John “the Penguin” Bingham has been a Runner’s World columnist since 1996 and has
been called the Pied Piper of the Second Running Boom. In his self-effacing and humorous manner,
John delivers his message of hope and inspiration to people who've been running for a week or a lifetime.
He is the author of The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, and co-author
of Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals. He is also the founder of John Bingham Racing.
Dear John,
What is the optimal time frame for doing your last long run (20 miles) before a marathon? Typically it seems like most training plans have you do them three weeks before the race. Is four weeks out too far? I am running the SunTrust Richmond Marathon in November and will be doing my 20-mile run four weeks before the marathon due to scheduling issues.
I've had adequate time to build up my mileage, having already completed my 18-miler. I do plan to follow my 20-mile long run with a 16- and a 12-mile long run, but worry that I'll lose some of the benefit of the 20-miler before for the marathon.
- Sharon
Sharon, thanks for writing. That’s a great question.
In the nylon shorts days, the late '70s, marathoners used to run a hard 20-miler a week before the race. The theory was that they would empty their glycogen stores so that they could “carbo load” before the marathon. It was not a good idea then, and it's not a good idea today.
The more traditional taper these days is three weeks. Most training programs call for the longest long run, typically 20 miles or so, to be done three weeks before the event. Then you’d do cut-back runs on the subsequent weekends, as you describe above.
That said, there are some contemporary training programs that do, in fact, suggest a four-week taper. The theory is that your body needs to recover and heal from the intense training you’ve been doing. In the four-week tapers I’ve seen, you do your long run (say, 20 miles) four weeks out; a 5-mile run three weeks out; 10 miles two weeks out; and 5 miles again one week before the race.
My view is that you’re going to be fine, but I would suggest not doing 16- and 12-mile runs after your 20-miler. You’ve got plenty of base mileage, plenty of fitness. The key after the 20-miler is to take it easy and not risk getting injured.
Dear John,
I read about the wet foot test in your book, but I get different
shape on the paper depending on how much weight I put on the foot,
which could be anywhere from "just touching" to standing on one foot.
It seems like standing on one foot would simulate the critical part of
running for getting the foot shape, but thought I might ask your opinion
before using this test to choose a type of shoes. - Tom
Hi, Tom. For those who aren’t familiar with the “Wet Foot Test” -- what Runner's World calls, simply, the Wet Test -- it’s a quick and dirty way of trying to figure out what kind of arch you have: rigid, normal, or low.
The procedure is to dampen the bottom of your foot and then stand on a piece of plain paper. If you see what looks like the outline of the bottom of a foot, a round heel, the outside edge of the foot, the ball of the foot and toes then you likely have a normal foot.
Of you see just a wet spot where the heel was and another wet spot at the front you probably have very rigid arches. If you’re looking at just one big blob then you likely have low arches, or what they used to call flat feet.
So far, so good.
The problem is that a static test is not going to accurately represent the dynamic movement of the foot, the compression of the arch, and the stability of the ankle and lower leg. So, the wet foot test doesn’t do much good.
You may, like I do, have a relatively normal to high arch, but very soft bones. My foot can expand well over one shoe size every time I land. Not only does that affect the kind of shoe I need, but also the size of the shoe.
The best thing to do is find a quality running specialty store and have them do a gait analysis. They should have you run on a treadmill barefoot and video your foot movement. They should then put you in a variety of shoes with various levels of support and cushioning to see what works best for you.
Keep in mind that shoes are like eyeglasses: You only want the amount of correction or support that you need, and no more.
Dear John,
I would like to know more about losing fat.
I have about 25 pounds of fat to lose and I am walking, and training
to be able to jog and run more than a minute at a time, to change my
body's "set point" so that I will lose fat naturally. I walk
45 minutes or more at a time, every other day, about 18 or 19 minutes
per mile currently; I am also learning to lift weights. I
used to like to run, up to about 3 miles at a time, but now I'm 56
years old and out of shape. I plan to walk a half-marathon and
eventually run/walk some marathons.
I would like to know more precisely how the fat-loss process works:
how fast would I have to walk or jog, for how many minutes, and how
many months would it take, to lose a given amount of fat? From your
book Marathoning for MortalsI gather that you lost a lot of fat so I suppose you may know a
lot about this. Can you give me the formulas, or some pointers?
I know how to lose "weight" by counting calories, but that is tedious,
so I don't do it much. Walking and jogging is a lot more fun and
would more specifically attack fat.
- John
John, this is one of the most important questions that I get asked, and one of the most common. Your own last paragraph really sums up what is in most people's minds: They want want an easy way to lose weight in general, and fat in particular. Sadly, there is no easy answer.
At the risk of starting a firestorm of controversy, let me give you my brief explanation of level of activity, calorie burning, weight loss, and weight maintenance.
Calories are a measure of weight moved over distance. So, for example, a 150-pound man who moves that 150 pounds over the distance of one mile will burn about 100 calories. If he moves it in 6 minutes, he burns about 100 calories. If he moves it in 20 minutes, he burns about 100 calories. You burn more calories over a given amount of time by going faster, but not more calories by distance.
In general, if you are exercising below your anaerobic threshold, which is about 80% of your real maximum heart rate [not some made-up formula] then you are using mostly fat for fuel. Over 80% your body will begin to use carbohydrates and exhaust lactic acid at a rate greater than your body can process.
Some people can run a 6-minute pace at 80%. Some people can't run a 12-minute pace at 80%. But neither can run about 80% for any length of time. So, those two people would burn fat at the same rate but the 6-minute miler would burn twice as much in the same amount of time because they would run twice the distance.
At a 12-minute pace you'd burn about 500 calories in an hour. You can eat those 500 calories in about a minute. And that's the problem: not understanding the relationship between calories in and calories out.
Beyond set points and lean muscle mass and all the rest is a pretty simple fact: If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Period.
My advice is to keep your nutrition and weight goals separate from your running goals except when they have to intersect.
Dear John,
I have a problem: I can't run straight on a treadmill. The moment I step on, it's as though I've downed a couple Jack-and-Cokes as my pre-run hydration fix.
I start out in the middle, then my legs take me to the left, then they get bored and try to make friends with the right side. I've tried focusing on a point outside the window, I've tried staring at my reflection in the glass (not a pretty picture...sweating...), and I've tried keeping my eyes unfocused (bad choice).
As I try to correct my position, my running gait becomes unnatural and my legs, mostly my shin areas, tighten to a painful degree. I enjoy running outside, but as a Wisconsin winter nears (and my half-marathon training intensifies), I may have to increase my indoor mileage.
I have this image of me stepping too far in either direction and flipping right off the treadmill. What can I do to keep that from happening? - Katie
Living in Chicago means spending some time every year on the treadmill. Traveling as I do also means that there are times when the treadmill is the only option. So, I have more than a little experience. And while I don’t have a great answer, I’ll tell you what I think might help.
When I get on the treadmill I begin with it stopped. I don’t fire up the belt and then jump on. I start by walking very slowly -- like, 30-minute miles slowly. Every minute I pick up the pace a little bit. I ease myself into the run much more gradually than if I was outside.
I also change the elevation every few minutes. Not by much, but enough that my body has to react to something different. I go up a half-degree or so, then back down, then maybe up a full degree, then down a half. It’s just a way of eliminating the constant sameness of the belt going round and round under my feet.
So I think you’ll have to “train” on the treadmill before you can run on it. Take your time. Spend a few minutes on the treadmill and then go out for your run. Or come back in and walk your cool-down on the treadmill.
Dear John, I'd like your honest opinion about something, not the "politically correct" answer. How slowly do you think it is possible to actually "run" by the accepted definition of running? Although I know there are extreme possibilities, I am talking about the most likely scenario for an average person. To be more specific, do you think it is possible that a person can "run" a 20-minute mile? If so, have you ever actually witnessed someone running that slowly with both feet coming off the ground?
I hear the politically correct answer all the time: that anyone who says they are running is really running, even when it's obvious that they aren't. However, with all due respect to the folks who make that claim, I just don't think it is true anymore than a 6-year-old who jumps off a table and says he's "flying" is really flying. Honestly, John, what do you think? - Mary
Hi, Mary. Thanks for giving me a chance to address this issue. It comes up all the time and, to be honest as you request, the answer also changes all the time.
First, a little history. If you go back to the late 1970s or early '80s, most of the training books talked about running as a 7-minute-per-mile pace or better. Anything slower was considered jogging. So, joggers were all of those who didn’t run at a 7-minute pace. Runners knew who they were by their pace.
Somewhere, as the first signs of the second running boom began to appear, running came to be defined as anything faster than a 9-minute pace. Again, joggers were defined as those who went slower than that. And, again, runners defined themselves by their pace and finish times.
About 10 years ago, however, runners stopped being defined by their times and were instead defined by their activity. So, runners ran. Walkers walked. Cyclists cycled. Triathletes triathaleted. You get the idea.
These days, I don’t think anyone can define anyone else by any objective criteria.
One of my favorite stories is of being in the late stages of a marathon and a volunteer asking me if I wanted an orange slice. I said “no,” that I had to stay focused on running. He said “That’s OK, I’ll just walk along with you.” In my mind I was running, and running hard. The truth was that I was moving at an easy walking pace.
So, who runs? At what pace? I don’t think anyone can say. What’s running for me today may not be running tomorrow. What’s running for someone at 25 years old will be very different when they’re 45.
Why worry? Only you can decide for you. And you can’t decide for anyone else.
Waddle on,
John
John “the Penguin” Bingham, Runner’s World columnist
Dear John,
I'm a newbie, 38 years old, running since February 2009. I'm 5'3" and a squishy 114 pounds. I started by working up gradually over the course of 10 weeks.
I run with my husband, who is 37, 6'2", and a fairly fit 210 pounds. We run every other day for about 3 miles, and one "long" run per week, about 4.5 miles. (Dan runs out and back to me throughout our runs because he's faster.) I also use free weights and do core exercises on my off days.
A few weeks ago, I was feeling great and making good time, for me. But I've been going downhill ever since.
I'm incredibly frustrated. I'm running much slower, every step I take is a huge effort, and my confidence has plummeted. To top it off, I don't feel like I've worked very hard at the end of my runs, which makes no sense given that it feels so difficult when I'm running.
What has happened? Is this plateau normal? How do I get beyond it?
- Michelle
Hi, Michelle. It’s not easy to answer this with any certainty, but I’ll be happy to give you my thoughts.
You don’t say where you live, but here in the midwest, the summer temperatures take a toll on everyone’s speed. There are formulas out there that can tell you exactly how much slower you go at the same effort when the temperature goes up. So, that may be part of it.
It may also be that your expectations are getting ahead of your abilities. When I started, at age 43, overweight, and a smoker, I saw remarkable improvement for the first six months. That’s mostly because I was so slow at first that it didn’t take much effort to get faster. Eventually, my “progress” slowed to something more normal. So that may be it.
Finally, it may be that you’ve reach the point where you need a more concrete goal in order to focus your training. Obviously, a 5K would be easy enough to finish, so you might want to work on your speed. Or you might find a 10K to give you a reason to stretch out your long run.
Or you could just go crazy and sign up for a half-marathon about six months away. Now that would get you back out there.
Dear John,
Thanks for your columns, they are always helpful. My question is less about the run, and more about the recovery. Specifically about sweating.
Recently I seem to be sweating buckets after my run, after my cool-down -- even after a cool shower to try to, well, cool down more. Normally this isn't a problem, but when I go for a morning run, and then get to work two hours later and people notice I'm still sweating, it's a little embarrassing. Any ideas that could help?
- Joe
That’s a really interesting question, Joe. And it goes back to the whole issue of hydration, dehydration, and over-hydration.
Let’s start with the basics. To understand how much real sweating you do during your run, and how much fluid you need to replace, you need to take what Runner's World calls this the Sweat Rate Test: Weigh yourself naked before and after a run. If your weight is the same, you’re doing it right. If you weigh less, that’s probably normal but you want to be careful.
If you weigh more post-run, however, you may in fact be taking in too much liquid.
Sweat has only one purpose, and that’s to regulate your body temperature. Sometimes, though, the switch gets stuck. That may also be the case. If so, you may need to see a doctor about it.
Probably, though, you’re just carrying around too much fluid and your body is trying to get back to normal. Take a close look at your overall hydration routine and see if you can’t find a better balance.
Dear John,
First, let me thank you for getting me back into running. I picked up one of your books and I knew exactly how to relate in almost every aspect.
My question for you is this: I start running every morning after I have a glass of water and half a Clif bar; then I make it about 300 yards from my door and find that I have to dig in to get myself going. My muscles also feel like they tighten up when I start. Is this normal or is there something else I should be doing?
I stretch for about 15 minutes before I begin, if that helps at all. Thank you for any help!
- Jeffrey
Hi, Jeffrey. This is a fairly common question and one that should be pretty easy to answer. If something keeps happening, then you need to change something. Anything. And see if it gets better or worse.
There’s no credible running authority who would recommend stretching for 15 minutes before
you run. Your muscles are cold then, you’re pushing them to their full
range-of-motion, and chances are you are doing more harm than good.
Being flexible is a good thing. But that flexibility should come from a
non-running activity -- for instance, yoga or Pilates.
Instead of stretching pre-run, do a short, easy warm-up. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was that you should always walk for 5 minutes before each run. This pumps blood to your muscles, preparing them for your run.
You may also need something different to eat. You’ll probably want some electrolytes in your system either from something like a banana or raisins, or from a sports drink.
My guess is that some combination of all of those changes will make that morning run much more pleasant.
Dear John,
I’m 22 and I’ve been running since junior high. I ran recreationally during high school and played soccer. In college I started to take running more seriously until a knee injury due to soccer.
Once I recovered, I joined my school's cross country team. After my knee injury, four months passed and I got a stress fracture (wrong shoes). After recovering, and getting new shoes, twice, I aggravated my iliotibial band (ITB).
Now I'm running again but I can just feel that I'm tight and have knots all over my body. When I'm not running I beef up my workouts by cross-training, swimming laps, and doing weights and core work.
Am I all “knot-full” because I'm overdoing it with cardio? I stretch religiously. Should I look into a sports chiropractor? I’m really sick of being injured; some insight would be great! Thank you! - Steven
Thanks for writing, Steven.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been having so many problems. The short answer is that only you know if you are overdoing it. Everyone is different. What is the perfect level of activity for one person may be way too much for someone else.
You’re also 22. If I can remember that far back it seems to me that I tried to do everything all the time. The whole idea of balance and rest and recovery was something for old people – not me. Although I wasn’t an athlete, I still managed to over do it to the point of being sick a lot.
For most of us it’s a matter of setting priorities. If running is what you want to do – for now – then focus on running. Find the level of training, the kind of training, the kind and level of cross-training, the diet, and the rest that you need.
It’s pretty simple to figure out. If you feel good, if you’re making progress in your running, if you’re enjoying your workouts, then you’re doing it right. As hard as it is to do – at 22 or 62 – it’s always better to do a little less than you want than a little more than your body can handle.
Dear John,
I began running two years ago. I used Jeff Galloway's method, and trained religiously for the St. George Marathon for six months. I got a few friends and family to run it with me, and although we were slow, we finished. I told myself it was better for us to stick together and finish, rather than separate for our first marathon. Our time of 6:45, however, was embarrassing.
My running died off, but now I am starting up again. Something inside keeps telling me I am capable of doing better. The Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running says that as our fitness increases, our speed also increases, but that our level of effort remains the same. Is this true? I keep telling myself that as I get in shape, I will eventually get faster with the same level of exertion.
My 11- and 12-minute run/walk mile times are discouraging. Would I get fitter faster if I omitted walk breaks? It seems like someone who can run 4 miles continuously is more fit than the person who has to take walk breaks.
I appreciate all your help, encouragement and advice!
- Melinda
Hi, Melinda.
While there is a connection between fitness and speed, it’s not nearly as direct as you’re making it sound. For all of us, getting faster means being able to go faster at the same level of effort. To do that you have to get more efficient. To get more efficient you have to work on your running efficiency. And to do that, you have to do speed work to learn how to run faster.
The best way to get faster is by doing weekly track workouts. There are plenty of books out there that can give you an idea of what a “speed workout” looks like. [Or check out this excellent introductory article on track workouts. -Ed] The essence of them all is the same: You run faster for shorter distances with lots of rest in between.
As to the run/walk, what slows people down eventually is fatigue. The walk breaks help eliminate that fatigue. So, the longer the run the faster you are, using the run/walk.
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