u/Ok_Butterscotch_4158

Hey there - total noob here and just completed my first week this week and it went really well on the recovery side.

I (46F) do 5x per week at 5:30-6hrs with 2 SubT sessions (3x 10min and 8x 3 min - moving forward I will convert the 3x 10min into 5 x 5min and then layer in the 3rd SubT day when I can get my hilly long run under control).

I signed up for a 5K next Saturday just to get a baseline for the plan and wanted to check on race week routine.

The book says no tapering at all but just wanted to check with any other folks if they always follow this approach to the tee?

I have to move some runs around anyway so I wanted to check if any others make adjustments in intensity or time on feet.

It feels so foreign to me not to taper so I’m a little worried! But I also know I need to trust the process. Excited to collect this baseline so I can really start the program right.

TIA!

I’ve been in Product Management (on the technical side) for over 15 years. The last few years, my scope increased so I was managing the roadmap for about 65 people and multiple teams across engineering, product and design. I have really enjoyed doing more org mgmt across resource planning, setting KPIs, Goals tracking and planning, strategic mapping across features and operational excellence and overall looking for ways to optimize output for the org.

I started to gravitate to a CoS role for a large tech legal department (300+) at a large company and got to the final round but they wanted me to move and that wasn’t in the cards.

I couldn’t get it out of my head that CoS was the next logical step for my career. While I still love building products and services, I even more love building processes and driving more efficient / effective workflows.

Now there is a role opening up for an engineering group (300+) and I’ve worked with that team(s) for 4 years. They also want someone strong in AI which I have been super deep on in the last 2 years.

I’m looking for tips from any Product Mgmt —> CoS folks on how you sold in your background as a match for this line of work.

What parts of your background amplified your impact and what gaps did you have that you needed to fill the most as a CoS?

Hey there, this is a shot in the dark but maybe someone can weigh in.

I’m considering a career switch to Chief of Staff and I don’t know if this would be pounding sand to stretch my social / political/ relationship limits.

So I’ve been in product management for almost 20 years and love building products and services but the last few years I have shifted to loving building the systems and processes behind efficient and effective organizations.

I had this opportunity as my scope expanded and I was leading the roadmap for about 65 people across engineering, product and design. There were different teams in different countries and I loved it a ton… and then my company wanted to flatten the organization from middle management and I got flattened to IC.

I’m ok being an IC but I didn’t like the shift in scope impact. I genuinely loved setting up all the goals and working on how to move teams around to get the most work done while trying also to grow people’s professional goals…

So this role popped up for a Chief of Staff for an org of around 300 people (all engineers). I applied and am being considered.

I love the elements of strategy, building systems and processes to get the organization to be the most productive it can be, and setting up all the goals and targets for headcount and outputs.

I’m excited but I’m worried about the importance of relationships - not that I can’t do that - it’s one of my strong suits is building trust with key partners but I’ve always done this in a very 1:1 way that takes time. I don’t know if that works in this sort of role. Maybe.

I may be wrong but it seems like being a good CoS is also about being an extrovert and being charismatic negotiator with other teams. I can do the negotiation but I’m worried about the constant energy levels needed. I used to manage a team and did really well at that, but it was like pulling teeth to me to ensure we were doing the “bonding” events. This role will be an IC role but with a much larger span of impact.

Anyone else here a Chief of Staff? Any thoughts on if this is a good fit for our types?

Hello again! I’m checking in as I got great advice before on not being stuck to miles per week and shift to hours on feet for training. I’m starting NSM on the 6-hrs per week plan and adjusting with 1-rest day and already doing one long run with hills that I count as one workout for now.

I have read the book.

I introduced my first SubT workout today (3 x 10min) and it went well but I realized I should check in to see if I was only going to add one workout (for now) what is the recommended progression of adding the SubT workouts? Should I do 3x 10, 5x 6 or 9x 3 first and why?

I didn’t see this in the book and even the 4-4.5hr program has 3 SubT workouts.

Thanks!

Hi there! I’ve been running for about 8 months and have absolutely loved my running journey so far!

I have joined a run club where I meet up 1x per week for my long runs. They run the local hills and so I have done about 5 weeks of that but I also have ramped my miles from about 7mi to 10miles over that month+. For the rest of the week I’m doing about 15-20mpw so in total up to 30mpw.

Yesterday I did a 10mile long run with average of about 12min/miles and 160bpm. I was really pushing it for some parts of the run which were 8% and 10% grades so easily Z4. My max HR is about 200bpm and on this run I got to maybe 175 for the really crazy hills for only a few min so I wasn’t dying.

When I got home I ate my post run routine of carbs and protein, stretched and took a shower and then… I felt fatigue like I have never felt before. I HAD TO SLEEP LIKE IT WAS MY JOB.

I just went right to bed and then slept for 4 hours!!! 10am - 2pm!! Then I felt amazing, went about my day and went back to bed that for a normal night’s sleep (and proceeded to get full 8 hours). My stats overnight were all wonderful, HRV was solid, RHR was 50 (normal). Today I feel awesome.

So what is going on? I’ve never felt that before. It worries me honestly. This was my longest run ever and so was it just my body protecting itself? Or did I do something wrong?

I had chews on the run and I brought 750ml water and it was only 65 degrees so honestly amazing weather. The run was 2 hours so it was long but i had about 8 chews over that period. I ate before my run (banana and a bowl of oatmeal and milk) and ate after my run (choco milk, protein shake, lots of bread and some sausages). I dont think I was underfueled or dehydrated.

Since my stats were all good and I ran today and no issues with anything or any fatigue… I just don’t want to be stupid and be missing an important sign from my body to slow down or take it easier or something!

TIA!!

Hi Folks!! I’m back with more questions (I’m 46F and super slow but excited to try NSM). I have read the book and have been lurking here for a few months. I posted last week and got great advice on how to slowly introduce quality work.

I’m currently at 30mpw (w/ 27min 5K) and trying to ramp to 40mpw in next 6 weeks before introducing any SubT training - and will start with 1x per week and slowly add as my body shows I can handle. The only non-easy thing I am doing now is a weekly long run with my local run club which has quite a bit of hills and I find myself going too fast so don’t consider that easy… but I love the group and don’t want to ditch that if possible.

Over the last week(s) I tried to jump from 5days a week to 7 days a week and while I was feeling fine, and stats and body were OK I decided to take an active rest day on day 9 (walked 3 miles) to let my system catch up a bit. I will try that for another week or 2 and maybe keep that in place until I’m faster.

My question is: I’m still working up to 40mpw but because I am so darn slow (13:00-13:30 easy mile) my time on feet is going to get way too much and force me back to 7 days a week which i am not ready for. This week I will probably have 6:30 hrs across 6 days and 30 miles. Adding 10 more miles at 13min/mile is going to bump me close to 8:30 hours which doesn’t seem like the right investment of time.

What should my strategy be? If I’m not at 40mpw the benefits of NSM are still there right? The goal is to let time pass and then better fitness will naturally lower my easy pace so I can get more into the week… and eventually hit 40mpw. Is that the right thinking?

If that’s right, when should I start adding subT? I was assuming it would be at 40mpw but that may not happen for a few months.

Thanks in advance for any advice or guidance. While I love the book, I couldn’t find a lot within this space because NSM is mainly for much more experienced and faster people. But the constraint is still the same - i probably don’t have more than 7 hours per week to train and have injury worries.

I’m and older INTJ female that has finally found a few (2) female friends I care deeply about. I’ve always had a few friends but very few close friends and my main best friend has been international where we can go months without talking.

For the last 5 years these 2 amazing girlfriends are not my normal friend type - very social and girlie… it’s helped me better understand parenting my daughter and brought me out of my shell a lot. I love them and am grateful for them.

Over the last 6 months I got very involved in starting a business and also got into running so I didn’t realize I withdrew a lot from them but was in one of the most creative and productive periods and super happy.

One of them sat me down recently to say that they were withdrawing from me because they thought I didn’t want to spend time with them… literally I was just super pumped about learning something new and building things.

I feel hurt and sad because while I’m deeply engaged in my work I agree I did not prioritize these friendships — and yet I genuinely am a bit confused at how much work female friends expect… and some of the glue to keep friendships going just feels performative and box checking so I don’t want to do them for the sake of doing them. Meeting up for dinner to chat, dropping by to chat, just shooting the shit — this is not and has never been my default state.

Now one of them is moving and I’m feeling like I’m never going to “get” it right having close girlfriends.

I feel like a complete alien (again) and was wondering if any other INTJs (especially females) have similar struggles especially with women friends?

Just feeling doomed to not understanding the things needed to keep these friendships alive.

Edit to clarify - I did not go MIA on these friends for last 6 months. I still saw them at least 1x every 2 weeks many times 1x a week. I thought that was enough due to the other things I had going on but it wasn’t… and I wasn’t good at explaining my other commitments.

I’m (46F) very curious about NSM. I read the book and have been lurking here for a bit. I just started back in November so less than a year of running (but grew up athletic with soccer non-stop and ran track in HS with lots of other fitness through college and 20’s - then a significant break and only on and off walking for 15 years after having kids).

After starting back up I am falling in love with running but pushed myself too much in the beginning (don’t do Runna!) and got niggle after niggle. This is my first summer running so I’m just taking it easy trying to base build and build strength back - no races on the books.

I am interested in NSM for the simplicity, philosophy, and injury prevention elements for the hobby runner.

My question is when is it too soon to try this? I’m already doing about 5.5hrs per week over 5days but I’m really really slow (27m 5K and 11:30 - 12:30min per mile easy for real HR zone 2).

So I know I could start with the 5-5:30h plan but feeling like I haven’t “earned” the right to try this yet because I’m such a noob and my aerobic base is still getting established.

My HR is still higher than I would like (I creep easily into Z3 for my easy runs so have been taking walking breaks) so the steady sub 65% to 70% feels I will need to start walking backwards to reach this!

Is NSM something a beginner can try? Or should I prioritize getting my base in place and then come back to try this next year?

TIA for any advice and I love the progress stories!! Amazing stuff and cool updates especially for those 1.5-2years in!

Is there a way to sync your chip time to race time in Garmin? I stupidly started my watch too soon before the start line and was caught in a big pack of walkers and then was so zonked at the finish line I didn’t stop it quickly. My watch race time is 30s longer than my chip time for a 5K I ran a few weeks ago (27:43 —> 27:13) which I know isn’t super fast but I worked hard and don’t want it to be so off. I thought it would just track the fastest 3.1miles of my race in a period but it doesn’t seem to do that.

Any suggestions or just need to have better watch mgmt next time?

Or any pro tips for handling the watch on race day?

I’m relatively new to running (started in November) so under a year. I’m not setting any records but I have found my THING. I love learning about running and going running. It calms me down and makes me more focused throughout the day. I also enjoy the communities here on Reddit - which are supportive.

Sadly, I’m not getting much support from my husband. I can’t figure out what’s going on and of course will talk to him but he never asks me anything about my interest in running and many times makes light of it. He has done two Ironman and so my 5Ks/10ks aren’t of interest or “impressive”. I’m not running to impress him… I’m running for me! Who cares if it’s short?! I love it!

I’m also not super fast — but in my mind it’s not about the speed it’s about the commitment to getting better, trying hard, and working towards a goal!

Anyway, I don’t know if I’m being overly sensitive but I just had a race this Saturday, did better than I expected and got a nice PB. Not once has he asked how it went. Not a single question. He didn’t go to the race but I don’t hold that against him as I explicitly told him he didn’t need to. But I’m sad he didn’t even ask a single question about how it went - good or bad.

Does anyone else deal with this? I feel like this could be expected if a partner totally isn’t athletic, but I’m not understanding this because he is a runner himself… and if anything for years was saying how I needed to work out. Well now I am and there is no interest at all… almost active disinterest. If anyone has been through this I would appreciate any thoughts before I talk to him.

Thanks for letting me vent!!

Edit: wow, I went to sleep and woke up to a real WAKE UP call! Thanks for all the support (filled my tank) and I want to stress I will talk to him today and report back!

Also want to clarify - he only missed this race which i told him not to come to (he was out of country for work for the 1st and came to the 2nd and was super supportive - brought kids and cheered me on).

I genuinely am OK with him not being at my races but i deeply care that he shows verbal support and interest in general (especially after a milestone!).

Update 2: First off thanks for all the comments and support! I deeply love this community and don’t want to make this into relationship workshop. I did sit down with my husband and we talked for a few hours about this and many other things. It was productive - he does recognize he doesn’t check in on a lot and says he does support me. I was explicit and said I do need him to actually ask about things I care about as that signals to me he cares. We agreed that every weekend we will check-in with each other and talk. Progress! Still feeling low but better.