January 30, 2025 • 26 mins
#128 - Are you a runner looking to level up your performance? Whether you're training for your first 5K or aiming to PR in your next half marathon, strategic training is key to becoming a faster, stronger runner; I share training techniques that can help you run faster and with more confidence.
We will break down essential training techniques that can transform your running game while guiding you through my personal journey of setting ambitious goals for 2025, having a well-rounded training plan, and addressing the mental aspect of training.
Topics Covered:
- The role strength training plays in your running performance
- How the right mindset can be the key to success
- The types of runs that help with speed and endurance
Your Host
Richard Conner
Richard is a strategic marketing professional with experience in B2B marketing. Richard is the founder of Inspire to Run and is passionate about helping others reach their goals. He is a Connecticut native, a husband, dad, writer, Star Wars fan, and, of course, a runner!
Resources:
- Incrediwear: Code for 10% off RICHARDCONNER
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, are you looking to improve your
running speed this year butdon't know where to start?
Or maybe you're struggling?
Maybe you're like I run all ofmy runs fast but I'm not getting
faster.
Well, I'm going to cover thatand talk a little bit about
endurance and mental toughnessas well.
I'll also share my personalexperience and endeavors as I
look to improve in all three ofthese areas this year, in hopes
(00:22):
that it helps you in yourjourney.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey, my friend, welcome to Inspired to Run
Podcast.
I hope you're doing well, as2025 is swiftly moving by and I
want to give you a little bit ofan update on my goals and my
training, but really also talkto you about how to get faster
as a runner, how to buildendurance and how to also build
mental toughness, and I have anumber of tips to share with you
(01:14):
, as well as my personalexperience.
But, just as a recap, some ofmy goals this year is well, the
first one is to get stronger andfaster, and while I admit it's
not a very smart goal, if youwill, it's somewhat specific and
somewhat time-based, but youknow my measurement around that
is really just to get faster inmy races, right so to be able to
(01:37):
PR in my 5K, 4-miler, 5-milerand half marathon, as well as
qualify for DECA WorldChampionships this year.
So there's a littlespecificness, I guess, in my
goals, but in general, what I'mlooking to do is get stronger
and faster this year, and it'ssomething I've struggled with,
(01:57):
at least over the last couple ofyears, because there's a whole
list of things that I should bedoing, but I really focused on,
I would say, the endurance part,because I really focused on, I
would say, the endurance part,because I was running longer
races, I was running halfmarathons these past few years,
which I never had done in mylife, and then last year I ran
my first marathon.
So I really prioritized workingon endurance but I deprioritized
(02:20):
some of the other areas justbecause I just felt like I
didn't have as much time to workout and fit in everything that
I needed and, honestly, thatkind of worked against me during
the year.
So this year I said you knowwhat I'm going to start the year
right, I'm going to build myplan.
So I have a more holistic planand I'm going to address all of
these things in terms of gettingfaster, getting stronger and
(02:45):
still maintaining the endurancethat I built and also kind of
building that mental toughness.
So what I love to do is sharewith you some of the things that
I'm working on and some of thethings that I think I do pretty
well and kind of how I do it,and again, in hopes that it
helps you.
And I'm really excited becauseI have a couple of races that
are coming up very soon, so I'mreally excited to kind of see
(03:06):
where I am as I kick off theyear and what I need to do to
get better during the year.
So the first one is and, by theway, none of these are going to
be groundbreaking new foranybody.
I think it's a matter of beingreminded of, kind of what's
important in your training andsome tips on how to do that.
So the first one is aroundstrength training.
(03:29):
So, again, not groundbreaking,but this is really going to help
you with your power, it's goingto help you with your form when
you're running and it's goingto help prevent injuries, but
it's really important toimplement strength training as
part of your workouts.
So, again, I was running 30miles a week when I was peaking
(03:50):
for my marathon training and Ijust felt like I was putting in
so many miles and so much time.
I didn't have a lot of time forstrength training, so I was
very inconsistent with it, kindof throughout the year.
So this is something that Imade a priority for this year.
So, kind of ending 2024, movinginto 2025, I said you know what?
I'm just going to plan my weeks, starting with the strength
(04:15):
training and then build back inmy miles as things progress.
And that's exactly what I'vedone and I feel great.
I feel stronger, I feel like mykind of base has been restored
and now I can kind of go fromthere and build in more miles
each week as I build up for myraces.
So what do you do for yourstrength training?
(04:36):
I mean you could focus on legexercises and core and hip
exercises, which makes a lot ofsense for runners.
But I take a more holisticapproach, which was taught to me
by my coach.
So you know I'm working all themajor muscle groups.
You know I'm doing full bodyworkouts and I don't only focus
(04:57):
on leg but I do make sure thatit's like it gets the time and
attention that it needs and Ihave the appropriate training
for that.
And, like I said, in terms oftime timing, I will build in my
schedule according to mystrength first, and then I'll
fit in my running as part ofthat.
But as time progresses and Ifeel like I've built a good base
(05:18):
, you know, then I'll start tokind of combine my strength
training.
So I've made you, instead offour days a week I may cut it
down to three days a week andthen I allow more time for my
runs and then I may start toprioritize or cut down on some
of the actual exercises that Ido to focus on what's important,
but really more so to have thatholistic approach to my
(05:42):
strength training.
So for me, that's number one.
For me, that's non-negotiable,and I feel like I'm personally
off to a great start for theyear.
But it's really important foryou to have your strength
training as part of your workoutand if you're relatively new to
running, this is actually a loteasier to fit in.
So if you follow, let's say,like a couch to 5k program,
(06:04):
there's going to be three orfour days of running.
There's probably going to be acouple of days of active rest
and recovery and then you haveone day of rest.
So for those active days andrecovery, those are days where
you can get in your strengthtraining or you could get in
cross training.
But I would recommendprioritize your strength
training and then you can alsoget in your cross-training on
(06:27):
other days.
Next is incorporate intervaltraining, or also known as speed
work.
So this helps improve runningspeed by training the body to
run faster.
And you may say well, I'malready doing that, right, I'm
already doing all my runs fast,and this is not me saying do
every run as interval trainingor a speed work, but you need to
(06:49):
build that into your workout,and then I'll talk about other
types of runs that you need todo.
So for me personally, I do onespeed work day a week and what I
try to do is 500 meter sprints,and I try to do them faster
than my race pace, than my 5Krace pace.
So my 5K race pace is abouteight minute miles and what I
(07:11):
try to do is probably aroundseven and a half minute miles or
745, just kind of depending onhow I'm feeling.
So right now I'm probablycloser to that eight minute mile
as I'm building these back intomy workout.
But you really want to do thoseas fast as you feel like you
can do it.
I personally try to do itfaster than my race pace.
So this is something thatyou'll need to figure out what
(07:35):
works for you, but the idea isthat you're running it faster
than your normal kind of runningspeed to train your body to run
faster.
Now I also like to do theseworkouts on the treadmill.
For me, I feel like thetreadmill keeps me accountable,
so if I do it on the track or ifI do it on the road, number one
(07:55):
, I may do it faster than Ireally want and then it's not
sustainable and it's hard for meto finish my workout, or I
might do it too slow, I'm notpushing myself hard enough and
then I'm not getting the fullbenefit of it.
So running on a treadmill isnot always easy to do, and
especially if you're doing speedwork.
But for me I really like doingit because I can dial in the
(08:17):
specific speed I wanna do andthen it holds me accountable
because that treadmill is justgonna keep going right.
So I wanna make sure I keep up.
So that, for me, works reallyreally well.
And the other thing to keep inmind is, you know, when I'm
doing speed work and when you'redoing speed work it's a hard
workout, right?
You're pushing your body to runfaster, move faster than you
(08:38):
normally do, so it ends up beinga hard workout.
And I want to make sure that Icomplete it, that I put in my
full effort into that workoutand I complete it.
So I may not do any strengthtraining that day, or I may do
just light strength first, so Ihave the energy and the will to
go ahead and do my speed work.
(08:58):
So I go out and I do you know a45 minute strength training
session, and then I try to dospeed work Like I'm not going to
have the energy or the desireto do it.
Know a 45-minute strengthtraining session and then I try
to do speed work like I'm notgoing to have the energy or the
desire to do it.
So that's kind of how I manageinterval training or speed work.
Now the next workout is yourlong, steady state runs for
(09:19):
endurance.
So again, you know, if you'redoing all of your runs, hard
runs, really fast, you need tothink about scaling back some of
those runs, and this is one runto do that.
So you're going to run theselong runs, you're going to run
it at a slower pace and that'sgoing to help you build your
stamina and it's something thatyou're going to gradually build
(09:40):
to over time.
So for you, if your long run is, let's say, three miles, right,
you're not going to go out thenext day and run 10 miles.
You're going to build up thoselong runs gradually over time,
week over week, and that's whatI've done.
So I've done, when I trainedfor my first half marathon and
then for my full marathon, mylong runs went from eight miles
(10:03):
one week for my long run, ninemiles.
The next 10 miles for the weekafter that and kind of
progressed from there, dependingon what I was training for.
And that's how I built my base.
And for me, you know, I havebeen training based on heart
rate over the last few years.
So for me that's a zone two runis what I try to stay in and
(10:24):
honestly, I wish I knew thiswhen I did my first half
marathon, because I was probablyrunning all of those runs
faster and harder than I neededto and it probably didn't give
me as much benefit.
So for me I know my heart ratezones.
I train in zone two to the bestof my ability, especially for
my Sunday long runs, and it'sactually kind of fun.
(10:47):
I get out there on a Sunday.
I have my favorite trail that Irun on.
I may put on my music, I've gotmy gels, I've got my hydration
and I just go out there at myeasy pace at my zone two pace I
may run.
My 5K is an eight-minute mile,so I'll try to do my long runs.
(11:08):
Maybe around 11-minute miles isabout a zone two for me, so I
try to keep it there Then.
That's what I do, just about acouple of weeks I'll start to do
my build, where I get back tomy long runs on Sundays, kind of
at that zone to heart rate.
So again, instead of running allof your runs hard and fast, you
(11:30):
can do one of your runs as kindof that long endurance run to
complement your workout.
The next one is a tempo run.
So the tempo run can helpimprove your lactate threshold
and this run is kind of inbetween what we just talked
about, right?
So you have your long run thatyou're running slow, your easy
run at a zone two pace, and thenyou have your speed workout.
(11:52):
So this one's kind of inbetween.
So you're going to run at apace that's slightly faster than
your usual but you need to beable to sustain that pace.
So whatever feels comfortablefor you.
So again, you know, if you'retraining by heart rate training,
for me I tend to do like a zonethree as my base and then I may
flow up to a zone four for myheart rate training and that's
(12:13):
what I would do for my temperrun.
So if I do like an eight minute5k, you know, 11 minute per
mile is my zone two.
Nine to 10 minute miles is likethat zone three, zone four for
me.
So I just kind of keep an eye onmy watch.
I use Polar and it hasexcellent heart rate monitor.
(12:34):
That goes with it.
I love the display, the userinterface For me.
I love Polar.
I know there's a lot of otherpopular watches out there, but
this is the one that I use andit works really well, especially
for this heart rate training.
Now I prefer to run the Temporuns outdoors because, again,
for me, these tend to be alittle bit longer, so they tend
(12:55):
to be a little bit longer thanan hour For me.
An hour is kind of my cutofffor treadmill runs.
But I will do this kind ofworkout on a treadmill if I also
need to do strength.
So I'll just go and I'll justdo my strength workout first and
then I'll hop on the treadmilland then I'll do this run.
But again, my preference is andI'm going to do it outdoors I'm
(13:25):
going to do it outdoors.
The next one is hill training.
So you're going to use hilltraining for strength and speed
and this is really importantbecause it's going to help you
build explosive power andimprove your running economy,
and this is really best if yourun it outdoors, especially if
you have nice hills in your area.
I have some hills are not greatto do kind of hill training and
then if I want to go to to doother hills or a little bit
(13:47):
farther away.
So I tend not to do themoutdoors but I do sometimes.
So if you have that option, Iwould say, do that outdoors.
If you don't, you know,treadmills have a cool hills
workout feature that I usesometimes.
So that's super helpful becausethen I could do it at my home
gym or I could do it if I'mtraveling and I don't know the
(14:09):
area very well, then I couldjust hop on the treadmill and
then I could use that kind ofhills workout feature.
And this is really importantbecause a friend of mine told me
that running hills was thesingle most effective type of
training that improved hisperformance, and that was very
telling.
And it's something that Iincorporate sometimes in my
workout.
(14:29):
But to be honest, I'm notconsistent at all with doing
hills as part of my workout.
So this is something that I'mtrying to do better this year
and something that I wouldrecommend that you incorporate
as part of your workout as well.
The next one is cross-training,just for your overall fitness,
(14:49):
and you know we talked aboutthis in a previous episode that
cross-training helps you in alot of different areas, but one
of the areas that it helps youis reducing the risk of burnout.
So I shared my story, you know,late last year and we've had
some guests on the show to talkabout it as well.
So cross training is a reallyimportant part of your overall
(15:09):
fitness.
So cross training is obviouslycould be strength training if
you're a runner, but it couldalso be cycling, it could be
swimming and it could be otherthings.
And you could see that I have aPeloton bike that I bought to
help me with my cross training,but I also do workouts specific
to Spartan Deca.
So for me, that also becomes mycross training, which is super
(15:32):
helpful because I feel like itreally helps and complements my
road riding.
So that's something that I amreally excited about this year
because, you know, in the past Ifelt like I tried to do two
different things, or too manydifferent things, and I didn't
get really good at any of them.
So this year I'm really focusedon my road races 5K, four-miler
(15:54):
, five-miler, two half marathonsand then, as well as my DECA
races, which, you know, thosetwo complement each other
because there's, you know,running and DECA, and then the
training for DECA serves asreally good cross training for
my road races.
Next is work on your mentalvisualization.
So you want to visualize thoserace day scenarios or tough
(16:19):
workouts to mentally prepare forthose challenges.
And I'll tell you that, youknow, I don't realize this often
, but I do tend to have a lot ofnegative thoughts.
So this really helps me thinkabout, like, if I'm doing my
workouts or if I'm doing myspeed work.
Think about, you know, this iswhat's going to help me on race
day, right, by doing thisspecific exercise or the
(16:43):
specific speed work.
It's going to help me in thesedifferent races that I'm doing,
and I'm going to visualize kindof what that day is going to
look like.
So I'm going to show up, I'mgoing to feel great, I've, you
know, rested well, I've hydratedwell and I'm going to perform
well on that day.
So it's really important to do,you know, have that
visualization kind of ahead oftime, and it's something that,
(17:06):
again, admittedly, I don't dovery well and it's something
that I am working on this year.
The next one is around mindfulbreathing techniques, and this
one's really interesting because, uh, uh, I tend to breathe with
my mouth and I was justactually reflecting on this.
You know, sometimes when I'm inraces, runners would turn
around and they would look at meand I'm thinking, you know,
(17:29):
maybe they just hear me coming,but I realized it's just because
they're probably breathing in avery chaotic way.
So I've been a littleself-conscious about that.
But, you know, having goodbreathing techniques is just
going to help you have betteroxygen intake, especially when
you're breathing through yournose in a controlled way.
And that's something that I'venot done a very good job of over
(17:52):
the years.
And there's a number of devicesout there that can help you.
We talked about one on the showa couple of years ago, and what
I've just been doing is I'vereally just been practicing
breathing through my nose.
You know, even when I'm notrunning like a easy pace at a
zone two pace, even when I'mrunning at faster paces, being
(18:12):
thoughtful and intentional aboutbreathing through my nose, and
I'm actually kind of excited.
So this is an area that I'veactually gotten a lot better at.
You know, of course, if you'rerunning zone five and you're
running your heart out, that's'sreally hard to do.
But if you're running that easypace at zone two, zone three,
zone four, you could definitelypractice breathing through your
(18:33):
nose, having the betterbreathing techniques, and it is
going to be better for youroxygen intake.
So there's benefits in doing so, not just so you don't sound
like a noisy breather, like memouth breather, you know, when
I'm running my races.
But I'm very excited about thisbecause I feel like I've gotten
a lot better and it hasdefinitely helped me kind of
(18:54):
with my performance.
And some of the tips and trickswe talked about on the show was,
you know, there's a lot ofdifferent things that you could
do.
I haven't necessarily tried anyof these, but these are
techniques that you know othershave talked about.
Sometimes they have.
You know, if you just take alittle sip of your water or
hydration and just kind of holdthat, you know that kind of
(19:15):
helps you keep your mouth closed, you're breathing through your
nose, and I'm sure there's a lotof other.
You know techniques that peopletalk about again that I've not
personally used, but there's alot of things that you can
research in terms of breathingthrough your nose.
But honestly I would just say,just do it, just keep your mouth
closed when you're running,start at a slow pace and then do
(19:37):
it as you build up your speedand then continue to breathe
through your nose.
The next one I absolutely lovethis topic.
It's consistent recovery andsleep, because I absolutely love
to sleep and this is an areawhere I think I do a pretty good
job of, you know, recoveringand sleeping.
(19:59):
But I may have mentioned beforethat I don't, I didn't feel
like I got restful sleep.
So what I've done over the lastyear or so is I bought an Oura
Ring which has really helped mekind of monitor my vitals and
helped me understand when am Igetting good rest or good sleep
and when I'm not, and then helpsme reflect on well, why not?
(20:21):
What did I do the night beforethat prevented me from getting
good sleep?
Maybe I had alcohol, maybe Iate dinner too late, maybe I
wasn't hydrated, maybe I wastraveling.
There's a whole host of thingsthat you could do that will
interrupt your sleep or causeyou not to have good sleep, and
you can't necessarily preventall of these things.
(20:43):
But what I love about it, itmakes me actively think about
those things and then it helpsme make better decisions going
forward to make sure that Ioptimize and I get the best
sleep, and it's worked outreally, really well for me to
have the Oura Ring and get allthat information.
Now you could also do that withyour running watch, so I've did
(21:11):
that in the past.
I use my running watch for that.
It doesn't give you as muchinformation, but it's still
pretty good.
The reason why I don't use myrunning watch is just because I
kind of sleep on my arm and thewatch gets in the way and I just
don't like to do it.
So that's why the Oura Ringworked out so so much better for
me.
It's far more comfortable forme.
But if you want to use yourrunning watch or your Apple
Watch or whatever the case is,it's going to give you pretty
good information.
Again, it's only going to behelpful if you reflect on if you
(21:34):
got good sleep, think about why.
If you didn't get good sleep,also think about why and start
to make adjustments in your lifeto optimize to get good sleep
adjustments in your life tooptimize to get good sleep.
Now, in terms of the recoverypart, you know, in terms of
stretching, I use so I do thatsometimes and foam rolling.
(21:54):
I use an IncrediWear sleeve formy knee.
I've got some challenges withmy knee so I use that and that's
super helpful.
I also get massages, which inthe past I didn't like to do,
but that's also, you know, veryhelpful as well, especially as I
was doing very demandingworkouts and very demanding
races.
The massages would help me aspart of my recovery.
So consistent recovery andsleep is definitely a way to
(22:17):
help improve your performance.
Get better, get faster, improveyour endurance, so on and so
forth.
Get better, get faster, improveyour endurance, so on and so
forth.
And then the last one is aroundpositive self-talk.
So I mentioned this before, butI know this about myself, that
I tend to have a lot of negativethoughts and I tend to have,
like that negative self-talk.
Sometimes I verbalize it andsometimes, even recently, I've
(22:40):
been called out about it on that, which kind of caught me by
surprise, because I tend tothink of myself as a pretty
positive and optimistic person.
But when it comes to me, and itcomes specifically to, let's
say, physical or sports relatedactivities, I tend to have, more
often than not, have thosenegative thoughts.
And you may have heard thissaying you know, your attitude
(23:01):
determines your altitude, whichyou know is paraphrased from Zig
Ziglar and it's so so true.
Like if you have negativethoughts, if you don't think you
can, then that is going tomanifest itself into your
outcomes, into the things thatyou're doing.
And this is the journey thatI've been on over the last few
years is to go from the thingsthat I couldn't do, or thought I
(23:22):
couldn't do, to actually doingthem.
And you know this is I've madea lot of progress, I'm more
positive, I say self-talk, butit's still a lot of the negative
thoughts are still kind ofthere.
So that's something that I'mstill actively working on.
But it's something you want tobe mindful as well.
And I can tell you what some ofmy best races you can correlate
(23:43):
with me having a positive andupbeat attitude, going into the
race Like I feel good, I'm goingto do well, I trained well, I
hydrated well and I know I coulddo it.
So those times I could tell youthat I've had some of my best
races where I really felt good.
And then other times where Ididn't feel as good, maybe
(24:07):
mentally, I just wasn't reallythere you could tell in the
outcome of those races.
So those are the tips that Iwanted to share with you as kind
of the year is just gettingkicked off and I'm trying to
achieve my goals of gettingstronger and faster.
That will lead to good outcomesin the races this year.
And if you have those similargoals and you're looking for
ways to improve, here are someof the ways that you can improve
(24:30):
, you know, other than justrunning all of your runs really,
really fast or doing all yourworkouts really hard.
Like really having thatbalanced approach across.
All these things are going tohelp you, you know, get faster
as a runner as well as improveyour endurance as well as your
mindset.
So that's what I'm working on.
I have my first few races of theyear that's coming up soon.
(24:52):
The first one's on Super BowlSunday.
I'm trying not to take them tooseriously because it's the
start of the year, so it's alittle bit of a reset as I'm
getting going.
But the nice thing is thatthey'll gauge where I am at this
point in my training this earlyin the year and tell me how I
need to adjust and kind ofimprove as I continue through my
(25:13):
other races, as we kind of movethrough the year.
So I hope all this was helpful.
You know, what I wanted to dois have more episodes where I'm
sharing more tips and tricks andbest practices, but also share
my own personal experience andhopes that it helps you in your
journey.
So with that, I appreciate youlistening, tuning in and
listening and if you're racingsoon, I wish you well in those
(25:37):
races and, with that, have agood day.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
That's it for this episode ofinspire to run podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, are you looking to improve your
running speed this year butdon't know where to start?
Or maybe you're struggling?
Maybe you're like I run all ofmy runs fast but I'm not getting
faster.
Well, I'm going to cover thatand talk a little bit about
endurance and mental toughnessas well.
I'll also share my personalexperience and endeavors as I
look to improve in all three ofthese areas this year, in hopes
(00:22):
that it helps you in yourjourney.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey, my friend, welcome to Inspired to Run
Podcast.
I hope you're doing well, as2025 is swiftly moving by and I
want to give you a little bit ofan update on my goals and my
training, but really also talkto you about how to get faster
as a runner, how to buildendurance and how to also build
mental toughness, and I have anumber of tips to share with you
(01:14):
, as well as my personalexperience.
But, just as a recap, some ofmy goals this year is well, the
first one is to get stronger andfaster, and while I admit it's
not a very smart goal, if youwill, it's somewhat specific and
somewhat time-based, but youknow my measurement around that
is really just to get faster inmy races, right so to be able to
(01:37):
PR in my 5K, 4-miler, 5-milerand half marathon, as well as
qualify for DECA WorldChampionships this year.
So there's a littlespecificness, I guess, in my
goals, but in general, what I'mlooking to do is get stronger
and faster this year, and it'ssomething I've struggled with,
(01:57):
at least over the last couple ofyears, because there's a whole
list of things that I should bedoing, but I really focused on,
I would say, the endurance part,because I really focused on, I
would say, the endurance part,because I was running longer
races, I was running halfmarathons these past few years,
which I never had done in mylife, and then last year I ran
my first marathon.
So I really prioritized workingon endurance but I deprioritized
(02:20):
some of the other areas justbecause I just felt like I
didn't have as much time to workout and fit in everything that
I needed and, honestly, thatkind of worked against me during
the year.
So this year I said you knowwhat I'm going to start the year
right, I'm going to build myplan.
So I have a more holistic planand I'm going to address all of
these things in terms of gettingfaster, getting stronger and
(02:45):
still maintaining the endurancethat I built and also kind of
building that mental toughness.
So what I love to do is sharewith you some of the things that
I'm working on and some of thethings that I think I do pretty
well and kind of how I do it,and again, in hopes that it
helps you.
And I'm really excited becauseI have a couple of races that
are coming up very soon, so I'mreally excited to kind of see
(03:06):
where I am as I kick off theyear and what I need to do to
get better during the year.
So the first one is and, by theway, none of these are going to
be groundbreaking new foranybody.
I think it's a matter of beingreminded of, kind of what's
important in your training andsome tips on how to do that.
So the first one is aroundstrength training.
(03:29):
So, again, not groundbreaking,but this is really going to help
you with your power, it's goingto help you with your form when
you're running and it's goingto help prevent injuries, but
it's really important toimplement strength training as
part of your workouts.
So, again, I was running 30miles a week when I was peaking
(03:50):
for my marathon training and Ijust felt like I was putting in
so many miles and so much time.
I didn't have a lot of time forstrength training, so I was
very inconsistent with it, kindof throughout the year.
So this is something that Imade a priority for this year.
So, kind of ending 2024, movinginto 2025, I said you know what?
I'm just going to plan my weeks, starting with the strength
(04:15):
training and then build back inmy miles as things progress.
And that's exactly what I'vedone and I feel great.
I feel stronger, I feel like mykind of base has been restored
and now I can kind of go fromthere and build in more miles
each week as I build up for myraces.
So what do you do for yourstrength training?
(04:36):
I mean you could focus on legexercises and core and hip
exercises, which makes a lot ofsense for runners.
But I take a more holisticapproach, which was taught to me
by my coach.
So you know I'm working all themajor muscle groups.
You know I'm doing full bodyworkouts and I don't only focus
(04:57):
on leg but I do make sure thatit's like it gets the time and
attention that it needs and Ihave the appropriate training
for that.
And, like I said, in terms oftime timing, I will build in my
schedule according to mystrength first, and then I'll
fit in my running as part ofthat.
But as time progresses and Ifeel like I've built a good base
(05:18):
, you know, then I'll start tokind of combine my strength
training.
So I've made you, instead offour days a week I may cut it
down to three days a week andthen I allow more time for my
runs and then I may start toprioritize or cut down on some
of the actual exercises that Ido to focus on what's important,
but really more so to have thatholistic approach to my
(05:42):
strength training.
So for me, that's number one.
For me, that's non-negotiable,and I feel like I'm personally
off to a great start for theyear.
But it's really important foryou to have your strength
training as part of your workoutand if you're relatively new to
running, this is actually a loteasier to fit in.
So if you follow, let's say,like a couch to 5k program,
(06:04):
there's going to be three orfour days of running.
There's probably going to be acouple of days of active rest
and recovery and then you haveone day of rest.
So for those active days andrecovery, those are days where
you can get in your strengthtraining or you could get in
cross training.
But I would recommendprioritize your strength
training and then you can alsoget in your cross-training on
(06:27):
other days.
Next is incorporate intervaltraining, or also known as speed
work.
So this helps improve runningspeed by training the body to
run faster.
And you may say well, I'malready doing that, right, I'm
already doing all my runs fast,and this is not me saying do
every run as interval trainingor a speed work, but you need to
(06:49):
build that into your workout,and then I'll talk about other
types of runs that you need todo.
So for me personally, I do onespeed work day a week and what I
try to do is 500 meter sprints,and I try to do them faster
than my race pace, than my 5Krace pace.
So my 5K race pace is abouteight minute miles and what I
(07:11):
try to do is probably aroundseven and a half minute miles or
745, just kind of depending onhow I'm feeling.
So right now I'm probablycloser to that eight minute mile
as I'm building these back intomy workout.
But you really want to do thoseas fast as you feel like you
can do it.
I personally try to do itfaster than my race pace.
So this is something thatyou'll need to figure out what
(07:35):
works for you, but the idea isthat you're running it faster
than your normal kind of runningspeed to train your body to run
faster.
Now I also like to do theseworkouts on the treadmill.
For me, I feel like thetreadmill keeps me accountable,
so if I do it on the track or ifI do it on the road, number one
(07:55):
, I may do it faster than Ireally want and then it's not
sustainable and it's hard for meto finish my workout, or I
might do it too slow, I'm notpushing myself hard enough and
then I'm not getting the fullbenefit of it.
So running on a treadmill isnot always easy to do, and
especially if you're doing speedwork.
But for me I really like doingit because I can dial in the
(08:17):
specific speed I wanna do andthen it holds me accountable
because that treadmill is justgonna keep going right.
So I wanna make sure I keep up.
So that, for me, works reallyreally well.
And the other thing to keep inmind is, you know, when I'm
doing speed work and when you'redoing speed work it's a hard
workout, right?
You're pushing your body to runfaster, move faster than you
(08:38):
normally do, so it ends up beinga hard workout.
And I want to make sure that Icomplete it, that I put in my
full effort into that workoutand I complete it.
So I may not do any strengthtraining that day, or I may do
just light strength first, so Ihave the energy and the will to
go ahead and do my speed work.
(08:58):
So I go out and I do you know a45 minute strength training
session, and then I try to dospeed work Like I'm not going to
have the energy or the desireto do it.
Know a 45-minute strengthtraining session and then I try
to do speed work like I'm notgoing to have the energy or the
desire to do it.
So that's kind of how I manageinterval training or speed work.
Now the next workout is yourlong, steady state runs for
(09:19):
endurance.
So again, you know, if you'redoing all of your runs, hard
runs, really fast, you need tothink about scaling back some of
those runs, and this is one runto do that.
So you're going to run theselong runs, you're going to run
it at a slower pace and that'sgoing to help you build your
stamina and it's something thatyou're going to gradually build
(09:40):
to over time.
So for you, if your long run is, let's say, three miles, right,
you're not going to go out thenext day and run 10 miles.
You're going to build up thoselong runs gradually over time,
week over week, and that's whatI've done.
So I've done, when I trainedfor my first half marathon and
then for my full marathon, mylong runs went from eight miles
(10:03):
one week for my long run, ninemiles.
The next 10 miles for the weekafter that and kind of
progressed from there, dependingon what I was training for.
And that's how I built my base.
And for me, you know, I havebeen training based on heart
rate over the last few years.
So for me that's a zone two runis what I try to stay in and
(10:24):
honestly, I wish I knew thiswhen I did my first half
marathon, because I was probablyrunning all of those runs
faster and harder than I neededto and it probably didn't give
me as much benefit.
So for me I know my heart ratezones.
I train in zone two to the bestof my ability, especially for
my Sunday long runs, and it'sactually kind of fun.
(10:47):
I get out there on a Sunday.
I have my favorite trail that Irun on.
I may put on my music, I've gotmy gels, I've got my hydration
and I just go out there at myeasy pace at my zone two pace I
may run.
My 5K is an eight-minute mile,so I'll try to do my long runs.
(11:08):
Maybe around 11-minute miles isabout a zone two for me, so I
try to keep it there Then.
That's what I do, just about acouple of weeks I'll start to do
my build, where I get back tomy long runs on Sundays, kind of
at that zone to heart rate.
So again, instead of running allof your runs hard and fast, you
(11:30):
can do one of your runs as kindof that long endurance run to
complement your workout.
The next one is a tempo run.
So the tempo run can helpimprove your lactate threshold
and this run is kind of inbetween what we just talked
about, right?
So you have your long run thatyou're running slow, your easy
run at a zone two pace, and thenyou have your speed workout.
(11:52):
So this one's kind of inbetween.
So you're going to run at apace that's slightly faster than
your usual but you need to beable to sustain that pace.
So whatever feels comfortablefor you.
So again, you know, if you'retraining by heart rate training,
for me I tend to do like a zonethree as my base and then I may
flow up to a zone four for myheart rate training and that's
(12:13):
what I would do for my temperrun.
So if I do like an eight minute5k, you know, 11 minute per
mile is my zone two.
Nine to 10 minute miles is likethat zone three, zone four for
me.
So I just kind of keep an eye onmy watch.
I use Polar and it hasexcellent heart rate monitor.
(12:34):
That goes with it.
I love the display, the userinterface For me.
I love Polar.
I know there's a lot of otherpopular watches out there, but
this is the one that I use andit works really well, especially
for this heart rate training.
Now I prefer to run the Temporuns outdoors because, again,
for me, these tend to be alittle bit longer, so they tend
(12:55):
to be a little bit longer thanan hour For me.
An hour is kind of my cutofffor treadmill runs.
But I will do this kind ofworkout on a treadmill if I also
need to do strength.
So I'll just go and I'll justdo my strength workout first and
then I'll hop on the treadmilland then I'll do this run.
But again, my preference is andI'm going to do it outdoors I'm
(13:25):
going to do it outdoors.
The next one is hill training.
So you're going to use hilltraining for strength and speed
and this is really importantbecause it's going to help you
build explosive power andimprove your running economy,
and this is really best if yourun it outdoors, especially if
you have nice hills in your area.
I have some hills are not greatto do kind of hill training and
then if I want to go to to doother hills or a little bit
(13:47):
farther away.
So I tend not to do themoutdoors but I do sometimes.
So if you have that option, Iwould say, do that outdoors.
If you don't, you know,treadmills have a cool hills
workout feature that I usesometimes.
So that's super helpful becausethen I could do it at my home
gym or I could do it if I'mtraveling and I don't know the
(14:09):
area very well, then I couldjust hop on the treadmill and
then I could use that kind ofhills workout feature.
And this is really importantbecause a friend of mine told me
that running hills was thesingle most effective type of
training that improved hisperformance, and that was very
telling.
And it's something that Iincorporate sometimes in my
workout.
(14:29):
But to be honest, I'm notconsistent at all with doing
hills as part of my workout.
So this is something that I'mtrying to do better this year
and something that I wouldrecommend that you incorporate
as part of your workout as well.
The next one is cross-training,just for your overall fitness,
(14:49):
and you know we talked aboutthis in a previous episode that
cross-training helps you in alot of different areas, but one
of the areas that it helps youis reducing the risk of burnout.
So I shared my story, you know,late last year and we've had
some guests on the show to talkabout it as well.
So cross training is a reallyimportant part of your overall
(15:09):
fitness.
So cross training is obviouslycould be strength training if
you're a runner, but it couldalso be cycling, it could be
swimming and it could be otherthings.
And you could see that I have aPeloton bike that I bought to
help me with my cross training,but I also do workouts specific
to Spartan Deca.
So for me, that also becomes mycross training, which is super
(15:32):
helpful because I feel like itreally helps and complements my
road riding.
So that's something that I amreally excited about this year
because, you know, in the past Ifelt like I tried to do two
different things, or too manydifferent things, and I didn't
get really good at any of them.
So this year I'm really focusedon my road races 5K, four-miler
(15:54):
, five-miler, two half marathonsand then, as well as my DECA
races, which, you know, thosetwo complement each other
because there's, you know,running and DECA, and then the
training for DECA serves asreally good cross training for
my road races.
Next is work on your mentalvisualization.
So you want to visualize thoserace day scenarios or tough
(16:19):
workouts to mentally prepare forthose challenges.
And I'll tell you that, youknow, I don't realize this often
, but I do tend to have a lot ofnegative thoughts.
So this really helps me thinkabout, like, if I'm doing my
workouts or if I'm doing myspeed work.
Think about, you know, this iswhat's going to help me on race
day, right, by doing thisspecific exercise or the
(16:43):
specific speed work.
It's going to help me in thesedifferent races that I'm doing,
and I'm going to visualize kindof what that day is going to
look like.
So I'm going to show up, I'mgoing to feel great, I've, you
know, rested well, I've hydratedwell and I'm going to perform
well on that day.
So it's really important to do,you know, have that
visualization kind of ahead oftime, and it's something that,
(17:06):
again, admittedly, I don't dovery well and it's something
that I am working on this year.
The next one is around mindfulbreathing techniques, and this
one's really interesting because, uh, uh, I tend to breathe with
my mouth and I was justactually reflecting on this.
You know, sometimes when I'm inraces, runners would turn
around and they would look at meand I'm thinking, you know,
(17:29):
maybe they just hear me coming,but I realized it's just because
they're probably breathing in avery chaotic way.
So I've been a littleself-conscious about that.
But, you know, having goodbreathing techniques is just
going to help you have betteroxygen intake, especially when
you're breathing through yournose in a controlled way.
And that's something that I'venot done a very good job of over
(17:52):
the years.
And there's a number of devicesout there that can help you.
We talked about one on the showa couple of years ago, and what
I've just been doing is I'vereally just been practicing
breathing through my nose.
You know, even when I'm notrunning like a easy pace at a
zone two pace, even when I'mrunning at faster paces, being
(18:12):
thoughtful and intentional aboutbreathing through my nose, and
I'm actually kind of excited.
So this is an area that I'veactually gotten a lot better at.
You know, of course, if you'rerunning zone five and you're
running your heart out, that's'sreally hard to do.
But if you're running that easypace at zone two, zone three,
zone four, you could definitelypractice breathing through your
(18:33):
nose, having the betterbreathing techniques, and it is
going to be better for youroxygen intake.
So there's benefits in doing so, not just so you don't sound
like a noisy breather, like memouth breather, you know, when
I'm running my races.
But I'm very excited about thisbecause I feel like I've gotten
a lot better and it hasdefinitely helped me kind of
(18:54):
with my performance.
And some of the tips and trickswe talked about on the show was,
you know, there's a lot ofdifferent things that you could
do.
I haven't necessarily tried anyof these, but these are
techniques that you know othershave talked about.
Sometimes they have.
You know, if you just take alittle sip of your water or
hydration and just kind of holdthat, you know that kind of
(19:15):
helps you keep your mouth closed, you're breathing through your
nose, and I'm sure there's a lotof other.
You know techniques that peopletalk about again that I've not
personally used, but there's alot of things that you can
research in terms of breathingthrough your nose.
But honestly I would just say,just do it, just keep your mouth
closed when you're running,start at a slow pace and then do
(19:37):
it as you build up your speedand then continue to breathe
through your nose.
The next one I absolutely lovethis topic.
It's consistent recovery andsleep, because I absolutely love
to sleep and this is an areawhere I think I do a pretty good
job of, you know, recoveringand sleeping.
(19:59):
But I may have mentioned beforethat I don't, I didn't feel
like I got restful sleep.
So what I've done over the lastyear or so is I bought an Oura
Ring which has really helped mekind of monitor my vitals and
helped me understand when am Igetting good rest or good sleep
and when I'm not, and then helpsme reflect on well, why not?
(20:21):
What did I do the night beforethat prevented me from getting
good sleep?
Maybe I had alcohol, maybe Iate dinner too late, maybe I
wasn't hydrated, maybe I wastraveling.
There's a whole host of thingsthat you could do that will
interrupt your sleep or causeyou not to have good sleep, and
you can't necessarily preventall of these things.
(20:43):
But what I love about it, itmakes me actively think about
those things and then it helpsme make better decisions going
forward to make sure that Ioptimize and I get the best
sleep, and it's worked outreally, really well for me to
have the Oura Ring and get allthat information.
Now you could also do that withyour running watch, so I've did
(21:11):
that in the past.
I use my running watch for that.
It doesn't give you as muchinformation, but it's still
pretty good.
The reason why I don't use myrunning watch is just because I
kind of sleep on my arm and thewatch gets in the way and I just
don't like to do it.
So that's why the Oura Ringworked out so so much better for
me.
It's far more comfortable forme.
But if you want to use yourrunning watch or your Apple
Watch or whatever the case is,it's going to give you pretty
good information.
Again, it's only going to behelpful if you reflect on if you
(21:34):
got good sleep, think about why.
If you didn't get good sleep,also think about why and start
to make adjustments in your lifeto optimize to get good sleep
adjustments in your life tooptimize to get good sleep.
Now, in terms of the recoverypart, you know, in terms of
stretching, I use so I do thatsometimes and foam rolling.
(21:54):
I use an IncrediWear sleeve formy knee.
I've got some challenges withmy knee so I use that and that's
super helpful.
I also get massages, which inthe past I didn't like to do,
but that's also, you know, veryhelpful as well, especially as I
was doing very demandingworkouts and very demanding
races.
The massages would help me aspart of my recovery.
So consistent recovery andsleep is definitely a way to
(22:17):
help improve your performance.
Get better, get faster, improveyour endurance, so on and so
forth.
Get better, get faster, improveyour endurance, so on and so
forth.
And then the last one is aroundpositive self-talk.
So I mentioned this before, butI know this about myself, that
I tend to have a lot of negativethoughts and I tend to have,
like that negative self-talk.
Sometimes I verbalize it andsometimes, even recently, I've
(22:40):
been called out about it on that, which kind of caught me by
surprise, because I tend tothink of myself as a pretty
positive and optimistic person.
But when it comes to me, and itcomes specifically to, let's
say, physical or sports relatedactivities, I tend to have, more
often than not, have thosenegative thoughts.
And you may have heard thissaying you know, your attitude
(23:01):
determines your altitude, whichyou know is paraphrased from Zig
Ziglar and it's so so true.
Like if you have negativethoughts, if you don't think you
can, then that is going tomanifest itself into your
outcomes, into the things thatyou're doing.
And this is the journey thatI've been on over the last few
years is to go from the thingsthat I couldn't do, or thought I
(23:22):
couldn't do, to actually doingthem.
And you know this is I've madea lot of progress, I'm more
positive, I say self-talk, butit's still a lot of the negative
thoughts are still kind ofthere.
So that's something that I'mstill actively working on.
But it's something you want tobe mindful as well.
And I can tell you what some ofmy best races you can correlate
(23:43):
with me having a positive andupbeat attitude, going into the
race Like I feel good, I'm goingto do well, I trained well, I
hydrated well and I know I coulddo it.
So those times I could tell youthat I've had some of my best
races where I really felt good.
And then other times where Ididn't feel as good, maybe
(24:07):
mentally, I just wasn't reallythere you could tell in the
outcome of those races.
So those are the tips that Iwanted to share with you as kind
of the year is just gettingkicked off and I'm trying to
achieve my goals of gettingstronger and faster.
That will lead to good outcomesin the races this year.
And if you have those similargoals and you're looking for
ways to improve, here are someof the ways that you can improve
(24:30):
, you know, other than justrunning all of your runs really,
really fast or doing all yourworkouts really hard.
Like really having thatbalanced approach across.
All these things are going tohelp you, you know, get faster
as a runner as well as improveyour endurance as well as your
mindset.
So that's what I'm working on.
I have my first few races of theyear that's coming up soon.
(24:52):
The first one's on Super BowlSunday.
I'm trying not to take them tooseriously because it's the
start of the year, so it's alittle bit of a reset as I'm
getting going.
But the nice thing is thatthey'll gauge where I am at this
point in my training this earlyin the year and tell me how I
need to adjust and kind ofimprove as I continue through my
(25:13):
other races, as we kind of movethrough the year.
So I hope all this was helpful.
You know, what I wanted to dois have more episodes where I'm
sharing more tips and tricks andbest practices, but also share
my own personal experience andhopes that it helps you in your
journey.
So with that, I appreciate youlistening, tuning in and
listening and if you're racingsoon, I wish you well in those
(25:37):
races and, with that, have agood day.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
That's it for this episode ofinspire to run podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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