Do you agree with the mentality "every little thing you do matters" running-wise?

I believe Sting said it right with "every little thing you do is magic"

Yep, it all depends on what you want to get out of it, and that partly depends on where you are in life.

I don't have time for a lot of small things. But I think that running (long runs, tempo, reps) and some core cover most of the bases, probably >90%. If I can't run a 10k 30s faster at 48, so be it.

But if you're up-coming and aiming to be the best (state, national, international), then the little things are worth it. Used to do those things when it was.

kents wrote:

Son, you're either training or your running. One requires 24 hours of focus a day, the other an hour or so.

Don't get them confused.

^This. It's perfectly okay to just run. Assuming you don't get injured (a big assumption), you'll probably reach most of your potential. If those last couple of seconds in the mile aren't important to you, then just run. If they are important, then training has to be a lifestyle, not something you do for an hour or so a day.

Yes, in our sport, possibly more than any other with the possible equal standing of swimming and gymnastics, every little thing matters. In fact, I would argue to reach the top here is just is more difficult than swimming or gymnastics.

I will reiterate that I believe the little things matter.

I have a pretty cushy job that allows me to live comfortably at 40hrs a week. So that leaves a good chunk of time for training and time to spend on the details.

I am at a point of consistent 100-110mpw, pushing the limits of my workouts for a 5k-15k race schedule. But it takes time for all of that to absorb. I am not going to see a 1min 5k drop that suddenly. So what do I do to try to aid that increase? The small stuff. I add this in to help keep my injury free and to give me a few seconds where I can. It also makes my mechanics that much smoother and more efficient.

There is a difference in being dedicated in doing your best to be at your best, and being obsessed on being the best. Having a healthy diet most of the time, doing the proper warm up and cool down, stretching, drills, circuit training, core work and getting in your sleep along with recovery days will help your body go a little bit further smoother. A 5 to 10 second PR might not be that big of a deal, unless you are a 30'05, 15'05, or 4'01 guy(just random times). The extra 1% in speed, the 1 inch in your stride, and that 1 second longer you can hold your speed can help you break barriers like this. It can turn a 16'02 guy into a 15'55 guy and I think as a runner, the smaller number looks better in your pictures, on the results sheet and in your own heart.

Don't sweat the 10 seconds short of the 60 min run, or the cookie you ate, but also do not kill a bag in one day or cut it short all the time. Those habits can latch on quick.

If you want to be your greatest, EVERY little detail counts. This includes diet, sleep, the right workouts at the right time, and most importantly, recovery. If anyone tells you differently, they're phoning it in themselves. THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS!!!

The upper limits of your abilities are determined by your genetics.

You can do all the strides and skip drills you want, but at the end of the day they are not going to make a significant difference.

how do you know consistent strides/speedwork of the course of several years (along with a steady diet of mileage of course) won't improve your basic speed & running economy, leading to a big breakthrough? **cough**RUPP!**cough**if you believe in what you're doing, (AND IT IS DONE CORRECTLY & CONSISTENTLY OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME), you might see a result. if not, at least you tried dammit. also, totally agree on the "you're either training or running" comment. do or do not, there is no try.

Wa La La La wrote:

You can do all the strides and skip drills you want, but at the end of the day they are not going to make a significant difference.

I think there needs to be a balance since a miserable runner is not a good runner (so if cutting out alcohol or giant brownie ice cream sundaes completely makes you miserable, it probably won't be good for your running) but for the most part, yes, the "little things" add up to make a strong, fast runner. One small thing on its own probably won't have a large impact, but focusing on lots of small things together can have a noticeable impact.

I try to pick at least one "little thing" every season. Ones I've done over the last year:

1. Sleeping more

2. Improving my diet significantly

3. Finding out I was iron deficient and supplementing accordingly

4. Seeing a sports psychologist (temporarily, to learn some stuff) and practicing mental training

5. Strength training more often, both for power and for injury prevention

6. Adding in a core routine

7. Making my life outside of running less stressful so that I could train at a higher level

8. Sticking my calves every day

9. Taking planned breaks and backing off when I need to (working on this one, it's really hard)

Next thing I'm going to do is get personal training from an elite runner who is also a personal trainer, so that I can personalize my strength/core stuff a bit more and use it toward my ultimate goal of also becoming an elite runner.

The small stuff is just there as a distraction. Just run and step up your mental game.

Think and Grow Fast wrote:

The small stuff is just there as a distraction. Just run and step up your mental game.

worst advice ever

I kind of approach it this way. When you are at a low level of fitness, you can get away with being sloppy with your attention to training and recovery. But, as your fitness level improves, you need to start tightening up your habits if you want to continue improving.

There eventually comes a point of diminishing returns, where the effort put in to maintain good habits or to find newer things to improve upon, no longer pay off. At this point, it is probably best to call it a season, and reset your training to a lower level to recharge and recover. Then you can start up again after the short break, to begin to ramp up your fitness again. It has been mentioned on this thread that longevity of habits is important. I agree, but I would add that there is always a limited range of improvement for each aspect of training or recovery over the course of developing that aspect.

For example, doing Tempo runs are a good thing. As your fitness improves, the pace of your Tempo runs should speed up. However, there is a limit to how much speeding up you can do before you are basically racing your Tempo runs. Once you reach this point, continuing to do Tempo runs is pointless. You may have started out at 6:00/mile pace and eventually worked down to 5:30/mile. Trying to continue Tempo runs until you get to 5:20/mile is not going to do you much good as you have reached your current limit for adaption. You can cut back on frequency and maintain the 5:30/mile pace to keep that acquired fitness, but you will need a break to allow your body to reset, and then you can begin again in the next training cycle. You may be able to start at 5:50/mile and work down to 5:15/mile this time around. The key is to be consistent and keep progressing while remembering to allow for resting and resetting your fitness.

If you aren't getting paid to do it, none of it "matters".

To excel at anything, the small stuff counts a lot. That said, in any normal, non-professional runner's life there should be countless things that matter more than skipping after your run and keeping detailed heart rate monitor journals. Travel, work harder at your job, enjoy your wife and kids. Do your run everyday then enjoy life. Your "training" doesn't count for squat if it doesn't come with a paycheck.

You blew your whole point with that last sentence bro.

Better than you wrote:

"It sounds like you don't have the dedication". lol. He's doing the hard work and you're knocking it? You remind me of one of these guys who chooses to criticize people instead of commending them. OP makes valid points, and trust me, your extra squats don't matter - sh*t. And your bitter attitude won't help at all either. I can already tell this OP is more talented than you, and while you should be trying to encourage this guy to be a better runner, instead you're foaming at the mouth trying to put him down.

I love mature posts and yours is right near the top. I can assure you first of all that I have been at the top level of both coaching and running. The OP wanted opinions. I gave him my opinion from years of experience. I myself didn't have the dedication I needed to get to any even higher level in college because I wasn't doing the little things. I trained really hard and had success, but I didn't have the dedication to do the other things that a runner needs to do to get to the highest level I was capable of. Once I got out of college, I grew up a bit and learned how important those things were and finally got the dedication I needed to reach a higher level.

Believe me, running 100 mile weeks is not that tough if you are motivated; same with mile repeats or hard tempo runs. It is much harder to get that 8 or 9 hours of sleep a night, stay away from the partying, eat right, stretch properly, do core, cool down properly, etc., etc.

By the way, by reading both of our posts, it sounds like you have the bitter attitude not me; I was trying to give advice that hopefully the OP will take. Many people said very similar things, but just said them in a more general sense. It takes dedication to be your best and that includes far more than putting in the miles or doing quality workouts.

Also "Better than you", there is nothing more satisfying than seeing an athlete take a big step up because of changes that he has made, whether it be an increase in mileage or something else like taking the little things more seriously. I don't know how many times an athlete took a big step up in his racing and the only thing they did differently was pay more attention to living that "runner lifestyle". They are so appreciative of myself and their teammates for preaching the importance of the little things. They may not want to hear it at the time, like perhaps the OP or you, but eventually it sinks in for many runners and they are so happy for their new fitness level.

Lastly, we all know that training hard (and smart) is so important and by living the lifestyle of the runner it allows you to train harder. That is why you often see runners take big steps up after college, because it is more difficult to live that runner lifestyle while still in college.

Record shoppe wrote:

I believe Sting said it right with "every little thing you do is magic"

But Sting never said that. Look up the song, the title itself should give you a clue.

My old coach coached me remotely while I was in college. He had a really hard task, because I did all the running, but then I'd go and get three hours of sleep before a race, or eat donuts every morning for breakfast, or forget to eat dinner and then settle for a midnight Jamaican beef patty from 7/11.

Since I've graduated I've started actually living like a competitive runner. When my old coach asked me what it was that helped me break through this year (I dropped 5 minutes in the half-marathon and over a minute in the 5K) I wrote him a really long list. Then I conceded, it was basically everything. Not one key workout or an increase in mileage or whatever. He said he called this the "24 hour rule."

IMO it's hard to see the connection because chances are you're not going to see a magical gain in fitness from one or two little things (except the iron, holy crap). But I think a lot of these things are what allow us to train consistently from a high level and respond adequately to our training, thus making the gains in fitness we desire so badly. For many people I don't think the problem is dedication, but rather a failure to see the connection.