Once you get closer to your final race, you might want to reconsider your approach to a preparation race. This is especially true if you are training for a marathon. If, say, you have a half marathon lined up three or four weeks before your big day, you can either try to run the half marathon all out, or you can use it as a marathon pace workout. The latter option would ensure that you do not wear yourself out unnecessarily—you certainly do not want to feel tired at the start line of your marathon.

This scenario is the perfect opportunity to test out your marathon pace. If you run the half marathon at marathon pace and yet arrive at the finish line exhausted, then you might want to reconsider your target time. On the other hand, if the pace felt easy all the way through you can take a lot of confidence into your goal race.

This strategy takes a lot of discipline. It is easy to get carried away and it can be hard to watch people pass you that you know you can beat. If you are completely unable to hold yourself back, there is a compromise. Still assuming you are running a half marathon to prepare for a marathon, you can run the first 10 miles at marathon pace. Then, if you’re still feeling good, you can race the last 3 miles all out. This should not wear you out too much, but it will make it mentally easier to stick to your slower pace during the first miles.

Of course there is nothing wrong with actually racing your half marathon. Just make sure that you will definitely be able to recover in time for your big race.

Every marathon training schedule should include a number of shorter races. Ideally, there should be a 5k early on, then maybe a 10k, and a half marathon about 4 weeks before your target race. It doesn’t have to be exactly like that, though. If there are races within your vicinity of slightly different distances, then participating in them will still be beneficial.

Taking part in a race will get you used to the atmosphere, and the organisation of a race in general. It might teach you how to drink from a cup, or how to pace yourself correctly. Most of all, a race is always a great workout. I don’t know about you, but I can always run faster and at higher intensity if there is a number pinned to my chest. And in the days after a race, once I have recovered, I generally feel a fitness boost.

The rule of thumb is that it takes about a day per mile raced to recover. You should not race again before that time period has passed, but your own rate of recovery might be different, of course. Check how you are feeling, and act accordingly. When the time of the marathon arrives, we all want to be in best shape: not over-raced and not under-trained either. Don’t we?

Photo courtesy of Kris.

It sounds great. HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is supposed to increase your fitness and burn your body fat faster than other fitness methods. For some reason, some of the proponents have started taking pot-shots at endurance athletes, especially runners, for how wrong their training is. What is in it?

HIIT works the following way: After a warm-up period, you perform a series of short sessions at maximum effort separated by moderate effort recovery periods. A typical workout would be 8-second stationary bike sprints followed by 12-second passive recoveries (those sessions can be done on various types of equipment, including running on the surface of your choice, of course). The main selling point of a program like this is that you keep burning extra calories even after the workout has ended, due to a phenomenon known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Your body will be at a higher level of metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after exercise, which can burn 6-15% additional calories. As an example, if you burn 500 calories during your workout, you can expect to burn up 75 calories in the hours following the exercise “for free”. A study conducted at the University of New South Wales, Australia, found that women lost an average of 10.5 percent of their fat mass after 15 weeks on a three-times-a-week program.

Losing more than 10 percent of your body fat after exercising for only 20 minutes, 3 days a week sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, there are a few drawbacks.

You can’t just hop on a bike and start churning out maximum effort. A proper warm-up and cool-down session will increase your exercise time from 20 minutes to close to an hour—in which case, you don’t save any time compared to normal running training.

Even though 8 seconds-worth of high intensity exercise doesn’t sound like much, a 20-minute workout like this would include 60 all-out sprints, which makes this a very, very hard workout. The promise of “easy” fat-loss is false. You have to work very hard for your gains. People who are selling a program like this to a couch potato promising easy gains are basically lying through their teeth. Anyone not used to exercise will simply find the training too hard.

If you study the training of serious distance runners, you’ll see that they include interval workouts that can look very much like those HIIT sessions. All the way back in the ’50s, legendary New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard prescribed his athletes workouts like a sequence of 50 meters sprint/50 meters float, which is remarkably similar to a 8 seconds/12 seconds HIIT workout. Lydiard called them “sharpeners”, and he used them to fine-tune his runners’ peak fitness—not as the basis for the training program. Maybe he should have thought of a snappier name and created an ad-laden website instead.

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. You don’t turn into a super athlete by training for just 60 minutes per week. Hard training sessions like the ones prescribed by HIIT certainly have their place, such as in Lydiard’s program, and they do provide a very good stimulus to your body. However, the claim that they can replace any other form of training is simply false.

The program caters to all speeds and techniques so each Wednesday and Sunday there are about 300 participants divided among four or five coaches.

It’s a little weird for me, having already run about a dozen half-marathons, but I have always trained alone and have not had any previous coaching. Even in the early sessions, I have learned a lot of good methods for proper form.

In my solo training, I can steadily run 8-minute miles—a speed that normally puts me near the “front of the middle” of the pack. With the Fleet Feet group, however, 8-minute miles make me the second or third fastest dude. Both practically and psychologically, it was a completely different experience.

For one thing, we are running at night on a darkened trail, and it suddenly becomes a big concern to know where I am going. Where is the turnaround point? Which fork do I take? You can get pretty used to following the mob without a thought to these questions.

Normally in races or group running, you can concentrate on catching and passing one runner or a group, but there are always more of them in front of you. Near the front of the pack, you become very aware of specific individuals. Where is that little guy who sprinted out at the start? Did I pass the first female or is that her flashlight up ahead? Am I in front and, if so, what pace should I maintain? Whose footsteps do I hear?

It was a neat mental exercise in front-running without the impossible requirement of running 5-minute miles. I’m glad I experienced it.

I’m especially glad I experienced it because my front-of-the-pack jaunts have aggravated my peroneal tendonitis and I currently find myself limping around on one leg.

I may not get another opportunity to run in front. But with my bad ankle, maybe it’s time to see what it’s like in the back.

The goal of RunningDVDs.com is simple – to provide athletes with resources to run faster. The first DVD is called “Building a Better Runner: Building from the Ground Up,”

RunningDVDs says their product is made for all types of runners. I have not viewed any of their product (they have one DVD so far) but the samples appear to be of very high quality. Please leave me a comment if you’ve viewed their product and let our readers know what you thought of it.

I’d like to wish the folks over at RunningDVDs all the best. They look like they’ve hit on a great idea.

This might make a great gift!

The easiest way is to buy a book (or read a Web site) that covers the topic of heart-rate training. These invariably contain a table of target heart rate zones, which should be easy enough to follow. One problem with using percent heart rates to set efforts is that they can be too dictating. You don’t always feel the same, sometimes a run of 145 bmp (beats per minute) feels easy, and sometimes it feels hard. Slavishly following set numbers is not always a good idea.

Plenty of runners, especially experienced ones, admit that heart rate monitors can give you one big benefit, namely to stop you from running too hard on your easy days. It can be very tempting to push just that little bit too hard, and before you know it your recovery run has morphed into something completely different. As any coach worth his salt will keep telling you, it’s vital to have your proper recovery days, or you will end up injured or constantly tired, neither of which will do much good for your running.

One coach I know swears by the method of doing an evaluation workout at least once every three weeks. A typical example would be to run 2 or 3 miles at about 45 seconds per mile slower than your 5k race pace. After the run you stop and check how quickly your heart rate goes down to 120 and 110 bpm. As you get fitter you will notice a steady improvement in these numbers, i.e. it will take less time for your heart rate to drop down to these levels. If you do not see an improvement, you are not training properly (either too hard or not hard enough), and should alter your program.

One thing I do not agree with is to wear your HRM during a race and let it dictate your race pace. This ignores the fact that on race day your heart rate will be elevated because of your increased adrenaline levels. The same pace that might require 150 bpm during a training run can easily take over 160 bpm during a race. It is important to realise that this is not a sign that you’re having a bad day; it is simply your body’s way to handle the increased stress of a race. If you try to stay within set parameters, you are most likely to run too slow and won’t produce the results you are capable of.

Always remember: those tools are helpful for measuring. They are supposed to guide you, not dictate. Use your own judgement, and trust your instincts.

Read these related CompleteRunning articles:
You Gotta Have Heart, Miles & Miles & Miles of Heart!
Use the Karvonen Method to Determine Your Heart Rate Training Targets;

But no one was suggesting that weight training would directly improve my running. My body scan indicated I could use less fat and more lean. A little time in the weight room should improve my overall body composition. Five pounds of muscle would be more beneficial than five pounds of fat.

Exercise physiologist Mike Siemens went easy on me, but no one will ever mistake me for Charles Atlas. Old ladies were pumping more iron than I was.

Mike walked me through a strength program that I could continue at home: bench press, lateral pull-down, overhead press, leg press, biceps curl, triceps rope and ball, and leg curl. Interspersed between sets were a series of flexibility exercises utilizing the Burdenko method.

Although Burdenko is best known for aquatic physical therapy, his land exercises are designed to improve coordination, endurance and balance. The catch and pull was tough. Think of it as your standard runner quad stretch, but you grab your foot with your opposite hand while walking and stretching toward the ceiling. It looked like something that would get you hooted off Dancing with the Stars.

I was much better at the pull and kick (pictured) and the crunches. I knew all those sit-ups I did in the military would eventually come in handy.

Mike put the whole sequence on a grid for me, advising me to start it up during my “off-season” (December through February) on my two non-running days per week.

Physical limitations aside, cross-training is contrary to my normal way of thinking, which is, you get better at running by running, better at writing by writing, and off-days are days off. But I’m a middle-of-the-pack runner, not Hal Higdon, so I’ll give it a try.

Next up: Good eats.

But as it turned out, I had a few problems with this plan: It was 9 a.m. In Tucson. In August.

The temperature was already 90 degrees F (I checked) and we set out on a trail that runs along the property. There’s a photo of it accompanying this column.

OK, I added the cattle skull.

Something I wasn’t immediately aware of was the elevation. Canyon Ranch sits about 3,000 feet above sea level. I live in Sacramento, California, which is – believe me – a hot weather town, but only 25 feet above sea level. So my two-mile “warmup” was more like the last 300 meters of a grueling 10K.

Mike was patient and took me through each of the drills in turn. We began with a few sets of walking lunges. We followed with some high knees, then some butt kicks, and finished off with some strides.

As you can see from the videos, these drills are not designed to make you look particularly cool, but should help put some more boost in my stride. Mike advised me to add these drills to my weekly speedwork, for which he also provided some suggestions.

Now that we knew my max heart rate was 185, he suggested an interval workout that would gradually increase sets of 2-minute runs at around 85 percent max. I would start with five repeats and work my way up to 12.

After 45 minutes I was melting, but I was still able to jog… slowly… back to the facility. Having had my body examined from all different angles, inside and out, it was time to have my head examined.

Next up: What are you running from?

Many of us run for cause. There are many causes to run for, all worthy. I also make a point of contributing to people who are actively fund raising.

I found this video today and wanted to share it to celebrate and recognize the importance of the organizations that raise funds to help fight disease and who sponsor health embracing initiatives like training people to run a marathon or a half marathon or supporting them on a very long bike ride or training them for a triathlon.

This particular video was made by an organization called Young Survival Coalition and uses Melissa Ethridge’s song “I Run for Life”. Melissa is herself a cancer survivor.

Warning – this is a 2 hanky video – prepare accordingly.

Leg strength tests and body scans are all to the good, but now I was going to get a chance to take a running test. Even those who are relatively new to running have probably heard of an aerobic capacity test—or VO₂ max test. It measures your ability to transport and burn oxygen. If you are able to do this well, your distance running is steady and sure. Do it poorly, and you end up like Pheidippides.

I had a hearty lunch and headed to the small room where exercise physiologist Mike Siemens awaited me, along with a standard treadmill. Many VO₂ max tests involve having sensors pasted to your body and an unwieldy contraption attached to your face. But we had a portable wireless gadget that utilizes a normal heart rate monitor and a standard oxygen mask, sending the data directly to the computer through telemetry—much like a guided missile. Although, in my case, it was more like a Nerf dart thrown by a 4-year-old.

It all hangs on a harness that makes the entire get-up very unobtrusive, enabling you to concentrate on running. Mike explained how the test would work: I would start with a moderate walk, and he would gradually speed things up until I was running at near-top speed, after which he would add incline until I killed myself.

OK, I added that last part, but Mike wanted to make sure I would actually reach my max, but at the same time avoid any macho self-destruction. He mentioned a team of high school track stars who goaded one of their members into exceeding his max and reaching his next physical threshold—barfing.

Off I went. I must have been a little overexcited because my starting heart rate was 86. Walk. Walk fast. Jog slow. Jog. Run slow. Run faster. By minute 12 I was cruising along at my marathon pace, which is 8:30. At minute 13 we accelerated to 8:00 pace. No big deal.

Minute 14 – 7:30, slower than 5K pace for me. Still feel good.

Minute 15 – 7:00. Now I’m cooking. This is like the last 200 yards in a 5K, except I know it’s not going to end.

Minute 16 – My mile best in my old age is 6:36. Mike asks if I want more speed or more incline. I think about it for a second, and picture myself shooting off the back of the treadmill into the wall. “Slope! Slope!” I gasp. Mike adds two degrees of incline.

Minute 17 – “Are you OK?” Mike asks. I summon enough energy to nod my head, but can’t spare the breath to speak. Mike bumps me up to four degrees of incline.

Oh. Dear. God.

Not only am I running for my life, but up an endless sand dune. My mind departs my body, unwilling to share in the breathless agony. It hovers above me, staring at the treadmill timer—exhorting it, willing it to reach the magic number 18:00.

I make it! And fortunately Mike can see that if he adds two more degrees of incline I’m more likely to vault over the handrail and grab him by the throat. He slows the treadmill gradually while I focus on avoiding a facer into the control panel.

I soon experience a “runner’s high,” otherwise known as “stopping.” It feels so sweet.

Next up: The verdict!