Q:

Do you suggest any specific diet plans to follow? I have a hard time eating red meat and chicken but love fish.

A:

I’m not a nutritionist, so I shouldn’t give you full blown nutrition advice. To be honest, it’s more important that you try really hard to maintain a healthy relationship with food than it is that you follow a certain diet. While eating healthy is good for you (and for everyone!), it is easy for a Type A person (like me and many distance runners, maybe yourself!) to fall into an obsessiveness with food and what you’re eating and how much. Especially in our sport.

Focus on what your body needs to repair and stay healthy and robust – a variety of nutrients! Eat real food with real nutrients – fruits, veggies, meats (fatty and lean!), seeds, nuts, beans, dairy unless it makes your stomach hurt. Carbs and grains are OK! You need the energy. Sweet potatoes are superfoods! Change it up so you get a lot of different nutrients. Hydrate well every day. Shalane Flanagan’s cookbook Run Fast Eat Slow has some really fun recipes to try.

If you feel subconscious about how your body looks, ask your coach if your team can have the option to wear looser shorts and tank top jerseys instead of the skin tight uniforms. I even did this in college at Nebraska (see below), so I could “run free” and not worry about sucking in my stomach.

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Honestly, if I could go back to my high school self, I would say to her: “You are training so hard and you are doing so awesome! You’re amazing and I’m so proud of you! Stop stressing about your diet and think about food as your fuel and your power. Enjoy the fact that there are many wonderful things to eat, and please have birthday cake when it’s someone’s birthday, and eat a couple of Mom’s cookies when she makes them!”

This is a very important part of your success: now and in the future; in running and in life. If you can fight this mental battle and learn to be friends with food and your body, you will have a more successful and happier career, and that is what you deserve. So while I can’t give you specific nutrition advice, I can plead with you to look at the big picture. This is something that can affect your mentality towards running and towards life. Look at having a healthy mindset as just important as your training. 

This is a huge issue in our sport, and it has been for decades. We can change it one teammate at a time. If YOU have a healthy relationship with food, you can set a good example for your teammates. Together, you can change things for your generation and the generations that follow. 

Q:

I run cross country (5K), and at a couple meets last season, I ran and felt well the first 2 miles but then hit a wall and could barely keep my legs moving. I felt totally gassed with no energy left. Have you seen this problem before and what could it be?

A:

It sounds to me like you need to try eating something small closer to race time. I struggled with the same issue in college and found that it helped a lot if I ate a banana about 30 minutes before start time. This was in addition to the oatmeal, toast, coffee and water I’d have about 3-3.5 hours before start time.

I would suggest experimenting before hard workouts and races to find the right timing and the right fuel for you. Everyone is a little different. Good lucK!

Q: Here is my problem.  I have a lot of football boys who aren’t fast enough to be sprinters and who are adamant about not wanting to be “distance” runners. They are tough enough to run the mile and 800 but don’t want to sacrifice the strength and mass for football.  As a football guy I don’t blame them.  So I really need some expert advice on how to get them ready to run the 800 or mile and maybe the 4×400 relay but not make them train, in football talk, to be “slow.” 

A: Now that’s a good challenge. What a myth it is that middle distance runners are slow. In fact, they are the best at running fast while fatigued, which is what really matters anyway.

I would ensure that you let them run fast every single track workout; but put the speed reps at the end of a tough distance workout, or at least after some distance reps, so that their legs are not fresh. My college coach used to end every workout for the mid-distance and distance runners with fast 200’s or 400’s. It really built up our ability to close well in races. Also, this will let them race each other and remove any notion that they’re training to be slow 🙂

Here are some examples that do this but at the same time keep the overall volume down:

1. 2×8, 2×4, 2×2, 2×1:
   • 2 x 800m at 1-2 seconds per lap slower than mile pace, with a 3 minute rest between.
   • 3 min rest
   • 2 x 400 fast (800 race pace) with 2 min rest between
   • 2 min rest
   • 2 x 200 all out with 2 min rest
   • 2 min rest
   • 2 x 100 all out with 2 min rest
2. Quarters followed by 3×1:
   • 6-8 x 400m with 1 min rest at mile pace (if they aren’t hitting pace, stop them at 6. One day they’ll be able to do 8. They have to pace it right from the 1st one)
   • 5 min rest (they will be tired!)
   • 3 x 100m all out with 1 min rest
3. Time Trials followed by 4×1:
   • 800m time trial (all out like a race)
   • 5 min rest
   • 400m all out
   • 5 min rest
   • 4 x 100 all out with 1 min rest between
4. Hills: Take them to a hill if you can, preferably one that takes 20-30 seconds to run up. Have them run up the hill hard 15 times and jog back down to the start each time. To keep the intensity up, each athlete takes turns leading, and pushes the pace when it’s his/her turn. This is a great group workout where they can bond and push each other.
5. Descending ladder:
   • 800m at 1-2 seconds per lap slower than mile race pace
   • 2 min rest
   • 600m at mile race pace
   • 2 min rest
   • 400m at 800m race pace
   • 2 min rest
   • 200m all out
   • 2 min rest
   • 100m all out
6. If they’re ready for more, start #5 with a 1000m to add more volume.
7. 8 x 200m with 2 min rest. Run them fast! Let them race each other.