1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,720 You're listening to episode 184 of the Marathon Running Podcast. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,640 In this episode, we're going to talk about mastering marathon 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,080 recovery in between strategies and rebuilding for a fresh 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:19,920 cycle. This is the Marathon Running 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,520 podcast by Letty and Ryan from We Got The Runs. 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,800 Join us in our running community for weekly content that is 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,640 motivational, educational, and inspirational, and that the 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,439 Marathon Running Podcast take you from the starting line to 9 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:41,240 the finish line and beyond. Hey, runners, and welcome to 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:43,840 Episode 184. My name is Letty. 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,480 I'm your host. My name is Ryan, the Co host, 12 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:48,920 and welcome to another episode of the marathon running podcast. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,600 Ryan, how are you feeling today? Tired, tired. 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,400 And that's what we're going to talk about today in this 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,680 episode, because we are going to talk about how to recover from a 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,880 marathon training cycle, what to do in between, and how to slowly 17 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,560 and safely rebuild mileage and work out and have a perfect 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,760 marathon cycle next time. Hopefully it also works when 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,560 your kids wake you up in the middle of the night and you're 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,480 tired. Because of that, well, that's 21 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,840 when a good coach comes in, right, Because you always have 22 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,160 to have some kind of layaway or you have to know how to adjust 23 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:18,800 your training plan. That is true. 24 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,040 So we want to thank everybody for tuning in with us today. 25 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,200 Thank you. If you are a long time listener, 26 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,960 thank you for your feedback and your continuous support. 27 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,920 And if you're new, I hope you find us valuable and you keep 28 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,440 listening. Yes, we hope to make this 29 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,080 podcast you go to platform or source for everything marathon 30 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,840 related and we're here to inspire you, inform you and make 31 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,040 those smiles a little bit more enjoyable. 32 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:42,640 So Letty, why'd you pick this topic? 33 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,600 Yeah, so I picked this episode topic because most of us have 34 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,360 finished our fall marathons. Of course there's still a few 35 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,960 left, but most of us have wrapped this up and now we are 36 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,760 looking to recover a little bit and then perhaps hop into the 37 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,880 next race, which could be a spring marathon. 38 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,560 A few of us have gotten into the Tokyo Lottery and we are going 39 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,800 to be running March 3rd. So we're trying to figure out 40 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:10,160 what is a good balance, how much recovery do our bodies need, and 41 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,760 then how do we slowly build our mileage back up. 42 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,320 Sounds valuable. So who's our guest? 43 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:16,880 Yes, our guest is Chris Knighton. 44 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:18,920 We've had him on lately quite a lot. 45 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:25,000 He's a very savvy running coach that has talked about different 46 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,240 marathon cycles and how to ramp up for them. 47 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,600 So I felt like he was going to be the perfect guest for this. 48 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,400 He's come on several other podcasts, so if you like him, go 49 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:33,960 back and listen to some of the old ones too. 50 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,280 So Are you ready to hear from Chris? 51 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,240 Let's get into it. So without any further ado, 52 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,160 we're now gonna play our conversation with Chris 53 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,400 Knighton. All right, so I'm back on here 54 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,120 with running coach Chris Knighton. 55 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,440 Chris, thank you so much for joining me. 56 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,440 Buddy, you're welcome. And thanks for having me on the 57 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,560 show again. Yeah, of course. 58 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,400 And I'm excited to tackle today's topic with you, which is 59 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:02,080 basically what we should do as runners after we are done with 60 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,880 the marathon and before we start rolling into the new, you know, 61 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,120 marathon cycles. And we're recording this because 62 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,280 we've basically just finished with most fall races. 63 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,600 We have CIM left, but most runners said that the majors are 64 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,240 probably done. There's Philly this weekend, and 65 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,960 then we have a short time period for most addicted marathon 66 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,840 runners before we hop into a spring race, which is not that 67 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,880 far away. So let's talk about how to 68 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:34,160 handle that and start with the appropriate recovery time. 69 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:39,160 What is the optimal rest or duration for rest after you 70 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,200 complete a marathon and what factors should we take into 71 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,960 account when we talk about it, such as fitness level and race 72 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:51,520 intensity? Yeah, so if you want to enjoy 73 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,560 running long term, if you want to be in the sport for. 74 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,040 A decade or more and and still loving it and and hopefully even 75 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,280 still improving. You know, after 5 to 10 years of 76 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,480 running. I highly encourage everyone 77 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:09,480 listening to this to take two weeks off after they run their 78 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,360 goal marathon. And two weeks off might sound 79 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,680 like a lot, especially for those addicted runners out there. 80 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:21,560 Just the whole thought of not doing any running at all for two 81 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,880 weeks sounds crazy. And admittedly, it is kind of a 82 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,760 lot, but there's two main reasons why I suggest people 83 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,120 take two weeks off. First of all, because honestly, 84 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,040 even though it's two weeks for most people, it's actually 85 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,760 sounds a little extreme and they're like, oh OK, there's 86 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,760 some benefit to taking some time off here. 87 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,520 Maybe I'll at least take a week, or maybe I'll take a week and 88 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,680 1/2, or maybe I'll actually do the full 2 weeks. 89 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,840 But I know I should take something and the reason why is. 90 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,280 22 fold, really. First is physical. 91 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:04,680 So marathons is if you train for a marathon and run one to the 92 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,880 best of your ability, you know, try hard on it, you're not just 93 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,240 out there jogging it and it's not a big deal for you, right? 94 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,360 Like if you're actually focusing for this and it's your goal and 95 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,280 you're you're training for it for months on end and you're 96 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:17,680 peaking your fitness for it and you're going really hard on it, 97 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,920 that marathon is going to be really hard on your body 98 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:28,120 physically. And you know, you've been 99 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,320 training for this thing for months and just getting to the 100 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,680 starting line healthy is First off a huge accomplishment. 101 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,600 But often to get to the starting line of a marathon and being in 102 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,920 your best fitness, there's been some ups and downs with how you 103 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,200 feel along the way. Physically, maybe you've you've 104 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,200 got to, you know, some sort of minor thing physically that's 105 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,000 been going on. But but it's fine. 106 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,520 You're in great shape and you've and you've run well. 107 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,880 You know, maybe you just feel super good and nothing's been 108 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,040 bothering you physically, but there still could be things 109 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,560 under the surface. So it's really important after 110 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:07,160 you, you run a marathon. You train for a marathon for so 111 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,800 many months, and then that you take a good two weeks off to let 112 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:15,240 your body fully recover 100% before you get back into running 113 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,800 again so that you can start your next phase of training, your 114 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,520 next cycle training at 100%. You don't want any lingering. 115 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,040 Discomfort or minor injuries or real injuries carrying over from 116 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,840 one season to the next. And then the second reason why I 117 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:36,400 encourage people to take time off 2 weeks off is simply to 118 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,160 avoid getting burnt out on running. 119 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,200 If you want to run and enjoy it and enjoy running at a high 120 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:48,240 level for for years or even decades, it's important to take 121 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,400 breaks and to give yourself the opportunity to take breaks. 122 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,200 To be your best friend at Marathon, you, I mean you need 123 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,160 to train for four or five months focused on that one event. 124 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:01,360 You know, every day. It can be sometimes a grind, 125 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,520 even though we love it, sometimes it can be a grind. 126 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,640 At the end of that race you want to give yourself a break and and 127 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,880 mentally just detach from running for a little bit. 128 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,120 And you want to do that for as long, honestly as long as you 129 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,520 can until you start getting stir crazy. 130 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,560 Once you get start getting stir crazy and you know you want to 131 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,960 get back out there and running, that's a good sign because it 132 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,920 means you've taken enough time that you know you're excited to 133 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,960 get back out and run again and you're excited for what your 134 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,600 goals are going to be next. So that's that's my long winded 135 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,160 answer for why you should take two weeks off after a marathon. 136 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,440 It makes complete sense. I know that I love having high 137 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:48,360 mileage training cycles where towards the end the high mileage 138 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,040 has me depleted and then I do the tapering and everything. 139 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,920 So after a marathon, I can't wait to take that time off. 140 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,800 But let me ask some follow up questions because I know not 141 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,600 everybody can relate to this. Well, first of all, how much 142 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,080 fitness do we lose? Because I know people worry 143 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,080 about that, right? How much fitness do we lose? 144 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,760 We've gotten ourselves so fit that suddenly we're changing 145 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,120 everything which comes with or change in lack of burning 146 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,440 calories etcetera. So maybe can you talk that about 147 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,920 that a little bit? Yeah, you'll lose a little bit, 148 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:21,680 but that's intentional. And that is for your it's for 149 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,240 your good, for your own good, to maintain the highest level of 150 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:31,040 fitness that you can maintain. You can't really maintain that. 151 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,000 For very long. This is why most marathon 152 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,679 training cycles, they build up mileage over time. 153 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,840 Maybe there's a period where you're kind of at a peak mileage 154 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,240 for a few weeks to a month and then you taper to let that 155 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,400 fatigue you've built up go and let your full fitness come out 156 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,760 and emerge. Eventually, yeah, you're going 157 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,520 to start to D train and lose some fitness if you're running 158 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,160 less mileage. That's why tapers generally are 159 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,840 fairly short. You know, maybe only about two 160 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,720 weeks. And also that's why we keep the 161 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,240 recovery period afterwards to two weeks. 162 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,880 If you think you're going to have two, two weeks of less 163 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,480 running before your marathon and then two weeks of no running 164 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,040 after your marathon, that's like a month where you're running 165 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,760 significantly less mileage than you would in the middle of a 166 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,880 marathon. But it's fine. 167 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:27,840 Like when you get back into running your first few weeks, 168 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,240 maybe your first month of training, Yeah, you're going to 169 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,880 feel a little bit sluggish. You're going to feel a little 170 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,720 bit slower. You might even say, like, how 171 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,120 the heck did I run that fast when I was in such good marathon 172 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:45,600 shape? But that's just the cycle of 173 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,800 training and. By taking that time off after a 174 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,680 race, you're allowing your body to rest physically, to grow 175 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,560 stronger from the the race itself, to recover from it, to 176 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:01,360 start the beginning of your next marathon training cycle at 100%. 177 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,800 And then as you go through the same building process and or 178 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,760 hopefully improve upon it for the next time and you go through 179 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,640 that same building process, you are going to reach a higher peak 180 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:19,920 next time so. Imagine you got yourself up to 181 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,320 to a certain level. You you, you worked really, 182 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:27,200 really hard for four months and you got to let's say you started 183 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,880 your marathon training cycle and you were on like, let's say 184 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,240 level 5. By the end of your training 185 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:38,440 cycle, you're at level 10. You take two weeks off, you go 186 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,840 down to level 8. When you So when you start your 187 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:43,720 next training cycle, you're at like level 8. 188 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,000 But then as you go through your your next training cycle, you go 189 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,000 from 8:00 to 9:00 to 10:50 to 12:00 and like maybe you're at 190 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,960 level 12 or 13 with the next time you, you peak for your 191 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,320 marathon, right? And then you take time off, you 192 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,280 go down a few more levels. Yeah, you lose some fitness. 193 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,520 But then on your third marathon, you build up even higher. 194 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,280 Maybe then you're at like level 18 or something like that before 195 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,240 your next marathon. So the consistency over time, 196 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,600 over the course of several years, is how people keep 197 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,440 improving. Over and over again. 198 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:19,920 But if you, you know, you look at people who maybe maybe run 199 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,640 like 10 marathons a year or something like that, they're 200 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:28,280 probably not improving at this like in the same rate as people 201 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,840 who do maybe two or three and follow this more phase based 202 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,560 approach of building, taking rest, building, taking rest, 203 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:38,520 building taking rest. Yeah, that makes sense. 204 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,480 And you know, I always, I always play devil's advocate by asking 205 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,560 you these questions. But I know a lot of elite 206 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:47,600 runners that exactly do that, that have a mandatory 2 to four 207 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,720 week period of not running at all. 208 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:54,000 And those are, you know, the top runners of the world that do 209 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:55,160 that. So they can do it. 210 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,440 I think we can all swallow our pride and do that too because we 211 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,160 have other things that they don't have. 212 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,160 We have full time jobs, we have children, we have families and 213 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,520 all that stuff. So that all makes sense, but 214 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,000 let's talk about the transition period between those marathons 215 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:12,560 and what we should be doing. What are some key areas that we 216 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:15,480 should focus on? Would it be rehabilitation if 217 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,320 you're injured, or maybe implementing cross training? 218 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,400 Or what is it that we can do that when we start we start off 219 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:29,280 to a better training cycle? I think at the end of a marathon 220 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,400 training cycle, you want to really spend some time 221 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,160 reviewing. Everything you did throughout 222 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:39,040 the whole process, think about what went well in your training 223 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,120 and what were some areas that you'd like to improve or change 224 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,680 up next time. There's always something that 225 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:50,360 you can add that's going to better your training for the 226 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,480 next cycle. And I and I encourage folks to, 227 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,880 you know, rather than try to do everything at once, do try to 228 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,760 just identify one or two things you can bring into your next 229 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:07,320 cycle to do better with. So you know, a cliche of runners 230 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,640 is that we're bad at doing our strength training. 231 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,800 We love to go run, but we're not usually very good about doing 232 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,000 our strength training. If that's you, maybe in your 233 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,920 base building phase you can make a bigger effort to do your 234 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,320 strength training. We'll see if it sticks this this 235 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,200 cycle or not, but at least you've identified that. 236 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,240 You know, maybe it's you want to you want to pay attention to 237 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,160 different you want to do different types of of workouts 238 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,240 early on. One thing that I always 239 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:44,640 encourage people to do in the time between marathons is to 240 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,240 identify what some of their weaknesses are as a runner and 241 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:55,040 focus on improving those for for most folks. 242 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,680 There, there's really two things that they can they can focus on 243 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,040 from a training perspective in this time between the marathons. 244 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,800 And that's do you need to get, do you simply need to be faster 245 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,160 or do you simply need to be running more to achieve your 246 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,840 goals? I think those are two things 247 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:21,280 that you can look at and focus on and and and work on in the 248 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,400 time between marathon training cycles, so that. 249 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,000 Your next marathon will be a lot better, hopefully than the one 250 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,680 before it. OK, so this is all more of a 251 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,000 reflection approach. We're not really doing anything 252 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,520 physically, but we're just keeping our mind engaged. 253 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,720 Probably also to hype us up a little bit for the next upcoming 254 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,200 training cycle. Yeah. 255 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,160 I mean during the time off, during the rest period, the two 256 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,680 weeks, don't don't even think about running at all. 257 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,680 Don't even try your best to just not run. 258 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,320 Don't even think about running. Don't even look at it like 259 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,840 online or listen to podcasts. Just take a break from it. 260 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:04,120 But once you get excited about it, once you start getting into 261 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,080 your your base building phase again, you start going out for 262 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,280 your first few couple of jogs. Then yeah, and those first week 263 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,360 or two that you get back into it and you're and you're working to 264 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,640 rebuild your mileage start to get start to think about these 265 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:20,360 new things you want to start to incorporate. 266 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,520 You know, what are some things that you could do that you 267 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,520 didn't do last time that would excite you? 268 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,920 I know for me, I just ran the Chicago Marathon. 269 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:35,600 I had a great race and I'm super excited as I'm getting back into 270 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,760 my or into my training to just do some new styles of workouts 271 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,440 that I've I've honestly never done before and I'm really 272 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:48,120 excited about those, so. Find something that's going to 273 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,320 excite you and that you think is going to help you, and try to 274 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,440 bring that into your training each each time you start a new 275 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:57,840 race training block. Yeah, OK, perfect. 276 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:03,480 So then let's say we are finishing up our two weeks at 277 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:08,200 least of resting and then four months from now, which is 16 278 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,840 weeks, which I know is your ideal training cycle, We have a 279 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,560 marathon. What is the safest approach to 280 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,840 rebuilding this mileage after this rest period? 281 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,480 Yeah. So I guess it depends on how far 282 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,440 away your next marathon is. So you said 16 weeks. 283 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,440 I'm just giving you this extreme example because I know that 284 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,040 there's a lot of people that just finished fall marathons and 285 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,840 they're doing the six World Majors and so they have Tokyo 286 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,200 coming up. Tokyo's actually a flat course. 287 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,680 So, you know, instead of fun running it, a lot of people will 288 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,640 actually try to run it fast. That's why I'm asking you this 289 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,680 extreme question. Yeah. 290 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,600 So if that's the case. And you just got to get right 291 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,480 back into marathon training. After two weeks off, you can 292 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,800 rebuild your mileage fairly quickly. 293 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,320 Something that you're going to want to think about is, were you 294 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,960 comfortable with the amount of mileage you were running before? 295 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,120 Were you healthy? Did you go through that training 296 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,720 block injury free? If the answer to that is yes, 297 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,079 and and and you want to do more mileage in the next training 298 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:17,800 block, I think you could look at peaking at about. 10 miles more 299 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,720 per week than what you were doing in in in that previous 300 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,520 training block. So you'll want to build out a 301 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,560 progression of how do you get to that peak. 302 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,440 And let's just say hypothetically in this first 303 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,200 marathon you did, you peaked at about 40 miles per week. 304 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,640 For your second marathon, you could peak at 50 miles per week, 305 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,520 so 10 more. You probably want to spend about 306 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,520 a month's time, three to four weeks time at that peak mileage 307 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:51,240 before you begin to taper. So really the starting like six 308 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,640 weeks before the marathon, you'd want to be at that peak mileage 309 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,840 SO50 in this example. So that would mean you'd have 310 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:05,520 maybe 10 weeks or so to build up to that. 311 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,320 So how do you get? How do you, how do you do that? 312 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:14,520 What what I would suggest is the first month of your marathon 313 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,560 training. I would say yeah, first month to 314 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,240 month and a half should be a simply a base building period, 315 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,840 rebuilding your mileage. During this phase. 316 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:27,920 Don't think so much about speed workouts. 317 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,280 You are going to want to do a little bit of speed, not 318 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,080 completely neglect it, but the priority is focusing on 319 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,240 rebuilding your mileage. In the first week that you're 320 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,000 running again, you should aim to do about 50% of the mileage that 321 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,760 you peaked at in your previous marathon training cycle. 322 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:52,240 In your second week back, you could do about 75% of that, and 323 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,040 then by your 4th week you do probably want to get up close to 324 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,680 about 100% of that if you're if you're comfortable doing that 325 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,320 amount of mileage as well. So in your third week, you could 326 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,880 do a little bit more to try to bridge the gap, maybe 8590% of 327 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,640 your previous peak mileage. And then in week 4 you could get 328 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,520 all the way up to your previous peak mileage again. 329 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,760 What this is going to mean is that let's say you're training 330 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,000 for a 16 week marathon training cycle. 331 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,200 If you're already back at your peak mileage by week 4 or so of 332 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,720 training, you're going to spend so much more time at that peak 333 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:31,000 mileage in the second marathon training cycle in your upcoming 334 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,120 one than you did in the one previous, and you're going to be 335 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,040 able to continue to build beyond there. 336 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,760 So after you've spent a month getting back up to that peak 337 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,760 amount, you know you can spend about 3 weeks at that peak 338 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:48,000 amount, then take a recovery week, then do maybe three weeks 339 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,120 at 5 miles higher. Take a recovery week, and then 340 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:56,040 by that point you're getting into like maybe week 12 of your 341 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,840 marathon training cycle. You could spend 3 weeks or so at 342 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,080 your new peak mileage, which could be, let's say, about 10 343 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,200 miles higher than it was before your previous marathon. 344 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,600 And then by that point you're going to start to taper down and 345 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,720 get ready for your race when you take an approach like this. 346 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:17,840 It does. It lets you gradually build back 347 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:19,760 up to that peak. But then yeah, I mean you're 348 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:26,720 spending like 3 months basically at a mileage that previously you 349 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,040 would only probably spent a few weeks or or a or a month at. 350 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,000 So you'll be a lot more prepared for your next marathon when you 351 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,960 take an approach like this. And how many? 352 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,160 Just because it sounds, it sounds like a lot. 353 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,400 How many? Training cycles in as this are 354 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,040 how many marathons have you done at that previous peak mileage 355 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,640 before you can take an approach like this? 356 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,360 Just one that's been healthy, really. 357 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:01,960 I mean for most folks, I mean we're not, we're not talking 358 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,640 about when I when I say peak mileage, it's not like we're 359 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,680 talking about a week week athletes who are peaking at like 360 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,680 80 or 90 or 100 miles per week. For most folks listening to 361 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,360 this, maybe they only got up to like 30 or 40 or 50 miles 362 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,880 consistently before. You don't know if if you've run 363 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,720 what you consider like a huge amount of mileage in the past or 364 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:27,000 an amount that was time consuming or, you know, 365 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,160 physically exhausting, you don't necessarily need to get back to 366 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,920 that so quickly. You can be more gradual with it. 367 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:38,080 But if you've gone through your marathon training cycle, you're 368 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,360 you're healthy, you're happy through the process, you take 369 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:43,960 two weeks off afterwards, you you won't have lost much 370 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,600 fitness. So you can rebuild back up to 371 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:51,440 that, that peak within a month or so if you want to. 372 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:59,240 The example that I shared here is I I think depending on the 373 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,400 types of of workouts you're doing totally fine, safe 374 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,160 approach. This is how I I do it with most 375 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,040 of my athletes when they're progressing over time. 376 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,760 But you can always be more conservative than this. 377 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:14,280 OK. I'm really glad I asked this 378 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:18,280 question because I peaked at 80 miles a week at the last cycle 379 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,640 and I was just about to start running my heart out based on 380 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,200 your. On your what you provided for 381 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,800 the training. And so how would you modify this 382 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,600 if you're already a little bit at this high mileage, So you're 383 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,960 already running 6070 miles a week? 384 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,040 Yeah. I mean, everyone's gonna have an 385 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:41,280 amount of running that is like just doable for them. 386 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,320 I mean that like a like a like an amount that feels normal. 387 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:50,840 It doesn't feel super hard. So for me that's if if I run six 388 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,600 days a week, which is, which is what I like to do and you know I 389 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,480 go for an hour or so a day maybe the long around that's like an 390 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:02,240 hour and a half. I usually do like 45 to 50 miles 391 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,520 per week. That's for me regular 392 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,880 maintenance week or whatever. Everyone is going to have a 393 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,920 different number in their mind. That's that if I'm doing 40 or 394 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,320 50 miles per week, I mean, I could, I could do that that year 395 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:16,960 round and have no trouble at all. 396 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:23,480 Once I start to build up the mileage and you know, I get into 397 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,680 the 60 or 70 or 80 like I did before Chicago. 398 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:29,040 Yeah, it feels like a lot and it feels all consuming. 399 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,120 But that's also why I personally only like to really peak for one 400 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:39,000 marathon per year because I know that I'll have, yeah, I'll have 401 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,720 like 2 months of time, maybe three months of time where I'm 402 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,560 really focusing on it and I'm really spending a huge amount of 403 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,320 time running and and I know I'm going to probably get in the 404 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,480 best fitness of all the entire year. 405 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,680 And I'm willing to do that. You know, I think if you're more 406 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,360 of A and if that's what you want to do, This is why I encourage 407 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:01,800 folks to, yeah, do one or two marathons per year. 408 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,960 And then that means maybe you have two or four months out of 409 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,440 the year that you're really going hard with your training. 410 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,880 The the rest of the time you are sort of in these more what's 411 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:22,920 general maintenance mileage for you, you know? 412 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,520 And if and if you're someone who is constantly going from one 413 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,880 marathon to the next to the next to the next, yeah, you're 414 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,640 probably not going to want to train super hard all the time 415 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:38,080 For for me with like when I trained for Chicago, I I trained 416 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,880 for four months, you know I probably did a month at fifty, a 417 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,040 month at sixty, a month at 70, a month at 80. 418 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,880 Roughly speaking, only the 70 and 80 per mile week were hard 419 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:53,600 in terms of big time commitment. The 50 and 60 that I mean for me 420 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,080 that's just what I normally would do, enjoying it and it 421 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:03,200 doesn't feel like a huge burden. How do runners know when they're 422 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,880 capped out when they shouldn't do more mileage? 423 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,280 Because it's not just the mileage we do, It's also the 424 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,480 speed work. There's there's really two 425 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,280 different types of athletes. There's athletes who, you know, 426 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:15,720 think about what's your limiting factor? 427 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,520 Is is your limit limit just like the amount of time you have 428 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:24,880 available or is your limit your your fitness and you know 429 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:30,240 physical ability to run more. I know I could physically run 430 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:35,720 more but I probably don't want to spend the time or try to make 431 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,720 the time to run more than 80 miles per week. 432 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,600 So I'm kind of capped out probably just based on where I 433 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,600 am with my life. But if I was someone running 434 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,880 only, you know, when I brand new marathoners who've come to most 435 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,880 brand new marathoners who come to me do their first marathon on 436 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,400 something like 30 to 40 miles per week. 437 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,760 And most of them, I can continue to have them increase their 438 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,480 mileage, you know, from 30 in the first marathon to 40 in the 439 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:09,720 second to 50 to 60 once you get above, like 60 miles per week, 440 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,440 for most adults, especially when you have a family or, you know, 441 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:18,760 a career, whatever, it becomes a bit more subjective of, like, 442 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,400 how much more do you really want to do? 443 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,640 But if you're running less than 50 miles per week for a 444 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,320 marathon, maybe you. I don't know. 445 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,960 I'm not going to tell people to run more, but like, maybe you 446 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,720 could. But if you're running more than 447 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,320 that, maybe time is more of a limiting factor. 448 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:36,640 Absolutely everyone's different, right? 449 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,840 With their responsibilities and also your pace. 450 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,840 Like people cover distances different times, so it's hard to 451 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,680 speak to everyone, but. Which is exactly why I'm going 452 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,400 to ask you just briefly, how do people get in touch with you? 453 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,840 If they want to consult with you and see what's really best for 454 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,400 them, Yeah, so you can find me on my website 455 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,600 itsnightandruns.com, or connect with me on Instagram at night 456 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,480 and runs. And I'm interviewing new 457 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,560 athletes this month who want to get started training for the 458 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,680 spring 2024 marathon season. So if you like what you heard 459 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,280 from me today, you can apply on my website. 460 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:18,600 Thank you so much, Chris. Thank you Coach Chris for 461 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,760 speaking with us. Hopefully everyone took some 462 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:25,360 good notes on these percentages of how to safely increase your 463 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:27,080 mileage. I hope you guys learned 464 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:31,360 something about recovery and really take that time off. 465 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:34,200 Take it to heart because we don't want to have any niggling 466 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,840 injuries coming back up or appearing for the first time 467 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,400 during our training cycles. That was great, Chris, and 468 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,360 hopefully people can learn something so that they don't get 469 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:48,800 injured. When they're trying to run more 470 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,520 again, but if you do get injured next week, we have. 471 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,400 Brody Sharp, do you promised and long-awaited interviewee. 472 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,560 We've actually had this interview recorded for the past 473 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,800 two weeks, but then I felt like it was more pertinent to have 474 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:04,840 the Christmas episode ready and then. 475 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,440 This training episode. But yeah, so now, next week, 476 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,480 stay tuned. This time for sure, 100%, we're 477 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,000 going to play Brody Sharp's conversation with us where we 478 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,040 talk about Prehab to avoid rehab. 479 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:20,800 That's a catchy name. It is every time I hear that I 480 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,520 think about you got to check yourself before you wreck 481 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,840 yourself, you know that. OK, settle down. 482 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,400 Ice to you. Let's not get off track, so with 483 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,920 that. So with that have a great week 484 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:38,920 of running. Thanks for tuning in. 485 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,040 For more information Ant Marathon running news, please 486 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,920 head to www.marathonrunningpodcast.com 487 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:47,720 and we'll be back next week.