http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnqC1LLT7a8

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Video Transcription

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With hunting season starting this weekend here in Maine, I’ve avoided that stretch of trail for the past month and will be changing up where I go for my weekend runs for the next month or month and a half.

Here are the links you might want to check out before heading out for your next run:

• Safety Tips for Runners During Hunting Season
• Hunting Regulations by State

Run safely!

Learning to run with better running form will always pay off in the long run, but in the short term it’s probably not worth worrying about where you land on your feet if it isn’t painful. Changes to your gait should be gradual and you should expect an adjustment period when you change your shoes from one style (such as a motion control shoe with a large heel lift) to another style (such as a minimal shoe that is relatively flat and has a minimal heel lift.)

Improve your running form with this four step process to get your muscles and body used to it:

Step 1 is to improve where you land by ignoring what part of your foot hits the ground first.

To do this, work on quick leg turn over and landing with your feet below your center of gravity instead of trying to control where on your feet you land, which is a recipe for a quick injury. You’ll naturally begin to land in a more appropriate spot for your body type and shoe without hurting yourself.

It’s not uncommon for somebody new to low-heel-drop shoes to wear out on the heels in the first pair or two – you’re still used to over-striding and it can take a few months to a year to get used to running in your new shoes.

One way that people can learn to run more efficiently and over their center of gravity is to try to run with a higher cadence, or leg turnover.

The average jogger runs with a cadence of about 140 to 160 strides per minute. The often used “optimum” number that you should be running (based on research by Jack Daniels) is 180 strides per minute, or 90 steps with each leg.

If you use an artificial aid, such as a sound file on your mp3 player with either 90 or 180 beats per minute, then on every beat lift your foot off of the ground. Most people try to learn a higher turnover by striking the ground with your foot on each beat.

You’ll accomplish the same thing by lifting your foot instead except that psychologically you’ll be concentrating on running lightly rather than pounding your foot into the ground. As I said above, you want to lift your feet and let your forward lean from the ankle handle most of your forward momentum so that you don’t need to use as much energy pushing yourself along.

This Winter, a woman joined my training group who was seeing a physical therapist for knee problems. He had her using a metronome app on her phone to learn to run with a faster stride rate but it wasn’t helping very much. On that first night I told her to experiment with lifting her foot each beat rather than hitting the ground each beat and after the workout she told me that was the first pain free run that she’s had in months.

Don’t try to control where on your foot your land. If you just suddenly switch to landing on the balls of your feet all the time (at least when you’re thinking of it) then you’re going to wind up getting a stress fracture.

Your foot has hundreds of muscle movements that happen in fractions of a second to help stabilize you as you run, so trying to control those reactions will usually be to your detriment. Using your heel isn’t necessarily a bad thing; even barefoot runners will usually use their heel while they are running. For most people, you just want to avoid landing on the back of your heel which is made easier with cushioned shoes with a huge heel to toe differential.

Step 2 is to ease into better running form by improving your posture.

If you aren’t getting hurt, it isn’t painful, and it’s working okay for you, then don’t worry about making sudden and drastic changes.

Here a few tips that you can follow so that it becomes more natural in your everyday runs.

First, try to keep a relatively straight back on your runs. You shouldn’t have much of a curve from foot to posterior to shoulders to head. Lean forward from the ankles and not from the hips. Don’t let your head flop around.

Did you know the average human head weighs between 8 and 12 pounds? Letting your head flop isn’t so good for your back or spine…think of putting a bowling ball on a stick. Holding it straight up and down is not so bad. Lean it to any side, and your wrist is going to notice in a hurry!

The same is true with your head. If your body is in alignment, it’s easy to carry your head and use it as a counterbalance to pull your momentum forward. If you lean forward at the waist, then your back has to support your head and you’ll get tired and sore in short order.

Step 3 is to start adding form drills to the end of your workouts.

Find a flat stretch of grass such as the infield of a soccer or football field and kick off your shoes.

Drills will help with leg turnover which will help your body get used to running over your center of balance and will also help stretch out your legs so that you don’t feel as sore after your workout.

Strides are best, with high knees and butt kicks also being great form work. Bounds aren’t as good for running form, but if you are spending the time anyway I’d add them as I find they help loosen me up after a workout better than the others.

You should practice the drills by gently accelerating for about 20 to 30 yards, holding that pace for 60-70 yards, and then gently decelerating for the final 20 to 30 yards. You aren’t sprinting, just picking up the pace and working on your running form!

Step 4 is to practice downhill running.

Running uphill will more naturally lead to better running form, and for most people running downhill encourages “bad” running form. By learning to run downhill, your running form will also improve for the rest of your runs when you aren’t going downhill.

Here’s my favorite workout that will help you learn good running form, especially if you do this workout regularly throughout a season. First, find a trail without many obstacles and a gentle downhill grade if you can.

Here in Portland, there’s a 1k loop in the woods in the middle of town that I have my folks do 800m repeats on to learn good running form. It’s about 550m downhill, 50m flat at the bottom, and 200m uphill.

The reason that I like using a dirt trail rather than a road is that it helps you learn good form without hurting you like pavement would if you are doing it wrong. You want to practice your form as I described above, with the added benefit of having a downhill grade that will let you work on really fast leg turnover without using a lot of extra energy.

When you are running downhill, you do want to actively avoid hitting the ground heel first, because the trick is to get going just fast enough to start to feel out of control…until that feels normal and is no longer near that out of control feeling. If you heel strike while running downhill, it’s obvious because you’ll be braking and sending shockwaves up your legs through your back.

What I really like about Baxter Woods here in town is that the uphill finish reminds you that you’re working out and also reinforces good running form away from the downhill stretch, since it’s much easier to run with good form when the ground rises to meet you. You can more easily maintain good posture and not let your head flop as long as you don’t lean really far forward from the waist.

Once you get good at running downhill with good form, it’s easier to carry that forward when you are running on the flats. You’ll also find that running fast downhill on pavement is much easier and less painful.

Gradually work through all 4 of those steps throughout the course of a season, and you’ll find that your running form is more comfortable, you can run faster with less energy than before, and you may also find that your shoes last longer before needing to be replaced.

I am trying to run primarily on trails due to the modulation in pace from obstacles or rocky terrain. I think this is helping me avoid re-injuring my knee. (itb and patellar tendinitis) I run in different shoes and different distances on different paths. I also do a shorter, fast run on pavement weekly.

Are there other things you recommend people do when they have a knee that isn’t cooperating?

If you have a similar problem as Mike, then he is following a great plan by working in as much trail work as he can. It’s definitely a better way to stay healthy, whether you have had previous knee injuries or not. I’ve actually written a few articles on that very topic (Benefits of Trail Running, Trail Running for Road Runners, Trail Running 101.)

When it comes to knee problems, I do have one additional suggestion and one thing to watch out for based on what Mike said in his email.

First, I’d recommend working in some weight training to strengthen your muscles. You can do body weight exercises so you don’t need an expensive gym membership or to go out and buy a lot of equipment; functional movement that hits a lot of different muscles at once are best and if you do need more resistance then you can use every day objects or buy something cheap like a 50 or 60 pound sandbag at your local home improvement store.

Some exercises that are worth doing include squats (both double leg and single leg), pushups, lunges, deadlifts and pull ups. Bodyweight lunges and squats are probably the best place to start given your concerns about your knee.

One thing that you want to watch out for, especially if you have a history of knee problems, is switching out shoes that are too dissimilar.

I use a lot of different types of shoes, mostly depending upon where I’m running, but most of those shoes are pretty similar one to another; they are neutral shoes with a minimal (or non-existent) heel lift.

A few years ago, though, I was switching between heavier shoes with a lot of cushioning and ultra-light weight minimal shoes from day to day to day, and my hips started to bother me as a result because my body didn’t know what to make of the situation. (Plus, the heavy shoes just weren’t appropriate for me.) Switching back to just one general type of shoe made that problem go away within a few days and I still got the advantages of variety by using different models of shoes.

If you aren’t feeling any pain right now then you are probably fine with your current shoe choices, but I just wanted to make sure that I mentioned it.

Have you got a training question that you’d like answered? You can contact me here on the website, or ask a question right on the wall for my facebook fan page (which is probably the quickest way to get a response.)

This Autumn they stopped in at Maine Running Company where I got an opportunity to see what they were up to.

The bus is pretty neat; after parking, the roof lifts up and reveals an upper deck with a pair of treadmills hooked up to video cameras. They have the runner take off their shoes, and measure the angle from heel to achilles to mid-calf when your foot is at mid-stance.

The lower level had a relatively humorous “museum” that showed the “history” of the running shoe, as though they were ancient relics dug out of the ground and put on display.

I think that they had a few other attractions as well, but even after they were set up I didn’t see anybody promote or make use of them at our local stop.

Here’s a description of the process after I had my own gait analyzed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVvcU8Uxd4

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Now that the final Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon for the year is over (it was in Las Vegas this past weekend) I believe that the bus is done rolling around for the year, but they might start their tour again next year. If not, your local running shop is probably equipped to do a similar gait analysis for you if you’d like to have one done.

More Info: Brooks

The biggest problem with Road IDs is the convenience factor; it’s one more thing you need to remember to wear. I got around that problem by always wearing the dog-tag style IDs and just putting it on as soon as I woke up in the morning and then taking it off when I went to bed, but (as evidenced by myself) it is easy to lose your Road ID and then you need to go to the bother of getting a new one.

I just saw a brilliant solution by triathlete Cody Elder that makes it much less likely that you will lose your Road ID while making it much more likely that you’ll remember to wear it every time you run.

A lot of people don’t like having the tag bouncing around on their chest as they run, though, and instead will wear the bracelet, anklet or shoe versions. Since I usually have a watch on, I don’t really care to have multiple items wrapped around my wrist and never care for having anything wrapped around my ankle. (I’m glad fewer races are using the anklet chips for timing now that D-Tags and B-Tags are getting popular.) The shoe version would be all right if you only wore one pair of shoes, but I rotate my shoes regularly so that’s just another hassle.

Cody’s solution is to get one of the wrist-band version of the Road ID, and to use that to replace your watch band on your Garmin ForeRunner 205, 305 or 310xt.

The major disadvantage of this method is that the tag won’t be as noticeable and evident to emergency workers as a dog tag is, so if you have some serious allergies or a medical condition that you want them to know about right away when they find you o the scene then you should still use the dog tag version. However, if it just contains emergency contact info then having it on your watch band should be fine as they’d find it when they took the watch off of you either in the ambulance or at the hospital.

Replacing a watch band on the ForeRunners isn’t that difficult; you just need to take the pins off and put the new watch band in place. The most difficult part is replacing the pins, but that shouldn’t take more than about 5 minutes. Here’s a video of the entire process that Cody put together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTut_HLWAqA

If you leave enough slack then you can fit the cradle beneath the watch band so that you don’t need to remove the pins to charge your watch.

This is a brilliant idea, and I’m going to order a new Road ID this weekend in order to implement it.

On a related note…Road ID is currently holding a holiday promotion through the end of the year with some really cool prizes. You can enter by following them on Facebook or Twitter (1 entry each), by making a donation to one of their favorite charities (1 entry per $5 donated) or by making a purchase from them (1 entry per $20) and there’s no limit to the number of entries. So, it’s worth at least entering using the free methods, and I’ll recommend getting yourself or a loved one a Road ID for Christmas (which has been a gift I’ve given in the past.)

Just click the banner above if you want to check out the details on their site. Prizes include bikes, treadmills, shoes, GPS watches, sunglasses, and more.

More info and detailed instructions: Cody Elder Tri – Photo Sources: Marcos Pozo López – Road ID

If you’ve ever run with a hydration pack before, you know that the air trapped in the bladder can lead to the pack bouncing around on your back and making an annoying sloshing sound that drowns out all of the sounds around you.

My normal method of solving this is to force out as much air as I can before capping the pack, which works to a certain extent.  Dave, however, has a better method (which he got from Tim Necker): 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDpPcXrPWoc

Next time I run with my pack I’m definitely going to give Dave’s method a try.

What’s your preferred method of getting as much air out of your pack as possible, or is this even something you’ve ever worried about? 

Mike over at Fit36 posed that very question and answered it by following his own training progression as he has gotten fitter over the Summer.

He just started running this past Spring and when he got started, he could run about 2 miles but even 2½ or 3 miles was a bit of a stretch.

Now, he’s running 4 miles on a regular basis and is trying to get to the point where going out for a 5 mile run is no big deal. Being a new runner, I think that’s a great strategy.

For you, though, that might not be the way to go. I address the benefits of a few different methods of structuring your schedule based on your own level of fitness and experience in today’s video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r5dWpN2CUs

Transcription

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Question for marathon veterans: How many of you run (2-3 miles) day before? Or do you prefer to rest?

It’s funny because my normal response is a bit different than my plan this weekend, as the day before one of my marathons I’ll be going out for not just 2 to 3 miles but for a full 28 miles or so, maybe a bit more.

But, here’s what I would do and what I tend to recommend others do when they are only running one marathon in a single weekend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX5cZWOiYSo

Click Here to Read the Transcript

What’s your “day before the marathon” race strategy? Do you run? Leave a comment below and let me know.

(Download This Video: MP4 – MP3 – Photo Credit: Andrew Dickerman)

She’s a little worried that she might be dehydrated and might have a little trouble re-hydrating before the race.

I don’t think that there’s really that much to worry about, as I talk about in today’s video:

Just spend the next week doing what you normally would by eating well and drinking plenty of water throughout the day. Preferably you should take a sip of water every 15 or 20 minutes, or every half hour at the very least. Just make sure that you’re keeping your body well hydrated, and come race day you’ll be in fine form.

(Download Video: MP4)

There are two basic methods that I think are the easiest way to get used to the sort of running form you need while trail running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOWmq7kTT2M

The first method is to just to get out and do more trail running. The more time that you spend time out there, the more your body is going to learn what it is that you need to do and that you’ll get used to doing it.

The second method, which is especially relevant if you’re a road runner that’s new to trails, is to actually try and practice it while you are on the roads.

Try to count every time that you pick your foot up off of the ground. Instead of concentrating on having a very short footfall you want to just be thinking about lifting your feet up.

Another way that you can do that is by listening for the scuffing of your feet. When you hit the ground, if you’re not lifting your feet enough you might actually hear the bottom of your shoe rubbing against the pavement as you’re running. So just concentrate on just listening and making sure that you have a quiet footfall and that you don’t hear that prolonged scraping of your shoe along the road.

(Download: MP4 – Photo Credit: Sean Dreilinger)

There were 3 different stretches that they used (technically 4 since the last stretch had 2 parts.) The subjects that were going to be stretching were supplied with a detailed stretch protocol that included the photographs of the stretch, as well as images of what they were supposed to be doing.

This video demonstrates how to do the full stretching regimen:

(Download This Video)

Quadriceps

The first stretch was a quadriceps stretch. From a standing position you need to grasp your foot or ankle on the same sided leg, and then pull your foot gently up towards your butt.

You steady yourself with the opposite hand, and then you can lean back to increase the stretch if you want to. Without bouncing, hold that stretch for about 10 seconds and repeat 3 times for each leg.

Hamstring

The second stretch was for your hamstrings. From a standing position, place the leg to stretch somewhere that you can elevate your leg.

Lean forward over your thigh and try to reach your foot. Again, without bouncing you want to hold that stretch for about 10 seconds and then repeat 3 times for each leg.

Calf/Achilles

The third stretch was for your calf and achilles. From a standing position, you want to lean forward with the leg to be stretched straight out behind you, foot flat on the ground.

Keep your knee near straight for a full 10 seconds, and then flex the knee and repeat the stretch with the knee bent for 10 seconds. Again, there should be no bouncing and you want to repeat that 3 times for each leg.

(Better) Quadriceps

If you want to do this routine yourself, I would make one small change with the quadriceps stretch. Instead of using the same arm as the leg that you’re stretching, I would actually use the opposite arm.

For your right leg you would want to stretch your leg using your left arm, and for your left leg you would want to stretch it with your right arm.

The reason for that is that it puts a lot less stress on your knee because it’s a much more natural movement for your knee to be going across your body a little bit instead of having it come straight up in towards the outside. You are much less likely to strain your knee to a point where you might get hurt.

Of course, if you aren’t currently stretching before your runs, you may not want to start stretching. The results of the USATF study seem to find that for people that aren’t currently stretching, a pre-run stretch isn’t likely to improve your ability to avoid injuries.

(Stretching Study: USATF & Run to Win – Photo Credits: Humphrey the Camel & Blaine Moore)

The results of their summary can answer that question in two words:

Not really.

Here’s a video explaining the results:

(Download this Video)

The researchers weren’t able to really see a correlation between runners that stretched and runners that didn’t stretch. In fact a lot of the markers they expected to find playing a role in how likely you we’re to be injured really had no bearing on how likely you were to get injured. Some of those markers include:

• Gender
• Weekly Mileage
• Flexibility
• Level of Competition
• Age (Youth vs Masters runners)

They only found two really relevant markers that made increased your risk of injury:

• High body mass index
• Previous injury (more recent means more likely to get injured again)

No one in the study had had an injury within 6 weeks of when it started, which
is one of the controls that they used, so recent in t his case goes back about 3 months before the study had taken place.

The only other marker that they could really find an increased risk of injury in were people who were used to stretching before they went out for their runs but were assigned to the “don’t stretch before you run” control group.

The general take away from this study is that if you are used to stretching before your runs, you should definitely keep stretching. But if you aren’t used to stretching, there’s no real reason to start if what you’re concerned about is preventing injuries.

From my own personal experience I’ve found that stretching after a run does a far greater job of helping you recover from your runs and preventing injuries, as well as improving your performance in future runs, than stretching ahead of time.

The best advice that I can offer is to just get in a gentle warm up and make sure you’re not just going straight into a workout with cold muscles. Take a little bit of time afterwards to stretch out or self-massage on any of your sore parts when you are done running.

(Study Findings Available at: USATF – Photo Credits: Lululemon Athletica)

Gastrointestinal disturbance is very common among runners, and while the researchers aren’t sure exactly why that is they all agree it’s a common ailment. Probably something to do with your increased metabolism, blood not flowing through the intestines as it is diverted throughout the rest of your body, and just the general shaking of your internal organs as you run.

If you run marathons or longer races, then you are even more likely to feel a bowel movement coming on just from the sheer length of time your individual runs are.

No matter what the reason, you’ll eventually need to poop on a run. So what should you do?

First, you could try to find a rest room or port-a-potty somewhere.

The other option is to find a convenient, out of the way space where you won’t be disturbed. If you are running in or near the woods, that’s especially easy.

If you have the time, dig a small hole and try to land as much as you can in there. When are you done, break it up a little and bury it under the local soil or plant-growth to help speed up how long it takes to break down.

Try to avoid anything poisonous or that you might be allergic to, or anything with thorns or stingers. Also avoid defecating right next to or in a body of water, which can foul the water for the local animals or other passer-by.

If you are prone to problems, get used to carrying biodegradable toilet paper in your key pouch or a pocket.

This video offers a slightly more in-depth explanation about how to handle yourself and what to do, and assumes that you don’t have much in the way of supplies with you:

Whatever you do, just try to remember not to leave a mess right where people are likely to walk and try to clean up a little after yourself.

(Photo Credit: Charles Hayden / Adidas – Hat Tip: Jason Robillard)

Trail running is a lot of fun and offers quite a few benefits over road running, so I put together this video to highlight some of the differences:

Here is the link mentioned in the video: http://r2w.us/82
[podcast]http://files.marathoning.org/audio/RunToWin/20100817_Benefits_of_Trail_Running.mp3[/podcast]
Here’s a transcript of the video:

Today I’d like to talk about a few of the advantages that trail running has over road running. The biggest thing for me is I just find trail running a lot more fun. You’ll find that that’s a common theme among a lot of trail runners is that they enjoy being out there on the trail a lot more than they do on the roads.

Now one of the other big advantages is that you take a lot less pounding on a trail run than you would on a road run of similar distance. The reason for that is that you’re running on generally softer surfaces. You don’t have the exact same density of surface that you’re running on the whole time and it changes up a lot.

It’s a lot less jarring to be on the trails, than it tends to be when you’re running solely on the roads. Recovery becomes a lot easier because you’re not beating yourself up quite as much. When you get home from your run you may have had to work a little bit harder, but you’re going to feel a lot better and a lot quicker than you would after doing a long run on the roads.

Another advantage of the constantly changing terrain is that you don’t get as many over use injuries. When you’re on the road, you tend to make the same repetitive motion over and over again. You kind of just dial in to whatever your running form is.

If you don’t have the perfect running form, that’s going to be problematic because any problems that you do have are just going to be exacerbated by just constantly repeating them for thousands of steps over the course of your run.

When you’re running on trails, every step is potentially going to be different because you have to step around roots or rocks and you tend to have better running form in general because you need to take shorter steps just to be able to navigate some of the trails you might be running on.

A consequence of that is that trail running is more fun because you’re a lot more in tune with what you’re doing, rather than just being able to zone out and listen to your iPod as you cruise on down the road.

Now one of the other big advantages of being on the trail is that there’s a lot less traffic than what you find on the roads. I hate running with traffic. You have the fumes and the pollution.

If there’s no cars, it’s a lot more difficult to get hit by a car. I’ve been hit before and I’m not a big fan of that. Especially when you get into winter type conditions, when the roads are icy and the snow tends to encroach on the shoulder then cars are just whizzing by a couple of feet away from you.

It’s a lot nicer to be on the trails where don’t have to worry about getting hit. Not only do you have less to worry about when you’re running in terms of being hit by traffic, but the air is just so much cleaner because you don’t have so many fumes and you have all of the trees and other plant life around you.

Now from a purely physical standpoint, you can build a lot more strength a lot easier on trails because you have to work a little bit harder. There’s much less energy return for each step that you take. When you run on the road and you take a step, a lot of the energy from each one of your strides gets retuned and you actually don’t have to work as hard to keep running.

When you’re on dirt or on grass, a lot of that energy just gets absorbed by the ground so you wind up having to work harder to run the same distance which will be build a lot more strength, as well as working different muscles groups.

As I’ve mentioned before, you do take different steps with the way that your foot lands and this causes you to use different muscle groups. You work your core a lot more than you tend to on the roads.

On top of that, trails tend to have more hills than your average road will, and the hills aren’t constrained by what a car can navigate. You build more strength from the actual ascent and descent as you’re running. This of course is going to be trail or road dependent, but I’ve found that it tends to be a little bit hillier on the trail runs. Again, that just adds to the fun factor.

You’ll notice a constant theme, that it’s just a lot more fun to run on trails. There are different risks and dangers to running on trails than on the road, but there’s a lot more benefits. So if you don’t have any trail running in your current training schedule, I highly recommend that you add some trail running in and see how that works out for you.

If you’d like to have a few tips on how to migrate from the trails to the roads, just check out this article on how a road runner can begin to integrate trails into their running.

Run safe!

I felt myself losing my footing and tried to roll so I’d land on my side instead of my face (I’d rather break a shoulder than a neck) and while I wouldn’t have been too happy I was doing all right until my head got stopped by a tree stump.

Thankfully, no signs of concussion and a mountain biker came upon me a few minutes later and helped me bandage up my head so that I could run the 2 or 3 miles out of the woods back to the car. He followed me back up the trail until we found my wife and then she ran back with me and drove me to the ER.

So…what should you do if you fall down while you’re running, and you’ve hit your head?

The first thing you want to do is to just be very careful. You want to stay calm, and don’t panic.

Take a few moments, draw in a few deep breaths and just make sure that you don’t get yourself too worked up and wind up hurting yourself more. You might be dazed or confused and you’ll probably be in quite a bit of pain if you did hit your head.

Once you’ve had a few moments to collect yourself, do a quick self-assessment. Does your neck hurt? Do your shoulders hurt? Can you wiggle your fingers or toes? Do you know what your name is? Do you know where you are, what you’ve had for breakfast, what day it is? Are you nauseated or dizzy? These are some simple things you can do to just check and see if you might have a concussion.

What you’re going to want to do is once you manage to get up, you’re going to want to get yourself somewhere where you can get checked out, especially if you’ve got any signs of concussion or cuts on your head that will probably bleed a lot. You’ll need to get some stitches and want to make sure to get them cleaned out so you don’t get any infections.

If you have any signs of concussions, be very careful about moving around. If you have a cellphone, you may want to just call for help rather than trying to get yourself out of wherever you happen to be. And once you get to the emergency room, they’ll clean you up and they’ll give you the best advice for what you should do next.

(Bloody Photo Gallery is available on Facebook)

Here’s a video of a conversation between a runner and cyclist to try and find out:

The truth is, both sports are as hard as you make them.

That said, the comment about Lance Armstrong saying that the marathon was the toughest thing he’s ever done including the Tour de France reminded me of something.

In 2006, when Lance was struggling through his first marathon, my friend John beat him by a good 5 minutes. So when John contacted Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, he figured that if Lance could beat cancer, and he could beat Lance, then he could cancer as well.

And he did. This year John is finally healthy enough to run the New York City Marathon again. If you’d like to help him reach the finish line, he is raising money for Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

You can find out more about John and help support his efforts at his fundraising page:
http://beatcancer.johnwtomac.com

The dialog is a little corny at times, but it’s amusing to watch and they offer some great advice.

Here are the 5 types of workouts they recommend:

1. Long Hill Runs build slow-twitch endurance by incorporating from half a mile to 2 or 3 miles of steep hills into your long run every 2^nd or 3^rd week.
2. Long Hill Repeats strengthen intermediate fibers by running 4-8 30 second reps to start and working up to 90 second repeats.
3. Short Hill Repeats strengthen fast twitch fibers with 30-60 yard repeats (about 8-10 seconds) at just under an all out sprint.
4. Hill Springing & Bounding builds strength and improves stride on a moderate grade by doing 2-3 rep form drills. I definitely recommend watching the video to see what your form should be.
5. Downhill Strides put a lot of stress on your quadriceps and make them stronger, and you should never do more than a few in any session.

Watch the video for details and to see examples of runners in action for each of the above workouts, and then see how you can incorporate them into your own training schedule.

(Source: Running Times)

There can be a lot of reasons for chest pain, and any time you have experience it (especially during exercise) then you should probably visit your doctor to make sure that nothing serious is going on. Your doctor will be able to help you rule out any possibly fatal problems and will help you determine if you need to be concerned about engaging in strenuous activity or not.

Your doctor will check your cholesterol levels, your blood pressure and will run some simple tests to diagnose an angina.

If you have been cleared by your doctor as healthy or would like to try a simple self-remedy to alleviate the pain, then you may just need to change your breathing habits.

Most runners breath in and out through their mouth when they are running, which lets you exchange a lot of air very quickly. Unfortunately, this can be counter-productive to your goals of working out by actually reducing the oxygen levels in your blood. When we start to hyperventilate, our arteries constrict which reduces the flow of blood to our brain and other vital organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys. This can lead to hypoxia, which is low oxygenation of the brain.

If you breath in through your nose, though, then you will be able to utilize the nitric oxide produced in your nasal passages to help dilate your blood vessels and increase the amount of oxygen available throughout your body. This has an additional benefit of filtering some of the pollutants in the air before it can make its way into your bloodstream to be distributed through your body.

If you find that your chest is regularly hurting when you run but doesn’t hurt at other times, then try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. This will help you clear any stale air that is trapped in your lungs, get your breathing under control, and will provide the necessary oxygen that your muscles need in order to continue working at the intensity you want to exercise at.

A strategy that you can try to help you get used to the in through the nose and out through the mouth breathing process is to try breathing in for 4 steps and out for 4 steps. By concentrating on your breathing and counting your steps, you’ll find yourself in a rhythm that is easy to maintain.

(Photo Sources: oedipusphinx – Jamil Soni Neto)

About 2.5 to 3 miles into the run, a kid on one of those razor things or whatever they are are called with a motor on it that turned it into a miniature moped thingy was trying to get ahead of me.

Then these 2 little girls on a power wheels motorcycle came out of a driveway and started driving down the road to race the boy. The girls were young, maybe 7 or 8, but both were on this one bike thingy.

So, I decided to speed up as they caught up to me and stay ahead of them.

Of course, the little boy yelled at the girls to race me and get ahead of me. I looked at my watch towards the end which had me going at 4:33 pace. Obviously Garmins aren’t super accurate but I still had to be going 5 minute pace at the slowest.

Looking at the GPS data it has me going 16 mph for a few seconds at my fastest point.

There is no way my mother would have let me have something like that when I was that little. I don’t even think they used to go that fast back then.

Maybe the kid with the modified scooter took the governor off his sister’s bike or else swapped out the motor or something. I just found it amusing how fast they could go, and glad that I was able to stay ahead of them.

I guess speed work is where you can find it.

They aren’t fooled by weather, terrain or your level of fatigue going into a workout; they know exactly how hard you are working at any given moment no matter the conditions.

The problem, of course, is how do you interpret what the heart rate monitor is telling you? Having a heart rate of 165 beats per minute may be an all out sprint for one person but could be a leisurely jog for somebody else. (Okay, the extremes in heart rates aren’t nearly the same thing as the extremes in running pace, but it is still a very individual number.)

The most common method is to train at a percentage of your effective max heart rate.

So, if you had an effective maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minute, an 80-85% effort would mean that you were running between 144-153 beats per minute during your workout. Personally, I think that that is too easy and isn’t going to help you reach the gains you are looking for in your training.

Another method to calculate your heart rate zones is to use the Zoladz Method, which is simply to delete the target number of beats from your max heart rate and try to stay within 5 beats per minute of that number. The training zones and heart rate values in the Zoladz method are:

1. Easy/Warm-up: 50 bpm
2. Moderate: 40 bpm
3. Aerobic: 30 bpm
4. Anaerobic: 20 bpm
5. All-Out: 10 bpm

For example, if you want to run at an aerobic pace and have an effective max heart rate of 180 beats per minute, then the formula would be:

180 max bpm – 30 bpm +/- 5 bpm = 150 bpm +/- 5 bpm = 145-155 bpm as your target range.

The best method, however, is the Karvonen Method.

By using the Karvonen Method, you take into account not only your max heart rate, but also your current level of fitness as determined by your resting heart rate. Instead of treating your max heart rate as a total of what your heart rate is capable of, you would instead find your training zone based only on the difference between your resting heart rate.

The formula, then, would be: Effort Level * (Max Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate) + Resting Heart Rate.

So, if you wanted to work out at 80-85% effort and your effective max heart rate is 180 beats per minute, and your resting heart rate is 70 beats per minute, then the formula would be:

Minimum: 0.8 * (180-70) + 70 = 0.8 * 110 + 70 = 88 + 70 = 158 beats per minute
Maximum: 0.85 * (180-70) + 70 = 0.85 * 110 + 70 = 94 + 70 = 164 beats per minute

So, for a max heart rate of 180 beats per minute and a resting heart rate of 70 beats per minute, an 80%-85% effort workout would have you running between 158-164 beats per minute after your warmup and before your cooldown.

Obviously, those numbers would change based on your effort level and your own max and resting heart rates, but the Karvonen Method is able to best account for your level of fitness and current fatigue levels when trying to find the right training zones on any given day.

(Photo Credits: Sam Webster – Bruce – Jason Spaceman)

Jeff Galloway first shared this strategy with me a few years ago and told a story about how he had coached somebody using the Run-Walk-Run from a 2:33 PR to a 2:28 PR.

Fast runners are outside of his area of expertise because he doesn’t have enough data on them, so it seemed like a good opportunity for me to add a new data point.

While I was preparing for the Exeter marathon, I got in a few training runs of up to 10 miles using a 15 second walk break every mile as my run/walk ratio. I also did a mile time trial to see what sort of shape I was in, coming away with a 5:14.

A 5:14 mile plugged into Galloway’s calculator estimated that my marathon would be about a 2:58. According to McMillan’s calculator, I was in about 2:52 shape. Based on my own experience and levels of training before this race, I estimated I was in about 2:54 shape.

Using the Run/Walk method for the first 20 miles and then racing it in, I actually ran a 2:50:26.

I’d call the experiment a success, and think that it’s worth testing it when I’m in better shape to see if I have similar gains over the sort of time I think I’ll be running.

After letting folks know about the results of my experiment, I’ve had 2 reactions. The first is, “Wow, you ran a 2:50 marathon using run/walk?” For all those folks, thanks! It was fun.

The other reaction is to tell me what an idiot I am and how my experiment was not successful because I would have run faster if I hadn’t walked during the race, despite training that’s more like what I’ve run 3 hour to 3:10 marathons than 2:50 marathons in the past.

They also claim that I’m an idiot because I’m even considering using the run/walk method at some point when I am in better shape and want to make a run into the 2:30s.

I’m not saying that I’m guaranteed to make the goal, I’m just saying that it seems worth continuing the experiment.

For my race this weekend, I had little to no speedwork since I broke my foot last July. Despite taking substantial time off (45 days of no running at all, a few weeks of very light workouts, a few weeks of no running just hiking while traveling, and then slowly building my base back up through the end of 2009) I did get a good base of miles in during January and February.

In March, I didn’t really know what I was going to do and had decided against registering for the Vermont 100, so my training went into maintenance mode (as much for mental recovery as for physical.) I felt that I had a good base despite relatively low mileage for a fast marathon leading into the race. My 8 week average was right around 42 miles per week.

I can’t definitively say I was in 2:54 shape, but that’s what I honestly feel I was at based on my dozen plus other marathons, my previous training for those races (where 40 miles per week plus speed work was usually a 3:00-3:10), and on my usually accurate guessing of where I’d finish. My guess may be subjective but it is good enough for me.

During Exeter, I followed the run-walk-run strategy, and managed to run better than I felt I was in shape for had I run straight. Does that mean I wouldn’t have run faster had I run the entire thing? Possibly, but I don’t think so. I sure felt pretty good at the end, and got in a good hike the next day without any trouble.

Do I think that this strategy will work for everyone? Probably not. I don’t think it would have worked for me had I not practiced it in the weeks leading up to the race.

I didn’t bother wearing my heart rate monitor, and I rarely do, so I have no idea how it affected my heart rate.

I think that the biggest benefit for taking the walk breaks is that it gives me a good opportunity to stretch out my back, give my muscles a quick breather with a different motion, and reminds me on a consistent and regular basis to reassess my running form.

I’m generally pretty good about assessing my form anyway, but I don’t think in the past I’ve had the discipline to remind myself 3-4 times per mile, which is what I easily found myself doing when anticipating walk breaks, restarting from a walk break, and a few times in between while watching for an actual place to take the walk break to best effect.

Any race, but especially long races such as a marathon, is as much if not more of a mental game than a physical game. Sure, you need to be in good shape to run a good time, but you can be in good shape and still run a bad time if your head isn’t in the right place. I think that the walk breaks helped as much with the mental game as the physical.

So, that said, I want to get into better shape. Then I want to try this strategy in a bigger race where I’ll have people to run with. I want to see how I’ll do.

I may not have evidence that I can run a 4 minute PR and break into the 2:30s, but I don’t have evidence that I can’t. Since I feel I’m capable of it, I’m going to train for it and attempt it. This experiment was successful and tells me that further research is called for.

If it doesn’t work, I’ll go back to racing flat out. If it does, then I’ll probably still race flat out at some point, but I’ll keep playing with run-walk-run.

Either way, I’m aiming to run fast.

(Comic Source: xkcd)

But what about the advice on stretching before your warm up? This was also addressed last week, and I included that in this second video:

When you are running on your own or in a situation where it makes more sense, running very easy to warm up for 10 minutes or so before doing any sort of stretching is much better.

In a group dynamic, especially among adults, it just isn’t as practical. As Michael said, we can’t have people stopping wherever they are after running for 10 minutes and stretching in the middle of the road during rush hour.

Another option, of course, is to arrive early and do a short jog before heading in to meet with the group so that you can do your dynamic stretching while we talk about that night’s run.

Here are a few easy stretches that you can safely do before your run as presented by Michael Gaige before our group run with the folks we coach at Maine Running Company last week:

The trick is to keep gently moving and not to hold a stretch or move ballistically back and forth as you try to get into or out of each stretch.

If you are interested in the sun salutations that Michael mentions, or want to watch the entire Yoga for Runners DVD for free online, you can learn how here: www.runtowin.com/freesessions

I have a friend who’s never run a small marathon. This came to light when she asked me the other day about “chips” at the Exeter Marathon. (There will be no chip timing.)

There’s no doubt that the big, mega-races have their appeal: the history, the excitement, the crowd support. My PR race is Boston 2006. The crowds were great that year. At Boston 2004, the “85 degree year,” the crowds weren’t so great (through no fault of their own, of course). Thousands of non-runners yelling, “You can do it!” as I ran-walked the last 3 miles wasn’t helpful to my pace or spirits.

Last spring I ran the Walter Childs Memorial Race of Champions in Holyoke, where there were only 82 finishers. It was one of my favorite races.

What’s so great about small races?

For one, the logistics are trivial. When you finish the race, your car is right there. There’s no line to the bathroom and no staggering 37 blocks to find your baggage bus.

But the best part, to me, is the competition. It sounds counter intuitive that the competition would be better at a small race, but I find that in mega-races, even at my above-average-for-an-amateur pace, there are so many runners around me that I fail to focus on the competitive aspect of the race; that is, competing against other runners.

In the small races I usually know my place and I recognize and identify the other competitors. At the finish, instead of promptly moving away from each other (some to family meeting area A, and the others to areas F, R, T…) the runners come together, which facilitates further bonding.

Sure, you may get stuck running alone for much of the race…but you may experience a legendary battle that would have not happened in a much larger race, and it’ll be something you’ll never forget.

2010 will be the only year that the Exeter Marathon has fewer than 100 competitors. I’m looking forward to it. I wish I was running. I’ll be back at Holyoke two weeks later.

If you are interested in running the inaugural Exeter Marathon, it is 2 days before the Boston Marathon on April 17th this year. You have to have run a qualifying time in order to be admitted to the race, and the qualifying standards are 5 minutes faster than Boston across the board. If you’re interested in the racing me and want to join us, you can get more information at the website: http://www.exetermarathon.com

Hi Blaine

I’ve been thinking about this a lot!

My son runs indoor track, and I’ve been talking with him about the related subject of lane choice and when to pass. For the small indoor track this makes a huge difference since they make so many laps.

Assuming each lane is two feet wide, then the difference between running in lane 1 vs. lane 2 is that lane 2 is 12.6 feet longer for each lap. Lane 3 is 25.2 feet longer than lane 1 for each lap, and lane 4 is 37.8 feet longer than lane one per lap. Each lap that you are in lane 2 instead of lane one costs you 0.9 seconds per per lap at a 6 minute per mile pace.

Suppose you were struggling to pass someone on a 130 yard indoor track. If you ran at the exact same pace as them (using 6:00.0/mile as an example), if you had to be in lane 2 for even one lap, you would lose by 0.9 seconds. If you were forced to stay in lane 2 for the entire race, which is just over 13 laps, then you would be running 163.8 feet further. You would have to run a 5:49.2 pace compared to their 6 minute pace, just to tie.

If there is a staggered start and you are required to stay in your lane, then stay as close to the inside edge of your lane as you can. Even a matter of six inches closer to the line could save you over 0.2 seconds per lap. In a close race, this could be a huge difference. But be careful, because if you step on or over the line, you could be disqualified.

So the moral to the story is: if you have to pass in a race, save your strength and draft your competetor, then when you get to the straight away, use your momentum from the turn to blow by them and don’t look back. Use that energy that you saved by drafting, which might amount to something like the difference between running a 10 second per mile difference in pace, and get far enough ahead that they can’t start drafting you.

Interestingly, the size of the circle makes no difference.

For example, say you and two friends are running side by side around Back Cove together. Back Cove has a diameter of just about one mile, or 5280 feet (assuming it’s a circle). Assuming you are running even two feet apart, your friends will have to run a diameter of 5284 feet and 5288 feet. That means the friend next to you will have to run 12.6 feet further than you, and the one on the far side of him will have to run 25.2 feet further than you.

If your pace is 7:00/mile, it will take you 21:59.5 to complete the loop. Assuming your friends arrive at the same time, then your first friend will have to run a pace of 6:59.7 to keep up, and your second friend will have to run a pace of 6:59.4 to keep up. Maybe that’s not a big deal. But if it was a race, and you all ran at the same pace, you would win by 0.9 seconds.

For trail running, even without laps and lanes, each bend in the trail adds distance if you are farther away from the corner than you need to be. Each 45 degree bend in the trail means you run an extra 1.6 feet in length if you are running two feet further out from the center of the curve than you need to be. Each 90 degree bend is 3.15 feet further, and each hairpin 180 degree bend is 6.1 feet further. Each 12.6 feet extra costs 0.9 seconds at 6 minutes/mile. This can really add up.

Al

Have you ever just been beaten by a short amount after running on the outside in a track race? Share your stories in the comments!

(Photo Credits: HKmPUA – Mark Zimmermann – More Info: Running Tangents)

When most people race, they run the most convenient route through the course that they can, which isn’t necessarily the shortest. Ignoring the inherent inaccuracies of handheld GPS devices, you might actually run as far as 27 miles during a marathon as the mile markers come further and further past where your watch tells you it should be.

If you want to run a faster time, it only makes sense that you should try to race along the shortest route possible. The way that you do that is to run the tangents.

What is a tangent?

Per Wikipedia: In geometry, the tangent line to a curve at a given point is the straight line that “just touches” the curve at that point. As it passes through the point of tangency, the tangent line is “going in the same direction” as the curve, and in this sense it is the best straight-line approximation to the curve at that point.

What this means is rather than following the curve of a road or your race course, you should aim yourself directly for the next curve that comes into sight and to only run along the curve when you can not see that next curve until after you’ve gone around the current one.

As you can see in the map to the right, the person following the orange line is running along the left side of the road. During training, this is appropriate and safe as it will help them avoid getting hit by a car.

The person running the red line, however, is running the tangents to the curve. He will cover the same distance (by road) in less time because he won’t have to travel as far (in actual distance).

As the person following the red line reaches the first curve (running from the bottom right to the top left) they are crossing to the right side of the road.

As soon as he has gotten around that turn, he then makes a bee-line to the next curve, which involves crossing the road again to the left side of the road. The final turn on this map again involves running straight across the road to the right side.

By looking at this map, you may notice that the red line isn’t that much shorter than the orange line. However, over the full distance of a race, especially one with a lot of turns and curves, it can really add up.

You can shave seconds off of a shorter race or even minutes in a longer race, but you still have to watch for the usual hazards! Don’t run the tangents blindly.

Hazards

If there are potholes or other obstacles at the edge of the road, you may want to go around even if it means running a little further.

In a crowded race, you may not be able to run the tangents in the press of all of the other runners. Even if there are only 1 or 2 people around you, you still need to watch out that you don’t run into somebody or cut them off and cause them to run into you.

Also, you must be sure to pay attention to course markings and pre-race instructions. Even if a road has a turn, the course itself may not allow you to cross the yellow line in a road, for example.

And as always, defer to traffic, whether it is supposed to be allowed on the course or not. If you cross the road in front of a vehicle and it hits you, then a car will almost always win and a bicycle will usually win. Most vehicles are far less maneuverable as you are and you stand to lose more, so it’s always on the runner to avoid getting hit.

Try this simple strategy the next time you race and let me know how it goes, or leave a comment and tell me about when you first learned to use this strategy to good effect!

(Photo Credits: Google Maps – Tom Huessing)

The field limit was originally set at 75. The event sold out immediately and there was a large wait list right away. Right around the time one of those far back on the wait list announced that he was was buying his plane ticket anyway, I had reason to communicate with the Forest Service over something else and during the conversation was given permission to increase the field. Suddenly we were sold out at 100.

This is normally good news for an event. I was excited about the festivities planned for the year. Some of the extras included items for the packets (and the tote bags themselves) purchased through grants that I worked diligently to procure.

Ghost Town is held on my property. We use my kitchen for much of the food prep, Matt does the post-race bbq, I even feed runners who arrive early or who linger a bit on Mon. morning. It’s part of the weekend for me – I consider them to be GT runners, but also my friends and my guests. I want everyone to have a good time.

I paid the price for my attitude this year. There’s always been one person – could be a runner, could be a spouse of a runner – who is what we call in my family a “demanda” – that person who expects the rules to be bent just for him or her, sometimes who even expects other extras like “I won’t come if you don’t have potato chips at the aid station.” It’s to be expected, it’s part of the job of the RD.

But this year…there was behavior so rude by so many that even other runners were shocked. As sad as it was for me to see the 10-12. Some pitched snit fits loudly in the presence of others. One such fit was described to me by a witness as, “The ugliest nastiest thing I’ve ever seen at an ultra – and I’ve done a lot of events.” I guess the obnoxious person thought everyone would share the loudly expressed sentiments, but in fact, that person just shamed him- or herself.

Probably one of the less loud but somewhat equally irritating issue was over the packets. As I explained, they were full of items paid for through grants or donated by sponsors. I put together enough for the runners and the volunteers.

There was a day when runners wouldn’t wear a shirt from an event they didn’t attend or didn’t finish. There were at least three requests to take packets to runners who had not shown up for one reason or another. The requests ranged from mild suggestions to “well she paid for it!” to “he’s in a funk over his injury and it would mean the world to him.” It should have been easily taken care of with, “The packets are for those who are here…” but some people like to argue and don’t take “no” easily.

I felt like I was in a constant shoving match.

Two runners who missed registration arrived for the pasta party and even though they’d failed to purchase their tickets, I allowed them in line for food. They waited their turns complaining quite loudly that without their tickets they’d not win any door prizes…and then they complained about the registration hours.

Many of the volunteers are former GT runners, or runners who want to run GT some day. I receive nothing but compliments from most about the volunteers. This year, at least one aid station had at least one runner griping at them. That’s just appalling really.

Many of the volunteers were out on the course by 4:30a.m. in order to be set up in time for the first runners through. I will say this, those at the front – the more well-known who are racing hard – they are always gracious. They appear with smiles on their faces. Even those at the back of the pack who are suffering because the miles they are clearing the miles so slowly – they don’t give my volunteers any guff. For some reason, this year was different for a few in the middle of the pack. If the course was not what they expected, or if they weren’t having the run they hoped for – there was no need to be ugly to the volunteers.

You get the idea. I’ll skip the rest as it’s really tacky stuff.

Maybe this behavior is normal at events. It has not been this way at the GT in the past. Those who came to me afterward, as well as Matt and myself, commented that it seemed to be excessive “gimme gimme” and “you owe me, you owe me” going on.

Most runners had a great time. Most were gracious and happy and supportive – cheering others on, offering a hand every now and then, obeying the rules. But the 10-12 – what a bunch! The runners who’ve been at GT every year are affectionately dubbed “The Magnificent Seven.” This new group – “The Dirty Dozen” with a lot less affection.

For the last two weeks I’ve actually thought if I wanted to host GT any more. Then I’d read the comments from those who were here, and I was affirmed in that GT is something special. Thing is, it’s not for everyone. I don’t mind the runner who comes, registers, runs, and leaves…but that person does miss out on the social aspects of the event. As one runner put it, “It’s like a great reunion with 88 (89 took the start) best friends – only most of them I didn’t know until your event.”

That is an atmosphere I want to promote. I’m willing to work for weeks on end without pay, to apply for grants, to cook for days, to have no sleep, and to deal with the random crisis. To organize and organize again…to worry over every detail so that nothing that we can anticipate goes wrong. I love the event and those who “get it.”

So, instead of following my immediate inclination to shut it down because of 10-12 ill-mannered people, I borrowed a little bit from Laz. Ghost Town 2011 will be by invitation only.

Every year my charter members (those from the first running) and the runners returning from the previous year and volunteers who now want to run have received early registration. They also receive a discount. This will continue with the exception that now some alumni are not invited back.

I don’t want to stifle growth in the event, and I welcome those who haven’t been here before. For 2011, if a returning runner or volunteer has a running buddy or family member they want to vouch for – that person also receives early registration (but not the discount which is for alumni only).

So, if you’ve considered the Ghost Town as an event you want to run…check out who ran in ’10 and see if you know someone who’ll recommend you to me.

As for total strangers unfamiliar with anyone who has already been here or who is new to the sport…this is a good event especially for those new to ultra running. We have a good number of very experienced and well-known ultra runners, and a good number of newbies to the sport. This year Jason Taylor ran his first ultra at GT and came in fifth overall. There’s now an award named for him as he had a stellar performance – best ever by an ultra-newbie at GT – and this in a fast field of accomplished runners at the front.

So for those newbies, and for those with more experience who want to try out their first GT in 2011 – come October there will be a series of interview questions to answer and send to me via email. I’ll review all I receive and some or all applicants will receive invitations as long as we do not exceed a maximum field of 100. There may be a wait list, but I can’t predict that right now.

There may be those who read this and think it’s foolish. There may be those who read it and relate. There may even be those who wonder why I’m posting this. Well, enough runners and staff were shocked at the behavior of the dirty dozen that I think it’s worth mentioning. After a few years on this list, after seeing so many rants about race fees and what RDs should or should not provide, for the first time ever, I’m a little bit wary of runners. I am not expert nor am I in the position to make pronouncements about the sport changing…but I do have cause for concern.

My event – like many other events are to their RDs – is precious to me. I would rather it be smaller than have it larger with a bunch of rude ill-mannered nasty people.

I’m sure there will be many of you who think I am crazy for posting this. I could have done it quietly, not opening myself up for more baloney…but I decided to share for two reasons:

1. I think it’s important for people to know that how they behave at an event is observed by many. Those who demand special attention, privileges, bending of the rules…or are just bitter and loud…it doesn’t impress anyone. Mostly you shame yourselves, even as you irritate (or shock) those around you.

2. Even though the RD is there to give you a course to run on with an amenity or two for participating, she or he does a whole lot more behind the scenes. Every special request, every argument, every bending of the rules…it all adds up. The RD is not there to be your servant, your whipping boy or girl, or your mama. It’s not the RD’s job to teach you how to be respectful of others or to be well-mannered.

The invitations to the 2011 Ghost Town have already gone out to the 2010 group of runners and alumni. If you have run GT in a former year and would like to receive one, please email me. I’d be happy to have you back.

And if you’ve never been to Ghost Town…don’t worry…the interview process will not be painful and I hope to welcome most (maybe all?) of you who want to be here in 2011.

Laugh Freely, Walk Far,
Susan
www.journeyheretothere.com

For the first few days of the challenge, it was snowing constantly, so I’ve done almost all of my running in relatively slick conditions.

Being prepared for Winter running isn’t just what you are wearing, it’s also how you are running. I’ve broken through the ice a few times, which caused me to fall once so far, but otherwise I’ve kept my feet and have so far been injury free. I put some tips together about staying upright in snow or on ice while running over at the Challenge website if you want to take a look.

One of the suggestions that I have is to improve the traction on your shoes, either by buying something to strap around your feet or by just drilling some screws straight into the soles of them.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that with all of the extra trail running I’ve already done this year is that my screws are basically toast and already need to be replaced. I ran about 70 miles each in December and so far in January using one of my pairs of screw shoes (about 137 miles total) and so far I’ve lost 3 screws in one shoe, 2 screws in the other shoe, and have at least a few screws in each shoe that I’m not sure I’ll be able to get off they are so worn down.

And that leads into this week’s contest over at the challenge website…

IceSpike has been generous enough to sponsor the contest with two packages of their IceSpikes, which are like sheet metal screws on steroids. They have a self cleaning design and are supposed to last longer than your shoes (minimum 500 miles.) I’m looking forward to giving a set of them a try.

Until I get the chance, though, I’ll just settle for finding the time to replace the screws in my trail shoes…

If you want to give them a shot, then just click here to leave a comment on the contest page.

Diagonals are a relatively low key type of exercise that are focused on leg turnover.

You just need to find a field, kick off your shoes, and do a combination of running and jogging for a set duration of time. Generally speaking, you will jog along one edge of the field, run diagonally across to the opposite corner, jog along another edge of the field, and then make another dash to the opposite corner once you’ve reached the end of that edge, as shown here:

Try working them into your regular routine and then come back and comment on your results!

(Video Source: Running Times)

The camber is any curve on a surface, and in this case refers to upward curve from the edge of a road towards the center.

The more severe the camber to the road, the easier it is to roll an ankle or to develop a muscle imbalance.

When a road is steeply cambered, you may find that one leg is at a slightly lower elevation than your other leg, which can throw your stride off.

The leg that is closer to the center of the road will feel like it is a “longer” leg than the other to your body, so your body will compensate through the way that it bends at the knee, how much your foot flattens on impact, and how much your leg rotates inward as you are running. This can lead to knee or hip soreness.

If you do find yourself running on steeply cambered terrain, try running on different terrain or different routes if you can. If you have to run on the same streets, try running them in the other direction (if local laws allow) or by running at the edge of the road on the shoulder rather than on the road itself. Icing and self massage will also help the soreness go away.

(Photo Source: Alistair Croll)

By the time he left for a class he was taking, I felt wide awake and decided to ignore my desire to go back to bed and instead left the house to meet up with the Trail Monsters at Pineland Farms.

Unfortunately, about a mile and a half later, I’d discovered just what an engineering marvel modern cars are.

10 years ago, I’d have had an engine in my lap. Instead, my 17 month old car just dropped half the front end on the street and the rest of it crumpled up in front of the car. The windshield, tires and cab weren’t damaged at all, so I was able to steer the car off the road after the impact.

I did need the emergency brake to stop the car since the brake lines were gone, but I got out of the car without having been hurt. The airbag felt like a good punch in the face and is certainly something I hope to never have to repeat, though.

This just needs to be a reminder, if you are running or driving, to be sure that you pay attention to your surroundings. The intersection where the accident happened is a pretty common place for cars to hit one another according the officer and the guys from the fire department that responded to the accident.

In fact, damage to a nearby telephone pole was originally called in as part of my accident until the officer realized that there was no way that either car could have hit it.

This is just one more reminder about why it is important to be mindful of your surroundings when you are out running. Thankfully, there were no pedestrians near that intersection during the accident, but there easily could have been. I’ve run through there dozens of times over the past few years.

I’ve been hit by a car while running before, and it only takes a moment of distraction on either the runner or the driver’s part for their to be a problem.

As for this past weekend, nobody got hurt. Despite all the damage to the front end of the vehicle, I walked away uninjured. I am so impressed by the car that I am probably going to replace it with a newer model of the same car.

(More Photos: Flickr)

The first video in a series is now available, and here’s the link:
http://www.runtowin.com/coaching/choosing-a-marathon-1.html

The video details the first few questions you need to ask yourself before choosing a marathon.

Let me know what you think, and I’ll explain the other questions you need to ask yourself and discuss more details about the coaching program as I put each video out this week. Be sure to sign up for the early bird notification list if you want to know as soon as each video is available.

Here’s that link again:
http://www.runtowin.com/coaching/choosing-a-marathon-1.html

I’m just commenting from personal experience — I have no expertise in physiology. I started shoeless (I keep my socks on) running on the treadmill two years ago. For years I have had off and on frustrations with my lower left leg — a snowball of issues related to repeated ankle sprains.

Two years ago on a snowy winter day I was doing a run on the treadmill at the Y. About a mile into it my achilles started to act up. I got irritated since I had been doing all the things that I thought that I was supposed to do keep that cranky lower leg happy, including the use of expensive prescription orthotics and proprioceptive exercises. I thought that I was prudent in my mileage.

When the achilles whined I thought of either moving to the eliptical or the bike. But then I remembered some casual discussions about barefoot running.

Advocates promoted it as a way to strengthen your lower legs and feet. Thinking I had nothing to lose and knowing that I could stop at any moment while on the treadmill, I took off my shoes and tentatively gave it a try. It seemed so counter-intuitive but surprisingly, my feet felt great. Everything felt fine. My achilles was fine.

That first day I only did a very slow mile. I then put my shoes back on and ran again. After a mile barefoot, the shoes felt like little stiff tanks on my feet.

I added a shoeless running session one to two days a week, doing it on the treadmill because it was cold outside. I built up my shoeless mileage very slowly.

I have no empirical evidence, but my feet and lower legs felt stronger after a few weeks. Wear patterns on my shoes now indicate that I have more of a forefoot touch than a total heel smash as I did before. I slowly stopped using my prescription orthotics and have not touched them in probably a year. I moved to less structured over the counter orthotics but now rarely use those.

My taste in shoes has changed. I used to look for a lot of structure and control, thinking it best for my pancake flat feet, and now I am most comfortable in lightweight, less structured shoes.

My ankle is still as loose as a wet noodle (after months of accident-free running I tripped on an easy ski trail last week and did a minor sprain) but I seem to twist it less often than before. I feel more confident in my foot plant with the less structured shoes and without orthotics. I generally don’t have the shin, calf and achilles hassles that I used to.

Coincidence? Perhaps. My lower leg concerns may have finally begun to heal on their own. But I attribute much of my success to the shoeless running. I think of it as a strength workout. I don’t do much shoeless running, but do it frequently enough to maintain the lower leg strength that I believe it developed.

So, that’s why I run shoeless on a treadmill.

– Mary Gorski

Have any barefoot treadmill running experiences of your own? Did you get the same results as Mary? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Here in Maine, Youth Deer Day is this Saturday, with the normal hunting season beginning on Halloween. For most of the month of November, running on the trails isn’t quite as safe as it normally is.

Here are a few things to bear in mind when you are hitting the roads or the trails that will help to keep you safe:

1. Know the local laws. You should know what days the hunting season falls upon, as well as what weapons they are allowed to use. Pay special attention to where and when they are allowed to use them.
2. Don’t assume the hunters know the laws. While it would be nice to assume that you don’t have anything to worry about, sometimes a hunter just doesn’t know when he is poaching (or doesn’t care.)
3. Consider sticking to roads. If you normally run on trails, you may want to consider avoiding them altogether during hunting season. At least be aware of how much your trail selection is going to be limited while the hunters are out.
4. Wear bright, unnatural colors. Be sure to wear bright clothing in colors that don’t usually appear in nature, especially on whatever animal is in season. Hunter orange is a great choice, as it is highly visible and contrasts with the normal brown and white colors found on deer.
5. Buddy up. Always run with others during hunting season, especially on trails. If there is an accident, then there is a better chance that you will get the help you need if you have a friend or a group with you.
6. Be loud and obvious. If you are running near a hunter, they might get annoyed if you scare away their prey. It is better to do that than to be mistaken for that prey, though, so be sure to talk loudly with whoever you are running with.
7. State parks may be open to hunting. The laws in your state may vary, but in many states you can hunt in some or all of the state parks. Be sure to check before hand whether hunting is allowed.

Where I live, hunting is illegal on Sundays and later than 30 minutes past sunset. Most of my weekday trail running is done after dark with a headlamp, and usually in a park where I know that hunting is not allowed. On the weekends, I usually try to avoid trail running on Saturdays except in a couple of specific places that I know are safe.

Running doesn’t have to be dangerous at this time of year, and a little common sense can go a long way towards keeping accidents from happening.

If you want specific information about your local laws, here is a compiled list for each state in the US that leads to where you can find the policies and laws for each state:
http://www.runtowin.com/tips/hunting-regulations-by-state.html

(Photo Credit: J. B. Martin)