It's The Running Economy, Stupid
Back in the early 90’s a strategist named James Carville working with then governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, on his presidential run tried to keep the campaign focused and on strategy. Carville put up a little sign at their Little Rock HQ that listed three core messages for the campaign to continually focus on.
Change vs. More of the Same
The Economy, Stupid
Don’t Forget Healthcare
That middle message would steal the show and inevitably help win the election for Governor Clinton once the United States entered a recession under President George HW. Bush. Well, the recession, that message, a sax solo and a dude named Ross Perot helped win the election for Clinton. But, have no fear! This is not a treatise on the 1992 US Presidential election. Nor is this an article on the economic moronathon we are currently dealing with. This is about economy, yes. But this is about running economy!
So, what exactly is running economy? Well, the most simplistic description is also the least helpful for a runner and coach. Running economy is basically how much oxygen you need to maintain a specific pace or speed. Now what am I supposed to do with that at 8:37 AM on a rainy Tuesday as we meet at the trailhead that once again has a portable toilet with no bath tissue? Don’t worry. I always have an extra roll or two of toilet paper in my car. I got you covered.
But, I’ve got to tell you that this is not the first time you’ve shown up for a morning run needing to take a crap. It’s also not the first time you’ve found a porta-potty lacking in personal hygiene resources. It’s also not the first time I’ve told you that you need to start bringing your own toilet paper and antibacterial hand gel. I’m not always going to be here and you don’t always run in socks. So, this is not going to end the way you want it to. Unless you want a serious case of baboon ass.
Running economy. That’s what we were talking about before your potty break. As I’ve already mentioned the headlines about running economy tend to focus on how efficiently you use oxygen at a certain pace. The more efficiently you use that oxygen the longer you should be able to run at the pace. The benefit to having a greater running economy is obvious. But the ways to create a better running economy are not always so obvious. Part of that has to do with the overly technical definition of running economy.
Telling a group of runners that we’re going to work on their running economy by focusing on their utilization of energy sources at a cellular level and also increasing the density of their capillary density once Francine gets out of the Jonny On The Spot is not exactly going to fire up the troops. Nor does it help to feel like you’re an active participant in this process. Sometimes we get so molecular in our descriptions of what’s happening when we run that we lose site of anything we can use as a landmark for our efforts.
Okay, good, Francine is back. Let’s do this. Let’s do a few drills and some balancing exercises and then we’ll head out for a tempo run. And besides being aware of running with the right effort I want you to do a few systems checks with your form. Slight lean forward, shoulders low and relaxed, arms swinging naturally. No need to exaggerate anything. What you are doing when you are doing it relaxed is enough. Make sure your face isn’t grimacing. You can think of any of my almost infinite amount of jokes to get you to smile. Smiling relaxes your face. Laughing relaxes your mind, body and soul. A relaxed body is more economical. That reminds me of something. Do a few mindset systems checks. Make sure you are not overly stressing about the work you are doing. Make sure you are being a great teammate to yourself and not a garbage one. Make sure you are being the coach you deserve and remember you deserve a great coach.
When you finish this run we’re going to do some strides up a hill and then some plyometrics and a little strength training. Nothing crazy. It’ll take twenty minutes tops! Oh, and with the strength training I want you to challenge yourself but be in control because your form is going to be what I’m looking at first and foremost. We won’t make gains if we’re doing these things the wrong way,. We will get frustrated initially and hurt eventually though. No, we don’t need a gym for this. It would be great if we had access to one but it’s not essential. Sometimes we’re going to do our strength training and plyometric work after our runs and sometimes we’ll do them before. Different situations present different challenges. It’s one of the many, many ways we can diversify our training to help make us better and stronger and more economical and efficient as runners. Diversity in our running leads to a greater running economy. Diversity in training leads to greater efficiency as runners. Diversity in our running leads greater experiences too.
Alright, let’s start this tempo run. Remember to have some fun. Remember to do those breathing and form and mindset checks now and again. Remember to bring some toilet paper to every run or at the very least wear some socks. And let’s remember that running isn’t complicated. Runners can be though. That’s one of the things that makes this sport so great.
Cheers,
Coach Bennett
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