Run to Win

The 2^nd annual Maine Coach and Athlete Cross Country Clinic was on August 18th, 2008 at the University of Southern Maine. The clinic lasted for about 2 hours, although most of the speakers and coaches were available before and after the clinic for questions.

The clinic was sponsored by John Rogers of the Maine Running Company. The panel brought together some of the best local experts and some native-Mainer professional runners and their teammates to talk on various topics relating to a high school cross country athlete. This year’s clinic did not touch on the coaching aspect nearly as much as it did last year, and just about the entire clinic is relevant not only to high school cross country runners but also to anybody that enjoys getting out to train and race.

I took a lot of notes, so I am going to be splitting up them up into functional parts which will be published throughout the week.

Injury Prevention and Treatment

Starting the night off was Greg Knapton, the director and owner of Riverview Physical Therapy. His talk focused on 2 key areas, training consistency and common traits amongst injured runners. Greg only sees the injured athletes, so his advice is geared towards making sure that he never has to meet you.

The most important thing to training is that you have a consistent schedule year round and that you don’t take significant stretches of time off from getting at least some sort of exercise, preferably sport-specific such as running. Cross country is a short season that is only 8 to 10 weeks long, so if you take the Summer off from running then you aren’t going to have the conditioning that you need in order to get into shape to race during the season.
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Back on August 5^th, Karl Meltzer began his attempt to run the 2,147 mile Appalachian Trail in a record 47 days. The run may not be over, but his attempt at the record is:

“My Anterior Tibialas is tweaking. It’s swollen and unrunnable right now. Needless to say, the record will remain in AT’s (Andrew Thompson) hands.”

Apparently, he got a bad case of poison ivy on his left foot, which caused him to change his running gait enough to cause unnatural stresses on his body that led to tweaking his muscle. He still plans to continue running after taking a little rest and drugging himself up, but he is no longer to make an attempt (this year at least) at breaking the trail record.

While I applaud what he has done so far, 538 miles in 14 days for an average of over 38 miles per day, I have to disagree with his self-medication regimen that he is embarking on. I would avoid Prednisone unless I was in dire circumstances as a general rule, and taking it just to reduce inflammation so you can continue a feat like this doesn’t strike me as the best of ideas. At least he has conceded the attempt at the record and won’t try to push himself too far beyond his limits in continuing the record attempt.

I hope that Karl gets another opportunity to make the record attempt in a year or two, and I’m sorry that he had to take time off after 2 weeks of running. If you’d like to track Karl’s latest updates, he is keeping all of his relevant info at his website, Where’s Karl.com.

(More Info: KarlMeltzer.com - Photo Credit: Matt Hart)

Thanks for the emails over the weekend; my neck is doing much better tonight than it was a couple days ago. On Friday afternoon, I tweaked or pulled something when I began my run that led to my spending the rest of the afternoon on the couching and requiring assistance to get up. Saturday morning wasn’t quite as painful but wasn’t really much better. Things stretched out throughout the day to the point where I could play with my 3 and 5 year old cousins without being in too much pain, and by Sunday morning when I woke up I could turn my head without anything hurting. I couldn’t turn my head too far, so my wife had to drive home, but it was a definite improvement.

That meant that it was time to try running again this afternoon. I ran a few miles easy with my wife, then picked up the pace when we got to a place in the road where we couldn’t run next to one another safely anyway. I wound up adding 4 loops to the normal route that we were on, which turned an 8 miler into a 12.5 miler. My neck actually felt much better after the run than it did beforehand, which is a definite relief.

I didn’t make my weekly distance quota (95.5km ran of a minimum 100km in store and a preferred 110km penciled in,) but I came close enough and I was so exhausted all weekend that I’m sure the multiple naps helped me heal. This evening’s run leads me to believe that I can get back to my normal running routine tomorrow, although I am going to take a week off from any weight training.

I don’t feel that my training plan has been impacted at all by this minor injury, and I am looking forward to moving closer to my sub-16:00 5k goal for this Summer. I have also made some plans for my next goal race after the 5k races throughout the Summer and Autumn, a 50 miler on January 3^rd.

Last night at the Golden Gala track meet in Rome, Asafa Powell pulled up in the 100 meters with a groin injury. He is the former world record holder and is one of the favorites in Beijing next month.

“He’s OK, but he felt his groin cramp up and stopped running as a precaution,” said Powell’s manager, Paul Doyle. “He’s not going to take any chances. It’s an Olympic year.”

(More Info: Golden Gala - ESPN)

Today reminds me a lot of my birthday a couple of years ago, when I pulled a muscle in my neck and had to cut back on my training for a few weeks.

I didn’t hear any cracks today, and it isn’t nearly as painful, but I managed to tweak or pull something when I started my run today. I was all of about 22 seconds into the run. Now that it is 10 or 11 hours later, it hurts just as much so I don’t expect to run much this weekend, but hopefully it will have improved to the point where I can resume training again next week.

It was not too long ago that Tyson Gay ran the fastest 100 meters that any human has ever done. He had the assistance of a good tailwind, which will keep him out of the record books, but that is still impressive none the less.

Even so, he is stronger in the 200 meter distance than in the 100 meter distance, and was one of the favorites to challenge Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell at the Olympics. Unfortunately, he pulled his hamstring during the Trials and so he won’t be competing.

“Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring. So I had kind of a bad feeling. When I came off the curve the first two steps were fine, and then I felt it, sort of a pull, about 40 meters in. Once I was on the ground it didn’t hurt as much as when it happened.”

If you haven’t seen Tyson Gay’s fall yet, here’s a video:
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Last night I received an email from Jane, one of my readers who is training for this weekend’s Boston Marathon. Jane’s training was going really well, she felt as though she were peaking at just the right time, she had just started her taper…and then she got injured. Sound familiar to you? It certainly does to me. Here is a part of her email:

I’m a 54 year old female training for my 7^th Boston. I peaked 3 weeks ago at 60 miles, and ran 45 miles 2 weeks ago, but last week I was diagnosed with plantar fascitis and a heel spur. I was told no running, I’ve been biking for 1 1/2 weeks, anti-inflammatories, lots of stretching & ice, and my PT has been doing iontophoresis treatments on my heel to help reduce the swelling.

I know I probably won’t be able to do another BG on Monday, but do you think I have a chance of running the whole thing? How much endurance have I lost by biking instead of running during my taper? Should I just wait and go for an easy run this weekend and see how it feels? I really hate to miss a Boston Marathon, but I also don’t want to do more damage.

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Readers have been searching a little more frequently lately for things like running numbness and why does my foot go numb when I run, but the article that they are finding is about a numb hip during a weight lifting workout a few years ago. Here are some more relevant reasons that you may have a numb foot or leg during or after your runs. More importantly, here are some ways to avoid going numb in the first place.

If you are fine when you are running, but get numb legs or feet when you finish, then take note of what you do when you finish your run. When I was in high school, I would often head straight to the rest room when I got done running. The toilets were a little lower than they needed to be, and I was cutting off the circulation in my legs. My problem went away as soon as I started standing around for a few minutes after my run before sitting down anywhere, especially somewhere that involved creating less than a 90 degree angle with my legs.

Photo by CAZASCOIf your legs or feet go numb when you are running, then 90% of the time you will have one of two problems. The first cause for numb feet or legs is that you have your shoes laced too tightly. While it is possible that you are cutting off circulation at the ankle, the more likely problem comes from having the laces pulled too tightly near your toes. There is a blood vessel on the top of your foot that can be easily compressed.

Do not make your shoelaces too loose, though, because you will be more likely to trip or give yourselves blisters. What might be too tight one day may make for a perfect fit the next day, depending upon how swollen your feet are before and during your run. It is normal for your feet to swell up to a slightly larger size throughout the day, especially if you spend a lot of time on your feet. They can also swell up a little during a run.

The second cause for numb feet or legs has to do with your shoes. Do your shoes fit properly? Are they a half size or full size too small or too large? Are they new shoes or do they have a few miles on them? When you bought your shoes, did you have running socks with you and wait until later in the day to try the shoes on? Did you seek the help of an expert at a specialty running store?

Improperly fitting shoes can easily lead to numbness. They can cut off circulation and/or apply pressure at points on your foot that does not really work well with your specific biomechanics. You may not even feel any problems with your feet; biomechanical problems caused by your shoes can travel up your leg and manifest in your ankles, calves, or knees. Your biomechanics can change as you get into better (or worse) shape throughout an exercise program, especially if you experience a large weight change or change in body composition.

A third problem with numb legs may be related to trauma, but these reasons are far less likely than tight shoelaces or improperly fitting shoes. Jim Manatel had to stop running after he damaged a nerve during a run after overtraining his body and not stretching enough after his runs.

If numbness persists anywhere in your body for any length of time, you should visit your doctor and get the problem diagnosed. Like many illnesses or injuries, early treatment (or prevention) can save you a lot of pain and grief in the future.

Have you ever had any problems with numbness during your workouts? Has it only happened in isolated incidents, or have you had recurring problems? How did you solve your problems with numbness, or are you still suffering from them? Share your stories in the comments.