ATC 358: Minimalist Footwear For Knee Pain Relief and Boosted Economy – Current Research Findings and And How To Safely Transition To Reduce Risk, Plus: A Fit-For-Life Game Plan To Race Everything From 100m to Marathon

Intro Banter

• Lucho’s NH Ragnar recap

Brian asks:

A Weird(?) Goal + ‘Do Anything Fitness’ 

Hi! I’ve been listening to endurance planet since (I think) 2015 when I started getting into distance running. I peaked and burned out on running in 2019/2020 when I ran my fastest times and the work I was putting in was… just felt too much work. I ran a 3:09 marathon in pouring, 80-degree rain, a 1:25 half marathon 2 weeks earlier and a few months later ran an 18 minute 5k and a 5:16 mile (without too much speed-specific training). But, it just stopped being fun. For durability: I got up to 70 miles a week in marathon training and loved it, I did a ½ iron in 2017 with 10-16 hours a week of training with no issues. No injuries at all.

I still love running, but mostly just 3-4x a week for 3-4 miles for enjoyment. I supplement it with a bit of swimming, biking, and lifting but without a plan; mostly intuitively for whatever my body wants that day.

Not related to the goal but absolutely my #1 priority is to build and maintain what I call “do anything” fitness. I love the idea of being able to jump into training for a triathlon, ocean swim, paddleboard race, or something else endurance-y and having a great base so I don’t have to spend a lot of time getting ready to train. This also includes a little durability to jump into something totally new (just an example, but something like playing tennis or soccer randomly even if I’ve never played) without risking injury.

So, to my weird goal: I’d like to make a really good attempt to run my best in every running event from the 400m to the marathon in 1 year (400, 800, 1600, 5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2). This doesn’t really mean PR because I don’t really want to put that pressure on myself, I want it to be fun. But, I want to feel like I made a really good attempt. I started running as a 26 year old (35 now) and went right for the marathon, so I’ve never done speed stuff besides the marathon-style speedwork (which for me was usually 400 repeats at the shortest).

The 2 goals sort of align bc I’m also someone that loves the slow-and-steady running and weight training (I do love hammering on the bike and swim though, not sure why). I sometimes love pushing 100m sprints in the backyard or doing burpees, but those days are few and far between. I realize that part of having “do anything” fitness means developing and maintaining some of those explosive or fast-twitch muscles, and having a more-concrete goal will help motivate me.

So, any advice on how to start building that “do anything” fitness, use the winter to prepare for an April start date for training for the “Year of All Races”, how to sequence the year (e.g., do I start short then train for long? The other way? A mix-up? I truly have no idea), and how to balance that (if possible) with the relaxed/intuitive training I’ve enjoyed lately (not necessary but a cherry on top).

For background: I am a 35 year-old male; 5’10” and 165lb (during running PRs I got down to 150-155 but it wasnt a sustainable weight). I have a home gym with a treadmill, bike trainer, free-weights, home-made TRX system, squat rack + Olympic bar. Despite that I don’t know if I could even squat my own weight (I don’t really do 1 rep maxes ever bc Im more concerned about injury than knowing what those #s are, but I could be wrong about that; it could be a good metric) and I can do maybe 8 pullups in a row and probably max out at 30 straight pushups… so strength is a weakness for me. Despite that I have no history of injury. I work from home with a non-demanding job (very much 9-5 and I take an hour for lunch with my wife every day), so time isn’t a major issue. I live in the northeast US so winter isn’t great for speedwork but I’m not against it.

thanks again for all  your help, I absolutely love the podcast; it’s one of the few constants in my life in the last 10 years Your browser does not support the audio element.

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