[Editor] How do you get people back into shape who cut back during hot weather?
[Toby] First of all, in the extremes of weather, always look for the least of the extremes. For example, run in the shade, which is very
possible if you live in New York you can go on the bridle path and try to stay out of direct sun light. Try to run as early as possible
in the morning in the summer it's not that difficult because daylight comes early.
If you do fall off your plan, it's not terrible, so don't just say "OK I'm going to get back on to where I was before" you have to build up by 5% per week until you're back where you think you should be. For example, if you fell off around 25%, which is the average of what I find people fall off, it will take you about 5 weeks to get back where you wanted to be. But don't worry because if you do worry it's going to make it worse, and typically that's where the injuries come in particularly if you do an upgrade of more than 10% in a week.
I know we've all made the mistake of jumping right back after a gap in training I've done it, you've done it, everybody has done it. But think of the leaning tower of Pisa you can't build a tall tower without a strong foundation or it will fall over. And the other thing is when you do come back, your pace is probably going to be slower, so you might actually be strong but you won't be as fast. One thing that will help is is to incorporate strides into your workout basically 5 times 100 meters going up to 120% of race pace you're only going for 100 meters so it won't tie you up
[Editor] Should you run on an effort basis rather than a mileage basis? How do you judge? Do you believe in heart rate monitors?
[Toby] No, I believe more in biorhythms than pulse meters. One day you jump out of bed and you feel, "Today I'm ready to conquer the
world" and the next day you say you're ready to
conquer nothing but a bowl of breakfast. We think about it on the non-running days, but on the running days we often just look at the schedule:
"Today we're supposed to run 75% of the heart rate blah blah blah." I prefer the organic method give the best you can on those days. And giving
the best you can is also giving the best on easy days. If the day before you had a rough day, don't try to make it up. Stick to the plan and do
the best you can for that day's objective.
If you're a slave to a plan, you start to become pedantic and you start to have guilt. And guilt has no place in a running program. Lose the impulse of sticking to something, no matter what. What I tell people is to give the best you can for virtually every session. For instance if you're doing a hard session at 90% effort, you'll know if you've cheated. When you go home you can either say, "Today I really trained" or "Today I just ran through the session". So it's being honest with yourself but it's also not being too tough with yourself, because running is a tough sport and it's a singular effort. It's not a team effort where you can rely on your team if you slack off like in soccer
[Editor] My own experience is that people don't do enough recovery runs. They run too hard too often rather than too easy.
[Toby] Yes, in Central Park there's a joke, you race at 5:59 pace and you train at 6:01 pace. If you talk to most club runners here,
they'll say that their hard workouts on Tuesday and group runs on Wednesdays are both like races. People are very competitive and it's crazy.
This, I think, is the biggest difference between runners in Kenya and New York City in Kenya we'll go out in the morning and do an easy run and you'll
see someone who runs a 12 minute 5K running a 9 minute mile in his easy run. A 9 minute mile for someone who's running 4:20s in a race!
[Editor] Let's segue into marathon training, since many of the Flyers are training for New York or other Fall marathons. Aside from the
recovery from the hot weather, where should we be now in the beginning of September?
[Toby] You should be moving up to your peak weeks if you're running New York, and if you're running Chicago you should be already into
your peak weeks. The peak week is the maximum load and that's about 7 weeks out from the marathon. So if you're coming up to NY (Nov. 7th),
you'll be 7 weeks out around the 3rd week of September (Sept 19th). You should be running your absolute maximum.
My own advice is to use a 12 week preparation I don't like to schedule longer than that because people will lose focus. 12 weeks is good for the mind. But I'm assuming going into this schedule, you have your base in place and you're ready to do the specific marathon training. Within that 12 weeks, the week that's 7 weeks out is the max, then you have an easier week 6 out and 5 weeks out you have another hard week. Then you start to come down a bit.
[Editor] Are those hard weeks when you do your 20 - 21 milers?
[Toby] Yes up to 22. As for total weekly mileage, giving a figure for each person is difficult. You have to do the best you can.
For example Paul Tergat ran 180 miles a week while Mark Thatchery, who ran exactly the same time, ran around 80 miles a week. So even at the
extremes there are big differences between individuals. As for us mortals, someone might run a 4 hour marathon on 40 miles a week and
someone else might run a 4 hour marathon on 60 miles a week. It depends on your body type. Some people like to train long, some people get better
results running shorter. But I think what is most important to your schedule is to make sure you do your long runs. And if you can, put some
"quality" into your long runs by running the last 25% (the last 5 miles) at marathon race pace that's my best advice for marathon training.
[Editor] How many 20 milers?
[Toby] My perfect plan is 5 long runs: 18, 20, 22, 20, and 18 miles. It's symmetrical. You need to do at least 2 long runs, but 5 would
be the ideal. They would be at weeks 11, 9, 7, 5 and 3 weeks out from the marathon. Studies have shown it takes 14 days to recover from a long run,
so I don't advise doing them more often than every other week.
[Editor] How many days a week?
[Toby] I would say minimum 4, maximum 6. It depends on how you respond to training and how you recover. Some people recover faster
that others they're the people that can run 6 times a week. If you find that if you're dragging you legs to get out of bed, you have to cut
back a bit. Running should not be something where you're always on the recovery path it should be something you feel you're rebounding from.
If you feel your endurance is good then you don't have to do as much of it. I think the marathon is overrated as being hours and hours and hours
on your feet yes, it is important that your long runs are long, but during the week you don't have to do mega miles.
[Editor] What about races during your peak training?
[Toby] In a marathon program you should not race too much. There's an old saying "Don't expect to live in your house while you're
building it." You can race well during training but it can play too big a part in your mind at a time when you shouldn't be worrying. You should
be thinking "I'm training well and that's all that matters." Another well known marathon runner, Felix Limo said, "I'm very happy if my races
are bad, because it means I'm training properly for the marathon." And I think one of the main problems in New York is there's way too many
races. If you look at the man who won London this year, Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede he runs two races a year both marathons. That's it no 5Ks,
10Ks or half marathons.
He's just in training and then does his marathon races. Here in New York the average club runner races too much during the marathon training
period. Because you can't help but taper a bit and theres a recovery period, so there goes a week out of your program. I'm encouraging
people to do less rather than more races.
[Editor] I used to do a half-marathon at marathon pace. What about that?
[Toby] Thats OK, but the problem is folks won't slow it down to marathon pace. I suggest a bi-weekly program with a long run on
alternate weeks and on the in-between weeks you could do what you said. But you have to control yourself when you put on that race number. I used
to be the sort who would run at every opportunity as fast as possible and would be beaten in races by runners I considered to be weaker, but
eventually I realized the importance of doing the training runs at sub-race pace.
[Editor] I've heard of elites running a short but hard race 5K or 5 miles the week before.
[Toby] It's a very popular thing to do but I don't suggest it for non-elites. If youre a highly trained runner doing say 120 miles
a week, I think it's fine. For mere mortals running 30 or 40 miles a week, it's far better to run 3 or 4 miles at marathon race pace. The recover
from a full-out race is just too much. Remember, the elites are not working a job like most of us so they can get more sleep and more recovery
rest than we can.
[Editor] What about tapering?
[Toby] I like 3 weeks to come down in mileage but the most important thing is not to slow your runs to a jog. Cut the mileage but not the pace. Keep
the marathon pace and get the body used to it. In the last few weeks, do some 5 or 6 mile runs at marathon pace which trains the mind and body to
get used to that pace. Your mileage is about 30% of max in the last week.
[Editor] The last week?
[Toby] Very much stick to just easy running, and go out 20 minutes the day before thr race, or if you always rest the day before a race,
do it 2 days before. The body gets used to running and we don't want to break that cycle which affects digestion etc.
[Editor] What about check lists?
[Editor] And visualization?
[Toby] I try to get people to split the marathon into 3 stages because I think 26 miles is too intimidating to have in your head on the
starting line. So think of the marathon like this: 1) you're at the starting line and you have 10 miles to go, so go and do your 10 miles. 2) When
you get to 10 miles, you say, "OK now I've got my 10 to 20 mile stage." 3) When you get to 20 miles you should think, "OK now I've got one loop of
Central Park to go". When you break it down like that it seems less intimidating it's a job you can handle.
I also try to get people to visualize and to think about land marks along the way. For example, visualize what's there at the 10 mile point watch for that. The point is don't try to think of the big picture the whole way, it's too long. And it's very important to remember that the last 6 miles are going to hurt whether you're the world champion or someone at the back of the pack. Another way to say it is, "Yes, it hurts, it's supposed to hurt." If you've done it right it still hurts. It's a badge of honor.
I think that everyone should run the last 10 miles, especially since we're here in New York. But I think it's important that you don't run the last 10 miles the week before the race. It should be two weeks ahead or you're going to blow your tapering the last week. And I recommend marathon pace, not just a jog. Marathon pace, two weeks out, that's it. Remember it's training, not socialization.. Save that for the party after the race. Be very disciplined. That's not to say you should always train alone having a good training partner can be a great help to training. Misery loves company.
[Editor] Any final thoughts?
[Toby] One of the beauties of running is it never gets easier. And the better you get, the harder it gets. It's insane I know,
but no matter what your age or what your pace is, you can always challenge your body to do better. You really are competing against yourself and
pushing your own limits.
It's the only sport where the top runners who are competing for $150,000 or even an Olympic Gold, will pass each other the Gatorade. You would certainly never, ever, see that in the Super Bowl.