Things I'm Learning - Running

So with the taper going into my first "A" race this year, I haven't really had much that I've felt like writing about. Running today, my mind started to roam. I started thinking about something that Shawn Wallace said to me about swimming and it seemed to lead me down this road.

I don't know if there is real value to my observations. I am not a pro or a Phd, but I am going to throw out some of the things that I have picked out as I have continued to push toward my goal of becoming an Ironman. I don't think Runner's World will be calling me to do a column, but I do think there might be something here worth talking about. If you are a doctor or scientist, you will not be happy with this post. People, you have been warned!

1. Your brain is like 99.98% of the people on the planet. Your brain will do the minimum that is required to get by. Does this sound cynical? Maybe, but if you look at the people you work with and their production, for the most part they are probably doing exactly what is asked of them by their supervisor or less. Your brain is exactly the same way (but for different reasons). Your brain's primary job is to make sure that you survive. Survival includes among other things, using the minimum amount of energy to conserve for the times when you as a hunter/gatherer are not hunter/gathering, flight from things that might hurt you and finding shelter. Also avoiding pain, because pain means something not pleasant is happening to you and the brain does not like that. Running always means burning calories and often includes some kind of pain to a varying degree. In short, your brain is like a limiter on a golf cart: for those that have done it, we know that life is so much more fun when you remove the limiter. (Please don't try to remove your brain!)

2. It's 90% mental, with the other 10% being mental. Ray Zahab made this comment in the movie Running the Sahara. For me, this was an epiphany along the lines of when my 8th grade Chemistry Teacher announced that in life, there is no free lunch. Simply genius!

Someone with the desire could write an entire book just on this point. I will not write that book here, but I will say that I believe that almost all physical limitations are based in the mind. In short, I believe that your body will tolerate just about any stress that you force upon it if the mind is in agreement with that action. You can develop the physiological ability to run a marathon without running anywhere near that distance. Most experts I have read or heard interviewed agree that a person running 30 miles a week can run a marathon just fine. So that would mean 6 miles a day, 5 days a week will give you the physical base. Scientists would argue that long distance runs are necessary to strengthen tendons and ligaments against the pounding your legs and feet will take. I would argue that what you are really developing with long distance runs is the training of the mind, slowly and over a period of time, that the body will physically tolerate the time and distance needed to run the marathon. We are conditioning the mind that we are capable of the effort and building that confidence.

Yes, physical conditioning matters, but the real key to success or failure is in the mind.

3. Exercise is itself an exercise in causality. We will call Jeff's corollary to this statement: the quality of the effort is directly linked and equal to the quality of the result achieved. However, the highest quality is not necessarily in the maximum intensity of physical effort. Often, the opposite is true.

4. To go faster, increase cadence, not power. Big muscle movements use much more energy, give you less balance and control and are sustainable for relatively short periods of time. Smaller muscle movements are completely the opposite in every regard. 'Nuff said.

5. All pain is not the same. If you push yourself to barriers, whether it be in speed or distance, you are going to experience pain, period. I think that time and mileage allow the thoughtful runner to analyse and interpret pain on the fly and decide the nature of the pain and how it needs to be addressed. I would stress though that if you are not able to interpret whatever pain you are feeling, you should stop immediately.

6. For longer distance events, volume is the most important thing. See #2 above. You need to spend time on the road to both increase your mental confidence that you can make the distance that you are trying to achieve and give yourself a chance to get comfortable with whatever discomforts your body may dish back to you. Longer distance is not about speed, it's about time invested.

7. Break things down into something manageable (work backwards from the finish). I take the total length of the objective (whether it be a training run or a race) and break things down into smaller sections, working from the finish back to the start. The number of times I break the run down depends on where I am at mentally. If I need to, I will continue to break the run down on the fly. In difficult moments, I have been to the point of thinking, "I will just run to the next corner..."

Smaller goals are both easier to visualize and achieve. They help to build confidence and make the time move along. If you are breaking down mentally, eliminate time goals and work on reaching landmarks that you can see. Forget pace and focus on trying to salvage your form.

8. Get your ass out the door. Your brain is in self preservation mode and will give you 47 reasons why you should not go running. Running requires energy and energy should be rationed for moments of crisis. Who knows when the next meal is going to come along after all? There is also a direct correlation for your brain: the more difficult the run (i.e: hard intervals), the more urgent the need not to do it. In short, sweep aside all excuses for why you shouldn't run and just get it done. Guaranteed you will feel better about everything after you get the run in, you will build confidence, develop positive habits and help to train the brain that running is not the end of your world. Hell Mr. Brain, you might even like it!

9. Be the slowest guy on the block. In short, run with people who are better than you. Yes, you will get dropped on the first hill. Yes, you will be frustrated and lonely. Yes, you will be huffing and puffing your exhausted self back to the finish and everyone will be leaving after the post run chit-chat. While it sounds miserable, what I will say is that it will make you a better runner because it will force you to challenge yourself in ways that you normally won't in a solo run. Friends also work nicely for peer pressure. When you are finally able to hang for at least a portion of the run because your skills have improved, try to watch the form of the better runners and learn. Confidence and skill improve over time.

10. Have a plan and stick to it. Definitely key to have a specific goal for every run. Speed, endurance, perceived effort training, etc. Whatever it is, the effort in the run should be focused on achieving that goal and don't deviate. (Poor example: I am supposed to be doing a long run at a consistent zone 2 effort and I jump to zone 4 for 10 minutes because I take off after a 400+ pound woman on an motor scooter trying to chase her down...how exactly does that meet with my program for the day?!?) Focus young grasshopper, focus.