AnthroPhysique | Online Coaching
Everything works for somebody, but nothing works for every body
I talk about NAZ Elite runner Kellyn Taylor’s recent Breakthrough at Grandma’s marathon on this week’s episode of my Podcast, Running Through It. She dropped 4 minutes off her marathon PR and 2 minutes off the course record. Kellyn’s Coach, Ben Rosario, is a friend of mine and one of my primary coaching mentors; so I asked him about Kellyn’s training. Continue reading “Running Through It: Kellyn Taylor’s Breakthrough Marathon”
A Post Marathon recovery plan can be tricky, how do you get started on your next training plan? How do you make sure you are fully recovered?
As with all things the perfect plan is very individualized, some runners need more time off and need their recovery to be monitored to make sure they are completely recovered going into the next training cycle while other runners need to be coerced into taking time off because they feel fresh after a couple of days.
It is important to consider mental recovery in this case though, as my college coach used to tell us,
“You either take a break voluntarily or your body will decide for you”.
You may not feel exhausted… but the toll of all of those long runs and hard efforts will take its toll eventually. It can be very tempting (especially after a pr race) to just fire through from one marathon to the next and you might even get away with it for a little while.
However, eventually, this will catch up with you, Continue reading “Running Through It: Marathon Recovery Plan”
So you’ve decided to take the next leap in training – you’ve been running for 2 years now and have seen a lot of improvement but you seem to have reached a plateau. You’ve been running 3-5 days a week but you are ready to up the ante and take on the challenge. You’ve decided to take the plunge but can you handle the mileage?
Road Racing is addictive – I get it, there is a reason why road races around the country made over $100,000,000 in total revenue last year.
We love racing but sometimes that comes without the proper buildup; maybe your friend talked you into it or you chose to run two marathons back to back… chances are you are not 100% prepared to run your best.
I’ve made that mistake at times – we used to think that the best way to train was to race yourself into shape but now we know that you have a finite number of hard efforts in a training cycle, be it mentally or physically… something has to give.
Success in road racing is about patience.
Sometimes racing too much can be detrimental to your confidence if you aren’t ready to roll – but racing can also be a good benchmark for your current training. Racing is a two way street and as a runner you must have perspective and you must have patience – there is a lot of experience that goes into knowing if it is a good time to race. That is where a good coach can be invaluable – knowing when you need a race to test fitness and knowing when it will kill your confidence or wear you down.
I tackled this very issue in one of my A Day In The Life videos:
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The worst thing you can do for yourself is be comfortable…
Ok ok hear me out for a second!
The best work is done when you venture out of your comfort zone. I feel it too – I suffer from that fear of getting uncomfortable.
“We’re involved in racing because there’s that element of competition. But there’s that desire to push yourself beyond the natural comfort zone and the boundaries that are preset if you like, and to be better than the rest.” – Allan Mcnish
Then you’re struck with negative self talk, “what if I try and fail, what if everyone laughs at me, what if I have nothing to offer”.
Instead of fighting against that negative self talk, it’s so much easier to sit back and stay comfortable with where you are.
Think of this in a running context, Continue reading “Step out of your Comfort Zone and run a PR”
So you sleep in a few days and start to feel bad that you missed a run or two.
You then think that you have to catch up on the runs you have missed which leads to more pressure, more catch up, which leads to more missed runs and so on and so on…
The cycle continues.
However, you can break this cycle! Continue reading “So You Missed a Run, Stop Playing Catch Up!”
What’s a typical pre-run warm up routine for you?
For the longest time I would just walk out the door, do some leg swings – if that – and go on my way.
That was the routine!
However I know better now; the point of this pre run dynamic routine is to thoroughly warm up your running muscles and be ready to get into your run. So instead of taking 5 minutes to find yourself during the run you can warm up more efficiently and save yourself the pain of potential injury.
The more you warm up your hips, glutes and hamstrings the less stress you are putting on a cold muscle during the run.
You are essentially activating that muscle to fire properly so that your stride will benefit!
Check out the video below for a sample of my “A Day In The Life Video” series I’ve been working on. If you want, you can jump ahead to the 3:44 mark where I go through my warm up, touching on my glutes, hips, hamstrings and quads – to make sure that I am ready to go when I hit the road.
If you watched the whole thing, I hope you enjoyed the video!
Now let’s talk. Comment below about your warm up routine, or lack of and I’d love to see if I can help!
Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram and Twitter if you have any other run-related questions.
– Justin
So you had a bad day on the roads… or maybe you skipped the roads all together.
It’s one bad run.
It’s Ok.
This isn’t the end of the road. Continue reading “Your Training Won’t Be Ruined By One Bad Run”
Too many runners and training plans rely on the old standby ways of training; LSD (long slow distance runs), tempo runs and the occasional speed day.
Sound familiar?
The good news – this doesn’t have to the case! Continue reading “There Are More Ways To Train: A Story about CV Pace”
The Marathon Taper — or as I like to call it Taper Madness — is a tricky concept to understand.
Complicated by symptoms of: feeling antsy, restlessness, having an overall energy surplus, being fixated on your race, day dreams about heartbreak hill, and just a general anxiety about training — ok a few of those may just be me.
It is not made any easier by the fact that not everyone will respond the same way to a traditional taper. A traditional marathon taper being cut back on the mileage starting a few weeks out from the race and then a few short and quick workouts marathon pace workouts to keep your legs fresh and race ready.
This brings me to this weeks 5 Minute Barrier; I’ll give you a few tools to beat Taper Madness and recognize if a traditional taper is right for you.
Thanks for watching and don’t forget to thumbs up that video and give me a follow on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat if you liked this info and want more!
As the saying goes, “Marathon training is a cruel mistress”, why else does every marathoner feel the need to tell you about their training regardless if you have asked our not?
It’s a lot of time, effort and sweat equity put into one day, months away, where you will test your mettle on the road…
Which is why you need to be cautious with which marathon training plan you choose!
You need to choose a plan that will work best for you; a plan that will fit within your time constraints but also work with your body and how you as an individual respond to training. However, sometimes it’s hard to tell which plan will work best, especially if you are unsure what to look for!
Take the plan below for instance: Continue reading “Marathon Training: Generic Plans Vs A Whole Body Approach Pt. 1”