The Running Habit

Runners are generally creatures of habit. We can be quite obsessive at times. Yet, often, there are things that we know we should be doing, but struggle to do. Maybe that’s early morning runs, speed workouts, hills, getting out when it’s cold (or hot), running on the treadmill, plyos and core. Typically, these are the things we like the least. Often, the things we hate, the things we avoid, are the things we need most to improve.

There have been tons of self-help books and programs through history. If they worked easily, if there was one best system, there wouldn’t have to be so many, and so many new ones. I certainly won’t add to the pile. I don’t have any new ideas or miracle pills. I will, however, summarize common themes and relate them to running.

We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we sink to the level of our systems. Many people make NY resolutions. NY resolutions often fail. We need to do more than set goals and have desires. We need to create systems to make them stick. Good habits are hard to establish and bad ones hard to break. Once established, habits are relatively easy to maintain.

Make it easy. Build a system. – If you want to run in the morning, wear your running clothes to bed. If you want to read more, put your book in bed. Put your weights and exercise bands in front of the TV. Create a designated space and time.

Small bites – Avoid all-or-nothing. A little is better than not at all. To start, plan for 1 pushup instead of 20, 15 seconds of planks instead of 5min, 10min on the treadmill instead an hour, two 400s instead of 10, 30 seconds of meditation instead of 30 minutes. You can’t improve until you start. Once  you start, you’re likely to do more. Van Gogh made a lot of bad paintings, and John and Paul wrote a lot of bad songs. We only see and hear their finished products.

Reward yourself when you do something new, no matter how small. Do so in a way that aligns with your new identity. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, reward yourself with a healthy snack instead of a doughnut or ice cream. Buying new running shoes every time you do something good is expensive. However, you could get something cheaper (e.g., running socks) which aligns with your running goal (maybe not every time, but every few). You only need the reward while building the habit. Do so in the moment; immediate rewards have a greater impact. If you can’t in the moment, then make note of it (e.g., journal, check-list) until you can get the prize. Writing it down can itself be an emotional reward.

Bottom up: Do the actions/behaviors of the identity you want to become before you become that; i.e., fake it until you make it. For example, in Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about a guy who drove to the gym every day, for a month, before he stepped inside. He was slowly adopting the persona of someone who works out. Every action you take is a vote for that person. It reinforces a new identity. The more you adopt that identity, the easier it will be to do those desired behaviors and drop the undesired ones. Go to the track a few times before you run on it. Go to a group a few times before you join them

Top down: Visualize the end result, not the process. It’s better to visualize yourself crossing the finish line than running the race, for example. If you visualize being, rather than becoming fast, you are more likely to do the things, adopt the habits, that will get you there there.

Visualize with emotion, how you want to feel when you succeed. Our bodies respond to feelings. A vision without power isn’t that effective.

Attach it to another habit. For example, if you need to practice your balance, stand on one foot while brushing your teeth.

Gamify – Put a tally sheet on your fridge and make a check each time you do something, no matter how small. Break up your treadmill run into segments. For example, instead of running for an hour, run for 10 minutes at a time, then see how many 10 minute segments you can do. Mentally compliment youself for each segment. Take a drink of water after each segment, a gel after every two. Later, add a check for each segment you achieved.

Make it fun. Watch a video (treadmill), or listen to music or a podcast that you’ve been wanting and don’t do elsewhere. Do it with friends to make it more fun. Misery (until it becomes a habit) loves company.

Be careful of your self-talk. Have a growth mindset. Instead of saying “I’m not good at,” or “I hate hills,” say “I’m learning …” or “I’m getting better at …”

Setting a goal can motivate you to do the hard stuff. Signing up for a race, however, depends on your personality. If you don’t handle failure well, it can be risky to set yourelf for failure. For some, it may be better to set the goal to motivate you to train, but wait until your training is on track to sign up.

I recognize some of these tools may be contradictory. Try them to find out which one(s) work for you. Be patient. Habits don’t change overnight.

Habits are a lifestyle, not a finish line. Your goals, lifestyle, body changes. Your habits need to evolve with them.

Adam Feerst
Run Uphill Racing
When in doubt, run uphill!
www.runuphillracing.com
https://www.facebook.com/RunuphillRacing/
https://www.instagram.com/runuphillracing/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/runuphill-racing/

Links:
Atomic Habits, James Clear – https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
James Clear on the Ten Percent Happier podcast – https://art19.com/shows/ten-percent-happier/episodes/473349a6-a0c8-4c01-a178-c8ac80923917
James Clear on Happy Mind, Happy Life podcast – https://drchatterjee.com/how-to-build-good-habits-and-break-bad-ones-with-james-clear/

The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg – https://www.charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/
Charles Duhigg on the Good Life podcast – https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/charles-duhigg-power-habit-best/

Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman (Nobel laureate) – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11468377-thinking-fast-and-slow
Daniel Kahneman on the Hidden Brain podcast – https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/think-fast-with-daniel-kahneman/

Proper Pacing in Ultras

Pacing in ultras is easy – start out slow, then fade. Just kidding.

Proper pacing is important. Going out too fast or too slow can ruin your (very long) day. However, there’s a lot of room in the middle. You don’t have to be perfect.

Leadville Buckle

Don’t follow pacing charts. Just because a pacing chart says that if you want to finish in 27 hours, you should be at AS2 in 4 hours, doesn’t mean that’s right for you. In general, such pacing charts are an average of what people do run not what they should run. And, they’re an average. There is a wide range of variation around that average. The further from the finish, the greater that variance.

At best, pacing charts can tell you about what finishing time you may have at any given point along a course. Note that if you’re pushing cut-offs early on, it’s likely you’ll be in trouble later. This will vary by race.

Success in ultras is largely about minimizing muscle damage early and managing it later. Much of muscle damage in running comes from eccentric contractions. Eccentric contractions are when your muscles are working when lengthening. Muscles are stronger when shortening. When you do an arm curl, the bulge is from your bicep shortening. When you let the weight down, that’s an eccentric contraction; the bicep is working, controlling the descent while lengthening.

The two muscle groups taking the most eccentric strain are the quads and calves. They help stabilize your body as you land. When you run, your quads undergo eccentric stress when you land – they stabilize your lower body as your knee bends. Your calves work while lengthening as your heel comes down after landing. These muscles work concentrically as you push off. The soreness you feel walking down stairs, after a big race, is from the eccentric damage.

Concentric strain is caused when you push off on your stride. They are more of a strain when climbing and going faster. While you should be aware of this, the greater focus should be on eccentric strain.

The other side of stride is biomechanic efficiency. Biomechanic efficiency is how much of the energy from each stride is carried forward vs lost into the ground and muscles. In general, the faster you go, the more energy is carried forward stride to stride. Of course, faster also increases metabolic (fuel) demands and eccentric strain.

In general, slower is less damaging. However, there is a running (walking is less damaging than running) pace below which your stride can be more damaging. Also, slower is biomechanically inefficient. That shuffle, where you slide your foot forward into the ground as you land and where your foot spends a lot of time on the ground, is inefficient. The key is in finding the right balance between biomechanic efficiency, muscle strain, and metabolic demands.

Start as fast as possible with an efficient, minimally damaging stride, or as slow as necessary to maintain a fairly efficient stride while minimizing muscle strain. Walk when you need to in order to minimize strain, not just because others are walking. Run when you can; it’s faster than walking.

I realize this is vague, but I can’t give you a specific pace. This is something you have to experiment with in your training. This means something going to fast or to slow in training. You don’t learn your boundaries until you push beyond them.

Back to pacing charts – they may get you in the ballpark, but they shouldn’t drive how you race. Learn to run by feel. This takes practice and you’re likely to get it wrong sometime, but you’ll be better off in the long run (pun intended). Of course, if you’re struggling to make cut-offs, then you’ll have to go as fast as necessary to hit them.

Train smart. Have fun. See you on the trails.
https://runuphillracing.com/

INTRODUCING SPEED

If you want to get faster, you have to train fast. Speed training also brings improved stride power and efficiency, and metabolic (energy) performance. That will help you whether you’re racing 1-mile or 100-miles.

Relax. Speed training doesn’t mean you have to run on a track or do highly structured workouts. Speed workouts can be done almost anywhere, and there are many ways to get it done that can be fun. You don’t have to do the “best” workouts. If you don’t like them, you’re less likely to do them. It’s better to find ways that you will do. Consistency is more important that perfection.

Running Track

Should you do speed training if you’re running 100-miles? YES. A more powerful and efficient stride will translate to a better stride even at a slow, ultra pace. The improved metabolic efficiency will enable you to run faster and longer at an easy, ultra effort.

Speed training can increase the risk of injury. So, especially if you haven’t done speed training, or not in a while, I’ll start off with some cautions/advice.

• Develop a good running base before going fast. This can mean weeks or months of mostly low intensity running. A good base builds muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness to be able to handle high intensity training.
• Always warm up well before going fast. Warming up means jogging, starting slowly, to gradually loosen up and literally warm up your muscles and joints. The colder it is, the longer you’ve been sitting/idle, the older you are, and the faster (relative to you) you’ll be going, the longer you’ll need to warmup. Warmup can be anywhere from 5 – 20 minutes.
• Add some mobility exercise to increase your range of motion:
  • Leg swings – With one arm on something like a lamppost for balance, swing each leg side-to-side and forward-and-back. 10-20 times.
  • Calf dips/raises – Standing with the ball of your foot on a curb or stair, drop your heels down and raise them up above your toes. 10-20 times.
  • Butt kickers – Run forward, not too fast, short stride. Exaggerate your back kick so your heels hit your butt, or a close as you can within the range of your flexibility.
  • High knees – Run forward, not too fast, short stride. Exaggerate your knee lift in front to your chest level, if possible. Skipping is a great way of doing this.
  • Skipping.
  • Lateral slide – In a slight squat, shuffle laterally in each direction. You can cross your legs in front and behind as you do this, called grapevine or carioca.
  • Single leg squats (no weight needed).
• Focus more on stride rate than absolute running speed. DON’T reach with your stride. Keep your stride under you rather than out front. Pretend you’re running on hot coals to keep your stride quick and light.
• Think more about effort than speed. These are not races. Do the work properly and the speed will come.
• Build into the speed. Don’t blast out at max like you’re running the 100m Olympic finals. I like to take a few skips before I start, then build to full speed over a few strides.
• Run the fast stuff uphill. It’s hard to overstride on hills. Also, there’s less pounding uphill. Legendary runner Frank Shorter once said “hills are speedwork in disguise.”
• Try to maintain the same speed through a set of intervals. The first one should feel relatively easy and the last one fairly hard.
• These are not races. You should not be setting PRs in a workout. Leave a little on the table. Go a little less than all out, and stop when you think you still have one more in you.

Here are some minimally structured workouts that can be done almost anywhere.

Pickups: This means picking up the speed for a bit during a run. Go hard for short time, perhaps 15-30 seconds. It can be easier to count strides than look at your watch; the equivalent is about 25-50 strides (left-right = 1 stride). Run easy for a while until you catch your breath, then repeat. Do a few of these a couple of times/week.

Fartlek is Swedish for speed play. In the middle of a run, go fast for a while, then easy for a while. You can use landmarks to guide you. For example, go hard for 3 lampposts, easy for 2. If you’re on trails, use short uphills to go hard, and flats/downhills to go easy, or go hard for a switchback or two, then easy for the same. The point is to play with it, have fun with it. Make it as structured or loose as you want.

To start, don’t worry about how much time you spend running fast or how you do it. Spending some time at speed – getting your legs turning over faster and your heart/lungs working harder – is better than none. Get your body and mind used to running fast before you add more structure, volume, and intensity.

Here’s a guide when you are ready for more structure. This is just a guide, not a prescription. First, some explanations and terminology:

A speed workout consists of several elements.

• Work interval – the length (time or distance) of the hard effort.
• Rest interval – the length of the recovery/easy between work intervals.
• Speed/effort – how fast and/or hard of each interval.
• Volume – total amount of work intervals.

When people tell me they ran 400s in xx, for example, that raises several questions. The first is why – what are they trying to improve, what are they training for. The next questions are what was the rest interval and the total volume. You can tweak each element of the intervals to stress different systems of your body differently.

W:R – work to rest ratio, how much rest you take relative to the hard effort. This is in terms of time, not distance. Rest can mean easy jogging or walking around. 1:1 means the same rest and work; e.g., 3:00 hard, 3:00 easy. 1:2, e.g., 30 seconds hard, 1 minute easy; 5:1 means, e.g., 20 min hard, 4 minutes easy. In general, the longer the W, the bigger the W:R ratio. 3:00/3:00 means 3:00 hard, 3:00 easy.

“On the x:xx” means starting each new work interval on a specific time. E.g., 400s on the 3:30 means that if you run a 400 in 2:00, your rest (either walk or jog) would be 1:30.

Repeats – A specific type of interval often given as a number of repeats. E.g., 6×800 means 6 repeats of 800m hard with the appropriate rest interval between each repeat.

Sets – Sometimes a workout can be multiple sets, or groups of intervals. E.g., 3x 4×400 with 60-second rest between repeats and 3:00 rest between sets means: 4 repeats of 400s with 60-second rest, take a 3:00 rest, then repeat the “set” of 4×400 twice more with 3:00 rest between sets.

LT – Lactic Threshold (LT) is what legendary coach Jack Daniels calls “comfortably hard,” or about the effort you would use in a 1-hour race. Lactic is both a byproduct of metabolism and a fuel source, not the evil many have portrayed. You don’t need to know this precisely. Close enough is good enough. Even if you have determined this via testing, understand that your so-called precise LT is going to vary because of things like fitness, stress, hydration, weather, and terrain.

I will switch back-and-forth between time and distance. When I talk about distance, I’ll generally refer to them in terms of a track. Most tracks are 400 meters (m) around. 1-mile is 1609.344m, a little more than 4-laps, but I use 1-mile and 1600m interchangeably. Distances are often a proxy for time on the work part. In general, I prefer time based intervals, especially for the rest. Too much or too little rest can change the effectiveness of the workout. Time based enforces discipline whereas you can be lazy and take to long if your rest is by distance.

Short Sprints
The main goal of these are to develop a fast and powerful stride. You have to teach your body to run fast before it can race fast.

Such short, powerful efforts can be risky. I don’t recommend these for inexperienced runners and those returning from injury. Start with striders instead. Also, do these on hill to reduce the risk.

Striders – about 30-seconds hard with a near full recovery. W:R 1:2+ Striders are often done on a track where you sprint the straights (gradually build for the first half), then jog the curves. Do this 3-5 times. If you are going to be doing a hard workout, this is a great drill to do as the final part of warmup. It’s also good to do these at the end of an otherwise easy-moderate run.

Hill Sprints – Striders, but on hills. Go hard until your legs start to tighten up and your stride slows, then just a couple of strides more while maintaining form and stride rate. This typically occurs at about 30-seconds. Pushing past where your form and stride rate starts to break down is not helpful. Choose a hill that’s fairly steep but runnable (not too steep or rocky), if possible. I typically walk/jog down.

Embedded striders/pickups: As part of a longer run, do 3-5 striders/pickups every ~30 minutes. On trails, you can do this around the terrain where you go fast on flats, uphills and relatively smooth terrain, then easy on downhills and technical terrain.

Alactic Sprints – Very short, high output efforts utilizing the ATP and phosphocreatine stored in your muscles without using stored glycogen or fat. These sprints should be 6-10 seconds max, the amount of energy stored in your muscles. You need 1:00-1:30 between such high efforts to allow your muscles to replace the fuel used. W:R 1:6-10. This is not recommended for beginners.

Medium intervals
VO2Max intervals: 3-5 minutes hard at ~15-20 minute race effort. Beginners can start at 2-minutes hard, advanced runners up to 6-minutes. W:R 1:1 – 2:1; e.g., 3:00 hard, 3:00 easy; 4:00 hard, 2:00 easy. In general, keep the hard volume at 10-15 minutes for beginners (e.g., 4x 3:00/3:00), 20-25 minutes for most (e.g., 6x 4:00/4:00), 30-40 for advanced (e.g., 2x 3x 6:00/3:00 with 5:00 rest between sets).

Cruise Intervals: 10-20 minutes hard at LT. W:R 3-6:1; e.g., 12:00 hard, 3:00 easy. These are great for ½-full marathon training.

Steady efforts
Tempo: Longer runs at a steady effort. This might be a single, 30-45min (plus a warmup and cooldown) effort, at LT or MRP.

Progression: Longer runs that start easy, then increase in effort. These get you used to running at race effort when you’re tired. If you’re training for a marathon, this might be 1-hr at MRP + 2:00/mi. Then, over the next hour, 15-min each progressively faster at MRP + 1:30/mi, MRP +1:00/mi, MRP + 0:30, MRP.

You can be creative with structured workouts to add variety to make them more fun. For example

Ladder: A workout that increases, then decreases in distance; climbs up and down the ladder. For example: 200 – 400 – 600 – 800 – 600 – 400 – 200. In terms of time (minutes), this might be 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1.

Pyramid: A workout that decreases in distance but increases in sets. For example: 1×1600, 2×800, 4×400.

Partner 400s: One person runs a lap while the other rests, then switch.

What about ultras? For those, I recommend the short and hill sprints, and VO2Max intervals. The sprints build power and efficiency that translate well to ultras. VO2Max builds aerobic capacity which help you go faster at lower efforts. There’s not much need for LT intervals as you shouldn’t be stressing your lactic system much in ultras. However, they’re OK to do instead of VO2Max. High intensity workouts should be done fairly early in the training cycle for an ultra. Striders and hill sprints can be continued until the final taper.

If nothing else, just spend some time going faster and don’t worry too much about how you do it, as long as you don’t go too hard or too much. Variety makes you faster. Variety keeps the running fresh and fun.

Train smart. Have fun. Smile. See you on the trails (and roads).
Run Uphill Racing