When runners start paying attention to their mileage, this simple sport tends to get a bit murky. You may find yourself wondering: Am I running enough? Too much? Should I be matching what my friends are doing? How do I determine the best volume for me and my goals? 

While none of those questions have clear-cut answers, there are some helpful ways to think about them. Here, two coaches with a solid grasp on this volume conundrum share their perspectives and offer advice for other runners and coaches searching for that elusive mileage sweet spot.

What Does Optimal Mileage Mean?

Many runners assume that optimal mileage refers to the highest load they can handle without getting hurt. Shawn Bearden, PhD, a professor of physiology at Idaho State University who runs an exercise science lab as well as the podcast and website, sees it differently.

He defines optimal mileage as “the distance that results in the greatest gains in capacity for your goals within the context of your life.” Even if more mileage yields greater physiological gains, if it also erodes other parts of your life that matter, then it’s not optimal. “To be optimal,” he says, “must also be sustainable in the context of a fulfilled and happy life.”

Nell Rojas, a in Boulder, Colorado—first American woman at the 2022 Boston Marathon, and ninth place finisher in the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials—adds that a person’s ideal volume is a fluid concept. For both Rojas and her athletes, it “will ebb and flow systematically” over the course of a year. During a base phase, for example, when building strength and running on tired legs are primary goals, optimal mileage may mean the highest weeks that they’ll log all season. As they add in workouts and intensity, what’s considered optimal will likely decrease by 10–15 percent to allow for quicker reps and recovery times.

What Does Optimal Mileage Look Like in Practice?

Rojas—who also won the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon in 2:28:06—feels comfortable hovering between 85–95 miles per week. In that window, she knows she can stay healthy, recover well, execute workouts, and stress her aerobic and skeletomuscular systems enough to yield training adaptations that translate to positive race performances. Rojas has gradually bumped up that range since high school and expects to continue doing so as her marathoning career progresses.

Looking at runners in general, Bearden has found that most people seem to do well with weekly volumes of 50–80 miles, or roughly 8–12 hours of running. That is, if you have gradually built to that volume with years of consistent training, and your current life supports that commitment. 

What Factors Should Go into Mileage?

When trying to pinpoint the most appropriate mileage for you, Bearden suggests starting with the amount of time you have to train each day. This should not be a goal number, but a realistic one that you can reliably devote to running. From there, Bearden says, “We use as much of that time as they can handle each day such that the weekly volume is recoverable, to where they can repeat that volume indefinitely.”

Rarely does a person have excess time available for training. For them, Bearden builds their volume until the natural pace of their easy runs show signs of plateauing. “At that point,” he says, “We focus more attention on the hills and speed work for a while until it looks like easy runs are getting a little bit quicker.” They may then bump up mileage a bit and reevaluate.

Rojas lists a host of other factors that should be accounted for when determining one’s mileage: race distance (are you training for a 5K or a marathon?); history (of injury, volume, and races off of different volumes); motivation (since sustainability is critical); time (for both running but also mobility, strength work, and rest/recovery needed to support all the running); and runner type. For that last variable, Rojas explains, “Fast-twitch fiber athletes benefit from less mileage with higher quality, and slow-twitch fiber athletes benefit from more mileage with slightly less quality.”

Should I Be Running More?

“Almost everyone is running less than they can benefit from,” says Bearden. The question he would ask athletes wondering whether they should is whether they have: the time to run more, the desire to run more, and an inkling that their current mileage is both too easy and not leading to improved fitness. If the answers to all three of those are yes, a cautious increase in mileage might be worth a shot. Cautious is the key word here, if you are to avoid the common pitfall of ramping up mileage too quickly and paying for it later.

Am I Running Too Much?

There’s a fine line between running enough to build fitness and stay consistent, and running so much that you set yourself up for injury or burnout. Some common indicators of an athlete in that second camp, according to Bearden, are: reduced motivation or interest in training; new and persistent aches, pains, and/or tweaks; excessive sluggishness after a rest day; diminished speed in fast intervals or strides; and unusually heavy legs on inclines.

RELATED: Camille Herron’s Advice: Skip the Long Run

“Ultimately,” Bearden believes, “If you want to know if an athlete is doing too much, then you’re really asking about persistent fatigue, and the way to gauge that is simply to ask the athlete.” If you are both the coach and the athlete, pay attention and be honest with yourself. 

Parting Tips from the Coaches?

Rojas’s philosophy on running volume is simple: “More is not always better.” Running less but consistently is better than the dreaded but all-too-familiar cycle of running too much, getting hurt, taking time off, and repeating. She encourages other runners to remember that every person is different, and that with a little trial and error, you’ll eventually land on your current sweet spot.

Bearden’s advice to those fretting about their mileage is to stop aiming for perfection and instead to recognize when they’ve found a formula that works within the context of their life. He says, “If you’re honest about the time you have available for running, and you’re as consistent as you can be with that time, then there isn’t much more you can reasonably ask of yourself.” A person’s optimal mileage is “a moving target,” as he calls it, and an iterative process that can be continually tweaked.

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No matter how fast, fit, experienced, or strong-minded you are, if you’re a runner, you’ve had your share of tough days. Whether due to flat legs, poor fueling, an overzealous race plan, or any number of other reasons known or unknown, sometimes just reaching the finish line feels like an insurmountable challenge.

As miserable as they are, those days are fertile ground for major growth. They reveal important truths and expose areas in need of attention, while setting the stage for future breakthroughs. The trick is getting through those trials with as much grace as possible, and teasing the lessons from them rather than drowning in self-pity or excuses.

, PhD, a 2016 Olympian for Great Britain with a sports psychology consulting business in Houston, Tex., has encountered countless crucibles as an athlete, spectator, coach, and psychologist. Below, she offers her best advice for preparing, managing, and learning from them. Consider this your crash course in the psychology of hanging tough.

Accept That No One’s Immune.

As nice as it would be to reach a level of fitness or self-confidence in which poor performances are a non-issue, Waite says that, even for the best of the best, that’s just not realistic. “Humans are unpredictable,” she says — not to mention imperfect. “A bad race here and there is inevitable.” Acknowledging that truth will allow you to better manage them when they do arrive.

Practice Salvaging the Tough Ones.

Rather than trying to outright avoid tough days on the track, trails, or roads, Waite says your efforts are better spent limiting how often they occur and how greatly your performance differs between good and . “A lot of athletes have the tendency to just throw the towel in on a rough day, but they can still finish the race and tick off some performance boxes,” she says. To master saving a bad day — a skill Waite encourages all athletes to work on — commit to trying your best no matter how your body is feeling or mind is racing. With repetition, you won’t always get the results you want, but you will be able to walk away from any workout or race knowing that you’ve given your best on the day. And what more can you really ask of yourself?

Slow Down to Run Fast.

“When races aren’t going well, athletes tend to panic,” Waite explains. Your mind starts racing, your heart rate accelerates, and your breathing becomes increasingly labored. Whenever you notice yourself tensing up or showing early signs of anxiety, Waite recommends slowing down your thoughts and breaths. Two of her favorite ways to do that are: conducting a brief body scan, and releasing tension anywhere you notice it (like your face, neck, arms, and hands); and grounding yourself in the present by noting things around you (such as trees you’re passing or sounds coming from spectators). Reducing anxiety is the first step in salvaging a spiraling performance, Waite says.

Envision Possible Positives and Negatives.

Runners are taught from the beginning to think positively, have a good attitude, and envision great races and personal records materializing. Waite agrees with those recommendations, citing optimism and positive self-talk as key players in positive performances.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, Waite also encourages you to also spend time considering the things that might go wrong or fall short of your expectations in a race, and coming up with a plan for handling those moments. Here is Waite’s four-step plan for doing just that:

– Set a goal (or a few) for what you want to achieve.

– Imagine your plan unfolding seamlessly at various points of the race.

– Next, envision places where your plan might start veering off course. (For some runners, this happens at roughly the same point in races.) Decide how you want to respond to the voice that becomes negative, frustrated, anxious, or hopeless.

– In your visualization and in an actual race, do your best to stay calm and simplify the situation: keep on putting one foot in front of the other, and focus on the present moment (which could mean minute, lap, mile, or whatever other segment feels manageable at the time).

Recognize the Growth Potential.

Waite sees a big learning opportunity in those inevitable rough patches. Consistently putting forth your best effort — especially when it’s tough to do so — will not only increase trust in yourself to get through any crucible in one piece, but it will also foster long-term growth and increase your likelihood of staying in the sport long enough to find out what you’re capable of.

“If you can look back and think, Man, I was ready to throw the towel in, but I maintained my composure, focused on what I could do in the moment to bring myself back to my performance goals, and still met some of them,” Waite says, “That is HUGE.”

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You can make your own energy bars, protein shakes, and even dehydrated food—but what about energy gels? Though it may sound daunting, making your own gels is not only cheaper–most commercial gels run upwards of $1.50–but the process is as easy and customizable as whipping up a smoothie.

When You Need a Gel

When choosing a gel, Kylee Van Horn, a registered dietitian, running coach, and the founder of in Carbondale, Colorado, recommends first taking into account the length and intensity of your activity. Energy gels are not necessary for every workout—Van Horn’s threshold is 90 minutes; your pre-workout nutrition should carry you through if it’s less than that. When you hit the 90 minutes mark, Van Horn’s rule of thumb is one gel every 30 to 45 minutes, aiming for a total of at least 200 calories per hour. (You may also want to take one gel prior to starting if you don’t eat beforehand.)

What To Put in Your Gels

Greater-intensity workouts require gels that predominantly come from carbohydrates, while lower intensities allow you to better tolerate fat and protein. Also, be mindful of the gel’s texture: thicker consistencies tend to be easier to suck down at slower clips. And if you’re going to be exercising for super-long stints, prepare for the possibility of palate fatigue–the can’t-choke-down-one-more-bite-of-X feeling–by incorporating multiple flavor combinations into your fueling plan.

Next, Van Horn suggests paying attention to the type of sugar in your gel, as that a combination of fructose (common sources include fruit and honey) and glucose (found in starchy foods such as rice, oats, and bread) can help boost endurance performance during moderate- to high-intensity workouts and also accelerate recovery on the backend. Sugar alcohols, on the other hand, which appear on ingredient lists with names like Sorbitol, Erythritol, and Xylitol, are common sources of gastrointestinal distress, so are best avoided in gels and other mid-exercise nutrition.

Lastly, Van Horn says to look at the sodium and caffeine content of your gel. Although sweat rate and sweat sodium content vary from person to person, if you’re working out for long enough to need a gel, you’ll likely benefit from some added sodium. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends starting with a sodium intake of during prolonged exercise bouts and adjusting from there if needed. (All of Van Horn’s gel recipes, which yield two to three servings, call for between a pinch to ¼ teaspoon salt.) And , although not essential in a gel, is at least worth considering, as studies show that endurance athletes may reap the biggest performance-enhancing benefits from caffeine due to their high fatigue levels. Most caffeinated commercial gels include doses that range from 25 milligrams to 100 milligrams.

How to Make Your Own

While Van Horn appreciates the convenience of store-bought gels–her favorites are the real food blends by and , and the pure maple syrup packets by –she’s had success making her own with common ingredients like bananas, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, dates, and salt. She likes that you have more control over what goes into homemade gels, which is especially good for people with food allergies or sensitivities. Homemade versions also eliminate the need for single-use packets if you use a refillable flask (like from Gu).

Just beware of including too much fat (from sources such as nuts, oils, and avocados), fiber (which most vegetables are high in), or fructose (found in fruit, honey, and agave nectar), all of which have the potential to cause gastrointestinal issues, in your gels. Van Horn also emphasizes that it’s important to store them properly to avoid spoilage if using perishable ingredients. (Her recipes stay good for up to three days in the refrigerator.) Lastly, as with everything else you do on race day, you should experiment with homemade gels in training before you introduce them in a competition.

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If all you know is store-bought stock, wait until you discover how versatile and delicious the homemade variety can be. It’s also a smart way to reduce food waste: chicken carcasses, beef bones, carrot tops, potato skins, and herb stems are fair game. Just be sure to store them in the freezer until it’s cooking time.

Jackie Dikos, a registered dietitian and the author of , loves chicken and beef stock for their amino-acid profiles. Glutamine supports the body when it’s stressed and promotes recovery, while glycine aids digestion. Vegetable broth, meanwhile, is rich in minerals. Magnesium helps with energy production and is a known stress reducer, while zinc and copper support the immune system. Dikos simmers her stock in a slow cooker overnight or starts it first thing in the morning so it’s ready by dinnertime. Here’s how to do it yourself.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds meaty chicken or beef bones (optional)
• Enough chopped fresh vegetables or frozen veggie scraps to nearly fill the pot
• 3 or 4 aromatic additions such as 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, and 3 parsley or thyme sprigs
• Salt to taste

Instructions

If you’re using the bones, place them at the bottom of a large stockpot, slow cooker, or Dutch oven. Scatter the veggies, herbs, and any spices on top. Add enough water to cover the ingredients, and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook on low, uncovered, for at least eight hours. Add salt to taste. Let cool, then strain into a storage container using a fine-mesh sieve or a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Stock can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for up to three months.

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While bars and gels have their place in outdoor excursions, real foods—as close to their natural state as possible—are often more nutritious, satiating, and palatable than their highly processed peers. These simple meals can help you bag a summit or set a PR.

Skiing

şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř food should check three boxes, according to , a former college downhill skier and a registered dietitian in Portland, Oregon: it should be filling, packable, and easy to grab. Her go-to for skiing is a bagel with cream cheese piled high with veggies like sprouts and cucumbers. It can be stashed in a pocket and provides plenty of energy (plus a satisfying crunch) without making you sluggish.

Trail Running

Whole-grain berry pancakes are Ross’s snack of choice on a trail run, thanks to their high fiber content, which keeps you feeling full longer. They’re easily digestible at slower speeds, too. The quick energy and sweetness from the fruit—blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are all fair game—let you leave the sticky syrup at home.

Cycling

New York triathlete and nutrition coach likes to bring her triple-coconut bread (see recipe below) on rides. The coconut provides healthy fats along with manganese, copper, and iron—good for bones, heart health, and oxygen transport, respectively—while the oat flour delivers long-lasting energy and slow-digesting, soluble fiber.

Hiking

For trail outings, Bildirici prefers a more portable snack, like her cinnamon-oat no-bake cookies. After pulsing dates, raisins, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts in a food processor, she shapes them into discs and stores them in the freezer. The fruit is rich in vitamin B, which helps convert food into energy, while antioxidants and omega-3 fats from the nuts are anti-inflammatory. For the full recipe, visit her blog, .

For Any şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř

Bildirici likes her coffee-date bites (recipe also on her blog) for pretty much any outdoor activity. She combines high-protein nuts and dried fruit with roasted coffee beans (for a caffeine kick), vanilla, and cinnamon, then blends them in a food processor, rolls the mixture into one-tablespoon balls, and freezes them for storage. She describes it as “the perfect bite of energy,” suitable for both a before-hike snack and a midday pick-me-up.

Lottie Bildirici’s Triple-Coconut Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• Âľ cup coconut sugar
• 2½ cups oat flour
• 1 teaspoon ­cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ­baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ­baking soda
• 2 eggs or flax­seed alternative (see below)
• 1 cup canned ­coconut milk (full fat or light)
• Salt to taste

For flaxseed alternative:

Mix two table­spoons of flaxseeds with five tablespoons of water and let sit ten minutes.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a four-by-eight-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs or flaxseed alternative with coconut milk. Fold that into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add batter to prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Want to transform your relationship with food and develop healthier eating habits? Check out our  online course on , where şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř+ members get full access to our library of more than 50 courses on adventure, sports, health, and nutrition.

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Few would debate the importance of summer training for distance runners. Now that the pandemic is fading into the past, cross-country teams are once again preparing for upcoming seasons, half and full marathoners are targeting fall races, and track athletes will soon be laying the foundation for merciless schedules that start as early as December. The summer months present the opportunity before us to build fitness without interruptions by races or pressure to train through aches and pains.

Nor would many dispute that summertime features some of the toughest miles logged all year. Not only are most teams separated for a few months of lonely workouts, but extreme weather in certain places can exacerbate an already difficult task. There’s no getting around the fact that summer training is both necessary and hard; but there are ways to go about it safely and sustainably.

Elite runners from four of the hottest cities in the U.S. — Phoenix, Houston, Jacksonville, and Las Vegas — show us how it’s done.

Prepare for the Heat

With summers as cruel as Phoenix’s, 5K and 10K pro Jess Tonn knows that quality training is contingent upon thorough preparation. In addition to her early-to-bed, early-to-rise schedule, Tonn — who also works as a marketing consultant — plans her routes based on the sun’s position and that run’s hydration needs. “If it’s really a scorcher out (which is every day during May to late October in Phoenix),” she says, “I will do the same 3- or 4-mile loop for long runs so I can swing through and grab some cold water or Gatorade each loop.” Tonn also runs in the shade as much as possible, and starts her out-and-back morning runs going east so the rising sun is at her back for the second half.

Run with Friends

A lifetime of Texas summers has made Cali Werner (formerly Roper) a heat training expert. So it’s meaningful that the Licensed Master Social Worker and 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials participant’s top summer training tip is to run with friends. “It is so incredibly easy to get burnt out in the brutal Houston heat,” Werner says. “Training buddies can help you to take your mind off of the fatigue, thirst, and chafing,” while also passing the time and offering a unique bond forged through shared miles. 

Know Your Hydration Needs

Jacksonville-based Kelsey Beckmann, a registered dietician who owns Meteor Nutrition and also ran in February’s Olympic Marathon Trials, doesn’t gamble when it comes to hydration. “Dehydrated runners with just a 2% fluid loss decrease in performance by at least 6–7%, and fluid loss of 3% and greater is considered unsafe,” she warns. 

Prevent dehydration by calculating and meeting your daily hydration needs with Beckmann’s formula: Start with a baseline of drinking half your weight (in pounds) through fluids (in ounces). Then, calculate your hourly sweat rate by taking your pre-exercise weight minus your post exercise weight, plus fluid intake. Every pound lost during exercise equals 16 ounces.

For example: 

Pre-run weight: 130 lbs.

Post-run weight: 128 lbs.

Water drank during 1-hour run: 8 oz.

Fluid loss due to sweat: 2 lbs. = 32 oz.

Total sweat loss: 32 oz. + 8 oz. = 40 oz. per hour 

Baseline fluid requirements: 130 lbs/2 = 65 oz.

Daily hydration needs: 65 oz. + 40 oz. = 105 oz.

Drink All Day

Amount of fluids isn’t the only variable that matters; timing does too. Christina Vergara-Aleshire, a 2:34 marathoner and registered dietician from Las Vegas, emphasizes the importance of drinking all day long. A pre-run icy beverage can cool your core temperature, while scheduled sips during your run help to keep dehydration at bay.

“Every 15 minutes I drink even if I don’t feel like I need it,” she says. “The heat builds quickly and before you know it, your energy is completely gone.”

If you’re fortunate enough to have a supporter on a bike or in a car, you can also ask him or her to carry ice, which Vergara-Aleshire rubs on her neck, torso, wrists, and arms. Finally, start rehydrating as soon as you wrap up your run. She alternates between water and electrolytes throughout the day (even easy days), gets additional electrolytes through the Celtic sea salt she adds to her food, and eats plenty of water-rich fruits and vegetables.

Consume Extra Carbohydrates

It’s obvious that runners need to drink more in the high season for sweating, but less obvious is the reality that . Beckmann explains, “During prolonged exercise, glycogen (carbohydrate storage) in our muscles and liver gets broken down as energy needed for muscle contraction. Hot and humid weather can expedite this process and deplete carbohydrates as an energy source sooner. This is due to an increase in core temperature and a shift in hormonal balance, causing us to spend our carbohydrate supply more readily.” Pay attention to both hunger and thirst, and feed your body the fuel it requires.

Rest Like a Champion

If there’s one area that runners overlook when it comes to summer training, Vergara-Aleshire suspects . Living in a desert climate that averages above 100 degrees for three months of the year, she has learned to pay extra attention to her rest and recognize that her sleep needs increase in the hottest months. “The heat really takes a lot out of you, and you can feel extra run down and always sleepy.”

Similarly, Werner encourages other runners to plug regular rest days into their summer schedules. “Yes, we can power through without a day off, but our body knows what is going down. Rest days keep you physically and mentally strong and will make the runs much more enjoyable.” They’ll also keep you out of the dreaded “hole” (summer’s version of the marathon wall) and help you make it to fall in a good mental and physical state.

Stay Flexible

While quick to adjust paces for altitude, hills, and headwinds, runners tend to be less lenient when it comes to extreme temperatures and humidity levels. We know such conditions make training harder, but most of us don’t have a good gasp on exactly how much. For that reason, Tonn suggests being flexible with your plan and adjusting it when needed. “Listening to the body, especially during hard workouts and long runs, is imperative,” she says.

In addition, Beckmann urges runners in hot climates to “go by effort and loosen expectations to prevent burnout and frustration.” For some, that may mean stashing their GPS watches in a drawer for a while, while for others, that may mean prioritizing heart rate over pace. Either way, know that faster conditions are ahead, and the training you’re doing now will pay off later.

Give Yourself Credit

Runners are notoriously hard on ourselves. Consider this your reminder to celebrate your dedication and grit all the time, but especially in seasons that are especially taxing. “As a mental health clinician and advocate,” Werner says, “I know it is equally important to invest in your mental health.” In addition to training the body, she encourages runners to work on their mental approach too. This includes reflecting on successes, acknowledging challenging conditions, and feeling proud of your efforts. It may be hard to see them now, but the gains you make in those areas now will translate to your next racing season, whenever that may be.

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There are worse vices than nut butter. Calorically dense, it makes a great snack for athletes, thanks to ample protein and fat content. The only downside? A 16-ounce jar can cost upwards of $10. Fortunately, you can make it for around half that cost.

Almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds are all great bases for your nut butter. Don’t be afraid to mix different nuts and seeds, and be sure to get them raw and unsalted. Roasting at home makes them easier to grind, draws out beneficial oils, and deepens the flavor.

, a dietitian from Columbia, South Carolina, likes to blend walnuts with maple syrup, macadamia nuts with coconut flakes, and pecans with pumpkin-pie spice. Here, Hartley shares her foolproof recipe for a classic nut or seed spread.

Ingredients

• 3 cups raw nuts or seeds
• 1 tablespoon peanut or neutral-flavored oil (if needed)
• 1 or 2 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, or other sweetener
• Salt, cinnamon, coconut flakes, vanilla extract, or cocoa powder to taste

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the nuts or seeds on a pan and toast until they smell fragrant, about ten minutes, stirring halfway through to keep them from burning. Place in a food processor and mix on high until the texture is smooth and runny, scraping down the sides intermittently and adding a little oil for creaminess if needed. This can take up to ten minutes. Once it’s smooth, blend in the sweetener and the salt and other flavorings to taste. Transfer the butter to a 16-ounce jar and store at room temperature for a week or in the fridge for several weeks.

Want to transform your relationship with food and develop healthier eating habits? Check out our  online course on , where şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř+ members get full access to our library of more than 50 courses on adventure, sports, health, and nutrition.

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Even the laziest cooks can do better than store-bought pickles. With just a little prep work, you can make your own, adding flavor and crunch to salads, sandwiches, and more, while netting health benefits from the produce and the juice. Another bonus: you probably have most of the ingredients already.

Pickle brine, typically made with salt, sugar, and vinegar, brims with electrolytes that can help combat dehydration and cramping, explains Maddie Alm, a registered dietician, runner, and owner of , a sports nutrition business in Boulder, Colorado. (Alm says you can take a few sips as soon as you feel a cramp coming on, or combine it with some water in place of a sports drink.) And while certain methods of cooking reduce or eliminate water-soluble vitamins in veggies, cold-pickling leaves those intact.

Try your hand at pickling with this quick recipe adapted from the blog of Jennifer Segal, author of the cookbook . You can substitute other vegetables for the classic cukes—cauliflower, peppers, beets, asparagus, and jalapeños work great—and tweak the spices and dill until you land on a ratio you love. 

Ingredients

• 1ÂĽ cups distilled white vinegar (5 percent acidity)
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 cups cold water
• 1Âľ to 2 pounds cucumbers, cut into spears
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• ÂĽ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 16 dill sprigs

Instructions

Combine vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and whisk until salt and sugar are dissolved. Transfer liquid into a bowl and whisk in cold water. Refrigerate. Pack cucumbers into two quart jars and divide the rest of the ingredients evenly between the jars. Completely cover the cucumbers with chilled brine, adding a bit of cold water if you come up short. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Makes two quarts. 

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There’s a good reason runners say “Hills pay the bills.” Not only is hill training crucial for ­rolling courses like the February 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials; it’s also the ultimate workout multitasker. As Rice University women’s track and cross-country coach Jim Bevan explains, running uphill strengthens muscles, boosts speed and agility, stretches the Achilles, and promotes hip extension. That makes it beneficial for everyone. All you need are a pair of shoes, a hill roughly 40 yards long, and about 30 minutes.

These are Bevan’s favorite drills, inspired by running coach and father of hill training . Warm up with a jog or a brisk walk, then do five repetitions of each exercise, walking down in between.

Gentle Start

Why: Hills tax legs differently than level ground. Bevan recommends easing into it with a gentle climb. This will lead to better form and higher aerobic capacity.

How: Keep your eyes focused on the top and ascend at an easy pace. Maintain good posture while lifting your knees and pumping your arms. Leaning slightly into the hill can also be helpful.

High Knees

Why: Boosts reaction time and builds power—useful for skiers and mountain bikers.

How: Starting at the bottom, push off with one foot while driving the other knee up with enough power to get a few inches off the ground. Land, then push off with the leg that was just in midair. “Keep your toes cocked so you land on the ball of your foot and not the toe, and try to come down beneath your center of mass,” Bevan says.

Bounds

Why: Encourages a strong push-off and full hip extension, beneficial for runners and climbers.

How: Push off the ground with one foot, driving your leg up and as far out in front of you as possible while maintaining good posture. Land on the front foot while swinging the back leg forward to repeat on the other side. Your hip flexors should feel a stretch, and your arm swing should help with the movement.

Springy Strides

Why: These are all about improving your coordination, which will come in handy while climbing or trail running.

How: Repeat the steps for bounds, but increase your pace to a stride (one notch below a sprint). You’ll spend less time in the air but generate more power with every push-off, reaching the hill’s peak much more quickly. “Keep your hips high—don’t sit,” Bevan advises. “Relax from your shoulders and neck to achieve a full arm swing.”

Modified Frog Jumps

Why: This exercise strengthens the muscles in your legs, feet, and core. All athletes, especially those who sprint and jump, will benefit.

How: Start with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. Bend down into a half squat while swinging your elbows back and launch yourself up the hill. As you land, go straight back into a half squat and continue the cycle. Don’t come to a complete stop until you’ve finished the sequence. “It’s kind of like a dynamic squat with a jump at the end,” Bevan says. Aim for ten solid frog jumps in each repetition. Once you’ve mastered the modified version, you can progress to full frog jumps, bending your knees 90 degrees.

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Although casually tossed around within running vernacular as a synonym for determination, is a notoriously difficult concept to verbalize, and harder still to translate from Finnish into any other language. Many people liken it to grit, guts, or perseverance, or they simply name athletes who had it: Paavo Nurmi, Lasse Virén, and company. But any attempt to cram the meaning of sisu into a few words or paradigms inevitably comes up short.

After spending two months in Finland right out of college in 2013, I still didn’t leave with a complete understanding of sisu, though I definitely made some headway with the help of several runners and coaches. I also learned that the definition was highly subjective, varying to some degree on the person I asked. 

Below, four Finnish runners help me try, once again, to decode this elusive concept. In their words, this is what sisu is all about.

You Make It Happen Regardless of Setbacks.

Minttu Hukka, a decorated runner who spent most of her collegiate career at Boise State University, is on a quest to become the first Finnish triathlete in the Olympics. The Knoxville, Tennessee-based athlete is also the proud owner of a sisu tattoo. “To me, sisu is more than being gritty,” Hukka says. It’s a trait and a long-term approach that’s embedded in the Finnish culture, wrapped up in its history, climate, and “hard-working and honest” people. The question that Hukka says best captures sisu is: When things get tough and the odds are against you, do you shy away and accept the defeat, or do you put your head down and keep pressing forward? The person with sisu keeps fighting.

Hukka’s most intimate experience of sisu comes from the 2013-2014 track season. She’d been injured the fall and winter prior, and just two weeks after she started running, had to get surgery and was sidelined for another month. By the time she started training again in mid-March, she was in the worst shape of her life but still dreaming of qualifying for the IAAF World Junior Championships. “No one expected me to do it,” Hukka says, “but for some reason everything just clicked.” Her 9:56 3,000-meter steeplechase was a 20-second PR, the best time by a European junior that year, and a qualifier for World Championships, where she made it to the finals. Hukka refuses to pin that unlikely comeback on luck. Along with her coach, she says, “I worked so hard and kept my dream alive despite all the odds that were against me.” That’s what you call sisu in action.

You Consistently Exceed Your Limits.

Finnish distance runner Antti-Pekka Niinistö says that runners with sisu “never give up” or “can exceed their limits.” While persistence and willpower are part of the concept, they don’t describe t all of it. Although many of us come to know of sisu through the culture of sports, Niinistö thinks it actually stems from the between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Finns were severely underpowered by comparison — the ultimate underdogs — yet they held off the Soviets for over two months in brutally cold conditions, with temperatures dropping to -45°F. Finland was ultimately defeated, but the spirit of sisu that kept them in it for so long left a legacy that has lasted over 80 years.

Sisu is such a loaded word that Niinistö can’t think of a specific instance that he’s either demonstrated or witnessed. “The lack of sisu has always been my problem” in running, he admits, and he also acknowledges that Finland lacks the world-class, sisu-packed runners it once had. The best example of sisu Niinistö knows of, although he wasn’t around to be a witness himself, was Paavo Nurmi. The “” won nine Olympic gold medals, five of them in a span of four days at the 1924 Paris Games, and never lost a cross-country or 10,000-meter race in his 14-year career.

You Draw on Inner Power in Challenging Situations.

Johanna Sällinen is a middle-distance track runner who competed for Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas before moving back to her native Finland. She describes sisu as a “never give up” attitude and “inner power in difficult situations.” It’s an advantage in every sport, as difficult times and injuries are an inevitable part of the process. (She also makes sure to distinguish sisu the attribute with sisu the .)

Of all the situations in which a person can exhibit sisu, Sällinen says that the last kilometers of long races have a way of teasing it out of athletes who have it in them. Last summer’s Finnish Championships at the (aptly-named) Paavo Nurmi Stadium in Turku offers her most recent memory of sisu. The 10,000 meters is a tough race on any occasion, but the heat that day combined with Sällinen’s asthma to make it a tremendous challenge. She was determined to hang in there and perform well in from of a home crowd, and so she mustered up as much sisu as she could in the final kilometers. “I refused to give up,” Sällinen says, and her perseverance paid off with a 10th place finish — her highest placing at nationals.

The More Important the Race, the Bolder You Are.

Former Finnish champion and current coach Juha Hellsten acknowledges that sisu is difficult to explain, even for a Finn. In addition to all of the positive connotations of the word — perseverance, inner power, will to fight, and such — he explains that “sisu can also turn against you, if you can’t let go when you should.” For example, you may be so dedicated to achieving a goal, so willing to suffer for it, that you sustain an injury and end your season prematurely.

Hellsten’s clearest memory of a sisu-fueled race was the 3,000 meters at the Indoor Finnish Championships in 2002, which he says he “decided to win” and consequently ran away from the field, improving his own record and winning the race. Though hard to define, this is what sisu in action feels like to Hellsten: “The more important the competition is, the bolder I am. I dare to start to run along with those who are in better shape. I know that the closer I get to the finish line, the stronger I am. Then I only think about the short time that is left and the time I need to endure and suffer in order to finish.”

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About the Author 

 is a 4-time Olympic Trials participant (in the marathon and 3,000-meter steeplechase) and the author of . A native of Dallas, TX and a graduate of Rice University, she lives, trains, and writes in Boulder, CO with her husband Will and dog Tina.

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