“You have a limited amount of time and a limited amount of energy. You have to decide where to spend your energy dollars to get the best results.” – Coach Scott Johnston on The Extramilest Show #122
Another incredible episode with Coach Scott Johnston. He is back for Round 2 after our first episode reached over 140,000 YouTube views in just a few weeks. We dive deeper into Zone 2 training, common mistakes runners make, VO₂ max myths, recovery, and how to balance intensity and volume for long-term progress without burning out.
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Topics covered:
- 0:00 – The truth about zone 2 training
- 1:00 – Training for the Uphill Athlete
- 2:40 – What people get wrong about low heart rate training
- 10:10 – MAF training explained (180 – age)
- 14:11 – What people get wrong about high-intensity training
- 23:18 – Introducing our new Personal Best Running Club
- 24:07 – Recovery times by training zone
- 28:27 – How Jakob Ingebrigtsen runs double threshold sessions
- 34:50 – Balancing volume, intensity, and priorities
- 37:14 – Overtraining signs and recovery debt
- 47:45 – Motivation, body signals, and when to stop
- 51:40 – How to do run-walk training in zone 2
- 55:40 – How to measure progress in run-walk training
- 57:12 – Sample run-walk training week
- 59:22 – Guidelines for beginners starting easy training
- 1:02:04 – How to do cross-training during injury
- 1:05:12 – Lever treadmill tool (injury recovery)
- 1:07:23 – Returning after injury or time off
- 1:13:20 – Training in heat and adjusting effort
- 1:18:58 – Does aerobic threshold improve over time?
- 1:20:58 – Breathing vs heart rate for intensity
- 1:24:00 – Training at altitude (heart rate adjustments)
- 1:25:35 – Where to find Scott, his books, & programs
- 1:27:03 – Final advice for recreational runners to improve without burnout
A few important lessons from my conversation with coach Scott Johnston Round 2:
- “Trying to train like a professional is a mistake, unless you are a professional.”
- “Having a high VO2 max is like getting invited to the school dance. It gets you in the door, but it does not guarantee you get to dance with the prettiest girl.”
- “By far the worst predictor of performance is VO2 max. By far the best predictor is the speed at the second threshold, which is actually truly performance.”
- “I have had athletes that improve their aerobic threshold running pace for 10 years continuously.”
- “Duration, duration, duration. The more volume you accumulate in this low-intensity realm, the bigger the aerobic base becomes.”
- “When you get into an overtrained state, you are looking at usually a minimum of several months to pull yourself out of it.”
- “If you show any signs of overtraining, stop today. There is no way to say, ‘I’m just going to back off a little bit.’ Your body is in a serious medical condition.”
- “For every day you’ve missed in training, take roughly that many days of gradual training to come back. It leaves quickly, but it comes back a lot faster than it took to build.”
- “You can’t coach desire. You better love the process, because 99% of your training is going to be running slowly, often alone. You can’t be looking externally for the motivation.”
Hope you enjoy this new video, CLICK HERE to watch it.
Cheers,
Floris Gierman
P.S. We are excited to introduce our new Personal Best Running Club. If you want to stop guessing and start applying the training science from guests like Scott Johnston, this is where the work actually happens. You get structured heart rate-based training plans, live coaching with me and our team, and a community of runners all working toward their next breakthrough. There are daily discussion topics to keep you consistent, monthly accountability challenges so you follow through, and monthly masterclass sessions with experts like Dr. Phil Maffetone, Lawrence Van Lingen, Coach Scott Johnston, and more. Try it completely risk-free with a free 7-day trial at skool.com/personalbest.
