Training

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

Last week, I wrote about how to recover after your final race of the year. However, I kind of glossed over why. I mentioned the physical and psychological demands taking a toll on anyone but I didn’t delve into these issues. I was privately called out on that so here it is. Why spend a month recovering, even if your race was shorter than a marathon? I’ll use myself as an example, seeing as I just finished my racing for the year with a 5K.

Most runners accept that, if you’ve run a marathon, you’ve placed a lot of stress on your body and you need a fairly significant amount of time to recover from it. But I just ran a 5K and I’m planning at least 4 weeks of recovery time. While running a 5K all out places a lot of stress on our bodies, recovering from the 5K itself surely isn’t going to take a month. So what am I doing?

I’m not planning to recover from just the race itself. I spent the past 11 months training extremely hard for the 2014 racing season. I don’t race as frequently as some people but I toed the line 8 times this year. The cumulative stress of 11 months of hard training and 8 races takes its toll on even the most resilient and motivated runner. Physically and mentally, I’m ready for a break.

Physically, it should be pretty clear. You’ve been training for months. Maybe 4 or 6 months. Maybe, as it is in my case, 11 months. Either way, you’ve been pushing yourself hard. You’re a dedicated runner as proven by the fact that you are questioning the need for a down period. While you’ve built yourself up to a high level of fitness, you’ve also built up your share of fatigue. You need to give yourself some down time to let your body get rested and refreshed.

It’s pretty common knowledge that runners after a marathon or at the end of a racing season are more susceptible to catching a cold. This isn’t because you were hanging around a lot of people on race day. It’s because your immune system is suppressed. Why do you think your immune system is suppressed? It’s because your body is fatigued and dealing with a lot of stress. This should tell you how much your body needs some rest at this point. Don’t ignore these signs.

As much as the physical aspect, if not more, we all need a mental break at times. Again, you’ve been pushing yourself hard for months. You’ve probably neglected some things you like to do because you didn’t have the time and/or energy to do them. You’ve spent a lot of mental energy focusing on your goals and on doing what you needed to get them. Be honest with yourself. How is your motivation right now? Not very good? Dont’ fight it. Give yourself the mental break you need. Go do something different. Take some time to think about what next year might bring but don’t worry about how to get there yet.

I’ve seen the result of not giving yourself enough time to rest and recover between seasons. You start off strong. You continue for a few months, then the drag starts. General fatigue may get you, injuries may creep up or you simply may lose that drive to keep going. Inevitably, something happens because you simply pushed too hard for too long.

Don’t let this happen to you. If you take a month off from the training, you’re giving up less than 10% of the year. You’ll come back at the end of that month rested, recharged and ready to attack that other 90% of the year. Your fitness will come back quickly and you’ll be far more ready to sustain high level training throughout the whole coming season.

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

Mid-October is here. Most of us have probably recently wrapped up our 2014 racing season or are close to doing so. So what do we do now? Most of us know we need some recovery but how much? The answer is probably more than you think.

It’s time to give yourself a real break. Not just a down week or two but a month’s worth of down time.

I know what some of you are thinking. A month? Are you kidding me? I didn’t run a marathon. Why do I need to take a month? That’s very true but you’re not just recovering from the race. You were training hard leading into the goal race you just ran, right? For how long? 6 months? 10 or 11 months? During that time, not only did you push your body hard but you taxed yourself mentally and you probably sacrificed something outside of running that you enjoy. Maybe you gave up cycling because you couldn’t fit it in on Saturday mornings due to your long runs. Maybe you gave up a fitness class you like or hikes with the family or something else because you just didn’t have the energy. This is the time to go do those things. It’s also the time to give your body and mind a real break.

So what do you do during this month? I’d like to suggest no running for at least a week at some point but I also know that, if you’re like me, that’s not realistic. I suggest it but I don’t do it myself because running is how I keep my sanity. At the very least, reduce your volume and intensity dramatically. If you must run, try to keep it to no more than 30-40 minutes per run or no more than about 50% of your usual volume. No fast running of any kind for at least 1-2 weeks. No hard workouts for the whole month.

More specifically, here’s what I would suggest by week:

Week 1: If you can bring yourself to do it, don’t run at all. If you must, try to limit yourself. Keep the pace very relaxed and try to stay with no more than 30-40 minutes. Ideally, I’d like to see this at or below 30 minutes and fewer runs than your normal weekly routine. Of course, I’m one who breaks these ideals so I know how it goes. Do as little as possible and keep it as relaxed as possible. You’re not training. Just run for fun. You remember how to do that, right? You do remember that the simple act of running is fun, right?

Week 2: If you don’t want to run yet, don’t. If you can’t resist, add some running back in. Keep it relaxed and short. If you’ve been running, follow the same guidelines as week 1. This is also a good time to add in some auxiliary training. If you don’t do much stretching/mobility work, this is a good time to try some different options out. See if something works well for you and you enjoy it. Some people prefer static stretching, some prefer active isolated, some prefer more dynamic mobility exercises, some prefer things like yoga. In my opinion, the key is to find what feels good to you and you enjoy doing.

Week 3: If you’re not running yet and you don’t feel the itch, continue not running. If you’re ready to start, follow the guidelines above. If you are running, don’t build yet. Keep running for run. You can run more days if you wish but not more distance yet. This is a good week to work in some strength training. I suggest body weight exercises but, as with stretching/mobility, the key is to find something that feels good to you and that you like.

Week 4: Again, If you’re not running yet and you don’t feel ready to start yet, don’t. If you are running, you can work back toward your regular frequency but don’t increase the duration yet. Again, you should ideally be going the shorter of 30 minutes per run or 50% of your typical run distance and keeping it very easy. If you must, do more but keep it to as little as you can and keep it truly easy. Again, run for fun. You’re not training yet.

Week 5: Back to training. Start slowly, though. Strides are a good way to start faster running. Increase volume gradually at first. You’ll be able to increase more quickly soon enough.

If you take one month off training right now, that’s less than 10% of the year but it can lead to much better quality training for the other 90% of the year. Go enjoy some things you’ve been skipping. It will pay off later when you’re mentally and physically refreshed and ready to train harder than if you skimped on this recovery period.

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

"Never try anything new on race day."

We’ve all heard this advice by now and I’m sure we do our best to live by that rule but how well do we do?

Many of us fall short because we don’t consider the corollary to that advice. Practice race day in training. Wear the shoes, socks and gear you’re going to on race day. If you’re running a race that’s long enough to require fueling, practice not just fueling but doing so with your race day strategy and with the equipment you will have on hand on race day. Possibly most important, do this at goal pace and on a route that is at least similar to what you’ll be racing on.

Why do all these things? Simple, you don’t want any surprises on race day.

Why wear race day gear? Hopefully the answer when it comes to shoes is obvious. You have to make sure the fit and ride are right or you could be in for a world of pain, especially as the race distance gets longer. As for the rest of your gear, you never know what stitch or piece of fabric may rub on you the wrong way and produce blistering or chafing. I’d rather find that out after a 10 mile tempo run than at the 10 mile mark of a marathon.

Why practice fueling? First, you need to make sure your stomach can handle whatever you will be taking in for fuel on race day. There are few things worse than getting sick mid-race due to the fuel you’re taking. Just as much, though, you need to practice with what I’ll call the fuel delivery tools you will have available on race day. If your plan is to take water or sports drink from aid stations, how good are you at drinking from the paper cups they will most likely be handed to you in? Are you planning to drink from a paper cup on the run? If so, you need a strategy for doing so in order to ensure more fluid ends up in your stomach than on your face and shirt and you need to practice that strategy until you can execute it to perfection every time.

Why at goal pace and on a route similar to what you’ll be racing on? Have you ever tried drinking from a paper cup at easy run pace? It’s not easy but not terribly difficult. Have you ever tried at race pace, especially if race pace is significantly faster than easy run pace? The first time you tried, you probably ended up wearing more of whatever you were drinking than you managed to swallow. You might have even choked on it. When running at race pace, your breathing is more heavy, you are probably not quite as smooth and you can’t adjust as well.

So get out there and practice race day in your training. By doing so, you can make sure that your execution on race day will be as flawless as possible and you won’t encounter any unfortunate surprises.

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

I’ve been quiet on my recent Monday and Thursday blog posts recently. Let’s call it a late summer break so we could all enjoy some free time. Here’s a short one to begin getting back on schedule.

Anyone who has received my advice or been closely following my blogging recently knows that I’m a big fan of treating and preventing injuries using a multi-faceted approach. Specifically, I think both strength training and flexibility/mobility training need to be considered. It used to be that everything was about flexibility. Get your soft tissues loose so they can pass through a full range of motion and they won’t be so tender. That makes total sense but here’s another thought: make your soft tissues stronger and they will be less susceptible to breaking down. Make sense?

It works for the IT band.

It works for PF.

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

Some time ago, I posted an "Ask me anything" post, soliciting questions. I’d like to continue doing this on occasion so, if you have any questions, keep an eye out (or ask any time if you don’t want to wait). One question I received was about strains:

During the last year I have tweaked/strained my left calf twice. I couldn’t tell you the muscle group but the long and short of it is I have had to ice and park myself for a few weeks and then start again. Any specific stretch or strengthening exercise you would recommend to stretch and strengthen that part of my leg?

First, great framing of the question. Muscle strains such as this are usually caused by a combination of inadequate strength/strength imbalances and inadequate flexibility/mobility.

As runners, we tend to let stretching and strength training fall to the wayside. We’d rather run another 2 miles than spend that time stretching and strength training. As a result, we get strength imbalances, don’t ensure our muscles and connective tissue are strong enough to support the repeated stress we place on them and allow ourselves to get tight to the point that we can’t pass through a normal range of motion without placing strain on our muscles and connective tissue.

This is a mistake. If we spend 10 minutes a day doing some form of stretching or range of motion work and 30-60 minutes a week doing strength training, we will be able to handle a higher volume and intensity of running.

Yes, it’s time out of our day. It may even be time that cuts into what time we have available to run. However, it’s time that keeps us healthy. I’d rather get in 50 minutes a day consistently than 60 minutes a day but miss a few weeks twice a year because I wasn’t taking care of myself. However, I’ve found that many runners can do these things without cutting into their running time. All the strength and flexibility/mobility training I recommend can be done in your living room with little to no equipment other than some space to stretch out on. You can do these things at home while watching TV or, especially for the stretching, as a way to relax before going to bed.

So what happened with the runner who asked this question? I suggested heel raises to strengthen the calf muscles and a Jim and Phil Wharton stretching routine (which can be found here) to stretch the muscles.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with the individual who asked this question. He said the exercises I recommended did help him resolve the issues and he is actually recommending them to other runners who experience similar issues. I’m glad it worked out for him and, if you are experiencing similar strains, I hope this advice will also work for you.