© LymbusSwedish skyrunner Ida Nilsson is more at home running in rugged and wild country than on city streets. She's a three-time winner of the Transvulcania ultramarathon, winner of the Marathon du Mont Blanc, and this year’s winner of the hardcore 236 km Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica. Running on pavement just isn't her thing. But this year she decided to fulfill a longstanding wish to complete one road marathon, and has been preparing for it over the last months. During a recent training camp, Ida began to enjoy the feeling of running fast along flat terrain. She’s confident she’s ready for the Hamburg Marathon on April 28. Her goal is to finish in 2h35m. “What I sometimes miss in trail running is to run with the pack and to feel the flow and speed,” she says. “If you’re in a good group in a road race, it feels really nice moving in a pack. In trail running, because of the terrain, distance, and course size, you rarely pack up and run in a group. “I really like racing and it's always interesting and exciting to see how a distance and race that I'm not comfortable with will turn out.” Now 38, Ida has been winning elite level races since she was a teen, starting in track and cross country. In Sweden during the 2000s, she dominated the 5000 m run and 3000 m steeplechase disciplines. Due to a series of injuries, including a stress fracture in her hip joint, she gave up her track and field career and didn’t run for five years. In 2013, she began running again, this time focusing on off road. “When I was doing track and cross country, the marathon always felt like something I would try to do in the end,” she says. “Then I just jumped over the long road running races and went straight to ultras. But I still want to try to do a decent time in a road marathon before I stop competitive running.” How to make the transition 1. Take it gradually Ida advises to make the transition to road running gradually. Don’t suddenly do all your training on the road. “Running on hard surfaces is really hard for the legs; they get a pounding,” she says. 2. Focus on speed and form “For trail runners trying a road marathon, it's important to start doing some shorter interval workouts that focus on speed and efficient stride,” Ida says. “Trail runners have the endurance and toughness for the time and distance of a marathon, but maybe not the speed and efficient stride for the road.” She has been doing flat interval workouts, ranging from 5x500 m to 10x1000 m, and 12 km tempo runs to get fully used to running on the flat. 3. Add longer marathon workouts After gradually transitioning, it’s time to add some typical marathon workouts. Ida has been doing a 35 km long run, with 15 km at tempo. She has also been doing 25 km tempo runs. “It's really hard to keep marathon pace in these workouts and I think it's good to have some sub-marathon pace speed first,” she says. “These workouts don’t need to feel like your fastest pace.” Follow Ida's experience at the Hamburg Marathon this Sunday via Instagram as she takes over Suunto's global account. Lead image: © Lymbus

Watching Suunto ambassador and freediver William Trubridge swim underwater like a dolphin across New Zealand’s wild Cook Strait, it’s easy to believe he possesses some sort of preternatural ability. There are, after all, few people on the planet who can swim 32 km in that manner for nine hours and 15 minutes. In March this year, Trubridge achieved a world first: he swam under the surface of the strait before surfacing, and diving under again, all the way across, using the dolphin kick to propel him. A channel crossing of this kind had never been done before. He did it to raise awareness about the plight of New Zealand's endangered Maui and Hector's dolphins. During his swim, his Suunto D6i Novo dive computer recorded 943 dives. Watch the short clip below below to see him in action. Mastering the dolphin kick didn’t come easily to Trubridge. He’s had to work at it. “When I first started free diving, I struggled with the movement, and it’s probably because I never swam butterfly at high school,” he says. “It’s not a natural movement for me. It requires a lot of flexibility in your whole back and I didn’t have that at first. I still don’t have it to the same degree as some other free divers.” He has patiently practiced the technique over a number of years. All that training has paid off. Who better to ask about how to develop a powerful dolphin kick? Trubridge did his epic swim to bring attention to New Zealand's dolphins and to pressure its Government to protect them. Why master the dolphin kick? Simple answer: it feels awesome. “You can really fly through the water at a good speed for a human being,” Trubridge says. “It’s fun to play in waves. You can swim towards a wave as it’s about to break and jump out the back of it like dolphins do. Or you can swim down to 10 m, turn around and swim back up as fast as you can and actually breach clear out of the water because of your speed. It’s a lot of fun to play around with a monofin.” It’s also an important stroke for freediving, especially for the Constant Weight discipline. Using a monofin and a dolphin kick is the most efficient propulsion, and is best the way to dive the deepest and longest. How is it done? It’s the same stroke as butterfly swimming, however it’s done underwater. A monofin or flippers are used in freediving to gain a bigger surface area for propulsion. “The movement is generated by an oscillation of the pelvis, forwards and backwards, controlled by your lower back, and abdominal muscles,” Trubridge says. “It starts a wave that’s sent down your legs into the fin. In order to transmit that wave efficiently you need to keep your legs straight, using your quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Your upper body, ideally, stays pretty stationary. You can have your arms out in front of you which is a lot more streamlined, or by your sides which is more relaxed.” How to develop the underwater dolphin kick? Technique before power One common mistake, Trubridge says, is to start out practicing the dolphin kick with a monofin. Because the monofin is so powerful it compensates for bad technique. “You can bend your knees, and move inefficiently, and still get good propulsion with a monofin,” Trubridge says. “My advice is to always start with something that doesn’t have the same surface area, like really small flippers, and practice dolphin kick with those, which will be a lot more difficult.” Alternatively, try without flippers. The practice: Underwater, extend your arms and try to dolphin kick and get good speed. Don’t be put off if you don’t move forward at all; it takes time to develop the technique. Vertical dolphin Position yourself vertically in deep water with just your head and shoulders out of the water. Extend your arms above your head. Now, try the dolphin kick, keeping yourself as high above water as possible while staying in the same spot. “It becomes tiring very quickly,” Trubridge says. “It trains the muscles you need in your core and legs, and after a while you will find yourself slipping down into the water.” Land-based exercises Any exercise that improves core and leg strength will help. However, Trubridge says specificity of training is important. “Squats, crunches, those sorts of things, will target those muscles, but I prefer to target them in a way that is more specific to the way they are being used in the stroke,” he says. Hanging bar exercises Swinging: Find a hanging bar, and hang from your hands, with your palms pointed away from you. Using your core muscles, swing your legs back and forward, keeping them as straight as possible. Don’t use momentum to swing, but rather the abdominal muscles. Pike pull up: From the hanging bar, do a pull up with your legs in the pike position, or in front of you at a right angle to your upper body. Monofin or flippers? The monofin is the best for deep dives, maximum speed and efficient movement. The downside is they are hard to wear for long periods of time. They have to be strapped to the feet very tightly, which can cause blisters and cramps. Flippers are better for relaxation, recreation – spearfishing and snorkelling, for example – and for training. They offer more versatility.

(Updated March 2024) It can happen to the best of us. We sign up for a marathon with good intentions and then life happens; the kids get sick, you get sick, or maybe you just procrastinated like a champion. Whatever happened, your training plan went out the window. Next thing you know, the marathon is a week or two away. What to do? This is an all too familiar scenario for running coach and fitness and nutrition expert Dr. Rick Kattouf II. Clients come to him in a panic about this, looking for a saviour. “I never want to send an athlete into a bear fight with a butter knife,” he says. “So I'm very honest with them; running a marathon significantly undertrained is going to dramatically increase the risk of injury and illness. If it was up to me, I would say let’s move on, go back to the drawing board. But if they are intent on doing it, I will back them.” With that proviso, we’re assuming you’re the type to walk into a bear fight with a butter knife. In that case, we play out a couple of scenarios where you might come out alive. When race day rolls around, there is one thing to keep in mind: respect. Scenario 1: one week before race day Let us imagine the marathon is seven days away and your training plan has gone up in flames. Should you even bother preparing now? “The general answer is, no, there is nothing we can do the week of the race that is going to make us a better marathon runner,” Kattouf says. “With that been said, we do need to tweak things.” Ordinarily, for those runners who bothered to train, the seven days before a race would be part of their tapering. In this scenario, that doesn’t make any sense. “We have an athlete now that hasn’t peaked so there is no reason to taper,” Kattouf explains. “Nor are we going to try to get them up to a 10 or 20 mile run this week. But what I would like to achieve before race day is a little feedback on that body. The body needs to feel the road.” Preparation advice: Imagine it’s Monday and race day is the coming Sunday. Kattouf advises to run about three kilometers, or two miles, a day for five straight days. Keep it light, don’t go hard. Make them easy jogs. “Otherwise, race day will be like a hammer to the head,” Kattouf says. Aside from the running, it’s also important to stay well hydrated during the week preceding the marathon. Get plenty of sleep and eat well. Kattouf advises no dieting this week. Scenario 2: two weeks before race day In this scenario, we imagine you have caught on a little earlier to the potential car wreck of a race that is hurtling towards you. You muster up your determination and try to swerve back on course. What is the best way forward from here? “They say, ‘don't shove a square peg through a round hole’, but sometimes we need to do exactly that” Kattouf says. “And now we're just going to shove it.” Preparation advice: Kattouf advises implementing a multi-day training block. It’s not about the distance or duration of one training run, but instead the focus is on the cumulative effect of the whole training block. Forget trying to smash out one 20 km run. Focus on incremental gain. On Monday and Tuesday of week one, do an easy run for an hour each day. Take Wednesday and Thursday off, and then repeat the hour-long runs on Friday and Saturday. For the seven days before the race, revert to the preparation advice in scenario one. All up, this builds in nine runs in 14 days. This strategy prioritises frequency over volume. Scenario 3: a month before race day Respect. You’ve caught on to the looming catastrophe early and have given yourself a fighting chance to come out the other end relatively unscathed. Let’s drill down. “A month can give us a good amount of time to prepare,” Kattouf says. “It’s time to initiate a four week training camp.” Preparation advice: Get ready to train. Coach Kattouf wants you to do it every single day. Yes, seven days a week. The good news is he’s not asking for big running volume. He wants a mix of training: running, strength training, stretching and foam rolling. “Seven days a week of exercise for four weeks is no joke,” Kattouf says. “The key is, if we work out that much we never blast ourselves in one session so that we need a whole day to recover.” Running, swimming, stationary bike, weight training, stretching or yoga – all could have their place over the four weeks. Running should, of course, be the primary focus. The main message is: keep moving, just don’t push yourself. Race day: respect When race day rolls around, there is one thing to keep in mind: respect. “The marathon is no joke, even for the very well trained,” Kattouf says. “The conditioned athletes 100 % respect it. That’s important.” One way to show respect is to focus on taking care of yourself properly, rather than being cocky and charging into it blindly. Race day advice: Wear a watch with a heart rate monitor, and focus on keeping your heart rate low. Achieve this by following a walk-jog rhythm right from the beginning. Start the race by walking. “Throw out time, throw out pace,” Kattouf says. “Keep one number on your watch: heart rate. Nothing else matters.” Keep your heart rate below zone one (50-60% of your maximum heart rate), or in zone one, and no higher than zone two (60-70% of max heart rate). If your heart rate creeps into zone three, immediately switch to walking. Make it your mission to enjoy the marathon. Forget competition or trying to chase a personal best. Fun is the name of the game for this race.

Many athletes and coaches head to the track for speed work; however, for triathletes and distance runners, there is a more important workout. I call this a pacing session. Pacing for distance runs and triathlons is one of the most critical components of successful racing, and yet most never spend a concerted effort “dialing it in”. Why is that? Well, with most athletes glued to their Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) devices, the majority use this feedback as the primary means to pacing their runs. While valuable, it is critical to “learn the body through the mind”, and use your personal biofeedback techniques to stay within an intensity level appropriate to the race distance, course, and conditions. By raising awareness of and learning your Perceived Exertion (PE), as well as your onset and sweat rates for various conditions and hydration levels, and how they alter within the eight training zones (but especially Sub-Lactate Threshold through VO2max), you can dial in you optimal sustainable pacing. Remember, especially when relying on HR as a performance indicator, that HR is affected by many things. Heart rate may be elevated by physical issues like inadequate recovery, hydration, caffeine, glycogen storage levels, psychological and emotional stress load. It can also be affected by outside elements like ambient temperature, humidity, wind, altitude, and terrain. When I am with an athlete at the track, I prefer that they not focus on their HR, and only refer to it at specific times. By having them focus on PE, they can learn to gauge pacing more reliably. This is an important skill to learn across the spectrum of conditions and intensities. Once learned, it makes sustainable pacing performance much easier to identify – whether you use a HRM or not. The pacing session I often do with my athletes at the track for the first time is listed below.   Track Session WARM-UP One mile, recording 400m times and overall mile time. Normally, I ask my athlete what they think their endurance pace is, and then instruct them to just relax and warm up for a mile at a comfortable endurance pace (not looking at their watch or HRM). Quite often, the athlete is shocked at how hard or fast they went, and soon discover that it was a pace not sustainable for an Ironman marathon for example. STRETCH SESSION Best case scenario is to stretch the hamstrings, calves, shoulders, quads, hips, quads, and glutes. However, if you are crunched for time, target the hips, hamstrings and calves. WORKOUT 400m repeats are my go to workout. Depending upon the athlete and time available, I’ll have them perform 6 to 10 repeats with approximately 2 minutes recovery between each. Whether we are searching for a sustainable Ironman marathon pace or a sprint triathlon LT pace, I’ll orient the intensity levels to zero in on what we’re trying to learn. Pacing is subsequently adjusted as applicable. Ideally, we will try to learn 2 to 3 pacing levels during the first session. As part of the initial briefing, and reminded throughout the session, I tell the athlete to really focus their attention to their PE and how they’re feeling during the various paces. As fatigue starts to surface in their form and technique (i.e. shoulders raise/tense, sitting back), it is addressed during the session, as well as during the workout recap and documentation for both coach and athlete. COOL-DOWN One mile and shoot for a particular pace. Then stretch, refuel, and rehydrate.   Lessons To Be Learned In my experience, these pacing sessions are invaluable to both the coach and athlete. Key information is obtained during both warm up and cool down, and not just during repeats. A coach is able to correct biomechanical inefficiencies and learn much about the athlete’s abilities (i.e. running, ability to suffer, ability to learn and replicate their PE and pacing), and subsequently prescribe a more focused training plan. The athlete always learns a lot about themselves in terms of current pacing, sustainable pacing, as well as running strengths and weaknesses. Followed by a thorough training recap and documentation, both can move successfully forward on improving performance, as well as re-visit reports from previous training periods. Within the training reports, I believe it’s important to not only provide biomechanical assessments and times, but also what those times translate into for a per mile (or per kilometer) pace as well as current and goal per mile pacing for a marathon, 5k, 10k,…etc. This information will make your subsequent training easier to translate your performance, recovery level, progress, as well as more relevant feedback to the coach. So head to the track, and rather than just running eight 400s hard and calling it a productive session, dial-in your pacing for various distances and you’ll optimize future performances.   This article by coach and former professional triathlete Todd Parker was originally published on trainingpeaks.com. You can learn more about coach Parker here. TrainingPeaks provides you in-depth analysis, planning tools and coaching services to help you reach your goal. Track your workouts with your Suunto watch. Afterwards analyze your heart rate, power, pace and other data with TrainingPeaks on web or in mobile and progress towards your goals.Lead image by Matt Trappe Photo / Suunto

A wrist-based GPS is a great tool for tracking time and distance while running. All you need to know is how to press start, stop and save. As a coach and runner, I’ve noticed that many of my fellow runners aren’t doing much else with the data from these smart devices. Here is a quick introduction to three metrics to use when chasing your next PR, planning balanced training loads and looking to improve your form and efficiency. Running Cadence Most GPS devices now have a way of monitoring cadence. Cadence is defined in steps per minute (spm) or revolutions per minute (rpm, counting one leg). Suunto uses revolutions per minute. Cadence allows a runner to know the speed of their leg turnover. While there are many different opinions on cadence, it is generally agreed that somewhere around 90 rpm (180 spm) is the sweet spot for running efficiency and economy. Cadence is calculated either from the device as your arm swings, from a foot pod, or a heart rate strap, where advanced monitoring is picking up the rise and fall that occurs when running. When looking at this data after a run, it is possible to see what happens to cadence in different situations such as climbing a hill, running fast, descending, or even over time as you start to tire. If your cadence is below 165 spm it is likely your running efficiency is affected. Work to improve cadence in small increments using drills and by inserting cadence sets into your runs with 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Ideally you want to allow your new form to develop over time to prevent injury and allow for a neuromuscular connection so it becomes normal and habitual. Running Heart Rate Some of the latest wrist based running devices include heart rate measured on the wrist. The reliability of this seems to be slightly less than the chest strap which has been used for many years. Nonetheless, having heart rate collection of any sort is very useful to a runner who is training to become fitter and faster. Knowing individual lactate threshold heart rate, the point at which a body can no longer utilize all of the lactate it is producing, is essential. This can be discovered through simple field testing as a 30 minute test, in racing, or even lab testing. With these personal heart rate numbers in hand collecting heart rate data can add an objective and scientific explanation to rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and can also help illuminate what happened in a race or workout. If an athlete in a marathon looks back over a race file and sees a heart rate that is higher than normal at the beginning of the race, perhaps from effects of heat or improper pacing, they can start to understand the causes of a drop in pace later in the race. If going for a long endurance run, an athlete can set a heart rate cap and make sure they stay beneath it for the duration. This metric is very good for an athlete who gets hung up on pace during training. Heart rate is responsive to terrain, wind, heat, stress and fatigue. Running Pace and Auto Lap There are many options for monitoring pace during a run. I’ve observed a lot of runners who leave their watch settings with whatever it came with from the factory. Often this is average pace or current pace. Let’s give this some thought. When doing interval workouts, it is helpful to know the average pace of the lap and also the current pace if it is a shorter bout of work. This allows you to determine the exact pace needed. Perhaps a long endurance run is better served with overall pace. Using the auto lap feature generates a pace guide, although the runner may be going on rate of perceived exertion (RPE) or perhaps using a heart rate cap. Turning the auto lap feature OFF is a must for interval work in which data is collected in self-selected intervals and can be created by using the LAP button between intervals. I remind runners that current pace can be swayed by faulty satellite connections and not to panic if suddenly RPE and the data don’t jive. Remember, the device needs to collect data as you are moving forward, so for the most accuracy on an interval, pick up the pace for 4-6 steps before hitting the lap button. Cadence, heart rate and pace are three metrics that can dramatically change how you train and help you improve as a runner. Using them individually, or together, can help your pacing, efficiency, form, and economy, and will help you train and race more intelligently. This article by Carrie McCusker was originally published on trainingpeaks.com. McCusker specializes in athlete performance at all levels. You can learn more about her here. TrainingPeaks provides you in-depth analysis, planning tools and coaching services to help you reach your goal. Track your workouts with your Suunto watch. Afterwards analyze your heart rate, power, pace and other data with TrainingPeaks on web or in mobile and progress towards your goals.

After running and racing for almost 20 years, I believe I have made every possible mistake when it comes to training for a half or full marathon. Even though some of these mistakes seem obvious in hindsight, when you are training hard to achieve a big goal, sometimes you lose perspective and make questionable decisions. So, do as I say and not as I have done if you want to experience the best possible result on race day. 1. Avoid overtraining Choose a plan that works for you and stick to it. Social media has a lot of positive and motivating influences, but not when it comes to training for 13.1 or 26.2 miles. Don’t fall into the trap of seeing what another runner is doing for mileage and think you should be doing the same. Have faith in your plan and work it each week, the way it was laid out, so you can avoid injury. Making it to the start line is the first goal. Every runner is different and you will not know how much mileage is manageable for you until you start building toward your race distance goal. Listen to your body and know yourself well enough to realize when you’re doing too much. One runner can achieve a PR (personal record) in the marathon with an 18-mile-long run and 50 to 60-mile weeks while another can handle a 22-mile-long run and 70 to 90-mile weeks. Both options are very effective and work for that specific runner. Do some experimenting to figure out where your high mileage threshold is and then stick to it. Common signs of overtraining include exhaustion, losing control of your emotions, injury, slowed paces, and not being able to elevate your heart rate. If you experience any of these for more than three days, take up to three days off. You will be surprised how good you feel when you return to running well rested. 2. Test your clothing and running shoes If you have never before run the half or full marathon distance, it is important to know when to buy new shoes. Most guidelines report 400 to 500 miles as the threshold for wear and tear but some runners need to update more often. Be sure you have the correct pair of running shoes for your feet and form, preferably by having a gait analysis done, and then replace as necessary leading up to race day. Most specialty running stores offer complimentary running analysis and then can recommend the correct shoes for your body. What you wear above your feet can sometimes make or break your race. Marathoners, and some half marathoners, need to worry about chafing. Select an outfit that you will be able to wear on race day (checking the weather ahead of time) and wear it at least once on a long training run. You want to be sure it’s comfortable and, if there are any chafe points, you can generously apply glide prior to the race start. Once you select an outfit that works for you, make sure you wear it on race day or you may have a very uncomfortable shower afterward. 3. Make Your Easy Days Easy One of the hardest lessons I learned was making my easy days truly easy. Did you know that some elite runners run up to 80 percent of their training runs at an easy pace? It takes a lot of courage to run slow. Be confident enough in your training to run easy and slowly when your training plan calls for it. Your body and mind need the break from going hard and, when you run easy and allow for active recovery, you can run your hard and long runs much more efficiently, while increasing your training base. Gradually, those easy run paces will increase so you can run faster with less effort. 4. Proper pacing We have all been guilty of stepping to the start line and going out too fast, thinking we can somehow hold a pace we never have in our training. Grandiose dreams of unreachable PRs can cultivate in the early miles of a long race and turn into nightmares mid-race or sooner. You train at a certain race pace and tempo pace for a reason. You should know (and your body should know) exactly what pace you want to run on race day. It should be practiced in training and then executed on race day. Pace calculators can help you determine what is a realistic pace and time for you. 5. Nutrition and hydration Test out your hydration and fuel plan early and often in your racing preparation. Choose several long runs on your calendar and hydrate and eat the night before and during the run as you plan to on race day. The last thing you want is stomach issues or dehydration on your big day. If you practice your race day eating and drinking during your training runs, your body and mind will be used to ingesting the specific food, gels and drinks you give it. Once you find food and beverages that work for you, use them throughout your training and do not deviate from the plan on race day. You may be tempted at the expo or at the race itself to try something new, but remember the golden rule – nothing new on race day! A half or full marathon is a major commitment in your time and effort. Make sure you avoid these five mistakes to arrive at the start line ready to achieve your goals. This article by Allie Burdick was originally published on trainingpeaks.com. TrainingPeaks provides you in-depth analysis, planning tools and coaching services to help you reach your goal. Track your workouts with your Suunto watch. Afterwards analyze your heart rate, power, pace and other data with TrainingPeaks on web or in mobile and progress towards your goals. Lead image by @EdreamsMitjaMaratóBarcelona