It's been said that the 5k is harder than the marathon.

Okay, that was me. I said that.

Sure, the distance itself is easier, but if you are trying to race 3.1 miles as fast as possible, it feels like lighting your lungs and legs on fire from the get-go.

Especially if you are a marathoner.

We're just not used to going that hard that soon in a race and holding on for dear life.

But, let me tell you, dedicating myself to one or two honest 5k training cycles a year absolutely made me a faster marathoner.

I'm not going to lie and say that I loved every minute of it. But I did it anyway.

Not only did I get a 5k time I'm proud of, but all that fast training definitely made marathon pace feel a lot easier.

Here's how you can do it, too.

zoom zoom

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from the team

"My age must be catching up with me."

I hear this a lot. The most recent time was from an athlete on my team I'll call Jessica.

Jessica is 43 and loves to race a couple marathons a year, but she was frustrated that her times never really budged.

She would race well, take a couple of weeks to recover like she should, and then life always happened.

A few missed runs became a lighter week. A lighter week somehow became a month. Running happened when it happened.

By the time summer showed up, it was time to train for her fall marathon.

Except she was not actually building. She was rebuilding what she had already earned.

It was not her age keeping Jessica stuck. It was her strategy.

Preparing specifically for a race is key, of course. But if you want to improve race after race, what you do in-between race seasons is just as important.

Jessica finally broke her plateau by staying connected to a plan all year round even when she was not officially “training.”

This is the April mistake that quietly costs runners time every fall: only thinking about training when a race is coming.

Yes, life still happens. But now Jessica has a plan in place to make sure she gets her off season just right without losing ground in her progress.

If this sounds like you:

• you have a fall goal but need structure now
• you are racing soon and do not want to lose momentum
• you are newer and want to avoid rookie mistakes
• you are experienced but tired of second-guessing

then you're going to want to hit this button.

show me

ask me anything

Q:

I've heard that you should only increase your mileage 10% a week. Is that correct?

A: ​

It's a handy little rule of thumb, isn't it?

"Increase ten percent a week" is kind of like "get 10,000 steps a day." It's a nice round number, which runners love. It's not right or wrong exactly, but it's not right for every runner.

Let's look at an example. If you are running 10 mpw, you can run 11 next week. If you are running 30, try 33 next week.

But the 10% rule gets a little wonky at the ends of the spectrum, and there will be a point that adding more mileage is a bad idea. So while it might help guide your mileage growth at first, it's not a great plan to follow long-term.

Not to mention, the 10% rule is not applicable to teenagers who are still growing, so please don't use this with your track star kid at home!

A better way to think about it is to look at what you are training for and what your current experience is. A 5k runner, for example, does not need to run as many miles as a marathoner. On the other hand, an elite 5k runner is probably running far more weekly miles than someone new to the marathon.

While I wish that we could make simple rules that would make our running progression easy and clear, unfortunately, there's just too much variation between runners to be able to do that.

A better way is to assess your running each week. If you felt good and energized, you can try adding a little more next week. If this week was a struggle, you might want to cut back.

It will take time to figure out the sweet spot for you and it's different for everyone.

The other thing to remember is that mileage is only one lever of training. Frequency and intensity matter too, so if you are increasing one of those, keep your mileage steady.

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podcast

How do you figure out which is the right shoe for you?

Today's Planted Runner Podcast is all about running shoes.

You’ll learn

• How to find the right shoe for you
• How many shoes you should have, and
• If you really should spend the cash on carbon plated super shoes.

This episode is essential if you are a new runner or just getting back into the sport, but experienced runners will pick up a few things as well.

Shout out to y2Craig and Mississipi shopper for their sweet Apple podcast reviews this week!

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inspo

"The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly."

—Cecil B. DeMille

Have a great run today, Coach Claire

Thank you for being a part of the Planted Runner community!

My mission is to help runners just like you reach goals they never dreamed possible through science-backed training and plant-based nutrition.

Since 2016, I've helped thousands of every day runners become fitter, faster, and stronger with truly customized training and coaching.

I also love to share what I have learned from my own journey starting as a non-runner to a 2:58 marathoner at age 42, as well what I have learned coaching runners, completely FREE. I do that every week in this newsletter and on the Planted Runner Podcast.

Being a part of this email community ensures that you first access to everything we have coming up – from free running and nutrition guides, to events like workshops and retreats, and so much more to help you get results.

I'm so glad you're here and my inbox is always open. Feel free to reply with questions or feedback!

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