Thousands of Steps Toward Running Your Best: Part Two

In the first installment of this two-part series about becoming the best distance runner you can be, I set the table by trying to convince you that you don't have to be world-class to have delicious experiences in this sport and offered some hints about what the ingredients of the recipe were. Now it's time for the meal.

If you haven't yet accomplished what you hope to as a runner, here are some areas to look at.

Perhaps you're not running enough. What's the highest mileage level you have reached and maintained for a ten-week period? Why did you stop there? Most likely because you were bored, tired, or saw no immediate results. Scads of easy distance work is critical, although the "perfect" amount varies from person to person. It also depends on whether you plan to be at your racing best in three weeks or three months.

At this point, if you're not sold on the idea of bumping up your mileage, it's probably owing to one of three things: "I don't have time to run more than I do," "I'll get injured," or "Johnny McTalent only does 20 miles a week and he runs a 19:45 5K." If you're in the first group, well, there's not a lot you can do. If you're in the second, how can you be sure? Most people who are convinced that running a certain number of miles per week will lead to breakdown are only repeating what they've heard, not operating on personal experience, as few people are truly unable to survive a gradual increase in training workload. And if you're among those transfixed by Johnny McTalent, get over it; the world is filled with people doing more than you with less work. You may never beat Johnny, but do you want to be the best runner you can be? That's all that matters.

You may be running too fast too frequently. A very common question within the running community is, "How fast should I run on my easy days?" Evidently there are limitless and varied correct answers, because for every one that's been given, I can name at least one person who swears by it.

Answering this question requires defining an "easy run." In a nutshell, it's any workout without a specific time goal. During a period involving lots of speedwork or racing, a day without a pace or effort goal should remain just that. If you're in a period of training without immediate racing goals, you can run as fast as you want to every day as long as on balance, your rate of recovery outpaces your body's rate of breakdown.

There are no magic formulas when it comes to building strength in the pre-competitive period. Run as much as you can as often as possible, and run like the devil when you feel like it. This seemingly oversimplified piece of advice is a real prescription for long-term success.

During a period of serious racing, you should almost certainly be running slower on non- workout, non-race days than you think. Recovery days are so named for a reason; they're not called "slow, but no slower than ten-minutes-a-mile-'cause-that's-too-slow" days for the same reason. I rarely time my easy days. I wished I'd learned to do this when I was younger, but it was an important part of improving into my mid-thirties.

Your race preparation may not be sufficiently specific. Some believe that doing long runs at 8:00 pace and repeat miles at 6:00 pace is a reasonable way to prepare for a sub-3 hour marathon (just under 7:00 per mile). Others seem to think the ideal way to duck under 20:00 for 5K (just under 6:30 per mile) is to bang out 400s and 800s at 5:50 pace and do daily runs at 7:30 pace. The apparent rationale behind these approaches is that the body can somehow "average out" these paces on race day and yield the desired results. But the body is not a mathematical equation. Instead, it is extremely adept at adapting to specific physiological stressors. With this in mind, someone shooting for a 40:00 10K might do three- to four-mile runs at 6:30 pace, or perhaps five repeat miles in 6:20 each with a two-minute rest, not 10 x 400m in 80 seconds with a 400m jog.

You may be omitting tempo runs. These are really basic extensions of plain old "hard aerobic" runs, only nowadays they have a name. They're discussed in detail all over the Internet, including here.

Pared down to the essentials, hard work and confidence are what a distance runner needs most. Regardless of whatever combination of miles, intervals, tempo runs, hill workouts, and long runs you settle on for any given stretch of training, the thing that matters above all else is nudging your total time spent training ever higher until you find your personal "sweet spot" and only then, when you're ready to confront a period of racing, become really concerned with intensity.

If you give this a try and initially weather some lackluster races, fine. You'll need them. Only if you then quit will you have paid your dues for nothing. If you stay healthy and train consistently for a period of years, you will reach or exceed your purest of goals. It won't happen every time, but often enough to make it worth it. You'll be beat up and on top of the world at the same time.