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Hello fellow runner!
Coach Todd here. Welcome to my April SMART Approach Newsletter and a more formal start to my monthly newsletter. I promise they won’t be a novel like my past writings. I laughed when one of my athletes, Susan (see her below) recently told me she mailed my Christmas time newsletter to a friend and needed to buy extra postage because there were so many pages. Gaahh. My SMART Approach newsletter will be emailed to all the athletes I coach, have coached, set up plans for, inquired about my services or have formally subscribed from my website or social media posts. If you don't want to have regular communication from me, the process to UNSUSCRIBE is simple and at the bottom of this newsletter. Also, if you know anyone who may be interested, send them to my website and have them subscribe for FREE to receive these newsletters and also running tips, athlete successes, and new informative training articles I am currently writing. There may be more than one communication per month but promise not to bombard my subscribers daily. I am not a fan of getting daily emails after I subscribe to a service.
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Each month I will recognize runners I coach, upcoming races, good performances, PRs, etc. Because there are so many races monthly, I cannot highlight every race or athlete so if you don't see your name or performance this month, you will likely show up in the upcoming months. In this newsletter, I want to educate and also have a Q & A section. I think a lot of education comes from answering questions and clarification of training principles. Starting in May I will also spotlight a featured runner with a little interview where you get to know him/her better. If you want to volunteer, email me. OR I will reach out and volunteer you. I think it's awesome to learn a bit more about the runners having success in their training, how the SMART Approach has helped them on their run journey, and also get to know them a bit more on a personal level.
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Anyway, Spring is here. Well, not in WI. Uggh. I am still looking at snow as I type this. A crazy 16 inches of snow fell last Saturday. It has not been a great Winter and definitely not a fun Spring here in Green Bay with snow and cold. The last 2 weekends I planned to do a 5K race. The first one was -6 degrees windchill so I opted out. This past Saturday the heavy snow so no go. I found a 5K for this Saturday and surprise, another Winter storm is here with rain, snow, and wind so no go again. Next weekend, I will be in Florida and you would think I could find a race within 45 minutes of Sanibel/Captiva. Nope!!
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I promise to not talk so much about me like last time I sent out a newsletter, but my athletes ask me what my running goals are this year. I will share. Firstly, I am just happy to be running after 35 years of running. I know I am very fortunate based on my health history as shared on my website. I am not a marathoner but I do love to compete. Seeing all of you and many of the other runners daily on the I LOVE TO RUN FB site/group is inspiring. AND the runners I coach inspire and motivate me so much on a daily basis.
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After a couple years of Covid and last year having a weird knee issue/injury, I feel revitalized a bit. My main goal for the year is to stay healthy and run a 5K under 7:00/mi pace. I was so close last Fall. It appears I may not get a legit opportunity this Spring so it may have to wait a bit. I plan to race in April somewhere. I have a couple 10Ks in May/June. My first goal race this year is to do the Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon May 21st. My goal for the HALF is to run my best time. This is always my goal with a smart race strategy. If I have to throw out a time it would be to get as close to 1:40 as possible. I run 25-30 miles a week at my peak. My best time on this same mileage is 1:30 at age 40. Last year I did a 1:49 with only 2 months of training coming off the knee and being off running for 3 months. I do love to race and compete. Another highlight of this event in May is some athletes I coach are coming to visit me and compete in the HALF and FULL Marathon. I will wait for next month’s newsletter to announce who they are but I am so excited. They are coming in from 3 other states. I am so pumped.
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BOSTON MARATHON COMING UP SOON
3 athletes I coach will be competing in the Boston Marathon April 17th. This is an amazing accomplishment and the ultimate goal for many runners. Boston is widely known as the top World Major. These 3 athletes are already showing their nerves which is completely normal. They have been training hard, fighting through adversity with their niggles and life. These 3 have crazy busy lives with work, family, kids, projects, low sleep and like many of my athletes and YOU, they find a way to make running a priority. It is very inspiring.
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Kerri Ann Hulet – Henderson, NV
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Sarah Tragesser – Richland, WA
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Stacey Tremp – Fort Gratiot, MI
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More history on these ladies next month. Good luck ladies! I know you will race well. We will be discussing your race strategy and game plan soon in our virtual Race Strategy meetings.
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NOTE: 2 other athletes I coached last year also qualified for the Boston but are not racing it this year, Patty Eernisse from down the road from me here in WI and Jennie Tillery down in hilly Nashville, TN.
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Other Key Races This Month
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Lisa Strauch - Lisa lives and trains in chilly Michigan and is doing her first Marathon in Maui on April 22nd. – Run Maui Marathon. Say what? What a challenge. I will be sending her to the sauna and to her heated basement for runs in the next few weeks to heat acclimate.
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Jennie Tillery - Jennie is doing the hilly Nashville Marathon on April 22nd. Good luck Jennie T the Hill Slayer! Going for a PR.
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Many of my athletes are doing 5Ks, 15Ks, HALF races in April. I will highlight top performances next month.
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WHAT'S NEW?!
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- My run coach business SMART Approach Training, LLC is official as of January 1st. I resigned from my corporate medical device sales position in January to focus on my own business (s). I actually started another business as well in my other passion, RECOVERY. SMART Approach Recovery, LLC.
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- SMART Race Pace Calculator. Many of you know the famous and talented Jerome Cloninger from the I LOVE TO RUN site. Jerome is the man. I am very fortunate to call him a friend and have him in my life because he is not only a good runner but also guru on website development, videos, editing, technology, etc., but also numbers. Who knew? Haha. Well, he is working on projects for me and the SMART Race Pace Calculator is pretty darn cool and now available. It is pretty simple and fast which is why it is so awesome.
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- I think many of us have gone on run sites and found calculators and it just takes time to plug in numbers:
- What pace do I need to run 24:00 in a 5k?
- If I run a 9:00 pace marathon what is my final time?
- I need a 3:30:00 to BOSTON Qualify (BQ), what is this pace?
- What distance will I run if I average 8:30/mi (or /km) for 1:15:00?
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Sometimes we don’t have time. This calculator is fast! Jerome created this calculator to correct the weaknesses of the others and be simple. Just enter race distance and you can either plug in the pace or the final time to get the result you want. Awesome. Jerome is working on improving this even more and some other neat stuff with calculators as they pertain to my SMART Approach training system and my pacing formulas.
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- The SMART Approach auto-pay system via Stripe is up and running and pretty sweet. For those who work with me or will work with me in the future, I custom bill you the first month, and thereafter it is set up as auto-pay. It is just so simple and efficient. Reminder, there are no long-term commitments with this system.
- FINAL SURGE training APP is up an running and active as of January. All my athletes have their own calendar and training site where they (and I) can see their weekly training plan and all their workouts and stats from previous days, weeks, and months. It is very simple to make adjustments on the fly which is a huge benefit among others. A new training plan is put up each week by me. It thrills me when my athletes tell me they look forward to the weekend when they can see what's ahead for them in the week ahead. Santa arrives weekly. Ha.
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MARCH PRs and TOP PERFORMANCES
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A big 5K race performance here! I started with Jim in January and he is making strong gains already improving his overall fitness and his 5K speed. In this race, he surpassed his 7:45 race pace goal by quite a bit and ran it at 7:30 pace. Jim paced so well and ran a negative split. Jim has big goals and more races coming up including a marathon in Washington in June.
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Susan ran a 10K PR on a hilly course besting 1 hour for the first time. It was a big PR. I started coaching Susie late last year and her progress physically and mentally has been extraordinary and she is feeling so good about her running and our game plan going forward. She has a goal HALF coming up later in the Spring and her first marathon in CHICAGO in October.
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PR at the Skyway 10K in Tampa for this lady. Mindy flew from Iowa to Tampa to do this race. It is a yearly tradition for her. Each year she has improved her time. This is not an easy course with that big bridge in Tampa and she rocked it squeaking by with a PR. Mindy keeps on improving and PRing. I have been working with her for 3 years and her next big race is the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon in May where she is looking for another PR.
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Q&A SESSION
Q: How do I do a strider (stride) properly?
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A: Most of you who work with me know I love Striders and include them in your plans by themselves or part of my Big Day training philosophy. I prescribe striders to help improve leg speed and running economy. They are also valuable later in runs when legs are a bit fatigued and this technique helps you maintain form and efficiency late in races.
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- Striders are generally 15-30 seconds in length.
- Gradually pick up the speed, hold it, then ease out of it.
- Pace is generally 5K race pace which I call Smooth Striders all the way to about 95% of top speed.
- It is not a contest to run them as fast as you can. It is important to maintain great run form and breathing. Run efficient with a strong tight form. Have this mindset.
- The first 1 or 2 striders should be a bit less aggressive.
- Between each rep you can jog 60-90 seconds or walk 45-60 seconds. The walk breaks enhance your recovery and allow you to run a bit more aggressively on each rep.
- Your last strider should be your fastest ideally.
Q: When I do my Critical Velocity interval work, fast intervals, hills, or tempo work I seem to start too fast and then need to slow down. What am I doing wrong?
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A: Adrenaline is a powerful thing and when we are instructed to run faster in drills, we overestimate and go out zooming because initially, it does not feel hard but then it suddenly does. Right? I often see my athletes start quickly and spike in their charts and then need to slow. You can't hide this from me. Haha. This is not an ideal approach for a couple reasons.
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- Flying out quickly taxes your anaerobic energy system immediately and when your muscles cannot keep up with their oxygen demands the acidosis starts occurring and you breathe harder, your legs get more tired, you may get queasy and you say, “Oh crap, I cannot hold this pace and need to slow down”. We don’t want this ever. Well, at the finish line it is ok.
- Intervals and tempo or stamina type work should simulate how you might run in a race. When I discuss race strategy, I always talk about easing in. Think of each interval or tempo run as a race. You ease in, hold steady and perk it up a bit late if feeling good. This is a really good habit to master.
- When you start too fast in each interval, these quicker bursts increase the likelihood of you tiring later on. An example would be, if scheduled to do 6 x 3 Minute Intervals and start out too quick on each one, the 5th and 6th one will likely be more difficult or too difficult. Your goal is consistency in each interval with the first interval being a bit slower than prescribed just like that first mile in a race where you are a bit more conservative.
Q: Can you share your tips on how to run INTERVALS?
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- Ease into each interval, tempo, or hill rep and hold pace steady.
- The end of each interval and the last rep of assigned intervals should be your strongest.
- Intervals, hills, and tempos are training and not gut-wrenching killer workouts. The goal is to always leave something in the tank even on BIG DAYS that are harder days.
- Always be aware of wind, weather, heat, and stress or how you feel that day. See my effort guidelines below and adjust paces or effort as needed. Pushing harder than prescribed rarely yields optimal results.
- When in doubt, run your intervals a bit slower. I feel it benefits you long term and reduces risk to go a bit slower than prescribed rather than a bit faster. Many of these workouts are stamina-based with a speed “chaser”. I like how I did that. Haha. Strong endurance and stamina ultimately win you an endurance race. Speed work is icing on the cake to refine you.
Popular SMART Approach Prescribed Workouts and Perceived Effort Guidelines
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- Critical Velocity (CV) – 35-45 Minute Race Pace. So, when doing 2-5 minute CV intervals, ask yourself this question, “Could I hold this pace for 35-45 minutes?” In most cases, you would say no and want to slow a bit. Faster is not always better if there is a specific goal or purpose of a workout.
- Todd Tempo – Can I hold this pace for 90-120 minutes?
- Threshold – Can I hold this pace for 60 minutes?
- Euphoric Tempo – Can I hold this pace for a long time?
- 30 Sec Hill Surges – Can I hold this pace another 5-10 seconds without slowing?
- 60 Sec Hill Repeats – Can I run up this hill at this pace another 30 seconds?
- FAST Intervals – Can I hold this 1-2 minute fast pace another few minutes?
- Cruising or Steady – my definition of Marathon Pace on race day. Can I hold this pace for hours?
If you have any specific questions that you feel could benefit the subscribers, please email me and I will include them in future newsletters.
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Q: How do you determine my Marathon Pace? Note: The below will be an upcoming article of mine that may create some controversy.
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A: This is an important question because many paper plans tell you to train at your marathon pace or marathon goal pace. However, your marathon is 16-20 or more weeks away. How can you know what your marathon pace is months away as your fitness continues to improve? I choose not to use the term Marathon Pace in my coaching. Yeah, I am probably the only coach on earth that doesn’t. But hey, the SMART Approach is smart for a reason. When an athlete hires me, they experience my approach and what I teach and it is refreshing. My athletes race marathons very well because they focus on their potential on race day. Your 5K or 10K race race pace put in a predictor calculator really does not apply or accurately give you your marathon pace a few months ahead unless you are an experienced, strong, and balanced runner or a semi-elite or high mileage runner. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t or won't in time but please be cautious in choosing a goal time or better yet figure out with your coach what you are capable of as training goes along.
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Early on, I like time trials and races to help me dial into your marathon pace potential. As stated, most can't reach their marathon race potential in the near term based on a 5K, 10K, or HALF Marathon pace time plugged into a calculator. The marathon is a different beast. It just is. We need to accept this. After I get early performance data, I then set up training based on your CURRENT FITNESS LEVEL rather than GOAL fitness level. Do you go on social media and see many runners struggling to hit paces in their marathon training runs??? This is a poor plan or poor strategy IMO. During an athlete's training, I am constantly evaluating workouts (Indicator Workouts), throwing out certain paces in the plan or tests, getting feedback, doing race rehearsals, etc. I get a read on how you progress and then 5-6 weeks before the event I come up with a race day potential pace and then you practice it a bit more for muscle memory and these practice sessions are providing me valuable data. The week before and days before the event, we look at the course, weather and come up with a game plan or strategy. If executed properly, you race your best time or potential that day. our finishing time is your Marathon Pace. This is my definition and I am sticking to it.
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TESTIMONIAL
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I received this text this morning as I write this newsletter from my athlete Cortney who just started training with me February 1st and is training for her first marathon in June. We actually met last April on a run. She met me in Florida when I was on vacation. We will actually be running together again in about 10 days in FL. She told me today that at that time last year, she did not think I could have this much impact on her running that she is currently experiencing. In just 2 months, she feels so much better already, getting stronger and more confident because of the structure of the SMART Approach. Thank you, Cortney.
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WE MADE IT!!!
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Ok, folks that’s it for this month, and thank you for reading! I probably rambled a bit again but I love to talk and teach. As you continue to follow me or be coached by me, you will learn that I feel strongly about certain training and recovery principles and some of these may be just a little different than what you see in the mainstream, paper plans or with other coaches. In future newsletters, I will continue to teach, elaborate on and highlight my SMART Approach training system and the athletes who are part of my team. The one thing you can’t teach is the connection I develop with my runners. I try to make it fun and an EXPERIENCE. This is a big part of my approach. If you like this newsletter, let me know. If you have suggestions positive or negative, let me know. Good luck to all my athletes and all of you who are racing in April. See you next month.
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