‘Race Tips’ Articles at , Page 4

There Aren’t Any Ref’s for Running: Rules of the track and running etiquette

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

There aren’t any ref’s in track or cross country, or road races for that matter, but should there be?

Check out my little bro on the left, yo! 😉

I know there are plenty of elbows being jabbed in some of those tight, jostling packs of harriers. Sure there is a general code of conduct but truth be told some of those European and high stakes track races can get downright cagey. Runners fighting for their personal space, positioning, afraid of getting boxed in and a part of racing is being tactical and making sure that you ARE in the position to make a move if you need to be.

How far is too far though, and when is being an assertive or ‘defensive’ runner crossing the line into being just a downright boxer or ‘sketchy’ runner?We’ve seen runners go down during a race, of course there are the accidents, but sometimes there can be a few brow raises and fingers pointed.

Man down!! 😛

Elbows and runners right up on your heels isn’t only relegated to world record paced runs and it’s something anyone at any age can deal with. The first time I got a swift elbow to the side on a high school cross country course I was a little shocked, then mad, but later realized that it wasn’t necessarily personal and that if you’re all in it to win it you need to be prepared to fight for your positioning.

There is a difference between being a running bully and carving yourself out a good position…you don’t want to be all set to dig for the extra gear but be stuck right up by the rail with no way to pass your competition!

* Defensive runner: the gun goes off and you get out fast enough so as not to get stuck at the back, naturally there is a bigger group at the onset so be prepared for a little hustle and bustle. The longer the race usually it’s not as crucial to establish a spot at the onset for fear of the ‘box in’, but here are times where you might have to have those arms swinging just a little wider and be extra aware of the people around you and how much space there is between you guys.

* Running bully: it’s down to a two person race, both runners are making a drive for the homestretch, and if an arm goes out to obviously stop from being passed…that’s not cool. The same might be said for the lead runner purposefully running extra wide to make it even harder to be passed. It’s not illegal, but not exactly something to be proud of.

Running and racing doesn’t really come with a manual and I’m sure we’ve all seen some things where we wish a ref could be called to order. Blow a whistle, toss a flag, or if nothing else point a finger to call the offender a poor sport. 😉

Own your space but don't kick someone down to get it...hehe. 😛

There are sometimes race short cutters who think they can pull a fast one…too bad these guys actually wound up in jail! hehe. Being a female I’ve had road races where macho guys refuse to get ‘chicked’ (I love this term, thank you Britt for teaching it to me!) and weave around so I have a doubly tough time passing them.

No, there aren’t ref’s for running and I’d say that’s generally fine for us genial runners but every now and again I think we all should be able to shout out FOUL on a particularly annoying offender…if for no other reason than to alert them that we know they stepped out of line and if they do end up winning maybe we can call it a ‘tainted’ win…hehe.

Okay, now is my little moment for being a proud sister…the referees there are at the top are my littlest brother and his date to the Sadie Hawkins dance. So that’s how this little sportsmanship tangent my brain went on came to be.

In running and in life there are often written down rules and the unsaid codes of conduct. Sometimes don’t you wish we could have a whistle and a flag in our back pockets so we could whip them out? How about an ear-splitting *toot toot* at the random runner you come up to on the sidewalk, you’re obviously going at a faster clip, but then they huff and puff trying to ‘race your easy run’…you could then let them know they are being annoying and it’s totally fine for everyone to run their own pace and just let you pass them! Then we could also toss the red flag up at the guy who obviously has 24 items in the Express Line at the supermarket. 😉

1) Have you ever had an encounter of a ‘mean racer’ or race bully? What’s the oddest or most unsportsmanlike behavior you’ve ever seen? And you don’t have to limit it to races, maybe something that’s happened on just one of your runs.
A woman in a baby jogger short cut a race to come out the winner. I mean, power to women pushing jogging strollers, but it’s a co-ed race and did she really think she’d get away with that one? Hehe.

2) Is there a tip you have for being an assertive racer and getting a good position in a race?
I guess a tip I have is to try and pass on a straight-away; that way if you have to just run extra wide to make a pass or a move you won’t need to be tacking on even more extra distance by going wider over a the curve or a turn.

3) What would you blow a whistle on in a recent ‘life’ situation?

4) Did you ever go to a themed dance and what did you dress up as?

The Art of Visualization to Improve Your Performance: Guided Imagery 101

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Cait — 20 Comments ↓

Take a second to close your eyes, force out any noise clutter, and picture yourself achieving one of your goals. Pick a goal, for the purposes of this post make it something tied to running or working out, and envision yourself working towards it and then accomplishing it. How do you feel after you’ve done it? What were you picturing?

I just finished an article that you can read on Competitor, ‘Foresee it, Believe it, Achieve it: The Power of Visualization for Runners,’ all about the power of visualization and how it can improve your performance. But visualization isn’t a great tool for the sole purposes of acing a race and if you’re not exactly looking to PR or hit a time/race goal you can use it to be more productive and achieve more than you think is possible.

Setting goals, higher than you’re comfortable with, can be tricky…mostly it’s a matter of putting yourself out there…putting that goal out there. It makes you vulnerable; there is after all the possibility of failure. However if you want to DO better you have to aim higher and it’s also proven that goals are more likely to be achieved if they are 1) concrete and 2) written down and or stated.

By concrete I mean, something black and white, definite, there is no question of whether you’ve achieved it or not. Think a certain time, a certain placing in a race, finishing a particular distance. Not, “I want to get faster” or “I want to get in better shape.” The last two are ambiguous, see the difference?

Getting back to visualization, I had the great pleasure of talking with Dr. Jim Bauman, Ph.D Sports Psychology, who has worked with World Teams and Olympic athletes along with anyone who wants to propel themselves further in their given sport.

The article covers the three types of visualization: internal, external, and kinesthetic. Each are slightly different and may work better depending on the athlete and how they learn or are hard-wired. Internal is through the first person, external is through the third person perspective, and the last involves actual muscular movements. Dr. Bauman also advises the first few times you attempt visualization you do what is called guided imagery, where you have someone else lead you through the exercise. That way all you have to do is hone in on their voice and picture the scene that plays out.

The other point about visualization is that Dr. Bauman stresses you have to do it regularly. Practice it just like you workout. Also, try to include as many details and senses (ie: smell, feel, sound, etc.) into your imagery scenes.

So here’s a little exercise. Think of the next race or workout that you have; think of what you want to get out of that race or run and set a goal. Now close your eyes, try to find a quiet space and tune out where you physically are.

Think of your first few steps of the run…it’s probably your warm-up, think of your legs starting to loosen up as they slip into your familiar stride. After the first couple of minutes the kinks are starting to work out and by the end of your warm-up you’re feeling relaxed and strong.

You move to some stretches and then strides. The last stride you feel ready to roll, the engine’s burning hot and your legs are turning over efficiently. You’re now at the starting line, or about to start the first interval, you take off…fast but contained, you feel in control.

Your shoulders are dropped, your arms swing back to front, your hands and jaw are relaxed. You deeply inhale the cool air, feel it work down your throat and into your lungs before it is hotly exhaled and the process repeats. Feel the oxygen fill your lower lungs and leave in a rhythm.

Think of the rhythm of your feet, you can hear your steady footfalls like the beat of a drum. You feel the same crisp air prick at the hairs of your arms, you feel the rush of the air as you break against it. You are running smooth, relaxed, and with an even stride.

Now picture the part of the race or workout where you know it is starting to get tough. You know there is the burning sensation building in your legs, but instead of tightening up you stay relaxed. You keep your eyes locked ahead, if it’s a hill you’re climbing you stare only at the horizon. You remind yourself that this pain is only temporary and it’s a test…a test to see how bad you want this.

You focus on your steady breathing, the in and out, your footfalls beating like the steady drum. You’re now closing in on the last repeat, the last push to the finish. You see the people around you, you’re passing them. You can slightly feel the whoosh as you edge ahead of them and leave them behind.

You are running smooth, relaxed, strong, and now all the way through to the finish. You have done it. Think of that goal you set prior to starting, you’ve achieved it. Let that sense of accomplishment wash over you, remember that feeling so you can recall it later for motivation.

This mind-space you’ve created is yours alone, you can tap into it whenever and wherever, you just have to know how to get there.

(The above was an example of an internal guided imagery.)

1) Have you ever used visualization as a tool? If so, when and describe your experience.

2) How do you set concrete goals that push you but are attainable?

3) Do you think you’ll try using visualization if you haven’t before, and if you have do you plan to continue to practice it?

4) Is anyone racing this weekend? What are your weekend plans?

Farleks Aren’t Just For Workouts – Surging in Races to Break Your Competition

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Fartleking. The term probably calls to mind particular workouts, but fartleking isn’t something you do just in workouts. If you watched the US Olympic Marathon Trials and took a look at the splits the women were running (or watched any of the post-race interviews) you’d see that their miles were kind of all over the place. They opened up over 6 for the first mile, then ping-ponged around the mid-5’s throughout; they were farleking.

Why is there farleking in a race? Well, a race can be run for two reasons: to get a fast time or go for the win. The latter is a strategic race and typically seen in the big time races where titles and top three finishing slots are more important than the eventual time. Fartleking, or throwing surges in, is one tactic to break your competition.

Getting back to last weekend’s marathon, Amy Hastings surged to the lead after mile 18 because she knew that it was down to four runners and if she dropped the pace she could potentially drop one of the women, or at least develop a gap. Mentally, getting a gap on your competition can sometimes be enough to beat them before the finish line. Getting gapped or being stuck in ‘no man’s land’ is difficult and can sometimes be the nail in the coffin for a racer.

Hastings wasn’t able to gap the other women because they responded and were just stronger on that day; but that doesn’t mean that throwing surges in late in the race isn’t a smart strategy. Another reason is because fartleking a race is not the ‘easy’ way to get a fast time and it’s tough on the body. Your body runs best (and your PR’s will usually come from) running even paces; when you drastically swing from a fast pace to a markedly slower one your body never is able to get into a real rhythm. If a runner isn’t used to fartleking, it’s even harder for them to keep pace or hang on; the advantage goes to the one putting in the surges.

The lesson? If you’re able to train your body to fartlek, or surge, in a race and hold it together you can use it to your advantage to try and break your competition.

How? Do it in practice; get yourself used to varied paces. There are TONS of different ways to fartlek outside of the traditional one minute hard/one minute easy formula.

Try this – Finish Fast 800’s Workout:

* Warm-up
* 6-8 x 800 meters – Run the intervals comfortably hard through 600 meters but then for the last 200 REALLY pick it up and hammer to the end
* 400 meter easy recovery jog between each one and finish with a cool-down

Another Variation – Slow/Fast 800’s:

* Warm-up
* 6-8 x 800 meters – But alternate the pace of each 400 – The first 400 done at what you’d do a tempo run at or just slightly slower, the second one done at about 3k pace
* 400 meter recovery between and cool-down

*** To make this one more advanced do the 800’s continuous for 4 miles, starting with the ‘slow’ 400; the focus is to really pop those hard 400’s but still keep the’slow’ 400’s faster than an easy/medium effort…even the ‘slow’ 400’s start to get tough by the end!

Finally, Greg McMillan did a great artlcie for Running Times on the ‘Move and Match’ kind of fartlek workout. Here is an example of having a team or training partner to help add unpredictability to a workout, simulating what would happen in a race.

The bottom line is breaking your competition is all a part of racing, one way to do that is to throw in a surge, or multiple surges. You do it right and you could put a gap on them, break them mentally, or at least tire them out. If you’re used to surging you’ll be better able to handle it and keep the race in your control.

1) Do you do farlek workouts?

2) Do you do farleks or surging in races?

3) Have you tried varying the pace of standard interval workouts like in the examples above? Getting used to finishing an interval even faster is a good habit to keep in mind.

4) What do you tend to think about during your hard workouts?
I try to remember to stay relaxed, drop my arms, and stay smooth. If I’m running with someone I like to be right behind them and I just stare right at their back and try not to let any distance get between us.

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.

Battling the Race Day Nerves — Use the Nerves to Your Advantage

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

Sunday again already, eh? Well, we are approaching the ‘GO TIME’ for races here; whether it’s the high schoolers gearing up and going through all the sectional/regional races, the college athletes doing the same, the road racers continually make the circuit, and of course the marathons. We have NYC Marathon fast approaching, other ones going on all around the world, and then come January the US Olympic Trials…exciting stuff!

Though, whether you are racing in a huge meet or a low-key fun run, there is something special about putting on that race bib. Even if you are going into a race using it more as a workout or a tune-up, you still get that little buzz right before that gun goes off.

Races wake up that competitive beast just a little more…if tough workouts are just poking it with a stick than having a gun go off is like kicking him in the mouth. I’ve talked about how people have different perspectives on races: for some they just want to survive, others don’t care a lick about time and are all about the fun, and then there are those who are out for time and want to push themselves to their absolute limits.

Any and all of those goals are valid and great; but if you do fall into that last category and each of these races are upping the ante: read as you need to hit a certain qualifying mark, place as high as possible to make it to the next round, and there is a lot on the line, you CAN’T let the nerves get the better of you.

You want that buzz of adrenaline, the prick of your hairs as you crouch at the line, because that’s all a part of racing. But you don’t want to take it to the extreme and sabotage yourself. Don’t ‘think’ yourself out of a race.

Out-thinking it can happen even days or weeks before you start your warm-up. For whatever reason I think I was pretty good at not psyching myself out to the point where it ruined my race before it even started; I think it was because of a few things, and I’ll just share a few tips or pointers that might work for you:

* It’s just a ‘workout-plus’: the thing is, I get nervous before hard workouts too. I can’t really put into words why exactly, part of it is because I want to do well of course, part of it is that I know it will hurt but I want to test my mental toughness and see how far I can push that. I am a big believer in that being a mentally gritty and tough runner is one of the best attributes to have; I respect that probably the most in other people. How to use this for the race then: just think of this race as you would a tough workout; yes, there is more ‘on the line’ but just like in hard track sessions, go out there and give it the best you’ve got. The ‘plus’ part comes from the extra boost the excitement, adrenaline, and competition will give you; usually that will happen on it’s own and will help push you a little harder.

* Go in with multiple goals: the races I’ve been the most nervous for were the ones where I wasn’t exactly sure where my fitness was. Maybe I was coming off on an injury, perhaps I hadn’t raced for awhile; whatever the case if you haven’t built up enough workouts to gauge your level of fitness that can be daunting. In this instance, I’d suggest looking at what workouts you HAVE done, (here is where a coach helps a LOT as they can help you predict and set a goal for the race) and set a few goals. Set one for what you would consider ‘acceptable’, another a little bit higher, and then have a third that you might think is a reach but you still have to put it out there. Now, the three goals things still works even if you are in good shape; you always want to have a third goal where you really put your neck on the line and set it; even if you don’t tell anyone but yourself.

* Carry the confidence: now if you DO know you are ready to rock that race, then I’d suggest thinking back on your key workouts. The ones where everything clicked, you did well, and they are proof you are in good shape; so then when there is the point in the race where it hurts like a beast you can tell yourself, “Okay, I did such-and-such workout and that hurt way more, I CAN do this.

* Power-down, Power-up: leading up to the ‘big race’ just try to push it out of your mind with about two days to go. If you stress out too much about it, what happens is you will physically just wear yourself out. Your body will produce this hormone called, cortisol, which will, come race day, leave you wiped out. Not only that, your mind will have been stewing and could just work against you. So set your goals in advance, then tune out the days leading up…flip the brain back on when you are starting your warm-up because then it’s GO time.

* Relax: ummm, thanks for the obvious advice? Haha…no but seriously, I know we all handle nerves differently; for me I used to sort of turn into this weirdo-yabber mouth. I was the one on the line saying good luck to people or making some dorky joke; for whatever reason that helped me let off some steam by keeping it light. There is a limit of course, you don’t want to be outright rude because some racers are the opposite and like to be completely stoic, so give them their quite. I respect that everyone works in their own way; for the relaxing though, it helps to sometimes just shake out your arms because your shoulders can be up to your ears without you knowing it.

We're equal opportunity here, here's one for the guys. 🙂

I hope a few of these things help. Lastly, if you’re running with a team, use the camaraderie to your advantage, not your undoing. Yes, let it propell you to pick off that last person down the stretch, to really reach…but don’t let the opposite happen where you just absorb all that pressure to perform. The funny thing about it, the more you focus on ‘wanting to do well’ that is usually when you are working against yourself the most. Often times the races or times I’ve felt my best is when I wasn’t thinking about ‘wanting to do well’ but instead just letting it happen.

I’ll share a quote my mom used to always tell me when I would be nervous: “If you weren’t nervous, then I’d be worried; that means you don’t care.”

1) Best way you’ve found to channel nerves to your advantage?

2) Do you get nervous before key workouts?

3) Did you race this weekend? If so…share!

Setting a Warm-up Routine – You’ll Run Better and Feel Better Doing it

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Cait — 13 Comments ↓

I don’t want to waste energy. I’m really late and the gun is JUST about to go off. I don’t really need to. I’m just plain lazy.

All reasons, ahem excuses, that people give for not wanting to do a warm-up. The energy wasting one is something that I’m sure even the most seasoned vet is guilty of when they first started out, I knew I fell for that one in my first few meets. Or I guess back then I was probably also just lazy too. Though this is one of the biggest fallacies even though common sense might lead you to plead a case for it.

One of these doesn't belong, can you guess which one? 🙂

Physiologically your body CAN’T perform at its best going from 0 to 60 the second the gun goes off. Sadly we are not a high performance sports car that all the macho guys drive, peel out, and feel like ‘the man.’ Rather, our muscles burn glucose (energy) most efficiently if you gradually work into that faster pace. Not only will you be running faster if you’ve warmed up but it will actually feel easier too. [the same rules apply for the actual race, and that’s why it’s smarter to run negative splits; go out at one pace and pick up the pace as the race progresses, make that closing mile/lap your fastest]

What constitutes a good warm-up? Well, that is different for everyone and it’s a matter of finding one that fits with you. Still, there are some general ingredients to add to this recipe; I’ll just put out what worked for me when I was racing. Another couple of things; the other major benefit of having a warm-up routine set out is once you find the perfect recipe for YOU, stick to it. Keeping the same routine helps eliminate variables for the race but it also helps mentally.

Art Credit: Cait Chock Designs

The routine helps keep some of those nerves at bay. For me, the day before and of a race I’d try to limit thinking about the race too much to avoid getting overly nervous. But once I started my warm-up that’s when I started to really focus again. During my warm-up I’d mentally run through my race plan, think about staying relaxed, calm, and remembering what I wanted to accomplish for the race.

The routine, my body knew it and could go through it on auto-pilot, it was known, familiar, and that was reassuring. It also allowed my mind to focus on the race at hand. Another reason why I was able to run through it all on auto-pilot is I did basically the same thing before hard workouts. Just as with other aspects of training, come race day you want to limit any variables. So practice what you’ll be doing come the actual day.

Finally, with timing, I usually liked to start 50-45 minutes before I had to get to the line. I’m also really anal, and would rather err on the side of being early to the line rather than feeling rushed or heaven forbid not make it!

Here is a little sample or rough guideline to get you started:

* 2 miles easy: Keep this easy and you want to actually be overly warm if anything; that’s why even in hot conditions you’ll see people layered up in sweats. You want those muscles as warm as possible before you strip down to that singlet. People vary how long they run, but you want it to be at least 10 minutes.

* Drills and stretching: After the running I’d do some static stretches then move into a set routine of drills (think quick feet, A skips, butt kickers) to get my feet moving fast and work on turnover. I’d then do dynamic stretches, mostly leg swings. Keep the sweat on and I liked to keep moving around.

* Strides: After drills I’d then do 4-6 strides, 60-100 meters long. The last few I’d do faster than race pace, staying controlled and keeping good form.

* Stripping down and spiking up: Time to take off the sweats, I’d usually be so hot by this point I couldn’t wait to get rid of all the sweats. Then change into the shoes I’d be racing in.

* Head to the line and last strides: Then time to get to the line, I’d usually do one or two last short strides and then time to go!

Art credit: Cait Chock Designs - Inspiration: Mamma Nappy's amazing cookies! 🙂

I know that cross country season is well underway, so good luck to all those racing! I also know there are tons of people signing up and training for road races; for some it are their first races and I thought about posting this because I had been hearing from some that they didn’t even know what a warm-up was, so I hope this can help them out and do their best come the big day. 🙂

1) Do you do a warm-up routine before your races or hard workouts? If so, what?

2) Name one reason people may not want to warm-up?
The first time I went to a junior high meet (mind you I didn’t train at all before, that was an ugly 400…haha) my mom suggested it but I thought she was insane. I also didn’t want to look like a weirdo being the only kid running around before the actual race. Gotta love self-consciousness and peer pressure.

3) Happy Wednesday, what was your workout?
11 mile run outside and core, I’m slowly feeling better going sans tready…yay. 🙂