With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Here is a topic that I think most runners in general can relate to and I’m sure we’ve all fallen victim to it at least once. Also I thought the title was very appropriate! So when training is going well it can almost feel like you’re invincible. You know that Superman or Superwoman type feeling. Or that peak confidence. It can be a great feeling. The workouts and long runs will feel almost effortless and the recovery from them seems easier than usual. It’s when you can actually feel your fitness increasing and the confidence at its highest. It’ll feel like you’re on top of the world. And honestly that’s exactly what we want as runners and coaches. Good training should lead to confidence. But there’s a tricky phase that can come with peak fitness that I’ve noticed with some runners.

When everything is going right, it’s very easy for a runner to start pushing just a little bit more than they should. Maybe an easy run gets a little faster or a long run gets extended because “I feel amazing today.” Individually these types of things may not seem like a big deal but when you stack them on top of an already demanding training block that’s often when little issues begin to appear. Like an injury issue for example. I would say this is the most common issue when a runner gets too greedy along with burning themselves out even before the taper rolls around.

Ironically, these problems tend to show up when fitness is at its highest. It’s not because the runner suddenly became fragile. It’s usually because peak fitness also comes with peak fatigue. Fitness and fatigue go hand in hand with each other. A lot of runners don’t realize that the moment they feel their strongest is often when their body is also carrying the largest amount of accumulated fatigue from weeks or months of training. The aerobic system is stronger than ever but the muscles/tendons and the nervous system are all working overtime just to keep up with the workload. That’s where the responsibility part comes in.

The better shape you’re in, the more disciplined you actually have to be. You need to trust the plan instead of chasing extra fitness that may not even be there to gain. Because once you reach that high level of fitness, the goal usually isn’t to build more fitness anymore. The goal becomes protecting the fitness you’ve already built. That means letting the easy days actually be easy and not turning them into tempo efforts. Or even going too hard with the strength work or cross training. You also need to skip the urge to “prove your fitness.” Because sometimes the hardest thing for a runner to do…is not doing more.

Peak fitness isn’t just about how strong you are physically. It’s also about how controlled and disciplined you can stay when reaching this peak confidence. The runners who handle this phase the best are usually the ones who arrive at race day healthy, confident, and ready to show the fitness they’ve been building for months. And often the difference between a great race and a frustrating setback isn’t the training itself…it’s how well the runner handled things when everything started feeling really good.