No Boston Marathon for you this Year. And I Know Why.
Sorry.
That hurts.
I understand.
But I needed it to sting a little to get you to keep reading.
I couldn’t imagine running 26 miles and miss out on my life-long goal by a couple of minutes. The good thing is, you’re close, or maybe you’re not, it doesn’t matter. I can make a positive impact in the short-term, but more importantly, a positive impact on every other marathon you ever run. And I can do this without adding more long runs. I can do this without adding more overuse injuries you’ve been told are part of a long-distance runner’s life. The secret is strength, and I’ll explain why.
Please don’t be upset, but if you are in the weight room... you are probably wasting your time. If you were stronger (not bigger), your time would improve immediately. Most runners don’t think of steps as reps, but each step is a rep. Mind you a very easy rep, but 55,000 of anything gets hard. What happens if each rep gets easier? Seems like common sense when I put it that way right?
Let’s use a simple analogy used on me back in the day. How many times can you bicep curl a pencil? Let’s say 10,000… but I bet you can’t single arm bicep curl a 40-pound dumbbell cleanly. What if you could? What if you could curl 60 lbs? 90 lbs? All of a sudden 10,000 curls turns into 50,000, 100,000. Look, I’m not saying we’re going to get you to do bicep curls, but the concept applies nicely to some more important lifts. Lifts that get your whole body working together. Once you start looking at each step as a rep, the value of adding strength should become very clear.
The point of this post isn’t to bore you with science, but I can confidently say a person weighing around 150 pounds can experience forces up to seven times their body weight. Google it. To be fair, some studies show only as high as three and a half times their body weight. Doesn’t matter. It’s at least 500 pounds of force for an average size human. I bet you can’t even squat your body weight with bad form... I also bet you’re shaking like a leaf when I introduce you to the squat pattern I've been shown.
Bio-tensegrity. That’s a word I throw around to compete with the doctorate level research going on around me. Basically, it means the human body is much more like a tent than a house... or even simpler, a bag full of blood and bones. The bones are very important, but how the bones are all connected is also very important. Let’s think of connective tissue like the poles of a tent. When something is out of whack on one end, it disrupts something all the way across the tent aka body. If your feet have to endure several hundred tonnes of force on a normal day, what is training for a 26-mile run going to do not only to your feet, but your shins, your knees, your hips, your back… Side note, more stretching isn’t going to fix it.
I can put together a program based on exactly what you need. I can even program around tempo runs, repeated sprints, long runs, whatever you think you need to make it to Boston. The main factor behind “And I Know Why” is because you’re weak. Your body is weak, but your mind is strong. How bad do you want it? You don’t make your own shoes? Why would you make your own strength program? Leave it to a professional. To learn more please book a free consultation today.
Mark Salkeld Jr.
Reign S&C
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