Floris Gierman went from a 4:11 marathon to 2:44 using low-heart-rate aerobic training based on the 180 Formula. He argues most popular training plans overtrain runners and cause bonking, and that his marathon prep used only 6% high-intensity work. Mental prep, nutrition, sleep, and stress management matter as much as the running itself.
Chapters
There are a lot of people who want to run a sub-3-hour marathon, a Boston qualifier, or a marathon PR, yet so many people fail to accomplish this. I'm here to go through the fundamentals and to really look at what goes wrong in training and racing so you can improve from there. Hey, what's up guys? My name is Floris Gierman and I'm excited to talk about my new website extramilest.com. It's going to be focused on running, in particular about running a sub-3-hour marathon, a Boston qualifier, or a marathon PR. I've improved a lot over the years and I went from a 4:11 marathon to a 2:44 at the Boston Marathon. And I'm super stoked to share all of the things that I've learned over the years to become a faster, healthier, and happier athlete. And over the coming weeks and months, I'm going to be sharing video tips and articles on my website, and I hope that this will help improve your running and overall health as well. There are going to be a variety of topics I'm going to be talking about. It's anywhere from running and heart rate monitor training, but also going to dive into the nutritional side of things, training your mind, the importance of rest and recovery, creating your own training schedules, and so much more. I've put together a 30-page PDF with all the fundamentals of how to run a sub-3-hour marathon, Boston qualifier, or marathon PR, and you can download it for free on my website extramiless.com. One question I'm often asked is, how do I become a faster runner? Many runners make the mistake of training at a heart rate and a pace that is too high and too fast for them. Several years ago, I came across Dr. Phil Methadone. He's a world-class endurance coach and an author of more than 20 books, and he has changed my approach to running completely with low heart rate training. Slowing down your heart rate in most of your training runs will develop your aerobic system so you become a better fat burner. Over time, you'll be able to run the same pace at a lower heart rate, or you'll be able to run a faster pace at the same heart rate. Most runners who miss their marathon goal, they start out that race strong, but they burn too much glycogen for energy, and their body is not able to use body fat that much for actual energy supply. And so in the later part of the race, as the lactate increases in their muscles and as their blood sugar levels decrease, they have a very hard maintaining that goal pace. Often this happens around mile 18 to 22, and this is often where the bonk happens as well. And it's not that they don't want to maintain this pace, it's simply that they're physically not able to maintain this pace. There are many different training programs available to prepare you to run a fast marathon. A few of the popular ones are Jack Daniels, Hanson, Higgin, and Galloway. Each of the training approaches and plans has unique aspects differentiating between the length of the program the ramp-up, the amount of runs per week, the intensity, the longest runs, etc. These training plans work for many to accomplish their goals, but there are also a lot of other runners who are unable to accomplish their goals using these training programs. There are many reasons for this. They either can't handle the weekly mileage, they get burned out, or they get injured. Every athlete is different. Some have more body fat or muscles than others. Some are very fit with a solid aerobic base, while others lack current fitness, and some are recovering from a recent injury or illness or a recent cold. When your training plan tells you to run most of your runs at 7:30 minute mile pace but your current fitness level is at a 9 or a 10 minute mile pace, you're training most of your runs at a heart rate that's higher than your current fitness level, and this can significantly increase the stress on your body. 9 out of 10 people I get in contact with train too often at a heart rate that is too high for them. This increases their cortisol stress hormones, this reduces their aerobic development, and significantly increases their chances for injuries. You don't need speed work to become a faster runner. You can progress for many months by only running aerobic miles. There's a time and place for speed work, but most training programs start from week 1 with 1 or 2 high heart rate interval sessions or speed works, and I think you absolutely don't need that until later on in program, and even then you only need it to a small extent. I trained for my Boston Marathon PR of 2:44 with only 6% of my running time at a high heart rate. The rest was all run aerobic at a low heart rate using Phil Maffetone's 180 Formula. Training for a marathon has to be a fun experience. One of the most underestimated aspects of marathon training cycle is to prepare mentally for what to come. When you first sign up for a race, you get all excited and you can't wait to go out there and train. But as your training cycle progresses, you might not always find that motivation because life can get in the way. I'm in the same boat. I have a wife and two kids, and I work full-time, and it isn't always easy to find that balance and time to train. There are several strategies to stay motivated, put in your best effort, and go the extra mile to reach your marathon goals. And that's the exciting part— we're able to accomplish so much more with clear goal setting, and we're going to dive much more into this. Proper nutrition can make or break a race. When you're running for 3 hours or more, you're using a lot of calories and you're sweating a lot, so having a well-thought-out nutritional strategy is absolutely key to increase your chances for success. Much more to follow on this. I take a holistic approach to reach my running goals, and what I mean with this is that I do not only look at the distance, the pace, the time, and the heart rate that I train at, but I also make sure that all the other factors in my life are under control, such as the stress levels at my work and in my my personal life, my nutrition, the rest and recovery, sleep, and much more. I also look at other steps to reduce my cortisol stress levels through mindful living, through meditation, using a gratitude journal or regular journal, taking cold showers, making sure I have enough vitamin D, using a standing desk versus sitting on my butt all day long. There's so many different ways that you can reduce your stress levels and improve your energy levels and your overall happiness. If you're stressed this will directly impact your athletic performance. So there's a much bigger picture to look at to make sure that everything aligns well. And this is such an exciting puzzle to solve, to really look at it strategically to make sure that everything is in balance. I've interviewed several world-class coaches and athletes, including Dr. Phil Maffetone and 6-time world champion Ironman Mark Allen, to really learn from the best. Over the years, I've done a lot of self-experimentation to see what works and what doesn't, and I've successfully completed several sub-3-hour runs, 50-mile races, and even a 100-mile run in 17 hours and 47 minutes. You can now learn these fundamentals in a nice 30-page PDF that you can download for free on my website extramileless.com. I would love to hear from you. What are some of your running goals, and what are some of the obstacles that you run into to accomplish these goals? If you have any questions at all, let me know in the comments below. I'm absolutely here to help. I hope my videos and website help you and cause positive change. Thanks for watching.
