Posts in the Tips Category at , Page 7

My Running ‘True’ Is Off, Better ‘Toe In’

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Cait — 26 Comments ↓

Yesterday I was reminded why I’m a runner and have no desire to branch out into cycling. I watched as one of my roommates did this and that to his bike; adjusting things, replacing the brakes, all that good stuff. I learned some fun new terms, which are probably the non-runner’s equivalent to fartleks and pronation.

There was something about ‘truing’ a tire, I probably have this wrong some 18 hours later due to memory lapse, but I’m pretty sure it’s just making sure the wheel is straight and aligned. The brakes have to be ‘toed in’; I liked that one because it makes me think of runner toes, but here it’s just that the brake thingy’s have to be at a certain angle.

See, I don’t bike for a good number of reasons but one of the paramount ones is that there’s just too much ‘stuff’ and too many ‘variables’ that could potentially impede your workout. The OCD runner-brain line of thought I have is this worst case scenario: “I’ve got to get my workout it, I’m mid-way through some intervals and BAM my tire goes flat, my brakes go wonky, or something else screwy happens and I can’t do my workout.” Yes, the end-all to all end-alls, I can’t get my workout in, I know, how tragic. 😉

With running you need shoes and that’s about it. Of course the KIND of shoes are of paramount importance, don’t let me under-emphasize that. But if you can tie a lace you’re pretty much good to go; if you’re still struggling with that there are little lace locks to really get you doing nil work.

Though in getting back to those cycling terms that I’ll pretend I can now toss around in everyday conversation. Runners have to be ‘true-ed up’ too I guess; here it’s our form that can get set off. You see those runners with their arms flailing around like they are doing the macarena, runners with a shuffle-stride and you just want to yell, “Do you NOT know how to lift up your knee?!”

Nope, definitely not thinking about cycling! 😉

I’d call the central ‘true’ point of a runner (any cyclists are probably cringing at how badly I’m misusing their words here, it’s like if I were to say my shoe had a bad fartlek) the torso. The core of a runner; where if this is off you’re probably setting yourself up for an injury at some point. The hip region especially can get tight and lead to overcompensation issues like none other!

Thankfully us runners have built-in brakes; namely you just stop. Yea, we have the klutzes like me who have issues there, but for the most part us runners have the opposite problem with stopping and slowing down. We don’t ‘want’ to but our brain is perpetually trying to talk us into stopping, or at least slowing down.

So for us, maybe ‘toe-ing in’ our brakes is really just babysitting our brain and telling it to SHUT UP, SUCK IT UP and keep running even though, yes, it hurts.

Yes, I’m a runner, I have no desire to venture into cycling. Yes, it’s an awes-tastic form of cross-training and yes, my very best friend is a really competitive, hard-core cyclist, but even he knows by now not to try and talk me into it. The truth there though, is he probably knows with my coordination I’d wind up road-chow.
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TODAY is the last day to enter my Injinji toe-socks give-away. 🙂

BIG shirt news coming up here soon, I’ve got my latest design about to drop…so stay tuned!
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1) Do you do much cycling? Are you into triathlons or biathlons?

2) What is your favorite form of cross-training?
elliptical baby!

3) If you had to say your ‘true’ was off, where would it be?
My dumb, annoying left adductor…right where it inserts into my glute…oh how I wish I could auction it off for parts and get a replacement for it. Do you think ebay is my best shot? 😉

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The Race Isn’t Over Until YOU Say It’s Over: How to decisively pass your competitors and come back from being passed

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

The race isn’t over until the finish line is crossed. Okay, while that sounds like it merits a, “No sh*t, Sherlock,” snarkism…hold off for just a tick and read where I’m going with this. However long the race is you’ve signed up for, there is always time to make a move on your competitor. Don’t give up until you have, in fact, crossed the finish line.

Racing, as with running, isn’t just a test of who is physically superior. It is also a test of who has the mental capacities to FORCE their body to its limits. There is also a test of who is a ‘smarter’ racer, who can put up a poker face the best or who can tell when their competitor is just bluffing. Then you put the hammer down at the moment when your competitor is at their weakest and hopefully crush them mentally. Force them to give up.

How do you crush your competitor mentally? Decisive moves. What’s that mean? It means when you pass them, you don’t just pass them, you blow by them. You gather yourself right before you pass, drop your shoulders, look at relaxed as possible, breath as evenly as possible, hide how tired you are and surge. Run hard and fast straight past them and keep up the pace to immediately put distance on them. PROVE how strong you are feeling, SHOW them you are obviously feeling stronger than they could possible be, and FORCE them to give up right there. DO NOT, ever, look over your shoulder or give them a shadow of hope that they might be able to keep pace with you. Sounds mean, well, racing can be mean. It’s a test of who can get to the finish line the fastest.

The reason you want to surge and instantly put distance on them is because if you weakly pass someone, if they are smart they will just tuck right in behind you. As we know from racing and running, it’s FAR easier to let someone else do the pacing work and just pull you along. If you weakly pass someone you’re potentially just doing them a favor. If they are smart, they will gather their own reserves while you lead and decisively pass you and try to drop you. See why it’s all about decisive passing?

Now, on the flip side, here is how you should handle getting decisively passed yourself. I wouldn’t leave you left hanging without some strategy for the other side of things, because we’ve always got to be prepared for anything.

When someone makes a move on YOU and passes, know that they probably planned this. This is their attempt to CRUSH your mentally. Get mad, do whatever you have to to get fired up and determined to stick with them. Don’t give in and be the person who gives up before the finish line is ever crossed. Like I opened with, unless you’re crossing the line there is still distance left. Stay FOCUSED.

FOCUS on their back. Burn a hole into their shirt with your eyes.
RELAX, shake your arms if you have to, control your breathing and do a form check.
DECIDE if you need to make up any lost distance to match their pace NOW or if there is still a long ways to go, hold off and gradually reel them in. Here is where you need to check in with yourself, see how you’re feeling, assess your pre-race game plan, and make a choice.
SURGE if it’s late in the race and you haven’t got time to reel them in. Make up the distance you can and make it your goal to be able to tuck right in behind them.
MOVE. Make a move of your own if you are able to get to them; and remember you want it to be DECISIVE. If they ‘spent’ themselves the first time they passed you, it might be easier to crush them mentally; they probably didn’t expect you to come back.

Back and Forth: Passing is a two-way street and you can get into a back and forth sort of game; which can be fun, infuriating and incredibly mentally taxing in addition to the physical. Here, just keep thinking, “It’s not over until I say it’s over,” and don’t let any of their passes crush you mentally. Far easier said than done, I know, but that’s just how running is. Sometimes you do wind up being the one who got passed and dropped. But each time that happens you get a little bit stronger, physically and mentally, and hopefully it ignites a fire in you to keep training. That way you’ll be the one doing the decisive passing and crushing your competitors.

The race isn’t over until you cross the finish line.
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In case you missed it, check out: ‘5 Ways to Make Sure Your Race Doesn’t Suck’

After all that passing, if you’re a runnerchick, be sure to get yourself my Get Chicking shirt! 😉
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1) How would you describe a DECISIVE pass versus just merely passing someone?

2) How do you handle getting passed and how do you stay mentally focused and not give up?

3) Do you have a good story of a back and forth passing situation? Do share!

4) Who raced this weekend?? Who ran?? 🙂

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5 Ways to Make Sure Your Race Doesn’t Suck

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Cait — 35 Comments ↓

Ah, the thrill of race day is what some runners live for. Take all that adrenaline and exited-nervousness and it’s a schmorgesborg of energy. With race day comes the (hopefully mostly) self-imposed pressure, expectations and hopes to run your best. You’ve got big goals you want to achieve and you hope that by the time you cross the finish line you’ve hit those. Here are 5 ways you can stack the odds in your favor to step away from the line satisfied.

1) Game Plan: You need to go into any race with a concrete idea of how you’re going to run and the goals you want to achieve. You don’t want to have to try and make decisions on the fly; in the middle of a race you don’t want to be wasting mental energy on wondering what to do. Plan how you’re going to run, the splits you want to hit, how you are going to react if someone surges or your competitors make a move. Go in knowing if YOU plan to make those moves and what you will do if someone covers them. With race plans you need a few because you don’t know what others may do; you don’t want to be surprised in the middle of a race and freeze-up. You also don’t want to mess up your entire race by poor pacing. When you’ve got your race plans it’s even better if you’re able to use mental visualization to ‘practice’ them.

2) Consider Conditions: If you’re running amidst a hurricane you should obviously be drafting off of people! Not funny, I know. But when you show up to a race you need to check the conditions and adjust your race plan if need be. If it’s really hot and humid you may have to chuck the times you had planned and race off of effort. If it’s really windy you may want to hold off on taking the lead until later so that you can tuck in and conserve energy. The race day weather and conditions don’t DEFINE the race and you can’t let less than ideal conditions be an excuse for you to still not put the effort in; it just means you may have to adjust your goals and plans.

That girl’s drafting! 😉

3) Use Your Competition: Don’t ever be afraid of your competitors, embrace them because they will force you to step up your own game and race your best. Always be looking for that person faster than you, key off of them, sit behind them, focus on their back and don’t let a gap develop. Pick people off; if that back you’re focusing on is slowing down or you feel better then blow by that sucker and move onto the next person in front of you…always keep looking for that next person.

4) Avoid Mind Mutiny: There are SO many sub-topics here, for the sake of brevity I’ll give pointers here and direct you to other posts. Getting stuck in no-man’s land in a race stinks, but there are ways to salvage the race; don’t let feeling like it’s just you on the course be an excuse to give up…hey, the clock is always there! The middle of a race is the hardest, don’t let your mind check-out here…this, 99% of the time, leads to your pace slacking. Keep applying the pressure and focus. Do NOT focus on, “dang, this really hurts.” Duh, running hurts…that’s a reality, you knew that going in. So stop the self-defeatist thoughts and focus on what you CAN control (form, breathing, stride count, etc.) as a means of distraction.

5) Not Your Day, So What: Does that sound heinously tough love-esque? Well so be it…but the truth is we ALL have races where the legs just don’t show up that day. If the gun goes off and you feel like you’re pulling bricks, don’t automatically throw in the towel and give up. You NEED those mentally grueling races and workouts because getting through them makes you mentally tougher; then the days when your legs SO show up, you’ll be able to apply that toughness and you’ll be running faster. Overcoming the crappy runs are a huge mental test; give up too often and you set up a really bat habit that is tough to break out of. So if it’s not your day, yes, you may need to adjust your goals and plan but STILL put in the effort. Also, you’d be amazed at how your race can be salvaged even with ‘dead’ legs; that and miraculously your legs could show up mid-race…it’s happened.

So there you go…five ways to make sure that race you’ve been running your butt off for doesn’t suck. Of course there are many more…but I guess you’ll just have to keep reading (and running) to get more. 😉

1) What’s one way you make sure your races don’t suck? Or a tip you’d like to share?

2) What has been a time you had to adjust your plans due to weather conditions?

3) When has been a time that your legs really didn’t show up that day; how did you react and still put in the effort? Or, if you gave up, what did you learn from that experience and try to make sure you did better next time?

Downing Donuts and Crunching Carrots: Runners balancing their nutrition

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Cait — 21 Comments ↓

In case you needed an excuse to hit up Krispy Kreme, today is National Buy a Donut Day; please runners, by all means indulge, let’s just make sure it’s of the 100% whole wheat vareity. 😉

Let’s talk runner eats. I’m the first person to shout from the rooftops, “I run so I can eat like a Sumo-(wo)man and not look like one!” As runners we do carry license to do some damage when it comes to the grinding; but, at the same time we recognize that we are fueling those miles. If we want quality miles, then we should do our body the justice of giving it QUALITY fuel, right?

It all comes back to balance and moderation, isn’t it the truth with everything? Enter easy days and hard workout days. So while we can wolf down a pizza the size of our head, polish off the Entemenn’s coffee cake, that’s not ALL we eat, and we most of us don’t do that every day. Though no judgement if you do, trust me I’ve got runner friends who eat cleaner than a pro-body builder competing for a show and then I’ve got friends who eat their weight in Big Macs.

I’ve done a couple article on various nutrition topics for runners:
Going Gluten Free
Setting a Pre-Race Eating Plan
When to Eat High and Low on the Glycemic Index
Running and GI Issues
Post-Run 30 Minute Refuel Window

That last one is probably the one I’d force down all of your throats…it’s SUPER important for your muscle recovery to get that food into you system and start the refuel RIGHT after you run.

Today let’s talk about balance here. Food should be enjoyed, it should be loved, you can spoon with your Pop-Tarts at night if you need to. BUT I like this quote from one of my favorite sports nutritionists, Krista Austin, Ph.D., “Eating for performance.” Used in context she was referencing how Dathan Ritzenhein’s go-to pre-race meal is plain, white rice. It’s bland, but he knows it sits well in his stomach and because it is a non-complex carb it gets broken down quickly and is energy readily on tap for when he goes out to race.

Is it his favorite, most taste-bud tantalizing meal? Probably not, but he’s eating for PERFORMANCE. There are times and places when taste isn’t the prime objective; it CAN be the second you cross the finish line and take yourself out to a celebratory dinner, right?

The point is this, every runner is different and how much ‘junk’ they can get away with really varies. Krista Austin notes, “We can hope that going back to the old adage of ‘what you put in the fuel tank of the car is what you put out’, comes into play and if we put a higher quality of food in the body we should be supporting training better and enhancing the ability to create training adaptations…[but], I know many an Olympic athlete etc, in the sport of running that eat horribly and still get the job done (although yet to medal so maybe this is why?)-in fact they are the guys on top!”

As a personal observation I would say that the people on top are the ones who know WHEN to indulge and when to ratchet down and be a little more strict in what goes in. The periods when they are in really heavy training they make sure to get in the QUALITY foods first (fruits, veggies, whole grains, adequate protein) but then if they need to make up for all their expenditure they will dig into the higher calorie ‘fun’ foods because, let’s be honest, if you run 20+ miles you freaking earned the right to! Conversely, when they are tapering and getting close to race day, they make a conscious effort to make sure they aren’t eating like they are running 3-times more miles per week.

The ‘junk’ food, and that’s not the best term but the foods that we logically know aren’t the ‘best’ options, are hard-earned and one of (I think) the perks of being a distance runner. The thing is though, those foods are not to be eating INSTEAD of the good stuff. Think of a house, set the foundation as the QUALITY eats and then if you’ve got room for an attic, by all means fill it with pizza, Pop-Tarts, and yes, donuts. 😉

1) What are some of the ways you ensure you get in enough QUALITY into your runner diet?

2) What are some of the foods that you fill your ‘attic’ with? Do you probably fill more than just the attic, maybe the second story too?? 😉

3) In ‘eating for performance’, what are some pre-race day foods that work for you?
I’ve done oatmeal, Powerbars, but will admit to some Pop-Tarts too. 😛

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Quick Tips to Improve Your Running in 10 Minutes or Less

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

I cringe slightly because that headline sounds borderline Runner’s World, but I’m NOT going to say that by eating such-and-such you’ll drop your running PR’s by 2 minutes. Rather that with running there are SO many little, ‘extra’ things that supplement your running workouts that will improve your performances. Get more flexible, have better range of motion, improve your stride, fix your form and there’s a direct correlation to running efficiency. These things also reduce your risk for injury.

That said we live in some manic paced times and it’s easy to use the excuse you just don’t have time. Well, I’ve made a fun little chart to help dispute that. C’mon, are you really going to argue you don’t have an extra 40 seconds to spare from your day?

The last one, visualization touches on the MENTAL side of training. Don’t ever poo-poo how much of a difference the sports psyche makes. You can read the full visualization post HERE.

So, will you give me at LEAST the 40 seconds?? 😉

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Shout out to the AWESOME Katie @ Peace, Love and Oats for giving my running shirts some love on her Friday Fav’s list!! Everyone go check her out!

Also, in case you missed it on my Facebook Wall…Active.com named my running shirts among their Top Ten Holiday Gift Guide for Runners!! Yay again…hit up slide number 5 to see it. 🙂
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1) Will you be brave enough to promise to do one of these things on a regular basis? Or do you do some already?

2) What are quick ways you sneak in a running ‘extra’ through the course of your day.
Stretch while I’m waiting for the micro do cook my food. 😉

3) What’s a bit of running mental training advice you have to share?

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Running Flash Factoids Part III: School up quick then dash out for you run

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Because all of my runner readers are fleet of foot I’m going to make today’s post another installment of Runner Flash Factoids. You can catch the lasts one HERE and HERE.

* Guard Your Ankles: So on today’s run I was not only hit in the head with a falling hazelnut but I also rolled my ankle on one. Blast those stupid nuts getting me on all fronts; the thing is, this is the second time in three days I rolled my foot on a stupid nut and they were bad enough that my foot got sore. BUT you know what I attribute to not having to take any time off running because of those blasted nuts? 1) I iced my ankle when I got home 2) I’ve been doing those little ankle balance exercises I wrote about. Don’t let a stupid nut, or any other kind of ankle rolling related instigator, keep you from getting your run on.

* Pedestal Plank Police: This is a bit of a rant on my part. I got sucked into Twitter against my will and now I have some Plank Police on my butt tweeting me about how often I do planks. The thing is I am hardly a slacker on core work, I bleed suggesting core work for runners, but you know what I also know? Diversity. Doing the same thing every single day also doesn’t let the muscles recover enough to heal back up stronger. I do my pedestal core routine every other day, not every day…the off days I do weight work and other strength moves. Diversify and don’t work the same muscles every single day. Sorry, plank police, now get off my @$$.

* Tapering Sucks: The season has come to the point where races matter more, you have your eyes set on the championship races and for some they are approaching the races they’ve been keying on for MONTHS. To maximize performance you can’t go into a race overly tired so, yes, enter the taper. It’s more of a mental beast than anything…but it’s a necessary bitter pill to swallow. When I’m dealing with ‘runner guilt’ during a taper I remember that the reason I trained was FOR this race…and they don’t give PR’s and medals out for training.

* Protein Lover: I’ve talked about how it took me longer than it should to realize just how important protein is for distance runners. I’m a carbo-lover so I had those bases more than covered. But protein is KEY for muscle repair and growth so seek out those protein-rich sources: lean meats like chicken and turkey, seafood (shrimp, tuna, and salmon are my favorites), low-fat cottage cheese and…drum roll EGGS! Eggs rock, they’ve had a bad rep before but new research is proving that the specific micronutrients in egg yolks make the protein a more viable source, it is utilized better than other kinds. Don’t pass on the yolks…or the bad egg jokes or the yolk will be on you.

Friday is HERE! Take note of these flash factoids and if you’re keying up for a race know that the mental torture that is the miles deprived runner during a taper is WORTH it…you want to run your best on race day and a PR is worth a little insanity. 😉

1) Do you have a flash fact you’d like to share?

2) How often do you do planks or any kind of core work?

3) What’s your favorite source of protein?

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The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Three Runners

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

When I’m not running I tend to feel I’ve earned to right to be lazy if I wish and that includes trolling through Netflix. I recently happened upon the gem that is ‘The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret’; the gist is this guy continues to make his situation infinitely worse by poor judgement calls. Sometimes it’s just dumb bad luck, but his lies heaped on top of it doesn’t make matters any better. I thought to equate this same premise to running…I mean we’ve all done some not smart runner moves, shall we see them snowball?

It’s really easy to get sucked into competitive overdrive online; DailyMile here, Nike Plus Updates there, Twitter and Facebook bragging sandwiched in between. Talia Margaret is only trying to keep pace with the online running community when she started padding those miles. She rationalized it by saying she got confused between the km to miles conversion.

Eventually she met up with a fellow runner friend who invited her for a 10 mile run. DailyMile says Talia’s been running those easily, but thanks to conversions it’s closer to 6.41 max. Talia can’t back out now though…strap on those running shoes and put on the big girl pants.

10 miles never felt longer, lesson learned, Girl.

Timmy Martin’s always been honest with him miles but he’s about to do his first workout with a new group of runners. They’re all faster than him so he’s a little nervous about this 6 mile tempo run. Pride is on the line though, so even though the first mile was darn near close to his 5k race pace he tucks in. He even tries to quiet his huffing and gasping as mile two ticks off; despite his best efforts his form is crumbling by mile 2.5 and he’s cursing in his head for slacking on all the core work his coach told him to do about a million times.

Timmy hits 3 miles, passes 5k with a new PR which is good except he’s only about half-way through that supposed tempo. He passes a dog on the side of the trail, “That leash on the dog would be a perfect clothesline trip,” he thinks to himself. Tempted to find any excuse to end this gruelfest he does the unthinkable: purposely trips over the dog’s leash and crumbles to the floor. He yells, acting the gallant runner, “Go on, guys, don’t sacrifice your workout for me! I’ll be okay, I’ll catch up with you later!”

He never does, but are you surprised?

When Tom Mendy’s dog got snared with another runner the leash jolted him so far that his own run got messed up. He crashed to the ground in a skid, got up and for the rest of his run his IT Band was screaming at him. Well, he was in a rush when he got home and didn’t think to ice that guy but rather rushed to get his burrito on. Good for the 30 minute post-run refuel window but major faux pas when it comes to runner TLC.

The next week the IT Band is getting worse, Tom’s been icing but it’s a little too late. He’s really worried about the race he has coming up in a week, he’s been training for it for so long, who would have thought a freak accident on an easy run could dash his hopes of a PR?

Did you lay our race clothes out the night before?? 😉

The race day comes, Tom’s IT Band is getting better so he’s toeing the line. He looks to his right and sees a familiar looking runner but he can’t quite place where he’s seen him before.

The runner standing next to Tom is sore like none other. He’s been training with a new group of runners, all faster than him. But he’s also learned the best way to improve is to train with those better than you…BUT within reason. He’s adjusted the workouts, put his pride to the side, and instead of doing 6 mile tempo runs with the group he does 3 miles with them and finishes with some 800 meter repeats. He’s been seeing improvement though in his times and looking forward to being able to run 4 miles with the group soon. The only bummer is that his shin is still a little sore from an incident he had with a dog’s leash.

About three tiers back from Tom is a lady standing next to her friend chatting. They are looking forward to the race at hand but also working out a plan to meet tomorrow for a long run of 8 miles. Because no one is lying about their miles anymore 8 miles will be just fine, it’s steady improvement from 6.41 miles and soon those long runs will be comfortable 10 milers.

We all make stupid, idiot running mistakes. But if you learn from them and move forward you AND your running will be much better off in the long run. Patience and maturity often win out in the long run. Here’s to hoping you only have to learn those lessons the hard way once…or maybe twice. 😉

1) What’s a lesson you learned the hard way? How many time did you have to relearn that lesson to REALLY be smarter going forward?

2) When would be an instance where a poor decision of yours snowballed on you?

3) Have you ever lied about your miles, time, PR’s any of that? Conversely have you ever caught someone in a lie?
I admit to having a huge thing about people who lie on those things, it bugs me like none other…lol. Sorry if that sounds harsh! I do forgive people though if they either honestly got confused or come clean. I’m a forgiving runnerchick. 🙂

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The Leg That Looked Like a Fish: When muscle weaknesses cause inefficiencies in your running

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Cait — 21 Comments ↓

When I run my right leg has this really weird tendency to kick-back behind me, it’s a sort of quasi-knock-knee flail that looks like a fish washed up on shore and is trying to flip back to sea. Sounds really pretty, doesn’t it?

Over the years I did a LOT of work on correcting my form, I mean a lot. Runs where I’d be thinking of dropping my left shoulder, keeping my torso tall, making sure my right arm isn’t swinging too low…I imagined myself like a puppet on a string. I ran with arm weights, I counted strides, did core work, weight work, saw ART and massage specialists, hurdle drills and plyo’s all in the quest to be more efficient when I ran. But you know what, NOTHING could explain this wonky fish out of water right leg.

Obviously there were imbalances there, something needed to be strengthened so my leg didn’t have the tendency to collapse inward on itself. We nailed it down to having something to do with the vicinity of my hips, but you know what, I still run with a wonky stride.

Side point…in a hilarious twist of irony, after I got hit by the car and crawled my way back to running all that diligent form work pretty much got erased. See, we all have to start from square one again sometimes. 🙂

Back on topic, the flailing left leg; it wasn’t until I was reading another article in Running Times that was describing weak glutes and how if those muscles aren’t firing they could be causing inefficiencies, injuries and messed up form. Glutes? Never thought of that one! So I did a few of the little test exercises and you know what, the next day my stupid glutes were sore.

Flashdance anyone?

Logic then leads me to: my stupid glutes may be responsible for my leg flail. I’ve been doing the exercises to strengthen them so will keep you posted on progress there. However, the point is: we ALL have imbalances and weaknesses that make us inefficient runners.

* Inefficiency = compensation elsewhere = higher injury risk = lost time running
* Inefficiency = slower times = getting beat in races

Hmm, I don’t think any of us like those equations? I just had an article published up on Competitor: ‘The Four Biggest Problem Areas For Runners’ covering the hips, glutes, ankles and hamstrings as the top points of weaknesses for runners.

Chances are you’ve got one, or maybe more, to some degree. Don’t let those weaker muscles cause you problems and don’t let them hold you back from faster PR’s either.

There are lots of exercises for you to try explained the article but here are some quick links I’ve also covered on this site:

* Pedestal Core Routine and Video
* Flexibility Routine and Video (being tight is also going to lead to compensation issues)
* Stability Ball Exercises (there are some glute/hamstring exercises there)

When I run I’d rather not look like my leg is a fish trying to flop back into the sea. How about you?

1) Muscle imbalances and weaknesses, what do you consider your ‘weak’ spot and how have you tried to strengthen it? Or how are you planned to strengthen it?

2) When it comes to form, what is an area there you need to work on? (ie: arm swing, standing tall, stride rate, etc.)

3) If you could liken your running form or self to some kind of random animal or other thing, what would it be? If someone says they run like a beautiful gazelle and have nary an issue, I’m going to call BS on you…OR as you what kind of form work you did to look so perfect. 😉

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Coaching a Runner is an Art

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Cait — 13 Comments ↓

Figuring out this whole running and performance thing is tricky business. The planning, the workouts, the tapering, the peaking, the knowing when to rest or back off, when to push it and when to hammer the crap of of your body; all of this is the science behind our sport.

I’ve always been in awe of great coaches. Coaching, or rather coaching well, is an art. I’ve been incredibly privileged to meet and talk to coaches for whom I believe are the Picassos or Maya Angelous of coaching. Toss in Albert Einstein in there too.

Alberto Salazar is one of those coaches and being a runner nerdette I could listen to running stories and training all day long. What I’ve come to realize though, is that the best coaches are intuitive; you can’t really pinpoint WHAT makes them so great, just like you can’t explain how to paint to someone, with great coaching it comes down to a sense.

The sense isn’t dissimilar to running and racing; there are some athletes who are just naturally about to step up their game and get hyped when the gun goes off. They are gamers and will race above their training level because they are able to best utilize the endorphins and electric energy that comes with race day.

Coaching is sensitive to each athlete, it has to be individualized because no two runners are exactly the same. That seems logical enough, but even then the unique coaching sense comes into play on a daily, even hourly level. I’ve watched training plans get switched around about three times in an hour; with training you set up a long term running plan with workouts and the key races. But you know this long term plan isn’t set in stone, you then tweak it as you go through the weeks, adjusting depending on how your body is responding.

Sometimes you need to adjust mid-workout; you can never foretell months in advance how your legs will feel on any given day. At times your legs will just NOT have that tempo in them, and it would be more effective to switch to a speed or hill session to make the workout more productive.

But how do you know when to change, when to suck it up and motor through, when to rest because you’re overly fatigued, or if that is just the kind of fatigue that comes with callousing the body and you still need to do that double day?

No one has exact answers to any of those questions; that’s what makes our sport so incredibly fascinating. Fascinating and frustrating as HE## at times. But there are those among us who have a better sense of these; are able to just feel when to push, back-off, change or stay steadfast. They are the artists of running and performance. They are the great coaches.

There may be no greater gift to a runner on the quest of becoming their best, of preforming to their utmost highest degree, than having a coach who is an artist in our sport. Running is one of the most brutal sports and concentrating on just doing the workouts takes an incredible amount of energy, both mentally and physically.

The reason so many athletes thrive with a coach, (and not even taking into account the obvious of having an experienced, skilled advisor with a sound training philosophy giving you workouts that they know work) is because the coach is the one who can do all of the thinking. Thinking and running is a tricky combination; you think too much and you can be your own demise. I love this quote that a coach once told my mom, “I do the thinking. That’s my job. You just run.”

When you take running and turn it into training you’re making a different kind of commitment to yourself. It’s putting yourself out there, being brave enough to dream lofty goals, an agreement to work your butt off even on the days you don’t feel like it, of also being smart enough to take your easy runs easy so you can hammer your hard days.

Training takes intuition too. Running is an art. Coaching is an art. The relationship between a coach and an athlete is also one quite unique from any other.
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This post will be one in a series on coaching and finding the right kind of coach or training program that works for you. I just had an article in Running Times published: ‘Coaches That Inspire and Coaches that Cripple’ and I urge you to check it out. Not all coaches are great, not all coaches will sync with every runner.

In upcoming posts I will cover tips to finding the right coach for you and also college recruiting tips for high schoolers looking into schools. If you’ve got any coaching related topics or questions you’d like covered leave a comment or send me a note!
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1) Do you have a coach? Are you self-coached or do an online kind of training program? Do you consider coaching a kind of art and the really great coaches have an intuitive sense?

2) Have you had good and/or bad coaching experiences? How have one or the other effected your running? How did it effect your other areas of life?

3) With running training, what fascinates you the most? Or which area could you talk/read about all day? (ie: actual workouts, mental toughness, stories from runners, etc.)

One Single Word That is Holding Your Running Back the Most

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Cait — 35 Comments ↓

…is can’t. Before you start rolling your runner eyes and think, “Great, she’s going all annoyingly Hallmark-motivational on us,” stop! Come on, do you not give me more credit than that, have you really not read enough snarky or sarcasm from this runnerchick to give you a little more faith in me?

She’s thinking something…it better not be the can’t word! 😉

So hear me out and prepare to have your mind blown. Well, maybe not exactly blown but I hope going forward you start to sandblast the word CAN’T from your inner dialogues. Can’t is like the lame excuse your body likes to use when it’s too tired, the task at had seems like it would take too much work or it’s scary to believe that you are capable of achieving something. Can’t is the lazy runner’s excuse, and what IS scary is that this can’t business is going on all the time in our brains and, for the most part, going unnoticed.

“I can’t hold this pace. I can’t believe I have a whole 16 miles ahead of me. I can’t keep up with this runner next to me. I can’t do cross-training today instead of my run just because of this stupid [insert injury] I’m going to do running regardless.” There’s a 100% chance that you’ve thought some version of these. The can’t beast really likes to rear its ugly head in the middle slog-fest of hard workouts and races. Just thinking can’t, or at least not quickly refuting it, can throw your race or workout down the toilet. But it’s just a thought you argue…

Thoughts are the driving force behind actions. Running is incredibly mental and to perform at your best you have to have ALL elements on point; letting your mind play the weenie ‘can’t card’ is like starting your run with a shoelace untied. It seems not too bad at first but then your whole shoe gets super loose, it starts sliding around, the heel cup slacks and your foot is popping in and out of the shoe for the duration, then you get blisters that last for days…all because of something that you didn’t think was all that big of a deal.

Trust me, he’s hurting, but I think he ditched the can’t beast at mile 2.

Change the ‘Can’t’ into an ‘I Choose Not To.’ We may not be able to always control the thoughts and words that pop into our brains, but we CAN choose to argue with them or change them around. Replace all of those ‘can’ts’ with ‘I choose not to’ and let’s see what happens: “I ~~can’t~~ choose not to hold this pace. I ~~can’t~~choose not to believe I have a whole 16 miles ahead of me. I ~~can’t~~choose not to keep up with this runner next to me. I ~~can’t~~choose not to do cross-training today instead of my run just because of this stupid [insert injury] I’m going to do running regardless.”

It’s far easier to see the flimsy excuses for what they are when you remove the can’t. Can’t seems to definite, black and white, defeating, not even worth arguing with. By inserting the word ‘choose’ you recognize that you do in fact have a choice in the matter, a decision at hand. You can CHOOSE to go after that hard pace, cling on for as long as possible and gut it out. You can CHOOSE to tackle that 16 miler, take it one mile at a time, use all the mental tricks in the book and make it to the end. You CHOOSE to be a stubborn, stupid runner and run through an obvious injury until it is infinitely worse just because mentally it is too hard to acknowledge you shouldn’t be running.

Ditching the can’t isn’t a one-time thing and it takes practice, just like your running. The first step is just being cognitively aware just how much your brain relies on that stupid can’t word and catching yourself when you hear it. As soon as you do, rewire your brain to use the same sentence but with ‘I choose not to’ and then think about the new version. See that you have a choice to make and decide what is in your best interest.

Do you choose not to dream big and go after goals that will be hard, take a lot of work, and probably scare you? There is a choice there, it’s not merely because you can’t.

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Stay tuned, this post is one part in some exciting news I have to share coming up later this week. It’s all about self-motivation, believing in yourself and running towards goals that may scare you! 🙂
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1) How often do you think you rely on the word can’t or use it in your daily mental dialogues? Do you use it a lot actually spoken aloud too?

2) Take one of the last sentences that you used can’t and replace it here with ‘I choose not to’. Can you share your new sentence and explain the choice that is presented?

3) Can you come up with a great rebuttal for the next time your brain thinks something along the lines of, “I can’t keep going at this pace,” during your next hard workout or race?
Changed to: ‘I choose not to keep going at this pace?’
Rebuttal: ‘Fudge that, I can at least keep going for one more half mile at this pace. I’m way tougher than this runner next to me, and they’re doing it!’ Then obviously just say the same thing the next half mile…keep lying to yourself with the ‘one more’ thing! Hehe.