My college coach used to say, “Don’t burn the candle at both ends.” What he really meant was, “Don’t drink too much and stay up late chasing girls.”
When you unpack that nugget of wisdom, it’s clear that the lesson is about so much more than running.
Because while your long runs, weekly mileage, and faster workouts are all important, they won’t help you improve if you don’t prioritize a healthy lifestyle.
Without proper nutrition, you won’t have as much energy to tackle your training.
Without enough sleep, recovery will be sub-par and some of your hard work will be wasted.
Without reducing stress, the risk of over-training and injury increases (and you’ll rarely feel good).
So it makes sense to give yourself every advantage and set yourself up for success, especially if you’re gearing up for a big race or attempt at a personal best.
Before all of my marathons – especially my 2:39 PR at the Philadelphia Marathon – I joked with my friends that I became a monk in the months leading up to the race:
- I slept as much as possible
- I came home early from seeing my friends and I didn’t drink as much
- My easy runs were VERY easy
- My foam roller became my new best friend
- Post-run fueling was prioritized over being late to work (sorry boss)
When you get these “little things” (which are not so little) right, it makes training much easier to accomplish.
After all, success in running depends on the lifestyle that surrounds the training.
So the topic of today’s podcast is different than what I normally publish – but it’s just as critical to your running.
Matt Frazier on the Healthy Habits that Support Running
When I have a sticky problem, I reach out to Matt Frazier.
In just the last few years, Matt has implemented a staggering number of changes to his life:
- He adopted a vegetarian diet – and then vegan
- No Meat Athlete was born and quickly became a world-wide movement
- He improved his marathon from 4:53 to 3:09 to qualify for Boston
- Not wanting to settle, he started running ultras – including a 100-miler
- He’s given up oil and experimented with other habits like journaling, meditation, and fruitarianism
If you’ve ever tried to start a new healthy habit, you know how difficult this can be on top of your other obligations like work and family.
And I wanted to know how to make all of these “little things” easier to implement in your life.
Because if you’re not sleeping well, eating right, and eliminating stress the other 23 hours of the day, then running a longer distance or racing a Personal Best is going to be that much more difficult to achieve.
You can listen on iTunes or – for our Android users – on Stitcher.
Show Links & Resources
- The No Meat Athlete blog
- Tim Ferriss’ blog & podcast
- The Perfect Smoothie Formula
- The No Meat Athlete Cookbook
Will you join us next week?
I mentioned on the show that this was just an excerpt from the full interview available to members of Team Strength Running.
The team is my absolute favorite SR program for a variety of reasons:
- It brings runners together! We have hundreds of members from all over the world, of every ability, and all of them love running
- Our Training Plan Library is extensive (and growing) with more than 30+ plans for 5k – 100 miles, base-building, weight loss, and more
- Every month there’s a new guest expert like OCR pro Amelia Boone, sports psychology professors, pain management specialists, and a lot more
- Coaching! Once you’re on the team, your success is my priority. Join our regular, live Q&A sessions to ask any of your running questions (no matter how weird or silly they seem)
We don’t open very often – but we will soon!
I’ll be sending out more info to the runners who want to hear more about the team. Is that you?
If so, hop on the list here. You’ll be the only runners to know when we’re finally open soon.
