The Tao for Running Marathons
or
How I was enlightened by a true Jedi Master

Before we dig into today's topic about running marathons properly (and fast) I have to admit something to you... I'm not the biggest authority on that subject. In fact I never ran a complete marathon before. I prefer to run very short distances at a rather good pace. Yep - now it's out. But this not the end of the story because this story is not about me.

It's about one of my personal 'running heros'. It's the father of my girlfriend. And boy, this man knows how to run marathons very well. In fact it seems to me that he's been doing almost nothing else since 1993. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating slightly here because obviously he stops to take a shower from time to time - but I can tell you he is really a machine when it comes to running. Especially longer distances or marathons. He's also president of an organization in the Netherlands that helps planning and executing about ten big marathon races in a year.

Well at one point several days ago we decided to go for a run together. No big deal. I do it regularly. He does it regularly - even more so than I do. And there we went.

We're into it for maybe 30 minutes when he tried to explain me: "Frank, you're running way too fast". Don't get me wrong here - he didn't mean that I was running too fast for him but that my pace for this particular training session was too high.

He went on to say "To get really fast at running marathons or long distances you want to focus most of your time on your basic endurance. Take a slower pace and run longer distances."

Hello?!

Noticed something unusual here?

Does that sound familiar to you?

That's exactly what I've been preaching and teaching for years now and yet he tells me exactly the same thing, that I'm still doing it wrong and that I'm running too fast. How could this be?

Partly it may be that when you're running with a friend or especially a person whom you respect for their achievements, that you automatically start to run faster because you don't want to appear 'wimpy'.

But later I came to another interesting conclusion. I think that without any exception literally all of us are running most of our training sessions too fast. Let me repeat that: I think that literally all of us are running most of our training sessions too fast. Period. This goes perfectly hand in hand with everything I wrote here on this site in the previous articles. That we could become much faster if we only took the time to slow down.

Paradox, isn't it?

But oh so true.

It doesn't matter if we think that we know about this. As long as we don't monitor ourselves regularly we tend to go faster than our training plan dictates since you feel fresh, good and regenerated. If we don't feel up to par we automatically turn the volume down. Now this is not a new idea and might not surprise you at all or maybe it does.

But the point is: Even if you consider yourself a 'running pro' and especially if you intend running marathons - it might always be a wise idea to check yourself on a regular basis and gather feedback from inside (listen to your body) and outside (i.e. ask your peers or consult your heart rate monitor from time to time).

It pays to listen to knowledgable persons, too. I did it. And I'm doing triathlon for more than 10 years now. Reminds me of the story of the golfer who always goes playing with his buddies and therefor of course never improves his handicap because they always do the same things at the same level and they make the same mistakes, too. If he took expert advice and only put a fraction of these ideas into action he could instantly correct himself and dramatically improve his end results.

So what is the Tao of Running Marathons?

1) Build the basis.
2) Gather internal and external feedback.
3) Make adjustments if necessary.

...and then repeat the whole process. Over and over.

Okay folks, that's it for today. Didn't think I was really going to talk with you about Star Wars and Yoda, did you? ;-) It may seem like small things but trust me - those small things translate into big things when applied properly and I hope these ideas were as eye-opening to you as they were to me when I first started watching my actions...

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