PRACTICING HYDRATION FOR RACE DAY

Podcast Episode #164 🎙

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STEP 1: Research your marathon course offerings

✅ Larger races will have all of this info online

✅ May need to email race director for smaller races

✅ Most races are pretty consistent from year to year

❌ Some races don't allow hydration packs or have unmanned water stops. This is why research is so important!

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STEP 2: Practice, practice, practice during long runs!

✅ During some long runs, set up a table with water outside of your house, run past it grabbing water every 40 min

✅ Limit water stop times to 30-90 seconds max

✅ Practice drinking while running

✅ Practice drinking out of a plastic cup or Dixie cup

✅ Practice running race pace while drinking out of cup

✅ Larger races = water/electrolytes stops every mile. Smaller races = may be every 2-5 miles. Practice and plan accordingly! Can take less/do sips with water stops every mile. You may need to take in more with less frequent water stops

✅ Ideally, pair your gels with water stops. Take gel, wash down with water

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STEP 3: Do a race in training to practice more

✅ We don't recommend relying on a loved one to bring you your hydration on the course unless it's a very small race

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STEP 4: No more anxiety about hydrating. Perfected strategy! 😃👍

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Have more questions? Let us know! Our DMs are always open! 💌

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HAVE YOU EVER DONE BACK TO BACK LONG RUNS? 🏃‍♀️🏃 PODCAST EP. 163 for more!

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They might be best for you! Here's why:👇

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✅ THE 3 HOUR LONG RUN: As proven in research by Jack Daniels and other exercise physiologists, there is more risk than reward when running longer than three hours in marathon training. For many athletes, you aren't able to get 20 miles in within a 3 hour training run. So we split it up into two runs on a Friday night and Saturday morning, for example

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✅ NO MORE THAN 30% OF MILEAGE IN ONE SINGLE LONG RUN: Running more than 30% of your total weekly mileage in one long run is a big risk for injury. So in order to run the infamous 20 mile long run in marathon training, you would need to be running 60+ miles per week. Many runners don't run that much so we want to adjust the training with back to back long runs instead (see example below)

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✅ TIME ON YOUR FEET: Remember that our bodies do NOT know what “miles” are. It knows stress. It knows time on your feet. One runner may average 9:00 min/mile pace throughout a given week while another may average 11:00 min/mile pace. Running 40 miles/week will come out to vastly different amounts of total time on feet (6 hours of time for the 9:00 min/mile pace runner and 7.3 hours for the 11:00 min/mile pace runner). That’s a big difference over the course of a week that needs to be considered!

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EXAMPLES:

👉 13 MILES @ 13:50 pace/mile [8:35 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

👉 14 MILES @ 12:50 pace/mile [8:00 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

👉 15 MILES @ 12:00 pace/mile [7:30 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

👉 16 MILES @ 11:15 pace/mile [7:00 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

👉 17 MILES @ 10:35 pace/mile [6:35 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

👉 18 MILES @ 10:00 pace/mile [6:10 pace/km] = 3 HOURS

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We hope this helps! Comment below if you've done back to back long runs or if you're wanting to try it! 💪

ADJUSTING YOUR PACES IN THE HEAT 🔥

PODCAST #162 🎙

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If you run your usual paces that you would in perfect temperatures while running in higher temps, you end up racing your workouts and running too hard. This can lead to injury, burn out and performance stagnation. We want to avoid this by adjusting our paces!

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OUR TOP TIPS TO HELP WITH THIS TRANSITION:

✅ Some athletes don’t struggle as much in the heat compared to others. Try not to compare yourself to others!

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✅ Along those same lines, keep a journal for yourself to see how the different factors of heat, humidity, dew point and direct sun affect YOUR performance. You may find you’re more affected by the humidity than heat. Journal after each run about how much slower you had to go based on the weather. This will help you from year to year

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✅ You’ll likely find you don’t need to adjust as much for shorter reps like 400m repeats as you would for longer reps, like 1k repeats. So always keep in mind that longer reps = more pace adjustments in the heat

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✅ Effort is best to go off of (0 being rest and 10 being the hardest you can run) in the heat and just knowing you will be slightly slower. This can carry over into other seasons and will help you get in tune with your body

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✅ Keep in mind that running in the heat is a great mental challenge for you if it’s safe to do so. Remember that you’ll only be faster in the fall for having run through the summer! Trust the process

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✅ Check your ego at the start of your workout! You’ll have a much more positive experience if you expect you’ll need to adjust and be a bit slower from the start

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✅ If you’re analytical, use the online pace adjusters for the heat (Runner’s Connect calculator is one we like to use)! This can give you a good idea of how much you should be adjusting, but don’t worry if you need to adjust even more! Everyone is different and the calculator is just using an algorithm

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We hope this helps! Send us a DM if you have any other questions 💌

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HOW MANY MILES PER WEEK SHOULD YOU RUN? 🤔

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PODCAST EPISODE #161 🎙

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Factors to consider:👇

✅ YOUR RUNNING HISTORY: Take into account previous training cycles and your consistency over your years as a runner. Think about how you felt on 10, 20, 30, 40 miles per week. Where have you historically thrived in terms of mileage?

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✅ YOUR CURRENT LIFE SITUATION: Starting a new job, taking care of sick parents, raising young children, etc. These are all situations that may require you to run less mileage in order to stay healthy and stay consistent

✅ YOUR CURRENT FITNESS: Average how many miles you've run per week in the last 4-6 weeks. That should be your starting point when you begin a training cycle

✅ YOUR PHYSIOLOGY: Some runners do just fine increasing their mileage while others need to be a bit more careful with injuries and burn out. With time, you'll discover what kind of runner you are and what amount of weekly mileage you need!

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Do you need help finding your mileage sweet spot? Send us a DM and we'll help you! 💌

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#teamrun4prs #run4prs

Have you ever gone out HARD in a race then crashed & started slowing down? It’s super painful right? Not only physically but it’s hard on the ego! Starting a race FAST then slowing down is called “positive splits”. We often find that the opposite approach of starting slower and finishing faster allows for athletes to push harder at the end of the race & gain confidence resulting in faster times! This type of approach to starting SLOWER and finishing FASTER is called NEGATIVE SPLITS 💪

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WHY DOES IT WORK?

👉 Mentally, negative splitting makes staying optimistic throughout a race a bit more effortless. It’s a great feeling to look down at your watch and see your mile splits getting faster and faster as you go along. If you can mentally stay in it, your body is much more likely to oblige to the demands you are placing on it!

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👉 Physiologically, negative splitting shields your body from producing too much lactate at the beginning of the race, which will help you sustain your pace for the race’s duration. When your body is clearing the lactic acid as quickly as it’s making it, your muscles can continue to contract optimally, thus allowing you to run to your potential!

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HOW DO YOU PRACTICE IT?

👉 In training, you should implement progression runs and fast finish long runs to practice what it feels like to speed up as you go along. These types of workouts can teach your body (and mind!) how to hold back in the beginning and switch to the next gear later on. For all easy runs, you should make it a point to start at an easier pace and gradually get faster (while still staying within your easy pace range)

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👉 Not sure how or when to practice negative splits? We can help! Start a FREE seven-day trial today by heading to the link in our bio. www.run4prs.com

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👉 Follow us for more training tips @run4prs

WHAT ARE THE TOP 6️⃣ LONG RUN MISTAKES?

Podcast Episode #159 🎙

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You can improve your training and race success by tweaking a few things with your long runs!👇

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1️⃣ LONG RUN TOO LONG COMPARED TO WEEKLY MILEAGE: Your long run shouldn't be more than 33% of your total weekly mileage! You will have a tough time with quality workouts if you're doing too much volume in one long run

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2️⃣ LONG RUN TOO FAST COMPARED TO CURRENT VDOT FITNESS: Many runners want to "prove" their fitness in a long run by attempting to run goal marathon pace during their long runs. This is NOT the way to reach your goals. This runs the risk of leaving you injured or burned out by the time your race comes along 👎

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3️⃣ JUMPING TOO MUCH IN DISTANCE FROM WEEK TO WEEK: Your body is resilient and you may be able to get away with jumping from an 8 to 13 mile long run with no problem, but continuously doing this from week yo week can lead to injury. Increasing long runs 1-2 miles per week with cutback weeks is ideal

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4️⃣ NO CUTBACK LONG RUNS DURING THE MONTH: Doing a cutback week every 2-4 weeks gives your body time to repair. It prevents you from experiencing burn out as well. You want to do ~70% of what the prior week was, so 30 miles if the previous week was 40 miles 📉

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5️⃣ RUNNING MORE THAN 3 HOURS: We like to cap long runs around three hours. Research has shown that your body gets the most benefit from runs between 60-90 min in duration AND that runs over 3 hours start to have diminishing returns

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6️⃣ NOT FUELING FOR RUNS OVER 90 MINUTES: Your glycogen stores begin depleting once you start running 90+ min, and your body prefers simple carbs as fuel. Yes, your body can dip into fat stores but that isn't as efficient as fueling with simple carbs, like gels, while running long 🍌

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We hope this helps! Comment, save, share and like if this helped you

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SUMMER TRAINING TIPS

Podcast Episode #158 🎙

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Summer miles can be draining! With the heat, humidity and sun, you can really overdo it if you don’t adjust your training

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Check out our top summer training tips so you don’t burn out and continue to feel strong:

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✅ SLOW DOWN: Whatever paces you normally run in the Fall and Spring will NOT be the same in the Summer. Anything above 60 degrees will slow your paces down, especially if it’s humid! DON’T force paces & trust that you aren’t getting slower in the summer. If you took the humidity and heat out of it, your paces WOULD go back to normal. It takes about 6 weeks to get physiological adaptations to the heat so slow down and allow the process to happen naturally

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✅ INCREASE HYDRATION: Try to hydrate every 15-30 minutes. Options are to carry it in a handheld or hydration vest, do loops around your house or car, drop water bottles at different spots along your route. How much hydration and electrolytes you need depends on your sweat rate. It takes trial and error to figure out what YOU need to stay hydrated! Everyone is different

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✅ RUN AT COOLER TIMES OF DAY: Avoid the hottest time of the day and get out when it’s cooler!

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✅ RUN A SHADY ROUTE: Sunny routes really zap energy. Do your best to head to the trails or find a shady running path/sidewalk!

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✅ DRESS FOR THE HEAT: Opt for lighter colors, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen

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✅ AVOID OUT AND BACK ROUTES: Loop around your house or where you parked your car instead so you aren’t stranded 7 miles from your starting point if you start having issues in the heat

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✅ ADJUST YOUR TRAINING SCHEDULE BASED ON THE FORECAST: Get your quality workouts in on cooler days so you don’t have to adjust paces as much and so you can stay safe

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✅ KEEP A JOURNAL/LOOK BACK AT TRAINING: Look at your training from year to year to remind yourself of how much slower you need to go in the heat. It’s a good reminder that you can run really slow in the Summer and still run PRs in the Fall!

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TOP 5 MARATHON TRAINING WORKOUTS 👇

Podcast Episode #157 🎙

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1. Easy runs: The cornerstone of marathon training. You can have a VERY successful marathon doing only easy runs. 80% of your total mileage should be EASY. If we had to pick the most important run for marathon training, it would be this (2-3 minutes per mile slower than 5k pace, 1-2 minutes per km slower than 5k pace)

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2. Long runs: Anything over 90 minutes is considered a long run. 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours is the bread and butter length for long runs. MOST of these should be done at easy pace but some long runs can have some pace work in them. Your long run should not be more than 30% of your TOTAL weekly mileage

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3. Steady state runs: An example workout would be 2 mile warm up, 5 mile steady state/marathon pace, 2 mile cool down. This should feel like a 7/10 effort level. The harder 5 miles would count towards your 20% hard mileage for the week

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4. Threshold/tempo runs: 3 x 10 minutes @ threshold, 4 x 1 mile @ threshold, 6 x 1k @ threshold, etc. These types of workouts will build gradually throughout the training. This should feel like 7 or 8/10 effort level

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5. Medium long runs: 75-90 minute long run in the middle of the week. Can have some pace work within these long runs

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Join our FREE marathon training group today! Get your free plan now: www.run4prs.com/project-262 ⭐️

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#teamrun4prs #run4prs #marathontraining

HOW TO BUILD UP FOR YOUR FALL RACE

Podcast #156 🎙

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Many runners will begin a training cycle and jump into

❌ TOO MUCH

❌ TOO SOON

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How can we avoid that and have a successful training cycle?

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THE PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD PRINCIPLE

This means:👇

✅ Starting where you’re currently at

✅ Take the average number of miles you’ve run in the last 6 weeks and start there

✅ You want to avoid a big ramp up when your training cycle “begins” and make sure to only increase your mileage by MAX 10% each week

✅ You should feel like you’re holding back until peak weeks of training (2-4 weeks before your race, depending on race distance)

✅ You want to feel STRONG during your training cycle instead of very fatigued and struggling day to day

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Have you ever felt very fatigued halfway through your training cycle, or like you “peaked too soon”? Let us know in the comments! ⬇️

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Looking for a marathon training plan that utilizes this training principle? Sign up for our FREE marathon training plan at www.run4prs.com/project-262 🏃‍♂️

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#teamrun4prs #run4prs #summertraining #fallracing #igrunner #instarunner #igrunningcommunity

COMING BACK AFTER INJURY:

What to do and how to come back stronger 💪

Podcast Episode #155 🎙

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With running being such a high impact sport, injuries and flare-ups are bound to happen as a runner if you do it long enough and you’re training to get faster. Nothing is more frustrating than an injury for a runner, but we want to set you up with tools to limit your amount of time off and keep you running for a lifetime! 🙌

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Coming back after an injury or time off is going to look different for everyone based on several factors: How long did you not run for, where was your fitness at previously, did you have any injuries, etc. It can look very different from person to person 🏃🏿‍♂️🏃‍♀️

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One thing remains the same for everyone: you do NOT want to jump back into what you were doing right before you took time off. You need to apply the progressive overload principle regardless of your fitness level, paces, injury status, etc.

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✅The first step is body awareness: Be aware of niggles and things that feel “off” when running. Hopefully those acute things go away on their own from backing off for a few days

✅It’s ALWAYS better to be on the safe side and if the flare up doesn’t seem to be improving after a few days, go into a sports medicine doctor or physical therapist for a diagnosis

✅Have a go-to sports medicine doctor, physical therapist when things flare up to prevent/decrease time off

✅A lot of flare ups can be solved relatively quickly with treatments that a PT can do

✅These professionals can also set you up for prevention success by providing you with exercises to do on a consistent basis

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[PHASE 1] WEEK 1:

✅Run/walk intervals for 20 minutes

✅Run every other day

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[PHASE 2] WEEKS 2-4:

✅Increase sessions by 5-10 minutes every time you run

✅Run every other day

✅Go back to phase 1 if it’s too much

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[PHASE 3] WEEKS 5-8:

✅Keep run mileage the same as week 4

✅Add in another day of running & try to run back to back days and see how this feels

✅Go back to phase 1 or 2 if needed

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[PHASE 4] WEEKS 9+:

✅Increase one variable at a time (adding to weekly long run, overall mileage, or workout intensity)

✅Add in a cutback week every 2-3 weeks

✅Go back to phase 2 or 3 if needed

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Do you need more help with your comeback? We're here for you! Start a seven day FREE trial with us. Link in bio. www.run4prs.com

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Follow us for more training tips @run4prs