Run slow, get faster - it may be trendy but it's also true
Plus our usual round-up including our podcast chat with ultra marathoner Jeremy 'Go For A Run' Singh
Run slow to get quick 🏃♂️
It’s the on-trend advice you hear more and more.
Take my recent @runningtalespod chat with David Abbott, aka Mr Slow Easy Comfortable (plug, plug 🔌 😂).
But you know what, it’s right. So here’s my little story about how it worked for me.
At the start of 2021, I challenged myself to run 1,000 miles across the year.
Now for some people that might sound like nothing, for others it’s huge. For me, I felt it was possible - as long as I avoided injury.
How 'Mr Slow Easy Comfortable' runs slower and lifts weights to go faster
Running Tales: After all is said and run is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. “People really want that message that it is OK to run slowly, that they have permission to enjoy their running.”
Over the couple of years prior to that I’d picked up a lot of niggling injuries, nothing serious but enough to stop me running for a week or two at a time.
My tactics - unthought out and naive - had always been to go out and run as fast as I could, for as long as I fancied.
No wonder I kept getting injured!
Also on Running Tales:
So in January 2021, I just said to myself that I was going to run slow and steady. To avoid injury and add the miles up - pace didn’t matter.
And, do you know what?
My mileage increased. I felt comfortable. Bigger distances became easy and, most importantly, I wasn’t getting injured.
By October, I’d completed the 1,000 miles 💥
BUT more than that…
💨 I got faster!
🐆 I beat my best 10k time
🤩 I got two half-marathon PBs - IN A MONTH 🤯
All from running more slowly.
I didn’t do speed work. I didn’t do strength training. My nutrition didn’t change.
Sure, those things would have helped too but this was just from going slower 🐢 and longer!
So relax, take it slow… and the results might just shock you too!
This week on…
The podcast:
This week’s podcast guest was Jeremy Singh, who according to his own Twitter bio - @singhcredible - went from overweight dad to ultra marathoner.
He now has a 100-mile race set in his sights, having ticked off a 75 mile run last year.
Along the way he has built a strong social media brand, with more than 40,000 people following him his Twitter hints and advice on everything from strength training and nutrition to running plans.
Running Tales also talked to Jeremy about his 'Go for a Run' catchphrase and how everyone can enjoy running...
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Substack:
Our article uncovering what it takes to run 145-miles proved popular this week.
We spoke to Richard Wilcox and Ben Davies after they took on the Grand Union Canal Race.
It was the first race of the Canal Slam, which features two 145-mile races and one of 130 miles.
Their second 145-miler will come in the form of the Kennet & Avon Canal Race - which runs from London to Bristol - on July 28, before they finish the challenge with the mere 130 mile Leeds and Liverpool Canal Race on August 26.
Their goal is even more remarkable considering Ben and Richard have each only been running for a little over three years.
You can read their full story here:
Start with “stupid” and end in success… What does it take to complete a 145-mile race?
Running Tales: After all is said and run is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The first thing you need to complete the initial 145 mile run of a three race series covering 400 miles is to be “stupid enough to take it on”.
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