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#HURDLEMOMENT: How to Become a Faster Runner · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If I hadn't run a fourteen minute half mile every
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  Speaker 1: single day in the summer of two thousand and eight,
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  Speaker 1: I would have never become a three twenty eighth eight marathon.
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  Speaker 1: Or Finding your fast takes patience and let me tell
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  Speaker 1: you something, you have it in you. Hey hurdlers, Emily
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  Speaker 1: Abodi bringing you another installment of Hurdle Moment from Hurdle
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  Speaker 1: This week, I am bringing you the topic that so
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  Speaker 1: many have been asking for.
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  Speaker 2: How do I become a faster runner? Now? First things.
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  Speaker 1: First to mention fast is interpretive, which means that for
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  Speaker 1: some people, fast is.
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  Speaker 2: Running a mile and under fifteen min mines.
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  Speaker 1: For me, when I started running back in college, I
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  Speaker 1: was running a half mile every single day and that
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  Speaker 1: half mile took me fourteen minutes.
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  Speaker 2: So when I got to a place.
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  Speaker 3: Where I felt more comfortable with my stride, fast for
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  Speaker 3: me for a mile was anything sub ten minutes, and
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  Speaker 3: that number again will change for everyone some other context.
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  Speaker 2: I mean my first ever half marathon, I ran in.
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  Speaker 1: Two hours, forty three minutes and thirty three seconds, and
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  Speaker 1: my fastest ever half marathon was about an hour less
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  Speaker 1: than that in one forty four thirty nine earlier. This
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  Speaker 1: year in Miami. I'm not gonna lie. I know I
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  Speaker 1: have so much more gas in the tank for that.
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  Speaker 1: I'm also an eight time full marathon runner. My first
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  Speaker 1: ever marathon I ran in four to oh three nineteen
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  Speaker 1: up in Hartford, Connecticut, and my fastest marathon just last
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  Speaker 1: year in Chicago in three twenty eight oh eight. Now,
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  Speaker 1: aside from the fact that I love to run and
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  Speaker 1: I do a lot of it, what makes me qualified
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  Speaker 1: to give you this insight? Well, I am a UESCA
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  Speaker 1: certified run coach that stands with United and Durant Sports
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  Speaker 1: Coaching Academy, and I also talk to a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people about running. I mean, my every day is chatting
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  Speaker 1: with experts and writing articles for some of the top
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  Speaker 1: editorial outlets there are arranging from Runners World to GQ,
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  Speaker 1: Men's Health, Women's Health, etc.
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  Speaker 2: So I'd like to think that I've got a little
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  Speaker 2: know how on the subject. Again, I cannot reiterate this enough.
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  Speaker 1: Fast is different for everyone, but regardless of what your
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  Speaker 1: personal goals are, I promise you that the strategies I
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  Speaker 1: offer in today's episode on how to find your fast
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  Speaker 1: will help you pick up the pace. As always, feel
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  Speaker 1: free to reach out to me on social media. It's
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  Speaker 1: at Emily a Body and at pital podcast on Instagram, Twitter,
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  Speaker 1: and face Book, and depending on when you.
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  Speaker 2: Are listening to this episode.
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  Speaker 1: I also want to reiterate that right now recording this
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  Speaker 1: in the pandemic, it's so important for us to do
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  Speaker 1: exercise that makes.
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  Speaker 2: Us feel good. The last thing that you want to
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  Speaker 2: do is.
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  Speaker 1: Completely wipe yourself out and be laid out in bed
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  Speaker 1: for days.
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  Speaker 2: That is not the focus of what we're doing right now.
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  Speaker 1: So although I encourage you to challenge yourself always and
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  Speaker 1: go after your big goals, just be careful, have some
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  Speaker 1: kindness with your body, have some grease with yourself, and
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  Speaker 1: make sure that first and foremost in the quest to
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  Speaker 1: find you're fast, you are having a good time. Hit
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  Speaker 1: me up over email if you have a hurdle moment
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  Speaker 1: of your own to share, or you just want to
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  Speaker 1: say hi, It's Emily at Hurdle Us. And with that,
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  Speaker 1: let's get to hurdling. There's something so exhilarating about moving
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  Speaker 1: your body in a fast way. I know it sounds
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  Speaker 1: silly to say that out loud, but if you listen
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  Speaker 1: to my Chicago recap and I'll link to that in
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  Speaker 1: the show notes that day, the day I ran my
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  Speaker 1: fastest marathon ever, I felt absolutely invincible and it was
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  Speaker 1: an accomplishment that was years in the making. I said
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  Speaker 1: this on a podcast earlier today, and I think it's
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  Speaker 1: important to drive home right now. If I hadn't run
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: a fourteen minute half mile every single day in the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: summer of two thousand and eight, I would have never
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: become a three twenty eighth eight marathon er. Finding your
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: fast takes patience, and let me tell you something, you
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: have it in you. It was that experience of learning
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  Speaker 1: how to love running, pick up the sport, indulging in
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  Speaker 1: it regularly, crossing off races like my first five K,
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  Speaker 1: my first half marathon, and breathing my first marathon in
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  Speaker 1: the first place that enabled me to get to a
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  Speaker 1: place where I felt confident enough to go after these faster,
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  Speaker 1: lofty goals. So my top tips for helping you find
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  Speaker 1: your fast too.
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  Speaker 2: First things. First, home in.
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  Speaker 1: On good form. Just like with any other exercise, it
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  Speaker 1: is so important to work on your form before you're
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  Speaker 1: racking up miles and trying to move really speedily. This
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  Speaker 1: will pay off in the long run no matter what
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  Speaker 1: your goal is. Now, there are some running form basics
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  Speaker 1: which I can highlight here, but I cannot recommend enough.
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  Speaker 2: Have someone look at your running form and.
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  Speaker 1: Give you pointers, whether that has to be on zoom
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  Speaker 1: with a physical therapist or in real life at a
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  Speaker 1: running specialty shop. Getting someone to look at your forum
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  Speaker 1: can help you pick up on some small wonkiness that
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  Speaker 1: could be getting in the way of a stellar stride.
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  Speaker 1: So the form cues that I can highlight here. First
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  Speaker 1: things first, keeping your upper body tall and relaxed, your
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  Speaker 1: shoulders down. And also, you want to be aiming for
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  Speaker 1: a mid foot strike, which is when the center of
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  Speaker 1: your foot is what hits the ground first every time,
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  Speaker 1: rather than something like a four foot strike with the
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  Speaker 1: ball of your foot or a heel strike. You also
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  Speaker 1: want to aim for your feet to land under your
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  Speaker 1: hips or right about there, rather than too far in
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  Speaker 1: front of your body or lagging behind. Also, something critical
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  Speaker 1: which I feel as though is a forever work in
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  Speaker 1: progress for me, is you want the swimming of the
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  Speaker 1: arms to only be forward and backward instead of going
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  Speaker 1: across the body, which can result in some unnecessary torso
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  Speaker 1: twisting aka wasted energy.
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  Speaker 2: And nobody nobody wants that for me.
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  Speaker 1: I have this habit of kind of sticking my elbows
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  Speaker 1: out a little bit like a chicken. I think it
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  Speaker 1: comes from when I started running and I weighed a
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  Speaker 1: lot more. I wanted to not chafe under my arms,
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  Speaker 1: and so in an effort to not chafe, to avoid
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  Speaker 1: that annoyance, I would lift my elbows up to prevent
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  Speaker 1: that rubbing. And to this day I still kind of
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  Speaker 1: do it a little bit. So it's something that I'm
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  Speaker 1: working on. But your goal, again is for that forward
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  Speaker 1: and backward arm swinging motion.
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  Speaker 2: Tip number two.
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  Speaker 1: After homing in on good form, commit to speed work.
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  Speaker 1: This reminds me of how I feel right now about strengthening.
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  Speaker 1: So so often, so many individuals will hit me up
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  Speaker 1: on the socials, they will shoot me a DM on
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  Speaker 1: Instagram and they will say, oh my hips hurt, or
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  Speaker 1: my knee hurts, or I feel all out of whack whatever.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how to fix it. I've tried strength
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  Speaker 1: training and foam rolling, and my first question every time
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  Speaker 1: is are you doing it regularly? Because here's the deal.
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  Speaker 1: Deadlifting on one day, doing exercises on one day, having
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  Speaker 1: one PT session isn't going to be like the magic
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  Speaker 1: pill that fixes any of our issues right for me recently,
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  Speaker 1: as I've been feeling some discomfort in my peer of formiss.
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  Speaker 1: Up until recently, I hadn't committed to taking the time
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  Speaker 1: to work on foam rolling, strengthening and really warming up
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  Speaker 1: pre run every single day, And let me tell you,
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  Speaker 1: it is making a world of difference. I spent so long,
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  Speaker 1: even though I know better, complaining about a problem rather
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  Speaker 1: than doing something to fix it. I am better than that,
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  Speaker 1: and I know that you are too, So Okay, the
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  Speaker 1: tip is commit to speed work. I remember in the
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  Speaker 1: episode of the Runners of NYC podcasts I recorded both
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  Speaker 1: of the hosts, Chris and Leanne. They agreed that when
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  Speaker 1: they started adding more speedwork into their regular running routine,
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  Speaker 1: that's when they saw big speed payoffs, not just on
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  Speaker 1: the shorter distances, but also in the marathon too. Now,
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  Speaker 1: you don't want to take on too much too soon.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying that you should go out there
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  Speaker 1: and two three times a week be hitting track workouts
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  Speaker 1: or picking up the pace and crushing sixteen by four
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  Speaker 1: hundred meter repeats. No, you don't need to do that
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  Speaker 1: right off the bat. But what I will say is
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  Speaker 1: just try to start gradually mixing it in. I started
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  Speaker 1: to do one dedicated track workout a week last year,
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  Speaker 1: specifically about last May leading into the Brooklyn Mile, and
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't believe how much we're comfortable I felt after
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  Speaker 1: a twelve week program when it came to picking up
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  Speaker 1: my speed. If you're not exactly sure where to start
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  Speaker 1: with your speed workouts, I'll link to an article in
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  Speaker 1: the show notes that I wrote for Men's Health about
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  Speaker 1: sprinting interval workouts that has some different recommendations in there
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  Speaker 1: for some different speed workout formats. And if you don't
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  Speaker 1: have access to a track, you don't need to worry.
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  Speaker 1: So many of these workouts can be totally adapted.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: So, whereas a workout effort might be listed as sixteen
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  Speaker 1: by four hundred, which is a considerable workout, especially for
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  Speaker 1: a beginner, if that's the recommended workout, then instead of
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  Speaker 1: running four hundred meters, which is the equivalent to a
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  Speaker 1: quarter mile run, sixteen by two minutes.
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  Speaker 2: Something of note.
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  Speaker 1: When you are going through proper speed workouts, make sure
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  Speaker 1: that you are giving yourself enough rest. And I'll talk
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  Speaker 1: about recovery a little bit more shortly.
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  Speaker 2: But when it.
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  Speaker 1: Comes to these fast workouts. Your body needs the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to recover fully between reps so you can pick up
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  Speaker 1: the pace. That was something that took me a long
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  Speaker 1: time to get used to as an endurance athlete, As
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  Speaker 1: someone who loves to run long distances, I didn't want
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  Speaker 1: to necessarily completely stop right. I felt like if I
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  Speaker 1: was resting, I was doing something wrong. But that slow
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  Speaker 1: walk or even yes, a dead stop, these are the
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  Speaker 1: things that are body needs to help us recover so
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  Speaker 1: that we can put forth our best effort on the
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  Speaker 1: next effort. Strategy Number three for finding your fast if
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  Speaker 1: you have access to.
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  Speaker 2: A treadmill, hop on once in a while.
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  Speaker 1: Now. The cool thing about the treadmill is that you
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  Speaker 1: can kind of find speeds that maybe you're not sure
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  Speaker 1: that you're capable of running outside.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 1: I remember a few years ago I trained for something
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  Speaker 1: that Nike put together called the Fastest Mile, and we
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  Speaker 1: did a time trial inside a week or two before
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  Speaker 1: we did one at the track over at Icon Stadium,
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  Speaker 1: which was totally awesome. And on the treadmill, I felt
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  Speaker 1: as though I could kind of push the envelope in
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  Speaker 1: a way that obviously feels a lot harder outside on
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  Speaker 1: the treadmill, you can see exactly what's happening right in
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  Speaker 1: front of you, and that countdown of sorts without having
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  Speaker 1: to look down at your watch and worrying about pacing
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  Speaker 1: really kind of helps you put things on AutoPIPE. So
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  Speaker 1: if you have access to a treadmill, doing some speed
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  Speaker 1: repeats there can help you get a glance into some
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  Speaker 1: of the things that you're really capable of. And then
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  Speaker 1: I recommend bringing that newfound confidence that you might find
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  Speaker 1: there into the great outdoors. You know, it's cool to
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  Speaker 1: be fast inside, no doubt about it, but your goal,
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  Speaker 1: at least from my point of view, is to be
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  Speaker 1: able to translate that into your outdoor activity. My next
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  Speaker 1: strategy for finding your fast where the right footwear. I
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  Speaker 1: get it. Sneakers are totally an investment, but so is
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  Speaker 1: your overall well being and mental state. So if you
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  Speaker 1: want to find your fast, you owe it to yourself
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  Speaker 1: to invest in a couple of different options. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: you have the sneaker that you're going to be wearing
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  Speaker 1: for more of your regular training runs, perhaps your longer
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  Speaker 1: tempo runs, your regular recovery runs. That sneaker is going
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  Speaker 1: to have more cushion to give your feet the support
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: they need to be out there for longer. When it
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: comes to your speed shoe, you're going to be looking
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  Speaker 1: for a lighter option without as much weight. You'll be
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  Speaker 1: able to work on a quicker turnover, and you'll certainly
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  Speaker 1: notice a difference once you hit the track, once.
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  Speaker 2: You go to pick up your pace. Now I know
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  Speaker 2: what the question is.
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  Speaker 1: What are your favorite speed sneakers and I do have
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  Speaker 1: a few. One of my all time favorites is the
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  Speaker 1: Rebox Float Ride Run Fast Too.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Rebox still at this moment, has an exclusive deal for
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Hurdle listeners that is forty percent off on regular and
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: sale price items at rebox dot com by using the
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: code Hurdle at checkout. So I would highly recommend if
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: you can get in on the offer. There's only one
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: hundred redemptions available to snag yourself the Rebox Float Ride
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Run Fast Too. And when you are buying sneakers, a
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: quick tip I've spoken about this before. You want to
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: be looking to shop about a half size up because
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  Speaker 1: your feet are going to swell when you are on
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the run, so shopping a half size up will help
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: you avoid that treacherous and ugh. The worst black tow anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Other sneakers that I love. Big fan of the New
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Balance eight ninety for feeling really fast. Also the New
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Balance fifteen hundred v six It's super speedy and looks
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  Speaker 1: really sleek when it comes to speed on longer distances.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I ran in the Nike Next percent in Chicago, and
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: I recently just tried the Socony Andendorphin Pro. It's the
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: shoe that Molly Sidel famously wore in her amazing Olympic
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Marathon trials finish earlier this year, and I really really
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: liked it. Okay, So those are just some sneaker quick
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: picks to reiterate wearing the right footwear can make a
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: major difference. Next tip, make sure to strength train specifically
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  Speaker 1: your core and your postterior chain. Fast isn't just in running.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, Again, that speed work, that dedication, it makes
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: a bit big difference, but runners need that strength work.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: A twenty sixteen study I'll link to in the show
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: notes showed that two or three strength training sessions per
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: week can go a really long way when it comes
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: to not just improving your speed, but also improving your
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: overall running economy. So I know how it feels. I
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: feel this way. Sometimes I'm a runner. I just want
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: to run. I don't want to do all of this
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: other stuff. But think about what it is that your
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: goal is here. You want to get faster, then you're
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: going to need to do some other things aside from
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: running to go after your crazy goal.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: And my last big.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Tip for you when it comes to finding your fast
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: is recover.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Recover. Recover.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: When we go through hard efforts, when we work our body,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: small microscopic tears happen in the muscles and they're totally normal.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: It's nothing to worry about. But your body needs time
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: to heal those tears because when it does, that's how
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: your muscles grow, and then in turn, that's how you
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: get stronger and faster. You need to prioritize recovery, just
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: like you prioritize, I don't know, talking to your parents
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: once a week on the phone. For me, recovery looks
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: like everything from using my fair gun to foam rolling,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: to my Norma tech boots to my power Dot to
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: icing and baths. I mean, I love recovering and the
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: good thing about it is that it can be really relaxing.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Make recovery a priority, and just one last time.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I'm going to run this home. Don't do too much
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: too soon.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: You need to ease into incorporating speedwork into your routine.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: No One Slaine, Alison.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Felix, Dez, Ryan Hall, meb Kevlesgi, Kipchogi. God, let me
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: just spit out a bunch of really great runners here.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: None of these runners became that amazing at what they
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: do overnight.
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  Speaker 2: It took time. They do all of these things.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: They wear the right shoes, they take time to recover,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: they strength train, they integrate speed workouts on the regular.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: This is why they are the best at what they do.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: And if you to follow these speed friendly tips, then
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: trust me, picking up the pace is in your immediate future.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I'd love to hear how it's going for you, what
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: goals are on your radar. I want to be your cheerleader,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: so keep me in the loop over Instagram, at Emily
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: a Body and at Hurdle Podcasts. And that's it. Happy running, y'all,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.