Go to any online group and there are often many “experts” who spew off what they believe… Some are right, but many are wrong just regurgitating bad information! I saw Coach Todd talking a lot about easy paces and other things that aren’t of conventional thinking and honestly, it didn’t make sense to me in the beginning. 😆
I was very much a newbie to running then. In fact, I started running 4 months after having a heart attack as part of my heart attack recovery after living a VERY unhealthy lifestyle of sugar, cigarettes, and ZERO exercise!
I ran, err completed my first Half Marathon only 7 months later. That was to make a statement about the profound lifestyle changes and health progress I made during that time. However, I developed IT band issues a week before the race due to no strength training and following a no good, cookie-cutter Half Marathon training “plan” that I found online. 🤦♂️ I got through the 13.1 miles somehow. It was very agonizing. I was in tears for a lot of that race. I couldn’t bend my knees or walk afterward! Everyone was like, “ICE, ICE, ICE!” But Coach T was over here saying, “Heat & Movement!” The best relief was heat and movent. I knew then that he DEFINITELY knew what he was talking about!
I started strength training and fully embraced his mostly slow, low heart rate training philosophy. I was intrigued by it after reading an article he wrote about training smart and getting faster by running slower.
Over time miraculous things started happening! Such things as getting faster with the same effort, AND the better oxygen utilization & building more dense mitochondria even allowed me to get off the overnight oxygen machine! I FIRMLY believe Zone 2 training helped with that! There are studies that support this!
I was a normal everyday runner just happy to finish a race and was beating my own times. Fast forward to adding in Coach Todd’s speed work while still doing the easy running. I was able to actually start RACING the races and began to earn podium finishes within my age group in several races!
In 13 months’ time, I shaved 45 minutes off of my Half Marathon race time. Another 14 months later I took off another 15 minutes with a time of 1:39:58. My next big goal is to break a 1:30 Half and then start training to BQ my first Full Marathon.
The basis of his personally crafted training plans rests on his basic philosophy of most days being longer and EASY, with a day or two of shorter but HARD days a week of training, coupled with HEALTHY eating, prioritizing rest and active recovery. MANY great things happen to the body aside from the countless PR’s by following this approach!
If you want to become a more efficient runner, get faster, and do so pain-free, contact Coach T today! I wouldn’t be where I am in my running journey if it weren’t for him!
The SMART Approach?
IT. JUST. WORKS. 😉