Summary: Last week I had the chance to participate in a Coach Chat courtesy of the folks at RunKeeper. We took questions from the audience and I tired to frame all the answers as generally as possible to help as many listeners as possible. <br> <br> I think the resulting interview was awesome, so I thought I would share the Coach Chat in a different format. <br> <br> If you enjoy this type of podcast, I will definitely do more of them. Please leave a comment with a yay or neh if you want to see this type of question/answer more often. <br> <br> Here’s what we covered: <br> Question #1: <br> I have been regularly for a few months and suddenly started experiencing pain in my upper right leg. how can I tell if this is muscular or something else? I am really missing running! Can I keep running? <br> What I discussed: <br> <br> How to tell the difference between normal running soreness and an injury <br> <br> <br> What to do when you do get injured <br> <br> <br> The mistake you should absolutely not make when facing a potential injury <br> <br> <br> Why you likely won’t lose any fitness if you do need to take time off <br> <br> Question #2: <br> I did my first marathon according to your ”Marathon to finish” in 4 hours 20 minutes and I want on my next marathon (Athens classic marathon) to finish in under 4 hours. What program should I follow and what should my nutrition habits be? <br> What I discussed <br> <br> The role of glycogen when racing the marathon <br> <br> <br> How to train your body to use fat as a fuel source to prevent bonking <br> <br> <br> Post workout nutrition <br> <br> <br> Taking in fluids and gels during training <br> <br> <br> Fasted long runs (running long runs on an empty stomach) <br> <br> Question #3 <br> I realized that I’ve reached certain pace that i can’t run any faster. I’m running around 5’10” per km (8’10” per mile) and I’d like to improve it to something like 4’15” per km ( 6’50” per mile) . Any recommendations for achieving that goal? By the way, 36 old guy with 7 months of running career! <br> What I discussed <br> <br> The importance of long-term development <br> <br> <br> Speed versus aerobic endurance <br> <br> <br> Picking an appropriate goal for yourself <br> <br> Question #4 <br> I’m currently running 3 times a week training for my next 10k to get to sub 55 min. I’ve started this training a month and a half ago. I wasn’t running for a long time, more than 1 year. It is common that I get a bad stomach ache after I ran 10k or more that 10K. I’m not eating my meals close to my training. I usually train at 6.30 PM and have a healthy lunch at 1.30 PM and a snack of fruit or cereal bar in the afternoon. I was told it is common for beginners trying harder. <br> What I covered <br> <br> Dealing with stomach issues when training <br> <br> <br> Training in the heat <br> <br> Question #5 <br> I run 4 times a week 10-20k , I’m planning to do my first marathon in September, any recommendations? <br> What I discussed <br> <br> Marathon specific workouts and specific workouts in general <br> <br> <br> Long runs and important marathon workouts <br> <br> Question #6 <br> Any plans for offering training plans for faster runners? The fastest half marathon training plan is 2 hours – I’d love to see some geared towards ~1:30 runners with emphasis on how to improve speed. <br> What I discussed <br> <br> Why stock and template training plans don’t work for better/faster runners <br> <br> <br> The importance of a custom training plan that factors in your strengths and weaknesses <br> <br> <br> Comparing the training plans of two marathoners with similar PRs but with different talents <br> <br> Question #7 <br> Do you think it’s a good strategy, for those of us with bad joints (knees) to reduce our mileage and increase our speed? I’m
