Written by Christopher Oleksiw, UESCA Certified Running Coach, RunDNA Level 1 Gait Analyst
I don’t have the typical high school or college background in track or cross country. I didn’t even start running until my 2nd to last year in college. One day in my spring semester of 2011, I decided to lace my shoes up, head out of my dorm, and go for a run purely as a need to get away from my homework and to get some exercise. After 14 years of experience running, I have learned so much about the sport. We all wonder, “Where would I be if I knew better?” While I can’t talk to the past version of Chris, I can talk to those who are now at where I was then. Here is a list of things I would have done differently if I was just starting on my running journey today.
*Pictured Above: First Marathon, 2017
1. STOP RUNNING AT MAX SPEED FOR EVERY RUN
When I stepped out the door for the first time, I had a simple app on my iPhone to track my distance. I put my headphones in and blasted out the door. A quarter of a mile in, I was in agony, slowing down, breathing hard, and had to walk. After about 30 seconds, I kicked into high gear again. I made it a little further but thought, “Maybe I should slow down just a bit so I can actually make it the full 5k.” That was a good thought. Too bad I didn’t slow down near enough. If the first part of my run was at 100% effort, the second part was probably around 80-90% effort, which was still not easy enough. I made it about a mile before I had to walk. I figured I just needed practice so I kept this pattern up. I joined a few friends for a 5k race in October of 2012. I had to do some digging but my time was just about 29 minutes. I was over the moon from this result.
The next couple years, I would dip in and out of running but my method mostly stayed the same: every run would be around 80% perceived effort and then be exhausted because my run just didn’t feel easy. My 5k time barely budged. In 2014 I signed up for my first half marathon and decided that I should actually figure out what I should do to train. That was when I discovered the easy pace, or conversational pace. My next run I went out the door and was surprised that the pace I had been doing all these years was not actually easy. I intentionally tried to keep my pace super slow to make sure I was keeping my pace conversational (i.e. a pace slow enough and easy enough to where I could carry on a full conversation with someone). My training miles felt so easy. No longer did I dread going out the door to force myself to suffer. My 5k easy runs started around 40ish minutes. Then after a couple months they were 38 minutes, after a few seasons I was pushing 30 minutes. I was shocked. Running slow made me run faster and it was EASY. Lesson learned. Keep those easy runs easy!
*Pictured Above: First Half Marathon, 2014
2. DON’T RUN TO LOSE WEIGHT
When I started running, I weighed a good 20-30 pounds more than I do now. I started to run because I knew I needed to exercise, but also I used it as a way to put myself in a huge calorie deficit to lose a few pounds. I ran a few 5ks and didn’t really see the scale move much. While I did not sign up for my first marathon with the main intent of losing weight, I figured it would be a side effect of training. Not a single pound was lost. I was totally confused and frustrated. I started to track my calories and quickly realized what was happening. I was just plain eating more. Any calories that were burned during running just got fed back in because of my higher energy demands. Running requires a lot of fuel.
Even when I was doing marathon training last year I only lost maybe 2 or 3 pounds over the 4 months of training and I was averaging around 40 miles a week at that time. That’s about 4400 calories per week. One pound of fat is 3500 calories so I should have lost 20 pounds right?? Well like I said, running takes a lot of energy and I was HUNGRY all the time.
Simply running, is not an effective way to lose weight. And if you starve yourself during training, you run the risk of injury. Or even worse, you could slip into the RED-S zone (relative energy deficiency in sport) which is serious and could even be life threatening. So take it from me, running with the singular goal of losing weight is going to be very difficult. If you are wanting to lose a few pounds, then one of the best things you can do is to talk with our very own Amanda Wagner! In addition to being a coach for Filla Endurance, she also has a private practice as a dietitian! She has loads of experience helping athletes achieve their nutrition goals. So don’t go into it blind. You could do more damage to yourself than you realize!
*Pictured Above: First Race with Filla Endurance (5k), 2023
3. RUNNING REQUIRES STRENGTH
When I was training for my second half marathon, I sprained my ankle in a non-running event. I was young and arrogant and didn’t think I had to go to the doctor to have it looked at. That was 10 years ago and I still feel the repercussions of that decision. Throughout the years, my ankle would cause my running to slow down or I might even have to take walking breaks to let it recover a bit. When I started to train under Coach Laura, I immediately had to take time off because my ankle got inflamed and caused a compensation injury to my Achilles. What did I discover when I went to physical therapy? My left ankle (the bad side) was way weaker than my right. All that neglect I gave that ankle finally caught up to me. I did my prescribed exercises and slowly I got stronger and stronger.
I had a lot of single leg exercises to do. Running is a single leg exercise after single leg exercise after all. It is a single leg squat, a hop, and another single leg squat a few thousand times. Now I have no issues with my bad ankle and that has been the only thing that has kept all that pain away. That poor bad ankle of mine was trying to deal with forces way more than it could handle until it finally snapped. That brings up another good thing to remember: listen to your body. If something hurts, then you need to assess what is going on. It could very well be a strength issue. For a long distance runner, doing runner focused strength training at least once per week will help keep many injuries at bay. Two is even better if you can manage it (be sure to check with your coach on what fits your training best).
Fact: when you run, your body has to deal with 2.5-3 times your body weight with every stride. Let’s say a runner is 130 pounds. That means with every stride that runner’s body is feeling the weight equivalent to a 325-390 pound person…on one leg! That is a lot of forces on the feet, legs, and core.
*Pictured Above: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, 2024
4. FUEL YOUR RUNS
True or false: In the “fat burning zone” you burn fat and anything above that is carbohydrates?
FALSE
You burn both fat and carbohydrates in every zone! The proportion of which is different at every stage of exercise. We store about 40ish minutes of the fuel made from carbs in our muscles and liver, but what happens when you run out of that fuel? Why do we even need carbs in the first place? Aren’t carbs bad for you? I asked myself all these questions when I started to research how to train properly for a half marathon. Without getting too into the weeds, carbohydrates are the body’s main source for creating glycogen which is the main fuel used in our muscles. So basically carbs = glycogen (aka muscle fuel).
When I started training, I brought some Jelly Belly Extreme Sports Beans with me because who can say no to extreme jelly beans? I would pop a couple beans throughout my run but found I was getting pretty tired near the end of my mileage. Well the current science tells us that we need 60-100g of carbs per hour of exercise. I was only bringing one of those packets with me on a run. That’s only 25g of carbs for 2 hours of running. No wonder I was exhausted at the end of my runs! So what was happening that whole time? If we need carbs to fuel our runs and I basically depleted my carb stores, what was I burning? We can actually create glycogen from fat but it is super inefficient.
The body has to do a few conversion processes to actually do it. So the body responds by making your run feel very sluggish. It has to because it can’t replenish the glycogen stores as quickly so it forces you to slow down. Ever hear of people hitting the wall in a marathon? That’s what this is. They likely ran out of glycogen stores and didn’t have enough carbs to replenish their supply and the body had to start its clunky process of converting fat. What’s worse is when your body converts protein to glycogen. That’s when your body is eating the muscles! If you ever smell an ammonia scent in your sweat, you are burning protein as fuel. Up that carb intake asap! We need to have enough carbs in our system to help replenish our glycogen stores on our runs, otherwise our body will start using fat and even protein as fuel.
There are many options for fuels to take on runs like gels (GU, Maurten, Huma, etc.) or chews (Skratch, Jelly Belly Sport Beans, etc.) so it is best to try a few and see what you like. It’s also important to fuel before even stepping out the door. Running fasted is usually not recommended, so be sure to eat something light to make sure you top off your carbs so you are ready to crush those runs. Eat a small snack about 30 minutes before your run and only eat something you know sits well in your stomach. My go to is a banana or an oat bar, but do what works best for you.
5. GET A CUSTOMIZED PLAN
When I started my running journey, I had no idea what I was doing. I would go run at max pace for every run. I would aim for the wrong goals like weight loss and broad unfocused goals like “exercise more.” Strength training was not in my mind at all. The idea of fueling was to bring something sugary with me and call it good. I would use pre-written plans for people far beyond my ability. I subscribed to apps that used very basic AI features to write a plan for me. I learned a little on my own, but the game changer was when I joined a gym that had a run coach on staff. I had a meeting with her and she created a plan that fit my fitness level. She explained why the runs she scheduled for me worked. When life got in the way or sickness popped up, she adjusted the plan to compensate.
She encouraged me to focus on runner specific strength training after my ankle injury. My first two marathons I trained on my own with free or cheap plans. Both times were over 5 hours. Completing a marathon at all is still completing a marathon and should be celebrated and no one should look down on any time one achieves when running that distance. My goal, however, is to qualify for Boston. My one and only marathon I have ran under the guidance of Coach Laura dropped my marathon time by about an hour and half. Without the direction of a coach who knows my ability, and without a plan that was tailored specifically for me, I know I would still be trying to break that 5 hour mark.
There are a lot of training options available these days like free pre-made plans, AI apps, books with different distance plans, but none of them can replace the personalization that a coach can bring. If you want to progress, improve, and succeed, then having someone with the knowledge of how to create a program specifically for you while knowing what you are capable of, then there is no substitute for the personalization of a coach.
