I love to gather new training tips, strategies, philosophies, and ideas. Some runners do this because they are looking for the “magic bullet” that will allow them to run farther, faster, and with less effort. I’m more of a Quenton Cassidy follower.

“What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials” (Parker).

But I do love to study the science of training. To learn the most effective way to run my “Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials,” I purchased Matt Fitzgerald’s book, Brain Training for Runners, recently to see if I could find anything new and useful. His training plans are shockingly similar to the Daniels’ Formula (he did state the fact they they are based on Daniels’ work) that I’ve referenced previously. Fitzgerald also bangs the core strengthening and dynamic stretching (instead of static stretching) drums, but these are not really new concepts any more. Despite this, I found the book to be very interesting to read and found several tweaks that I plan to make to my training. I’m excited to incorporate his training principles in my next cycle.

The premise of the book is that our running performance is not limited by our lungs, our heart, or our muscles. Fitzgerald uses the latest scientific studies to prove that our performance is limited by the brain acting as a sort of governor that will hold our bodies back from the edge of catastrophic failure. He structures the training to re-teach the brain both where our limits truly are and how to more efficiently activate the muscles themselves.

This first lesson, teaching the brain our true limits, is based on the concept that “… fatigue is a self-protective mechanism that the brain uses to prevent a catastrophic loss of homeostasis from occurring during exercise” (Fitzgerald 47). This idea is in opposition to the thought that fatigue is caused by an accumulation of lactic acid, a depletion of glycogen, muscle damage, etc. Many of these are cited as causes of fatigue in various running literature. Fitzgerald cites newer research that prove these causes don’t fully explain why we slow down. For example, recent studies like this and this seem to indicate that glycogen depletion doesn’t cause fatigue as much as the brain’s perception of glycogen levels does. Fitzgerald backs up his ideas with similar research.

As I was discussing this idea with a friend, he became concerned. “Isn’t it dangerous to try to ‘trick’ your brain’s protective measures?” The book doesn’t try to trick the brain, though. It does teach the brain how to have a more perceptive gauge. “The more times you experience running fatigue, the more your brain learns about how long your body can sustain any given running pace” (Fitzgerald 51). This totally agrees with Quenton Cassidy’s “training secret” above. Your brain learns more about your limits by pushing against them more often. To do this, Fitzgerald’s training plans incorporate several quality workouts each week that feature race pace and faster. He also (among other things) suggests occasionally performing a long run while slightly glycogen depleted.

Besides training the brain about our true limits, Fitzgerald also seeks to train the athlete’s brain to more effectively utilize the various muscle groups. In order to accomplish this, the book demonstrates various core exercises and running drills. What makes Fitzgerald’s book unique is the way these ideas are structured. Fitzgerald is interested in teaching the reader how to isolate various muscle groups before combining them. For example, several drills and exercise teach the athlete to isolate his deep core muscles. Everyone knows by now that the core is key component of a good runner, but Fitzgerald has a more step-by-step approach for the runner to follow to both strengthen the core and to learn how to really engage it. By learning to isolate various muscle groups, the brain will become better at enlisting the help of other muscles. The more muscles it can use, the longer they can work because they share the load. I like how the author gradually adds different muscles and different combinations to make the workout more kinesiologically complex. Also, by upping the complexity, he is able to make the workout more challenging without making it significantly more time consuming.

The drills are meant to create a more efficient stride. Some of these drills are specifically toward the running form. Others are what he calls proprioceptive cues. Proprioception is the ability to understand how your body relates to itself in space. These cues in conjunction with the other running drills will help the runner attain more efficient form and stride. These ideas are similar to the ones taught in Gazelle’s Good Form Running clinics. Fitzgerald discusses the mechanics of good form and attaches a different proprioceptive cue to each week of the training cycle. This allows the runner to focus on a different aspect of good form each week with the hope that muscle memory and practice will combine all of them into the best form for that individual. Think of it as “Paint the Fence” from The Karate Kid only for runners.

Paint the Fence

As I incorporate these different concepts into my training cycle, I’ll go into greater depth about them. Check back here often to learn more about Brain Training for Runners.