Runner's Vacation: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

#27 Runner’s Vacation

SNAPSHOT

Vacationing while training for a race can put a runner between a rock and a hard spot. No worries, I am here to help!

DIGGING DEEPER

WHAT IS YOUR SITUATION?

NO TIME TO RUN

You may not have time to run during your trip because your trip calendar is packed to the max. Ok, plan a harder week before you leave and a harder week afterward. Caution: Don’t lose your flexibility. Stretch often.

TOO HOT TO RUN

Texas in the summer requires 4 am runs. Vacation and 4 am don’t mix well. So venture out in the morning hours for walks. Visit an indoor facility in order to fit in cardio training.

NO ONE TO RUN WITH

Be a guest with the local running club. Select a new purpose in running, like a destination, pace, or even make a shape out of your route (view afterward on a map, fun to instagram).

UNSAFE TO RUN ALONE

Safety is the most important. Research ahead of embarking on your trip to see if there are any alternatives like a local running group, indoor facilities, or safer neighborhoods.

LOTS OF TIME AND NEW PLACES TO RUN

Live it up, to a degree. Keep within the max 10% increase of weekly mileage, reduced weight training on your first try, and recover well. Aim for a solid week of training. Remember all your work won’t pay off if you don’t allow for recovery or end up injured. Be smart and enjoy!

ONLY SMALL OPPORTUNITIES TO RUN

Grab even the short windows of time to get in 20-30 minutes of running. It will make your vacation even better since you will feel refreshed and accomplished. Those short runs really can keep you from losing fitness and flexibility. You don’t need to run every day. Alternate walking and running days, perhaps family or friends can join you on the walk days. Add in yoga to your bedtime routine.

TIPS: Remember to drink water often, sleep as well as possible, and soak in the vacation experience.

ONE LAST THING

Stay healthy and don’t return with an illness. Getting sick after a trip is usually when a runner gets off track and ends up losing a total of 2 weeks of training. So if you don’t get any running in during your vacation at least try to come back healthy and happier!

SOLUTION

Play is good for the soul!

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

Rest Days: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

#26 Rest Days

SNAPSHOT

Did you hear the silence?

DIGGING DEEPER

One of the most valuable insights to being an experienced runner is knowing when to take a rest day.

During the training season, I already have motivation, direction, and hopes. This includes a usual rhythm of six days a week of running with one day of rest from running. Yet knowing just when to take this day of rest is the result of years of successes and failures.

Perhaps the day of rest needs to come on the same day as a day of skiing or perhaps it doesn’t. Sometimes the rest day needs to wait until a busy day when finding a chance to run within my schedule is impossible, therefore decreasing mental stress. A rest day may come on the onset of symptoms of a past injury. As I am reaching closer to the masters age level (40), I touch upon a brink where without a rest day, the training can’t be accomplished. Now, I am not getting old, just playing the training dance with my current body.

So when to take a rest day is not about a planned 7th-day rotation. It is about listening and being aware.

Rest days to me can mean anything from laying on the couch for several hours to cross training by kayaking, biking, or skiing. Most rest days during the training season need to be a full rest day with several hours of no grand movements. This is a time that I imagine my muscles restoring energy, nutrition, and repairing. The next day I can feel like a new person with an extra push in my running.

Most of all be flexible when planning and taking rest days in your training. When a rest day is needed, it is only going to hurt you to put it off. For 95% of the population, it is unrealistic to run every day, understand the value of a 48-hour regeneration window.

Newer runners - 3 rest days a week

Intermediate runners - 2 rest days a week

Advanced runners - 1 -2 rest days per 14 days

Replace a run day with a walk day to restore your body

SOLUTION

In 2016 I wrote a post about NO DAYS OFF and what that meant to me as a runner. Check it out.

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

Runners Stretch: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

#24 Runners Stretch

SNAPSHOT

PLEASE STRETCH

DIGGING DEEPER

The swinging pendulum has made its way from Stretching is Bad to Stretching is Good. I hover at about 20% from center on the Stretching is Good side. Those that don’t stretch before, during, or after running look stiff with shorter strides. Without full range of motion you can not use your body to its fullest potential.

Physical Therapists are going to instruct you to regularly stretch. They get to visit with many runners who are injured and see the effect of not stretching, injury. So why not stretch your muscles and increase mobility instead of getting injured and then hearing from your PT that your muscles are too tight to allow your body to work well.

My Cheat Sheet on Stretching

Before a Run - Dynamic (moving) stretches like leg swings, torso twists, arm swings, lunges, and squats.

During a Run - Dynamic (moving) stretches like leg swings, torso twists, arm swings, lunges, and squats.. PLUS, strides (short sprints where you build up the speed and then slow down all within 50 meters, striving for good form and quick turnover)

After a Run - Static (holding stretches for 30 seconds) stretches like toe touches, figure four, pigeon, cross body shoulder stretch, etc. In Addition Active Release stretching ( movement stretch with a pause), massage through foam rolling, Yoga, and Pilates.

DO NOT DO

• NO Static stretching right before a race or speed workout. Your muscles act like springs and if you stretch the spring out, they won’t get their tension back in time to run well. Instead use dynamic stretching before racing or speed workouts.

• NO Stretch when you have a pulled muscle. A damaged muscle doesn’t need damaged more. Rest injuries!

• NO Aggressive stretching can damage a tendon or muscle (yep, can happen easier than you think)

YES DO THIS

• Mindful stretching

• Oppositional stretching (ex. push the hip to the floor as you push the heel to the ceiling)

• Dedicated stretching sessions once or twice a week

• Stretch after every workout/run, both upper and lower body

• Stretch after sitting, especially after riding/driving in a car

• Stretch when you wake up in the morning

• Stretch before bedtime

• Injury rehab should include short stretching sessions (1 -2 minutes) 6-8 times a day

• Include Yoga or Pilates in your weekly training plans

• Use these books for more insight:The Whartons' Stretch Book,The Anatomy of Stretching, Dynamic Stretching

• Favorite Stretching Accessories: Calf Stretcher, Stretch Strap, Resistance Bands, Foam Roller, Sculpted Foam Roller

SOLUTION

In order to run happy, your body needs its full range of motion, therefore stretch throughout the day.

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

A Runner's Will: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

#23 A Runner’s Will

SNAPSHOT

Will is a MUSCLE

DIGGING DEEPER

Will: expressing a strong intention or assertion about the future - desire

Muscle: physical power; strength - can become stronger

Give your WILL a workout

Challenge yourself by putting yourself in a difficult situation (still safe though).

Build your WILL MUSCLE

Right now, look at your training log and identify the last time you exercised your WILL MUSCLE. When did you have to dig deep, not give up, or convince yourself you could finish?

At a minimum every 10 days, exercise your WILL MUSCLE. Monthly races that you take seriously and push yourself are a wonderful way to strengthen your will muscle.

RESULTS of a

Strong WILL MUSCLE

Better Race Results

Stronger Body

Stronger Mind

More Discipline

More Purpose

SOLUTION

Running training is much more than weekly miles, it is also preparing the mind to take the hardest path and not give up.

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.

No Pretty Runners: How to Become a Better Runner in 30 Days Series

#22 No Pretty Runners

SNAPSHOT

Run Strong, Run Fierce

DIGGING DEEPER

I was just at my local YMCA for a swim technique lesson for my daughter, taught by my oldest son. He has years of experience and can see errors and give simple cues to communicate improved technique. However, there was one cue he most likely wouldn’t think of that I know all too well. I called my daughter over and said, “Don’t be pretty, be fierce, be ugly, be strong. No more prettiness. The race is not won based on how pretty you are in the water, it is won by the first one to hit the timing pad.” She jumped back into the water and immediately her stroke was fixed. My son’s cues could work once she let go of trying to look pretty.

I am surprised by how often I actually see “pretty running”. It looks bouncy with smooth slower movements. The sad part is that the runner wastes so much energy trying to look pretty instead of using that same energy to run forward faster. Often the runner is not using their glutes to run forward. Instead, they are lifting their knees and reaching forward with the foot landing in front of their hips. It probably feels pretty and energetic. However, it is not fast. It may look good for a photoshoot but won’t get you to the finish line ahead of your competitor.

A few months back, a runner I work with sent me a video clip of her stride/gait and we talked over the phone. I gave her a few cues to think about while running. Her next run was 30 seconds per mile faster and it wasn’t any harder. The difference? Well, she changed her purpose while running, from looking pretty to moving forward with strength.

This is not just a female tendency, trying to look pretty. I notice males running throughout town also trying to look good while running. I will let you in on a secret. You already are impressive. You are NOT on the couch eating ice cream wishing you had energy and motivation. You are running and becoming more healthy. You are strong and accomplishing.

Be a STRONG runner. Make each movement help you to run forward. Have a slight tilt forward from your heels (not waist), push off with your foot, pull your foot to the same height as your knee, swing your leg forward, drop the foot letting it land just under your hips. At times while you run, think of the muscles you are using and flex them, using them to their fullest extent and increase your body awareness. If this is all too much to think about, just run forward with strength forgetting about any passersby.

In your next race, endeavor to be a strong fierce runner, using all your body to touch the timing pad first.

SOLUTION

“Don’t be pretty, be fierce, be ugly, be strong. No more prettiness. The race is not won based on how pretty you are in the water (or on the road/trail), it is won by the first one to hit the timing pad.”

This 30-day series is a quest for me as a writer, coach, and runner. I promise to write about running for 30 days in a row. In doing so I intend to gain in knowledge and expression of running and daily life. My hope is that we all grow together.