Hi, this is Debbie Boyle's coach at Mojo for Running. Today's podcast is titled, A Great Work Ethic, a Challenged Runner.

This may seem illogical. Isn't a good work ethic always a good thing? Well, of course, a good work ethic is a good thing, and most runners have a great work ethic.

But sometimes that can actually be a problem.

Here's how it works.

In general, in life, we learn that the harder you work to achieve a goal,

the more likely it is that you'll achieve the goal.

And in general, the harder you work toward that goal,

the faster you'll achieve it.

This is absolutely not true in running.

Not if we define working hard as going out and running hard.

That work ethic can and often does lead to injury.

The secret to achieving any running goal, whether that goal is to run faster or farther, is to follow a smart training plan.

A smart plan always is a plan that applies the overload principle.

That means overloading your body, or in other words, asking your body to run harder, and that could be longer or faster,

and then giving it time to recover and rebuild.

When you provide this recovery time, your body will get stronger and more able and your body will be able to give you more next time you ask it.

The problem with that great work ethic is that most people will want to go hard every day,

never allowing their body the magical rebuilding time.

This will have an adverse effect.

Your body will become less and less able because you're tearing it down without allowing it to recover.

If you do this, you may get slower and slower and wonder why.

This is why the hard, easy principle is so important.

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