Training

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Maybe "toughing it out" is worth it if you’re in your goal race

When you’re not feeling the greatest, what do you do? Do you just plow through? Or do you give some serious thought to how you’re feeling and, if you feel necessary, adjust your training? At what point do you switch from just plowing through to adjusting? How long do you give yourself to return to normal training? Until you’re feeling 100%? 90%? 80%? Less?

One commonality I’ve noticed among runners is that we prefer to push through. Runners in general are highly motivated, very persistent individuals. We don’t want to give in, no matter what. That’s normally a good thing but it can be counterproductive if taken too far. I’ve seen runners run through stress fractures, serious illness that required antibiotics and all kinds of other things. Some even take pride in doing these things, even though running through serious issues like these often backfires and requires more time off later. Does that sound like something to be proud of?

If taking a few days off now or replacing a hard day with an easy day will allow you to prevent several days or weeks off later, what’s the obvious choice that should be made?

Next time you find yourself dinged up or ill, be honest with yourself. Sure, we all run through aches or the occasional sore throat or congestion. But ask yourself how bad is this really, will running through it just make it worse? Then answer honestly. Then do the right thing. You know what the right thing is if you’re being honest with yourself.

Note: One of the runners I coach motivated me to write this post I have been thinking about for a while by asking if taking off on a scheduled easy day would pose a problem. My response: "Wise choice. I wish all runners made such wise decisions."

Photo credit: nprpdx, on Flickr

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

It’s seemed like a bit of a quiet week. Maybe I am just getting behind this week with things going on. Whatever the case, only one topic today but it’s one that I’m really fascinated in.

I’ve blogged before about the idea of training your brain to handle fatigue more effectively and how that might make you a better runner.

Well, here’s another one. This time, the participants were doing mentally demanding activities during their exercise.

The results were pretty amazing. Untrained participants who didn’t do the mental tasks while exercising improved in a time to exhaustion test by an impressive 42 percent. The participants who did do the mental tasks, though, blew that result out of the water. They improved by 126 percent. That’s an improvement exactly 3 times greater than the control group!

What does this tell us? Well, it appears the mental tasks being performed while training increase the stress our bodies are facing during these training sessions. Removing the stress on test day made the physical stress feel much easier.

Just be sure to note:

Marcora agrees, suggesting there are “certain situations where brain training in combination with physical training makes sense and certain situations where it does not.” More specifically, if you are going to do all-out intervals, it is probably best to focus solely on the intervals, perhaps with some music blasting in the background. But, if you are doing an easier or more moderate workout—anything up to 80 to 85 percent of maximum effort—that’s prime time to work your brain. “Applying a cognitive strain can produce an enhanced training effect without adding any additional physiological stress,” Marcora says.

So just save the mentally challenging tasks for your easy days. But now I won’t feel so bad when I’m out on an easy run and my mind shifts to doing math with numbers I see along the way.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I’ve seen some notes from several runners in the past couple of weeks, expressing frustration as they push through this winter’s training. I know the feeling, I’ve been experiencing the challenges myself.

Winter training is tough. You’re probably facing both weather challenges and, at times, traction challenges with snow and ice. If you’re like me, you’re not racing as much if at all during the winter months so the motivation of an upcoming race isn’t driving you. Depending on your “running personality” you might feel that the base training you’re likely doing is dull and boring. Combined with the fact that you’re base training, not peaking for a race, you’re also running slower than you recall running this past fall when you were nearing your peak.

Understand that this is a tough period. Accept the challenges, then push through. Because the work you are doing now is the foundation for the faster running and race day successes that will come later. The strength and stamina you build now will determine the baseline for how much faster work you can do later and how much you can get out of it without your body breaking down.

Keep at it. You can do it!

What do you do to get yourself through the tough winter months? I’d love to hear some ideas in the comments. I’ll share some things I do in the comments later.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

As the runners I coach should know by now, I don’t have many hard rules but one of those I do have is family comes first. No matter how important running is to you, there is nothing more important than family. For many families spread far and wide, the holiday season is the one time a year when they still get together. No matter how important your running is to you, during this time, don’t put your running ahead of your family.

This doesn’t mean you don’t run during the holidays. For many of us, running is more than just the sport we choose to compete in. It’s a coping mechanism, a stress relief and simply a great way to center ourselves. Especially when spending a lot of time in close proximity to people who you may have grown away from in some ways, it’s important to have those exact things. In order to avoid family feuds, it may be necessary to slip out for a run to destress and get yourself recentered.

Maybe you can even keep your training largely intact. If so, great. If not, don’t fight it. Do what you can and you’ll have January to get your training rhythm back. Just be sure to keep your priorities in mind. Don’t let a handful of training runs get in the way of quality family time.

On a related note, I’ll be attempting to make my usual Monday posts for the next two weeks but don’t count on the usual Thursday posts. I will very likely be too busy enjoying the holidays and time with family.

Have a wonderful holiday season!