Running Rogue

Fall races are imminent, and therefore, so are the pre-race demons that many of us often face in advance. In this episode, I give 7 common, pre-race doubts and talk through strategies to face them. The 7: "I did not do enough in training." "What if something bad happens on race day?" "I don't know if I can do this." "I'm just not good enough for this goal." "What if I let someone down?" "I can't handle the nerves and pressure." "What if I can't take it when it gets hard." Which one do you struggle with the most? Thanks to LMNT for sponsoring this one. Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT's most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://www.DrinkLMNT.com/rogue.

We are getting close to some big fall races from Berlin to NYC and Indy, and it is time to lock in (as the kids say). In this episode, I give you 6 tips for your final prep, so you are ready to put your best foot forward on race day!

If you are racing in the fall between September and December, then it is never too early to start thinking about your race plan. You prepare in training, and you also want to prepare your plan for the big day. In this episode, I give you 8 steps to build your plan: Select your goal pace. Gather information about the race course. Break the course down into 3-6 chunks that make sense. Develop a strategy for each section of the course. Translate that strategy into a pace by mile. Layer in the finer course details and also nutrition and hydration. Visualize your plan. Execute the plan and then learn from it. What will your plan be to smash your goal? Thank you to my new hydration sponsor for the podcast - LMNT. I've used their products for my electrolyte supplementation for the last 4 years and can't recommend the brand enough. Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT's most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://www.DrinkLMNT.com/rogue .

Fear is necessary. Fear is a good thing. Fear becomes more manageable with time and experience. Let's face your running fears!

Ok, ok... I know the title sounds a bit woo-woo, but this episode is full of practical tactics to be the best version of you on race day. You are powerful in a very unique way, and I give you 6 tips for bringing out the most in you when it matters in training and race. They are: Take inventory of your strengths and weaknesses without judgement. Frame your circumstances appropriately. Embrace the challenges ahead. Take on one weakness at a time by putting your strengths to work. Employ radical personal responsibility. Stay present. One moment. One mile. One day at a time. These tips are easier said than done, but this episode will help you put these things into practice, so that you can find out who you are when things get hard!

I like to say: "There is no such thing as a perfect training cycle." And there shouldn't be. You will always have to make adjustments for things that pop up during training whether managing life's curveballs, dealing with injury, or simply feeling a little more tired/sore than normal. For that last category, there is a hierarchy of "pressure release values" to pull when feeling tired or sore, and your goal is to learn how to listen to your body and pull those pressure release valves when necessary. In this episode, I talk about 5 valves to pull in order to keep training but to back off appropriately when the body calls for it. Make these adjustments when you need them, in order to prioritize getting to the start line healthy and ready to roll. Then, celebrate when you do give your body a little more space for recovery!

I start with my thoughts on Boston's controversial new registration lottery! Then, I turn to a topic that will be important to many of you with big races coming up in August, September, and October. Now, it's time to plan for both the elements you can control and those you cannot. We talk about the important categories for planning (from logistics to race execution), and then we discuss how to think through potential problems that pop up along the way both in this cycle and the next one. While the specific problems you face might be different than you think, the act of problem solving in your mind will make you better at it so that you are ready for any curve ball on race day.

What does it look like to manifest your future? Is it just thinking and dreaming + magic and hope or it is more? In this episode, we discuss the tactics behind manifesting your goals. While some of these tactics might sound cheesy, they are backed by science and years of subjective experience. We cover self-talk, affirmations, re-framing negative thoughts, visualization, and problem solving. Plus, we discuss how to turn "failure" into opportunity and the lessons that will lead to eventual success. It is time to re-program your brain to believe!

We've discussed knowing your purpose. Now, it is time to paint a picture of what you want in this sport. Your vision is the dream and the big picture which isn't bounded by time. Your goals are the timebound milestones along the way. In this episode, we talk about the process of creating a vision board and then discuss the do's and don'ts of goal setting. Should you create process or outcome goals? Should you have an "A" goal and "B" goal? How do you find the balance of making the goal a stretch without making it unrealistic? We talk about all of this and more!

There are two big questions underpinning this episode... Is mental strength innate or do you build it? What's the distance between your true limits and the perceived limits posed by your mind? We discuss these questions to open the episode. We truly do believe that mental fortitude is built. AND, there is plenty of room to better match your perceived limits with your actual limits. To do that, you have to work at it, and we break down how to do so. Know your plan. Bring your mental tools to race day. Build the mentality needed to give your all. Execute, apply, learn. And finally, do it with a team to best hone your mental skills.

We are turning the page (pun intended) to a new section of the book where we discuss the mental side of training and racing. And, as cheesy as it might sound, it all starts with knowing your purpose for the run. Why do you run, and specifically why do run for performance? For you, running might be about stress relief, health or longevity, but we would submit that there are likely deeper reasons as well, especially if you are listening to us talk. In this episode, we encourage you to dig into your purpose by creating a statement of purpose for your running. We give you 6 tips and several thought starters for doing so. This might be a scary exercise for you, but we promise it will pay off when the going gets tough in training or racing!

If the long run "puts the tiger in the cat," then the long run workout puts the saber tooth in the tiger! Yes, we need all of those easy long runs to build the aerobic foundation. Then, as you gain experience and appropriately timed in the cycle, it is important to add quality into your long runs to give you that extra edge for race day. We call these workouts race simulations or race preps because they give you the opportunity to practice that race-day feeling while still saving something for race day. In this episode, we break down how to do that in an optimal way with all of the do's and don'ts, including example workouts. Are you ready to upgrade some of your long runs with speed? Then, this episode is for you!

There are 3 main pillars of recovery - sleep, nutrition/hydration, and easy movement. In this episode, we talk about the third pillar. In our training programs, easy movement primarily manifests as recovery running. These are the glacially slow runs that enable blood flow which promote healing for the next long or hard thing. If you are skipping your recovery runs, then you are likely on the bullet train to injury. So, get in those recovery runs and do them at paces that are slower than you think. Your body will thank you and so will your next PR.

Last week, we talked about the long run, and now this week, we talk about the medium long run. I call it the "unsung hero" of fitness building, and it's a run that is often overlooked relative to the speed workout or primary long run. In this episode, we discuss why it's really the third leg or pillar in your training that should be given equal weight to those other two. Listen in to learn about the why and the how of building a robust medium long run to help you smash your goals. It is more important than you think!

Mile for mile... the long run might just be the most important run of the week. It builds aerobic capacity, improves neuromuscular resilience, and facilitates metabolic flexibility - 3 of the most important tools you need as a distance runner. In this episode, we discuss the benefits in detail and then break down the tactics by answering these 6 questions about the long run: How long? How many or how often? How fast? Can you go too fast? How do you fuel? Hydrate? How do you incorporate long run workouts? Make sure you aren't wasting miles. Listen to this one before your next long run!

The word "tempo" might be one of the most commonly misunderstood words in coaching vernacular, even as it might be the most commonly prescribed type of workout. It's also one of the most important and critical training efforts for distance runners, so it is critical to understand it well if you want to improve. This episode is all about that tempo. We give you the what, the why, and the how of executing a solid tempo workout. Plus, you get a host of examples of how it might be done in different ways across all training phases. Don't fidget. Tempo!

400m reps at 5K pace. 800m reps at 10K pace. 1 mile repeats starting at HM pace and working down by 2-3 secs per rep. Our vernacular in running is to use training paces based on what you could theoretically run at each distance. It is a useful tool for dialing into effort, but it IS NOT The end all and be all. In this episode, we give you 9 truths about training paces and how to use them effectively while still keeping the big picture in mind!

We take a break from our book discussions to reflect on 400 episodes and nearly 10 years of podcasting. Our hope with this one is simply to remind you and ourselves of why we do this. Thank you to everyone who has listened and downloaded through the years. We do it for you. One step at a time. Onward.

Recovery is how you build fitness. We need recovery after hard and long days, hence our emphasis on recovery running. You also need recovery after hard weeks, so in our programming, we do "down weeks" every third week to consolidate the fitness gains of the "up weeks." Two up, one down. That is the rhythm of working hard and then recovering from that work to actually get faster. In this episode, we talk about the what, why, and how of down weeks. What do they look like? Why do we do them? And how do you make them as effective as possible with 6 key success factors? Almost at 400 episodes!

In this episode, we cover the final 2 phases of your training block - the taper and the post-race recovery phases. Both are critical for hitting this peak and then getting to your next one. We give you the reasons for the taper and the mechanics of it (for volume, speed, and routine), and then we break down how to recover from your race. It is critical to taper in order to be fresh and ready for your A race, and then it is imperative to recover appropriately in order to start your next cycle on the right foot, pun intended. In this episode, we also talk about special cases, including tapering while slightly injured or sick, as well as answer questions such as "what to do with strength training during the taper?". It's time to get fresh and ready, y'all!