Should You Run In A Club/Group or Solo?
The threshold of perfectionism, mediocrity, lactate and oxygen
Quick recap because... I’ll assume time is not something you have a lot of:
🌡️ The threshold of perfectionism, mediocrity, lactate and oxygen
🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♂️ Should You Run In A Club/Group or Solo?
📋 Workout Of The Week | The 25% Hair Cut
🚀 Top 3 Reasons why speed workouts help long-distance runners
The threshold of perfectionism, mediocrity, lactate and oxygen
They are all the same | You can hide in it all
I’ve gone on and on about why I'm not racing before, but this feels different, so please give me two minutes of your time.
I always need something to chase. Like, donkey—stick—carrot is real AF. But unlike the donkey, I know I won't get that carrot. The stick is the most valuable thing.
So, what if I could at least lick it a few times and find out how it tastes? I then find out that it’s pretty average tasting, like no-frills store-brand cookies; what if I kinda like that blah average taste? What if, instead of chasing, I focused on maintaining?
That feels new and, honestly, kinda exciting.
It’s funny; sometimes, chasing is just a way to hide. If I’m always chasing something big, something perfect, I can avoid just being in the moment—avoiding the everyday stuff that’s just good enough. But what if good enough is where it’s at? What if keeping up the day-to-day is more complicated than chasing perfection?
It sounds good now, but will I be bored in ten years? Will I get tired of it? Over the last six years, since I decided to chase a sub-16-minute 5k, I've hit overtraining, felt burnt out, and wondered— “wtf am I doing, I’m not pro. I want to say that I ran a 15:59.” Would anyone even care? Maybe some of you would be inspired to run faster, but this is my life, not yours, and I’m sure I’d get a lot of orange thumbs up on Strava that would have the lasting gratification of eating Skittles.
Trying to keep my fitness up for as long as possible feels way more challenging and maybe more interesting.
The inevitable slowdown of age? Yeah, it's going to happen. But what if the experts are right? What if you only lose it when you stop using it?
Maybe the real challenge isn’t getting a new best time every year but showing up every day and staying consistent. It’s not flashy, but maybe it’s real.
So, I’m switching things up. Instead of chasing a sub-16-minute 5k, I aim to run as fast as possible for as long as possible. That should be around 17 minutes. It’s not as perfect as breaking an even time, and it sounds a bit clunky, but that excites me. I also might change my mind later and go after that sub-16 again... but right now? Nope.
And here’s three reasons why:
If I put everything together and throw the kitchen sink at it, I think I could get close to 15:59, but is it worth it?
I’ve already gone too hard chasing the sub 16 min 5k goal and ended up with overtraining syndrome back in 2022
I don’t want just to do the bare minimum, be mediocre and not ship/do something meaningful
Let me quickly dive into all three.
1. Sure, I can probably do the sub 16 min 5k, but at what cost?
I just completed twelve months without racing, and I didn’t die. In 9 weeks, I’ll race two races. As I do them, I feel my old obsessive perfectionist side creeping back.
I just spent three weeks in the U.S. with my 5-year-old, trying to keep my fitness up—and even improve it for my annual 1% better half marathon challenge. Yeah.. not smart, I know. I ended up lightly straining my achilles and running in ridiculous heat and humidity. I was low-key breaking myself down, chasing that all too familiar perfection.
Then, I flew back home and jumped back into training because my half-marathon was only ten days away. I pushed through one of the hardest workouts in the plan—jet lag and all— and I toast. I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “WTF are you doing, man?”
2. Overtraining Syndrome while chasing perfection
The last time I pushed too hard, I ended up with overtraining syndrome. It was not fun. I never really talked about it because I was a bit embarrassed and didn’t have the sports science background to explain it adequately and make it one of those “do as I say, not as I do” coaching moments.
Here is a quick recap of my experience with overtraining syndrome:
My sleep was trash — I constantly woke up in the middle of the night, and I was wired
Short, easy runs left me feeling wrecked like I’d been hit by a truck.
Fortunately, I recovered after only a couple of months— Some pros are laid up for a year or more.
Right now, chasing a fast(er) 5k isn’t on my radar. I’ve got other stuff going on, like growing this content brand, being present for my kid, and just slowing down to enjoy life more. Maybe I’m leaving some gains on the table, but nobody cares. Staying fit and healthy for the long run (maybe, pun intended — lulz) beats burning out for a moment all day, any day.
And here’s the thing... I’m realizing it’s not about perfection anymore. It’s about showing up, doing the work, and shipping it when it’s good enough.
But with good enough, you can easily slip into mediocrity, right? Well, this dovetails nicely into my third point.
3. How I can avoid mediocrity
Mediocrity is a weird, subjective, messy thing. It’s the lower threshold of what you deem acceptable. What I think is acceptable could be one person’s highest standards and another person’s crap.
Unpopular opinion: I think most of society is quite soft. I know with a lot of evidence that it’s not hard to be better than most if you show up with curiosity, intention and consistency. Those three things are the background of successful people and companies worldwide.
Inspiration, hard work, passion, money, love, etc., are as long-lasting as a match. There is lots of fire, flame, and heat, nothing except cool, windy air, black smoke, and a weird smell that lingers for way longer than the match was lit.
Success lies in consistency, doing work, and letting the world see your work (aka shipping work). Most of the time, it means putting out unpolished work that was still well crafted and thoroughly worked through.
Creating lower limits to avoid mediocrity
Like almost everything in my obsessive-compulsive life, I have a framework and guardrails:
Keep training time to minimums and maximums: When I get into a flow out of perfection anxiety, I tend to go hard and do more things. But more time at something isn’t always better. I have to keep myself from overdoing it by having a lower threshold. The minimum won’t be hard to meet, but it’s still there.
Don’t stress about weekly totals. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that if I focus on the day-to-day, the week sorts itself out 99% of the time.
Set three goal races a year (I'm not 100% sure of this, but it sounds cute for now): a half marathon, 10k, and 5k to test my fitness. There is no specific training until eight weeks out. This way, I’m forced to keep a solid base all year and can do what I love doing best: training.
This plan is far from perfect, and it’ll probably change, which is the point — but for now, it feels kinda dope. Maybe that’s the sweet spot, like doing tempo runs at sub-lactate-threshold. It's good enough to keep moving forward and using oxygen for as much energy as possible. Not building up too much lactate to cause that burning discomfort sensation, but not slow enough to where you’re embarrassed by your time at the end of the race. The threshold of perfectionism, mediocrity, lactate and oxygen
Marketing, business and self-improvement OG Seth Godin inspired this.
🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♂️Should You Run In A Club/Group or Solo?
The following African proverb is cliche, but cliche for a reason
“Want to fast – go alone
Want to go far – go together.”
In this episode, you will be convinced whether training in a group or training solo is the best thing for you. Explore the unique benefits of each training style, from the control and focus of solo runs to the motivation and community support found in group training. Whether you’re an introvert who cherishes alone time or someone who thrives on social energy, understanding how these approaches impact your performance can revolutionize your running routine.
I did a fun, deep dive with my content brother from another mother, Remy B Reel so that you can figure out which is best for you. Watch, read and listen to the rest on your run or next work.
📋 Workout Of The Week | The 25% Hair Cut
Do everything at 75% volume but 100% intensity
Imagine this: You wake up to a 5 x 1k reps interval session on the calendar. You feel like 💩, and you have that “I can’t do this workout. Not today” feeling everyone gets. You get nervous and anxious and say, “But but but, if I don’t do this key workout, I can’t do the 8 x 1k sessions that will get me race-ready in 4 weeks for my main 10k race.”
This isn’t a workout per se, but it's more of a quick little trick I’ve learned. I hesitate to call it a hack because most hacks are not long-term, but this could technically be used as a long-term solution for some things.
What Is It?
I call this the 80% rule, but you can divide it however you want to make it nice and even. 75% or even 70% is fine. I like to stay on the higher side of 60%, though, as 60% is the number for my recovery week volume.
Why It’s Important
You get a slight break from the volume of whatever it is. Some days, you just can’t even. I get it. But… sometimes, it’s your brain, and your body is fine. Sometimes, just getting out there to do the 10-minute warmup is all you need to be firing on all cylinders.
It doesn’t feel like a lot, but you usually finish the 4th of your 5th interval feeling like you could crush the next one, and you can either do it or not. This gives you a bit of a psychological out.
This is also important because your body remembers what it is to be stressed, and you maintain your fitness throughout the week while giving your body some much-needed recovery.
How To Do it
It's pretty straightforward: just take off the top (hence the haircut reference) for 20-30% of your upcoming workout or long run.
Traps to avoid
Don’t do this all the time
Don’t drop down to 50%
This is a tool for specific jobs/days. If you need to keep cutting down your workouts, you need to talk with yourself or your coach about whether your workouts are too ambitious or something else isn’t in alignment.
🚀 Top 3 Reasons why speed workouts help long-distance runners
Most distance runners shy away from speed workouts. Don’t be a noob runner, and do the below.
What is it? Speed training means incorporating faster-paced workouts like sprints, hill repeats, and intervals into your regular routine. Think shorter, intense bursts rather than your usual long, slow runs.
Why it's important: It boosts your muscle power and strengthens your cardiovascular system, making those longer, slower paces feel EZ peasy. Plus, it kicks your metabolism into high gear, helping you burn more calories throughout the day.
How to do it: Start with building a solid aerobic base first—think lots of easy miles. Once you're ready, sprinkle in some speed workouts, but keep it to 10-25% of your weekly mileage to avoid injury. Let the speed come to you and consistency wins the race… every. damn. time.