Posts in the Tips Category at , Page 9

How to Handle Running the Days Before Your Race: Doing nothing isn’t a ‘smart’ as you may think

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

If you’re watching the London Olympics like it’s an IV line then you’ll notice some familiar runners lining up for the heats of the 5k after their 10k finals a few days prior. I won’t prattle off all of them but amongst the doublers were Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, and Sally Kipyego. Sally Kipyego won the Silver Medal for the 10k and came back two days later to clock 15:01.87 in her qualifying run of the 5k.

Jaw-dropping times aside it brought to mind a topic that I wanted to discuss: running the days leading up to your own race. More specifically the day before race day. In a similar line of thinking to ‘saving their legs for the race’ and thus skipping a warm-up, newer (and not-so-new sometimes!) runners take a complete rest day the day before their race.

I can see their line of reasoning, but doing zilch the day before:

* Will actually leave you feeling a little stale the next day. If you’re consistent in your training, your legs are USED to doing something on a regular basis, and coming back off of nothing the next day will be a little ‘shock’ and your legs.

INSTEAD of doing nothing:

* 2 or 3 days out from race-day: Make sure you do something with a little speed. Sometimes runners make the mistake of going over-board on the taper mode. Cut back your volume if the race is one you’ve been keying towards, but don’t go from 60 miles to 10 miles…you want to still keep your body attuned to the action of running. Similarly, don’t let an entire week prior to the race go by without doing something at, or faster than, race pace. You want to stay sharp so that come race day your legs will still ‘remember’ what if feels like to turn-over at the pace you want.

* Day before: Do a light shake-out run. Depending on your regular mileage and race distance this could be anywhere from 20-35 minutes. Go easy and then end with a couple fast strides, drills and lots of stretching.

* Race day: If you’re running in the afternoon or night it can be beneficial to also do a quick run in the morning to ‘flush out’ the system. Here, think 10-15 minutes…just enough to break a sweat and then stretching.

If you want to take a day off (and days off can be integral parts of a training program, know your body and know your volumes people!) it can actually work better to take that day off TWO days before the race. Ironic, yes, but the body is a crazy beast all it’s own. 😉

In getting back to the amazing Olympians…doubling is tough business, don’t get me wrong. Of course they have trained enough and with the goal of doubling in mind so they have prepared their body, and then in their mind know that second race they’ll probably have a little less pop that usual. However it proves my point in that you CAN run plenty well in a race without going into extreme-taper-mindset. Running is always that balance between too much, too little and just enough…someone go find Runner Goldilocks. 😉
——–
Fast chicks…Get Chicking! 🙂 If you haven’t checked out my super cool ‘You Just Got Chicked’ shirts yet, then by all means… 😉
——–

1) Have you ever doubled or tripled events? Have you raced hard efforts multiple times in a week? How did you feel in the second races?
Actually, it’s interesting that sometimes you can feel BETTER in the second race. The first one is sort of like an extra ‘warm-up’ and gets you primed for the second…sometimes. Other times that second, or third, feels like running with bricks.

2) What’s your training like the days leading up to a race? In the days leading up to a key race, this can be much different from running just a ‘regular’ season race?

3) How about your warm-up? I’m calling out any warm-up skimpers out there! 😉

Learning From the Elites: Mortal runners improving off of sound advice

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

My excitement level for the Women’s Olympic Marathon could be termed as ‘unbridled enthusiasm.’ It outpaced any any event; sorry, guys…but trust me there is enough spill-over excitement for other distance events, but it’s just a wee shy of the marathon.

It’s been building since the Trials and I’m a proud member of Team Goucherette and Team Flanagan. So there was no question I’d be up at the 3am (my time) for gun time. The marathon is a beast of an event where you can only plan for so much and from there, run as planned but be ready to roll with any surprises as well.

Both Goucher and Flanagan did us Americans proud; I know they both hoped to have placed higher, it’s that kind of attitude that makes them great because they are focused on getting better and know they are capable of more. However, if you saw them out there they poured it on all the way through the line and have the maturity to realize that all you can ask for is your best from your body on any given day. If you leave it all out there, you have to be proud of that regardless of the outcome.

There were no shortage of articles and interviews with the harriers leading up to the race, asking them on their training, tactics, preparation and everything else. Everyone trying to pick their brains for some kind of ‘secret’, find out what makes them tick in the effort that some of this could be applied to the mere mortals. Two solid reads are from Competitor on Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher.

Some quick highlights and points I feel worth repeating and emphasizing:

* Practice to race: Race day is what matters and tailoring your workouts to best simulate whatever conditions you’ll be facing on THAT day is key. You have tons of workouts and runs to test out how your body responds to different variables so be thorough. This includes finding which foods work best and setting a nutrition plan, the shoes you’ll be racing in, the perfect warm-up routine, and which style of racer you are. Do you want an even pace, start out slow and kick, surge in the middle, etc? I’ve got an article on planning your fuel HERE.

* Fartleks for everyone: Flanagan’s article specifies the kind of fartleks she did leading up and the reason why so many people are fans of fartleks is because they can be done anywhere and the combinations you can come up with are limitless. They are also perfect for those who might be getting too stressed or burned out on track workouts; focus on just running HARD rather than obsessing over splits. I wrote some more fartlek ideas HERE.

* In the end it’s in the legs: Gadgets and ‘extras’ are awesome; in today’s times we are flooded with different training tools. Take advantage of what this era brings to the table (trust me, especially when it comes to injuries and coming back from them, we’re running in a lucky time!) but in the end remember that what it comes down to is EFFORT. That and consistent training.

* It’s all mental: Visualization is a common thread in helping to callous the mind for the kind of pain running and race day brings. This is work that you can do off the track and while giving your legs a break, but it will pay off dividends come race day. Be a gamer. I did a whole piece how how to utilize visualization HERE.

So both of these champs (and the rest of the awesome runners…have to say, a 24 year old Gold medalist, that looks pretty nice on the resume. 😉 hehe) will be back to work here shortly. Running never ends…

1) Did you watch or follow the marathon as it went off live, did you record it and watch it later, or did you pull up results?

2) Do you tend to read a lot of running articles, blogs, websites, etc? Which are your favorite?

3) What’s something you read recently that you really liked and plan on implementing or adapting to fit your own running?

Piecing Together the ‘Perfect’ Runner

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

If we could construct the ‘perfect’ runner from all of different events in the London Olympics, I think we’d have to start with the flexibility of a gymnast. While you probably won’t need to bust out the splits on the track having that kind of range of motion would be an asset. Plus you’d certainly be less prone to injury.

Flexibility certainly helps double time for those steeplechasers! 🙂

Thanks to those skimpy Speedos I’ve seen the core on those swimmers and divers. Nowhere to hide in those uniforms. Having a rock solid core is key for a runner; it’s a huge oversight to think that all runners need to strengthen are their legs.

The quick responses of a ping-ponger (is that a word?). Hear me out, in the midst of a race a runner needs to be able to respond to any moves their competitors may make. Sometimes even an instant of hesitation can make or break the outcome of the race.

Remembering the drafting techniques of the cyclists certainly would help. Even in a slight breeze doing the work of pace-setting takes a physical and mental toll…far easier to just sit, zone out and get pulled along.

Explosive power like the jumps you see in volleyball and basketball. Having the ability to fire off those fast twitch muscle fibers translates into raw speed. Come the end of a race, a runner who’s got that is able to dig for that extra gear and kick for home.

Boxers tend to have a wicked game face too.

How about the game face of those lacrosse athletes. If I had someone running after me with a stick I certainly wouldn’t be able to hold it together like them. That takes confidence and a runner needs confidence in themselves, their training and their abilities when they step to the line.

But then, wait a minute. I believe they already have started piecing together the ‘perfect’ distance runner…I believe they call them Kenyans. 😉

———-
Get Chicking Shirts!! I officially have left in stock one of each size (XS,S,M,L)…who will be the last lucky four to get them?? To those who aren’t quick enough, don’t worry as you can still let me know your size and be on-board the second wave of orders.
———

1) What trait would you add to the ‘perfect’ runner from one of the other Olympic sports?

2) Which of these traits do you have and has thus improved your running? Did you do another sport before running and thanks to that been able to get a, ahem, leg up?

3) Which trait are you lacking, or consider a weakness? Are you doing anything to improve on it?

5 Running Flash-Factoids Part II: Spare your eye muscles and save your energy working your legs

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Cait — 13 Comments ↓

Runners should save their energy for putting those legs to good use, not straining eye ball muscles. 😉 If you liked last week’s 5 Flash-Factoids post then I hope you enjoy round two just as much!

* Remember Your Weaknesses: We all have our ‘weak’ spots, the injuries that seem to creep back time and time again. There are rehab and proactive TLC exercises/stretches you can do to keep those injuries at bay. Don’t get too cozy during periods where you’re injury free and slack on those things, stay current with your runner up-keep and care.

* Make Your Mileage Work For You: Knowing how much running your body can handle is key to your longevity; if you’re a runner with a lower threshold when it comes to total weekly mileage, that’s okay, but just make those miles you do run count. ‘Save’ those miles for hard workouts and your long runs and substitute cross-training for the easy run days. The miles you do run, be stingy with them and make them faster.

* Treadmills Aren’t a Weakness: Some die-hard runners have the line of thought that treadmills are for weenies. But treadmills are a training tool and they have their time and place; sometimes it’s safer to go indoors and in some cases you can get a better workout in too.

* But Sometimes You Need the Elements: That said, races are run outside and at times you should condition yourself to brave the outdoors even when an indoor run would be more comfortable. This is especially true if the race you’re going to run will be really hot and humid, or cold and windy…you want to prepare your body for running in those kinds of conditions and still being able to perform. Keep in mind you may have to adjust times and run for effort.

* Wear the Right Gear: If you’re going out for a run in super hot and humid conditions and you’re rocking a cotton tee, be prepared to be chugging home with about 5 extra pounds of shirt sweat. Suit up in the right gear for the elements; when it’s cold layers are your friend not just to keep warm but for the safety of your muscles too. To avoid chaffing and shirt sweat poundage, running shirts and clothes made from technical materials are your friends…hey, speaking of tech tees there is an AWESOME one I’ve got that you should be outfitting yourself with. 😉

1) Have you learned your body’s mileage threshold? How do you make that mileage work for you?

2) What is your chronic ‘squeaky wheel’ or weak point in your body?
My darn hamstrings and left foot at the moment.

3) Favorite kind of running shorts?
Either the Tempo shorts or ones with a split.

Love Your Running Competition and Thrive in Their Presence

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Cait — 7 Comments ↓

When a runner steps to the line they are never alone. The racers next to you all have goals of their own; some of the goals may be the same as your own…you both will be fighting for that same finishing place. Some of those racers may be your own teammates, your friends, your training partners.

But in the end, when the gun goes off you all become one and the same: racers. All other titles momentarily erased.

Of course if you know some of those racers you may devise a race plan where you work together for some portion of the race, helping each of you through the early stages and setting you BOTH up for a better finish. There can be a team component to track, more-so in cross-country, but there inevitable comes a certain point in the race where anyone running next to you is nothing but your competition.

Embrace your competition because they are what will make you faster, and one of the strongest tools you have to utilize in the quest for your best. They will push you to your limits…or rather they will push you to the point where you will have to decide whether you are willing to go to those limits.

This opportunity isn’t solely in races, and with the London Olympics fast approaching, there are some really great articles highlighting Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher not just as two of the USA’s top chances for medaling in the Olympic Marathon, but also the fact that they are indeed training partners.

Both are excellent reads, and some things you can gather from both are:

* Train For Your Best: Both women have run nearly every workout together; similar to a race situation when you workout with someone who can push you, both of you end up the winners.

* Race Day Confidence: Of course when the gun goes off, both women rightfully acknowledge friendships and training partner labels are completely taken off the table. In the article featuring Goucher they touch on what it means to have Flanagan around her the longer the race drags on. On the one hand, because they have trained together both can get a bit of a confidence boost having the other around with the thinking, “Look, if Shalane/Kara is still here and handling this and we’ve trained together, I KNOW I belong here and can handle it.” The whole, “This hurts, but she’s doing it, so can I” line of thought.

* In The End You’re Running For One: On the flip side, there is the point where you need to drop your competition. There’s nothing more to be said on that one except that rather than ever fear them, be thankful for them…embrace your competition and allow yourself to thrive under their presence.

——-
Some people get more nervous knowing faster people are in the race, so here’s a look back on a post I did about race day nerves, how to manage them and actually use them to your advantage.
——

1) How do you handle your competition, do you tend to get more nervous if you know faster people are in the same race?

2) For training, do you seek out people to run with who you know are at your same pace or a little faster?

3) Do you enjoy a race more if you know some of the other racers or if you have teammates?
I know I did…always fun to have company on the warm-up and cool-down too! 🙂

dont’ fear compeition

The Running Detective: Figuring out what works for you can feel like solving a mystery

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

Sometimes running forces you into the role of Sherlock Holmes. You may feel like you’ve been plunked down into any number of these must-read, classic runner tales of sleuth…

Harrier Holmes and the Mismatched Taper

When Watson’s GI Distress Wrecked Havoc

The Quest for the Missing Pair of Legs

The Pace That Shouldn’t Have Felt That Hard

The Reverse Splits Crawl Through He##’s Gates

The Last Race…or So He Thought

Running and training is a fickle little beast, just when you think you’ve figured something out it sends you for a loop. There is always more to be learned and also getting to know how that knowledge applies to YOUR own body is another part of the journey.

In running you are forced to become more attuned to your body, learn the ways it sends you signals…then you must choose how to interpret them and decide how to listen. We all go the trial by fire learning method plenty of times, but over the years hopefully we wise up and don’t repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Because if you get stuck in that same Sherlock story it can get rather boring, redundant and maddening. 😉

The thing tough, is that there are coaches, sports physiologists, training partners, competitors and the blokes who write about running to accompany on your quest for the answers to all of those ‘mysteries.’ To help keep you on track to PR’s, epic races, the next workout, next run…and to make sure you have some laughs along the way too.

Sometimes those running detective novels may feel dark (The Colossal Injury of Blistering Hall) at points, but you get to some pretty awesome passages too. For our little running mysteries I’d also like to write in that most of them end as happily ever afters. Or at least they end as cliff-hangers so that you are FORCED to read onto the next one…to keep going…

And don’t ever forget some of our favorite Sherlock Runner Sleuth books:

The Man Holding the Stop-Watch (spoiler alert it’s reading a PR)

The Mysterious Kick That Came From Nowhere

A Run So Perfect You Can’t Fathom it’s Your Legs Doing the Running

For that last one, trust me, when you’re in the middle of that one you know it and there is no WAY you can put that book down. 😉

1) Do you have a Sherlock Runner Sleuth book to add?

2) What are some mysterious you’ve ‘solved’ for yourself? (ie: best pre-race day warm-up, best fueling, GI Issue remedies, etc.)

3) Is there a book you are in the middle of ‘solving’ right now?

4) Which was the last book you ‘finished’ and how did it end? Did you wind up discovering the answer or was it a cliff-hanger?

Runners Going Gluten Free: Could making the switch work for you?

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Cait — 19 Comments ↓

Running on a gluten free diet may seem like more work than structuring your training regime. Though there are no shortage of runners ditching the gluten and raving that they are far better for it. Admittedly some were ‘forced’ into because they have an intolerance, celiac disease, but there are others that willingly did a diet overhaul.

Are those pancakes gluten-free?? 😉

I’m not going to lie, I’ve got friends who are gluten free (But being that ‘going gluten’ is basically trending on Twitter who doesn’t have friends who are eating this way?!) and I don’t envy the way they have to interrogate the kitchen staff and be extremely cautious when reading food labels. I honestly have no worries when it comes to the restaurant thing, it’s not that I mind it at all, I totally understand how important their questions are. To be frank, I think it just comes down to me being too ‘lazy’ to put in the work to get gluten-free savvy.

But I’m curious, just as many others, and had heard the benefits of going gluten-free for possibly reducing the amount of inflammation in your body and solving various GI problems. In case you missed it I wrote an article all about this over at Competitor: ‘Gluten Free = Inflammation Free?’. I also included a three day gluten-free sample menu.

The truth is, it’s not THAT incredibly complex, trust me 400 meter repeats are a far tougher pill to swallow. I’d say the hardest part would be the initial learning curve and getting used to what you ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ eat, remembering to double check labels and mostly getting used to how to travel and eat out without gluten sneaking in there.

I tapped into some AWESOME sources for this one, Krista Austin Ph.D and Amy Yoder Begley who has become sort of the poster runnerchick for going gluten-free. After you read the article, I’ll add a few more thoughts and tips that didn’t make it but I found interesting and worth mentioning.

* Amy’s Top Restaurant Picks: “For really important races, I try to go to places with a GF menu like PF Changes, Outback, etc. However, you need to make sure they have gluten-free prep not just gluten-free food. Things can’t be fried in the same oil as breaded items or grilled in the surface as bread. Cross-contamination is a word to know and ask questions till you feel comfortable, even if it takes 45 minutes,” Amy Yoder Begley explains that cross-contamination is probably the biggest hurdle when dining out.

* Kitchen Overhaul: The same issue applies to your own home kitchen and cooking habits, “To begin with GF eating you need to get rid of the old toaster, really clean down the grill or get new grill plates, and buy new cutting boards. I would also clean out the cupboards, wipe down all surfaces and read all ingredient labels until you know for sure what is in each item,” Yoder Begley explains. I actually roomed with Amy for a while and while her husband does not eat gluten free they are extremely well practiced in making sure none of his gluten products even come near Amy’s plate or food.

* Inflammation and Gluten: Austin explains that while gluten may cause extra inflammation, the biggest reason an athlete’s inflammation may go down as a result of a gluten-free diet is because you’ll be cutting out most of the overly-processed junk, “Usually if you do a gluten-free nutrition plan right, you end up replacing these [processed foods]…as a result, it automatically reduces the high percentage of unneeded trans fatty acids (most hydrogenated) and bleached, nutrient-less flour is removed from the diet. The extra chemically produced fats (think hydrogenated) are what fuel inflammation in the body, so if we eliminate them we will reduce inflammation. Bottom line: we eat cleaner more naturally found foods and thus inflammation goes down.”

* No Diet is a Magic Bullet: That said, I’ve talked a lot about how jumping into a certain style of eating, or overly-cleaning it up isn’t always the ‘best’ thing for your running or your sanity, and it really comes down to WHY you’re switching to a new style of eating. There is something to be said for both moderation and the old adage, ‘if the engine is hot, it’ll burn.’ Austin is frank about this, “However, as a side note, I know many an Olympic athletes, 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! Eeeeek…so at the end of the day, the message is this: it’s how you train that matters most…however, if your fuel intake is too low or not adequate in some way, just know training is suffering and we are not optimizing performance.”

I think I’ll end or reiterating that fact: “It’s HOW you train that matters most.”
——–
Check out Amy’s excellent resource for eating gluten-free at her site, Gluten Free Olympian: GFOlympian.com

Check out more from Krista Austin at her own site: PerformanceAndNutritionCoaching.com
——–

1) Do you eat gluten free? Have you tried a gluten free diet for any sum of time and what was your experience?

2) What have you heard about eating gluten free? Benefits, drawbacks, etc.

3) What’s your stance on your running diet, how do you approach the fueling issue?
I make sure to get in enough calories, so that means eating things I want and aren’t exactly the ‘healthiest’…but at the same time I think of the ‘junk’ as ‘bonus’ after I’ve made sure to get in the good stuff and enough proteins and such. 😛

Running in the ‘Wrong’ Kind of Tired: Diagnosing and solving a constant state of fatigue

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Cait — 15 Comments ↓

“There is no tired in distance running,” Alberto Salazar said this. The completely OCD runner in me loves this quote because it succinctly sums things up pretty well, namely that being tired is more just a given, it comes with the territory.

That said, there are LEVELS of tiredness. The longer that you’re a runner the better you are able to distinguish the levels of fatigue. There is the sort of tired you face the day after a hard workout that kicked your butt…you sort of ‘dread’ that easy run because you know it will not be easy in any sense of the word. But you work through that tiredness and just suck it up.

There is the feeling of tired during a hard workout, as the gruel-fest drags on you’re not really tired so much as suffering. That’s another thing you just accept, it’s part of the game.

Then there are the levels of tired that are different, wrong, you know it’s wrong because it’s not tired so much as bone-marrow deep fatigue. Where you’re struggling from the first steps, and you know something is off. This kind of fatigue isn’t ‘normal’ and the longer you live in this state you start to hope something is wrong because at least then you can pinpoint why your running, and your body, seems to be going AWOL on you. At least if there is a ‘problem’ you can look for an answer.

Digging for that answer is tricky because it can be one of many factors, or many of the many factors. What makes it more difficult is that because us distance runners are completely used to feeling tired, figuring out that you’re running in the ‘wrong level’ of tired can take some time and by then your problem, and your mental sanity, could be getting worse for the wear.

Common ‘wrong levels’ of fatigue sources:

* Medical: I’m going to put this one straight up first because it’s usually the ‘easiest’ thing to pinpoint or at least get the ball rolling. Get a blood panel done and check for some common ailments.
– Low iron: I did a whole post on that one HERE. Bottom line, make sure the doctor reading your tests is one used to working with athletes. A runner may fall in the ‘normal range’ for iron levels but that’s for the sofa surfing normal person…a runner will want to fall on the higher end of that range. I also take a supplement in addition to any food I eat…better safe than sorry.
– Hypo-thyroid: I had/have this fun one too and trust me it is NOT a fun road to travel. You talk about tired; again seek out a professional who knows runners. Your Free T and T-4 levels NEED to be more up to code than the normal sofa person.

* Over-trained: This one is quite common; with us type-A’s we tend to go with the motto ‘more is better, even more is even better.’ But that’s not always true, and doing needless ‘more’ for the sake of doing more is a fast way to dig yourself into an over-trained hole. It takes a while to dig, but if your hard workouts and race times start to nose-dive this is one of the first places to look. Look over your training log, taper back the volume and intensity for a day or two and if things start to improve you’ve got your answer. I did an article on this for Running Times you can read HERE.

Tired from exertion is one thing…but sometimes you KNOW something is off.

* Under-fueled: I’ll cut to the chase, weight and runners, food and runners is a land-mine of a topic. We know being lean is an unavoidable fact when tied to performance, but taken too far and your performance will also nose-dive. Running also burns a heck of a lot of fuel and if you’re training volume is way outpacing your intake you’ll feel the similar symptoms of over-training. Actually, sometimes just bumping up your caloric intake rather than cutting back the training at all can sometimes do the trick.

* Mental burn-out: There is the physically over-trained state and the mentally tapped out state I’ll call burn-out. Running is incredibly mental and ‘hyping yourself up’ into the hard workout and all-out race scenarios takes a lot of mental energy. You use too much of that mental energy and you can be left mentally zapped by the end of the season. Again, refer to my Running Times article for more on this but also remember that if you come to literally dread your runs you may be treading into mental burn-out land. Maybe you’re getting too obsessed with splits and times and putting too much pressure (read more on that HERE) and chucking the watch for some workouts or your easy days can help with that. Also make sure to get back to WHY you started running and keeping it fun.

* Training adjustment phase: I’ll quickly address this, if you’re new to a particular coach, running group or program it’s very common for the adjustment phase to wipe you. Even if the volume is the same, a different training philosophy (maybe you’re doing a lot more core/weight work) means different kinds of workouts. Be patient, sometimes you’ll have to take a few steps back to, in the long term, make big leaps forward.

* Not recovering: This actually is a ‘baby-category’ of the over-training but I’ll re-emphasize it here. If you’re not taking your easy days EASY then you’re blur all the lines between hard and easy days and then when you want to HIT those hard days you won’t be able to.

Pinpointing 1) that you’re in the ‘wrong level’ of tiredness is the first battle 2) finding a way to turn that feeling around so you can get back to the ‘normal’ constant tiredness that comes with running is the second. It may take time, but be patient, because once you’re back on track you’ll be running much better and your entire outlook on your running will too. You should never hate your running…it’s too good to hate. 😉

1) Have you ever experienced any of these ‘wrong levels’ of fatigue?
PAH-LEEEZ…sometimes I feel like I’ve written the book on them. 😉 There’s that sarcastic humor of mine.

2) Is there a few I missed, do you have any to add to the list?

3) Was there ever a time you hated your running?
I will say I never hated my running and I thank the running gods for that, many people who get stuck in a ‘wrong level’ type of situation can end up sucking the passion from their sport. I never lost that…I did however hate feeling super-tired, flash to hypo-thyroid days.

5 Running Flash Factoids: Keeping it short and to the point for us lazy runners

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Runners and Sundays; for some it’s the delegated long run day which then means: license to be totally lazy and slothful for the rest of the day. You don’t even have to move hand to mouth if you don’t want to, just train Fluffy to grab the spoon, Ben & Jerry’s and learn to shovel. 😉

Eat the ice cream before it melts!!! 🙂

Just kidding, but to be fair to B&J cold ice cream isn’t the worst kind of post-run refuel, I mean there’s the whole chocolate milk movement…ice cream seems like a logical piggy-backer onto that, right? Regardless, Sundays are also known to be a little lazy and lackadaisical so in tribute I’ll spare your eyes much reading and give you some flashes of brain nugget wisdomisms.

* Running’s mental but not THAT mental. Running usually comes down to a battle of wills, but sadly you can’t totally imagine your workouts into fulfillment…there is visualization to improve what could be but you have to follow up with DOING it. Motivation wanes but when in doubt, kick yourself in the tush to get the first mile done…the first interval done…and get ‘er done.

* Lean, mean, protein machine. I’m a carbo-loving freak like none other; running burns lots of energy so for a long time I didn’t actually think about my carb to protein ratio and dived into Pop-Tart gluttony. BUT that changed after I graduated high school and once I made a conscious effort to up my protein (I still didn’t slack on the carbs though!) I noticed a big difference in the amount of lean muscle I had.

* It’s a gas. Runner’s are always fun to chat up GI issues with…not in the moment though. Gas, the runs, bush dives, 6 pre-race port-a-potty stops, you name it. Don’t be shy about speaking up because we all struggle with it and if you don’t talk about it you may miss out on a possible remedy to your…runs. 😉

* My feet are SUPER! Actually, I’m a huge pronator, like the majority of people, and while I rock out supportive shoes I also have arch support inserts. I use green SuperFeet and they help. But shoes are incredibly personal to the runner so BE SURE to know your foot type before just diving into the discount shoe bin…mkkk!

* Always laugh. You can be a grouch on the inside after a bad run, horrible race, nasty workout, but pretend that whenever you’re around others, teammates, competitors, an audience…that you’re on the Miss America stage. Put some Vaseline on those teeth and bust out the fake smile. The thing is, negative attitudes are infectious, and if you happened to win a race and start pouting, think about how the person you beat would feel to see that…like they must REALLY suck. When you’re by yourself, or with coaches/close family, feel free to vent and reflect on the race…sure…but in the end learn from it and move forward.

Sorry if that last one got a little too wordy for Sunday! Get back to making Fido spoon shovel feed you! 😉
———
Get Chicking shirt update! I’m down to my last handful of shirts so if you want one before I have to make another order act fast you speedy peeps! 🙂
———

1) Do you have a flash factoid to share?

2) Is Sunday your long run day?

3) Do you make sure to get enough protein in your diet? Do you make sure to also get that full quota of carbo-loving goodness too?

The Interconnected Human Running Machine: All those bones, tendons and muscles are working together not separately

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Cait — 4 Comments ↓

The human body, the running human body, is a unit. It’s all interconnected and working together, it’s not some hundreds of bones, muscles, tendons and tissues working separately. When one muscle is shortening its counterpart is lengthening, eccentric and concentric muscle contractions. If something is off with one piece of this puzzle, even the tinniest of tendons, it’s surprising the ramifications this ‘weakness’ can set off. It’s all a chain reaction people.

I’m not shy about saying I’m horribly tight and know I need to stretch more. My hamstrings are a glaring example of this. So when after a run where I tried to nudge the pace up one notch from ‘gimply kankle runnerchick’ and afterwards I was rocking the extra gimpy post-run walk because the back of my knee and upper calf was not happy, I knew the culprit wasn’t my calf…it was my hamstrings.

Those tight hamstrings staged a protest; they were tight and tugging extra hard right where they insert behind the knee. The trickle down effect resulted in my calf muscle getting upset and joining the revolt. So even though I wasn’t sore one bit in the actual hamstring muscle region and my lower leg was begging for some icing, I also knew that it was a not so subtle reminder that I’ve been slacking on my stretching.

Thus in addition to giving the icing TLC to my calf I got on those leg swings and hamstring stretches. The bugger though is that I best keep myself ON doing those stretches long after the sorenesses go away; ahhh, us runners tend to get lax when there isn’t a higher level of ‘injury’ threat on the horizon. More on that for another post, but a warning there is to stay on top of the ‘little’ rehab type things even if the ‘problem’ isn’t screaming at you over a loud-speaker anymore.

Back to the interconnection issue, muscle weaknesses and imbalances are ever-present. Everyone has them, to different degrees…we can’t be perfect after-all. Though avoiding these weaknesses is going to come to bite you in the bum eventually. This happens a lot when people fail to do any core work, then wind up straining some crazy, small muscle they never knew they had or that it could hurt that bad. (Cut to the psoas, adductors, and abductor muscles smirking on this one.)

Taking it down to the feet; an insane amount of injuries and issues can be traced back to those bipeds. Namely shoe issues; not having the RIGHT shoes for your foot type. Did you know that things so far up as back or neck problems can be traced back to not enough arch support? Not so fun fact.

The lesson here, folks is know your weaknesses and work on them. Also, the next time you have a pull, niggle, pain, or outright screaming pain that stops you from being able to run…stop for a moment and take a closer look. THINK while you ice that calf muscle, because the real problem may very well not be that calf at all. The calf is just a symptom…a muscle that got talked into joining the revolt so to speak. 😉

1) What is one of your weaknesses, imbalances, or issues that you need to stay on top of to stay injury free?

2) Do you tend to slack off, get cozy, after an actual injury or bad soreness goes away? C’mon, own up, we all are guilty sometimes!

3) What’s one example of a time you had an injury or soreness resulted in one area or muscle but the problem was traced back to another?