What is the *worst* advice you can give a new runner and why is that advice bad?

Never ever change gait.

While maybe right for most, not for me. I have a crooked body that is very unfundamental.

Took 3 years to change the way I walk/ run. I feel like I'm flying now.

ebreak wrote:

One thing I will never understand is how healthy, able bodied, and able minded people older than 14 (and that’s being generous) can’t tie their shoes to stay tied during a full soccer game or 15 mile run.

I had teammates in college who’s shoes would legitimately come untied during a 5 mile morning run (they weren’t faking it to get a rest).

Wtf is up with that??

Let us elevate the humble art of shoe tying.

Worse Advice You Can Give: "Oh, you're starting to run? Dude you should totally get :::insert random Super Shoe/Niche Shoe here:::.

This is someone who has no clue as to what cushion and support is/can be/should be. They should be taught how to find a shoe based on fit and comfort from the beginning.

It's like beginning musicians starting off with an Epiphone or Squier guitar instead of jumping straight to a Gibson or Fender, respectively. Let them have a chance to see how much they enjoy this new thing and decide on how far they want to take it. There's nothing wrong with being completely content as a "spare room guitar hero" or "garage band" musician if that's what you're looking to get out of your hobby. You do you, let's chat about some simple guidance to get started so you can have a good experience, and see where it takes you and where you want to take it.

ebreak wrote:

One thing I will never understand is how healthy, able bodied, and able minded people older than 14 (and that’s being generous) can’t tie their shoes to stay tied during a full soccer game or 15 mile run.

I had teammates in college who’s shoes would legitimately come untied during a 5 mile morning run (they weren’t faking it to get a rest).

Wtf is up with that??

I'm healthy, able bodied, got respectable grades in school, have a stable job and good relations with family. I 'mastered' tying shoe laces at age 21, after getting lessons from my younger brother.

One thing I will never understand is being so judgemental that you criticize others for struggling with something just because you personally find it easy.

For someone getting into jogging and fitness:

Best: Be patient, you won’t lose 50lb overnight. Spend the money on good shoes, but don’t waste money on performance shoes if performance isn’t your goal. Stop buying your nutrition products from shoe salespeople. Strop waffles are a joke. Pedialyte is better than Gatorade.

Worst: Really 80% of what I do. Running at a high level isn’t sustainable for decades on end, it’s a sport and as a college scholarship athlete it’s kind of a job. Dropping from 142 to 137 in 7 days for a big cross race isn’t something I’d advise anyone else to do, nor is doing a LR in 98 degree weather, nor is running over 100 miles in a week. We do these things because you need to take a few calculated risks to drop a crazy performance. A 14-something 5k is rare in the grand scheme of things. A 13-something is even rarer.

For “high school freshman me” or his coach:

Best: Play the long game. Get the most out of 30 MPW first. A complete but low mileage training plan leaves far more growing room than a high mileage one that lacks in fundamentals. Take Sundays off. Keep swimming in the winter for a couple years. Essentially: don’t get caught up in what kids slightly more mature than you are doing for training, they will soon fade away.

Worst: Run half marathons (dumb idea as proper training is too high in volume and doing them on improper training is downright dangerous). Don’t bother working on form or speed because you are clearly not an 800 guy. I say this is bad advice because you basically need to be a 4 flat 1500 guy to run a 14:30 and you usually need to be a 4 flat miler to run in the 13s.

kore wrote:

in the 80s, we used to carbo load everyday. I only ate Pasta and Cereal.

+1

Are you actually autistic? If so, that is great and I commend you for being where you are in life - many in your shoes (and in other shoes, fwiw) struggle to do the same.

My question about the average person not being able to tie shoes still stands —I really just don’t get it. It’s not easy to me because of some preordained thing — it’s a simple task that can be mastered by most very early on.

"Run on your toes." Used to hear that one a lot. I guess people knew heel striking was bad so they just defaulted to telling you to land on the opposite end. Of course, telling an inexperienced kid to run on their toes is good way for them to get hurt taking you literally. I don't think I met an authority figure who could properly describe midfoot strike until I had been running for 5-6 years already.

ebreak wrote:

Are you actually autistic? If so, that is great and I commend you for being where you are in life - many in your shoes (and in other shoes, fwiw) struggle to do the same.

My question about the average person not being able to tie shoes still stands —I really just don’t get it. It’s not easy to me because of some preordained thing — it’s a simple task that can be mastered by most very early on.

Yeah, was diagnosed at age 8. I learn slow. I wore nappies until age 11. I can multiply two 3-digit number in my head within seconds without fail but I struggle to operate a washing machine and have still yet to learn how to make my bed at 22. And there are lots of people out there like me - on the other hand, I am baffled when I see someone who can cook roast dinners with ease but can't do basic algebra.

Everyone's brain works differently.

Worst Advice, in no particular order:

-give it your all every day! Nope, not necessary and counter productive way to train.

- the need to "get out" in XC races. Sure you can't jog out of the gate, but it's 3M, you have plenty of time to move up during the first mile to halfway point.

Worst advice: stretch before and after running, especially calves and hamstrings. I would say that better than 50% of noob running injuries are from stretching.

Best advice: it takes seven years of consistent training to reach your fastest times. So many young runners try to force improvement in a single season by trying to do epic workouts and blasting their mileage. They either end up injured or show up to races with dead legs. It takes time to build up the capillary beds and have muscle get lean and light in order to adapt to distance running. It is actually a bit insane how we expect runners to reach a high level by the end of a 4 year HS career and then only take a tiny fraction to be able to compete in college. Many HS runners are just starting to break through their junior and senior year, but are left out of college competition because they are not quite ready.

Get out really fast in cross country races and run as a pack. First XC meet in university was told to go out and establish a pack at the front of the race to show dominance and be intimidating. I was full-on lactic within the first 800m of the race and had teammates yelling stay together through a super-fast first mile. Was pretty much walking home on that one. Skipped the super-fast start the next race and ran almost 3 mins faster for the 8k. The secret isn't to just hurt more its to run your pace.

My HS coach was big on the "get out of the pack" stuff, it always worked to my detriment. One of the best races I ever had was one where I did get caught up in the pack, so I took the first 1M pretty easy and but I crushed the last 2M . I'm running strong over the entire second half of the race, I'm passing people like crazy, I feel great... why should I blow it out from the start again? Worried I might get to the the final 800m feeling too good?

Point being that if you do get to the last mile and feel great you can ALWAYS run faster, not so much if you do it the other way.

Listening to advice from the the fastest guy at the club ... who probably says something like "You've just got to get out and run hard and suck it up"