Posts in the Tips Category at , Page 16

The Off Season and Base Training – Don’t Lose Touch With All of Your Speed

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Cait — 19 Comments ↓

“I’m just building my base right now.” How many times have you heard this, or maybe you’ve been the one saying it? Probably countless times.

The off season is also a great time to hit up some hill work...strength there translates to speed later!

Runners who are consistent are constantly building a ‘base’; yes those who log more miles per week are probably building a bigger one, though not always. There is something to be argued in the way if one runner is running a high volume but doing only easy runs as not being as ‘fit’ as another runner who could be doing less miles but hitting a higher quality load with weekly workouts. But that’s getting a bit off topic.

Building a base is usually the term runners use for between season training. (Or if they are getting back after a long running hiatus) Here the focus is to set a strong cardiovascular foundation by upping the miles. Then, when the season’s ‘real’ training begins they will overlay this foundation with the faster workouts, intervals, and speed. It’s a sound theory and what I’d recommend; you shouldn’t be nailing 400 repeats in January if you’re not going to be racing until the outdoor track season.

Runners DO need a high aerobic capacity as you draw off of that, and the metaphor of laying a foundation and laying the speedwork on top of that works well. We’ll think of that base as the cake and the 400’s can be your icing…yum.

But when you’re doing that base building you don’t want to completely neglect those faster twitch muscle fibers completely. If all you do for months and months are slow miles, come time to hit the track and even tempo work you’re going to feel like one rusty nail! You still want your muscles to have recent memories of what it feels like to run quick; so, even during these ‘base building’ times you want to give them reminders. Don’t completely lose touch with a faster tempo.

So while you’re upping the miles (and do this safely people, we know we don’t go from doing 20 miles one week to 40 the next) still play around with various speeds. Don’t get stuck in the ‘easy/slow’ mode. One day do a tempo run; since it’s so early don’t stress about the times but go for effort and it shouldn’t be all-out. Base building puts a lot of focus on the long run; every couple of weeks push the middle miles of that or make it into a fartlek run. Then, pick two days (not after a tempo or harder long run) and finish with some strides. Again, they don’t have to be the kind where you spike up and hammer it, but get that turnover going.

Have fun with the off season because here structure isn’t all that important…run some fartleks that don’t have set parameters and you could even make them up on the fly. Run hard because it feels good, recover for a bit, and then do it again. Play around with it and to sound like a cliche have fun. That’s why we do this running thing after all, right?

It's not cake...but you get the idea. 😉

So build that cake ‘base’ but even during the off-season don’t forget to add a little bit of icing as well…I mean no one wants a cake without any icing, that’s the best part!

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Even if you’re not doing any kind of traditional racing seasons (cross country/track) try mixing up those runs if you’re not doing much outside of easy running. The thing is that the body is a master at adapting and go too long with running one speed and you’ll get stuck in a rut.
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1) When you think of base building, what comes to mind?

2) Do you play around with your long runs, or typically do them all as relaxed runs?

3) For workouts, do you have them pre-planned or come up with them on the fly?

4) Haven’t asked this before but do you count your weekly mileage? Where do you like to keep the weekly totals?

A Runner Needs to Be Confident…

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

Ryan Hall, less than a week away from the US Marathon Trials, recently wrote, “I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence. Anyone can train like a mad man but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength.” And it’s true.

When I was racing I loved it, don’t get me wrong. The excitement building up, the little buzz that rushes through you RIGHT before the gun goes off, but I HATED tapering. The extra energy left me bouncing off the walls (at least inside my mind) and I’d get antsy. I’d want to run more than the workouts prescribed, I didn’t, but I suuuure as heck wanted to.

Self restraint as a runner seems like an element that comes with age and experience. It’s important but I think it has to be learned on your own, sort of like you have to just let the new runners in our sport discover this lesson the hard way. You can tell a person something all you want but it doesn’t really hit home until they see what happens when you DON’T listen. Trial by fire I guess.

Some people it takes a few fires before they get it. Another major factor in learning self-restraint is exactly what Hall stated, and that’s confidence.

* It takes MORE confidence in your ability to back off when you need to.
* It takes more confidence that you’ve put in all the necessary work and then taper before races than it does to doubt that you’re not quite ready and try to pound out one more workout before the race.
* It takes more confidence to rest or stop a run/workout short if you’re on the verge of an injury.
* It takes more confidence to be patient.

And here we’ve worked our way to patience. Patience in both racing and workouts.

Now, I’m a big fan of Prefontaine and running gutsy, I like an honest race pace as much as the next person, but there is a difference between going out hard from the gun because you can and just blitzing out like a bat out of hell and running a kamikaze mission of sorts. The blow-up comes a mile or two later and the monkey jumps on your back.

Going out too fast for you ability is lacking patience and to a degree confidence. Sure, it’s easy to let nerves and excitement carry you away and go out too fast, but after that there’s a lack of confidence. You are afraid that if you don’t try and go out hard, try to gap the field NOW, you’re never going to win. Or you’re never going to be able to keep up or run the time you want…you’re trying to build a cushion in case you slow down later.

That doesn’t work. Have the confidence to be patient, go out smart and pick it up as the race progresses.

Patience comes into play for workouts too, you shouldn’t be racing your workouts. If you go to the well every time out you’re going to be too zapped to race well. In an interview I did with Ryan’s wife Sara Hall, also a professional runner, she admits to struggling with this in the past, “I’m also going to make a conscious effort to run my hard workouts at the appropriate energy level. I’m notorious for ‘racing my workouts’ because I really enjoy running really hard, and I’ve been in the camp
for a while that ‘faster is better’ and ‘a lot faster is even better’.” Coming off her Gold at the Pan Am Games in the Steeplechase and going forward she’s working on that, “But I’m going to try to communicate with Dena [Evans] what pace exactly I need to run and try to run that instead of running all out, whatever time that is. It takes confidence and self-control, but I know it will pay off in the long run.”

Be confident in yourself.

Patience takes confidence. And a runner needs confidence.

1) How have you learned to be confident as a runner?

2) Do you like or hate tapering for a race?

3) How do you exercise patience and confidence in both races and workouts?

My Podiatrist is Pinched for Training Time: Staying Race Ready With Less Time

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

“So, I was talking to my podiatrist this afternoon.” No, this isn’t the intro to some corny joke, we’re at a runner’s blog so naturally this sentence should roll off the tongue and everyone should nod knowingly because they were doing the exact same thing a few days ago.

Back to what I was saying, I was seeing my podiatrist and we got to chatting afterwards. He’s not so much a runner because of ankle issues but is really into cycling. This year he’s going to take part in an especially grueling bike race, it’s 140 miles and a killer climb…he mentioned the exact incline but I’m fuzzy on the number, sorry.

Now the man is a doctor and has two young children too, so he was a little nervous over whether he’d have enough time to actually put in the amount of training necessary. Typically you need to ride the bike longer than you do running (it’s about a 3:1 ratio of bike miles to running miles) and that could mean hours and hours dedicated to a long ride. Runners can relate to the multi-hour long runs too.

I told him not to worry too much and he also mentioned that he’d read that one of the top cyclists is bucking the traditional training method focused on volume and more on shorter, intense rides. I piped in and told him, “Look, if you’ve only got an hour to train, do intervals, jack your heart rate up there. You can do it, you’ve just got to make those shorter rides count.”

The good news is that he’s already built himself a strong base, he’s got years of cardiovascular fitness to draw upon so from here it’s more a matter of maintaining that. Maintaining your fitness is far easier than building, and this holds true to running.

You’d be surprised at how well you can keep that endurance so long as you are still consistent and get in your regular, weekly long run. From there, if you’re limited on time then pick two days and pound the intervals. The other days of the week still put in the steady cardio but it doesn’t necessarily have to be an epic amount; realistically most of those days are going to just be recovering from the last hard workout anyways. You could even split the workout time up into two shorter sessions; a ride/run in the morning and then at night.

Hmm, I wish there was some kind of sale going on at his office today...nope.

The key thing is keeping your heart rate elevated in the correct level. Even on those recovery days you’re going to still be working, and not totally plodding along. Then when it comes to the hard days, do a short warm-up and remember to cool-down but for those intervals really get after it. Aim to feel like you’re working on a level 8 or 9 (scale of 1 to 10, 10 being all out)…we know what it feels like to work hard.

Play around with the length of hard intervals and the recovery time…do a day more endurance based with longer intervals (sets of 800’s, milers…or do 3 minutes or 10 minutes going hard) and the second day focus more on speed with shorter, faster bouts. This could be 200’s, 400’s, or alternating 1 minute hard and 1 minute easy.

So long as you are CONSISTENT, keep at least one longer run, and get that spike in heart rate you’ve got the staples. Sure, if you’ve got extra time to devote to doing more miles or biking, then by all means go for it…though you want to be smart there and not over-train yourself. In the end training is really personal to the individual and it’s more a matter of finding what works best for you and makes you feel ready come race day.

1) How do you go about coming up with your training? Do you have a coach or do you make your own program?

2) What are some of your staple workouts? Do you prefer the longer intervals or shorter?

3) Are you on a first name basis with your podiatrist? Not that you necessarily want to be, I mean we tend to seek them out with something is wrong!

4) Speaking of corny jokes, do you have one to share this fine Tuesday??

Reach For Those Times – Setting Goals and Benchmarks Along the Way

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

There’s been a lot of talk about goals as of late. As you remember I’m the anti-New Year’s Resolutionist (I’ll make that a term) here but I’m all for goals. If you want to get faster and set a new PR then you have to first VIE for that time, right?

True you could just ambiguously go out there and hope you wind up faster, but it’s a proven fact that setting a black and white, specific target to shoot for will work best. When your motivation may be lagging you have that goal kicking you in the tush. When the middle of the race is hurting so bad you’re contemplating just running straight in front of the shot-put, you think about the time you want and you keep on taking those left turns.

Going a step further, putting it out there, telling people your goal is another way to up the ante. But if you’re not confident enough to do that, or shy, at least say it to yourself, maybe write it down somewhere where YOU can see it.

The other thing is that the time may sound crazy, insane even to you. That’s okay, shoot high (within reason of course, if you’re a girl and say you want to break 4 minutes in the mile, be aware you’d be the first actual female to do that…) and you’d be surprised. Often it is our own mind that puts the glass ceiling on us and gets in our own way. To a certain degree you have to adopt a pseudo-egomaniacal self (you can only bring that side out in your own mind, you don’t have to actually be a Kanye) and tell yourself, “I’m gonna bust X-time” or “I’m gonna freaking own that race, I’m going to win.”

* Own it like a rapper. You don’t have to start pushing your own drink but build up the self confidence. You have to tell yourself you can do something; and the honest truth is at the beginning you may not even believe it. But you fake it ’til you make it. This is where a coach really comes in handy because they can usually predict your abilities really well, set the bar high enough for you to reach but not so high it’s unrealistic. I’ve been lucky to have a couple really great coaches and I had enough faith in them that if they said I could do such-and-such I just made myself believe that I could. I wouldn’t have had the guts to think I could run that myself, but knowing that THEY knew I could do it gave me the confidence to then accept I must be able to…then you just get out there and get the work done.

* Mini-goals. The end all goal, what you want to achieve by the end of the season probably (and at times it should) seem like it’s too high. That’s what makes you reach, but you also have to remember that you have TIME, the whole season to get there…you’re not doing it today. So set mini-goals, or benchmarks along the way. The mini-goals seem more attainable and they keep you going on the right path. By the time you get to the end of the season it doesn’t look like a quantum leap to your end goal. Also, having benchmarks allows you to adjust and see if things are on track, and if they aren’t you can take measures to get back on the path.

* Patience. This is a huge one, and it’s hard at times in our sport especially when you get excited. But there is such a thing as being too eager too soon, especially in the early season. Don’t do too much, don’t race your workouts, remember you still need easy days, and all the other intangibles. (sleep, nutrition, stretching, etc.) It takes more confidence to be patient actually…trust in your ability and your training program enough to stick to it and ultimately it will pay off in the big, end of season meets.

* Consistency. This one may sound like I’m going back on what I just said, but it’s not. Yes you need to be patient but at the same time it still takes a huge amount of dedication and personal accountability to put the work in. It’s a grind, but that’s our sport.

* Get your head on. Another thing about running and racing is that it is so mental, ask any racer and they’ll tell you that it aint pretty or a walk in the park…it hurts like a beast. Work on the different mental tricks; really becoming a tenacious racer is an ongoing process. Just when you think you’re ‘tough’ you have one of those races or workouts where you think, “Wow, okay, I just broke through to another level.” There will be times when you may admit you had a weak moment, that’s okay, learn from it and remember the feeling of disappointment so that the next time you’re tempted to give up or give in you don’t.

You might have just ended one season, be gearing towards the next and it’s a good time to set the goals you want to achieve. Even if you’re not racing for a team it’s good to have things you want to achieve, push yourself in one kind of way…whether it’s to run a faster 5k or 10k or push yourself to run your longest race yet. Think about it, write it, you can broadcast it, and you can even strut like Kanye about it so long as you remember to keep the ego in check. 😉

1) If you’ve got a season starting, race on the schedule, or a time you’d like to hit, would you like to share? C’mon, don’t be shy.

2) How do you set the bar for your running goals, do you have a coach, do you do it yourself, do you want to try to beat a friend’s time? If you have a coach how do you make yourself believe you are capable of it even if you think it may sound crazy fast?
I was pretty confident in anything my coach said. If they said it then I just told myself I’d get there…and honestly they were for the vast majority right in the end.

3) I want to remind you all this is still anti-New Year’s Resolutionist…mmmk!

A Self-Massage Survival Guide and Running Through the Holidays

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

You know how I was saying not too long ago about runners being in a sort of constant pain from one thing or the other? If you want a real laugh take a gander at this chick the first few steps of any run…*snap crackle pop*…it isn’t coming from the Rice Krispies.

I know I’m not the only one, it’s hilarious (in that kind of way) because regular runners and even record holders/world-class athletes alike have a tendency to look a bit like Frankenstein before they are ‘warmed’ into that run.

On-going ‘this’ or ‘that’ is part of the game but we’re riding a thin line between a flare-up or actual injury that can keep us out. Staving them off is a bit of a battle, if you will, and the best way to win is to stay ahead of the enemies…err, game…err, injuries…hehe.

In case you missed it in the January issue of Running Times I did a piece on one of the ways to stay ahead of the game and be proactive in staying healthy: self-massage. The article is now available online if you want to read it HERE: Self-Massage the Runner’s Way. We all can’t afford regular massage therapy sessions, although I think we’d all LOVE it, but we have two hands and can put them to our own use. 🙂

Moving on because there has been to much bummer injury talk as of late and there are much more happy and exciting things to talk about! Namely the holidays…no matter what you celebrate I believe there is at least one thing or the next that warrants holiday status.

I’m really lucky that this year I don’t have to do any of the big travel…I’m not a fan of being stuck waiting in lines for eternity at the airports or having a security check that’s just short of a body cavity search. I jest, never had that pleasure, but for whatever reason I’m ALWAYS that unlucky ‘random’ person who has to go to that separate line and have the personnel unstuff and sift through my bags. I’m beginning to think I must look like some kind of creeper??

Though when it comes to the holiday season and traveling, people admit to sometimes finding it hard to squeeze in their workouts. Personally it would take something short of the apocalypse for me to not do something, but then again I’m also rather lucky to have a family who are pretty understanding as they too are fitness enthusiasts.

But if you’re NOT from a family of runners or have some extended travel plans, here are a few tips and tidbits:

* Get up early. Or that can be even earlIER if you’ve got a morning flight. I’ve gotten in runs outside of 4am to hop a flight…it’s not easy prying yourself out of bed but at least you don’t have to stop for any street traffic. The getting up an hour earlier also comes in handy if you’re staying with people who don’t ‘get’ the whole running thing; if you’re up and done before it ever effects them or impede plans that can win you some brownie points or at least help you avoid getting any flack.

* Adjust. If you’ve only got a short window of time and you want a quickie interval workout, then opt for faster farleks. You can bust out a good speedy 8-10×200 meters (200 recovery jog), with a short warm-up and cool-down in that time and it’s a quality workout that you could use anyways.

* Rope in others. A big thing with the holidays is of course family and friends, do the whole ‘kill two birds’ thing and go out for a run…everyone likes some company, right?

In the end though, if you end up needing to scale back your workouts or *gasp* miss a few days it’s not the end of the world. Consistency over the long haul is the most important thing, and there ARE bigger things in life than running in the end…hmmm, even if that was a bit painful to admit. 😉 jk.

1) Do you do much self-massage? Are you lucky enough to go in and get actual massages from others?

2) Best thing you do to be proactive on the running injuries front?

3) Are you traveling for the holidays? How do you get in your runs or do you take planned time off?

I Read Minds – What We Can Learn From People Doing Crazy Things

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Cait — 2 Comments ↓

If you’re like me you love to people watch and often wonder what in the world people are doing or thinking sometimes. We could just ask them, but I think it’s better to come up with our own answers. And maybe, just maybe there are things we can glean from these folks…even if they are only tiny nuggets hidden in there.

Then some people are just straight up crazy...

* The guy grunting like a gorilla while doing squats. We really shouldn’t blame him, he’s been having a rough go as of late. His ‘roid dealer has been out of town and his supplies are wearing thin, so this weight load is feeling a LOT harder than it did last week. On top of that some roaches broke into his protein powder…was that a crunch he got on that last swig? Lesson: He’s smart and remember to refuel within 30 minutes of his workout…I’d go sans weevils and roaches though, there are better sources of protein.

* Jerk who just cut in front of you in the port-a-pot line at the race. Do they really think we didn’t notice that, really now? We’ll play along and give them the benefit of the doubt in that maybe they are on the verge of wetting themselves. They were guzzling those free Gatorade samples like they’d just come through the desert on a horse with no name. Though in the future they may want to remember this is only a 5k in the middle of December and all that liquid isn’t exactly necessary. Lesson: Yes, hydration is important, but the amount depends on the race distance and especially the conditions. If you’re in the middle of winter and you’re running a 5k race you probably want to cut the liquids 30 minutes out unless it’s little sips. Also, you can skip actually drinking during the event unless it’s being run at the Equator. Going in water/drink-logged can actually slow you down and give you cramps.

I mean, who does this guy think he is?

* Man you’re approaching while running who won’t let you pass. This is on the DEFCON Red level of annoyance if you’re a girl and I’m sure you’ve been there. I can say though even if you’re a guy and you find a slower-paced runner who refuses to acknowledge they are slower would be irksome. Obviously this runner is having ego problems, his girlfriend just dumped him and she’s going to be racing the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. You, a fast female, touched a bit of a raw nerve and he’s got something to prove…it’s not an excuse but at least we can feel sorry for him as he pants like the annoying dog he his. Lesson: This case is excruciatingly annoying, but if you’re running an easy day and you get sucked into purposely going harder to drop this guy it could end up biting you in the butt. Recovery days are important, so maybe try to cross to the other side of the street or go another route to avoid getting sucked into dropping the 6 minute miles. If it’s a race, elbow his butt to the side and put that guy in his place.

* The person who continually tells you how ‘lucky’ you are to be so slim and eat like a trucker and asks for the secrets; she is perpetually wanting to lose the same 10 pounds. The people who complain about this but avoid any kind of physical exertion like the plague do hit a nerve; it’s because you could tell them the same thing all the time but without their motivation to do it you could just be talking to the wall. While we could say, “I just ran for 90 minutes and lifted weights…it’s not luck I bust my @$$,” what this person is really thinking is, “Ugh, the pattern on her shirt is really dorky, this cookie tastes like poop but oh well I’ll have another. I need to vent to this thin person about how much I would like the scale to be lower, but I don’t actually want to do anything about it. I just need to vent.” Lesson: Sometimes people ask the same questions all the time and don’t really want an answer. Sometimes they DO want an answer and will put it to good use. It takes internal motivation to reach for our goals and you can’t teach that or make someone do it unless they want to. I am always happy to offer up advice but I do it once and drop it if they reeeeeaally don’t want to listen. 😛

1) Do you have people like this you’ve seen in your daily lives?

2) I think we all have bad days and at times this can lead us to act and do things that are just plain out of character and we’d usually not act like that. I do try to give people slack and like to think that if they’re being rude then maybe it’s just a bad day…I know I have them. BUT, who’s the last person that you really think deserved a swift kick in the tootie?

3) Back to self-motivation, when people ask you ‘how’ you keep running every day what do you tell them?
I just don’t like myself when I don’t.

Eat My Shorts ‘Fat Burn Zone’ — Debunking the Cardio Program’s Lies

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Oooot-oooot!!! I’m not exactly sure how you’re supposed to spell that but it was the yell coming from Amy Poehler in Baby Mamma. The scene where she’s bouncing on the stability ball in birthing class and the lady asked who is going to, “Poison their baby with drugs just so that they can have a less painful birthing experience?”

I’m feeling better again today, I’m still feeling tired and weaker than usual but, “If you’ve got an issue, here’s a tissue” right? Juuust kidding. 😛

So because I spent some quality time with the elliptical (with some Baby Mamma friends for distraction) I was able to stare at a pet-peeve of mine. Located on the display of the machine (and almost all others for that matter), listed as a program to choose: Fat Burn.

I brought this up a few days ago so let me really dig into this charade with my teeth today. Here’s the dealio:

The whole ‘fat burn’ cardio zone is really passe; I think it took off in the 90’s along with Fonda and leg warmers. The clif-notes version of the basis behind the theory is that your body uses different fuel sources depending on how hard you’re working out. When you go out and blast an interval workout your body needs fuel NOW so it will first go to burn anything you just ate and then turn to glycogen stored in the muscles. Glycogen, these theorists continue, is basically sugars.

The story goes that if you workout at a lower intensity, and your body realizes it’s not in such a rush for immediate fuel, it will ‘take it’s time’ and instead start to break down adipose tissue: read as fat. These ‘fat burn geniuses’ then equate this: oh, well burning fat must be better than sugar, so let’s workout so we burn fat and that’ll get us skinny.

There are so many things wrong with it all, but let’s just get to the point:

She's probably at a 'fat burn' level effort. 😉

*The fat burn on cardio machines basically aims to get you working out at a low enough level that your heart rate isn’t elevated above about 65% of your max heart rate. That’s about a quick walk to the corner if you’re late for the bus. You don’t have to have an actual heart rate monitor, so to put it into ‘effort level’ it’s where you’re not even really breathing hard…say a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.

*To get cardiovascular benefits from exercise, think about what you want for your easy runs, you need to be at at least 70% of your max heart rate. Think like you’re running at a conversational pace; you can talk but you take breaks to breathe.

*We all of course don’t run JUST to lose weight, but to debunk these ‘fat burning guys’ we’ll say this: to lose a pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories. In the end, it doesn’t matter what ‘fuel source’ your body is using to burn those calories or where it gets it from the body; the bottom line is how many calories you end up burning. It’s all about input versus output people; burn more calories than you take in and *poof* you come in with a calorie deficit.

She's actually running... 🙂

*SO…when you workout harder you burn more calories. Wow, rocket science. When you are meandering at a ‘fat burn’ cardio zone you just are holding yourself back and not working out hard enough. You jype yourself of cardiovascular improvements and if your goal was to lose weight you’re not doing yourself any favors.

Finally, fun fact, intervals and pushing yourself to go hard in tough workouts will actually rev your metabolism up even more. You’ll actually have what is called the ‘after-burn effect’ where your metabolism is elevated for hours after you are done working out. You get a slight after-burn after any cardio, but it has been found to be much higher and last longer after intervals, tempo’s, really tough efforts…talk to anyone after a tough track session later in the day and they’ll tell you they are hunnnngry. 🙂 (maybe not RIGHT after they are done, but later on)

It really comes down to effort. Running isn’t easy, but that’s why we love it. 🙂 I mean we all know the saying, if it was easy there would be no sense of accomplishment when we’re done. And even on the days we just have ‘easy’ runs, I mean we are still working…there is always that level of pushing ourselves to at least a moderate degree.

So…thank you for allowing me to vent a bit about these ‘fat burn’ zones, and hopefully if you see someone who is just starting to get into the whole workout thang, you won’t let them fall into the ‘fat burn zone’ theory trap…it’s really a twisted little diddy that’s doing nobody any favors. 😉

1) I had a little rant, do you have a rant this Wednesday about anything in particular?

2) Fat burning zone on cario equipment, air your grievances, or do you have a funny story about them?

3) Who else love Amy Poehler and Tina Fey? Funny girls. 🙂

What to do After You Cross That Finish Line (If Your Lunch Comes Up, Try to Miss Your Shoes)

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

So I had the fine pleasure of watching one of my friends finish her first marathon this morning…gotta love that agony/excited to be almost done/thanks for cheering for me/oh lord I want to be done look that she gave down that final stretch. 🙂

Bam, finish line.

Her choice of race fuel, was our sugary little friends. 🙂

It made me think about what you do after you cross that line. It was interesting to watch what different people did today: hunch over and almost…oh, there it comes. Dazed and confused sort of try to meander the finish chute until a race official comes and guides them so they don’t run into the fence. Shouts of excitement and well-founded pride. Many came to a dead-halt and after 26.2 miles I don’t blame them.

While every race and every distance of course offers its own challenges (speed vs. endurance, hills vs. track, etc.) there are some general things that we should all keep in mind after you cross that line or break that finishing tape.

Smile for the camera...people are watching. 😉

* Collect yourself and be a good sport: this might sound kind of ‘Hallmarky’ but it’s very true; whether you are a winner or anywhere else, people respect a good sport. If you win and are still unhappy with the time, put on a fake smile and congratulate the other finishers. If you put up an obvious stink you insult your competition…in front of people, even if your race was stinky, at least be considerate…then you can rage away once you get some privacy.

* Workout: say what? This may sound kind of crazy but hear me out. Depending on where the race was in relation to your season, how long it was, and some other factors you could actually jump on a prime time to increase your fitness by going right into a workout after you cross the finish line. When I was training with the Nike Oregon Project, this is something Alberto Salazar is known for in training his athletes. There are a few reasons; one, physiologically after a race there are a TON of hormones coursing through your system and it’s at this elevated time that it is found you can get more benefit working out in this window than a day you do just a ‘normal workout’. Two, if the race was only a 5k, most of our workouts would have worked out to be more volume. Three, if you’re waiting to peak for a race much later in the season, you would benefit from getting in a more volume workout. Finally, I think there is a huge mental benefit too…workout out when you’re already tired proves you can do more than you think. The last thing I’ll say, and it ties into the endorphins and hormones after a race, you will actually feel a LOT better than you think in that workout. So jog an easy mile or so and then do your mini-workout (ex: 3 or 4 x 800) Tip though: in your race, don’t even think about having a workout after or that you still have more. That will just hold yourself back, so still go out there and race.

* Cool-down: okay, I’ll grant those marathon finishers a free pass on this one for the most part…BUT after any other race you DO NOT want to go from an all-out effort to zilch. All that lactic acid that built up will just sit and stew in your muscles; as counterintuitive as it sounds running, no matter how unappealing it sounds, is the BEST thing you can do to recover.

* Chow down – refuel and rehydrate: there is a crucial 30 minute window of time that you NEED to get food back into your depleted muscles. Think a combo of protein and carbs (a bar would work as it’s easy and fast, but you could do some turkey and a bagel…etc) and make it your first priority once you are done running. I’m blanking on the exact percentage here, but it’s somewhere around a 60% drop in muscle recovery if you wait until after that 30 minutes…no good.

* Ice/Massage/Stretch: if you did a really hard effort and have access to ice right after that may be worth a grimace-worthy bath. And as always, treating your body right and staving off an injury is an ongoing kind of upkeep in our sport. Be smart, don’t neglect the ‘little’ things and you’ll be far better off in the long run.

The last thing I want to say which is also very important: chuck self-consciousnees OUT THE DOOR!! Now, I did make some wise-cracks about people in the finishing chute, but I make fun of myself too. I have never had a good running shot, and I joke about it, because I really don’t care. Running is tough stuff, you don’t need to look pretty. So if you cross the line with a loogie stuck to your cheek, have dried salt all over, and your mouth is twisted into a wry look of disgust or pain…who the heck cares? I’ve been there, and so has everyone else. Wear that pain proud, and be proud of yourself. 🙂

1) Worst mistake you’ve made after finishing a race?
Probably the cool-down, I was young and didn’t want to run another step…I paid for it in soreness later.

2) Best tip you have for after a race?

3) Anyone race this weekend and care to brag on themselves?

In My Mind I Dance Like a Swan — And Am Super Flexible

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Well, at least I know where all the flexibility and coordination went in my family…

actually it’s never been a secret. So I spent the night watching my little sis’s dance show and while I may be biased, I’ll say she’s the bestest one out there. 🙂 (pix from tonight are being stupid and not working at the moment…sorry)

I have always had that little girlie part of me lurking away any time ice skating or gymnastics is on; that part that sorta wished I had even one fiber of grace and the ability to do all those flippy things. Dance performances can pull that part out sometimes, but I know my place…I’ll cheer and live vicariously through the sis.

Running makes you tighter, combine that with my mom’s DNA and we have my situation…I’ve never once, not once, touched my toes while keeping my legs straight. I use the excuse that since I’m all legs my arms proportionately never stood a chance.

Excuses aside, I have been doing a little better in my pledge to do at least SOME stretching. I may not ever do splits while conscious but neglecting the problem is certainly doing me no favors and was like letting it fester. Reasons not to fester: increased chances of injury, limiting range of motion, poor form, by the time I’m 30 I’ll need a walker…

If you’re like me and don’t like to stretch or say you don’t have time, I’ll call you out, I did it to myself and here are some sneaky ways to get your stretch on: (PS-rembember it’s counterproductive to stretch cold muscles, so only do so after you’ve warmed up…mmmmk)

Let's cut to Audrey in Funny Face, shall we?

*Dynamic leg swings: if you only have a second, I’d pick these. Hold onto a pole, swing your left leg front to back, gradually getting higher each time. Repeat with right leg. Then do lateral leg swings, so across your torso. Do a few sets of 10.

*Covert stretch: make fun of me, but when I’m waiting to micro up something, I’ll use the minutes to alternate between some easy stretches. My hip flexors and psoas muscles are tight from my elliptical sessions. And people, you can use TV time to do a little you know what.

*Do it sweaty: really, I know there is no excuse to give a minute or two to stretching after my runs/core. I’m already nasty and lying on the floor won’t make me dirtier. The thing is, doing little bits at a time is actually better than planning on doing a huge chunk once a week. The time adds up, and how many people actually then stick to that ‘planned’ stretching time?

So while I’ll never do an Arabian back-whatever, I know I can muster a few leg swings…eh?

1) Are you good with stretching?

2) Have you ever done the splits?

3) Have you ever been a gymnast, dancer, ice skater…or the like?
I actually used to tap dance and that I wasn’t horrendous at.

Redlining and the All Important ‘E’

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Cait — 18 Comments ↓

Warning: you are approaching empty.

This post is inspired by two things, so bear with me. The first is this hilarious picture from SkinnyRunner’s blog…who amongst us hasn’t played chicken with that empty gas alert gauge on our car? (okay Seinfeld fans smile at the flashback to Kramer here)

Is it just me or does it constantly seem like I’m trying to one-up the empty gauge. With gas, part of it is because I cringe as I whip out the debit card…it just seems like with gas I don’t get an actual, physical return. Yes, it gets me to where I need to be, but what do I actually GET…it feels like wasted money.

We play chicken with the E in other areas of our life too. Just how much can I accomplish in this hour…I work best under pressure, so come the 11th hour and it’s crunch time you better watch me churn things out like a tornado. (little tip here: I know this about myself, so I try and ‘trick’ myself by setting a pre-deadline deadline…I’m anal about having something important done early)

With running, there are TONS of E’s…but here is where it’s a bit odd. Some of these E’s you need to avoid and others you need to kind of embrace and play around with. An obvious E is fuel, this is one you don’t want to play chicken with…we’ve all made the mistake of mistiming our eating (or making a really bad food choice too soon before a run…those curly, cheese and bean fries don’t taste too good the second time, no?) and it doesn’t feel too good to bonk.

Probably another not so smart food choice...

Injuries could count as E’s to avoid…especially if you sense one coming. Danger, Will, Robinson…abort. We feel that pull, get the sinking ping in our gut and know, “Uh-oh…I pushed it a little too far, shoulda been smart. Hope this one isn’t too bad.”

But here is an E that we need to always be working towards getting more comfortable with. This is where I tie into the second thing I read at Jay Johnson’s site: Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Pain. That little red alert gauge starts to light up when we feel that pain, that burning, the lactic acid shuffle. Our mind starts telling us to back off and cool it, but here is where we need to play chicken with that blasted little needle and E alert sign.

Redlining it, pushing the envelope just far enough, straddling that line. Sometimes we overshoot and bonk the rest of the workout or race…this is where bad races/workouts can be excellent teaching tools. But practice makes perfect and the more often you callous yourself to that uncomforted the better you get at reading yourself and properly straddling that line, so you finish with a killer workout and get the best out of yourself.

As Coach Jay puts it, you fail sometimes, yes, and end up with a less than ideal workout result. But that’s why we do them, they are practice for the races and you know what they say about all that practice…eventually you’ll get it right. So play chicken with your brain in the pain drain. Running is so mental, and this aspect of mental toughness, grit, is something that we can forever be improving at. Hardening ourselves up ever more, reaching different levels.

1) What other E’s do we have as runners? Is it one to avoid or one we need to play chicken with?

2) We all have moments of coming out the loser in our game of chicken…any good fail moments to share?
So many…I’ll do this one: a 10k track race and my splits were all over the place; not so much in the actual mile times but the laps, one super-fast then slow to compensate, like a fartlek in a race. Not good for the old bod and never got into any kind of rhythm. Well, the mile splits still were looking fine and I was on track for a good PR, so I pushed the fifth mile. Crazy how much difference a single lap can make, night and day. BAM…that last mile was about a minute slower, and that last 0.2 of that 6.2 miles never felt looooooonger.

3) What is a great lesson you took away from a fail moment?
Get into a rhythm dorkette.