Inside Emily Sisson’s Training Secret Weapon: Steady Progress
Editor’s note: Emily Sisson won the women’s 10,000 meters at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, running a meet record of 31:03.82. The story below was originally published in 2019.
At the 2019 Houston Half Marathon in January, 27-year-old Emily Sisson became the second-fastest American half marathoner ever. Her time eclipsed marks set by better-known runners such as Deena Kastor, Shalane Flanagan, and Kara Goucher, and fell just five seconds short of the American record held by Sisson’s training partner, Molly Huddle.
Sisson’s performance in Houston made a lot of people sit up and take notice as she plans her marathon debut in London this month. But Sisson’s success isn’t so much a breakthrough as it is a demonstration of someone reaching her potential through steady progress. Her training provides a map of how each of us can get the most out of our running ability.
Sisson’s natural ability has never been in doubt. In eighth grade, she won the youth girl’s title at the 2005 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, and she dominated the Nebraska State Cross Country Championships in her first high school season. In college, she won two national titles in the 5,000 meters, and her coach then and now, Ray Treacy of Providence College, knew early she’d excel on the roads. “Even senior year in college, Ray was telling me, ‘You’re going to run the marathon one day,’” Sisson says.
None of that potential would have mattered, though, had they rushed the process. Treacy stresses the importance of steady consistency, which builds the fitness that allows you to better handle increased workload and workouts. “She has been very healthy for several years, and that has allowed her to build up the training on a very consistent basis,” Treacy says.
This training concept of slow and steady, consistent progress isn’t just reserved for rising stars like Sisson; it’s a philosophy we all—whether new to running or a long-time veteran—can benefit from. Here are Sisson’s keys to that consistency.
1. Plan for the Future, but Focus on Now
Sisson’s training has been aimed at the marathon and the 2020 Olympics since 2015. With the overarching goals clear, Sisson and Treacy sit down at the beginning of each year, talk about her goal for that year, and choose which races she’ll focus on. These long-term objectives provide a context for patience: Each day’s run is but one block in a very large building, each race a proof of progress. She can take the time necessary to not rush beyond what she’s ready for.
Despite this big-picture perspective, Sisson talks a lot about focusing on the present. She sees the two going hand-in-hand. “You can be less anxious and a little less obsessive if you’re just focusing on the here and now,” Sisson says. “I think it comes off wrong when I say I’m not this massive planner, I’m not constantly thinking about plans four years from now—I do think about that, I do write it down. But I do focus on one at a time and keep long-term goals in mind, but not get so caught up in them, because there is so much between now and then, I don’t want to be skipping all these steps.”
Watch: Emily Sisson misses American record by 5 seconds at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon:
2. Build Gradually, Then Maintain
Those incremental steps toward a long-term goal are no more evident than when Sisson reveals her training volume. While many training plans increase mileage by about 10 percent a week, Sisson’s volume has gained not much more than that per year.
Over the course of ten years she has increased from “around 30 miles per week” in high school, to now, “high 90s a lot, 100s a few times,” she says. Even with the marathon looming, she’ll only be upping her volume slightly, going farther on long runs and tempo runs, “but not doing anything crazy high,” she adds.
Every new element gets introduced gently. Sisson recalls, during her college days, “Instead of doing running doubles at first, I’d do cross-training doubles, then gradually started running doubles every once in a while, just like an easy 3 miles at the end of the day. And then kind of slowly increasing over time: 6 and 3, then 7 and 3, then 8 and 4, then 10 and 4. It was never a big jump for me, in mileage.”
Sisson has reached a high volume without having to increase rapidly because of her consistency—she doesn’t fluctuate drastically up and down or take so much time off she has to rebuild every year or every season. “We usually take two weeks of easy running—30 minutes every second day—as the break between seasons,” Treacy says. “After that, we get right back to our two-week training cycles.”
Keeping a steady volume month after month, year after year, not only leads to new heights, but it also helps her avoid injury and the downtime that creates. Research has shown that injuries tend to be caused by spikes in training, a too-rapid increase, not by a consistent training load, even if high. “That’s the whole point of trying to be consistent in training, not do high mileage all at once, and avoid those injuries that pop up,” Sisson says.
3. Go Hard Sparingly
Sisson, like all of Treacy’s athletes, only does hard workouts every four days. This includes interval-type work and tempo runs. She trains in a two-week cycle that includes two speed workouts, a tempo run, and a long run. That means she goes easy 11 days out of 14—which works out to 80 percent easy, 20 percent intense, a ratio shown to be optimal for all endurance athletes. Her schedule also gives her 72 hours between hard sessions. Treacy says she works hard when she works out, so he wants her fully recovered before the next one.
On the in-between days, Sisson takes one very easy day with just a single 30-minute run, but then will let it roll a bit on subsequent days. “Her recovery runs between workouts are at a good pace,” Treacy says. What’s “good” for Sisson is still crazy fast for us mere mortals, but she says that she never challenges herself on these days—just lets her body go at whatever feels right. “I don’t really worry about pace on my easy days,” Sisson says. “I just go off feel. If I’m feeling pretty tired, I take it pretty easy.”
4. Mind the Niggles
Even with their conservative strategy, hard training stresses bodies and minor injuries happen. In keeping with the long-term view, she takes each warning seriously and deals with it immediately. “Generally, if I have something pop up, I usually give it a couple of days to see how it is going—if it improves, or if it worsens,” Sisson says. “If I’m in a lot of pain, I won’t run through something.”
She’s gotten better at knowing when she’s sore or when she’s hurt, but admits, “Injuries, most of the time, are not super simple, not very black and white—a lot of grey area.” What Treacy has taught her is that when in doubt, think long-term, and take the safe option. She’ll skip her second run, cross train, or even rest a few days, plus she gets help from a chiropractor, massage therapist, and sports doc.
While she admits any injury or illness is frustrating, it can also be useful. “I try to learn from my injuries, not just hoping it goes away,” she says. “I try to proactively figure out what caused it in the first place: Is there an imbalance or weakness here, how can I improve from that going forward?” After a few days of patience, she’s able to come back and quickly hit her paces again, now armed with more knowledge and ability to stay consistent and reach her potential.
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