Coach Sandi Nypaver gives you a few of the different ways to approach setting goals.
As we head into the fall season of running, these could be some great tips for you to consider. Coach Sandi will also discuss a few ways she helps avoid the comparison trap.
Let’s dive in.
I was once approached by an athlete that was willing to open up about their low self-esteem, stating that they often struggle with setting personal goals and end up comparing their achievements to others in search of validation. “If sights are set too low, I might belittle my wins, but if they’re set too high, I convince myself that I can never reach them. Is it straightforward to know that a great outcome equates to winning a race?”
There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’ll start with each part of this question.
How I Set Goals Depending on the Race:
My goals change depending on the race. There are races where I may be targeting a certain time or certain pacing strategy. There are also races like Hard Rock, UTMB, or Western States, that I have been dreaming about, the training had gone well, and I had poured my heart and soul into everything. For those races, I might have a goal just to finish! For everyone I coach, including myself, we usually set A, B, and C goals.
Sometimes there’s an A-plus goal, which is really challenging but still achievable. Then there’s the B goal, the C goal, and finally, the ‘if everything goes wrong’ goal. This last one is about maintaining a positive mental attitude no matter the outcome. Staying positive when everything goes wrong is a great challenge in itself; that’s a goal I always set for all my athletes going into every race.
How To Work on Self-Esteem
But I really want to address other parts of this question, especially regarding self-esteem. If you’re a runner that struggles with low self-esteem, why not make it a goal right now to work on improving your self-esteem, even before prioritizing race goals?
I know it’s easy to think that your self-esteem can’t change, but it can. You need to start by finding a better way to talk to yourself. I often take a step back and ask myself, ‘If I were talking to a loved one in my situation, how would I talk to them?’
That could be a good starting point for you. Consider how you can develop a more positive mindset about yourself. And why are you comparing yourself to others in the first place? Just by signing up for a race, you’re already doing so much more than if you were just sitting on the couch watching TV and not signing up at all.
Running & Comparison
I know running is a sport where it’s easy to compare yourself to others, but there’s beauty in using others to help you reach your goals and in wanting to see success for others without necessarily comparing yourself. Even though comparison will inevitably slip in, when it does, take a step back and remind yourself that you don’t need to compare yourself to that person.
Instead, compare yourself to the version of you who made less healthy decisions, who didn’t sign up for the race, or who didn’t make it to the start line. You don’t need a race to validate yourself. Running isn’t meant to validate you. Simply showing up is something you can use to validate yourself.
Final Thoughts:
If you don’t meet your goals, at least you tried. That’s so much better than not trying at all, right? You’re going to surprise yourself. It might not happen when you want or how you expect, but if you set big goals for yourself and work toward them, you’ll get so much farther than if you didn’t set those goals at all. Even if things don’t work out, you’ve improved, and you know you tried, which is so much better than not trying and selling yourself short.
This mindset applies to all aspects of your life! Do the mental training, talk yourself through it, and find better thoughts. You can do this. I know it’s hard, but I promise you it’s worth your time!
Coach Sage Canaday discusses how speed and high-intensity training can improve your running form.
Why Does Faster Running Improve Form?
Let me start off with an example: You can’t typically sprint 100 meters or 400 meters with poor form. When sprinting 100 meters quickly, you’re not heel striking; you’re running with a fast turnover, probably over 200 steps a minute. This isn’t distance running form but involves high knees and straight arm drive forward and back. Inefficiencies get ironed out, and the same happens when you scale down.
Even if you’re not a sprinter, the purpose of high intensity work as a marathon or ultra-marathon runner has similar principles and benefits. It trains you at the neuromuscular level, helping your muscle fibers coordinate better, and improves your stride rate and turnover. It also gives you power in your stride, enabling a longer stride length, which is key to speed (however, you need the aerobic system to support that!).
For marathon, ultra-marathon, or half-marathon runners, once you build your base mileage and improve your aerobic efficiency, the next step is to refine your form and build leg strength to enhance speed and progress. Part of this involves lowering the lactate threshold and increasing the speed at which you run at VO2 max (maximum aerobic capacity). While your heart and lungs will limit you at VO2 max, good running form not only improves speed and efficiency but also reduces the risk of injury.
It’s A Balance
Overuse injuries can result from heel striking or running with too slow of a cadence or stride rate, which increases impact force. Running at 160 steps per minute or less results in more impact force, especially on downhills. As you increase mileage, for example from 30 miles (50k) a week to 50 miles (80k) a week, the risk of injury rises, and this is especially true if you have poor form or muscle and tendon imbalances.
Minimizing the risk of injury involves running efficiently with the best possible form. While not everyone will look like Kipchoge, it’s important to understand that different muscle mass distributions affect running mechanics. For instance, I have much thicker legs than many elite East African marathon runners who have very thin legs, and my arm strength differs as well. These differences change how form and mechanics look.
What This Means For You
It’s not necessary (or recommended) to run on your toes or forefoot, but it is important to avoid a large heel strike, which acts as a braking force. Maintaining a stride rate over 160 steps per minute is generally effective, because the faster you run, the easier it is to increase your stride rate. For paces from 5k to marathon, aim for at least 165, ideally closer to 180 steps per minute. Speed work helps to improve your form by addressing and correcting inefficiencies.
Track workouts and hill sprints benefit distance runners by not only elevating heart rate and enhancing the aerobic system but also by developing muscle tension, extending the stride, and refining neuromuscular coordination. This leads to improved efficiency and form. Ultimately, faster 400-meter and kilometer repeats should translate into faster 5k, 10k, marathon, and ultramarathon times.
In summary, integrating speed work and high-intensity training into your running routine is crucial for enhancing form, efficiency, and overall performance. By focusing on stride rate, muscle coordination, and aerobic capacity, runners can achieve faster times and reduce the risk of injury. Remember, the key to success lies in consistent training, proper form, and listening to your body’s needs.
I hope this helps you as you look towards your next speed or interval session.
While pre-race anxiety is considered “normal” I actually don’t believe it has to be, though I’ve admittedly not overcome that feat just yet. So for now, we can say that pre-race anxiety can be greatly reduced.
✅ Mindset- Nervousness vs. excitement; threat vs opportunity for growth:
Viewing how you see pre-race anxiety can absolutely change the effects of it. When you label the feeling as excitement or a sign that you simply care about the race, this thought (in the brain) signals to the body that it’s safe, and therefore your muscles and mind can relax a little.
Same as viewing a race as threat (“I’ll be a failure if I don’t meet my goal”) vs. an opportunity for growth (“I’d really like to hit my goal, but even if I don’t, it will be a beautiful opportunity to see how well my physical and mental training is going. Plus, my family and friends love me no matter what.”)
These thoughts can actually change what hormones the brain releases, whether they be stress or motivating and feel-good hormones.
To start, let’s define what is Five Pace Training Method is:
Imagine holding up all five of your fingers: your middle finger represents your race pace. The idea behind Five-Pace Training Theory is that you train at two paces slower than your goal race pace and two paces faster than your goal race pace. This means running at different paces or intensities during workouts, either faster or slower than your goal race pace. Let’s dive in:
“In today’s newsletter, I’ll provide more insight into this type of training and explain why it is beneficial for your own running. This theory mainly applies to races like the 1500 meters, mile, 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, and even some ultramarathons. We’ll discuss these pace changes and the types of workouts that can improve your running.
The Two Faster Notches
The Five Pace Training Method might be a bit of an oversimplification, but let’s use an example: if you’re training for a sub-1:30 half marathon, your goal pace is 6:52 per mile (4:16/km). For the two paces faster than your race pace, you might want to train at your 5k or 10k pace during interval workouts like kilometer repeats or mile repeats. This would be slightly faster than the 6:52 pace, perhaps around 6:40 or 6:30 per mile (4:00/km) for these repeats and threshold tempo runs.
Going a notch faster, we could be talking about doing 400-meter repeats that are even faster than your 5k pace. This could include one-minute hill sprints or high-intensity reps to develop lactic acid tolerance. Mixing in these different types of workouts, maybe once in a 10-day cycle, contributes to a well-rounded training program. You might say, “Great, but Sage, I just want to do easy aerobic base miles.” We’ll address that shortly when I explain the slower paces.
But if you want to reach your full potential in the sport, you not only need consistent high mileage and a big aerobic base for distance running, but you also need some of these higher-intensity speed workouts. Part of it is for running mechanics and building muscle strength, leg strength, and increasing your stride length.
When you do one-minute hill sprints at high intensity or 400-meter repeats way faster than your half-marathon race pace of 6:52 per mile, like a sub-six-minute mile pace, you’re working on that premium speed. This will give you more muscle power and may increase your VO2 max, your maximum capacity at 100% maximum heart rate.
It’s going to help you minimize lactate clearance and lactate levels, allowing you to run with that extra throttle, that extra power in your engine. Alright, so we have those two notches, those two paces faster. You’re getting a lot of interval training, maybe a 20-minute tempo run closer to 10k pace.
The Two Slower Notches
Now, the two notches slower than your goal race pace of 6:52 per mile for that 1:30 half-marathon example would be an easy recovery pace. Maybe it’s 8:30 per mile or 9:00 per mile (over 5 min/km for a 1:30 half marathon). Your recovery jog could be the start of a long run, warming up, or cool-down pace. So very relaxed, easy, conversational running.
The next notch slower would be what we call “up tempo.” (BONUS: Click HERE to download our free Pace Intensity Spectrum Chart PDF.) For many people, it will be closer to marathon race pace, maybe a little slower. Some people call it aerobic threshold or ventilatory threshold—those are more scientific terms. But we call it “up tempo.” In college, we called it “feel good pace.” It could be a progression run, maybe you’re doing 8 miles or 12K, and you start off pretty easy and relaxed, and as you feel good, you push the pace down a little. It’s not a true tempo run, it’s not to improve lactate threshold, and it shouldn’t be over 80% maximum heart rate, basically. It’s harder running with a purpose, relaxed running.
As with most things, there are nuances…
This is a bit of an oversimplification, as there are nuances where you run different paces. Having said all of this, remember that the vast majority of your training mileage, around 80% on average, or maybe even higher, should be at an aerobic pace. This means building up slowly with consistent high mileage and high volume at very easy paces to avoid injury and achieve adaptations like increased mitochondrial density, improved blood flow, and enhanced capillary bed density. This process also gradually strengthens your tendons and muscles with progressively higher mileage at slow paces while incorporating faster pace work.
So, 80% of your mileage should focus on aerobic base-building running. The “icing on the cake” is the hard intervals, VO2 max work, and the training at race pace and faster, especially for 5k and 10k races. Be cautious with marathon and ultra training, as race pace becomes less defined. At the end of the day, the key idea is to vary your paces and intensity to provide new stress for the body to adapt to, making you extra fit while staying healthy.
I hope this helps! Happy running and have a great week.
If you’ve been following us long enough, you’ve probably heard us talk about why mindsetmatters.
Today, Coach Sandi Nypaver shares another mindset tip that can impact your physical performance, happiness, relationship with others, and so much more!
And it’s this simple:
How you talk to yourself matters. Have you ever taken the time to think about what you want your self-talk to look like and how you want to show up for yourself?
If you want to make athletic performance gains, research shows that positive self-talk matters. If you grew up in an atmosphere like I did around sports, you might be familiar with the mindset that “pain is weakness leaving the body”, or that you should just “get it done no matter what, embracing the pain.” That’s not positive self-talk.
Now let’s talk about what positive self-talk actually looks like: Positive self-talk can include things like telling yourself, “You’ve got this,” or “You’re so strong!” Encourage yourself to do your best at the moment. You can even say things like, “You look good. This is good.” The key is to be supportive and kind to yourself, fostering a mindset that builds confidence and resilience.
There was a fun study that found telling people they look good actually helped with their running form. Just think of anything that works for you! I’ve provided some typical examples, but you can personalize it based on what you want to focus on. Consider what areas you want to improve and tailor your self-talk to address those specific goals.
Remember, the goal of positive self-talk is not just to boost performance but also to improve your overall mental well-being. Being kind to yourself can reduce stress, increase motivation, and make your athletic journey more enjoyable. So, next time you train, pay attention to your inner dialogue and make it a positive one. When you take that time, you start allowing yourself to create the life you want and become who you were meant to be.
Coach Sandi Nypaver is going to explore how setting an intention can make your runs more effective. Having the mindset of “getting in the miles” is only going to take your running so far. Setting an intention is actually quite simple, and if you’re looking for the “TLDR” of today’s newsletter, this is it:
Think about how you want to think, act and feel.
What could your intentions be for an easy run, a speed workout, or a long run be? What if you’re injured?
Taking a moment to set an intention can help program your mind in a positive way. If you repeatedly think thoughts that don’t serve you, this is one step you can take in claiming your power and making a shift.
If you’re intrigued to learn more, keep reading as Coach Sandi elaborates:
So what does it really look like to set an intention? Here are a few examples: For an easy run, your intention might be to focus on recovery and take it super easy. It could be a “stop and smell the flowers” type of run, where you enjoy the scenery in front of you and appreciate your body. Any of these would be a good intention for an easy run.
For a speed workout day, maybe your intention is to support yourself in a positive way no matter what happens, or to pace it well so you finish strong. Just take a moment to set an intention, whether it’s something like that or anything else that feels right for you.
If you’re injured, you could set the intention to appreciate your body for what it can do that day. You could also set the intention to appreciate that your body can heal and is giving you proof that it can heal, like every time you’ve gotten a cut and it has healed. This shows your body’s ability to recover.
My Challenge To You:
If you’re up for a challenge, let’s take this intention-setting practice a little bit further. And don’t tell me that you’re a runner who races and you’re not up for a challenge.
You’re doing this, okay?
The challenge is to start setting intentions for other aspects of your life. For instance, you can set an intention for how you want to act or think at work. Then, after work, take a moment before you get out of your car to think about what kind of person you want to be with your family. How do you want to respond to your family?
Consider the various aspects of your life where you can bring this practice. I want to make sure you remember this because often we hear things like this, think it’s nice, and then forget about it by the next day.
So, here’s what I want you to do right now: imagine yourself waking up in the morning, going to the bathroom, looking in the mirror, and writing down the word “intention” on the mirror.
The reason for writing “intention” on the mirror is that when we set intentions, our life often starts to look a little bit different, or our life starts to reflect back to us a little bit differently. We begin to look and act a little bit differently. That’s why the mirror is a good symbol here. Just setting that image of you writing “intention” on the mirror can help you remember this. Hopefully, tomorrow morning when you wake up and look in the mirror, you’ll remember this.
Think about how you want to think, act and feel.
What could your intentions be for an easy run, a speed workout, or a long run be? What if you’re injured?