The fallacy of More
It’s so easy to believe and we frequently get trapped by this - the fallacy of more. If X worked well, then Y must work better. Usually Y means more - more miles, more long runs, more long races, more MORE. After all, X left you fitter and faster so Y will only build on the successes. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. I’ll be honest - I’ve fallen into that trap a few times over the years. It usually happens when I’ve been close to a desired time in a race or had a good but not satisfying event. I look back at my training and identify areas that I thought limited me - lack of speed workouts, not enough to goal volume, lack of long runs. Then instead of modifying to address the weakness, I try to cram more of everything into the schedule. And it always, without fail comes back and bites me. I either get injured or I am too exhausted from the training that the taper doesn’t touch it. Before the Austin Marathon in 2004 when I was seconds away from an OTQ time, I tried pushing into