December 17, 2024 • 23 mins
Summary
In this episode, host Bridget Gaug tackles the common question: "Can you train for a half marathon while doing OrangeTheory Fitness?" The answer is a resounding yes. Bridget explains how OTF classes provide essential elements that many runners typically skip - strength training, speed work, and consistent cross-training. She breaks down how to adjust your outdoor running pace (hint: it's slower than your OTF base pace), emphasizes the importance of rest days, and provides a clear framework for combining OTF workouts with half marathon training. Whether you're a dedicated OTF member looking to tackle your first half marathon or a runner curious about incorporating group fitness, this episode offers practical strategies to help you reach your 13.1-mile goal while keeping the classes you love.
Takeaways
- You can train for a half marathon and still do OTF.
- OTF classes provide essential strength and endurance training.
- Consistency in workouts is key to successful training.
- Rest days are crucial for recovery and growth.
- Outdoor runs should be at an easy pace, not base pace.
- Prioritize long easy runs in your training plan.
- Avoid skipping rest days to prevent burnout.
- Adapt OTF workouts to fit your training needs.
- Use benchmarks from OTF to estimate race times.
- Incorporate fun elements like Dogs Per Mile to enjoy long runs.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey runners, welcome to the Dogs Per Mile podcast,
your weekly dose of runningreality.
Here we count dogs instead ofminutes and turn running stats
upside down.
I'm Bridget, your host,certified running coach and
creator of the Dogs per milemindset.
Here's the thing 13 years ago,I started my running journey,
like many of you, watching thestats on my garment and getting
(00:30):
discouraged when they didn'tmatch what they should be saying
.
That's when I discovered themagic of counting dogs in my run
, because sometimes the bestrunning stat isn't your pace or
distance.
Now, with over 50 halfmarathons, two marathons and
countless training runs under mybelt, I'm here to share a
different approach to running,one that breaks down mental
barriers, eases those pre-runanxieties and yes, includes a
(00:53):
weekly update of my personaldogs per mile count.
Whether you're lacing up forthe first time, getting back
into running after a break,struggling your training with
group fitness classes or chasingyour next PR, you've found your
people.
This is where we take thepressure off and put the joy
back in running, because everyrunner has a place here and
(01:21):
every dog site is worthcelebrating.
Hey runners, welcome back tothe Dogs Per Mile podcast.
I'm your host, bridget, andtoday I want to cover something
that I if you've ever been onthe subreddit for Orange Theory
or on any Orange Theory Facebookgroup.
It is a question that you haveseen posted over and over again,
which is can I train for a halfmarathon and do Orange Theory?
How do I do this?
How many client times a week doI go?
(01:41):
And this is definitelysomething that I have done
several times.
I think it's a powerful toolwe're going to talk a little bit
about.
Is this even possible?
How do I do it?
How often do I go?
Am I going to overtrain?
Am I going to burn out?
Or do I have to give up my OTFmembership, which every running
coach that I've ever talked tois like?
(02:02):
No, you have to give up thesefoo-foo workout classes in order
to train for a real halfmarathon.
You have to do track workouts,and I'm here to tell you that,
nope, you don't, you can do both.
I know that it seems like youcan't fit them in, but I think
OTF is actually the secretweapon to training well for a
(02:25):
half marathon in a reallywell-rounded and scheduled way,
and I know you're thinking I amdying doing these classes.
There's no way I can run 13.1miles and I totally get it.
But at the same time, if youare already doing these hard
classes, anyone who's doing anhour long workout class can
(02:46):
absolutely train for a halfmarathon because you're already
doing the hard part.
And so let's first talk aboutwhy it's the absolute perfect
pairing to any half marathontraining plan.
It is setting you up forsuccess because you are
combining a lot of thecomponents of a training plan
that most runners, myselfincluded, will absolutely skip
(03:09):
out on any training plan.
Runners are notorious forskipping strength and cross
training.
They are notorious for skippingspeed workouts, for consistency
sometimes, and by doing classeslike this, you are already
doing a lot of the parts thatmost runners skip out on.
I know everyone has their thingthat they skip out on, and mine
(03:30):
is speed.
I will not do speed workouts, Iwill not do intervals.
I hate it so much, but by doingthat with Orange Theory, it
forces you to do it.
You already have the othercomponent that most runners skip
out, which is built in strengthtraining, and that is a
absolute major key to having asuccessful training plan is
(03:51):
consistent strength training,and not just of our legs and
things like that, but of theposture, because I don't know,
if you realize this, it is hardto hold yourself up running for
an hour, and 30 minutes to threehours, depending on how long
you're on, your feet and yourback will be killing.
So if you are not doing anysort of strength training, it's
(04:12):
not going to help you.
You're also building thoserunning foundations.
You've already developed agreat deal of endurance, whether
or not you realize it or not.
Whether or not you're doing 3Gclasses and you're on the
treadmill for maybe 20 minutes,that, combined with rowing, is
really developing a strong,strong amount of endurance.
And the other thing is you'vealready developed a consistent
(04:36):
schedule.
Most OTFers do the same classesat the same time, and so you're
already used to fitting it inlike a puzzle piece of your day.
So you know that you go to 6.15on Tuesday, thursdays, and then
you do this 8 am on Saturday.
So you are used to consistencyand that is already a recipe for
success with any training plan.
(04:57):
You also are now familiar withheart rate zones, which puts you
leaps and bounds above a lot ofrunners, and understanding what
the different zones feel like.
You are used to the visual cuesof when you're in an 85% versus
a 60% and what sort of thingswill get your heart rate up
there, and you're used tobreathing techniques to bring
(05:17):
your heart rate down, so that isgoing to put you ready and
raring to go.
And then also, when you'redoing these classes, you have a
coach there who's making surethat you aren't tweaking your
back by lifting something crazy,and they're coming over and
adjusting your form and givingyou lighter weight or heavier
weights to really help you makesure you don't hurt yourself
(05:39):
during class.
That way you can keep training.
And these elements just fitperfectly into any training plan
because they are the maincomponents of a training plan.
I truly believe that all theparts that you do in class fit
perfectly in.
So the only thing you need todo outside of this will be rest
(06:00):
and do a regular sort of outdoorrun.
So easy running.
Here's the part that people justfuck up every time they do a
training plan and they try tofit OTF in there.
They try to run outside likeyou run in class.
You get your, you strap yourwatch on your Apple watch, you
get your sneakers on and you say, okay, well, I got to run my
(06:21):
base pace for 10 miles.
You're not going to be able todo that A right away, and B
that's not the purpose of it.
The base pace does nottranslate to your easy pace
perfectly, and we'll go overthat one, but when you're
running outdoors, you need to beable to essentially sing along
with your playlist, you need tobe able to have a conversation,
and so this means you arespoiler alert going to be slower
(06:43):
than your base pace, and everytime I've tried to just run my
base pace outside, it doesn'ttranslate.
Your goal is to increase that,but your goal is to increase
that while keeping the heartrate zone at the same, and the
pace goes up.
So we know that.
Otf the way OTF fits into atraining plan is it is going to
count as your speed days, isgoing to count as your quick
(07:07):
days, and so the only other typeof run that you need to do
outside every time your feet gooutside to go for a run, you are
running at an easy pace and,don't worry, we'll go over what
how to kind of calculate youreasy pace.
But that's all you need to do,and those, those easy runs are
just going to increase indistance over time.
That's, that's it.
There's no's all you need to doand those easy runs are just
going to increase in distanceover time.
That's it.
There's nothing you need to do.
(07:28):
You don't need to set aninterval class and go to a track
and run quarter miles oranything like that.
The non-negotiable thing thatyou also have to add to your
training plan and it'sabsolutely required is at least
at minimum one rest day, andrest is where your body changes.
It's where all of the growth ismade.
(07:50):
And if you are doing these highintensity classes and then you
are also adding in long runs andyou're not resting, you're just
going to fuck yourself up andyou're just going to burn out.
There's really when you kind ofwant to think about.
When you're training for a,you're building your training
plan, you're thinking like whatdo I need to prioritize?
(08:12):
Life has gotten busy.
What things can I keep and whatthings can I?
You know just not going tohappen that week.
And the number one base of yourpyramid is your long easy runs.
Because even if you do classsix days a week and rest, you
will not be used to being onyour feet for that amount of
time, I can promise you.
You are going to be in a worldof hurt and you're going to get
(08:35):
into a dark place in your brainif you are not prioritizing your
long, easy runs, specificallythe long run.
At minimum, you need to berunning one long run a week.
That increases, if nothing else.
If you're doing classes and youcan only do one other run, that
one other run has to be anincreasing easy, long run.
It's just that important, handsdown.
(08:57):
I got nothing else to say aboutthat one.
Your next thing is not skippingout on rest, so you cannot
deprioritize rest in order toprioritize a power day.
Rest will never trump any ofthose items.
The next thing you want toprioritize if you have a choice
between the type of workouts youdo at class which we know we
don't, but sometimes we read itand see what's going to happen
(09:20):
is power days, and those aresimilar to a tempo type of run.
Those are the classes whereyou're running two or three or
four minute pushes, so it's aquick push, it's not an all out.
Those are helping you reallyincrease your aerobic or your
anaerobic capacity, and that iswhat you want to prioritize when
you're picking your classes.
And then I would then putbenchmarks, because, especially
(09:44):
the 12 minute run for distance,especially our one mile
benchmarks.
You can use those to estimateyour finish time and estimate
what your goal could be, andit's really a helpful tool to
use that most runners don't haveaccess to.
So if you know your one milebenchmark, you can plug that
(10:05):
into a variety of calculatorsthat I can provide for you at
the bottom of the show notes andyou plug that in and it gives
you an idea of if you ran thismile at 730,.
Here are your finish timepotentials for a half marathon,
assuming you train and you getthe ability to run on that for
that amount of distance.
And then the thing that you canprioritize the least it's
(10:26):
important, but it's not asimportant as rest or easy runs
is the speed days.
So those are those days whereyou're doing a bunch of all outs
.
I know we did one during theholidays, like many years ago,
which was like the 12 all outsof Christmas, and so it was just
12, 30 second all outs and, yes, you're able to get some really
crazy speeds, but those are theleast important of all of them.
(10:49):
So if you're, your week's goneto shit and you have to like
cross off days and I can't go tothis class do not cross off the
long run, cross off thebenchmark, don't cross off the
rest.
Cross off a speed day.
So that kind of helps youprioritize what is important and
what's not important.
And I know what you're thinking.
Well, what about my splatpoints?
Because I love OTF, I love thesplat points, I love the numbers
(11:12):
.
It's such a gamification.
But the goal is not to get 50points in a class, because the
goal is to get 12.
In a 60-minute class, 12 splatpoints is approximately 20%, and
I don't know if anyone else hasever heard of the 80-20 rule.
You see it in nutrition, yousee it in running, and the 80-20
(11:33):
rule it just means 80% of yourrun should be easy, 20% of your
run should be hard.
So you really don't want to begetting extra splat points on
your easy run because thenyou're going not in the 80-20
anymore.
Then those long runs turn intopart of the 20%.
That's not helpful, becauserest is where the magic happens.
It's where your body actuallygets stronger.
(11:55):
Some of the common pitfalls thatI have seen people who are
doing OTF and want to train fora half marathon, or are half
marathoners and start doing OTFthat was me and then want to
decide.
Now they want to train for arace is.
The first is going out too faston our outdoor runs.
And that is the biggest thingis you can't just step out the
(12:16):
door and think I'm just going togo my base pace.
That's my easy run.
Absolutely not.
You are not used to yes, we'resetting the incline at one
You're not used to the smallhills, the rolling hills, the
cracks in the sidewalk, the windresistance in your face to your
side paths, not being evenquick turns around corners.
So going out too fast on youroutdoor run is just going to add
(12:38):
more splat points and not keepyou in the right zones, and so
it's really not going to helpyou out in the long run by
trying to run those too fast,because I have run so many
outdoor long runs far too fastand then when I get to race day,
it doesn't translate.
It's so fucking annoying, butit's true.
The other pitfall is skippingrest days and doing active rest
(13:01):
days, doing green days, notresting at all, and it's not
going to help, it's just goingto make things worse.
It's also going to burn you outmentally.
And this is the queen of myhusband asking me hey, bridget,
when was the last time you tooka rest day?
That's a great question.
Looks at my Garmin calendar andI said 13 days ago yeah, maybe
(13:25):
you need to rest.
It doesn't matter if three ofthe days were easy runs and I
only ran three miles and I ranit at my easy pace.
Your muscles still worked, andso you need to make sure you're
prioritizing those rest days.
Your muscles still worked, andso you need to make sure you're
prioritizing those rest days.
(13:47):
Then, another big pitfall thatnew people do when they try to
train for a race is not adaptingand utilizing the Orange Theory
workouts to fit their needs.
And if you are like me andyou're a people pleaser or
you're a teacher's pet, you wantto follow the rules that are in
front of you.
Well, they say like okay, getthrough this strength portion as
quickly as possible to try andget to the bonus round, because
you get extra credit if you getto the bonus round extra credit
that nobody gives you and nobodycares about by adapting the
(14:09):
strength portion of your OrangeCherry workouts and slowing it
down and really using the mindmuscle connection, you are going
to get so much more out of itand those workouts are yours and
yours alone, as long as you arenot being a distraction to
others, there are ways to adaptthe workouts so it fits your
needs.
And if you need to jog therecoveries, lightly, jog the
(14:32):
recoveries.
If you need to go with alighter weight and just you're
not going to get through all themoves from the display, display
, that's fine.
It's really important that youmake that class fit for you.
I've learned that so many times.
I have definitely been like Igot through all of the I don't
know through all the moves, Igot to the bonus round, but I
(14:53):
moved so quickly that I didn'tgain any benefit from it.
So don't go too fast throughany of that sort of stuff and
really adapt the classes for youand pick them strategically to
fit what your needs are.
And I know you're wondering okay, well, great, I know what to
prioritize and I know which onesare more important.
(15:15):
But I'm looking at my calendarthis week and I don't know where
anything goes.
I don't know.
Do I do OTF first thing in theweek?
Do I run?
Is there a certain number ofdays that work?
How do you build up mileage?
You just said I needed toincrease my mileage how many,
how far, when?
And I've actually put togethera guide that has two different
(15:36):
ways, that I've done this before, and it breaks it down day by
day to kind of help you findyour best schedule or just give
you some starting ground on howto put and fit these all
together like a perfect littlepuzzle.
And the first thing that wedefinitely want to cover is
finding your easy pace, and myrule of thumb is you kind of
(15:57):
want to take whatever your basepace in class is and subtract
between a half a mile and a fullmile per hour, and I know that
sounds excessive, but this isjust so we can get you a
starting ground, just an idea ofwhat your easy pace is outside.
And there are people who arejust blessed and their base pace
is the same inside and outside.
(16:18):
But we're not going to startthere because we want to make
sure you're doing this safelyand the best way possible.
So if your current base pace is6.2, you want to start your
easy run at between a 5.2 and a5.7 miles per hour, and so an
easy way to kind of gut checkthis is your first week you'll
(16:38):
want to do like a 20 minute runand set your Garmin or your
Apple Watch to buzz at you whenyou're at a certain heart rate
zone and start at the lower endof that base pace and kind of
creep it up until you can findthe exact perfect spot that
keeps you between like the 65and the 75%.
So, right in that, you knowblue and green zone if you're
(17:01):
looking at your colors and Iknow you want to run in the high
green, so you're close toorange, but we want to keep them
lower in the green and even inthe blue for our easy pace and
that's really what's going tohelp build your endurance.
And the next thing you got todecide is how often do I go to
class?
If you're like when you're likeme, I was a diehard five days a
week.
That's really challenging to doif you're going to train for a
(17:24):
race because we, like I said, wedo need to prioritize some of
those longer runs.
So you got to kind of decide amI going to do it two times a
week?
Am I going to go three times aweek?
And keep in mind that yourminimum having one rest day but
let's assume that this is new toyou we want to add two into
here.
So we are choosing between twoor three OTF days a week with
two rest days.
And so you know, here's kind ofhow one way I would do it is if
(17:47):
I was going to do OTF two timesa week and let's, you know,
pick our first week this is weekone and we want to do OTF twice
and we're going to rest twice,and so that means we're going to
have three outdoor run days,which I think is a great minimum
number of outdoor run days isthree.
I think that really reallyhelps.
So on day one, let's say Monday,we're going to do class, and
(18:08):
then Tuesday we're going to runtwo miles at that easy below
base pace.
Wednesday we want to rest.
Thursday we want to go back toclass.
Friday we're going to do twomiles, and then Saturday we are
going to increase to do our longrun at three miles, and Sunday
we're going to rest.
And so that Saturday well,actually all of those runs will
slowly increase between youdon't want to increase them too
(18:30):
much.
So, like the next week, thatTuesday run will go to three
miles and we'll keep three milesfor a little bit, and then your
long run will slowly build upand slowly build up to somewhere
between 10 and 12 miles foryour longest run.
You can go up to 13, reallydealer's choice.
But you can make theseadjustments.
If you are not a Monday morningclass person or that coach
(18:51):
isn't for you or you love yourWednesday morning crew, adjust
those accordingly.
But really try not to do morethan three days in a row without
a rest day, ideally if you'restarting new at this, because
that's really going to help yourecover, especially if you can
do a rest day after your longrun.
That really is ideal and Iabsolutely have this completely
(19:12):
mapped out for you with a littleprintable just to make it kind
of easy on you, to give you someguidance and you can circle
them, move them around, justwill kind of help you know how
far to run, when and how tobuild up those long runs,
because that's really thebiggest part.
It's time for everyone'sfavorite part of the podcast.
It is the official dogs permile week count and this week I
(19:36):
had a freaking great week forrunning.
I ran 22 miles andunfortunately I only saw about
15 dogs, which means I got a 1.4average DPM, which is dogs per
mile, especially if you are newto the podcast or you're
unfamiliar with the dogs permile mindset.
So, for all the Orange Citypeople, dogs per mile is a super
(19:57):
real stat, 100% officiallyrecognized, where you see how
many dogs you see on your runsand you count them and then you
divide it by the number of milesto find out, on average, how
many dogs per mile you saw.
And it is absolutely createdfor fun, to help make those long
runs a little bit moreenjoyable, give you a little bit
of a distraction, and it is thestat that is perfect when all
(20:19):
other stats are failing you.
So this is a great tool to usefor you if you're starting out
with doing long runs.
Absolutely, I would love to knowyour dogs per mile that you've
seen and please share them withme.
I think it's just so fun.
Remember, you are already doingthe hard part.
You already have a consistentworkout routine.
(20:39):
You're already doing a reallyfucking hard workout, which is
OTF.
So we're just taking thosehabits and that consistency that
you've built and we're adding alittle bit more adventure with
some longer runs outside.
And, yeah, you can do both.
Absolutely, you don't need toquit class in order to train for
(21:00):
a half marathon.
You just need to make someadjustments, some adjustments
that I have outlined for you.
If you are ready to go beyondyour base pace, head on over to
the Dogs Per Mile website, whichis dogspermilecom, and you can
grab a free copy of thistraining plan.
(21:20):
I would love you to let me knowwhat race you're training for
and please just tag me any ofyour runs at dogspermile hashtag
dogspermile.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode talking
about how you can combine OrangeTheory with a half marathon
training plan.
I would love to support you inany way.
(21:40):
Keep me in your DMs, let meknow how is it going, what
questions you have, share yoursuccesses with me and, until
next time, keep running and keepcounting those dogs.
See ya.
Thanks for sharing another milewith me today.
(22:01):
Before you cool down, here arethree quick ways to stay
connected with our runningcommunity.
First, hit subscribe whereveryou're listening to this right
now.
It's the best way to make sureyou never miss an episode.
Second, if today's show helpedyou or inspired you, please
leave a review.
Your words help other runnersfind their way to our community.
Lastly, want more runningadventures?
Follow at Dogs Per Mile pod onInstagram, where I share daily
(22:24):
motivation, behind the scenesmoments and plenty of pictures
of my two running coaches, yogiand Maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag Dogs Per
Mile to share motivation behindthe scene moments and plenty of
pictures of my two runningcoaches, yogi and maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag dogs per
mile to share your own dogspotting stats.
I love celebrating yourvictories, big and small, and
thank you for being a part ofthis journey.
Until our next run together,remember, every step forward is
progress and every dog you seeis bonus motivation.
(22:47):
Keep running, smiling and keepcounting those dogs.
Hey runners, welcome to the Dogs Per Mile podcast,
your weekly dose of runningreality.
Here we count dogs instead ofminutes and turn running stats
upside down.
I'm Bridget, your host,certified running coach and
creator of the Dogs per milemindset.
Here's the thing 13 years ago,I started my running journey,
like many of you, watching thestats on my garment and getting
(00:30):
discouraged when they didn'tmatch what they should be saying
.
That's when I discovered themagic of counting dogs in my run
, because sometimes the bestrunning stat isn't your pace or
distance.
Now, with over 50 halfmarathons, two marathons and
countless training runs under mybelt, I'm here to share a
different approach to running,one that breaks down mental
barriers, eases those pre-runanxieties and yes, includes a
(00:53):
weekly update of my personaldogs per mile count.
Whether you're lacing up forthe first time, getting back
into running after a break,struggling your training with
group fitness classes or chasingyour next PR, you've found your
people.
This is where we take thepressure off and put the joy
back in running, because everyrunner has a place here and
(01:21):
every dog site is worthcelebrating.
Hey runners, welcome back tothe Dogs Per Mile podcast.
I'm your host, bridget, andtoday I want to cover something
that I if you've ever been onthe subreddit for Orange Theory
or on any Orange Theory Facebookgroup.
It is a question that you haveseen posted over and over again,
which is can I train for a halfmarathon and do Orange Theory?
How do I do this?
How many client times a week doI go?
(01:41):
And this is definitelysomething that I have done
several times.
I think it's a powerful toolwe're going to talk a little bit
about.
Is this even possible?
How do I do it?
How often do I go?
Am I going to overtrain?
Am I going to burn out?
Or do I have to give up my OTFmembership, which every running
coach that I've ever talked tois like?
(02:02):
No, you have to give up thesefoo-foo workout classes in order
to train for a real halfmarathon.
You have to do track workouts,and I'm here to tell you that,
nope, you don't, you can do both.
I know that it seems like youcan't fit them in, but I think
OTF is actually the secretweapon to training well for a
(02:25):
half marathon in a reallywell-rounded and scheduled way,
and I know you're thinking I amdying doing these classes.
There's no way I can run 13.1miles and I totally get it.
But at the same time, if youare already doing these hard
classes, anyone who's doing anhour long workout class can
(02:46):
absolutely train for a halfmarathon because you're already
doing the hard part.
And so let's first talk aboutwhy it's the absolute perfect
pairing to any half marathontraining plan.
It is setting you up forsuccess because you are
combining a lot of thecomponents of a training plan
that most runners, myselfincluded, will absolutely skip
(03:09):
out on any training plan.
Runners are notorious forskipping strength and cross
training.
They are notorious for skippingspeed workouts, for consistency
sometimes, and by doing classeslike this, you are already
doing a lot of the parts thatmost runners skip out on.
I know everyone has their thingthat they skip out on, and mine
(03:30):
is speed.
I will not do speed workouts, Iwill not do intervals.
I hate it so much, but by doingthat with Orange Theory, it
forces you to do it.
You already have the othercomponent that most runners skip
out, which is built in strengthtraining, and that is a
absolute major key to having asuccessful training plan is
(03:51):
consistent strength training,and not just of our legs and
things like that, but of theposture, because I don't know,
if you realize this, it is hardto hold yourself up running for
an hour, and 30 minutes to threehours, depending on how long
you're on, your feet and yourback will be killing.
So if you are not doing anysort of strength training, it's
(04:12):
not going to help you.
You're also building thoserunning foundations.
You've already developed agreat deal of endurance, whether
or not you realize it or not.
Whether or not you're doing 3Gclasses and you're on the
treadmill for maybe 20 minutes,that, combined with rowing, is
really developing a strong,strong amount of endurance.
And the other thing is you'vealready developed a consistent
(04:36):
schedule.
Most OTFers do the same classesat the same time, and so you're
already used to fitting it inlike a puzzle piece of your day.
So you know that you go to 6.15on Tuesday, thursdays, and then
you do this 8 am on Saturday.
So you are used to consistencyand that is already a recipe for
success with any training plan.
(04:57):
You also are now familiar withheart rate zones, which puts you
leaps and bounds above a lot ofrunners, and understanding what
the different zones feel like.
You are used to the visual cuesof when you're in an 85% versus
a 60% and what sort of thingswill get your heart rate up
there, and you're used tobreathing techniques to bring
(05:17):
your heart rate down, so that isgoing to put you ready and
raring to go.
And then also, when you'redoing these classes, you have a
coach there who's making surethat you aren't tweaking your
back by lifting something crazy,and they're coming over and
adjusting your form and givingyou lighter weight or heavier
weights to really help you makesure you don't hurt yourself
(05:39):
during class.
That way you can keep training.
And these elements just fitperfectly into any training plan
because they are the maincomponents of a training plan.
I truly believe that all theparts that you do in class fit
perfectly in.
So the only thing you need todo outside of this will be rest
(06:00):
and do a regular sort of outdoorrun.
So easy running.
Here's the part that people justfuck up every time they do a
training plan and they try tofit OTF in there.
They try to run outside likeyou run in class.
You get your, you strap yourwatch on your Apple watch, you
get your sneakers on and you say, okay, well, I got to run my
(06:21):
base pace for 10 miles.
You're not going to be able todo that A right away, and B
that's not the purpose of it.
The base pace does nottranslate to your easy pace
perfectly, and we'll go overthat one, but when you're
running outdoors, you need to beable to essentially sing along
with your playlist, you need tobe able to have a conversation,
and so this means you arespoiler alert going to be slower
(06:43):
than your base pace, and everytime I've tried to just run my
base pace outside, it doesn'ttranslate.
Your goal is to increase that,but your goal is to increase
that while keeping the heartrate zone at the same, and the
pace goes up.
So we know that.
Otf the way OTF fits into atraining plan is it is going to
count as your speed days, isgoing to count as your quick
(07:07):
days, and so the only other typeof run that you need to do
outside every time your feet gooutside to go for a run, you are
running at an easy pace and,don't worry, we'll go over what
how to kind of calculate youreasy pace.
But that's all you need to do,and those, those easy runs are
just going to increase indistance over time.
That's, that's it.
There's no's all you need to doand those easy runs are just
going to increase in distanceover time.
That's it.
There's nothing you need to do.
(07:28):
You don't need to set aninterval class and go to a track
and run quarter miles oranything like that.
The non-negotiable thing thatyou also have to add to your
training plan and it'sabsolutely required is at least
at minimum one rest day, andrest is where your body changes.
It's where all of the growth ismade.
(07:50):
And if you are doing these highintensity classes and then you
are also adding in long runs andyou're not resting, you're just
going to fuck yourself up andyou're just going to burn out.
There's really when you kind ofwant to think about.
When you're training for a,you're building your training
plan, you're thinking like whatdo I need to prioritize?
(08:12):
Life has gotten busy.
What things can I keep and whatthings can I?
You know just not going tohappen that week.
And the number one base of yourpyramid is your long easy runs.
Because even if you do classsix days a week and rest, you
will not be used to being onyour feet for that amount of
time, I can promise you.
You are going to be in a worldof hurt and you're going to get
(08:35):
into a dark place in your brainif you are not prioritizing your
long, easy runs, specificallythe long run.
At minimum, you need to berunning one long run a week.
That increases, if nothing else.
If you're doing classes and youcan only do one other run, that
one other run has to be anincreasing easy, long run.
It's just that important, handsdown.
(08:57):
I got nothing else to say aboutthat one.
Your next thing is not skippingout on rest, so you cannot
deprioritize rest in order toprioritize a power day.
Rest will never trump any ofthose items.
The next thing you want toprioritize if you have a choice
between the type of workouts youdo at class which we know we
don't, but sometimes we read itand see what's going to happen
(09:20):
is power days, and those aresimilar to a tempo type of run.
Those are the classes whereyou're running two or three or
four minute pushes, so it's aquick push, it's not an all out.
Those are helping you reallyincrease your aerobic or your
anaerobic capacity, and that iswhat you want to prioritize when
you're picking your classes.
And then I would then putbenchmarks, because, especially
(09:44):
the 12 minute run for distance,especially our one mile
benchmarks.
You can use those to estimateyour finish time and estimate
what your goal could be, andit's really a helpful tool to
use that most runners don't haveaccess to.
So if you know your one milebenchmark, you can plug that
(10:05):
into a variety of calculatorsthat I can provide for you at
the bottom of the show notes andyou plug that in and it gives
you an idea of if you ran thismile at 730,.
Here are your finish timepotentials for a half marathon,
assuming you train and you getthe ability to run on that for
that amount of distance.
And then the thing that you canprioritize the least it's
(10:26):
important, but it's not asimportant as rest or easy runs
is the speed days.
So those are those days whereyou're doing a bunch of all outs
.
I know we did one during theholidays, like many years ago,
which was like the 12 all outsof Christmas, and so it was just
12, 30 second all outs and, yes, you're able to get some really
crazy speeds, but those are theleast important of all of them.
(10:49):
So if you're, your week's goneto shit and you have to like
cross off days and I can't go tothis class do not cross off the
long run, cross off thebenchmark, don't cross off the
rest.
Cross off a speed day.
So that kind of helps youprioritize what is important and
what's not important.
And I know what you're thinking.
Well, what about my splatpoints?
Because I love OTF, I love thesplat points, I love the numbers
(11:12):
.
It's such a gamification.
But the goal is not to get 50points in a class, because the
goal is to get 12.
In a 60-minute class, 12 splatpoints is approximately 20%, and
I don't know if anyone else hasever heard of the 80-20 rule.
You see it in nutrition, yousee it in running, and the 80-20
(11:33):
rule it just means 80% of yourrun should be easy, 20% of your
run should be hard.
So you really don't want to begetting extra splat points on
your easy run because thenyou're going not in the 80-20
anymore.
Then those long runs turn intopart of the 20%.
That's not helpful, becauserest is where the magic happens.
It's where your body actuallygets stronger.
(11:55):
Some of the common pitfalls thatI have seen people who are
doing OTF and want to train fora half marathon, or are half
marathoners and start doing OTFthat was me and then want to
decide.
Now they want to train for arace is.
The first is going out too faston our outdoor runs.
And that is the biggest thingis you can't just step out the
(12:16):
door and think I'm just going togo my base pace.
That's my easy run.
Absolutely not.
You are not used to yes, we'resetting the incline at one
You're not used to the smallhills, the rolling hills, the
cracks in the sidewalk, the windresistance in your face to your
side paths, not being evenquick turns around corners.
So going out too fast on youroutdoor run is just going to add
(12:38):
more splat points and not keepyou in the right zones, and so
it's really not going to helpyou out in the long run by
trying to run those too fast,because I have run so many
outdoor long runs far too fastand then when I get to race day,
it doesn't translate.
It's so fucking annoying, butit's true.
The other pitfall is skippingrest days and doing active rest
(13:01):
days, doing green days, notresting at all, and it's not
going to help, it's just goingto make things worse.
It's also going to burn you outmentally.
And this is the queen of myhusband asking me hey, bridget,
when was the last time you tooka rest day?
That's a great question.
Looks at my Garmin calendar andI said 13 days ago yeah, maybe
(13:25):
you need to rest.
It doesn't matter if three ofthe days were easy runs and I
only ran three miles and I ranit at my easy pace.
Your muscles still worked, andso you need to make sure you're
prioritizing those rest days.
Your muscles still worked, andso you need to make sure you're
prioritizing those rest days.
(13:47):
Then, another big pitfall thatnew people do when they try to
train for a race is not adaptingand utilizing the Orange Theory
workouts to fit their needs.
And if you are like me andyou're a people pleaser or
you're a teacher's pet, you wantto follow the rules that are in
front of you.
Well, they say like okay, getthrough this strength portion as
quickly as possible to try andget to the bonus round, because
you get extra credit if you getto the bonus round extra credit
that nobody gives you and nobodycares about by adapting the
(14:09):
strength portion of your OrangeCherry workouts and slowing it
down and really using the mindmuscle connection, you are going
to get so much more out of itand those workouts are yours and
yours alone, as long as you arenot being a distraction to
others, there are ways to adaptthe workouts so it fits your
needs.
And if you need to jog therecoveries, lightly, jog the
(14:32):
recoveries.
If you need to go with alighter weight and just you're
not going to get through all themoves from the display, display
, that's fine.
It's really important that youmake that class fit for you.
I've learned that so many times.
I have definitely been like Igot through all of the I don't
know through all the moves, Igot to the bonus round, but I
(14:53):
moved so quickly that I didn'tgain any benefit from it.
So don't go too fast throughany of that sort of stuff and
really adapt the classes for youand pick them strategically to
fit what your needs are.
And I know you're wondering okay, well, great, I know what to
prioritize and I know which onesare more important.
(15:15):
But I'm looking at my calendarthis week and I don't know where
anything goes.
I don't know.
Do I do OTF first thing in theweek?
Do I run?
Is there a certain number ofdays that work?
How do you build up mileage?
You just said I needed toincrease my mileage how many,
how far, when?
And I've actually put togethera guide that has two different
(15:36):
ways, that I've done this before, and it breaks it down day by
day to kind of help you findyour best schedule or just give
you some starting ground on howto put and fit these all
together like a perfect littlepuzzle.
And the first thing that wedefinitely want to cover is
finding your easy pace, and myrule of thumb is you kind of
(15:57):
want to take whatever your basepace in class is and subtract
between a half a mile and a fullmile per hour, and I know that
sounds excessive, but this isjust so we can get you a
starting ground, just an idea ofwhat your easy pace is outside.
And there are people who arejust blessed and their base pace
is the same inside and outside.
(16:18):
But we're not going to startthere because we want to make
sure you're doing this safelyand the best way possible.
So if your current base pace is6.2, you want to start your
easy run at between a 5.2 and a5.7 miles per hour, and so an
easy way to kind of gut checkthis is your first week you'll
(16:38):
want to do like a 20 minute runand set your Garmin or your
Apple Watch to buzz at you whenyou're at a certain heart rate
zone and start at the lower endof that base pace and kind of
creep it up until you can findthe exact perfect spot that
keeps you between like the 65and the 75%.
So, right in that, you knowblue and green zone if you're
(17:01):
looking at your colors and Iknow you want to run in the high
green, so you're close toorange, but we want to keep them
lower in the green and even inthe blue for our easy pace and
that's really what's going tohelp build your endurance.
And the next thing you got todecide is how often do I go to
class?
If you're like when you're likeme, I was a diehard five days a
week.
That's really challenging to doif you're going to train for a
(17:24):
race because we, like I said, wedo need to prioritize some of
those longer runs.
So you got to kind of decide amI going to do it two times a
week?
Am I going to go three times aweek?
And keep in mind that yourminimum having one rest day but
let's assume that this is new toyou we want to add two into
here.
So we are choosing between twoor three OTF days a week with
two rest days.
And so you know, here's kind ofhow one way I would do it is if
(17:47):
I was going to do OTF two timesa week and let's, you know,
pick our first week this is weekone and we want to do OTF twice
and we're going to rest twice,and so that means we're going to
have three outdoor run days,which I think is a great minimum
number of outdoor run days isthree.
I think that really reallyhelps.
So on day one, let's say Monday,we're going to do class, and
(18:08):
then Tuesday we're going to runtwo miles at that easy below
base pace.
Wednesday we want to rest.
Thursday we want to go back toclass.
Friday we're going to do twomiles, and then Saturday we are
going to increase to do our longrun at three miles, and Sunday
we're going to rest.
And so that Saturday well,actually all of those runs will
slowly increase between youdon't want to increase them too
(18:30):
much.
So, like the next week, thatTuesday run will go to three
miles and we'll keep three milesfor a little bit, and then your
long run will slowly build upand slowly build up to somewhere
between 10 and 12 miles foryour longest run.
You can go up to 13, reallydealer's choice.
But you can make theseadjustments.
If you are not a Monday morningclass person or that coach
(18:51):
isn't for you or you love yourWednesday morning crew, adjust
those accordingly.
But really try not to do morethan three days in a row without
a rest day, ideally if you'restarting new at this, because
that's really going to help yourecover, especially if you can
do a rest day after your longrun.
That really is ideal and Iabsolutely have this completely
(19:12):
mapped out for you with a littleprintable just to make it kind
of easy on you, to give you someguidance and you can circle
them, move them around, justwill kind of help you know how
far to run, when and how tobuild up those long runs,
because that's really thebiggest part.
It's time for everyone'sfavorite part of the podcast.
It is the official dogs permile week count and this week I
(19:36):
had a freaking great week forrunning.
I ran 22 miles andunfortunately I only saw about
15 dogs, which means I got a 1.4average DPM, which is dogs per
mile, especially if you are newto the podcast or you're
unfamiliar with the dogs permile mindset.
So, for all the Orange Citypeople, dogs per mile is a super
(19:57):
real stat, 100% officiallyrecognized, where you see how
many dogs you see on your runsand you count them and then you
divide it by the number of milesto find out, on average, how
many dogs per mile you saw.
And it is absolutely createdfor fun, to help make those long
runs a little bit moreenjoyable, give you a little bit
of a distraction, and it is thestat that is perfect when all
(20:19):
other stats are failing you.
So this is a great tool to usefor you if you're starting out
with doing long runs.
Absolutely, I would love to knowyour dogs per mile that you've
seen and please share them withme.
I think it's just so fun.
Remember, you are already doingthe hard part.
You already have a consistentworkout routine.
(20:39):
You're already doing a reallyfucking hard workout, which is
OTF.
So we're just taking thosehabits and that consistency that
you've built and we're adding alittle bit more adventure with
some longer runs outside.
And, yeah, you can do both.
Absolutely, you don't need toquit class in order to train for
(21:00):
a half marathon.
You just need to make someadjustments, some adjustments
that I have outlined for you.
If you are ready to go beyondyour base pace, head on over to
the Dogs Per Mile website, whichis dogspermilecom, and you can
grab a free copy of thistraining plan.
(21:20):
I would love you to let me knowwhat race you're training for
and please just tag me any ofyour runs at dogspermile hashtag
dogspermile.
Thank you so much for listeningto today's episode talking
about how you can combine OrangeTheory with a half marathon
training plan.
I would love to support you inany way.
(21:40):
Keep me in your DMs, let meknow how is it going, what
questions you have, share yoursuccesses with me and, until
next time, keep running and keepcounting those dogs.
See ya.
Thanks for sharing another milewith me today.
(22:01):
Before you cool down, here arethree quick ways to stay
connected with our runningcommunity.
First, hit subscribe whereveryou're listening to this right
now.
It's the best way to make sureyou never miss an episode.
Second, if today's show helpedyou or inspired you, please
leave a review.
Your words help other runnersfind their way to our community.
Lastly, want more runningadventures?
Follow at Dogs Per Mile pod onInstagram, where I share daily
(22:24):
motivation, behind the scenesmoments and plenty of pictures
of my two running coaches, yogiand Maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag Dogs Per
Mile to share motivation behindthe scene moments and plenty of
pictures of my two runningcoaches, yogi and maple.
Be sure to tag me in your runphotos and use hashtag dogs per
mile to share your own dogspotting stats.
I love celebrating yourvictories, big and small, and
thank you for being a part ofthis journey.
Until our next run together,remember, every step forward is
progress and every dog you seeis bonus motivation.
(22:47):
Keep running, smiling and keepcounting those dogs.
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