delaying carbohydrate ingestion for just two hours after a workout can significantly reduce the rate at which glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrates) is synthesized and stored in your muscles and liver.
Refuel immediately, maximize your recovery. Refueling after you run is important for several reasons, including the replenishment of fuel stores and the repair of cellular damage. For fuel, carbohydrates are the most important nutrient to replenish. It has been known since the late 1960s that endurance performance is strongly influenced by the amount of pre-exercise muscle glycogen and that intense endurance exercise decreases that level. Glycogen synthesis is a complex biochemical process largely controlled by insulin and the availability of blood glucose.
To maximize the rate of glycogen synthesis, consume 0.7 grams of simple carbohydrates (sugar, preferably glucose) per pound of body weight within 30 minutes after your run and every two hours for four to six hours. It is even better if you can eat or drink more often, since a more frequent ingestion of smaller amounts of carbohydrates better maintains blood glucose and insulin levels. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 1993 found that when subjects ingested 0.2 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight every 15 minutes, glycogen was synthesized at nearly double the rate found in other studies in which carbohydrates were ingested every one to two hours. Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000 found that the rate of glycogen synthesis significantly increased when subjects ingested 0.3 compared to 0.2 grams of carbohydrates per pound every 30 minutes.
Protein is another important nutrient to consume after hard and long runs to repair cellular damage that occurs during training. Consume 20 to 30 grams of complete protein (those which contain all essential amino acids, such as fish, meat, eggs, poultry, and quinoa) after your run. Some studies have found that eating protein and carbohydrates together also maximizes muscle glycogen storage, although not all studies have found this to be the case. The total amount of calories consumed seems to be more important for recovery than the carbohydrate-protein mix.
Before you cook a plate of spaghetti or prepare a tuna sandwich right after your workout, you may want to reach for a drink, since nutrients in fluids are absorbed more quickly than from solid foods. For most commercial sports drinks, the recommendations for postexercise carbohydrate intake correspond to nearly four 8-ounce glasses every hour for a 150-pound runner. Admittedly, this is a lot to drink. Despite the claims of many highly advertised commercial sports drinks, any beverage that contains a large amount of carbohydrates is great for recovery. For example, research from our laboratory at Indiana University published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism in 2006 has shown that chocolate milk, which has a high carbohydrate and protein content, is an effective alternative to commercial sports drinks for recovery from exhausting exercise.
If you want to get the most from your training and racing, it’s time to make some changes. So do your workouts at the right speeds, run negative splits, preface speedwork with more aerobic work, and drink chocolate milk after your long runs. By changing the error of your running ways, not only will you be rewarded with new PRs (personal records), but you’ll also have some memorable quips to impress your running friends with at your next cocktail party.