Time to Kill the Hero Workout

October 30, 2025

Hey there, thanks for tuning in.

I’m going to try a new format this week, a more bite sized article with one big idea, one practical tip and a weekly challenge.

On Your Mark - The Big Idea

Most runners chase the “hero workout” — that one epic session that leaves them spent, sore, and satisfied.

The problem?

Hero workouts feel productive, but they rarely make you faster. They just make you tired. The body doesn’t reward pain — it rewards consistency. You get better not from one great workout, but from hundreds of good ones stacked together.

Hero workouts are counterproductive because training beyond the optimal level provides diminishing returns, increases injury risk, and increases recovery time.

Rather than relying on extremely hard training sessions, focus on stacking consistent days and weeks of training. Instead of trying to max out on your workouts, focus on the goal of the session and perform it to the best you can.

For example, if you are aiming for a race pace session, run the reps at your current race pace for the distance, not 5% faster. If your goal is recovery, run at a pace that leaves you feeling ready to go for your next workout.

Set — The Practical Tip

Back off your next hard session by 5%. If you were going to run intervals at 3:50/km, make it 3:55–4:00/km instead. You’ll recover faster, train again sooner, and log more total quality miles this month than if you’d buried yourself trying to prove something.

Not only that, you’ll enjoy the session a lot more if you’re not gritting your teeth and racing the session. The more you enjoy what you’re doing, the more consistent you’ll be.

Go - The Challenge

This week, skip your hardest workout.

Replace it with a controlled progression run where you start slowly, gradually accelerate and finish feeling strong, not wrecked. The run should feel smooth and challenging without straining and you should finish feeling pleasantly tired but with more in the tank.

The fitness you gain from running at a challenging but doable level will outlast the fitness you get from overreaching. You’ll feel fresher, be injured less, and have more energy for racing when it counts.

Run strong,

Dan.

If this helped you rethink your training, share it with another runner who might need permission to train smarter, not harder.