A Run Coach to the Pros Reveals the Habits That Separate Elites. Here’s How They Can Transform Your Next Training Cycle.
Pro workouts grab attention because the reps are fast, the volume is big, and despite the impressive stats, the sessions often look controlled. For recreational runners watching a clip online, seeing the pros glide through a workout, it’s easy to wonder: Should I try that?
Sometimes, with the right adjustments, a pro-inspired workout is useful for recreational runners. But Danny Mackey, head coach of the Brooks Beasts Track Club, says the bigger lesson isn’t usually found in copying the exact reps, paces, or volume.
Instead, the real value is in stealing the habits that surround those workouts. It’s the less-flashy details that help turn hard training into actual fitness gains, he says.
“The lack of context is probably [the biggest mistake],” Mackey says. “If somebody were to see what one of the Beasts did yesterday and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to do that,’ it’s like, yeah, but afterward they lifted weights. The day before they did strides and drills. And then today they didn’t do anything, and focused on recovery.”
In other words, recreational runners often miss the behind-the-scenes elements that make up successful training—and it could cost you that race-day finish time you’ve been vying to achieve.
Mackey outlines exactly which training strategies you should borrow from the pros, so you can get more out of every run without taking on training your body isn’t ready to handle.
Know the Purpose of the Workout Before You Start
“Understanding the purpose—the intent—of the workout is most important,” Mackey says.
Purpose guides everything about the session, including how you respond when variables change. For example, if you’re doing a threshold workout on a hot or windy day, you might naturally run slower than usual. But if your effort level and heart rate are still in the intended threshold range, you’re getting the right stimulus, Mackey explains.
On the other hand, “if race pace and velocity is the key and you’re starting to slow down, then you might say, okay, I’ll increase my rest more, or I’ll shorten the duration of the interval because the speed of this workout is the most important,” Mackey says.
The same thinking applies outside of speed workouts, too. If the purpose of an easy or long run is aerobic development, but your heart rate keeps creeping from zone 2 into zone 3, preserve the intent of the run by slowing down.
Before any workout, ask yourself what to focus on:
- Is it pace?
- Is it effort?
- Is it time on feet?
Once you answer, then you know what elements of your workout to preserve and which ones you can tweak.
Respect Your Body’s Capacity
Even if you know the purpose of the workout, your body may not be ready to handle the session exactly as written, which is where Mackey’s idea of “capacity” comes into play.
“Understanding your capacity is really important,” Mackey says. “If you’re recovering really well, you’re sleeping well, you’re doing hydration and nutrition well, your capacity to handle whatever workout you’re going into is going to be higher.”
Capacity is basically the bigger picture of your body’s status before a workout. “If [capacity] is limited, then you have to adjust the workout, and maybe that means dialing it down,” Mackey says.
On the other hand, Mackey doesn’t always let his pros push harder just because they feel good; he considers what they’ve already done and what they still have coming up.
Essentially, a planned workout isn’t set in stone. It’s a starting point that you can adjust based on what your body can—and should—handle.
Treat Fueling as a Part of the Workout
Pros are more likely than recreational athletes to treat fueling before, during, and after a workout as part of the session, according to Mackey. “Timing is probably the most under-appreciated [aspect of fueling] for recreational athletes,” he says.
Start by consuming carbohydrates before hard workouts, whether that’s a snack, sports drink, or gel that you know your stomach tolerates. Afterward, Mackey says his athletes often use a simple carb-protein combination, such as a Gatorade and a whey protein shake, to kick-start recovery.
“If you’re super busy, you can pack a protein-carb drink in your bag for when you get done with your run and you’re heading back to the office [or back home],” Mackey explains. “That’s something anyone can do.”
Mackey’s takeaway? Be intentional and plan ahead on fueling. Have an idea of what you’re going to eat before, during, and after your workout so you can recover well, perform at your best, and continue to improve in your training.
LEARN MORE ABOUT FUELING DURING TRAINING
Use Sleep as a Non-Negotiable Recovery Tool
Put simply, pros can train hard because they recover harder. Mackey says many of his athletes sleep eight to 10 hours at night and nap for an hour or two every day, because sleep is the most important factor to optimal performance.
“The hormonal levels that get reset when you have long durations of sleep are impossible to mimic in any other modality,” Mackey explains. “Sleep is the only thing that helps.” In other words, nothing replaces the benefits of a good night’s rest.
He also points out tissue recovery and regeneration, as well as the brain’s recovery during sleep as key reasons why quality shut-eye matters.
Not every runner can nap like a pro. In fact, for most of us with full-time jobs, it’s pretty much impossible. But you should treat sleep as part of your training, rather than an afterthought. Research links regularly sleeping seven or more hours per night with lower injury risk in endurance athletes, so runners in the middle of a training cycle should prioritize the widely recommended seven to nine hours of nightly sleep whenever possible.
Emphasize the “Recovery” in Recovery Runs
Days after hard workouts are just as important as the hard workouts themselves. Run too hard on a recovery day, and you undermine the whole point of the run—which is zone 2 aerobic development—and increase future injury risk.
Mackey offers recreational runners three habits his pros use to eliminate these potential issues—because yes, even pros have trouble slowing down:
🏃♂️1. Ditch Pace Pressure
The day after a hard workout, Mackey guides some of his pros to ditch the GPS, put on an old-school Timex watch, and just go jog for 45 minutes. Running by time and feel can help you keep the easy run easy enough to actually recover. He also recommends leaving the headphones behind as well—no music, no running watch, just you.
“Having that time to reset mentally and not have that constant stimulus or any additional input is really helpful,” Mackey says.
For recreational runners juggling work, family, and even constant screen time, recovery runs should give you an opportunity to lower your stress, not become another source of it.
🏃♂️2. Run on Soft Surfaces
Mackey also asks his pro runners to reduce the impact on their bodies during recovery runs. Moving your miles to trails, park paths, grass, or any other more forgiving surface, when available, can lower the impact of the run so your body can continue to absorb the previous hard session without adding unnecessary pounding.
🏃♂️3. Keep Up With Your Footwear
What’s on your feet also affects recovery. “Newer shoes help shock absorption,” Mackey explains.
For recreational runners, this is an easy detail to copy. We generally recommend you replace your running shoes every 300 to 500 miles, so keeping a training log or adding each pair to your Strava account can help you stay up-to-date with your footwear.
Strength Train Consistently
A stronger, more resilient body allows you to handle the stress of running and avoid recurring injuries.
“You don’t need to be in [the gym] long,” Mackey says. “It doesn’t take a lot of dosage of strength training to get some really good benefits,” including a boost in running economy, which helps you run faster with less effort.
Mackey’s pros lift weights twice a week, with a third day of plyometrics. For recreational athletes, he suggests a similar schedule, aiming for at least two 30-minute strength sessions per week, and adding a third day of plyometrics or more strength work if your schedule and body can handle it.
If you’re looking to level up your strength training, Mackey recommends working with a trainer when possible, even if it’s once a week. Especially if you’re dealing with recurring injury or instability, a strength coach can make sure you’re practicing solid form, as well as give you tips on strengthening weaknesses that may affect your running.
CHECK OUT OUR RACE-READY STRENGTH PROGRAM
Use Drills to Improve Form
Mackey says recreational athletes can focus on two common areas in their quest to replicate pro-like running form: foot strike and posture.
“One of the things I worked on [with a group of recreational athletes] was foot position,” Mackey says. “How is your foot landing on the ground?”
His goal isn’t forcing everyone to have the same uniform stride. Instead, he encourages athletes to first understand if they are landing too much on the forefoot or the heel. While neither extreme is cause for a complete form overhaul, understanding where you land can improve the efficiency of your stride. (Especially if you overstride!)
He also looks at posture, and if a runner slouches forward, which can impede efficiency.
The following drills can help correct form issues and reinforce alignment of the hips, spine, and shoulders.
👟A-Skip
Why it works: A-skips reinforce upright posture, rhythm, knee drive, arm coordination, and landing your feet under your center of mass.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Drive right knee up to hip height, as you drive left arm forward and right arm back, skipping forward.
- Drive right knee back down and immediately drive left knee up with right arm driving forward and left arm driving backward. Keep body upright and don’t lean back.
- Continue alternating. Start slowly to get the form, then pick up the pace.
- Repeat 4-6 times back and forth for about 30 meters.
👟B-Skip
Why it works: B-skips build on A-skips by adding lower-leg extension. They help runners emphasize the feeling of placing the foot down and back underneath the body, instead of reaching too far forward.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Drive right knee up to hip height while driving left arm forward and right arm back, skipping forward as you do so. When knee reaches hip height, kick foot forward and straighten knee.
- Re-bend knee and drive foot back down.
- Immediately repeat on other side, driving left knee up and kicking out while right arm drives forward. Keep body upright and don’t lean back.
- Continue alternating sides. As you start to get the form down, pick up the pace.
- Repeat 4-6 times, back and forth, for about 30 meters.
👟High Knees
Why it works: This drill reinforces tall posture and quick ground contact, emphasizing both form inefficiencies Mackey talks about.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Drive right knee up toward chest, as high as you can, while driving left arm forward. Lean forward slightly.
- Immediately drive right foot back down. Then, drive left knee up, as high as you can, while driving right arm forward.
- Continue alternating sides as you move forward.
- Repeat 4-6 times for about 30 meters.
👟Dribbles
Why it works: Mackey describes dribbles as a way to practice mechanics with quick, cyclical motions. They progress from small, controlled movements close to the ankle to larger, faster motions that look more like sprinting.
How to do it:
- Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart.
- Begin shuffling forward, making small circular motions with each step, bringing each foot up to the height of opposite ankle before planting under center of mass.
- For calf dribbles, bring the foot up to the height of opposite calf before planting foot back down, in a circular motion.
- For knee dribbles, bring the foot up to the height of opposite knee before planting foot back down, in a circular motion.
- Aim for 20-30 quick foot contacts per leg at each height.
Matt Rudisill is an Associate Service Editor who has been with Runner's World since 2025. A Nittany Lion through-and-through, Matt graduated from Penn State in 2022 with a degree in journalism and worked in communications for the university's athletic department for three years as the main contact and photographer for its nationally-ranked cross country and track & field teams. Matt was also heavily involved in communications efforts for Penn State football, men's basketball, and women's gymnastics. In his role with Runner's World, Matt has interviewed Olympians, world champions, and countless experts in the field to create service content that helps runners of all ages and experience levels train smarter and race faster. When he’s not out jogging, Matt can be found tweeting bad takes about the Phillies or watching movies.