We’ve probably all heard these ideas. Over pronation causes injuries. Strength or flexibility imbalances or simply lack of strength or flexibility cause injuries.
Heck, these are things I’ve said. But are these things true? Maybe not.
Well, there are some interesting caveats offered in that article but the short story is, on the whole, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific things that increases overall injury risk. Interesting to think about.
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I was just talking with a runner I coach about racing plans for this year. She’s not into racing frequently, instead picking and choosing races when she will be ready to really get after it. The easy call for her was to target a race this fall, build up to it over the summer and be in real good shape.
However, in talking, we commiserated about neither of us having run a real race in over a year and a half and I immediately thought she needs something else.
I told her to definitely pick out that target race in the fall but also think about finding something in the summer. Know she’s going into it not fully ready to race but practice the act of racing.
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It’s definitely a frequently asked question and one I’ve seen even more frequently over the past month or so for some reason. “What shoes do you recommend?” Alternatively, someone might ask “What is the best shoe?”
Either way, the correct answer is the same: I don’t know.
…Do you set big goals for yourself, then get upset at yourself if you fall short?
If so, you’re increasing your risk of burnout.
I’m a fan of setting big goals at least sometimes. However, you have to be careful about how you respond when the inevitable happens. When you set big goals, you will sometimes fall short, quite possibly more often than you reach them.
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Some time ago, I was listening to a podcast interview of a high school coach with a PhD in exercise physiology. He pointed out that his athletes could be using watches that measure heart rate, oxygen saturation, cadence, ground contact time, and a crazy number of other values. However, while some had these watches, he didn’t have them paying attention to those values while running. His runners learned how to run by feel.
I wrote down a few notes from that interview and came across them last week, which prompted this post.
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