Stop Overcomplicating Your Running

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

Last August, Peruvian Olympian and 2:07 marathoner Christian Pacheco won the Mexico City Marathon. Yet his victory was somehow overshadowed by traditional and social media because he was wearing a basic Casio watch, which retails for $22. No GPS supercomputer tracking all the latest and trendiest parameters.

I thought this was remarkable. I don’t know what he uses for everyday training, but in images I reviewed, he won the Pan American Games and the South American marathon championship wearing the same basic watch. At least to me, who has been running since the 2^nd running boom, it is refreshing to see some elite runners still capable of improving without the latest space-age technology and gadgets.

I am not against the use of technology. Running has advanced as an industry through investment, research, and the development of consumer products, and that is good. Very good. I don’t think we should go back to the jealous days of hardcore amateurism and leather running shoes. What I don’t like is overcomplicating what should be a very simple sport, especially for those of us who run for fun, to the point where joy and progress are subservient to the broadcast of your VO2Max or strangers pitching in on your latest 400-meter repeats.

Talya Minsberg, a runner and a New York Times fitness and health writer who has extensively reported on distance running, recently wrote: “Running is a simple sport. You don’t need a ton of equipment or expertise to do it, and running is a great way to improve your health, spend time outdoors, and connect with other runners.”

If you are not trying to make it to the Olympics and your living is earned outside the sport, enjoyment should be enough to make running a part of the rest of your life. It is not permission to be lazy or to be OK with being stuck in a rut. If you can run a sub-3 marathon, go for it! If we want to pursue that elusive sub-2 marathon, keep working towards it! If you want to run 1000 miles this year, focus on it. Goals are good.

Steve Magness, a running coach I look up to, recently wrote an article titled “An Exercise Program for Life, Not Instagram”. More than a cliché, it is a guideline many runners should start adopting. “Nail the basics for a very long time, and you’ll get 99% of the way there,” said the coach.

In his book The Kenyan Method, Joseph Kiprono explains that the edge of Kenyan runners from the Great Rift Valley isn’t based on genetics, running to school as children, altitude training, or super shoes. It is based on accepting that running should be very simple.

“The Kenyan method is not complicated,” states Kiprono. “That is precisely what makes it hard for the modern runner to accept. It is built on things your grandmother would approve of: run mostly slow. Run sometimes very hard, and mean it. Rest like it is your job. Eat simple food. Run with other people. Be patient for years, not weeks. Respect the hill. Keep your life quiet enough that your running can speak.”

To me, the key to the entire paragraph is the part about “what makes it hard for the modern runner to accept.” We can’t run if the watch runs out of battery. We use our $300 Nike Alphaflys even though we heel strike. We become running philosophers, posting runs with motivational quotes on how tough we are. We pause our watch when we stop for water so it won’t mess our averages on Strava. We sweat over our VO2Max or our functional threshold power, having no clue what they mean, let alone what they measure.

Look. I am not pontificating on the return of the 1960s-style bare-bones running. I do have a Garmin watch, I use highly engineered fueling gels and running shoes, too. It is not about becoming monastic about our running. It is about understanding that all the gadgets out there just give us an edge. And no edge will set a PR for us if we don’t put in the work. Just like that. As simple as The Kenyan Method.

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