Let’s recall for a moment the scene in Disney/Pixar’s Cars where Doc Hudson attempts to teach Lightning McQueen the art of dirt racing. 

After watching Lightning’s failed attempts to make the sharp dirt turn, Doc admonishes, “This ain’t asphalt son, this is dirt. Give it too much and you’ll be out of the dirt and into the tules. I’ll put it simple. If you’re going hard enough left, you’ll find yourself turning right.”

“Oh, right, that makes perfect sense. Turn right to go left. Yes! Thank you! Or should I say no thank you, because in opposite world maybe that really means thank you,” retorts Lightning. “Crazy grandpa car. What an idiot!” 

“Turn right to go left? Hmm….Well, I tried it. And guess what? I went RIGHT!” Right off the cliff. 

However, Lightning soon learned that Doc was, in fact, correct. Doc understood the science behind drifting and knew that with proper execution and conditions it could be done.

We often get the same reaction when we tell runners they can get faster by running slow. “Run slow to get fast? Crazy coaches. What idiots!” It seems so counterintuitive and silly that it’s no wonder many athletes are afraid to put it to the test. Can you really get faster by running slow? Let’s take a look at the science behind it and find out.

Your body uses different energy systems to keep it moving. For sustained activity it uses your aerobic system, meaning it utilizes oxygen to create energy. The oxygen helps the muscles convert fat, protein, and glycogen into energy. If you are training to run any sort of distance, this is the system you want to develop and you do that by running at a pace that allows your muscles to absorb the maximum amount of oxygen.

On the other hand, when you’re running at a pace that causes you to run out of oxygen, or reach what we call your aerobic threshold, you have moved into your anaerobic energy system. At this point your muscles are unable to gather the oxygen necessary to sustain the output and you tire more quickly, eventually leading you to stop or slow down. Thus if all your runs are too fast, you are putting the work into building the wrong system. 

Your muscles are made up of mitochondria, which are enzymes that work together to catalyze the chemicals that make up aerobic metabolism. When you have more mitochondria, your muscles can use more oxygen more efficiently. The best way to make more mitochondria is to run more. In order to run more, you need to slow down. By slowing down and running more, you allow your body the time it takes to produce the mitochondria to enable you to run faster AND further. 

Running also increases your capillary volume, which allows more oxygen to be supplied to your muscles. This means that when you’re deep into a workout your muscles will respond better as they have the oxygen they need. 

Running slowly on your easy and recovery days decreases your chance of injury while still building your runner’s body. By slowing down you are opening yourself up to being able to run faster on the days when you need to complete a workout. If your body is beat up from running too fast, you will not be able to run as fast as you should in the workouts. Think of it this way: make your easy days easy so that you can make your hard days hard. 

There are many more adaptations that happen when you spend more time running by slowing down. Tendons develop in helpful ways to protect and propel you. Your bones get stronger from the impact of running. Your body becomes better able to store glycogen and utilize fat for fuel. Your running economy increases. Your VO2 max rises. Your body gets stronger and less susceptible to injury. Can you see how these slower miles are anything BUT junk miles?

Your race performance is the sum of all the miles; easy runs and workouts alike. Your body needs to spend time at the slower paces to be able to make the changes to become a faster runner. There are no shortcuts to fitness. It takes time to make those changes and slowing down gives your body the chance. 

By slowing down on most of your runs, you allow your body to run faster in races and key workouts. So yes, Doc Hudson did know a thing or two about racing.