I had a great run with Matt this morning. Matt brought up an interesting point that really got me thinking. He found it interesting how so many runners and coaches are more than happy to take credit for success but refuse to accept responsibility for failure. The amount of excuses that Matt and I hear from runners on a daily basis is staggering.

When a runner does well you will usually hear them explain how everything they did in training allowed them to run well. You will hear confirmation from the coach that his training plan worked. You will hear congrats from teammates and friends, telling the athlete great job on what they did. Everyone is so happy about what the runner did. The runner feels proud because the training payed off.

When a runner runs poorly or gets injured you will often hear every excuse in the book including people blaming injuries on “bad luck.”

Bad luck? Really?

I would guess at least 90% of running injuries have nothing to do with luck and everything to do with bad training, bad form, wrong shoes, poor mentality, insufficient recovery, poor nutrition and other factors. One of my teammates got hit by a car while she was running on the sidewalk. That’s bad luck. Getting spiked in a race might be bad luck. Getting a stress fracture is not bad luck, it’s bad training.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have no sympathy for someone who is injured. I feel bad and want to help anytime someone tells me they have a running injury. But I feel even worse when someone tells me they have an injury because of “bad luck” or they “can’t catch a break.” Not only is the person injured, they’re delusional. When they start running again, they will continue doing the same things that got them injured in the first place. When you refuse to accept responsibility for your failures how can you grow?

This is one of the reasons many track athletes have been so resistant to running form. Why work on technique? It’s not poor form that got them injured, it’s just random luck, apparently. When an athlete refuses to acknowledge the reasons for their injuries, correcting the root of the problem will never happen. So we start the cycle of rest, ice, drugs, surgery and then go right back to doing the same stuff that caused the injury in the first place. After all, it wasn’t anything we did wrong that caused the injury, it was completely random. People often run very fast before a major injury, so they think “well my training was working because I ran a PR, then I randomly got injured so when I heal this unlucky injury I will continue training the exact same way that got me the PR."

What makes this even more bizarre is the amount of hate I see people like Ryan Hall getting for expressing his beliefs in god. Ryan Hall gets absolutely blasted on the internet for giving credit to god for his performances. People make fun of him for thinking that god has something to do with his running. NO! It’s hard work they say. It’s his talent. It’s his training. It’s anything BUT god. They make him out to be crazy.

But ask these same runners who are hating on Ryan Hall how they got injured and they will say “I was just unlucky” or “I just caught a tough break.” It seems a bit hypocritical to mock Hall for believing that an invisible, mysterious force (god) was a factor in his running, and then turn around and declare that it was an invisible, mysterious force (luck) that gave them their injury.

I understand that owning up to your errors can be challenging. Admitting a failure is uncomfortable. I can see why people want to blame mysterious, invisible forces for their shin splints. I certainly sympathize with injured athletes who aren’t quite ready to admit defeat. If a runner wants to live in a fantasy world and think that everything good is created by them and everything bad is created by random luck, then great, no problem. That is their choice and I don’t begrudge them for it.

My issue is with the COACHES who promote this type of thinking. You might remember me mentioning a local coach who told me I *needed* to run 100 mile weeks to run under 32 minutes in the 10k (despite my repeating to him that I ran 31:15 on 50-70 mile weeks.)

Well this same coach, (and YES this is a true story) was once going on and on about how he trained a local runner to some very fast times. He spoke at length about the training he gave her and how she ran very fast times specifically because of the training he gave her. He was very clear that it was his training plan that allowed her to run such impressive times. At the time of our conversation the girl was in a wheelchair with stress fractures in both legs. When I made a comment about the stress fractures he said that had NOTHING to do with the training plan he gave her.

It must have been bad luck.

Sadly, this coach will likely never adjust his approach and continue running kids into the ground. This is a huge problem in our sport. Overtraining is right up there with eating disorders as the elephants in the room. If we continue to ignore the problems and write every injury off to bad luck we will never progress.

Yesterday I posted a blog listing what I consider to be some of the worst running tips still making the rounds. The post was written as a joke intended highlight how ridiculous some of this “expert” advice really is. Today I will briefly revisit each point, this time giving my actual advice.

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

While the above phrase sounds cool is it even true? It might be. But just because your body burns something, does it absorb it? Furthermore, if the trash you are eating is completely void of any nutritional value, does it even matter if it burns? Any coach worth their stopwatch will tell you nutrition matters. While I agree that many diet salesman take things way to far causing stress and confusion, there are plenty of people out there who can help you find a nutritional strategy that works for you.

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Just about everyone I’ve seen make a solid effort with core and stability work not only gets hurt less they perform better. Every other sport encourages cross training, why not running. When you get injured and go to physical therapy, they might have you do some stability work, like standing on a balance board. My theory is – why wait until your injured? Start training now so you are BULLETPROOF. The main argument against this that I’ve seen is “in order to get better at running, you need to run.” Yes, that is true. Cross training is done IN ADDITION to running, not as a replacement for it. I would also suggest you take it even further than doing crunches for 2 minutes followed by planks for 2 minutes. Build yourself up to handle TONS of core stability work. More coming on this soon...

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

Great athletes are in the moment. Great athletes can focus during clutch time. Great athletes think a great deal about what they are doing. The problem – runners are notorious for being OVER-thinkers. Over thinking will hinder you because you will be more and more removed from your body. Remember, mind body connection is 50/50. Practicing focusing on your regular runs and you will be more focused come race day. Look at the people winning races, most have incredible focus.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

I’m not sure how this theory came about but it is so ridiculous I can only chalk it up to lazy runners who don’t want to work on their skill, they just want to run. In order to maximize your running potential it’s important to find your optimal stride. This is done by listening to what your body is saying and making the necessary adjustments to your technique. It’s an ongoing and GRADUAL process. As long as you make small tweaks and do it in the spirit of playfulness, you will likely notice benefits.

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Shoes are good. I like shoes. I work for a shoe company. I suggest buying shoes based on comfort, not on what the shoe salesman recommends. You know your body better than anyone else. Dig around online and make sure you listen to both sides of the story on this one. For decades runners have only gotten one side of the story – specifically “the only way to improve your running is to train more and get better shoes” story. Thankfully, leaders in the natural running movement such as Danny Dreyer and his team of Chi Running instructors, along with folks like Dr. Mark Cucuzella are now offering their thoughts on the other side of the story.  Finally, when it comes to shoes, my personal advice is to not even bother looking into the science. It’s not that I think science is bad, I think its great. The problem is that the current science tells us next to NOTHING about the relationship between shoes and injuries. It is a confusing, muddled mess. In my estimation, we are AT LEAST 20 years out from having some solid data to really understand this complicated relationship.

In conclusion – find a shoe that will COMPLIMENT your stride. Don’t rely on the shoe as a magic bullet cure all band-aid. Be very skeptical of anyone telling you not to change your form but to buy a shoe that will change your form.

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

I think the majority of runners can get some very significant benefits from barefoot running. The common knock I see against it is that for competitive runners doing all their mileage barefoot is unreasonable. Well, the good news is once again, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ALL OR NOTHING. Remember – the better the performance, the less things need to change. If you are running well, consider adding some barefoot strides after a run once or twice a week. If you aren’t running well consider slowly building up your barefoot running until you start to get the magic back in your stride. Barefoot running is fun and interesting. You will learn things about your running. Be aware of your surroundings and start out with just a little barefoot running, monitoring how you adapt to it.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

This one seems to make the most sense at first glance, but is copying an elite runner reasonable for the majority of the rest of us? I see this advice given out all the time on running message boards. “Just run like the elites. Do the same workouts as the athletes." Unfortunately, copying elite runners with no idea how they get to where they are is dangerous. Don’t copy other runners, find your own path.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you aren’t hurt, good job! Running should feel GOOD. If you feel good then great! Don’t let anyone convince you that running should hurt. Don’t let anyone convince you that you are under-training because you aren’t hurt. It’s completely possible to train yourself to your potential with NO PAIN. My senior year of college was the best year ever for me running wise. I ran many of the best races of my life that year and I wasn’t hurt, in pain, sore, or sick AT ALL that year. There wasn’t a single day that I felt pain from running. I ran 31:15 for 10K that year and during the race I felt FREE and HAPPY. At the conference meet I ran a 10K in 32:20, a 1500 in 4:10 and a 5K in 16:00 all in the same day, with no pain or soreness. If you train smart, you should never be in pain.   Earlier in my running career I would feel pain during races. Looking back I realized something – the more pain I was in during the race the worse I did. The less pain I was in, the better I did. The “no pain, no gain” attitude is completely bogus.

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Interesting that conventional running wisdom suggests running more for both lack of pain and too much pain. If you are hurt there is a lot you should start looking into such as nutrition, form, imbalances in the body, overall stress level, sleep, other activities etc. The last thing you want to be doing is upping your mileage through an injury. You should REDUCE the mileage if you have an injury.it's amazing I even have to write this here, but unfortunately I still hear and read people telling injured runners they need to run more so they don't get injured.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

The truth is, there is no magic number. Everybody is different. Some people do well on high mileage, others do well on low mileage. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. I have NEVER run 100 miles in a week and have done pretty well.  My Prs in high school were around 4:48 mile and 16:41 5K cross country (franklin park course) I went on to run 4:05 1500, 15:28 5K (track), 31:15 10K (track) on about 70 miles a week in summer base training and 50 miles a week during the season. Yes, that’s right I was running HALF of the magical 100 mile number and managed to improve a great deal. Basically, I took my high school 5K pr – took a minute off and was able to do it twice in a row. I am sure I’m not the only one who has done well on relatively low mileage. As Matt Germain always says "if it's been done, it can be done."

So there you have it. A brief summary of my response to the worst running tips ever. I will go into more detail on each point in future posts.

What are your thoughts? What is the best and worst running advice you have ever gotten?

In my last post, I exposed why the phrase “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” doesn’t apply to athletes and is possibly the worst bit of advice an athlete could ever receive. In this post I continue with the theme of bad advice, exposing the ten worst running tips ever. Below I will tell you what you want to hear. I will tell you good things about your bad habits. I will help you justify your lack of cross training, junk food eating, and lack of receptivity to anything new. Enjoy!

(Please do not take the below advice seriously. It’s just a joke and is meant to expose some of the lingering dogma that exists in the running community. In a follow up post I will counter each of these tips with real advice. For now, let’s have a little fun)

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

Don’t worry about what you eat. Don’t waste your time trying to eat healthy. As long as you are running enough miles you can eat just about anything. In fact, eating as much junk food as you want is one of the best reasons to run in the first place!

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Any time you spend doing core work, stability work, weight training, or yoga is time that you COULD be running. Other than improved strength, range of motion, body awareness, reaction time, focus, balance, agility, speed, endurance and quickness there is NO reason to do anything but RUN. You are a RUNNER, not a weight lifter. Do you think running backs lift weights?

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

In order to have a great race, it’s best to put your mind as far away from your body as possible. Running HURTS and you do not want your ability to sense pain anywhere near the battle between you and the road. The longer you can ignore the pain the better you will perform. Pain from running is just like any other problem – ignore it long enough and it will go away. Using an ipod during a race can help distract you from the event. Sure you will be oblivious to the runners around you and a huge nuisance, but that's besides the point.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

Your running form was hardwired into your body when you were born. You cannot change your technique and attempting to do so will surely land you an injury. The same thing goes for everything else. Trying to improve your skill at anything is only going to make you worse. Do you think master musicians spend hours perfecting their skill at their instrument? NO! They just wail on baby!

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Go to your local running store and have them watch you walk barefoot. If there is any rolling at all of your foot you are going to need to change your form by being properly fitted for a shoe. Correcting your biomechanics with a shoe will keep you running along with no problems.

(side note: I work for a shoe company and think running shoes are good. I’m not anti-shoe by any means, but giving out tip 4 immediately followed by tip 5 is ridiculous and happens way more than you’d like to think)

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

You know those shoes you got that corrected your form? Never take them off. You should be so adapted to shoes that it is painful to stand barefoot. Running barefoot will pretty much cripple you. No elite runners ever run barefoot.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

No matter what your objective is with running, the best approach is to copy what elite American runners do. Africans are good because of their genetics, Americans are good because of their training. Just because elite runners run for a living, and you just want to run a decent 5K doesn’t mean you should consider a customized or scaled down approach. Just because elite runners plan their whole day/week/life around their workouts and you have a job and kids DOES NOT mean you should be slacking off by only running 50 miles a week. Just because many elites have an extremely high tolerance for volume and intensity does not give you a free pass to be slacking and taking days off. Objective does not matter. Everyone should train exactly like elite runners train, regardless of goals and objectives.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you actually feel good and aren’t in any pain this makes it very clear that you aren’t running enough. Remember, running hurts and you should be in pain. A well trained runner is always right on the brink of collapse. To maximize your running experience you should always be right on the cusp of a stress fracture or major illness. If you feel like absolute crap during your taper week, you know you have done a  good job with your training. If you ain’t injured, you ain’t trying!

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Similar to tip 8, if you get an injury it is a clear sign that you aren’t running enough. Injuries happen when the body is not adapted to running. The only way to adapt to running is to run more, so we must conclude that the best way to prevent injuries is to run more.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

It’s not enough to say just run more, we need to be specific.  Runners need to be told exactly how far and how fast they should be running. While your body will magically figure out the best form for you, it has absolutely no way of telling you how much is too much and how much is not enough. Luckily we have conventional running wisdom that tells us 100 miles per week is the magic number. Why 100? Well for starters 100 is THREE DIGITS instead of a measly two digits. Also, 100 is such a nice round number. Once you hit 100 of anything, you are good to go!

*End Sarcasm*

As sad as it is many people actually buy into the above advice. I see people actually giving out these tips on a regular basis.  I once had a track coach tell me the only way to get better is to run 100 mile weeks. I explained to him that I took over 2 minutes off my 10K time and was only running AT MOST 70 miles a week. Despite clear evidence against his absolutist viewpoint he continued to lecture me that the only way to get better is to run 100 miles a week. The scary thing is this guy coaches youth athletes!

In a follow up post I will revisit each of the above tips and give actual advice, so stay tuned for that.