Leaps forward in performance are every runner’s dream. What if we could bottle up the secret sauce for it and share with everyone?
While we can’t bottle up improvement, we can learn the lessons of improvement from those who have done it.
You might have heard this common saying:
An overnight success takes 10 years.
It’s the same with any sorts of performance breakthroughs. On paper, an athlete may be crushing personal records; but leading up to the races, they are putting in serious work and dedication.
There are several principles that form the foundation for improvements:
- Staying healthy and injury-free
- Recovering from workouts and other stressors
- Progressively loading the body with stimulus
Master those three aspects to your training, and your performance can’t help but improve over time.
Of course, it’s easier said than done. We all encounter with setbacks, including me. That’s right – even I struggle with occasional injuries and I coach this stuff! With that, I also recognize the importance of knowing when to back off, how to ease back in, and when to push hard.
While breakthroughs are never a guarantee, we can certainly nudge ourselves in that direction. Today’s guest shares his experience on doing exactly that through several cycles of rapid performance improvements.
Noah Droddy Sets the Stage for PRs
Noah Droddy is a professional runner, 2-time Olympic Trials Qualifier, 2-time collegiate All-American, and a 2:11 marathoner. He is sponsored by Saucony and trains under Richard Hansen in Boulder, Colorado for the Roots Running Project. His sights are currently set on breaking the 2:10 marathon barrier, which he shares about in this podcast.
Noah’s path to professional running was indirect, to say the least. He ran through high school and college but didn’t take it too seriously. In fact, Noah attributes this casual approach to his decision for going all in on the sport, as he describes here:
Noah wasn’t burned out post college and found so much joy in running. He is one of very few runners to turn pro after a Division 3 college career, making his trajectory even more impressive.
I caught up with Noah Droddy to ask about his current training and how he has been able to make such leaps in his performance. We cover many topics, including:
- Work ethic to pursue your goals
- Environmental factors that help your succeed
- Evolving pressures of a pro runner
This is an inspiring episode and I hope you’ll enjoy Noah’s energy and thoughtfulness as much as I did.
Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or Google Play.
Links & Resources from the Show:
- Follow Noah on Twitter and Instagram
- See training logs on Strava and LogARun
- Train your mind
Thank You InsideTracker!
Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it’s essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.
InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.
InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body’s data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance. I recently had my own blood drawn and am glad to report that my results indicate that everything is in a healthy range.
If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs. Use Code STRENGTHRUNNING at InsideTracker to save 10% of any of their tests.
