The Training Behind The National Title

Reclaiming Gold, Health, and Joy

In 2023, Ryan was a 2x champion at the Mexican National Championships, claiming gold in both the 1500m and 800m. Standing atop the podium after battling major injuries for the previous couple of years felt like the positive turn in momentum he had been waiting for.

Little did he know, it would be another three years before he even made back to the championships at all.

While the dual titles were a great accomplishment, they came as the result of months of overtraining. Ryan had been training solo in Mexico City, trying to rebuild from the lows of long-term injuries and depression. Putting his emotions into his workouts helped him run fast in the short term, but before long, those sessions of pushing the envelope took their toll.

Ryan continued to deal with injuries on and off for the next two years while bouncing between different training groups and locations. In the spring of 2025, he considered hanging up the spikes for good. But with encouragement from trusted friends in the running community, he decided to give himself one last shot.

Last fall, Ryan made the move to Boulder, CO. His goals were to build fitness and stay healthy, to ultimately reclaim a national title and represent Mexico on the international stage.

This summer, he accomplished all of those goals — winning a national title in the 1500m, earning silver at the Central American and Caribbean Games, and being selected to represent Mexico at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this month.

Today, we’re diving into how he got there and exactly what his training looked like to allow him to stay healthy and get back to chasing medals.

Training Smarter

The early years of Ryan’s pro career were disrupted by injuries and burnout. A threshold workout intended to be a 70% effort was often more like 85–90%, in what his coach termed a “Ryan Adams effort.” This year, Ryan shifted his mindset, focusing on stacking moderate efforts over a sustained period rather than training intensely to get fit quickly — which, as he experienced, is never worth it in the long term.

“The biggest thing that changed this year has been adopting the mindset of ‘work smarter, not harder’ and focusing on consistent gains over trying to make a massive leap and then having to take down time because I'm cooked. There's a time and place for laying down hard sessions, but most of the year really should just be consistent running. Basically, I've turned the dial from 11 down to 7 or 8.”

Tangible Improvements

Staying healthy and winning medals are great ways to validate improvements in training, and it’s always nice when the data supports that, too. Sometimes, as Ryan experienced back in 2023, you get fit and race well for a short period, but in reality, your body has been breaking down from overtraining, and it’s only a matter of time before an injury pops up.

Ryan’s Stryd data allows him to see tangible improvements in different aspects of his running that contribute to injury prevention and overall efficiency. He’s been working to address certain inefficiencies and imbalances in his stride, and from June to July alone, we can see those improvements reflected in the Stryd data.

As the chart shows, Ryan’s leg spring stiffness, impact loading rate and vertical oscillation all became more evenly distributed between his right and left sides, which can help reduce his risk of injury. As an athlete, this type of data builds confidence that you’re doing the right things in training and making meaningful improvements toward becoming a more efficient, less injury-prone runner.

For a full deep dive into Ryan’s training and analysis with the Stryd team, check out the video on our YouTube channel.

Typical Week of Training

For those of you who love looking at training, here you go! Here’s an outline of what Ryan’s week looked like during this summer build:

Monday: Speed Development
Tuesday: Double Threshold OR Combo Session (threshold + speed)
Wednesday: Easy run
Thursday: Easy run + double
Friday: VO2 session
Saturday: Easy/long time on feet
Sunday: Rest/Recovery

He kept training simple, repeatable, and with adequate recovery each week. That’s the secret sauce to building real, sustainable fitness.

Next up for Ryan: The World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on September 19th!

Thanks for reading this issue of The Hammer!
If you have questions about training, finding the right coach, or getting a training plan that fits your goals, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.

Reach out anytime at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.