Where I went wrong with my marathon training... and why this time will be different
Last year, I ran my first marathon. It was hard to believe I could do it, and I was super proud to accomplish such an achievement.
I was less proud of how little I trained for it.
I basically didn’t train at all. Every time I tried to train, I would get a knee injury, or something else would prevent me from continuing. And because my goal was to complete a marathon, I decided to do it without formal training. I ran a few short races in the months leading up to the big one, but that was it. (You can read about all this in-depth in this past newsletter.)
Now, if you’ve read my last few newsletters, you know that one of my goals for 2023 is to complete a triathlon. I’m already signed up for one (the Harryman Triathlon) and have started training. It’s an Olympic distance triathlon, combining swimming 0.6 miles, biking 28.3 miles, and running 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Not an easy feat!
So the immediate question is: why will this time be any different?
This newsletter is about just that: the mistakes I made in the past and what I’ve changed for my current training.
Mistakes I was making
Too much distance too soon
This is the obvious thing I was doing wrong. The typical training program for a marathon prescribes a whole lot of running. As an example, here’s what the first week of training looked like for the marathon:
Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 3 miles
That leaves two rest days, which isn’t bad, but that’s also 20 miles in the first week. It’s nothing crazy, considering that the longest single-day run at the end of the program would be around 18-22 miles, but the issue was with where I was starting from. Before the first week of training, I ran at most twice a week, usually no more than 3-5 miles. That meant that the first week of training already represented a doubling of my running distance, which is not sustainable.
As a reminder, the rule of thumb with running, to avoid injury, is to not increase your weekly running distance more than 10% week-over-week. And I was increasing it 100%!
The distance was a big issue, but since I started training more sustainably, I’ve discovered many other things I was doing wrong.
Too fast all the time
Whenever I would go on a run, I would always go at full speed. Or rather, I would try to in the beginning and then gradually get slower throughout the run as the pain in my lungs or legs would catch up with me.
No wonder I was getting injured!
I would justify this pain by telling myself that running a marathon would be painful, so it makes sense that the training should also be. “This is just getting me ready for the real thing,” I believed. And then, after just a handful of these runs, my knee would start to hurt, or my body would be too achy, to the point where going on another run seemed like a bad idea. I kept pushing myself to the breaking point, thinking that that would push that breaking point further, but it never did.
No warm-ups/cooldowns
Going fast all the time also meant I put no effort into warming up and cooling down. I was opting for an “active” warm-up, which entailed jumping right into the deep end at full speed. I wouldn’t give my muscles time to adjust to the stress of exercise, which probably put even more strain on my joints. This would become clear when I had a slight ache in my knee before a run, and running immediately turned that into full-blown pain.
Not understanding what “easy” and “hard” runs meant
This was a huge one. In my two attempts at “training” in the past (where both times I gave up about two weeks in), some of the runs would be labeled as easy or hard.
Since my default pace was around 95% effort, a hard one quickly became more than 100% effort for the brief time I could sustain it. And since I didn’t have a gauge of what “easy” should be, I pulled back a little bit… which meant I was running at about 90% effort. It’s clear now that my gauge was entirely off, and the easy runs should have been a lot easier so that the shorter, more challenging runs could truly be harder and that I could maintain that for longer.
Not varying pace within runs to train aerobic/anaerobic systems
On top of slower warm-up and cool-down zones, runs should also include a range of speeds throughout, allowing you to exercise different systems inside your body. As I said above, I was running at a near-constant, very high effort. Ideally, I would have run most of the time at a lower effort, with short bursts of high effort to get up into the anaerobic heart rate zones.
Not doing more research on training programs / investing in a training program
It should be pretty clear now that I don’t know what I’m doing regarding training. The only thing I had been training was my pain tolerance. Don’t get me wrong, that will get you a long way, and you could even run your first marathon with that training. (That’s what I did!)
But it doesn’t make you a good runner, that’s for sure.
And it will only get you so far before you inevitably get injured or give up because it’s so physically taxing.
I should have done a lot more research before jumping in, both about how training is usually done and the best training program for my fitness level. There are lots of free resources online, but it can also be a good idea to invest money into a training program that is right for you.
The difference with my current triathlon training
This time will be different! (Or at least I hope…)
I’ve learned from my mistakes and taken steps to fix each of them. So even if I make new mistakes, I can rest assured that I am training better every day and smarter.
Here’s why this time will be different.
Variety of sports
Triathlons involve three disciplines, which each engage different muscle groups. This allows me to train multiple days in a row while giving different body parts the time to rest between sessions.
A long run can be followed up the next day with a swim/bike session, allowing my knees and joints to recover with the lower-impact sports. After a swim workout, my arms tend to be much sorer than my legs, which means a bike or run workout can follow with little fatigue in my thighs and calves.
Each session makes me fitter while allowing my body the time to rest and not get injured.
Less distance
As I mentioned before, the triathlon I will be doing is an Olympic distance one. The complexity of the event comes from the fact that the three disciplines are back to back and not so much from the individual distances of each.
Unlike my marathon goal last year, which was such a huge step up from where I was starting, the distances in this race are much more manageable given my current athletic ability. (Not to say this is easy, by any means. 10K two years ago was the longest I had ever run continuously. But I’m proud to say that I can now do a 10K painlessly.)
As my first foray into this new sport, the Olympic distance is the perfect length. The first week of training involved 3-mile runs, 30-minute swims, and hour-long bike rides, all of which were very manageable. Unlike my previous failed training programs, the start of this program is spot on with my current physical ability.
Investing in a professional training program
My general lack of expertise in training, coupled with the novelty of a new sport, made buying a training program designed by a team of experts a no-brainer.
The one I’m following bases each of the workouts on heart rate zones adapted to your current ability (specifically, the zones are built around your lactic threshold, which can be determined in various ways for each discipline). These zones allow for exact workouts, where the expected effort can be expressed as an actual range of heart rates.
I love this because it takes all the “thinking” out of the equation. I no longer have to do research and come up with workouts myself. All I have to do is read was is on the docket for each day and execute it.
A significant component of my past training experiences was all the questions I would ask myself while I trained:
“Is this workout worth it?”
“Should I be pushing myself more?”
“Should I take a rest day?”
“Is this too fast or too slow or just right?”
“Am I training the right way?”
Now, I only have to answer one question each day: “Can I complete this workout?” So far, the answer each day has been “Yes!”
Following a professional training program also solves a lot of the issues with my previous training:
Each workout includes a warm-up and cool down
Every workout in the training program starts and ends with five minutes in Z1 (zone 1). For me, that equates to a heart rate between 119 and 134. In the running, that is basically walking. Gone are the days when I would jump in and destroy my knees.
Varying levels of difficulty throughout each workout
Between the warm-up and cooldown periods, the workouts also include a majority of very easy zones. And when I do enter into upper-Z3 or higher zones (which is when you should start to feel the effort), it is only for short bursts. This allows your heart rate to increase and to train your aerobic or anaerobic systems safely without staying in those zones for long periods and risking injury.
This means I can train in higher zones while still putting in distance every day.
Knowing exactly what “easy” and “hard” means in each discipline
This plan doesn’t even use those terms. The whole program revolves around the zones, each corresponding to different heart rates.
In the past, when a race would have been labeled “easy,” I was probably still drifting between what I now know as zones 2 and 3. Now, I know to stay in zones 1 or 2 for easier workouts. Zone 3 is for long workouts that should feel like a bit of effort. And lastly, zone 4 and up are for the much harder efforts, but always in shorter bursts.
Zones 3 and under are heart rates you should be able to maintain for long periods. Anything above is an unrealistic effort over long periods and now I know exactly how fast I should be going throughout each workout.
The benefits I’m already feeling
Just two weeks into training, all these ajustements are already proving helpful. Here are a few of the benefits:
When I used to train, I constantly pushed myself to the limit and had sore legs every day. This time I have practically no muscle pain the next day and feel fresh at the beginning of every workout.
I am burning more than ever before. I remember being amazed that I had burned 1000 calories while running my first 10k, which was, at the time, the hardest I had ever pushed myself physically. Now, with a leisurely 30-minute swim followed by a Z1 30-minute run (practically walking), I am burning the same 1000 calories. This feels like a very easy day, yet by just putting in the time and distance at a much lower exertion level, I am not doing any damage while still training my aerobic system and getting physically fitter.
I’m sleeping like a log. This means my body is still going through it, with the critical difference being that I have essentially zero pain. I might get to a point where I am overly tired, but that won’t happen for a while. I feel like I can easily sustain the current training volume.
That’s why I think things will be different this time. Small successes like this are so motivating and push me to get better and better.
And on top of this, I’m going through the training alongside a friend. (Shout out to Francesco!) This makes things much more fun and makes staying on track easier.
Anyway, I have to train, so I’ll leave this newsletter at that. Gotta run! 🏃♂️ 💨
I’m almost done building my personal website. It’s been super fun to create, and it will be the first of my 25 creative projects for the year. I’ll talk about that in my next newsletter. Subscribe so you don’t miss it!
Thanks for reading ❤️