Day of Distance Coaching Clinic 2019

This past Friday I had the privilege of attending the Day of Distance Coaching Clinic at Villanova. It is put on by Marcus O’Sullivan who is a four-time Olympian and has run sub-4 minutes in the mile 101 times.

The reason I was looking forward to attending this year was keynote speaker Mike Smith, who is the Director of Cross Country and Track at Northern Arizona University, and in my opinion is hands down one of the best coachers and thinkers in the country.

I saw Mike speak and attended back-to-back sessions in the afternoon given by Marcus O’Sullivan. I plan to write more in depth about many of the ideas presented, but I want to summarize the key theme that were consistent throughout the day.

The Importance of the Aerobic Metabolism

This was the major thesis of the day for sure - and this is coming from coaches whose focus is for events mostly 5000 meters and shorter for most of the year. Both Mike and Marcus constantly came back to the idea of of training the aerobic system though tempo and lactate threshold workouts week in and week out. I think there is also tremendous value in the 30-35 minute pace range (critical velocity) which may be a touch above threshold in the right doses. The idea is you want to keep pushing the velocity at which you can stay aerobic to faster and faster paces. The way you do this is training just above, below, and at your anaerobic threshold.

The key takeaway from all of this is just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Running faster than prescribed workout paces or coaches assigning reps that are too long runs the risk of making a workout that should be primarily aerobic become anaerobic. There are three major things that cause the aerobic system to deteriorate:

  1. Racing and hard, fast workouts

  2. Racing too frequently

  3. Not running at all

There is a time and a place for fast workouts, but Mike Smith says NAU does a big VO2 session maybe two or three times per year. A lot of coaches do these sessions weekly for most of the year and arguably the best coach in the country is doing them twice per year. It’s sexy, but puts a huge tax on the aerobic metabolism, causes lingering fatigue, sickness, anemia, and poor performances. The 10k is estimated to be 95% aerobic, the half-marathon 98%, and the marathon near 99% aerobic. Pushing too hard is compromising the system that makes all the difference in the world in these longer efforts.

There’s a lot more to dig into, but hearing them talk affirmed my belief in running lots and lots of aerobic workouts and trying to be disciplined enough to not push if you do not have to. Keeping things under control is going to give you the best chance to race well and finish strong consistently.

Use What Works

One of the few things I read daily is Howard Lindzon’s blog.

In today’s post he references the following quote:

“Use only that which works, and take it from wherever you can find it.”
— Bruce Lee

When thinking about training, it’s easy to think of yourself as a strict disciple of Lydiard, Daniels, or Canova. With a solid understanding of physiology, one is able to look for overlap and take what works from any coach or any system.

A great coach shouldn’t be tied to any one system or methodology. Take what works and what makes sense in your own model. Work from general to specific. Adapt for the individual.

Thoughtful Opinions Held Loosely

I've been a Farnam Street reader for many years and am a better thinker because of the reading I've done there. I was fortunate enough to attend Shane's inaugural Re:think Innovation workshop in Chicago four years ago and lessons learned there influence the way I approach the world today.

A little while ago, Shane published his Farnam Street Principles. Thoughtfully crafted, I think each of the five ideas apply directly to ideas I have around life and running. One particularly stood out to me when thinking about helping others achieve their goals in running, "Thoughtful Opinions Held Loosely." 

As someone who loves to study training theory and analyze programming, it's clear many different approaches can produce strong results. Each coach subscribes to methods and systems they believe in, but in many cases they also become attached to the idea that there is only one way to achieve optimal results. 

Each athlete is different, has different strengths and weaknesses, different preferences, and ability levels. Each athlete should be coached differently. The best coaches in the world strongly believe in what they are doing but are constantly evolving and testing their conviction. The best are thoughtful in their approach, but willing to change their mind and try new things when strong evidence is present to consider other ideas.

Believe in your process, but stay open-minded.

Gain Fitness, Don't Prove Fitness

 

Reid’s message is simple, but profound. Too often we look at workouts as proving grounds instead of stimulus designed to help us improve and sharpen fitness. From time to time you should press and hurt in workouts, but more times than not you’re better off trusting your body and leaving a little bit to give.

 

Racing and Working Out in the Heat

As summer running and racing is creeping in, most of the country is beginning to deal with warmer temps and more humid conditions. This has a tangible effect on running performance and race results. 

In Alex Hutchinson's book Endure, he talks a lot about heat's role on limiting performance. Ultimately, it's your body's way of protecting itself against heatstroke. It seems for most people there is an internal threshold at about 104 degrees Fahrenheit where once your core temperature exceeds that limit it begins to more or less shut down and performance suffers.

So how can one limit the effects heat has in running well? For starters, your body does acclimate to running in warmer temperatures. According to Hutchinson, stressing your body through exercise in the heat for about two weeks causes significant physiological benefits that help you deal better with warmer temperatures. In many causes, however, the dew point has a more significant affect on performance that just temperature itself. The higher the dew point, the less sweat is able to evaporate from your skin which reduces the cooling effect sweating serves. 

Hutchinson writes extensively about the positive impacts "precooling" can have on performance. Precooling is essentially the act of trying to lower your core temperature before strenuous activity in heat. He cites various examples of how having a lower core temperature prior to activity results in being able to push harder for longer compared to starting at an elevated core temperature. Trent Stellingwerff has also cited numerous studies about precooling and performance as well. 

 
 

Hutchinson mentions the Australian Olympic Team's approach to precooling where in 2008 they shipped seven slushie machines to Beijing and had them available for their athletes competing in hot conditions. According to Hutchinson, Australian scientists hypothesized that consuming slushie drinks sweetened similarly to sports drinks could lower core temperatures by one degree and boost endurance in the heat. He goes on to explain that another benefit of these slushie drinks is that not only do they lower core temps before exercise, but they also allow athletes to get to a higher core temperature during exercise before exhaustion sets in. 

The other piece of the puzzle that Hutchinson includes is the mental side of dealing with the heat. He mentions a study where cyclists were able to improve performance in heat simply by shifting their language from using such phrases as "It's so hot in here" and "I'm boiling" to more positive phrases like "Keep pushing, you're doing well." The group with the positive self-talk were able to last 11 minutes during an endurance test versus 8 minutes in the other group, and as a result "pushed their core temperature at exhaustion more than half a degree higher."

So in summary, what can one do to try to run better in the heat? Here are some of my takeaways:

  • Do your best to keep your core temperature low before race or workout situations. Hold frozen water bottles in your hands or have towels sitting in iced water to keep around your neck and face.

  • Consider shortening your warm-up a bit as your core temperature will rise as the time you spent moving increases.

  • Don't psych yourself out. You're not going to be able to run as well in heat as you would in cooler temperatures, but that doesn't mean you cannot run very well. Use positive self talk and don't defeat yourself before an effort even begins.

  • Don't be a slave to numbers on your watch. Heat humbles everyone and at different rates. Trust your ability to run by feel knowing at the end of the day your result would be even better in ideal conditions.

Lactate Threshold Running

When coaches and runners talk about threshold running, they can be talking about many different types of thresholds (I don't recommend listening unless you want to get super in the weeds.) For the purpose of my training, I like to think about threshold running in the context of lactate threshold which is usually around 15k-10 mile race. The hard part about running at or near your lactate threshold is that this is much more of an effort than it is a pace. It's a type of run that many runners end up running too fast. 

I do prescribe pace ranges, but especially early in a training segment those paces are much more fluid and imprecise. As such, the best way I've found to think about the effort associated with lactate threshold running comes from Steve Magness' Science of Running.

On page 221, he writes:

A good way to test whether you are running above or below threshold is the talking test. You should be able to say one or two short sentences, such as “I feel good, I feel great. I want to communicate.”

Only towards the end of of that sentence should the sensation to breathe again be preset. The breathing test is a good way for a runner to receive instant feedback, and in fact when just begging threshold training, it is best to gorget about splits and focus on feel.

I cannot tell you how many times I've been running lactate threshold efforts and said out loud, "I feel good, I feel great. I want to communicate.” Another option is to use verses of Happy Birthday in the same way. If you can get out a whole line of singing happy birthday without taking a breath, you're in good shape. Something like “happy birthday to you,” - breath or two- “Happy birthday to you,” is where you want to be effort wise. Trust the talk test and only uses the paces as guidance. These are workouts where it is very important not to run too fast.

Running at your Lactate Threshold is arguably the most bang for your buck you can get in training. Ben Rosario said as much recently on Twitter where he means lactate threshold effort when he mentions "tempo."

 
 

Ben currently coaches a stable of top performers and Bob coached Meb throughout his career. If it's good enough for them, it's most definitely good enough for me. 

Running by Feel

It's pretty cliche at the moment to emphasize the important of running by feel. Even with that being the case, I do believe there is tremendous value in learning the skill. GPS watches give us the ability to check pace instantaneously. As a result, running within certain ranges gives us the illusion of being in control.

As I run more and learn more about running, the less concerned with specific paces I've become. I tend to think of big ranges when prescribing pace, but even that has its shortcomings. On any given day one might be stressed, dehydrated, sleep deprived, too hot, too cold, hungry, over-caffeinated, or unded-caffeinated. These along with millions of other variables affect the way paces are going to feel on any given day. Those paces serve as a very good guide, but are far from perfect. More often than not, they lead us to run at efforts higher than what a workout prescribes and consequently stressing the body in ways beyond what is necessary. As Shalane Flanagan wisely understands, much of training is about achieving, not overachieving. 

I was looking for something specifically in the 300+ page PDF that John Davis put together of most of John Kellogg's writings from LetsRun and stumbled upon this:

The science of running has come a long way, but it has an even longer way to go before it replaces the art of running. This is analogous to listening to a mechanized "player piano" versus listening to a professional musician. The machine relies on notes only (with at best minimal attention to dynamics); the human artist consolidates proper touch to the keys, either sudden or gradual increase or decrease of volume, sustaining certain notes, and many other techniques which make a piece "musical" rather than contrived or synthetic. No matter how many informative symbols are written on the music sheet, there are always hidden elements of a piece (usually the most pleasing aspects) which can only be uncovered and perfected through practice, practice and more practice. Consequently, there are many people who can play all the right notes but still miss the music.

Similarly, a beginning martial artist who manages only to memorize the positions and primary movements (stances, blocks, punches, kicks, etc.) of a kata (form) will not apply proper breathing technique, body torque and relaxation for the transitional movements (the stepping done between executing the primary movements) and will appear tense and robotic in comparison to a more advanced student or a master whose ability to store up and release energy is in perfect sync to produce a dynamic, fluid consolidation of rhythm and power.

So it is with training for the sport of running - the tyro attains isolated facts and pieces, but the master attains wisdom. The master has a deep, almost soulful, understanding of how to put all the pieces together to produce a finished product that transcends any other possible method of assembly. Cultivating this wisdom should serve as a polestar for every serious runner.

Let pace be your guide, but hold it with a loose fist. You'll probably have a lot more fun with your running using this approach, too. 

Copyright 2020 Ritual Running Project LLC

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