Scott Fauble is the latest guest on the CITIUS MAG Podcast and in addition to coming on the show, he’s letting us run an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Inside A Marathon, which is available to purchase now. The book delves into how Fauble and his coach Ben Rosario were able to pull off a seventh place finish at the 2018 New York City Marathon. The book documents the entire 20-week journey leading up to it. It’s also filled with some great photography by Jen Rosario. 2018 Boston Marathon Champion Des Linden wrote the foreword.

I was able to get an advanced copy of the book and shared my review. Here’s what I thought…

“Scott Fauble, Northern Arizona Elite and coach Ben Rosario serve as an excellent example for other professional runners in providing fans with some of the best insight and understanding into what goes into a breakthrough performance. Inside A Marathon brings together biographical details of Fauble’s running career and the textbook elements of some eye-popping workouts that will leave you wow’ed. Combine that all together and you not only get the full story behind one of the strongest American marathon performances of the year but an idea of why Fauble will be a contender for the 2020 U.S. Olympic team. A recommended read for runners at all levels.”

CLICK HERE TO BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK.

Check out the latest episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast below:

The following is an excerpt from ‘Inside A Marathon’ from the day Scott did a 12 x 1-mile workout and closed in 4:34.

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Ben Rosario

That eighth rep is where this workout did start to reach unchartered territory, not only for Faubs but also in our team’s history. Up until this point, the best mile repeat session I can remember us ever doing was Matt Llano averaging 4:52 pace for 10 x 1 Mile at Kiltie Loop—a spot we use occasionally that sits in a neighborhood at 7300ft. It was a heck of an effort and came not too long after he ran a 1:01:47 half marathon. So he was very fit. But here we were running two extra miles and throwing in a couple of really fast ones. Number eight afforded us a glimpse into Faubs’ mindset on the day. He took charge right away, clearly wanting to hit the 4:40 and not worrying about the fact that there would be four more repeats to come. By 1200 he was starting to hurt and to Futsum’s credit, he sensed it and took over. They came across the line in 4:41 (Futsum) and 4:42 (Faubs). My thought at the time was hey- we’ve never tried this before so we’ll take that for sure. My other thought was that when I wrote this it was never about exactly what those fast miles were going to be, rather it was just about being able to handle a fast mile and then being able to settle back into 4:56 pace. I looked at Ben after they came across as if to say, “We’re killing this guys.”

Then I actually asked him what he thought, “Should we give them any extra rest?”

“No, they’ll be alright,” he said.

He made a good call. Because here’s the thing—even if they hadn’t been alright at least we would have found out where the line was. And you have to do that sometimes. Fortunately, they were indeed alright, though it certainly wasn’t easy. They rattled off the next three repeats right at 4:56. Then it was time for what I am sure had jumped off the page when they first laid their eyes on this thing—the 4:30. To me this one was about selling out. Just completely committing to something that you have absolutely no idea as to whether or not you’ll be able to finish off. It’s one of my favorite feelings in all of running. All out. You just go.

Futsum asked for a few extra seconds of rest and Faubs seemed on board though I don’t know if he would’ve otherwise asked. I said let’s go 90 seconds. At about 70 Futsum was still 15 meters or so from the line and taking his shirt off, clearly to Faubs’ dismay. He didn’t want to rest too much. He wanted to hurt. And so off they went.

On my bike I rode next to Faubs as he pulled away from Futsum almost immediately. I think a workout like this takes time to fully embrace. Futsum just isn’t there yet but I believe he’ll get there eventually. Faubs, however, he’s there. He hit halfway in 2:16, still with a shot at that 4:30. With 200 meters to go I checked my watch again—3:59. He’d need a 31 for 4:30. I think by that point he knew a 4:30 wasn’t going to happen but he didn’t give an inch. He fought for every millisecond down the stretch, hitting the line in 4:34. The best mile repeat workout in the history of our team was over. Faubs was completely spent. He had put in a world class effort. Chris Thompson, who would go on to run 1:02:07 for a half marathon four days later in Scotland, was in awe. He told me he honestly didn’t think anyone would be able to do that workout.

Scott Fauble

The 4:56s felt uncomfortable and my legs felt heavy and flat until we ran the fourth mile in 4:48. After that I hit a good patch for a couple of miles where I felt smooth and was flowing pretty well, at least until number eight. I really suffered on that interval and needed Futsum’s help in the second half. At this point, the workout was starting to get really difficult. The next two 4:56s didn’t feel good, at all, but when we got to number 11, I could see the finish line and knew that we were having a good day. I started to look forward to the last one, I knew that I had an opportunity to really crush today. We got to number 11 and I started to get nervous, good nervous, excited nervous. I don’t remember who, maybe Ben Rosario, maybe Ben Bruce suggested that we split up the leading between Futsum and I. I shot that shit down real quick, “I am going to the front, I don’t need help, Futsum can just sit on me, I don’t care,” I said. When the interval started, I just took off. I didn’t check my splits once, I just put the pedal down and tried to hold it there. The pain came almost immediately and I let it in. I don’t try to block out the pain in hard workouts or races, if you want to be in charge of the pain, you have to let it in. That’s the key to being able to endure a lot of pain, it’s to know it intimately, it’s coming along for the ride but it doesn’t get to drive and sure as shit can’t pick the music.

As I turned the first corner, and came through 400 meters, I went to my power phrases. I repeated them as soon as even the tiniest desire to slow down popped up. “Scared money can’t win” and “Fuck with me, you know I got it.” By 800, alarm bells started going off in my body. My legs seared and my vision started to blur a little bit. I tried to stay as relaxed as possible while still running, effectively, as hard as I could. I kept telling myself, “you can go deeper, you can take more.” Ben was riding next to me, calling splits and cheering, but I stopped hearing him at the K mark. There wasn’t really room for anything except the pain and the words, “you can go deeper, you can take more.” I crossed the line and saw 4:34 on my watch. I was empty. That was the deepest I’ve taken myself outside of a race. Later that day, Ben texted me saying that today was world class, and I agree. No doubt about it. To close a workout the way I did, after 11 quality miles is really hard.