The Extramilest Podcast

#16: Race Faster by Training Slower, with 2:28 Marathoner Josh Sambrook

Apr 18, 2019

58:03

“You don’t need speedwork. I can think of many examples of very quick runners who do effectively almost no speedwork” - Josh S

Josh Sambrook is a 23 year old running coach and athlete from Leeds in the UK. He ran his first marathon at the age of 17, and he has completed 12 marathons since. His current PB is 2h28min.

He has accomplished very fast marathon race times, while training at low HR, with almost no speedwork. Josh shares his training and racing + many tips for runners looking to improve.

SHOW NOTES

Josh’s background as a runner and triathlete [2:55]
His first marathon experience struggling at the Cambridge Marathon in 3 hours 24 minutes [4:00]
How Josh’s training changed after 5 marathons [5:20]
Josh used to train mostly at 150 beats per minute, now usually trains mostly in 130 to 140 HR [6:40]
Testing HR at end of hard 5k [7:33]
Josh’s racing strategy first 1/2 166 bpm, then let it rise by 1 beat per minute per km [8:32]
Josh increased his training volume by almost 10 fold in past 5 years at much slower pace [9:32]
How and why Josh runs two to three times a day, shorter distances [11:50]
The best predicting Marathon prediction times [14:05]
How lifestyle factors play a bigger impact on marathon performance for runners slower than 3:30 marathon times [17:50]
Tanda race predictor [18:55]
Josh developed a marathon coaching business based on running data points [19:50]
Josh’s thoughts on Sub 3 Hour marathon approach, different distance and pace approaches for the same results [22:08]
Example Sub 3 marathon schedule with daily distance and pace [25:40]
Importance of listening to the body to limit injury risk [27:35]
How cross training impacts running performance for different marathoners [29:20]
Find out what limits your race performance and work on this [30:08]
The recovery changes in different [31:40]
Josh’s thoughts on strength training for improving running performance [32:55]
Identifying limiting factors by learning from races [34:48]
You don’t need speedwork to become a faster runner [36:40]
How Josh training for his 2:28 marathon with only 5km at week at higher heart rate [37:00]
Seeing how people improve from 5 hour marathoners to 3:10 marathoners with no speedwork [38:44]
Longer term steady progress vs short spikes of progress [39:32]
How Josh motivates himself to train consistently in often bad UK weather conditions [41:45]
Daily goals reminders easily viewable to stay focused [43:31]
Running by heart rate and by feel [45:05]
Accuracy of optical heart rate monitor vs HR chest strap [46:20]
Nutrition and fasted runs to improve your fat burning system [47:50]
Why Josh doesn’t take any calories during his marathon races [50:05]
Initial experiences with fasted [52:00]
What Josh eats after his fasted runs [52:50]
How to record your workouts to improve your running [55:10]