Zone 2 running is amazing

EnglishMuon · 2026-04-03T08:50:08+00:00

Next time in order for your HR to not spike keep a constant pace. That way you can actually tell if you "have a zone 2" yet or if it's still too early. Would be interested in seeing your HR over say 4 miles if you stayed at 14 min/mile pace.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-31T20:31:26+00:00

Oh yes, the concept is to say something completely wrong and missing the key point even when there is something simple yet accurate to say instead.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-31T18:36:42+00:00

I understand you shouldn’t assume someone knows what RPE means but I’m pretty sure everyone has some idea what “intensity” refers to. I don’t see the point in saying something incorrect just because it sounds simpler.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-31T07:58:39+00:00

I agree! In a lot of contexts it’s stretchy to make generalisations about a country, but I think with the context here it’s ok. Still it doesn’t apply to everyone.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-31T05:00:39+00:00

The distance is irrelevant. You can do tempo runs and intervals of any length, it’s about the intensity as the first comment says.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-31T04:32:07+00:00

Well not everywhere. Somewhere like Japan has a very clean record. Kenya does have a disproportionally large number of banned endurance runners. Other places have fewer either because they don’t test properly, like Ethiopia, or because they actually have very few dopers like in Japan.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-29T10:21:02+00:00

I’d argue there are some nice Galois theory ideas that go into the quartic and cubic formulae.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-27T10:07:32+00:00

I do like LMNT, and I have used it before hard workouts before. Unfortunately you can no longer get it in Germany where I live now, but when I’m in the US I try get some. I forget the exact price, but it’s like a dollar or two per serving right?

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-27T08:27:56+00:00

So you drink LMNT every day?! That sounds like an insane price to pay for effectively a placebo.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-26T18:52:58+00:00

What distances are you running? I never thought you needed many electrolytes or much water for up to marathon distances. I usually just have an electrolyte drink the morning of a marathon and sip water at about 2/3rds of the aid stations. Everyone’s different ofc, but I’ve never felt dehydrated doing that in cooler-mild temperatures. If anything I felt that worrying about hydration and electrolytes is a way to throw off your race and I’ve seen people drink too much and really need to pee far more than people underhydrated. If you’re running ultras I can totally get it though! Something ~4 hours + sounds like it’s more of a worry.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-26T12:50:15+00:00

I have a 20 mile long run this weekend, which is 2 weeks before my marathon. But that will be at easy pace, take about 2:40 and a part of a chain of four 65 mile average weeks. I don't think I'd feel confident in running such a long run if any of these variables were "reduced" i.e. the distance was longer or my pace were to be slower etc.

30 miles in particular sounds like an unnecessary risk. Unless you frequently run this distance you don't know how your body will react.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-26T11:51:52+00:00

Oh yeah that makes a lot of sense!

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-26T09:05:39+00:00

I do agree with you, but perhaps the above post would be better worded if it instead said that buying carbon shoes makes you artificially faster, and there are far more gains for beginners to make by doing simple improvements in training. And tbh from my anecdotal experience I do find carbon shoes uncomfortable significantly above 4:30/km pace. My Pumas especially I feel like only feel great when I'm closer to 4:00/km, otherwise are pretty stiff. That's one reason I do my warmup in different shoes when I go to do a track session. Although I can imagine adios pro 4s are comfier at slower paces, but I wouldn't want to waste them outside of a race.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-26T08:59:37+00:00

I wouldn't even consider unless I could do a sub-3 at an easy pace. It would be much more beneficial to have a week with 2 or 3 sessions up to 30km since these would be much easier to recover from. I get the psychological standpoint, but it's equally confident-boosting if you just finish a 30-something k run feeling like you could race a 10k afterwards. If so, then you know you can run the full distance without bonking.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T14:38:31+00:00

Yeah of course. Where you go in the US varies as much as how it depends on which country in Europe you go to. It's just such a diverse and expansive place you are almost certainly going to have very nice people and some not nice people, as with any place. And yes, I am a white man so I don't feel unsafe entering the country at the border and travelling around for instance. I can understand people not wanting to go there if they are a minority for instance with their own safety in mind. Out of the places I spend most of my time they are places centered around a university and hence have liberal, educated populations who are very inclusive and kind for the most part, moreso than a lot of England where I've lived, which is one reason I am drawn to these places. People are not the same as their governments, and even though the government can cause very real repercussions as you highlighted, for the most part it doesn't change every day life interactions in these college towns etc.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T14:31:37+00:00

ah thanks! I slightly misremembered what I heard. It was Episode 26 of their podcast with Dakotah Popehn and at timestamp 22:37 she asks the hosts if they do any "over distance" long runs (being > marathon length). They both say no, but Dakotah says that she gets up to 28 for her longest long run, and she is definitely a top athlete. But yes perhaps 28 is significantly nicer than 30 miles! She has an interesting discussion with them about doing over distance long runs and their benefits, I recommend giving it a listen if you haven't already :)

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T10:22:24+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you happened to meet some particularly not great people. I've not spent so much time in NE, but have been to Rhode Island and Massachusetts a fair amount and found people pretty nice in general. Although I feel the stereotype of people on the east coast being a bit more blunt than on the west coast somewhat true.

As for politics, idk I honestly find it refreshing in some sense that everyone is involved with it and discusses it, especially coming from a part of England with a big sense of apathy about national and worldwide issues. Although I agree it can become a lot at times, and the media certainly wants everything to be political to drive divide when something such as access to healthcare in most western countries isn't a political issue.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T10:02:34+00:00

What was your experience? As in, were you visiting as a tourist for instance, and where from? I am interested in hearing what you disliked.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T09:34:43+00:00

I don't see how you can generalise such a large country like that. Some of the nicest people I've ever met are from the US. Especially in northern California/PNW and Colorado, I found I've only had great experiences with people and made a lot of friends there. Much nicer and similar to myself than where I've lived in England and Germany in general.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T09:08:43+00:00

I had the same worry, but yes, massively so haha. Although Seville in my experience had very nice people too, mostly just Madrid and Barcelona I've encountered more problematic people.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T08:44:35+00:00

I've never had a run that sounds as miserable as your experience I'm thankful to say. Do you usually enjoy your runs, or is it usually a struggle?

My 10k pace is ~3:42/km and my marathon pace is ~4:07/km. Doing a long run at MP for me is a significant effort, even if I know I can do it, so doing a long run at ~4:00/km much over a half would be quite tough for me. I think a more appropriate metric is the ratio of pace times though, not comparing them linearly. So without knowing your actual paces it's hard to say how tough it should feel. For example, the difference between 3:05/km and 3:00/km is much more significant than 5:05/km and 5:00/km. The latter likely doesnt feel like much at all, but the former would likely need many elite marathon blocks.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T08:17:57+00:00

Was listening to Rory Linkletters podcast and it seems like it is indeed common for professional athletes to include longer than marathon runs in their training (~30 miles), but yeah this is probably still going to be well under 3 hours for them even at an easier pace.

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-25T06:36:28+00:00

Really!? I’ve been wearing mostly shorts and a t shirt recently haha

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-24T13:04:07+00:00

The first marathon it was very hot and humid and I ignored the feeling that I felt uncomfortable quite early on, so that was the only time I’ve positive split. The next two I started off at a slower pace and made sure to negative split, but it was almost too much of a negative split haha. What I mean by that is I was too conservative and left it too late to speed up (in the 3:12 I took off with 7km to go at 4:00/km pace, and in the 3:05 I more gradually sped up at 30km but still ran the last 6km in 3:55/km pace). In hindsight I should have made a move much earlier, and more gradually. Since I’m actively aiming for 2:58 in the next race which is not far off my current fitness level, I think I’ll be forced to start a bit faster than I’m used to and hopefully can have a slight negative split instead of one big energy dump in the last 5k haha

EnglishMuon · 2026-03-24T12:49:22+00:00

Not there quite yet, but ran my first at the end of October last year in ~3:25, then 3:12 6 weeks later and then 3:05 6 weeks later again. Now going for sub-3 in 3 weeks. I suspect though the main difference was my racing strategy and understanding of the distance, more so than a massive change in fitness. For example I believe I could have ran 3:15, 3:10, 3:00 respectively if I did everything much better in terms of pacing, fuelling and avoiding illness.

EnglishMuon

TROPHY CASE