Stop Overthinking. Just Run.
So, the 4-week experiment got off to a good start, but overall, it did not go to plan.
In the first week, I did two Zone 2 runs of 5k and a 10k long run and was excited about my progress.
My next Zone 2 run over the same route was two minutes and 36 seconds faster at an almost identical heart rate to the first.
The trouble was, after I did that Zone 2 run, my legs felt dead and I had no energy. I’m not sure if it was general stress or a lack of fuel, but because I had been doing 24-hour fasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I think it was more likely the latter.
I suppose I had increased my weekly mileage quite a bit too, with the 10k the previous week.
Anyway, I made the incredibly groundbreaking decision to start eating three meals a day and bin off the fasting.
My energy returned, enthusiasm was high and I thought I’d cracked it.
My next Zone 2 run over the same route, however, was roughly the same time as the one before, and I was a bit disappointed by this.
Then I got ill a day or so later and didn’t feel like running again.
I was better by the weekend and back doing my Zone 2 run on the Tuesday. This time, I was over a minute slower than those previous two strong Zone 2 runs.
Again, I got ill — slightly worse than before — and couldn’t do the second Zone 2 run or the long run.
So, to recap:
Week one: three runs.
Week two: one Zone 2 run.
Week three: one Zone 2 run.
Week four: one Zone 2 run.
Six runs out of a planned 12.
Not great.
I’m not 100% sure why I kept getting ill. A lot is going around at work and there is a massive lack of ventilation. Plus, the kids have been ill, so that probably explains most of it.
The massive overthinker in me, however, starts wondering whether eating properly has somehow made my nervous system feel safer and I’m now releasing all sorts of stored stress.
Most likely bullshit, I know.
Although there was a huge initial improvement in my Zone 2 time, I then recorded a similar time once I was eating more, followed by a noticeably slower one.
Getting ill and my stress levels increasing probably explain some of that, and now that I was eating three meals a day, I admittedly became a little slack with what I was eating.
I’d told myself I was officially in bulking season.
So, what have I learnt from these four weeks?
Can you get faster by doing solely Zone 2?
I think you can, and my initial results seemed to suggest that. But overall health, stress, recovery and diet are huge factors and can have a massive impact on how you perform.
Fairly obvious stuff, Brian.
The runs were a tad boring though — apart from the long run — and I wasn’t getting that same runner’s high that comes from really pushing yourself.
I’ve also realised I’m missing my old competitive self.
For quite a while, I had convinced myself that exercising hard was somehow bad for me — that it was just adding more stress to an already stressed mind and body.
But I don’t really feel any healthier or fitter from only doing easy runs either.
I now think I need at least one run a week where I finish knowing I’ve properly pushed my body.
I’m starting to believe that the focus I get from harder exercise can actually be good for me. Thinking back to periods when I’ve trained more intensely — without completely exhausting myself — my sleep has often felt deeper and more restful too.
It’s not like I’m trying to do HIIT classes every day or run an ultramarathon every weekend.
I think I’ve allowed this fear of “too much stress” to limit me more than it has protected me.
My weight isn’t going down either.
Will harder runs help with that? Maybe. But I suspect the bigger answer is still fairly boring: eat reasonably well, avoid eating more just because I’m training, and create enough of a calorie deficit without resorting to extreme fasting.
The plan now, though, is to have less of a plan.
Running is supposed to take me away from all the overthinking and paralysis by analysis, so I’m going to start running by feel again and stop looking at the watch quite so much.
That’s not to say discovering running zones and learning about heart rate hasn’t been useful.
It has.
I now roughly know how hard to push — or not push — on an easy run, and how much effort I should be putting into a harder threshold run without completely exhausting myself.
In the past, I tended to run either very easy or very hard.
I think I understand my body a little better now and can hopefully find a sensible balance by judging how I feel.
Andy Baddeley from The Running Channel has talked about every run having a purpose, and I like that idea.
If I feel like my body needs pushing, I’ll push it.
If I feel like I just need to get outside, loosen the legs and tick over, I’ll run easily.
And every so often I’ll squeeze in a parkrun to see where my fitness actually is and whether I’m improving.
I haven’t done one for bloody ages.
A quick note on fasting too.
I’m always conflicted about it because sometimes I feel bloody brilliant while fasting. I feel lighter, clearer and more in control.
But if I keep doing it for a while — particularly when I’m exercising regularly — I seem to run out of energy and occasionally end up feeling run down or ill.
I’m starting to think fasting suits me better during periods when I’m doing very little strenuous exercise beyond things like walking or swimming.
For now, I’m going to concentrate more on eating properly, having enough energy to train and seeing what happens to my weight and fitness.
I’m not ruling fasting out completely. I’m just trying to get better at recognising when it actually helps me and when I’m forcing it because I think I should be doing it.
So, I suppose this entire post can be summarised as:
Stop planning and analysing everything.
Get outside.
Run when you feel like running.
Run easy when you feel like running easy.
Run hard when you feel like running hard.
Again, extremely ground-breaking stuff.
But I’d much rather occasionally end up tired and aching and then look for ways to improve my recovery than spend my life wrapping myself in cotton wool and never finding out what I’m capable of.
