Everyone is always looking for an easier way to accomplish a task. Whether it’s losing 10 pounds in 10 days, learning the basics of a foreign language in just a few weeks or getting ready for a first marathon – we all want the quick way or the shortcut. This morning two of us ran ten miles the easy way. Now you may think this means it was easy – it wasn’t. But it is a method that makes the ten miles ‘go by’ more easily.
I met Ed Wood, whom I coach, for a training session that would work on his endurance and stamina as he gets ready for a marathon five weeks down the road. The ‘meat’ of the session is three repeat two-miles at 7:40-45 pace per mile with a half mile jog in between. We did a two mile warm up and a mile warm down which totalled ten miles. Ed recently raced a 1:46 half marathon, so the pace on the fast two-mile segments was slightly faster than his half marathon race pace.
You may be thinking, ‘This sounds hard! How is this supposedly ten miles the easy way.’ Well, the part that makes it easier than a 10-mile run at an easy, medium or hard effort is that we didn’t approach it mentally as a 10-mile run. After the warm up two miles we mentally segmented the ‘meat’ of the session into three repeat two-miles with a half mile jog. Ed ran the first two-mile at a ‘comfortably fast’ effort, concentrated on good form on the second one and focused mentally on running strong when he was more tired on the final fast two-mile.
We did the mile warm down and magically had run ten miles. During the entire time we were runnng we did not focus on the total miles we were running, just on the next fast two-mile segment. So this wasn’t an ‘easy’ ten miles as far as effort or pace, but it was mentally an ‘easy way’ to total ten miles. Try focusing on segments of your run and you may be pleasantly surprised at how many miles you run when that isn’t your focus.
I Run... Therefore I Am 