Neil Rooney

@avidseries Would the big fat 💉 Elephant in the room play a very significant role too or do we not talk about that? If you look at the coaches they use and the 'interesting' methods they've used to make fast athletes. Maybe genetics isn't the primary driver.

49 of the fastest 50 marathoners of all time had East African ancestry. Yes, it is in the genes.

@ORION_coaching I agree. What the people who make these silly comparisons between Korir and people like me miss is that Korir probably does at least 30km/week of high intensity work at an average of about 2.45/km or faster. Where's as I struggle to do 6km/wk at 3.55/km. Apples and oranges

Silly take - and not the first time being slung about. Running 50-60 mpw, plus 3 strength sessions & several cycling workouts. My ez runs are very ez, HR in the 120s. Could not care less about pacing; it’s about keeping HR down. And, I never run this slow. Not ever.

@wickedstealthy I've just been looking at their products last week. I want to buy a lactate testing kit. Did you buy one?

@RunSensible It’s derived from a inscyd test. But 3min power is around 440watt and 5min close to 400watt. Not that bad at 53. But wasn’t very efficient when tested. That has changed quite a bit. Lots of base to increase lt1. You don’t win by ftp or Vo2max 😁

One thing I like about a fixed HR cap... It naturally grows with your fitness. 120 bpm is a much higher relative effort for someone with a resting heart rate of 40bpm, than it is for someone with a resting heart rate of 80 bpm (because it's much closer to the unfit person's resting state) As your resting HR gets lower & lower... You earn the right to push the aerobic work relatively harder over time.

@Alan_Couzens Really appreciate this, Alan. Thank you. It, as always, makes little things more clear when you explain.

Great question from Neil... Is my zone 1 pace too fast for my easy miles? As athletes get fitter, it can be! World Class triathletes have an LT1 approaching 3:30/k (~5:30/mi)! Running all of their "easy" training close to this would be metabolically prohibitive, i.e just too energy costly! So, a general order of priorities... 1. Hit the mileage/work target. 2. With as much z1 as possible. 3. But don't be afraid of a large chunk coming from zone 0 (<15bpm below LT1). Especially for a fit athlete... Time/miles in zone 0 are still very beneficial!

@jakekellymd @Alan_Couzens Yes, I felt like that when i started thinking about metabolism too back in June 2025 when Alan and @inaki_delaparra stayed with the podcast. Seriously life changing with a little added bonus of improved racing performance too.

@RunSensible @Alan_Couzens Really nice work. It has taken some time for me to move beyond minutes and miles to kcal but it translates to metabolic health and underlying energetics much better.

1,000 kcal of low-intensity exercise every day keeps the Doctor away. 2,000 kcal of low-intensity exercise every day keeps the competition at bay.

@wickedstealthy Thank you!

@RunSensible @Alan_Couzens So likely your easy runs are a bit on the high side. I know that running hr is higher but 115 for 120lt1 is pretty fast if I look at the numbers

@wickedstealthy That's an impressive VO2max. The past 5yrs I've just been running so I don't have any meaningful data off the bike anymore. My max HR (never tested) I'd say is about 178bpm.

@RunSensible @Alan_Couzens What’s your max hr ? I’m a cyclist and use power. But my lt hr is 163-164 or so for 308, ftp 315-320, max hr 173-174. My lt1 around 135 for 235watt. Most of my rides are now 121bpm and doing hard workouts I lower my z2 to 115bpm. My vo2max is around 65-67

@Tom_Babington1 @Alan_Couzens It wasn't always. I've been doing a lot of walking, walking with a 5kg vest and really easy biking on Zwift the past 9 months. That definitely turned the dial on my better health and metabolism.

@RunSensible @Alan_Couzens Running 8 min miles with a 115bpm HR cap is impressive.

@matteleyalaska @Alan_Couzens Yes, Matt. I know the answer that's why I asked the question. Thanks for your yourself insights. Guys like you really make X a better place. Never stop learning.

@RunSensible @Alan_Couzens I’m confused why someone who’s been running for so long feels a need to ask this question. Of course it’s impossible for Alan or anyone to answer. “Too fast” for what purpose/intention? Surely, you’ve been doing this long enough to know “easy” “moderate” “hard” “very hard?”

@karldeeter I mute accounts that tweet nonsense. They usually have 12 flags in the bio. If it appears on my feed even without interaction I mute them. Seriously makes a big difference when I'm on here.

@RunSensible So true. Like, if a persons only contribution to your life is negative stuff (I will engage all day with balanced commentators) - then what's the point? Just turn off the noise.

Irish politicians & media (if logically consistent) will now have to 'make the decision to stop using google and apple' lol... Those hypocrites will of course say 'it's different' but really it isn't.

@karldeeter I started this about 3monyhs ago and Twitter is such a better place. I mute at least 3 accounts every time I open.

I started making a habit of muting people who don't follow me and whose only interaction is to interact negatively, and I am now finding x almost troll free 😁😁😁

Last week myself and @runliftrunlift recorded an episode of a podcast about the benefits of easy miles in training, we touched on injuries, health and performance too. open.spotify.com/episode/7862XN…

@jerryteixeira My Why? I want to be as healthy and functional as possible when I get to those years where life becomes less hectic. I want to enjoy that time with full health. It's an investment most people never think about.

I don't wake up before the sun to workout because I like it. I do it because I'm serious about living a long, healthy life for my wife, my kids, and myself. I lost family members too early. Doing what I can to prevent my kids from going through that matters to me. If you struggle to stay consistent, it might be that you haven't clearly defined your why. There's no wrong reason. Looking better? Fine. Living longer for your kids? Fine. Not being a burden on your family? Fine. You dictate what's important to you. But if you don't have a clear why, take some time to figure it out. It helps you stay the course. What's yours?

@jerryteixeira I feel like you wrote this with me in mind. So far this year I've missed lots of runs because I'm too busy during the day and evening. The early mornings are always free and I need to maximise that time. Bed early for me from now on.

@ManteoMitchell For a lot of us, we already know. And the truth will set you free...

@john_mcguirk You sound like Alex Feguson, circa 1992.

If Leeds played like this every week they wouldn't be in a relegation fight. Sad.

@AkaPaulHoward As a Man Utd fan I somewhat disagree.

I see United are sh*te again.

@newhandlehun There's always truth in irony. 😎