It is something you'd only share with your coach.
- Running is about fighting and overcoming. The harder it is, the better.
- Slow running is a pointless waste of time.
- What’s my progress? — a question after 2 weeks of training
- I want to run a marathon in 3.5 hours. What’s the pace of training?
- The more running, the better.
When I was 25 I suddenly decided to take up running. My approach was simple and intuitive. Each workout had to be faster and longer than the previous one. And you know what, I managed to keep running like this for the whole month. My first run was fast and decently long. On the second run, I almost spit out my lungs but ran even longer and faster. Then I decided to run even faster, but shorter. It didn’t work out as I ran both less and slower. Then I made a deal with myself and decided to start again, but ambition picked up and carried me away— I ran more and faster than I should have. After that, I got “unexpectedly” sick and was laid up with a cough for 2 weeks. I tried to get back into running a few times, but it didn’t work. And I gave it up for almost 10 years.
Patience = successful training.
At 33, I was already more experienced. So I “stocked up” on patience and immediately decided to find a coach. We started with the test “1 km maximal effort” — I was unspeakably happy to “die” and thought that it would continue to be as hard and cool. But we suddenly switched to super slow running, and cross-walking. It went on like that for about 3 or 4 months. My irritation was growing and I was asking my coach the same question: “Why do I have to run so slow? I want to run faster! Why all this jog-walk?”.
Progress is also about patience.
At my first start, 6 months after I started training, I ran my first 21.1km in 1 hour 30 minutes at an average heart rate of 188 (!). Now I look at that figure and wonder how I didn’t have a heart attack. I remember very well that my heart hurt for 3 weeks after the start.
A year later I ran the same half marathon again in 1 hour 24 minutes at a heart rate of 182. Another year later I ran the same half marathon in 1 hour 21 minutes at 180. After 2 more years, I finally ran out of 1:20 (in 1 hour 19 min). And after another 2 years, in 1 hour 16 min at an average heart rate of 176. It’s 15% faster and 6% lower HR in 6 years.
Slow running is still a Top-3 question.
80% of what I’ve been running for over 10 years now is slow running in the 2nd HR zone — around 138–140 beats/min. Sometimes it’s still the same crosswalks with 2 min run, 2 min walk. There is not much free time and I regularly combine all this with talking on the phone.
Now when OMY! Sports serves about 10 thousand runners, we get a lot of questions. Among them, of course, there are these: “Why is it so slow?”, “I want to run faster, not slower”, and “I’m not able to run so slow, I’m used to running at a pace 2 times faster”.
5 answers to 5 statements above.
The answers to these questions always boil down to 5 main points:
- Slow running is the foundation of endurance and fitness for all endurance sports. That’s what the best do — Kipchoge, Klebo, Pogacar, Blummenfeld, Olympic champions in rowing, biathlon and open-water swimming. 80% of their training is much slower than the records they set. We covered this topic in more detail in the three mistakes of easy running or slow running of a 6-time Ironman winner.
- OMY! Sports workouts always include pace and heart rate. Why this? Because different workouts have different emphases. For example, for easy workouts, HR is the main thing. Why? Even if you think you’re running too slow, the heart rate will tell you exactly how it is. You probably need to go even slower.
- High-intensity runs (intervals) work well when they are accurately dosed. They’re like alcohol: excessive consumption is bad for your health. You run fast, then rest. Then another one and rest again. Gradually the intense intervals get bigger and the rest periods shorten. This is how speed endurance grows. Read about why intervals work well and what happens to your body while doing interval training.
- There’s nothing worse than starting by running above LT. By the way, if you don’t know your LT heart rate, you’re almost certainly running too fast. That’s the fastest way to injury, illness, demotivation and… goodbye running, hello couch and 20 pounds.
- Easy running is perfectly done when you are overtaken by almost everyone. As to fast workouts, only your sports watch and coach should know about them. Do it alone with full immersion in yourself and your lactate (read about lactate here).
All the best for your training and feel free to ask your questions in the OMY! Sports app’s chat.