As part of these daily musings I will attempt to demystify and explain in simple terms some of the things that confuse us or is just plain bad advice (IMHO). And today we start with the premise that to run fast you need to run FAST.

Well, there is some sense in that statement. If you want to run a 10k in 50 minutes you need to be able to run each kilometre at an average time of 5 minutes. Even I can do that math.

But the thing is you don’t have to train at that pace routinely. In fact training and running at that pace will actually be counter productive in a number of ways.

Before I explain, my premise is that most of my coaching clients are targeting longer endurance based races, not 100m track meets.

When you start your running journey most runners experience steep, exponential improvement curves and then things plateau. This is normal and shows the body is going through adaptation.

And this is where the problem starts. Once those physiological adaptations have taken place just doing the same thing again and again prevents any further improvement. This is often referred to as running in the Grey Zone i.e where no further adaptations occur.

So to run faster you need to run fast AND slow.

It’s the slow bit that sounds counterintuitive. And in fact easy paced runs should account for around 75-80% of your training runs. But why?

Running at around 65-75% of your maximum heart rate is where the body learns to be efficient in using your glycogen stores, in other words all those carbs we are encouraged to consume on our long slow runs. Run too fast for too long and the body ‘burns’ through the glycogen faster than you can top it up and store it. Fatigue sets it, form declines, etc, etc.

Now if you can reach that balance of carbs in = glycogen used then pace stays higher, form stays better and that pace will be maintained for longer and this is where you ‘get faster’ over any given distance. I

t’s the slow runs where the body is learning to work at this optimal level. It’s called working in the Aerobic Zone.

There is room for running fast too and this where speed work and intervals play their part. If you’ve never run at your required quicker pace then your body and brain can’t just pick it up and go with it without thinking your trying to kill them.

So speed based intervals over short, sharp distances teach the brain and train the physiology to run fast. It will help you improve cadence (the speed at which your legs turn over ) and generate more power too.

Just don’t do this in every session because you will burn out and increase your risk of injury.

So create a balance, look for training plans that hit those ratios of easy versus hard runs, and don’t worry that your running too slow. Because you won’t be. Good Luck.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

It’s an unusual day because it’s Monday morning AND it’s race day. So as an ‘elite’ non elite runner my routine begins with a meditative body scan. Checking all my essential bits feel ready for a race.

And this is where trouble can begin, right at the base, starting with your big toes. What on earth is he going on about I can hear you all asking?

Toe nails….

And to be precise toe nails that are inching towards being in need of a trim.

Now in years gone past this was never really an issue. The younger, more supple Coach Al would bite my toe nails routinely after a bath. Disgusting I know. (Does anyone actually know from an evolutionary point of view what is the purpose of toe nails?)

Now that Father Time has taken away that pleasure (biting my toe nails, not having a bath) I have to schedule in a regular clipping.

The reason for for this essential piece of body hygiene is two-fold.

1. Remember that earlier post about investing in good running socks – who wants to pay a lot of money just to see your big pinky poking through a hole in your favourite (read lucky) compression sock.

2. And this is the serious reason. Let you toenails get too long and you increase the risk of blackening the toe nails through repetitive bruising as that big toe bashes up against the end of your shoe toe box 20,000 times on a long run. I

know losing a toe nail is a rite of passage but let Mother Nature make that decision, don’t make it too easy for her.

So I now schedule a clipping 2 or 3 days before a race because I have made the painful mistake of leaving it to race day morning. Then through sheer excitement getting carried away and clipping off a millimetre or two of too much nail. Leaving the race day experience to all fall apart with sore toes even BEFORE the race has started.

In an age of marginal gains, having either too much or too little big toe nail could be the reason you don’t PB today 🤣

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I don’t know about where you are but here in the UK the temperatures are finally rising a few degrees. And for me that means I can ditch the layers and the gloves.

However, whilst I look forward to topping up my tan on my daily runs I’m also a ‘Sweaty Beaty’ and this creates a number of different challenges including excessive laundry 🤦🏻.

I’ve always known any run over about 5 minutes will leave me in a pool of sweat but this week I’ve tried to pay a little more attention to what this means.

So over the course of 3 different runs I weighed myself before and after each run. And the results were a surprise but not. On average I lost over 2 lbs in weight through sweat which is equivalent to around 2 litres in volume and this is the bit that surprised me. 2 litres is a lot!

I know this isn’t a great weight loss strategy becuase rehydration puts all that weight back on. But know understanding the scale of the challenge has me looking at taking more care to hydrate consistently throughout the day and especially BEFORE any long run, be aware of the need to take on electrolytes after every run – not just the long runs, and accept that this is my bodies way of coping with the physical stress of running in the heat.

I’ve also looked into the science of why you sweat and there are a lot of factors at play but it’s all to do with the nervous system trying to regulate itself and bring everything back into balance, also known as homeostasis. I need to embrace my sweat dilemma and make simple little adjustments to my training. So here’s a few ideas to help you if your in the same sweat swamp I exist in.

Try running earlier or later in the day when temperatures are lower – not always easy if you have family and work commitments.

Make sure you carry some liquids on ever runs, even the shorter ones because hydration or more importantly dehydration will make those efforts feel harder. And it’s easier to stay hydrated than rehydrate when feeling I’ll.

Think about hydration throughout the day, and not just as a post run problem.

Slow things down. Your body and your sweat response is a reaction to the intensity of the work you are doing so if you lower the intensity your bodies systems don’t need to work as hard.

With lots of long runs looming asi start up marathon training again about breaking the long runs into 2 shorter efforts, again maybe earlier and later in the day. With my sweat rate being what it is I now know I probably can’t ever expect to replace my liquid lose at the rate of 2 litres per hour over a 3 hour long run so time to think how I tackle those longer, hotter runs.

Knowledge is power and with this better understanding of the impact of running in warmer temperatures hopefully I can mitigate the worst of my sweaty responses.

Cool Runnings (literally)

Coach Al

It’s 6.30 am on a Saturday and the alarm has been sent to snooze. It’s a cliche that you’re a runner if your wake up earlier at the weekends than you do on a workday. This is doubly true if you are a parkrun tourist.

Here in the UK there are nearly 1200 weekly timed community runs for all abilities – all happening at 9am on Saturday in parks and open spaces across the nation.

It is a moment where you feel part of something special. You may be at Bushy Park, London with nearly a 1000 runners or you may be in your local park with just 50 runners. You may be on an ‘out and back’ by the riverside. You may be doing 3 and a bit laps of the school playing fields.

But the thing is you are a parkrunner.

Back at the start of 2022 my partner and I decided to try something new called parkrun tourism. Which basically meant searching out new locations each week for parkrun. Little did we know we would become a little obsessed, be drawn into a whole new sub-culture around something called the Purple App, and never have a Saturday ‘lie in’.

Nearly 18 months in and I have now visited 63 different parkruns in 7 different countries ( if you include Wales – they do have their own football team).

And next weekend we aim for our most ambitious parkrun adventure yet – 3 different parkruns in 3 different countries ( Germany, Denmark and Sweden) in 4 days. Thankfully I’m not on admin duties for this 🤣

So what have been some of my highlights and takeaways.

We all love parkrun – that’s a given and that’s why we are there.

Community matters – I’ve run with thousands of strangers but at each event we look out for each other, cheer our milestones (you get a ‘shout out for reaching a certain number of parkruns), thank our volunteers for marshalling the event, fret about our barcode, and walk away having completed a 5k run and been awesome before many of the neighbours have even gotten out of bed.

Movement is so rewarding physically and emotionally. Parkrun is timed and you get your weekly result but it’s not a race and because the organisers have a philosophy of ‘no one comes last‘ it attracts a diverse group of people. There will always be fast ones, there will always be competitive ones. But there are all types in between too. Families, friends who meet up for a chatty run, people tackling Couch to 5K ( a well being programme in the UK), tourists (like me) and first timers nervously waiting at the start. Each and everyone of us has made a personal commitment to be responsible for our own well being that day.

I’ve travelled and done a Zumba warm up in Poland, had breakfast waffles with strangers in Florida, travelled on a bus for 3 hours plus to run on a beach into 40mins headwinds, jumped on a plane and run to parkrun from the airport and run around a racecourse with a hangover .

We’ve visited towns and villages we would not normally give a second glance at ( I’ll save the alphabeteer challenge for another post) and discovered hidden gems. We have sampled coffee and cake far and wide ( and supported the local economy) and we have made new friends along the way.

I’ve become more creative and created a video blog capturing all the new locations we run at. Search me up as The Essex Plodder on YouTube and see how my editing skills are improving.

And to try and sum it up is difficult because the travels and tribulations have been many and varied. But if I had to capture it in a single phrase, parkrun tourism has meant personal growth. And for that I will always be truly grateful.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Strength Train. It’s a conversation I hear regularly. And let’s be honest, if you give a runner the choice of going for a another run or heading to the gym to be tortured, we know which choice they will make.

I understand the fear because I had that fear for many years too. I ended up qualifying as a personal trainer in order to beat my fears, and you can too (beat your fears I mean).

Gyms can be intimidating, judgemental places. They are often not very female friendly either. And for the beginner, not only do you feel out of place, you will probably look a little out of place because there is definitely a ‘gym uniform’.

And let’s be honest. A 45 minute gym workout actually takes up about 2 hours of your life once you’ve faffed pre and post workout. And when time is precious, etc, etc.

And for those reasons and many more, most runners neglect strength and conditioning.

But here’s the thing. There is an alternative way to get your strength training in. Let’s refer to it as the Home Home Workout. What I really mean is let’s strip it all back and build your strength training INTO your daily routine. And here is how.

Next time you boil the kettle for a brew instead of scrolling Instagram do ten squats. Drink 3 cuppas before lunch and there are your three sets of ten. Boom! Done!

Clean your teeth twice a day and add in some calf raises to your oral hygiene.

Even make use of the supermarket queue by working on your mobility – stand an one leg for 20 secs and then swap legs ( but try not to fall into other shoppers trolleys 🤣).

My point is strength exercises can be simple – you don’t need expensive equipment, body weight exercises can achieve a lot. Strength exercises can be compound and full of ‘drop sets’ but if you can’t in the gym, you can in your home.

Strip it down and build these habits into your daily routines. It’s a great way to work on any new habit and makes strength training accessible to all.

Now if you have specific goals such as post injury rehab then definitely search out a PT and develop a more sophisticated programme.

For most of us a simple strength routine will do a couple of things.

It will improve the overall all round strength of our core and upper body which benefits better running form and efficiency. It will also help injury prevention and improve range of movement. So don’t ignore anymore.

To get started have a look at the video below.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

So it’s bounds to happen at some point. You start of super keen, you hit your stride and then something happens and it suddenly feels hard.

It may be marathon training, it may be healthier eating, it may be good habits such as no screen time before bed.

I’ve been listening to a few podcasts about how to stay motivated and have learnt a few things worth sharing ( I hope).

You may be like me and prone to procrastination. That’s one reason I decided to write a daily blog – to establish a routine and a writing habit otherwise it was always ‘manana’ in respect of capturing my thoughts.

Now procrastination is a physical and mental response to how we deal with feelings and things that make us uncomfortable. So we shy away and delay. For me it’s money management, it’s dealing with family relationships.

It’s a bit of a cliche but I’ve also learnt that ‘leaning into your fears’ is hard but is the way to go. I’ve also learnt that those fears, that irrational anxiety rarely materialises as a thing. Look back and those things you feared never happened.

I’ve also learnt there are two main types of motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is driven by a desire to be valued, rewarded and recognised. When it comes to running for me it is about the bling, it is about PBs, it is about being hired as a Coach.

Extrinsic motivation does work. It does drive you. It does make you go for a run at 5am, in the dark and in the cold. And at the end of that race it all feels good. But extrinsic motivation can also have a limit because it is tied to outcomes.

I worked my socks off for nearly 18 months to go ‘sub4 ‘ at a marathon, and once that was achieved my motivation to train dropped significantly. Setting a new target of 3 hours 50 minutes wasn’t enough and throughout 2022 the motivation wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t hard enough to keep me interested. Yes I trained but something was missing.

This got me into thinking about the other form of motivation, which is called Intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is different because it comes from within, from gaining personal satisfaction for doing your thing, and not requiring that reward as an outcome.

I’m not so good at intrinsic motivation. I think because my health journey was motivated by an outcome – losing weight or running faster.

But I’m trying to embrace this different form of motivation. Running (and training) because it gets me outside, because it helps me clear my head, because I’m in nature. And if I’m consistent and don’t put pressure on each and every run then the outcomes will take care of themselves ( I hope) .

So next time your motivation wanes ( and it will at some point) stop and think about your why? It may be uncomfortable to see yourself as that person chasing ‘outcomes’ but if you can balance that with a different purpose then the malaise won’t last long. If you do something just for the enjoyment we are hard wired to chase that pleasure and you will.

Sorry for the long post.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

First up, whatever happened to episode #994 – no one told me I messed up my numbering yesterday.

The 2023 version of the London Marathon was only a month ago but the autumn marathon training season is already upon us. And so it’s been a busy few days writing and reviewing training plans for my clients.

There are lots, and I mean LOTS of free plans on the internet, often written by marathon gurus, and celebrity runners who partner up with sponsors to the big races such as the World Majors.

And therefore the choice can seem daunting. How many weeks should I train, how many days should I run, what kind of intensity must those runs be at, what’s the weekly mileage, etc, etc.

If you are just beginning your marathon journey the chances are you have no idea what the answers to those questions should be in order to optimise your training. Even if you’ve run a few 26.2 miles it may still seem a bit of a mystery of what works and why?

Now as an Endurance Coach you would expect me to be extolling the virtues of having a tailored, bespoke training plan. One that reflects YOUR running experience, makes adjustments for YOUR work and family life, and is based on achieving YOUR goals and objectives for that specific training block.

Either route can lead to success.

The key thing is that the next 16-18 weeks will need to have focus and structure – this is what any plan needs to do.

The plan doesnt’t run itself so you, as the runner, needs motivation and discipline.

Training won’t be linear and therefore you (and the plan) needs to have flexibility to deal with what life throws at you.

The training and therefore the plan needs to have a little variety as running the same old training run will be boring and won’t build progression.

Whilst a good plan builds purpose into every run, also remember training needs to be fun so build that in too. If you need to run 10 miles on Sunday why not enter a race and take home a medal and tee shirt for your efforts (just remember to run it easy!)

So fail to have a plan and you are already planning to fail.

Good luck, and if you’d like a chat about a bespoke plan contact me at alan@arbafitness.com

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I’m about to head down a rabbit hole and this post is in danger of becoming a rant. And it’s all to do with running shorts, and in particular men’s running shorts, and in particular men’s black running shorts. I also need to declare that I’m colour blind so may influence my opinions below (🤣🤣)

I don’t want to start gender wars but the larger manufacturers of sports wear seem to make very distinct decisions about colour ways when it comes to designing for women and men.

In my early days of running, and being an oversized runner, I guess I was grateful for having shorts and tee shirts in my size. But then I started to notice something. All the pretty coloured shoes were in the female range.

I’m a shoe size 12 so always accept they may not have ‘the pretty ones’ in my size but for me it was black, blue and maybe something with a splash of yellow. I just accepted that as normal.

And as my running journey continued and I wanted to ‘upgrade’ to proper running shorts (instead of my Adidas football shorts) I noticed I had a choice of 80% black, 19.2% blue and 0.8% other, which inevitably was out of stock.

I get the economics and I get that men, more generally, are less fashion conscious so creating a swathe of different colour patterns and colours probably only hurts the bottom line.

But I’m sure there are lots of male runners that want like to express their personality through what they wear on their runs.

Things are getting better. There are smaller, more niche brands producing a range of funky patterns and colours. However , it seems that in order to express yourself in Lycra you have to dig a little bit deeper in your pockets.

That’s ok for me but doesn’t work for everyone. So come on Nike, New Balance and ASICS – splash those colours for both genders!

Cool Runnings

Alan

Postscript: I love a pair of white running shoes – they certainly pop in race day photos

Rest is recovery, and recovery is rest. But that doesn’t apply when you’ve just committed to writing a daily blog for the next three years.

Here is a little bit of irony. Monday is seen as the start of the week, lots of training plans work on a traditional seven day cycle, and when coupled with the idea that we need to start the week as we mean to go on I’m nearly always conflicted on a Monday morning.

Why? Because Sunday is my normal long, slow run day, and at the height of marathon training probably means I’ve finished the week at 40 plus miles. So I feel tired physically and emotionally.

Yet having Monday as a ‘rest day’ feels wrong. It feels like a wasted opportunity to get some early miles on your weekly Strava. It feels like I should be embracing the recovery run that many ‘experts’ advise.

But rest and recovery doesn’t need to equate to doing nowt. You can still be active but just dial down the intensity.

Walking is active recovery. Swimming is low intensity (and good for your cardio). Zumba and other forms of dance exercise are just good fun.

For me, Monday is becoming one of my resistance days. Not a resistance to any form of exercise , but instead becoming a day to focus on strength and conditioning.

Nothing to heavy, nothing too long. 45-50 minutes of working muscle groups that are not engaged routinely as a runner, working on engaging those muscles that help running form and efficiency. All done with a Rich Roll podcast on in the background.

It leaves me with the dopamine hit, feeling like I’ve achieved but also rested enough to look forward to whatever’s on the plan for Tuesday.

How do you make the most of rest / recovery days?

If you’re not sure how to start strength training head over to YouTube and The Essex Plodder and look up my video of basic moves to help your running .

Cool Runnings

Alan