Running Learnings

Over the past couple years, I have learned a lot about running and decided to summarize some of my learnings both for my own organization and in case others are interested in it. This is just based on my own experience and I know there is still a lot for me to learn. Feel free to read and let me know if you have any feedback + questions + corrections!

Weekly Training

I don’t have a coach or follow any particular training plan, but I generally like to schedule my running weeks in the following way:

4 easy days
1 speed workout* (usually Tuesday)
1 long run (usually Saturday)
1 rest day

Some people believe in running 7 days a week, but I have always preferred having a rest day to let my body recharge. From what I’ve seen, a lot of elite runners also follow a similar 6-day schedule. Running less than 6 days a week is also possible, but likely will result in less fitness overall as in general, the strongest predictor for running fast is running a lot, and you can simply run more in 6 days of training than in less than 6 days. There are also runners who seem to be very fast even with a lot of cross-training that puts less load on the body, but I haven’t looked too much into that personally.

Easy days should be run at zone 2 (conversational pace, preferably <150 or even <140 HR) – HR is generally more useful of a measure than pace since with hills or variable weather in four-season cities like New York, the pace for an easy run in summer can differ vastly from an easy run in winter.

*For marathon training, I recently tried doing two speed workouts in a week on Tuesday and Thursday (in addition to a long run) – this is riskier and I suspect how I got injured in 2023 when I ramped up mileage and intensity together too quickly. I would recommend doing at least one marathon training block with one speed workout a week (two quality days inc. long run) before moving up to two speed workouts a week (three quality days inc. long run).

For the one rest day, I have tried taking it on Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday, depending on how the training week has gone thus far. For example, if my workout on Tuesday was particularly tough, then I might be inclined to take the next day (Wednesday) off. If not, I might prefer to take the day before my long run (Friday) off so I feel fully recharged for my long run. If neither of those, then I will probably take the day after the long run (Sunday) off so I can start the new week off fresh.

Given a 6-day running week, my steady-state total mileage usually ends up in the 40-60 mile range. In terms of time spent, this usually adds up to around 5-7 hours of running per week. I like my regular easy runs to be around an hour long, which usually works out to somewhere between 6-9 miles. The long run is typically 1.5-2 hours, which usually works out to around 13-16 miles. For speed workouts, there are a lot of different types of speed workouts which serve different purposes, but some of the ones that seem interesting are as follows.

2x2mi (10k-HM pace)
2x3mi (10k-HM pace)
3x2mi (10k-HM pace)
Mile repeats (4-6 x 1 mile, 90”-2’ recovery, 5k-HM pace)
Kilometer repeats (5-8 x 1 km, 90”-2’ recovery, 5k-HM pace)
800m repeats (6x800, 60-90” recovery, 5k-10k pace)
400m repeats (12-16 x 400m, 200m jog recovery, 3k-10k pace)
3 min threshold pace (8-12 x 3 min)
6 min threshold pace (6 x 6 min)
Continuous tempo (6-12 mi)

For marathon training, the rough structure of the training schedule remains similar, but the total “quality” work should be higher to prepare for the challenges of a longer race. For example, one of the regular hour-long easy runs might turn into a 1.5-hour or 2-hour “medium-long run (MLR)” (I have usually done those on Mondays), and the 2x2mi workouts should turn into 2x3mi or 3x2mi for more stimulus. For mile repeats, I’ve seen as high as 8 reps, and for 400m repeats, I’ve seen as high as 25x400m. For me, I noticed that around 36 minutes of “quality” speedwork on both the Tuesday / Thursday speed workout days worked out decently for me without taxing my body too much. The general principle I tried to follow is that the harder the workout days, the easier the easier runs should be to accommodate.

For marathon long runs, I found that I generally prefer to have completed four 20+ mile long runs before the marathon in order to feel prepared. This helps train both my body to be able to physically handle 2.5-3 hours of running as well as my mind to be able to handle 2.5-3 hours of work. Some people recommend structured long runs for marathon training, e.g. 3x5mi at MP – I haven’t tried that personally, but could see how that would be helpful, particularly running fast paces on fatigued legs.

Taking breaks during long runs for water or just in general seems acceptable, and I’ve seen some of the elites do it as well. It seems like time-on-feet is more important than putting together a continuous long run, although doing it continuously seems preferred if possible (as an ideal race will also be run continuously).

Taking all the above into consideration, these are all just general guidelines for how to structure a week of running. However, at the end of the day, consistency is the most important, and stacking up weeks on weeks, months on months, and blocks on blocks is the most important way to improve fitness.

People generally follow a 10% rule for increasing mileage (i.e. it’s not recommended to increase weekly mileage by over 10% week-over-week to avoid injury). Leading up into races, it’s recommended to do a taper, for example for a marathon, a two-week taper might look something like 70% / 50% of peak weekly mileage (50% peak mileage including the race). It’s also recommended to have down weeks (less mileage than the previous week), although I haven’t explored that much.

Periodization

Most of the advice above is related to optimizing for marathon training. In this sense, the marathon training season can be defined as the “in-season” and the rest of the year as the “off-season”. A typical marathon training block might last somewhere from 12-20 weeks.

To that end, it can be good to periodize one’s training, for example by focusing on speedwork in the winter (indoor track) and summer (outdoor track) seasons while focusing on longer distances (half marathons, marathons) in the spring and fall. In general, it is good to run at a variety of paces, for example strides seem to be generally recommended year-round. This helps break up the monotony and is better than, e.g. marathon training year-round.

One thing that’s commonly said is that it’s easier to be fast (e.g. at shorter distances) and then work up the endurance after, as opposed to the other way around. This is one of the reasons I’ve tried to improve my speed during the marathon “offseasons” as even though it’s not marathon training, it still helps to build up the overall peak speed.

Nutrition

Protein after a run is a good idea for muscle recovery, the sooner the better. This can be in the form of a protein shake (e.g. Fairlife, Owyn) or making a smoothie with protein powder (e.g. Gold Standard). I’ve heard that ingesting protein as soon as possible after a run is ideal.

For long runs, it’s important to get enough carbs the night before, otherwise you may feel depleted during your morning run. In general, I prefer to do my morning runs while fasted provided I’ve eaten enough the night before. For morning long runs, generally I don’t eat much in the morning as there’s not enough time to digest, and it seems to work out fine. A banana is usually enough.

For marathons, historically people have tried carb loads of close to an entire week, but the current recommendation appears to be to do a two to three day carb load prior to the race. For me (weighing around 170 lbs), I tried to aim for 650 grams of carbs for each of the three days prior. This is hard with just solid carbs, so some tips are to use Maurten 320 drink mixes or orange juice, which may be better for avoiding GI issues. Apart from that, pasta is another good option. It’s recommended not to try new types of foods in this time period, and even other macronutrients like proteins and fats are not that useful during this time period (you can catch up on those after your race)!

Gels are recommended for runs (and workouts) over 90 minutes, the idea is that your body runs out of fuel and you’re effectively starting your post-run recovery before the run even ends by helping to replenish nutrients to your body. Usually, I use Gu gels for training and Maurten gels for racing. Gu gels are annoying because they are sticky and if you get it on your fingers and don’t have water, you’re kind of out of luck. Some people say you need to drink fluid after your gels to “activate” them, but I haven’t had major issues ingesting gels without drinking water.

Historically, I have taken gels around 45 minutes when I do my long runs / races. However, there currently seems to be a revolution in high carb fueling for running and the advice has been to consume more and even more carbs while running, with the movement apparently spearheaded by ultra runner David Roche, suggesting that people can take 60, 80, or even up to 120 grams of carbs per hour. In future marathons, I may try to take gels closer to every 30 minutes or even less as a result.

Water is important for summer runs when the weather is too hot and you lose too many fluids through sweat. Some people also recommend salt tablets, but I’ve never used those and haven’t seemed to run into major issues. You can tell if you’re a heavy sweater if you see white marks on your face, body, hat, etc. after a run. I generally rely on the NYC water fountain network, but many people also recommend carrying a water bottle while running for more reliability.

Recovery

I noticed I made a big improvement in my running when I started focusing on all the little things outside of running itself, for example foam rolling, post-run nutrition (protein), getting proper sleep, getting proper hydration and electrolytes, etc. For a brief phase, I was doing pre-race stretching, although lately I have only been doing this more before long runs and workouts.

I like this YouTube video for post-run foam rolling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq9GUUegyqk (From what I understand, there’s not much advantage in doing pre-run foam rolling or it can potentially even be bad).

I like this YouTube video for pre-run stretching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WUtJxLv-wI From what I understand, stretching may also not be that important pre- or post-run.

Normatec boots can help with post-run recovery. Sauna post-run can help improve running performance and is used by elite runners like Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, etc. (study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33211153) Massage guns may potentially help, but I haven’t used that much personally. Strength training is also highly recommended, although I also generally haven’t done either (even though I should).

Shoes

I primarily run with Nike running shoes. I like the Pegasus (I use the Pegasus 39) as a daily trainer. I like the Vaporfly 3s for racing (I haven’t ever used the Alphaflys, but heard they can be good too, albeit more aggressive). I have Dragonfly spikes, which seem good for track races, though I also haven’t used them as much.

Previously, I liked the Infinity Run 3 a lot and did not like the Pegasus at all as it felt like running with bricks on my feet. Then Nike stopped producing that model and the replacement InfinityRN4 shoe just doesn’t feel the same. Somehow over time, I got used to the Pegasus and now it doesn’t seem as bad and it’s my new favorite running shoe.

I personally prefer to use Pegasus for long runs, with the logic that there’s not much advantage to doing a long run with plated shoes. On the other hand, I prefer using plated shoes for workouts. Even more than allowing me to run more paces closer to race-pace, I think it’s helpful in that it allows for less recovery time and ability to stack on more mileage. I do think there are also good arguments for using plated shoes in long runs and not using plated shoes in workouts, this is just my current personal preference.

It’s said that training too much in plated shoes will not put adequate load on your hamstrings, quads, etc. and that you will end up at greater risk of injuries. Therefore, it’s good to limit its usage where possible.

Clothing

For summer running, my favorite running shirts are the Nike Dri-fit running shirts, with Uniqlo running shorts. I’m not a huge fan of shirts from races as I feel the material can be abrasive. For races and long runs, I found it important to put band-aids on nipples and Body Glide for armpits, crotch, etc. to avoid chafing. People have also recommended Squirrel Nut Butter, but it seems to be oily and can stain clothing.

BreatheRight nose strips may or may not be helpful, but I noticed it does open up one of my nostrils (for a long term fix, you can also get a septoplasty surgery). I found that the nose strips likely cannot hurt, so there is probably no harm in trying to use them for races. It may not stick if you have sunscreen or face lotion or an irregular nose shape.

For winter running, I prefer a Nike quarter-zip and Adidas pants with a hat and gloves under 30 degrees Fahrenheit. In general, I prefer more layers on top and less layers below (e.g. quarter-zip + shorts) than the alternative (t-shirt and pants) for running in colder weather. In general, people seem to overestimate the layers they need as the body warms up after running quite quickly. However, this can be annoying if one needs to commute to or from a run in cold weather.

Community

Participating in the local running community can be a great way to motivate yourself to get out there and run. For a long time, I did most of my runs solo, which there’s nothing wrong with, but I found that engaging with the larger community can be really fruitful and make running more fun!

Some of the running groups I’ve checked out in NYC are the Dashing Whippets Run Club, As-Is Run Club, Old Man Run Club, Upper West Side Run Club, Brooklyn Track Club, Tracksmith Run Club, etc. There are a lot more running clubs as well, for example I’ve heard good things about Endorphins, Midnight Runners, Dirty Bird, No Bad Days, different run clubs per neighborhood, etc. I noticed that in NYC, there’s a tendency for run clubs to fit on a sliding spectrum of social to performance-based. There are more social run clubs where people go to make friends, dating, etc. and people are more down to hang out before / after runs vs. the more performance-based run clubs where people mostly just show up, run a workout, and go home.

Strava

Strava is an app that is used to share GPS files, which can also be used as a training log to add titles, captions, photos to runs. It is pretty popular and even though I only started using it in mid-2023, it helped motivate me a lot seeing others doing their runs. It’s also a good way to learn what workouts, weekly training plans, etc. are popular and have worked for others. I find it to be a pretty positive form of social media. It originated with bikers and is still pretty popular there, but I mostly follow runners on the app. It can be fun to wake up and see people from other places in the world do their runs, as well as seeing people doing their early morning runs. The Strava heatmap is also a great feature for route discovery both locally and while traveling. It can be fun to make your mark and go for segments. I don’t really go for Challenges or Trophies, but I’ve seen others do that. There are some cool challenges, for example, for the NYC Marathon, you could get a pretty cool poster of your race result from Paper Trails.

Races

Running is getting really popular, so a lot of the races (for example the World Marathon Majors) require signing up quite far in advance (including a whole year in advance). This is bad for people who can’t really commit that far in advance and leads to people entering multiple lotteries for marathons in the same season. I personally don’t care that much about running the six marathon majors and I have mostly optimized for cities I like (Paris, Geneva), as well as NYC (as my hometown marathon).

NYC has a cool local running scene, even beyond NYRR races. There are a bunch of non-NYRR races like Prospect Park 5k series + 10 miler, OSR does cool unsanctioned races, etc. There’s also many cool track races, like the Trials of Miles and Tracksmith Summer 5k series. The Armory is an underrated place with indoor track races, such as the Night at the Races series. For watching professional runners, the Millrose Games are a fun watch each year as well as the Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium.

Routes

Tracks are kind of annoying to get to in New York, and Manhattan has limited track access with only the East River Track and Riverbank track which are both kind of out of the way. According to rumors, the East River track may be closed for a while starting soon (as of Jan 2025). Many people also do workouts on the east side of Central Park, where there is a relatively long flat stretch on the east side of the reservoir with markings on the ground for common distances (400m, 800m, 1mi, etc.). I personally like the McCarren Track in Williamsburg as I consider it more accessible than the East River Track and has better vibes.

Around the city, some popular running paths are Central Park and the West Side Highway. Central Park has good options with the main loop, the bridle paths, and the reservoir loop. People also sometimes do workouts on the West Side bike path, but this may provoke the ire of bikers, particularly at peak hours. The east side of Manhattan is generally harder to run – there is apparently a project to work on a connected path eventually but it has been slow to develop. One thing to keep in mind is that it’s claimed that asphalt surfaces are 10x less hard than concrete, so running on softer surfaces may be better for one’s body.

Some other cool long run options are running to further out places and taking the subway back, for example Flushing, the Rockaways, Coney Island, Red Hook, the GW Bridge lighthouse, etc.

Media

I get a lot of inspiration from consuming running media and seeing what elite runners are up to. Some of the podcasts and YouTube channels I like are listed below:

Podcasts

The Running Effect podcast - my favorite running podcast with Dominic Schlueter, interviews with various guests around the running world
Strength Running podcast - another good running podcast with Jason Fitzgerald interviews with guests to learn some of the science behind running
Coffee Club podcast - On pro runners, Ollie, Morgan, Geordie discussing happenings around the running world, I saw a cool live podcast with them in NYC
LetsRun podcast - podcast from the creators of a popular running forum, also mostly discussing current events in the running world

YouTube

L&L - twin brothers from the greatest HS running program in history (Newbury Park) who are now at Stanford, the channel that got me back into post-HS / college running
Yasseen Abdalla - entertaining runner who ran D1 track at Texas / Tennessee / Arkansas and represented Sudan at Paris Olympics in the marathon
Utah runners (Michael Ottesen, Adam / Mica Wood, Rory Linkletter, Clayton Young, etc.) - there has been a boom of content from Utah / BYU runners, interesting insights into training of pro athletes