Summary: What’s the most positive change you could make to your training plan to immediately, positively impact your next six months of racing? If I told you the answer is to race less, run less and probably train slower, would you believe me? In today’s interview, we’re going to begin to understand why it’s normally better to run slower than we feel like we should and why sometimes the best strategy is to spend less time running. On our show this week is Jeff Gaudette, the founder of RunnersConnect, who was also a several time Maine state champion in high school, received multiple NCAA All-American awards while at Brown University, and finally completed his career as a professional runner for the Hanson’s-Brooks Distance Project in Detroit, MI. Jeff explains to us the dangers of running easy runs too fast and the benefits of tailoring your training to your specific fitness level. Here are some of the things we talked about: Take the next logical step, and listen to your body. The absolute importance of specific strength work to avoid injuries. Why strong body control is the key to long-term injury-free training, and some specific general strengthening exercises worth trying. How the optimal race schedule may be structured and why your racing schedule may be slowing your fitness progression. Why a training community or team is extremely valuable to all runners. If you’ve ever experienced an injury, or ever will experience one, this is a must-listen interview! After listening, let us know some ways you’ve stayed injury-free. Links and resources mentioned in this interview: The Lunge Matrix as a Warmup Intelligent, Injury Free Training: Interview with Jeff Gaudett
