by Adolfo Salgueiro | Sep 27, 2022 | Article, Coaching, List, Science
As the fall and winter marathon season starts heating up, and as the preparation for the spring marathons approaches, I feel appropriate to repost an article I wrote last year, that it is still relevant at this time of the running season. Enjoy!
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
Tapering time approaches for those about to run the Abbott World Marathon Majors this year. Training time approaches for those eyeing their marathon towards the end of 2021 or start of 2022. So, seems like a good time to review some basic mistakes that runners, from beginners to experts, should avoid. This way they can reap the most benefits out of their efforts.
Training for a marathon is a process that involves multiple moving parts that need to work in sync. It needs to reach a point where the body can be stressed enough to compensate its deficiencies and adjust to the workload-thus improving- but not to a point where it becomes too much, and it can’t recover to do it again. This means overtraining and, most likely, an injury if intend to tough it out and train through it.
No need to overstress yourself if you avoid these basic mistakes in your training (Photo by Pexels.com)
The following are nine of the most common mistakes runners incur into during a marathon training cycle:
1 Running the long runs too fast: There is a time to go fast and there is a time to go slow. The long run has that name because it is designed for you to go long. It is not called the “fast run” for a reason. They are intended to build up your aerobic system, which, for a marathon, it is used 99% of the time, even if you are the world-record holder.
2 Focusing too much on the long run: The long run is an important part of your training, sure, but it is just one element, not the bulk of it. The success in your race will depend on the accumulated effect of all the elements in your training, not just one.
3 Doing the same workouts all the time: Because about 80% of the training needs to be done at a slower speed, there is a small number of hard sessions available, usually no more than two per week, so distance, speed, intensity, and other parameters, need to be worked so the body can benefit and adapt.
4 Poor fueling and hydration plans: if you don’t test strategies during training, you won’t know what works for you. The time to find that out is during training, long runs, especially. The time to realize a certain gel upsets your stomach, is not during the race. Same applies to hydration. What to drink and when needs to be part of race plan, shouldn’t be improvised on race day.
5 Skipping rest days: Not running on a specific day is part of your training. These days should be written into your schedule and followed to the tee. No amount of ice baths, compression socks or protein shakes will do you any good if you don’t give your body a break to recover so it can run again.
Rest is as part of your training as your work. Don’t skip it!
6 Not scheduling cutback weeks: During training you build up endurance, aerobic capacity, Vo2Max, and multiple additional parameters. But you can’t build up forever. Your body has a limit and needs time to actively rest so it can adapt to the benefits provided by your workouts. Programming a week to cut back on your training provides your body with time to adjust and recover, is key.
7 Cutting sleep: Remember you don’t improve when you work out, you improve while you sleep. The long run the tempo, the weightlifting, or the speed session damage your body. It is when you sleep that your body gets repaired. If you skip on sleep, you won’t realize all the benefits of the training, but you will keep the muscle damage.
8 Screwing up the tapering: Physiological adaptations after exercise, take between two and three weeks to adapt. So, there is no benefit on one last long run in the last couple of weeks. You need to actively rest and recover your body so it will be in its best shape for race day. During tapering there is nothing to gain, yet a lot to lose.
9 Following someone else’s training plan: There is nothing wrong with talking to your buddies about what they are doing, but they may not have the same goals as you and you do not have the same physiology as them. Set up YOUR PLAN, adjust as needed, and stick to it. Trust your coach. Trust your plan. Trust yourself.
Of course, there are more than nine mistakes you can incur during a marathon training cycle. These are just some of the most common and they mostly apply to any distance. As you finish your training for your Abbott Marathon Major or get ready for your upcoming goal race, make sure you are on the lookout for the aforementioned mistakes, so you won’t screw up your hard work.
by Adolfo Salgueiro | Feb 15, 2022 | Article, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
The biggest and most important event in the South Florida racing calendar is the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon. In 2022 it ran its 20th edition. A must for all local runners and a destination run for international runners, especially from Latin America. Even though the field was reduced to “just” 15,000 due to Covid restrictions, it was nevertheless, a great race.
Free race pictures are a staple of the Miami Marathon. At least I got a good one to cap the sufferfest
As the name states, the race has both marathon and half marathon distances ran simultaneously. They separate around mile 12.5. I cannot say much a about the marathon because I have never run it. As for the half, 2022 was my 11th consecutive participation in the event.
The expo took place in the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. The bib pick up was quick and easy. The expo was packed with vendors of every kind, with diverse samples of drinks, foods, gels, food services and electrolyte concoctions. You could also find shoes, shorts, socks and the newest gadgets. Stands for many international races were present. Even a coaching service where you could talk with an actual Olympic marathoner. For the first time, I saw free haircuts. Go figure!
In general, the race ran smoothly. Gear check was impeccable, signage was good and there were plenty of porta-pots. No urinals around, though. I still can’t figure out the logic behind the opening of Corral H. While the race started at 6:00, the gate to corral, inconveniently located in front of a row of porta-pots, remained closed past 6:15, as thousands of runners congregated in front of an empty corral. Other than to annoy runners on purpose, I can’t figure out any other reason for this to happen.
The half marathon course is always a delight, running by the cruise ships as the sunrise bathes the runners with sunlight while they enter the world-famous South Beach. Then through Miami Beach, followed by the spectacular views of the city on the way back to Downtown and the finish line.
A nice medal to commemorate the 20th edition of the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon.
The sour note was the screw up at the water stations. How can a race of this caliber and in its 20th edition, f-up the water stops so badly? When I stopped for water the first time, I picked the left side of the road, only to learn that it was the “Gatorade side”. This meant that if I wanted water, I had to cross the street while I had thousands of runners coming at me. And this happened more than once. At Mile 6, the water stop was abandoned and after that, a handful of stops did not have enough cups readily poured. This on a day with 93% humidity.
MY RACE
On the personal side, my race was terrible. Despite the fact this was my 11th time running the half, and my 43rd half marathon, I made many mistakes, many of them rookie blunders, which guaranteed me a forgettable sufferfest.
It started when I woke up at home and went to eat a bagel, only to realize my wife served me the last one for breakfast, the day before. It was my mistake not to ensure there was one available, and I assumed it. I didn’t bother to check the weather and the humidity caught me by surprise. Then it was the issue with the corrals, which got me in a bad mood just before the race.
Because I had ran the Houston Marathon three weeks earlier, I thought that half was a done deal, and didn’t even bother mentally preparing for the task at hand. I found myself at the starting line not even sure what I wanted to do with the race. I knew I wasn’t going to push and that I just wanted to have fun, but never bothered to review what that really meant or how get it accomplished. By the time I found no water at Mile 6, I had already bonked mentally. I didn’t go fast nor was I tired. I just didn’t feel like I wanted to run another 7 miles.
All that is on me. They were my mistakes. I can’t blame anyone else. I was cocky, overconfident and acted like a teenager who thinks he knows better than anyone. I paid for it.
As I tell the athletes I train, bad days, mistakes, failure and poor races are important to experience because they will give you invaluable experience that can only make you a better runner. I learned my lesson: never underestimate any distance, regardless of how many times you’ve ran it.
One of the remarkable things about the Miami Marathon is that it includes free photos for all the runners. I got was an amazing image from the culmination of my sufferfest. Final time was 2:33:27, by far my worst running half.
Did you run in Miami on February 6? Please share your experiences with the readers by leaving a comment.
A nice medal to commemorate the 20th edition of the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon.
by Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 24, 2021 | Article, Coaching, List, Science
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
Tapering time approaches for those about to run the Abbott World Marathon Majors this year. Training time approaches for those eyeing their marathon towards the end of 2021 or start of 2022. So, seems like a good time to review some basic mistakes that runners, from beginners to experts, should avoid. This way they can reap the most benefits out of their efforts.
Training for a marathon is a process that involves multiple moving parts that need to work in sync. It needs to reach a point where the body can be stressed enough to compensate its deficiencies and adjust to the workload-thus improving- but not to a point where it becomes too much, and it can’t recover to do it again. This means overtraining and, most likely, an injury if intend to tough it out and train through it.
No need to overstress yourself if you avoid these basic mistakes in your training (Photo by Pexels.com)
The following are nine of the most common mistakes runners incur into during a marathon training cycle:
1 Running the long runs too fast: There is a time to go fast and there is a time to go slow. The long run has that name because it is designed for you to go long. It is not called the “fast run” for a reason. They are intended to build up your aerobic system, which, for a marathon, it is used 99% of the time, even if you are the world-record holder.
2 Focusing too much on the long run: The long run is an important part of your training, sure, but it is just one element, not the bulk of it. The success in your race will depend on the accumulated effect of all the elements in your training, not just one.
3 Doing the same workouts all the time: Because about 80% of the training needs to be done at a slower speed, there is a small number of hard sessions available, usually no more than two per week, so distance, speed, intensity, and other parameters, need to be worked so the body can benefit and adapt.
4 Poor fueling and hydration plans: if you don’t test strategies during training, you won’t know what works for you. The time to find that out is during training, long runs, especially. The time to realize a certain gel upsets your stomach, is not during the race. Same applies to hydration. What to drink and when needs to be part of race plan, shouldn’t be improvised on race day.
5 Skipping rest days: Not running on a specific day is part of your training. These days should be written into your schedule and followed to the tee. No amount of ice baths, compression socks or protein shakes will do you any good if you don’t give your body a break to recover so it can run again.
Rest is as part of your training as your work. Don’t skip it!
6 Not scheduling cutback weeks: During training you build up endurance, aerobic capacity, Vo2Max, and multiple additional parameters. But you can’t build up forever. Your body has a limit and needs time to actively rest so it can adapt to the benefits provided by your workouts. Programming a week to cut back on your training provides your body with time to adjust and recover, is key.
7 Cutting sleep: Remember you don’t improve when you work out, you improve while you sleep. The long run the tempo, the weightlifting, or the speed session damage your body. It is when you sleep that your body gets repaired. If you skip on sleep, you won’t realize all the benefits of the training, but you will keep the muscle damage.
8 Screwing up the tapering: Physiological adaptations after exercise, take between two and three weeks to adapt. So, there is no benefit on one last long run in the last couple of weeks. You need to actively rest and recover your body so it will be in its best shape for race day. During tapering there is nothing to gain, yet a lot to lose.
9 Following someone else’s training plan: There is nothing wrong with talking to your buddies about what they are doing, but they may not have the same goals as you and you do not have the same physiology as them. Set up YOUR PLAN, adjust as needed, and stick to it. Trust your coach. Trust your plan. Trust yourself.
Of course, there are more than nine mistakes you can incur during a marathon training cycle. These are just some of the most common and they mostly apply to any distance. As you finish your training for your Abbott Marathon Major or get ready for your upcoming goal race, make sure you are on the lookout for the aforementioned mistakes, so you won’t screw up your hard work.
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