How To Earn A BQ For Boston Marathon

With an upcoming running clinic, I would like to share some of my thoughts about how you may qualify for a Boston Qualifier (BQ). Be warned: My approach may not be aligned with yours. Although sound, it is non-conventional, perhaps because of my age and background in multi-discipline, endurance, sports.

The Boston Marathon, is the holy grail for serious marathoners, and it sits parallel with Ironman triathletes for a dream-ticket or podium-slot for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua, Kona. These events and many others in the endurance sports, including ultra-marathons and desert-runs, and Mount Everest represent the zenith in one's training/racing history.

I have earned three BQs, in 2011, 2013, and 2015

I completed my first Boston Marathon in 2014 in 'Boston Strong', and hope to earn another slot amongst the 30,000 on Patriot's Day 2016. My approach for all three BQs were similar and minimalist.

1) I ran, predominantly, on-road: My chosen races were all road-races, thus, I raced specifically, on tar/tarmac.
2) I raced both on-road and off-road/trail (ultra-marathon, 52.5km) to engage different muscles and responses. In my last BQ at Gold Coast Marathon, I integrated off-road sections and some slopes/bridges, which seemed to help me finish strong (although I ran much less).
3) I trained 3-4 days per week, mostly single sessions. Additional aerobic stimulus came from riding indoors or outdoors (2-3 hours per session). My total training mileage per week has been about 40-50km per week.
4) My run training was based, mainly, on one long/two short sessions - all at tempo/time-trial pace. I eliminated 'Junk Miles'. [I subscribe to 'Run Less, Run Faster' philosophy, although I intuitively applied that since 2010 after my biking accident.]
5) My workouts include 2 X 10km, plus one long 21-24km, all done at Tempo or Fartlek (. I did no track intervals, hill-work, and very few group-running. Consistency and discipline is key! A short run is better than no run. However, skip runs if you are feeling unwell, as illness sabotages your training plan.
6) I included one more run/race before my marathon preparation block (12-week). The race could be a 10km, 21km or 32km. A 32km race or run would be done 2-3 weeks before race-day.
7) I cross-trained (cycling and swimming) all-year-round, as required of a triathlete. I race two Ironman triathlons annually since 2006, so that included two in-race, marathons already. 
8) I did some strength and conditioning workout, using bodyweight (circuit), kettle-bells, or free-weights. I relearnt my gait, focused on mid-sole (as forefoot running may have led to my first hairline toe fracture in 2012, and a dismal Berlin Marathon timing of 4:00 hours).
9) As racing is a personal event based on tactics and strategy, I raced regularly to accustom myself to race-pace (or faster, over-10km and 21km) and earn my confidence to race uncomfortably (including Zone 4/panting zone).
10) I learnt to eat well, using the 80:20 Rule, focused on more essential fats (including coconut oil, butter, extra-virgin olive oil, and nuts).

How To Be A Better Runner

How do you become a better runner?

Stay injury-free and improve on your weaknesses, is the simplified answer.

How do you stay injury-free?

By training within your limits (we have more physical limitations as compared to our mental ones), you can keep serious injuries at bay. Mild injuries may be unavoidable when you step up on intensity, prior to a race. Thus, my promotion of 'Run Less, Run Faster' is pertinent, if you are already plagued by persistent niggles and soreness. 

Your build-up to the race needs to be sensible and realistic. Give yourself SMART Goals, and be mindful of how well you can prepare. Thus, in your off-season you would do better to focus on lower-intensity, fat-utilising, pace. I recommend lower-heartrate running, swimming and cycling to enhance your 'aerobic engine'. Drink Bullet Coffee (or coconut-oil infused beverages before training on an empty-stomach) to engage your body's ability to tap into your endurance system.

Get quality sleep to recover fully and reduce stress. Eat 'clean' to assist your body to assimilate new body tissues. Eat all major food groups, and eliminate food that cause you allergies. Consume more antioxidants, protect and nurture your gut flora (bacteria), and be well-hydrated. Go 80:20 with your nutrition/meals, and treat yourself,occasionally, to some 'comfort food'. I am a fan of craft-beers after hard training, and appreciate indulging in my sweet tooth. Your fitness will assist you in your day-to-day activities; not just for racing and earning PBs. Focus on building an organic machinery that enhances your life, and promotes your sporting lifestyle.

Training-wise, be smart and enlist assistance in ensuring you optimise your efforts and structural abilities: running-gait, footwear, core-strength, muscular-strength, balance and proprioception, joint-health, and muscular weakness (critical point of incidence). Diagnose your abilities and do a SWOT analysis, and tap on your collective potential and work on reducing your weaknesses. Race occasionally, so as to familiarise with your race-pace (5km, 10km, 21km and marathon).

More of these will be covered in my new Ebook.

Running Free: Barefoot Running Redux

This morning, after our swim group was requested to vacate the lagoon in Sentosa Island (after three laps of 400-450m), we opted for a short 4K-plus run. Since a few of the runners were keen to explore barefoot running, Vijay, Kumar, Dennis and I chose to run barefoot. Dennis was comfortable in his cool-looking Vibrams Five Fingers (VFF) running shoes, and he demonstrated how he has embraced the natural style of running light. This generous man was part of an entourage that recently ran alongside Kirsten in her 10-hour, road-to-recovery Sundown Marathon.

In my private sharing with a small group during Saturday’s lagoon swim, I showed how running light was possible and made more comfortable. I also demonstrated how high-cadence tempo running (of unshod runners) could match that of shod runners. Here are some key points for your edification:

1)    Pool running (between chest and groin level) can be a safe substitute for barefoot running. No shoes.

2)    With pool running, you can vary your cadence (feet turnover) while running on the spot. I have generated up to 130 footfalls per foot per minute. Also, running at groin-level water simulates running on hills/shoreline (upon your entry/exit from the water). Chest-high water allows you to pump your arms harder while earning higher-cadence steps.

3)    In barefoot running, land as naturally as you feel. Keep low. You will rarely land on your heels, as this can hurt.

4)    When running barefoot, avoid running on your toes. Physical therapists, Nate Carlson shared with me that fractured toes are the common injury he has treated with barefoot runners. Instead, run at the ball of your toes (foot-bed, where you pedal off) or mid-sole.

5)    It is alright to land on your heels, provided that your feet roll forwards onto the forefeet.

6)    Lean forward slightly to gain more advantage with gravity and its accompanying increase in cadence.

7)    Increase cadence slightly, and you increase speed and intensity.

8)    Shoes are necessary as a means of handling both physical impacts on the feet, as well as protecting them from injury (through punctures and open wounds).

When you study the running gait of Ironman world champions, Chrissy Wellington & Rinnie Carfrae; the former takes smaller steps with higher cadence, while the latter takes wider strides and lower cadence. Top female Singaporean runners, Vivien and Anne parallel Wellington and Carfare. What I have observed about world-class marathoners from Kenya and Ethiopia is that they may have begun their running careers with barefoot and light running, however progressed towards a more bouncy and wider strides. That is where the role of running shoes comes into serious play. Running as rapidly (3 minutes/K) pace is just hard on the pure barefoot runner.