The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

I'd like to see Donato aka poetwithpace do an AMA, as I understand he was one of the original running YouTubers who's been in the game for a decade. He posts quite frequently in this thread too (albeit under many different aliases) so has a lot of insight into the Letsrun culture and all that jazz, oh yes, that's right!

LMFAO.

What would you like to know?

How much goal pace work is a good idea if you are trying to break 4 hours ?

Do I need 55mm max stack recovery shoes if I run 3 times a week on a good week ?

Does anybody pay to use Kaizen ?

That sort of thing?

I reckon more just dishing any juicy goss about fellow YouTubers

Are you trying to run every street in your town? It is very interesting seeing your runs on Strava.

Would you run a marathon again or is it just 5k stuff now?

I’d love to see what RTJ could do if he reigned it in a bit, I feel his whole identity is the mileage king stuff now so he’s in too deep to pull back and reassess

I know this post was just a big long joke to set up the Beater ending, and I admit I laughed out loud when I got to that point.

But I watched Griff Duncan latest video and he so irritates me. He continues to cite his marathon PR pace without caveat as evidence of his capacity. Bro, you can't hold 7:05 on a legitimate course. That is not your marathon PR.

He cited the weather on another half marathon effort, which, if completed, still would have been a 1:29 high. You are not even close to 1:25 or BQ fitness. Stop trying to run those times. And he keeps getting injured trying to run paces that aren't realistic.

People like this would be best served by running easy every single run until they can get to 45 miles per week, consistently, for at least 10 weeks. THEN add some intensity.

Ha ha - I have done my town - I am now trying to run everywhere :) About 2/3 of Surrey done and over 1/3 of Hampshire. Some streets better for goal pace than others although if want to sprint, recommend legging it out of a traveller camp road out of necessity - scary !

As for marathons I may have another look at 60. I will be 59 in less than 2 weeks. However with a PB of 2:33:53 from 2005 and my last one a pleasing if way slower 2:59:52 aged 56 in Seville 2023 really not sure I am can be bothered as another sub 3 would probably be "better" than my PB and I think what's the point in running a marathon when would need 3:09 just to avoid a PW. I am not a YouTuber who likes to "collect" WMM major medals - only done London and really the marathon is my worst event. I used to be an OK 800/1500 runner - 1:55/3:55. Generally longer it got, worse I got. So yeah racing likes of John Broom over 5K and even full send parkruns means can get it over and done with much quicker and my 5K pace now is about my PB marathon pace. Ideally I would like to do some track again but looks like I have got a hernia so need to sort that out before long.

I thought this too and in view of the fact Philly is getting pain when doing every day things maybe spending time on crutches was actually not such bad advice as she made out.

Downhill running was good fun in lockdown wasn't it for Strava challenges and virtual racing. I ran my "best" 1K and 5K in years and years but hey it's over 5 years on (fortunately). There's a reason we exclude "DH" races from Power of 10 - it is effectively cheating - well at least the rankings. Mind you it might be better than claiming a track PB from when your GPS watch tells you to stop not the lines on it!

I don't know why everyone suddenly became so critical of the mileage. He has already shown he is following in the footsteps of many other runners who have taken the same approach. Naoko Takahashi used to hit 70k long runs and Mizuki Noguchi used to run 1,300km a month, and they were Olympic gold medalists without the same advantages we have today.

He is young and has the luxury of time to experiment and see what works best for him. So far, it seems to be working just fine. Will he hit sub 2:09:30 in Valencia? Tough to say, I'm just some hobby jogging bozo who is 20 minutes behind him, so wtf do I know, but he can definitely PB.

I don't think that many people are critical of the mileage.

I disagree that his marathon time is actually better than his shorter distance PB’s. I’d say he actually has more speed than endurance going off his 5k time and paces he hits during speed sessions.

His 5k time is 21 seconds faster than mine and I can’t hit short intervals like he does, yet I’m faster at every other distance with the gap increasing the further the distance

Hard disagree. Whether the crazy mileage is the best approach is a topic that can be debated, but he is clearly all in on his approach and isn't doing it to keep up the YouTube persona. I can't imagine anyone putting themselves through that amount of time, effort and pain without having strong intrinsic motivation beyond a once a week YouTube video.

Downvoted this before I got to the punchline ffs

This is really what is so frustrating. The continued claim of misdiagnosed when it's known that bone injuries exist on a continuous, not discrete, discrimination. Regardless though, treatment for bone injuries is not progressive loading like for tendons, it is rest. Telling inexperienced viewers otherwise it's frankly pretty irresponsible

There’s also solid reason to RTJ high mileage approach. He isn’t just doing for the hell of it.

He is getting his coaching plan from some big ass Japanese distance running manual book written by a high mileage Japanese runner from yesteryear that was hitting 2:05 marathon times.

Im not sure what is more impressive. His bodies ability to withstand the high mileage or his remarkable grasp of the Japanese language. Must have been studying that a lot in the spare moments he isn’t running, eating or sleeping.

That coaching book looks a nightmare to read/understand and he always copes admirably when interviewed in Japanese post race when he is probably pretty fatigued.

He is the YouTuber/influencer I’d like to succeed in his goals the most. The guy has genuine charisma too and doesn’t pretend to understand/care the more science based aspects of running like lactic threshold, Hr zones etc. he just knows running lots gets you fit.

This is in direct contrast to somebody like BenIsRunning who being brutally honest lacks any charisma and talks about the science of running lots despite clearly not really understanding it. Gets a bit arrogant off the back of good races and has excuses on the back of bad ones. Will shill any product or running brand going too.

Only criticism I would have of Jake is to choose the video sponsors wiser. He is still better than most for this, especially considering the number of subscribers he has and and the Brooks collab is cool + he doesn’t push it too hard. Coros I can just about tolerate too but the whole nomio and kaizen stuff seems forced. The latter seems like a complete con being pushed by every influencer under the sun.

Has anyone come across the newest 'Runtoker' Callum Mocklow. Hes a classic Runna athlete who's done a few marathons and because he was a producer for a big sidemen podcast Runna have picked him up and flown him around to as many Majors as they can.

My main issue with him is that he has started a running podcast now and gets other running influencers on (Hugo Fry, Alfie Manthorpe) but seems to lack any basic understanding of Marathon running and every episode is just him being suprised that fast runners can run fast. On top of this he can never call out the BS thta they spout to try and make it out like they've found some magic way to get quick at running that no one else has tied before.

I found it rather ironic that as a Runna athlete who proudly states that his entire program is Runna he was targeting a 3:15 in Chicago (ambitious considering he has only run sub 205K once). Of course he failed miserably and did the "I learned something about myself gimmick". I wonder how much longer Runna can keep up the hype when even young athletes they are hyping up and promoting are struggling to improve past a mediocre marathon time...

Re RTJ only got to glance at his Power of 10 to note, until late 2023, he was only an OK distance runner. Nobody goes from even a very creditable 14:57 5000 to a 2:14 marathon just doing the same old thing. Bester & Felton have way quicker 5K PBs (well compared to that 14:57) but even after decent marathon training blocks both are nowhere near 2:14 net alone what Jake wants to get to. Can he do 2:09. Not impossible got to think. Is it likely - possibly not but kind of feel he will give it his best shot and entertain us on the way.