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Is It Really That Bad? We’re runners but we’re humans too…are some of those ‘human bad habits’ really doing any harm to our running?

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

I’m a runner…not a nutritionist, I’m not a super scientific sports physiologist, I admit that the vast majority of what I know is through experience, what I’ve seen and what I’ve learned from others who are experts. I’m not ashamed to admit that, and I think one of the best ways to learn something is to admit your own brainiac limitations and seek out answers from credit-worthy sources.

Now we are all runners here, but we’re also human; that human thing can offer up some battles of internal wills when it comes to our training. Being human means we have that brain of ours to wage the mental battle when the going gets tough. It also means that we have lives and other things that we do, indulge in, and want outside of miles, core work and sweating.

Balance is awesome and some of the ‘being human’ things actually help our running; focusing too much on a single thing leaves us much too one dimensional and over-thinking your training is another way to send it down the drain. On the other hand the human part of us can sometimes want things that may not exactly be the best for our training…we are human, we have weaknesses, but how bad are some of those ‘weaknesses’ really? Here are my thoughts on a few things…

* Soda. I don’t drink soda, I used to guzzle tons of diet but I had a really bad experience once where I think I must have downed darn near a gallon in a meal and I was gassy and bloated for so long after I kicked it cold turkey. Now there are tons of people saying soda is the devil, others that don’t care, and some that still think it’s totally fine. As for regular soda, I think it’s not doing any favors to the overweight masses, for runners though I still think it’s probably best to avoid because it dehydrates you and you could be drinking something far better for you. Diet, yea, the calories aren’t there but it’s still not an awesome beverage of choice. But I don’t think it’s the devil either.

* Coffee. If you’re totally frapa-macho-machiado’ed to the point where your drink is more like a sundae I think it’s like a dessert. But I’m pro-caffiene if done right, I’ve seen/know too many exceptional runners who swear by coffee not to be. I think that if you want the benefits it comes down to how much and when you drink it; if you build your caffeine tolerance to such a high level that you need an absurd amount to get any ‘perk’ then that’s not so good…caffeine may give you a little extra kick for your workouts but you don’t want to have to guzzle coffee to get in enough caffeine to get your ‘fix.’ So try to keep the intake moderate the rest of the day (if at all) so that when you do have that cup of coffee an hour or so before your workout you get the little boost.

* Junk food. This is opening up a whole can of worms, and I could argue back and forth for ages so I’ll try to keep it short. We’ve all read the Frank Shorter pizza and mayo combo, on the far other end we’ve got the vegans who only eat what they grow in their backyards. We all know cases of runners winning title on either ends of the spectrum, and elites too. The thing with distance running is that it takes up a lot of energy, and that takes calories; if you need some ’empty’ junk calories to keep pace with your energy levels than I don’t see the harm in indulging with whatever. I’ve eaten through boxes of Pop-Tarts and know plenty runners who dig through the ice cream by the pints. The thing though is that for most of them they ALSO take in the good stuff (veggies, protein, etc) too…it’s all a balance kind of thing. Then there is the mental and sanity thing. That said, not every runner ‘can’ eat as many calories as others thanks to that little metabolism thing…it can be an unfair card but it’s the truth too and to not say it would be lying by omission.

* Sloth. I actually love this word and try to use it whenever I get a chance, so I did…hey, it’s my blog. Now you may think, “Me, lazy, never!” 😉 For some that’s true, but there are some lazy runner habits that are running rampant. The warm-up skimper: HORRIBLE for your body and your performance, I’m not going to spend wordage arguing, do a real warm-up people. The cool-down avoider: HORRIBLE again, a bit less only because at least the race/workout isn’t sacrificed on that day but your next runs will be. Letting pools of lactic acid sit in your muscles is only going to make you feel worse and hinder your recovery process…move it no matter how tired you are. Standing during your recovery before the next interval: JOGGING is better in my opinion and I wrote on that HERE. Some may not share my opinion but the majority of top runners I know keep moving during their recovery.

There you have it…just a few things, and again my opinion. I’d like to hear from you guys, do you agree, disagree?

1) What are your thoughts on any of these?

2) What are some of your ‘bad habits’ that make you human; how ‘bad’ do you really think they are for your running?

3) Favorite not-so-‘healthy’ food?

4) Own up, do you ever fall victim to the ‘sloth’ runner temptations?? 😉

When Brevity is in Charge: A Running Spinal Tap, Dessert Intervals, and Picking Your Pockets

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

I’m not one usually short on words; if you think I’m addicted to miles then the rate of which I pound through the English language is probably right on track with what I’ve said of myself many time, “I talk like a chipmunk on crack.” Now, vocal octaves aside brevity is not exactly my strong point.

Okay, not a chipmunk but another furry woodland creature…maybe he ate the chipmunk who wasn’t a runner too??

I trace it back to how my brain operates; way too fast and with a flurry of a billion different things flying around at once. I try to catch them all, and am afraid I usually lose track of most of them. So I feel a bit of pressure to get all these thoughts into words and out of me as fast as possible.

Though, over-explaining things has many a pit falls…mainly you lose your audience. Before I go and prove that point right now, I’m going to say that sometimes all you need is LESS. Being concise can sometimes prove your point the best and actually STICK with you the longest.

“It was kind of like that movie Spinal Tap. I cranked it to 11,” was quoted from Andrew Wheating today in reference to the last 100 meters of his 1500 meter race. He just made his second Olympic Team; and the quote is courtesy of Mario Fraioli, senior producer at Competitor.com and he fired that one out of Twitter on location in Eugene.

I love that quote, hilarity and relatability all rolled into one; Wheating is good with those. While the vast majority of us will never be digging for that extra gear in quest of an Olympic berth, I’m pretty dang sure we all can look fondly of times when the lactic acid, booty-lock onslaught is of epic proportions and we are grappling for one more gear. What is rarer, but the times you will never forget, is when we can surprise ourselves and our bodies seem to offer up that gear…we make it to the line and are still a bit in shock that we did, in fact, pull it off. Makes you sort of in awe of what the body can do when forced; well with proper training and a whole load of working your butt of of course too! You see, all of that, and much more, comes out of me when Mr. Wheating was able to say it all in far fewer words. Brevity.

Hey, pancakes with chocolate chips could totally be dessert!! Or breakfast…or dinner too for that matter. 🙂

“Ahhh, it’s like dessert!” this is something Julius Achon would often say when our coach would have us do ‘surprise intervals.’ You think you’re done with the workout but, no, it’s dessert time and you have one more. I actually love the surprise interval (yea, glutton for punishment maybe) because it tests your mind more than your body. Julius is chock-full of quips, he should write a book in fact, but forever and always anytime an extra interval is offered up I could smile, for a second at least, and think of dessert…then of course it was a grimace of pain. 😉 [I linked Julius to his Love Mercy Foundation, his charity benefitting orphans in Uganda…please check it out!]

“Picture a string attached to your head and it’s pulling you up,” in reference to form from one genius of a coach. I, along with many, suffer from Hunchback syndrome when I get tired in workouts and races. Form can be tricky to work on, but it’s important too…but this string metaphor really did help me. Maybe it was the visual thing, I pictured myself a sort of puppet, “dance, puppet, dance,”…sorry, I’m a dork, bear with me here…strange maybe but it helped me. Try it out.

“Pick your pockets,” again, this is in reference to form. This one aimed at how your arms should be swinging; you want your hands to swing back to about where they’d just be grazing your bum, hence the pocket-picking. Arms swinging way-ward or across your chest is a huge amount of wasted energy; you want them only moving straight forward and back.

Sure, there are times when an onslaught of chipmunk on crack wordage may be needed, though I’ve found when actually running it can be a lot easier to go short and to the point. Easier to remember, and because sometimes it seems that due to all the oxygen being sent to the muscles, the brain gets a bit of the shaft and you can be ditzy due to running. True syndrome…look it up.

1) What’s a short, or to the point, line, mantra, quote or phrase that relates to running that has helped you?

2) Do you use mantras at all, if so which ones work for you?

3) Trials Talk…bring it up people!
I admit, I get myself into trouble because I’m ‘rooting’ for more people than can actually make it into the top three for a race. So it’s like the mixed bag; on one hand your excited for those who made it and feel bad for those who didn’t…but isn’t that always the case with everything?? Have to say though I’m glad there will be a run-off to decide the whole 100 meter tie thing…I mean a coin-toss would have been pretty weak…just my opinion though!

Running to Race, Racing to Win: Three Important Things to Keep in Mind

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Can we just say the Olympic Track Trials action came back with a BANG and it only further backs my theory that the rest days are just as much for the fans who get insanely excited and need a break from the action to rest their adrenal glands and cheering voices.

So much to say, and I think the best thing to do is cut to the chase and throw out a few lessons to be learned from today…

* Never forget the importance of a kick. There are two kinds of runners: the ones passing people at the end of a race and the ones getting passed. Sad but true fact, we can’t all win…and while the tricky thing with a kick, and speed, is that to a degree you are genetically predisposed to be a kicker or not. BUT, it doesn’t mean that even us without all those fast-twitch muscle fibers can’t IMPROVE our kicking abilities. It just means that if you’ve got a weakness you need to work on it rather than avoid it and use the excuse, “Well, I just don’t have a kick, oh well.” Work on your base speed (200’s and 400’s) and also work on it when you’re already with tired legs, simulating how you’ll be feeling after the majority of a race already run. To do that, do a workout that is more endurance based (a tempo run or longer repeats) then double back, finishing with some fast 200’s or 150’s.

* Run through the line. Without even bringing up the whole 100 meter tie-snaffu, if you caught the end of the women’s 5k you’ll see my point. How would you feel getting out-leaned for a shot to London…probably not so hot. The thing is it’s one thing to miss out because you got out-kicked and at least were a few seconds behind…but getting out-leaned stings more. Now I’m sure if you sense a runner coming you’ll be high-tailing it and, yes, tired, but never forget that even if you don’t hear someone coming, better safe than sorry. Pretend your shadow is chasing you if you have to and fire all those pistons until you are ACROSS the line.

* Remember the highs and lows. Running has so many ups and downs, and I’ll venture to guess every single athlete at the Trials has hit a point, probably loads more, of times when people around them were scratching their heads and thinking, “Uhh, so you’re going to give up this running thing now, right?” Be it surgeries, horrible strings of races, entire years of set-backs…if you now gathered up the people GOING to London you’d see they all have those lows. They didn’t quit. Now, I’ll argue on the other side and say that yes, there are plenty of runners NOT going to London with those very same lows (those not even at the Trials)…so you want to argue with me. I’ll tell you what all of the people DO have in common, they run because in the end they love running. Their goals and dreams up the ante, yes, and it’s crushing to fall short. BUT, the reason you try is because YOU want to see if you are capable, and to do that you can only know if you try. And if you run because you love it yourself, even if you fall short of your goals you can still ‘fall back’ on that passion…once the sting wears off you’ll still have running for YOU.

The Olympic Trials are awesome peeps…just be careful you don’t cheer yourself to a coronary. 😉

1) What’s a lesson you can take away from the Trials action so far and apply it to your own running?

2) What has been one of your low points, how did you manage it, and how did you keep moving forward?

3) What’s been a high that makes all those lows worth it?

4) All other Trials related fodder…gimmie it!

The Day of Rest: Runners and their rest days

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

I think they must schedule the rest days during the Olympic Track Trials just as much for the fans as the athletes…it keeps all us crazy track fans from going into cardiac arrest due to over-excitment. I kid, sort of, but there has been plenty to get excited about, stir up some controversy, and rise to your feet cheering for thus far and there is still more action to come. A part of that action will be the 1500’s and in case you missed it, here is my interview with Jordan McNamara who will be competing in those rounds.

Though the topic of rest days, I think I’ll tackle those for now. The rest day can be a bit of a touchy subject amongst us runners. It seems really black and white, you either love them or hate them; I’ve also found that the people who fall one way or the other seem to feel insanely STRONG…you want to stir the pot right away, find a runner who believes the day of rest is akin to the second coming and merely state you don’t take days off. Try it, it can be fun. 🙂

That said, and now you probably know how often I take days off, there ARE more than enough, valid reasons to schedule in days off into your workout routine like you would hard workouts.

* Injury prevention: Running is tough on the body, one of the highest impact things you can do, and it’s repetitive. Everyone is different, ever body is different, and the amount of pounding you can take is unique to you. For some that threshold is very low and for others they can safely run 100+ miles a week. You can’t ever achieve your running goals if you’re constantly hurt, so if you know your body can’t handle running every day then, yes, obviously you should take those days off.
* Mental recharge: Running is very repetitive, some of us OCD people don’t find that a negative, but others do and there is something to be said for needing a mental break in the monotony. If you take your running too seriously you can in fact ruin it for yourself, get burned out, and you NEVER want to dread your runs. So if you know that you need a day to go AWOL to stay sane and wanting to run, by all means.
* Refresh those legs: Outside of injuries, some bodies just need a little more TLC or time to recover from workouts; that’s okay, and with running and training it’s about being in tune with yourself, and those legs. If you start to suspect you’re over-training and your workouts are nose-diving without some days off then maybe your legs are screaming for some rest days.
* Younger in years: I bring this up and it is of PARAMOUNT importance…the younger the runner the MORE days off they NEED. Is that clear enough? Running is a sport where patience wins out in the end and there are years of running to be had; outside of physical safety reasons (growing kids need to be careful of how much pounding they are doing) there are the mental ones with young pups. The younger the runner, even those beginning high school years included, the more the focus needs to be on bolstering a genuine passion and love of running…keep it fun. By doing so, you lay the groundwork for when they cross the threshold to being able to up their training volume. Because they have the passion for running coming from within, they will be self-motivated to continue the hard training.

Please, don’t get up in arms over this one either…let’s all remember sarcastic humor is the best humor! 🙂

So yes, I don’t discount the solid reasons that for some, total off days, or rest days, work for them and are needed. But I’ll tell you why I avoid them at all costs, and mainly for my own sanity…

* OCD runner: Admittedly, it’s probably bitten me in the butt a few times, but I feel my skin crawl on days I can’t get my running fix…I’m one of the people who HATES tapering. I’d do it of course for the sake of a race, but I feel my sanity start to slip. 😉 On the other side of that coin you can be darn sure consistency won’t ever been an issue of me. I love running, just doing it, and I just feel better if I get my sweat on. Also, let’s be frank here too, I love eating…and eating a lot…soooo, you do the caloric math there. 😉
* Distance specific mileage: If you’re a 1500 meter runner you don’t need to be logging the same amount of miles as a 10k runner or a marathoner. I like running longer distances and I feel more comfy in a higher weekly mileage zone. At a certain point you can only cram so many miles into 5-6 days a week, so if you’re looking to hit a certain total you may not feasibly be able to have a day off.
* Your ‘norm’: This one is harder to explain but I’ll take a crack at it. Many of my friends are runners and have been for years, and our ‘norm’ or what we consider business as usual is running every day regardless. Though your ‘norm’ could leave you thinking that I am insane or idiotic…that’s fine we all have our own ‘norms’. I guess it can also be explained by your training philosophy, your coaching theory, and group of runners. No one ‘norm’ is better than the other, it just is what it is.

Look there, I’ve offered up a pretty fair argument for both sides, in my humble opinion. There can also be some middle ground too:

* Cross-training days: Maybe your rest day is a rest for running and you still do cross-training for cardio.
* Outside the ‘week’ cycles: Other athletes don’t work off of the 7-day training cycle but maybe 10-day cycles; so instead of a day off every 7 days it’s one every 10.
* Active rest: This one I’m on the fence about including, but what the heck. For some people they make their ‘rest’ day one that they do something that isn’t exactly regimented working out but they still move. I think I’m on the fence about this one because it’s a double edged sword: if you’re reasoning for a rest day is to let your legs fully recover, but you ‘actively’ rest and are walking around or standing in the sun for 8 hours, I sort of think you’ll be zapped but in a different way…and at least if you had run some miles instead of your ‘active’ thing at least you would have had the running training…but just my opinion.

So maybe we can all just agree to disagree…or rather agree that to each their own! Please, all those who worship the rest day don’t come hunt me down, throw rotten tomatoes at me and explain that I’m both wrong and crazy. I mean, I already will agree with you on that second one. 😉

1) Rest days…do you schedule them in, do you embrace them, or do you hate them?

2) Give at least one reason as to why you feel the way you do about rest days.

3) Trials talk…let’s hear it! Some awesome first rounds in both the steeple and the 5k’s yesterday!
I have to say, I like too many people for only the amount of slots that can be filled, just saying…so it’s a bittersweet thing. Isn’t life always like that?

A Case of Missing Legs: When ‘dead legs’ show up to your starting line, you still have to claim them as yours

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Have you ever shown up to a race…CRACK…and from the first step the pair of legs you were running on felt completely and utterly foreign? Dead legs…strap in you’re in for a long race.

The funny, or maybe more correctly maddening, thing about running is that you can’t always predict how you’re going to be feeling on any particular day. You can erect the most scientific training plan in the world, taper like a genius, but still, come the day of the race there is the margin of the unknown. You do all you can to swing the favor of the running gods and them blessing you with the legs you worked your butt off for, that you earned, that you deserve to race on…but there are no guarantees.

Dead legs happen in races, in workouts, in random runs too. The ‘easy’ days after a hard workout you can kind of expect that the legs won’t be feeling so fresh, you anticipate some rougher miles; these days aren’t so much a case of dead legs due to chance but rather hard work of days’ past. What makes this case of dead legs bearable, almost sickly rewarding, is that you know the hard work of yesterday will eventually pay off.

But dead legs on a race are frustrating and can be incredibly defeating if you let them screw with your psyche. If that happens any chance of salvaging at least a respectable performance gets whittled down to near nil and you could bring a horrendous trudge to the finish line upon yourself.

While it certainly SUCKS to come to a big race, fully tapered, expecting a PR and wind up with legs you wouldn’t want to claim as your own it is fully possible to race respectable off of tired legs. You may not PR or race at you fitness level, true, but at the same time there are athletes that have raced phenomenally off of tired legs. Some runners haven’t tapered at all and others just mentally pushed themselves regardless of feeling the dead legs. It may come down to a more ‘survival mode’ race…

Latch on to anyone and everyone. If you feel your dead legs from the gun you would probably be wise NOT to play pace-setter if you can avoid it. Tuck in behind a runner or find a nice pack to work off of; you’d be surprised how sparing the mental energy of worrying about pace early on can leave you feeling much ‘fresher’ some miles later.

Surge. If your dead legs are leaving you trudging mid-race, while it sounds totally counterintuitive, putting in a surge or picking up the pace for a short bit can sometimes bust you out of a funk. When you switch gears, as in change up the pace, you work different muscle fibers, and it can act as a little ‘reset’ button sometimes.

Counting sheep…errr, miles. Don’t focus on how much further you have to go, instead play mind games and break the race down into small, much more manageable distances. Say you’re only going to run one more mile…just make it to the next mile marker. If it’s on the track, even just promise to make it past one more lap, one more lap, etc.

Focus on controllables. The controllables are your form, your breathing, your stride…anything NOT related to how crummy you are feeling. This also includes zoning in on a spot on someone’s back who is running in front of you; look at that spot and refuse to let a gap open up between you and the spot.

Wait it out. Crazy, yes, but sometimes dead legs can ‘wear off’ over the course of a race or workout. Sometimes, especially if you didn’t do a real good warm-up, once you get into the race your legs can feel much better.

Bottom line, don’t chuck in the towel after the gun due to dead legs. Doing so, and doing so too often, is like giving your mind an excuse to give up…that is a bad habit you don’t want to get into, because once ingrained it’s SUPER hard to get out of. 😉
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Olympic Trials: Okay, can we give a HUGE shout out to one Ashton Eaton!! The man is a beast and just set a World Record in the Decathlon…crazier still is that he may be ‘getting used’ to setting World Records by now. 😉 Scratch that because I’m certain in the case of World Records they just get sweeter and sweeter every time.
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1) Dead legs, when was the last time you felt your missing legs deserved a slot on a milk carton?? How did you manage?

2) Are there times when your dead legs seem to go away? Can you share your theories on how to bust out of some legs putting up a riot or seeming to rebel?

3) Opening up the comments to Trials talk here…
Since I can barely manage the coordination of doing one sport where you just run in circles, I have utmost respect to athletes who become the ‘jack of all trades’ for track and field. 😉

Run Like a Kid: Retaining some of those childlike qualities could be the best thing for your running

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

I think we should all start running like children. Heck, I think in some aspects we all could benefit from being more like children in general…maybe that will be my excuse for acting like a six year old. Speaking of, who stole my box of Pop-Tarts, I don’t share those?!

If your goals are on a shoot star, grab hold and ride…errr, run! 😉

Children, the younger the are, the more unshaped they are by their surrounds. Before the world can mold you, beat out a few qualities, put some limits on what you should do, set boundaries and establish rules you’re a ‘raw’ version of humanity. Now not to say beating out a few nasty traits (hello screaming child throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store and let’s all be thankful our parents forced us into potty training!) isn’t called for, BUT there are some qualities I wish were better retained. How does this apply to the world of running?

Children have whimsy. I like looking at ‘little kid art’ sometimes because it typically just makes you smile. Whether it’s the bright colors or the way too perky happy, smiling suns, it has a way of lightening the mood and puuuuulling a smile out of you whether you want to or not. Running has some severe highs and lows; we need to accept that and brace ourselves for the inevitable rough patches. In order to not let those lows break you, or your drive to continue training and come back, you have to stay positive. This can really sound annoying when you’re in the midst of a low, when you have someone telling you to smile you sometimes want to scream, “Yea, and I just saw a unicorn sh##ing rainbows out my window too!” 😉 But have your vent and then, in all honesty, maybe crack open a picture book and look for that unicorn. You never know, children dream up crazy stuff…whatever can force a smile out of you and kick your butt out of the poor me rut and get you back on track and moving forward is a good thing.

Children don’t know limits. Kids, if you tell them it’s possible to jump off the roof and fly will blindly try to go where no man has gone before, make that small step and giant leap off the roof. They don’t over-analyze a goal to death and wonder if they can do it, they literally just go and try. In running, if you out-think yourself from a goal you never end up even trying. You could fall short, you could make it, even surpass it, but you’ll never know unless you try. There is also something to be said for the journey in the trying, regardless of the outcome. Heck, I’ve failed plenty of times but still think I’m better for it in many aspects.

Kids are brutally honest. I love asking kids for an opinion on things. While I do write posts on lying to yourself about how much your hard running workouts will actually be as an effective mental ‘trick’ to getting through the workout…there are times when we should try on our honesty pants. These times though, are usually AFTER the fact, once the work is done and you’re setting your sights forward. After a race, a workout, or even a run, there are things you can learn and apply forward. A bad race can be the best thing in the world if you learn you made a critical error; learn, don’t make it next time, and have a PR. If you have a stellar workout, look back not just at the workout itself but the training leading up to it, see if there is a pattern of WHY you rocked it. This is one reason why having a training log is a major training tool.

Kiddies live in the moment. A kid can fall flat on their face, scream that it hurts (please, I hope you weren’t the kid who cried over every bump and bruise…put on your big girl/boy Pull-Ups! Hehe), get up and run to the sandbox. Running is an action; once it’s over and you stop doing it, the running part is done and in the past. Good if you’re having a horrible run, a little sad if you just set a World-Record and wish you could live the moment again and again. The bottom line is we can’t get stuck in the past if it stops us from living in the now and looking forward. If you have a bad race (fall on your face), do your vent and learning session (scream), then put your big Pull-Ups on and gear up for next time…don’t dwell on something like that, know you’ll have another shot to try again.

So runners: be dreamers, be annoyingly positive when the unicorn is sh##ing on you during a low, be brutally honest when you’re not lying your way through a workout, admit there will be falls that hurt but in the end pick yourself up because there will be better times ahead too. 🙂
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Reminder: If you’re liking the art you see and would like prints of a certain piece check out my Etsy Store! If you don’t see the one you want there, contact me and I’ll get you squared away. 🙂
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1) What is one trait that children have but tend to lose touch with as they get older? How can that trait be applied to running and could it be of benefit?

2) What is a trait that you are SO glad the world beats out of kids?
True fact, I may be deemed a horrible runnerchick for saying this, but I do not love kids…I’m picky as heck when it comes to kids I like. But that usually has more to do with parents, and I’m not going to open that can of worms. BUT the kiddos I stamp approval of I really adore, so don’t come egg my house. I will say I’m not sad to see kids grow out of the pull your hair and punch you in the gut thing. 😉

3) What is one area that you need to start acting more like a kid when it comes to your running?

4) What are some of your favorite children’s books? Let’s be honest we all look at them for the pictures!

Runners Can Thrive Being Predictable: Why ‘predictable’ monotony doesn’t deserve such a bad rep in our sport

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Can you predict what this runner is about to say next?Let’s face it, I’m pretty predictable in that I’m pretty happy with my own little routines. It’s not that I don’t enjoy adventure, I like to think I’m usually up for some adventures if they come my way, but at the same time I don’t find doing the same things all that boring. I sort of figure if it makes me happy, then where is the bad in that?

I can predict she'll be starting a run...

Confession: I think that most runners are comfortable routine. Isn’t running a sport filled with monotony? Sure we mix up our workouts, we have various routes, we stretch the box of left…right…left as far as it can go. Hey, even track mixed it up when it decided to toss a water jump into the schedule. But let’s face it, when you break it down runners have to, to a high degree, be fully comfortable in routine.

Taken to the extreme it can turn into a bad thing, getting stuck on HAVING to run the exact same route and getting competitive with yourself to run a faster time can ruin your easy days, yes. Yet you need some order behind that training schedule, there is a method to the madness. We all vary on how much predictability we are comfortable with; though we all have workouts we use as key indicators of our fitness, our old faithful easy run route, having the same rigid warm-up routine actually helps quell pre-race nerves.

So you see, being a bit predictable isn’t such a bad thing. It gets a bad rap, this predictability thing, and I guess if you’re marked by a stalker or serial killer, yes, having the same running route at the same time every Tuesday may eventually bite you in the butt, but that’s a whole other thing.

* Route Markers. I vividly remember the first ‘real run’ my dad took me on. By that I mean it was over 1.5 miles and in my mind it was an epic distance. I was dying and he told me, “Hey, you see that?” He pointed to a brick building, it was the gym where growing up we’d go swimming, “We are about one mile from home, and when I see this building, no matter how tired I am, I know I can make it home.” I always remembered that, and every time I ran past that building that day forward, no matter how tired I was, I knew I was going to make it. You see, having the same route can be the perfect mental mind game; you have ‘markers’ that you come to know, expect, and when you pass them they offer a little boost. No matter how tired you are, you know you can keep going…then you make it to the next ‘marker.’

* Fitness Indicators. There is a reason that you train in phases; there’s base building, strength workouts (tempos, long repeats), sharpening (speed workouts), tapering…etc. Your body also thrives on consistency, with smart conditioning you get the best results. As you make it through the cycles, you probably have benchmark workouts within each phases that indicate how great of shape you are compared to yourself of years past. You know that when you’ve been able to run such-and-such time you did your mile repeats at XXX pace. Then when you run those same repeats faster…you know you’re ready for a PR and you get excited, can’t wait to race and chase that PR.

* Know What Works. When it comes to races, do you really want to mess with what has worked in the past? It’s not the time to see if five chili dogs are going to be your winning pre-race fuel, also not the time to see if you should try those new spikes for the first time. A predictable pre-race, even pre-hard workout, routine sets you up physically for the best results and mentally too. Mentally the routine of things makes the run similar to any other day, and it gives you something concrete to focus on rather than those nerves. Find your pre-race predictability and then thrive in the routine.

* Just Do It…to Improve. The secret to getting faster and better? Consistency. Let me be your thesaurus and tell you that is another word for predictability, routine, monotonous running. You have to make your muscles predict that you’re going to be running another mile, another day, and repeating. Accept this, embrace it, because you know you love our sport, okay. Motivation can waver on a given day, but let’s face it you know you’ll be filling the future pages of your training log.

Is predictability such a bad thing? If it makes you a runner, it can make you faster, and it can offer you up some awesome PR’s, I sort of think you may agree this whole predictability thing isn’t such a bad thing. Well, unless you are a marked runner for a stalker or serial killer. 😉

1) Name one thing that makes you predictable.
Is it bad that when my family walked up to the ordering station at Costa Vida the worker knew all the orders? Strength in numbers at least…hehe.

2) What is one thing that is good about predictability when it comes to running and training?

3) What is an example of predictability going AWOL and actually hurting your running and training?
Overly obsessive of the pace of your easy runs…run easy enough to recover.

4) Now, even if you have some predictable traits, do you consider yourself pretty adventurous? If so, in what way?

Runners Using the Rowing Machine? How cross-training can be used to give your running a BOOST by ‘sneaking’ in high intensity work

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Cait — 15 Comments ↓

When I was a senior in high school, this young runner met the bane of her existence. She even put up her own money and paid to be tortured by this beastly contraption. The rowing machine.

Paradise found perhaps?? 😉

Little did she know what exactly she was getting herself involved with, but when her coach told her that, “Back when I was in college something that REALLY made a marked improvement in my running was the rowing machine. I know it sounds crazy, but the other guys and I would go into the gym, get on the rowers, competitiveness would take over and we’d kill each other on those things. But I’ll tell you what, I never ran faster.”

Never ran faster? I was sold. And the rowing machine was bought.

If you’ve never tried the rowing machine, let me tell you that you are 1) surely making some wrong assumptions and 2) surely missing out on a good time. *sarcastic font* The assumptions you are mistakingly making are…

* Rowing is an upper-body only workout. False. Actually, the rowing machine ranks as one of the top cardio machines at engaging nearly ALL of your muscle groups: the quads for push-off, the core the entire time, and the arms on the stroke. Fun fact, as for caloric burn per minute, out of the gym machines it comes in third, only behind the treadmills and ellipticals…it’s sort of tied with the stair-climber.

* Runners have no business rowing. I’m going to say this is a fallacy in my forthcoming explanation.

I implemented my rowing in addition to my regular running training. It was viewed as additional cross-training to be done as a second workout of the day on one of my easy days. The routine was pretty simple…5000 meters of rowing HARD. When I say hard, I probably took it a bit overboard because every time I did it, I’d try and go for a PR at the distance. From the first stroke I’d go full on mad runnerchick on that rower’s butt, out of curiosity I took my pulse after one of my sessions and it was at least 200. But that was the old-school method of just counting your pulse from your neck off the clock, before everyone used an App, heart rate monitor and all those gadgets, so who knows…hehe.

Note, you don't have to be KILLING yourself on these hard sessions...advance with sanity people.

Not going to lie though, I had extra incentive to get faster times, see my mom would also row and never fail she’d whoop on my times. Blast those weaker arms of mine. 😉 The point I’m trying to make is that for three extra workouts of the week I was getting high intensity cardiovascular training that was non-impact and in addition to my regular running workouts.

I did go on and run PR’s in my running events as well; so maybe there is something to be said for runners doing the whole rowing thing. My coach told me it was helping, do I continued my love/hate relationship with that rower. No joke I’d sometimes get about as ‘nervous’ anticipating my row session later in the day as I would my hard running workouts. 😉

When I graduated high school, I had the privilege to talk about this whole rowing business with some of the top minds in our sport. I hold Alberto Salazar as one of the genius coaches in all things running so pretty much his word was/is the bottom line in my mind. He explained that, yes, the rowing probably did attribute to my drop in running times. But was it the actual rowing machine that worked as the ‘magic machine’? Probably not.

The magic wasn’t so much in the rower, but rather, the three extra high intensity cardio sessions per week in addition to my regular running training. They were non-impact so there wasn’t the added risk for injury, they were sort of like ‘sneaking’ in more hard workouts without interfering or tiring me out as much as another hard running workout would do.

Alberto Salazar acknowledged that could be done on other machines, and with of course more resources than my high school self had access to, cross-training on the underwater treadmills or anti-gravity treadmills would be preferable. They don’t have nearly as much impact as regular running and they are obviously more attuned for running training purposes.

For us current day mere mortal runners who don’t have these machines, high intensity ‘extra’ work can be done on the bike, the elliptical, and yes, the rower. Though, once I heard that the rower wasn’t the end-all machine but a good option I sold that baby and never looked back. Sorry, I’ll take the elliptical over the butt-burn of the rower ANY day! 😉

Quick Tips on ‘Sneaking’ Hard Sessions
* Aim High: High heart rate that is, which can be done in the ‘tempo’ style that I did where you just go hard for time/distance or do intervals, though keep them short like 1 minute on and off.
* Keep it Shorter. 5000 meters on the rower, I’m not sure exactly what my best time worked out to be, but I’d say you could shoot for 20-25 minutes. If this is a second workout you don’t need to be hitting 30 minutes of hard stuff.
* Be Smart. Don’t add in a ton of extra work at once and build up to even doing ‘more’ at all; if you’ve been training for at least a few years consistently then start with one session a week and see how you feel before adding more. The goal is to improve your strength and endurance WITHOUT sacrificing your running. Your running workouts are FIRST priority, if they start to suffer cut out the extra stuff.

1) Have you ever tried the rowing machine? If so, what are your thoughts?

2) Do you do any cross-training in addition to your running routine? Do you use those sessions as easy, recovery type work or do any of those days include high intensity work?

3) Of all the cross-training or non-running related activities, which ranks supreme on your ‘dread list’ or the ones you can’t stand doing the most?

A Tail of Three Piggies in Training: Piglets on a mission to run fast for the upcoming season

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

A Tail of Three Piggies…the Running Redux.
We’ve all grown accustomed to that classic childhood fable of the three little piggies and the wolf; this time it gets revamped with a running twist. You see, in actuality those three little piggies had been trying to get into this whole running scene…

It was summer and prime opportunity to get a jump start on the upcoming season; this summer would be their base building phase.

Piggie number one had schooled up on some Lydiard theories, he dedicated himself to miles, miles, miles, the more the better. Obviously he didn’t pay all that much attention to the pace of them, slow and steady gets the job done, right? Every Sunday he laced up for his long run and planned to reach at least a marathon distance come the end of summer

Piggie number two had always been blessed with speed, but truth be told he wasn’t all that much of a hard-worker. Of all the piggies he had the most talent and decided that as long as he stayed sharp he’d kick his two brothers’ butts by the end of the racing season. He ran three days a week and short; he didn’t bother to warm-up (why waste extra energy?) and hammered 200 meter repeats. Sunday he devoted to carbo-loading for the next week’s workouts.

Piggie number three was lucky and had built a house of bricks near a forest with tons of trails. He found loads of hills and decided that he’d build quads of steel off of them. He liked rolling hills the most and for most days he’d run the same route and try and get faster than the last time. One day a week he’d do hill repeats up the steepest one he could find and for that day he’d try to do one more charge up the hill than the week before.

Now, the wolf you see had been a runner for years and years. When he found out what the piggies were up to he spied on them from the bushes and would chuckle to himself because he too was going to be racing in the upcoming season. Though he was beyond confident he’d kick all of the piggies’ butts come the Championships. He knew that while some of the piggies were doing the right things collectively, individually one piggies was lacking what his brothers were doing.

The wolf knew that each piggie on his own was making mistakes that would give the keen wolf the advantage. So the wolf sat back, let the summer play out and here’s what happened that season:

Piggie number one definitely had that killer base, he could run for miles and even did that marathon. The thing is, the wolf beat him, as did both of his brothers, right off the bat because Piggie One had only one speed: slow.

Piggie number two got passed up next; yes he had motored out from the gun because he had that speed but that lasted about the first mile of the 5k. From there Piggie Two was tapped, he hit the wall hard because he’d built up no endurance…those last two miles were not pretty for this piggie.

Piggie number three, now this is where it got interesting. See, Piggie Three had build himself into pretty fine shape about mid-summer and if the race had been held then he could have probably given that wolf a good race for his money. But somewhere right past mid-summer this piggie noticed he was drained on his runs, he was infuriated that his times were getting slower and slower, not faster. He tried harder but the more he tried he seemed to be running painfully slower. At the race he still bested his other pig brothers because even at this slower pace he was in better shape, BUT the wolf had foreseen that Piggie Three would be burned out come the Championship race. The wolf was right.

So, this fine wolf breezed past all three piggies and onto the finish line, he broke the tape and waited for all three piggies to finish. He had had time to collect his breathe and before cooling-down he stated,

“I give you credit for trying guys, but you need to take a cue from each of your brothers and balance your training approach. From Piggie One you should learn to yes, dedicate one day a week to a long run and work on your overall endurance. Piggie Two you were smart to include a dose of speed-work, build on what I just said and dedicate one day to a fartlek workout or surges…and maybe think of doing some strides after a few of your easy runs which you need to include in that week. Piggie Three I applaud your gusto and dedication but you are actually over-training and never giving yourself a chance to recover. With your long run day and a farlek day during your week, pick one day to do another hard session focused on endurance…think something like a threshold, mile repeats or bust out those hill repeats but go longer. Obviously don’t do any of these in a row and for the days between do an easy run at a pace that is actually easy enough to recover; let your muscles repair and come back stronger. Even allow yourself a day of full rest.”

The wolf smiled after this and licked his lips that were salty with perspiration. For, while the piggies then huddled together constructing their training plans going forward the fast wolf pounced and then gobbled them all up!

1) Were you smart enough to foresee which mistakes each piggie was making and able to predict what would happen in the race?

2) Can you spot any other mistakes the piggies had made, OR have other suggestions for them outside of what the wolf said?

3) Can you spot the mistake the wolf made? I’ll leave the answer at the very bottom…don’t peek!!

4) Is this revamped version of the piggie tale your new favorite?? 😉

Spoiler Answer to Question Three:
The wolf should have waited to gobble up the piggies only AFTER his cool-down…duh. I’m sure that extra load in his gut didn’t sit too well, but at least he definitely hit the 30 minute post-workout refuel window! 😉 Hehe.

Runner Upkeep and Care…

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

I tell myself that the bag of ice strapped to my leg isn’t cold at all.

Totally NOT toasty, but imagine flames in that ice bath and hopefully you'll feel warmer. 😉

I fool myself into believing that delving my lower body into the entire ice bath will not in fact be the materialization of he** freezing over.

I implore my legs to fall in love with the foam roller and I tell my IT Band that it will so fall in love with rolling up and down this slab of foam that it will want to make sweet baby bands with it. 😉

I’m sort of impressed with my own foot taping skills, not going to lie, I can tape up a foot like a champ…should I print out a little certification letter and have my podiatrist sign it?

I’ve grown tired of explaining to non-running people what half-peeled down dixie cups filled with frozen water are doing in my freezer that I’m tempted to tell them they are mystery flavored popsicles. Spoiler Alert: I’m pretty sure the flavor is a mix of salt and feet.

I fight with the dogs over who actually owns the tennis balls. I’m pretty sure in fact they are the sole possession of my soles to make my plantar fascia happy.

Pull up a step and then don't move. 🙂

I love my chair. I love feeling entitled to plop down in it and not move, bask in the laziness because I know I earned the right to be slothful. I’m tired from my run dangit! 😉

1) What are some of the things you do to help keep your runner body healthy and tuned up?

2) Are you a fan of the ice bath? Do you tend to do that regularly?

3) Anybody us athletic tape for certain injuries; if so, which and where? I know there is also a new line of it, the colored variety that is touted to be extra special, any fans?
I’m thinking about doing a post on how to tape up your foot to relieve various tendon issues and arch pain, would anyone be interested in reading that?