“You need to run slower to get faster”
“If you train slow, you’re going to race slow”
“Training is training and racing is racing.”
Endurance sports are overflowing with seemingly contradictory and confusing statements such as these. However, there is a common thread that connects these ideas and if understood clearly, it becomes a valuable guide to race performance. By the end, you’ll see that they are not contradictory but instead describe different parts of the same system.
You need to run slower to get faster
This idea is supported by years of research in exercise physiology, world class training programs and elite endurance training.
Training at easier intensities should make up the majority of endurance training (Seiler, 2010; Seiler & Tønnessen, 2009). Zone 2 heart rate training gives you most of the aerobic benefits without the same injury risk or recovery cost. The purpose is to increase mitochondrial and capillary density while training at submaximal intensity, improving your ability to sustain consistent training over time (Holloszy, 1967; San Millán & Brooks, 2018). Less reliance on limited glycogen stores allows you to maintain effort for longer durations (Coyle et al., 1997).
All humans use three energy systems (McArdle, Katch & Katch):
- ATP-PC (phosphagen system)
- Anaerobic glycolysis
- Aerobic metabolism
Endurance athletes live and die by the aerobic system. This system uses oxygen to convert fat and carbohydrates into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the molecule responsible for muscle contraction.
As intensity increases, the body shifts toward greater carbohydrate usage to produce ATP (Coyle et al., 1997). Carbs can be processed quickly but are limited in supply. As intensity decreases, fat oxidation becomes a larger contributor to ATP production. It takes longer to convert fat into ATP, but the supply is practically unlimited.
The aerobic system is not fixed. It can expand. If you imagine your aerobic system as a container, low intensity training increases the size of that container. More mitochondria, more capillaries, more room to produce ATP.
Makes sense! Yet people also say…
If you train slow, you’re going to race slow
… and the mayhem begins.
What if I told you this was also true? Would you toss your running shoes out the window and pick up gaming instead? Hang in there.
The confusion with these seemingly contradictory ideas lies in the intent and net effect behind the training stimulus itself.
Human beings have “gears” and most athletes, especially experienced ones, don’t race in Zone 2. Sebastian Sawe broke the Marathon World Record with an incredible time of 1:59:30 at the London Marathon. There isn’t a human being alive who can run over 13mph for 2 hours straight with a low aerobic, Zone 2 heart rate.
Zone 3 and Zone 4 training produce a couple of byproducts: lactate and positively charged hydrogen ions, which have been associated with acidosis (Brooks, 1985; Brooks, 2020). This is what makes harder efforts feel…hard. While Zone 2 training also produces these byproducts, the net effect is much lower. Recovery time is shorter, which prevents poor quality sessions in the near future.
Our bodies don’t know the difference between crisis situations and a “leisurely” 13.2 mph run down the streets of London. Aside from the psychological stress of pain, when not properly adapted, our bodies can overreact. When not properly adapted, an athlete will slow down due to the natural aversion to pain (Noakes, 2012).
Training fast, therefore, is less about building an aerobic engine and more about training your body to operate at higher intensities. Zone 3 and Zone 4 training improves lactate tolerance and conditions the body to sustain faster, more demanding efforts while adapting to the pain and stress response that comes with them. The cost, however, is more damage and higher recovery requirements. While important, this type of training should be done less frequently than Zone 2 work.
Simply put, Zone 2 training is about building potential (recall the container analogy) and Zone 3/Zone 4 training is about actualizing that potential.
Race practice trains us to tolerate higher intensities, but higher potential enables the push in the first place. This is why it is useful to train in a variety of heart rate zones.
Training is training and racing is racing
…an obvious statement that almost everyone ignores.
Training or “deliberate practice” as Angela Duckworth would call it (Duckworth, 2016), means isolating a specific stimulus with the intent to improve it. To an endurance athlete, deliberate practice means “targeted physiological stimulus” (i.e. applying the right stimulus based on the goal of the session). Racing is leveraging the systems that you have developed for a specific event.
No more ego workouts. They are almost always costly and directionless. In layman's terms, you are not focusing on anything other than suffering. To increase potential, the base engine must be built primarily through low intensity training. My coach always told me, “If you think you’re running too slow, run slower.”
I get it, nobody likes to train at a slow pace. It’s frustrating, ego bruising and time consuming all at once. However, it is the foundation where speed is built.
These statements are all true. Deliberate practice unlocks athletic potential but requires discipline and planning. As you approach a training plan, the most critical aspect of your training should be polarization (Seiler, 2010). Make easy miles truly easy, hard miles hard, and beware of the in-between. Running slow to get faster and training fast to race fast are all key ingredients to reaching the finish line faster than you ever have before.
Adopt them all.
References
- Brooks, G. A. (1985). Lactate: Glycolytic end product and oxidative substrate.
- Brooks, G. A. (2020). The Science and Translation of Lactate Shuttle Theory.
- Coyle, E. F., et al. (1997). Substrate utilization during endurance exercise.
- Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.
- Holloszy, J. O. (1967). Biochemical adaptations in muscle.
- McArdle, W., Katch, F., & Katch, V. Exercise Physiology.
- Noakes, T. (2012). The Central Governor Model.
- San Millán, I., & Brooks, G. (2018). Assessment of metabolic flexibility.
- Seiler, S. (2010). What is best practice for training intensity distribution?
- Seiler, S., & Tønnessen, E. (2009). Intervals, thresholds, and long slow distance.