Get Out of Your Own Way
Last year I was approached by a work acquaintance earnestly asking me for advice for training and fueling for his first marathon. At first I thought he was kidding because I basically have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to either of those things. Then I realized he wasn't, and I struggled to give him advice. There is tons of advice on how many miles one should run weekly, what cross training is most effective, what one should eat before/during/after a run, what carb loading is the best. I ignore 100 percent of it.
I firmly believe that running is largely a mental sport. Sure if one wants to run marathons with 6 minute miles there's obviously significant training for that. But if you're an average, amateur runner, the biggest key to getting better/faster/smarter at the sport is to stop overthinking it.
I'll give you a few examples from my life. I've done it all wrong. I've tortured myself and insisted on running every single mile of my training program. I have a recurring IT band injury, and I discovered after several years that my body can't handle running more than four days a week, and it can only handle a certain amount of mileage. So if I push too hard I will injure my IT band. Traditional training programs do not work for me, and when training I rarely run more than three days a week. Increased cross training and less running has actually made me faster. My 5k PR stood at 26 minutes for three years. I started training for a triathlon and replaced running with swimming one day a week. I subsequently crushed my 5k PR and have rarely gone about over 25 minutes since. There's no training manual that will tell one to do that, but I did and it weirdly worked.
I'm terrible at running nutrition. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. In my first few marathons I used sport jells or jelly beans because I felt like I was supposed to. They didn't really help. Gatorade gives me indigestion when I run. And Gu is disgusting. One time I had a lunch with two martinis and ran an awesome 15 miles later that afternoon. Not recommended by science and yet was way better than the gross Gu.
The New York Marathon is my absolute favorite story of mind over matter. My longest run before NYC was 15 miles. I'd lost my dad less than a month before, and I didn't even come close to fitting in all my long runs. Despite my goal of breaking five hours in my first three marathons, my goal for New York was to finish. Period. I knew I was not in shape for 26.2, and I just wanted to get to the finish line.
We got to New York on Thursday. We drank our way through the city for two days. On Saturday, the day before the marathon, I had a cocktail at brunch and glass of wine with dinner. On the morning of the race I grabbed a handful of almonds from the stash my mother-in-law had given me on the way out the door when we left for the airport. I had two cappuccinos from the Dunkin' Donuts in the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. I ran 26.2 miles fueled by caffeine, adrenaline and New Yorkers. I took more than 30 minutes off my PR, running 4:44:01. That race was all me getting out of my own way. I had fun and enjoyed it.
Obviously one has to have a baseline of fitness to be able to knock out a number of miles, but I firmly believe at a certain point the key to getting faster is to think less. If I run more I know I'll get injured. If I eat certain things that are traditionally good "fuels" they are not kind to my stomach. Breaking five hours was so important to me in my first three marathons. In New York I pushed the goal to the side and focused on enjoying the race. The same thing happened the first time I broke two hours in the half marathon. The problem wasn't that I couldn't break the goal; it was that I couldn't get out of my own way.
Could I get faster? Could I run healthier/better/smarter? Absolutely. But I'm never going to win the Boston Marathon. I do, however, want to run for decades to come. I want to enjoy it. I want to improve and get faster, but I think nutrition and training aren't the only keys. Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't you're right." My advice? Get out of your head and get out of your own way. Hit the trails and destroy goals you didn't even know you had! I have and it's an amazing feeling. But also: don't stop eating and drinking the fun things. Because life is short and bacon cheeseburgers are delicious.
I firmly believe that running is largely a mental sport. Sure if one wants to run marathons with 6 minute miles there's obviously significant training for that. But if you're an average, amateur runner, the biggest key to getting better/faster/smarter at the sport is to stop overthinking it.
I'll give you a few examples from my life. I've done it all wrong. I've tortured myself and insisted on running every single mile of my training program. I have a recurring IT band injury, and I discovered after several years that my body can't handle running more than four days a week, and it can only handle a certain amount of mileage. So if I push too hard I will injure my IT band. Traditional training programs do not work for me, and when training I rarely run more than three days a week. Increased cross training and less running has actually made me faster. My 5k PR stood at 26 minutes for three years. I started training for a triathlon and replaced running with swimming one day a week. I subsequently crushed my 5k PR and have rarely gone about over 25 minutes since. There's no training manual that will tell one to do that, but I did and it weirdly worked.
I'm terrible at running nutrition. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. In my first few marathons I used sport jells or jelly beans because I felt like I was supposed to. They didn't really help. Gatorade gives me indigestion when I run. And Gu is disgusting. One time I had a lunch with two martinis and ran an awesome 15 miles later that afternoon. Not recommended by science and yet was way better than the gross Gu.
The New York Marathon is my absolute favorite story of mind over matter. My longest run before NYC was 15 miles. I'd lost my dad less than a month before, and I didn't even come close to fitting in all my long runs. Despite my goal of breaking five hours in my first three marathons, my goal for New York was to finish. Period. I knew I was not in shape for 26.2, and I just wanted to get to the finish line.
We got to New York on Thursday. We drank our way through the city for two days. On Saturday, the day before the marathon, I had a cocktail at brunch and glass of wine with dinner. On the morning of the race I grabbed a handful of almonds from the stash my mother-in-law had given me on the way out the door when we left for the airport. I had two cappuccinos from the Dunkin' Donuts in the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. I ran 26.2 miles fueled by caffeine, adrenaline and New Yorkers. I took more than 30 minutes off my PR, running 4:44:01. That race was all me getting out of my own way. I had fun and enjoyed it.
Obviously one has to have a baseline of fitness to be able to knock out a number of miles, but I firmly believe at a certain point the key to getting faster is to think less. If I run more I know I'll get injured. If I eat certain things that are traditionally good "fuels" they are not kind to my stomach. Breaking five hours was so important to me in my first three marathons. In New York I pushed the goal to the side and focused on enjoying the race. The same thing happened the first time I broke two hours in the half marathon. The problem wasn't that I couldn't break the goal; it was that I couldn't get out of my own way.
Could I get faster? Could I run healthier/better/smarter? Absolutely. But I'm never going to win the Boston Marathon. I do, however, want to run for decades to come. I want to enjoy it. I want to improve and get faster, but I think nutrition and training aren't the only keys. Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't you're right." My advice? Get out of your head and get out of your own way. Hit the trails and destroy goals you didn't even know you had! I have and it's an amazing feeling. But also: don't stop eating and drinking the fun things. Because life is short and bacon cheeseburgers are delicious.
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