You all know I like my crazy little running adventures. After all, I managed to train well for two marathons in the same weekend and walk away with only a bit of soreness. (Let’s not talk about why I have not managed to train well for MCM. We’ll just ignore that elephant in the room.) I’ve run 7 half marathons in 7 days, 2 marathons in the same weekend followed by Ragnar a few days later, etc. (We also aren’t going to talk about the bright idea I got today to run Ragnar on an ultra team. Or the fact that I had no trouble finding crazy people to join me.)
So, for today’s Tuesdays on the Run topic, “What’s your best piece of running advice?”, I’m going to share a piece of advice I was given by an older gentleman who was running 7 marathons in 7 days at one of the series.
Now, this is not the advice to take if you are running a 5K or trying to qualify for Boston. This is advice for when your running is about how far you can go. Can you run races back to back? Can you do a Ragnar with high mileage and hills? Do you want to be running this kind of mileage when you are 70? THAT’s when you want to use this advice.
I could tell you a ton of other advice I’ve been told, some good, some not so good, but for some reason, this has really stuck with me. Probably because my favorite thing to do is to race multiple times in a row. Yes, I know I’m weird.
What’s the best or worst or favorite piece of advice you’ve received?
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I think run slow, period, is the most often over looked piece of advice for runners. But I do love the run slow, walk fast–I wish some of my trainees would remember that!
I always say there’s no shame in walking. We all get across the finish line, one way or another!
Growing up we were told walking in sports was a no-no so I never tried it, and wasn’t good at long distance. The Galloway method is a race saver!
That is really great advice especially for just getting through the miles. Using the run/walk method was so important to getting me to where I am as a runner now.
I’ve often wondered just what your secret is to all the long distance in such short times and now I know! Great advice Erika. I did 3 half marathons on back to back weekends is about all I’ve done. I want to do a Ragnar so bad I can taste it too.
Good advice for running multiple races. I was using the Galloway run walk method during my last marathon and although I didn’t “purposely” run slow, I did try to walk fast during the intervals and I read or heard somewhere that I was doing it wrong. I guess everyone has. Different definition of fast..lol!
I have a hard time walking during a race even if I am tired of running. I feel like If I stop to walk I will never want to start back up running.
Aha, so THAT is how you manage it! So impressed how you can do so many races day after day. Once I did half marathons on back to back weekends and it did not go well. I tend to err on the side of less mileage to avoid burnout but maybe I just need to slow down and walk more as I go.
I may print this out to hang on my wall! Perfect advice!!
This is absolutely great advice, especially when it comes to ultras! Filing this for future reference… 🙂
Great advice and something I need to remember as I try my first back-to-back races later this fall!
OH.
This entirely resonates with me for my full in APRIL.
RUN SLOW WALK FAST <3
I trained for my marathon with Galloway run / walk method. I might not be the fastest running, but I have finished every race. Uninjured.
“You can do more than you think you can”. Whether that’s distance or speed, it’s true for everyone! I should take yours to heart — I tend to not think too hard about my 70s just yet 😉 but I definitely want to run for life and not just while I’m young…-ish.
Running is so empowering and invigorating, but I know it takes a lot of dedication and stamina to stay on your feet. These are great tips for pushing through! Thanks so much for the advice!