As runners we are sometimes confronted with the question, "Should I or shouldn't I run." Most often this comes up because of illness, aches and or pains, injuries or any other assorted reasons. How should we determine if it is alright, or even advisable, to go ahead with a run under one of the above circumstances?
Some injuries like broken bones or muscles pulls are obvious, but what about the not so obvious? Let's cover soreness and or pain first. As a general rule one should not run with pain if it can be determined that it will not go away during the first 5 - 10 minutes of a run. Even then, one should probably not engage in racing and or speed work with such pain as this will tend to make it worse. Things like Plantar Faciitis can vary based on the severity of the symptoms. If it is only sore for the first 5 minutes or so, while running easy, it is probably alright to run as long as one doesn't run a lot of hills. However, if the pain is persistent after a period of 5 to 10 minutes it would be better to not run and to give the injury complete rest for a period of at least two weeks or more. Do not resume running until you can walk without pain. If the pain is only there for a few steps in the morning when you first get out of bed then you can still run but should take it easy. Also you might want to see a foot specialist about getting a pair of orthotics, to correct what is causing the injury in the first place, in order to keep it from reoccurring.
Another common injury is IT band syndrome. The IT band extends from the hip to the knee on the outside lateral portion of the leg. When inflamed it can be very painful and generally gets worse the longer one runs with the injury. One can probably finish a race in which the IT band becomes inflamed, if they are able to deal with the pain, but they must weigh that with the probability of increasing the intensity of the injury and having more downtime recuperating after the race. The sooner one stops running when IT band inflammation occurs the sooner they will be able to heal and get back to running. Again one needs to find out why the IT band is becoming inflamed such as severe road camber, muscle imbalance, running form etc. Sometimes your local shoe store sales person can help you determine this by looking at the wear on your shoes but it is probably best to have it checked out by an orthopedic specialist if possible. The right therapy can usually correct the problem alleviating any recurring symptoms. Weak glute muscles and or a lack of lateral stability muscles in the hips, thighs and or legs can also be the cause. Can you run with IT band syndrome? The answer is yes, but if you do it will only get worse not better. This injury is best dealt with, by using rest. One can cross train by cycling with this injury but it is imperative to make sure that the seat height is not to high as this can exacerbate the problem causing the hip to over extend from side to side. If you have recently added cycling to your cross training to high a seat could be what caused the problem.
Chronic knee pain is another injury that runners sometimes try to run through! I feel that it is not a good idea to run with knee pain unless one has gone to a sports doctor about the problem and after diagnosis the doctor says it is alright to run. It is very important to know what is causing the knee pain before continuing to run. A lot of irreversible damage can be caused by running with knee pain so be very careful with this one and seek professional advice. It could be something as simple as old, or incorrect running shoes but find out what the problems is so that you don't permanently damage your knees.
What about just general muscle soreness after a particularly hard run or race? If the soreness is just "Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness"or DOMS for short it is OK to run but you should keep it short and easy until the soreness leaves. If the soreness leaves within 10 minutes of an easy jog you should be fine to run up to 30-60 minutes of easy running. DOMS is usually worst 36 to 48 hours after a very hard or unusually hard race or workout and the symptoms gradually subside over the next few days. If you do to hard an effort while still sore, even if the soreness disappears after warmup, you can end up being even more sore the next day or so following as the tight muscles cause even more micro tears in the muscle fibers. You don't have to wait until the soreness is completely gone to do another hard effort but you should let it at least subside to a more comfortable level. Always do a little longer warmup when resuming a hard effort after being really sore.
It is not my purpose to cover every type of injury, only to give you an idea as to when to seek professional advice before you resume running or not.
We have discussed injury and soreness but what about illness. Is it alright to run with a cold or flu? I think it is alright to run with a cold after the third day but one should keep it short and easy when running ill. There is some evidence that racing, with even a cold, can cause heart problems. Sometimes the virus can migrate to the heart causing inflammation which in turn can cause arrhythmia or other problems with the heart. Never run with the flu or pneumonia like symptoms as doing so can further weaken and damage the immune system. Use the "neck check." if the symptoms are above the neck and no fever you are probably alright to run an easy run. However if the symptoms are below the neck such as congestion, coughing, fever or body aches it is not advisable to run. See this article at Livestrong.com .
The hard part for runners is dealing with the downtime from an injury or illness. One thing I like to do during these times is read and learn more about running. Go over my log book to see if there were warning signs I missed that could have prevented my from getting injured if I had paid more careful attention. I try not to dwell on not being able to run, but try to think about planning my return to running in a careful way so as to avoid re-injuring myself.
Another helpful tip when coming back from an injury is take the time to run with some of your friends who are a little slower than you are normally. This will help keep you from getting a little competitive and over doing it as you return to form. Trying to pick up where you left off right away is a really bad idea and usually ends in disaster
Hope this was helpful!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Fine Line Between Peaking and Overtraining!
One of the challenges all athletes, who are trying to improve, come up against is walking the fine line between over-training and peaking for a particular competition or series of competitions. I define a competitive athlete as anyone who is striving to be the best they can be at their particular sport or sports. Over training happens in almost every sport, but can be particularly insidious to runners and cyclists.
The ideal is to gradually build up ones training and intensity to a peak just before competition and then have a slight rest phase called a taper to allow the body to regenerate itself without losing the peak competitive edge one has built up. And, to do this without stressing the body to the point of breaking down or over-training.
So what exactly is over-training? There is no specific blood test or physical examination that can show that someone has Over-training Syndrome, but there is a list of symptoms that if you have at least two of more of, may indicate the you are over-trained. They include:
So how do you find that fine line between peaking and or building intensity or endurance without over-training? The key is to gradually build using the 10% rule for increasing mileage. But, intensity is a little more difficult. One general rule for intensity or speed training is to not run more than 10% of your weekly miles as speed work. As for racing the general rule is a day of rest for each mile you have raced i.e a 5K would require three days of rest and a 10K six days of rest. Rest, of course, can be anything from not running at all to running shorter very easy efforts. My own personal opinion is that for Half Marathon and Marathon you only need about 3/4 day of rest for each mile run before resuming a normal running schedule again. According to some studies it can take up to 4 weeks for full muscle recovery after a full marathon and that is without any running at all. Most runners would go crazy taking a full four weeks off from running. I believe that for best recover from a marathon, and still keeping active and fit, one should continue to run but not more than 60 - 90 minutes at a time and then at a very easy pace. After two weeks one can resume building intensity and endurance over the next 6 weeks back to where they left off. But, everyone is different and some my need more or less time. Half marathon would be about half of this time period.
It is a really good idea to keep a training log so you can look back and see where you might have gone wrong if you develop any of these symptoms, and then modify your training for a while until the symptoms have disappeared for at least two weeks. Then gradually resume building again. Some of the things I believe you should put in your running log are listed below.
Happy Trails,
Russ
The ideal is to gradually build up ones training and intensity to a peak just before competition and then have a slight rest phase called a taper to allow the body to regenerate itself without losing the peak competitive edge one has built up. And, to do this without stressing the body to the point of breaking down or over-training.
So what exactly is over-training? There is no specific blood test or physical examination that can show that someone has Over-training Syndrome, but there is a list of symptoms that if you have at least two of more of, may indicate the you are over-trained. They include:
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Physical- Low energy levels
- Decreased training capacity and tolerance
- Decreased levels of performance including, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance,
- Strength, and power
- Altered resting heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration
- Chronic fatigue
- GI distress
- Sleep and eating disorders
- General muscle aches and pains and increased incidence of overuse injuries
- Loss of enthusiasm for the desired sport or exercise
- Decreased self-esteem
- Sensitivity to stress
- Decreased storage levels of muscle glycogen
- Altered glucose regulation
- Decreased serum testosterone
- Increased cortisol (“stress hormone” levels)
- Adrenal stress
So how do you find that fine line between peaking and or building intensity or endurance without over-training? The key is to gradually build using the 10% rule for increasing mileage. But, intensity is a little more difficult. One general rule for intensity or speed training is to not run more than 10% of your weekly miles as speed work. As for racing the general rule is a day of rest for each mile you have raced i.e a 5K would require three days of rest and a 10K six days of rest. Rest, of course, can be anything from not running at all to running shorter very easy efforts. My own personal opinion is that for Half Marathon and Marathon you only need about 3/4 day of rest for each mile run before resuming a normal running schedule again. According to some studies it can take up to 4 weeks for full muscle recovery after a full marathon and that is without any running at all. Most runners would go crazy taking a full four weeks off from running. I believe that for best recover from a marathon, and still keeping active and fit, one should continue to run but not more than 60 - 90 minutes at a time and then at a very easy pace. After two weeks one can resume building intensity and endurance over the next 6 weeks back to where they left off. But, everyone is different and some my need more or less time. Half marathon would be about half of this time period.
It is a really good idea to keep a training log so you can look back and see where you might have gone wrong if you develop any of these symptoms, and then modify your training for a while until the symptoms have disappeared for at least two weeks. Then gradually resume building again. Some of the things I believe you should put in your running log are listed below.
- Heart rate
- Distance
- Training frequency, intensity, time
- Sets and repetitions
- Passive and active rest
- Body weight
- Levels of muscular fatigue and soreness
- Acute and/or chronic repetitive stress injuries
- Weather
- Shoe Mileage
Happy Trails,
Russ
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Reflections on Why I Run
I find running to bevery cathartic. I can purge myself of the everyday stresses of life even with just a short two mile run, but there is nothing more cathartic than an hour or longer run. It wasn't always this way. Before the age of 46 I never ran as a regular routine. Up until the mid 30's I played softball and flag football so running was involved, but I never really considered myself a runner. In the early 80's I read Dr Cooper's book, "Aerobics."
I remember thinking to myself that I should start running regularly, so I went out to run a 12 minute fitness test to see what kind of shape I was in. I remember that I ran about 1.75 miles in that 12 minute test. According to the chart in Dr. Cooper's book that put me in the excellent category. I was pretty proud of myself but still not motivated enough to start a regular program of running.
As time went on my wife and I had children. Work and family life began to slow down my sports life to some extent and my junk food diet began to catch up with me. This would have been the perfect time to incorporate a regular running regimen of at least 3 miles 3 days a week to maintain fitness. However I started spending more and more time on the couch in front of the TV eating things like pizza and ice cream and less and less time doing anything to do with sports or fitness. Eventually, after going back to school full time and working full time I had ballooned up to 212 pounds.
After I graduated I decided that I had to do something, and that is when I started training to run a marathon. You can read more on that in my first post on this blog. At first running was a real effort. When you are as out of shape as I was when I started, it takes a lot of effort to push yourself out the door to run. Running never becomes effortless but going strait from the couch to running takes a lot of effort. After the first three weeks of running I began to notice that I could run farther faster than when I had started. This was very encouraging to see. That progress gave me the impetus to continue.
So as many of you know I went on to finish my first marathon and have now finished 20 marathons. I look at running as having saved my life. I think I would become very depressed if I were not able to continue running. I find that having goals is a great motivator. I may never set any new PR's for myself but I can always set a goal for particular race. Then again there is still the outside chance that I may be able to set a new PR.
Recently as I begin to think that PR's in marathons and lesser distance races are a thing of the past I have been contemplating the idea of running ultras. For those who don't know an ultra race is generally any race distance beyond 26.2 miles. However, there are those who don't really consider a race distance as ultra until 50 miles or more. I remember when contemplating 26.2 miles was hard to imagine but now I can actually visualize myself running 50 miles or more. The only real problem to that is keeping myself under control so as not to do too much too soon. You see I have the tendency to push my training to the point of injury. If I can avoid injury I can certainly set some new records for myself as far as ultra distance running is concerned.
One of the great things about ultra running is that most of the time these races are done mostly off road away from the hustle and bustle of the street. I love trail running because I can more easily lose myself in the surrounding wonder of nature. It gives me a greater sense of enjoyment from my running than just running the same old courses all the time. Running in general has become a kind of sanctuary where I can go and find myself. I can do some introspection and then when I get back to the so called, "Real World," I am much more relaxed.
I do most of my running by myself. That is, not alongside other runners. Not that I don't enjoy running with others, as I do enjoy both. It is just that I really enjoy being alone sometimes while running. When I run with others I don't have as much time for my own thoughts. Even when I do run with others I am probably not considered the most stimulating of conversationalists!
Running has simply become a part of my lifestyle and it is such a part of my life that to not be able to run is a horrible feeling. Whenever illness or injury sideline me I find that I become anxious, and sometimes downright irritable with others. Running is something I hope to continue for the rest of my life. For some people, dieing in their sleep is the perfect way to leave this planet. I'm not planning on leaving this world anytime soon, but if and when I do, a run in the hills would be the perfect way to go. Just like Caballo Blanco!
I remember thinking to myself that I should start running regularly, so I went out to run a 12 minute fitness test to see what kind of shape I was in. I remember that I ran about 1.75 miles in that 12 minute test. According to the chart in Dr. Cooper's book that put me in the excellent category. I was pretty proud of myself but still not motivated enough to start a regular program of running.
As time went on my wife and I had children. Work and family life began to slow down my sports life to some extent and my junk food diet began to catch up with me. This would have been the perfect time to incorporate a regular running regimen of at least 3 miles 3 days a week to maintain fitness. However I started spending more and more time on the couch in front of the TV eating things like pizza and ice cream and less and less time doing anything to do with sports or fitness. Eventually, after going back to school full time and working full time I had ballooned up to 212 pounds.
After I graduated I decided that I had to do something, and that is when I started training to run a marathon. You can read more on that in my first post on this blog. At first running was a real effort. When you are as out of shape as I was when I started, it takes a lot of effort to push yourself out the door to run. Running never becomes effortless but going strait from the couch to running takes a lot of effort. After the first three weeks of running I began to notice that I could run farther faster than when I had started. This was very encouraging to see. That progress gave me the impetus to continue.
So as many of you know I went on to finish my first marathon and have now finished 20 marathons. I look at running as having saved my life. I think I would become very depressed if I were not able to continue running. I find that having goals is a great motivator. I may never set any new PR's for myself but I can always set a goal for particular race. Then again there is still the outside chance that I may be able to set a new PR.
Recently as I begin to think that PR's in marathons and lesser distance races are a thing of the past I have been contemplating the idea of running ultras. For those who don't know an ultra race is generally any race distance beyond 26.2 miles. However, there are those who don't really consider a race distance as ultra until 50 miles or more. I remember when contemplating 26.2 miles was hard to imagine but now I can actually visualize myself running 50 miles or more. The only real problem to that is keeping myself under control so as not to do too much too soon. You see I have the tendency to push my training to the point of injury. If I can avoid injury I can certainly set some new records for myself as far as ultra distance running is concerned.
One of the great things about ultra running is that most of the time these races are done mostly off road away from the hustle and bustle of the street. I love trail running because I can more easily lose myself in the surrounding wonder of nature. It gives me a greater sense of enjoyment from my running than just running the same old courses all the time. Running in general has become a kind of sanctuary where I can go and find myself. I can do some introspection and then when I get back to the so called, "Real World," I am much more relaxed.
I do most of my running by myself. That is, not alongside other runners. Not that I don't enjoy running with others, as I do enjoy both. It is just that I really enjoy being alone sometimes while running. When I run with others I don't have as much time for my own thoughts. Even when I do run with others I am probably not considered the most stimulating of conversationalists!
Running has simply become a part of my lifestyle and it is such a part of my life that to not be able to run is a horrible feeling. Whenever illness or injury sideline me I find that I become anxious, and sometimes downright irritable with others. Running is something I hope to continue for the rest of my life. For some people, dieing in their sleep is the perfect way to leave this planet. I'm not planning on leaving this world anytime soon, but if and when I do, a run in the hills would be the perfect way to go. Just like Caballo Blanco!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Update on Stride Length and Running Form
Well it has been a little over seven weeks since I started working on changing over from a heal toe strike to a mid-foot fore-foot strike. I have also been working on my stride turnover rate going from about 80 up to 90 or higher.
The first week of running in this new style was humbling! I was pretty good at keeping the mid-foot strike but often drifted back into my old turnover rate. I really had to concentrate on the faster turnover rate especially since I grew tired more quickly from working my muscles in a slightly different way. After about two weeks I began to feel more comfortable running this way and did not have to concentrate nearly as hard on my form as it became more natural.
I started this new running form in my old stability shoes and orthotics. After about 4 weeks I bought a new pair of shoes designed specifically for a mid-foot strike. They are Brooks Pure Flow shoes and they are really light weight and feel great. I knew from the start that I wanted try and learn to run in them without my present orthotics. In order to avoid injury I would have to start running in them for short distances first and should probably avoid hills as much as possible. My first run in them was only four miles. They felt a little strange to me on the first mile but by the second mile I was in love with them. After my run I felt great and had no problems. I had not been doing any leg strengthening work and decided to do a short workout after the run. The next day I knew better but decided since I felt good that I would try and do a twelve mile run in my new shoes and it would include about 700 feet of both uphill and downhill. I started with a slight uphill for about a half mile and then a pretty good downhill for the next half mile. Still felt great. I then had some relatively flat but slightly undulating ground to run over through mile 2.5 from there I had mostly downhill again for the next 1.8 miles and then a gradual uphill for about a mile then a pretty tough uphill for another few miles. By the time I had reached 7 miles I knew that I was in trouble with some lower leg and foot pain. I finally ended up walking 6.3 miles back home and did that at too fast a pace also. I spent the next two days not running at all as I was too sore. Lesson learned, I hope! The stability shoes had really babied me as far as having to use foot strength in my running form. I now found that I felt the road much more and that my lower leg muscles became fatigued much sooner in my run with the new shoes.
Since that second run I have run three more times in my new shoes and the rest of my running has been in my old shoes with orthotics. I can tell that it is going to take a while to build the strength to run longer distances in my new shoes without the orthotics, but I am confident that it will pay off in the long run. Pun intended!
Since starting this new form of running my average pace per mile on my normal daily run, at the same heart rate, has gotten faster by about 20 seconds per mile. I am not sure this is all do to the new running form, but I am sure that most of it certainly is. 20 seconds per mile in just 6 weeks is a pretty significant achievement. I will continue to gradually add mileage in my new running shoes and running form. I don't quite expect the same dramatic results over the next 6-8 weeks but I do expect to improve.
Happy trails,
Russ
The first week of running in this new style was humbling! I was pretty good at keeping the mid-foot strike but often drifted back into my old turnover rate. I really had to concentrate on the faster turnover rate especially since I grew tired more quickly from working my muscles in a slightly different way. After about two weeks I began to feel more comfortable running this way and did not have to concentrate nearly as hard on my form as it became more natural.
I started this new running form in my old stability shoes and orthotics. After about 4 weeks I bought a new pair of shoes designed specifically for a mid-foot strike. They are Brooks Pure Flow shoes and they are really light weight and feel great. I knew from the start that I wanted try and learn to run in them without my present orthotics. In order to avoid injury I would have to start running in them for short distances first and should probably avoid hills as much as possible. My first run in them was only four miles. They felt a little strange to me on the first mile but by the second mile I was in love with them. After my run I felt great and had no problems. I had not been doing any leg strengthening work and decided to do a short workout after the run. The next day I knew better but decided since I felt good that I would try and do a twelve mile run in my new shoes and it would include about 700 feet of both uphill and downhill. I started with a slight uphill for about a half mile and then a pretty good downhill for the next half mile. Still felt great. I then had some relatively flat but slightly undulating ground to run over through mile 2.5 from there I had mostly downhill again for the next 1.8 miles and then a gradual uphill for about a mile then a pretty tough uphill for another few miles. By the time I had reached 7 miles I knew that I was in trouble with some lower leg and foot pain. I finally ended up walking 6.3 miles back home and did that at too fast a pace also. I spent the next two days not running at all as I was too sore. Lesson learned, I hope! The stability shoes had really babied me as far as having to use foot strength in my running form. I now found that I felt the road much more and that my lower leg muscles became fatigued much sooner in my run with the new shoes.
Since that second run I have run three more times in my new shoes and the rest of my running has been in my old shoes with orthotics. I can tell that it is going to take a while to build the strength to run longer distances in my new shoes without the orthotics, but I am confident that it will pay off in the long run. Pun intended!
Since starting this new form of running my average pace per mile on my normal daily run, at the same heart rate, has gotten faster by about 20 seconds per mile. I am not sure this is all do to the new running form, but I am sure that most of it certainly is. 20 seconds per mile in just 6 weeks is a pretty significant achievement. I will continue to gradually add mileage in my new running shoes and running form. I don't quite expect the same dramatic results over the next 6-8 weeks but I do expect to improve.
Happy trails,
Russ
How to Increase Stride Length and Running Efficiency
Why would one want to increase their stride length? Running speed depends upon two main variables – stride length and
stride rate. To run faster you need to improve one or both. A lot of
attention has been placed on increasing stride rate in recent years –
and for good reason – raising your stride rate or turnover to around 90
full strides per minute is one of the most efficient ways to improve
your running economy. Don’t forget about your stride length. Over
striding is the most common form flaw among distance runners, but don’t
confuse a long stride length with over striding. Over striding describes
a form flaw in which you land on the heel of your lead foot, in front
of your center of gravity. You should always try to maximize your stride
length – you just need to do that without over striding.
I have long wanted to work on perfecting my stride and stride length. This is a hard thing to do when in the middle of training for a specific race as it takes lots of practice. Since I am cutting my mileage back because of sciatica in my left leg, all the way down to my foot, I have decided to give it a go.
So what exactly is the perfect stride? A stride in running is one step and generally 180 to 200 strides per minute are considered the perfect number. This is way to hard to count so one generally counts only one foot for a minute. Lets say you decide to count your left foot so each time your left foot strikes the ground you would count up one. In longer distance running closer to 90 is considered the best stride rate and in shorter sprinting etc closer to 100 is considered to be better. We will call this lower number turnover rate!
Try running your normal pace sometime counting for one minute, just your right or left foot, and see where you fall naturally. I did this the other day and found my natural turnover rate was at 82 per minute falling below the 90 that is ideal.
Another aspect of the perfect stride is length and a mid or forefoot foot strike. In other words a heal strike is generally not considered to be ideal. Anytime your foot lands heal first you are actually breaking somewhat in your forward motion as well as putting more strain on your knees and hips.
While counting my strides I paid attention to my foot strike finding, not surprisingly, that I was running with a heal strike except when running uphill. I have actually known this for a long time but never had the patience to work on changing it till now.
Generally the reason for a heal strike is because one is over striding. That’s right I have been taking too long a stride. What’s that you say. “I thought you were working on increasing your stride length?” Well here is the problem. Increasing ones stride length does not mean stretching the legs out father in front of your body! It actually means to take more air. I’m not talking about bouncing up and down while running but I am talking about the distance covered while in the air with both feet off the ground should be greater the longer ones stride is.
So the question is, “How do I accomplish this?” First lets analyze the concept of loading! That is, in order for the muscles to generate power they first have to be loaded. Think of a spring or better yet a rubber band. When you pull back on a rubber band, stretching it, your are loading it. When you release it that is when the power is generated.
If your foot lands on the heal, it has to rotate forward to the mid-foot in order for the loading effect to take place and power to be generated for forward momentum. If the foot lands, with the toes and forefoot flexed upward (dorsi-flexing), on the mid foot or ball of the foot it takes much less time for the loading effect to take place and more power is generated for forward motion. The foot is on the ground for a shorter period of time sending you forward with more push-off and efficiency.
Think of running with more bend in your knees on the forward motion, keeping your feet directly under your center of gravity not out in front. This may seem counter intuitive but, your step as far as the distance your are swinging your leg forward, will probably be shorter than what you are doing right now. However, if you find that your turnover rate is slower, as I did, it is probably because you are over striding. Remember to try not to have more than a 95 degree angle at your knees on the forward stride.
OK, so if I shorten my leg swing how do I increase my stride length? The answer to this is that you have to generate more power. By working on the proper forefoot or mid-foot strike you will start to generate more power. In the beginning this will take a lot of concentration. I found that by the end of a four mile run I was having trouble concentrating on keeping proper form. I also found that I was working my muscles in a different way than they were used to and they felt a little more tired than normal. I expect as I continue to work on this it will get easier. It is not something that will come to be habit overnight!
There are exercise routines that can also help develop a longer stride. Running specific strength exercises like, Bench Step-ups, Stride Step-ups and One leg squats will help a great deal. In addition, building your explosive strength with plyometric drill or exercises such as, Bounding, Hops, Jumps and Sprints.
I think it is more important to first work on turnover rate and landing on the forefoot than to concentrate on increasing stride length!
Some things to Remember:
Dorsi-flexing your ankle puts your foot into a position that is most efficient at producing a powerful and long stride. Your foot is dorsi-flexed when you raise your toes or pull the front of your foot up towards your shin. The opposite action is plantar-flexion when you point your toes towards the ground. Raising your toes pre-stretches your calf muscles and gets them ready to fire quickly as soon as your foot touches the ground. That results in a long, powerful and smooth stride.
Take shorter steps: What? – take shorter steps to increase your stride length! That sounds crazy! It’s not really. If you try to take long steps to increase your stride length you will end up reaching out in front of your center of gravity and landing on your heel. You will be putting the brakes on with every step you take. You will also be increasing the stress on your ankles, knees, hip and back, increasing your risk of injury. Remember, your steps should be shorter and more compact. You want to increase your air time and distance – not your reach.
Hills: Remember as always your stride length will shorten or elongate depending on whether you are on a flat, uphill or downhill portion. I found that increasing my turnover rate made me have to shorten my stride more than I was used to on the uphill or my heart rate would start climbing rapidly. It is best when starting to practice this style of running that you find as flat a surface as possible and then, as you get more comfortable, take to running a more undulating course.
These are all things I am working on right now. I just started so I’m sure it will take weeks or longer to get fully accustomed to running in this manner, but I am committed. I’ll report back in a later post to let you know how it has worked.
Keep on running!
I have long wanted to work on perfecting my stride and stride length. This is a hard thing to do when in the middle of training for a specific race as it takes lots of practice. Since I am cutting my mileage back because of sciatica in my left leg, all the way down to my foot, I have decided to give it a go.
So what exactly is the perfect stride? A stride in running is one step and generally 180 to 200 strides per minute are considered the perfect number. This is way to hard to count so one generally counts only one foot for a minute. Lets say you decide to count your left foot so each time your left foot strikes the ground you would count up one. In longer distance running closer to 90 is considered the best stride rate and in shorter sprinting etc closer to 100 is considered to be better. We will call this lower number turnover rate!
Try running your normal pace sometime counting for one minute, just your right or left foot, and see where you fall naturally. I did this the other day and found my natural turnover rate was at 82 per minute falling below the 90 that is ideal.
Another aspect of the perfect stride is length and a mid or forefoot foot strike. In other words a heal strike is generally not considered to be ideal. Anytime your foot lands heal first you are actually breaking somewhat in your forward motion as well as putting more strain on your knees and hips.
While counting my strides I paid attention to my foot strike finding, not surprisingly, that I was running with a heal strike except when running uphill. I have actually known this for a long time but never had the patience to work on changing it till now.
Generally the reason for a heal strike is because one is over striding. That’s right I have been taking too long a stride. What’s that you say. “I thought you were working on increasing your stride length?” Well here is the problem. Increasing ones stride length does not mean stretching the legs out father in front of your body! It actually means to take more air. I’m not talking about bouncing up and down while running but I am talking about the distance covered while in the air with both feet off the ground should be greater the longer ones stride is.
So the question is, “How do I accomplish this?” First lets analyze the concept of loading! That is, in order for the muscles to generate power they first have to be loaded. Think of a spring or better yet a rubber band. When you pull back on a rubber band, stretching it, your are loading it. When you release it that is when the power is generated.
If your foot lands on the heal, it has to rotate forward to the mid-foot in order for the loading effect to take place and power to be generated for forward momentum. If the foot lands, with the toes and forefoot flexed upward (dorsi-flexing), on the mid foot or ball of the foot it takes much less time for the loading effect to take place and more power is generated for forward motion. The foot is on the ground for a shorter period of time sending you forward with more push-off and efficiency.
Think of running with more bend in your knees on the forward motion, keeping your feet directly under your center of gravity not out in front. This may seem counter intuitive but, your step as far as the distance your are swinging your leg forward, will probably be shorter than what you are doing right now. However, if you find that your turnover rate is slower, as I did, it is probably because you are over striding. Remember to try not to have more than a 95 degree angle at your knees on the forward stride.
OK, so if I shorten my leg swing how do I increase my stride length? The answer to this is that you have to generate more power. By working on the proper forefoot or mid-foot strike you will start to generate more power. In the beginning this will take a lot of concentration. I found that by the end of a four mile run I was having trouble concentrating on keeping proper form. I also found that I was working my muscles in a different way than they were used to and they felt a little more tired than normal. I expect as I continue to work on this it will get easier. It is not something that will come to be habit overnight!
There are exercise routines that can also help develop a longer stride. Running specific strength exercises like, Bench Step-ups, Stride Step-ups and One leg squats will help a great deal. In addition, building your explosive strength with plyometric drill or exercises such as, Bounding, Hops, Jumps and Sprints.
I think it is more important to first work on turnover rate and landing on the forefoot than to concentrate on increasing stride length!
Some things to Remember:
Dorsi-flexing your ankle puts your foot into a position that is most efficient at producing a powerful and long stride. Your foot is dorsi-flexed when you raise your toes or pull the front of your foot up towards your shin. The opposite action is plantar-flexion when you point your toes towards the ground. Raising your toes pre-stretches your calf muscles and gets them ready to fire quickly as soon as your foot touches the ground. That results in a long, powerful and smooth stride.
Take shorter steps: What? – take shorter steps to increase your stride length! That sounds crazy! It’s not really. If you try to take long steps to increase your stride length you will end up reaching out in front of your center of gravity and landing on your heel. You will be putting the brakes on with every step you take. You will also be increasing the stress on your ankles, knees, hip and back, increasing your risk of injury. Remember, your steps should be shorter and more compact. You want to increase your air time and distance – not your reach.
Hills: Remember as always your stride length will shorten or elongate depending on whether you are on a flat, uphill or downhill portion. I found that increasing my turnover rate made me have to shorten my stride more than I was used to on the uphill or my heart rate would start climbing rapidly. It is best when starting to practice this style of running that you find as flat a surface as possible and then, as you get more comfortable, take to running a more undulating course.
These are all things I am working on right now. I just started so I’m sure it will take weeks or longer to get fully accustomed to running in this manner, but I am committed. I’ll report back in a later post to let you know how it has worked.
Keep on running!
Musings on the Rising Cost of Marathons
I must admit that I am a bit ambivalent about the rising cost of
entering marathons especially the larger events such as Rock n Roll and
big City events like Los Angeles and Chicago.
When I entered my first marathon, 12 years ago, the early-bird entry fee was $65.00. That was for the 2000 LA Marathon. This year the early-bird entry price was $145.00. That is an increase of 123% over the last 12 years.
I used a website to calculate the inflation rate from October of 1999 to October of 2011 and it gave me a cumulative rate of 377%. So that means it’s decimal equivalent would be 3.77%. I plugged in the $65 dollar amount of my entry in 2000, and the calculator said that in today’s money that would be $67.70.
See this URL: http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Calculators/Cumulative_Inflation_Calculator.aspx
From this we can see that the rising cost of marathons has almost nothing to do with inflation and everything to do with greed! OK, that may be a little harsh. We all know that total inflation is not reflective of smaller micro sections of the overall economy. Still, how did we get from $65 to $145 entry fee?
Without going into a dissertation exploring the intricacies of what may have led to this increase I will explore what seems, to me at least, to be a reasonable increase in this fee.
During most of this 12 years I received generally close to a 2.0% increase in wages each year that I worked. We won’t use what my actual wages were but let’s use $20.00 an hour as a starting wage. That would bring wages to $25.36 after 12 years. That is about a 25% increase over 12 years.
Let’s follow that with our $65 entry fee. That would give us a new entry fee price of $81.25. This seems to me to be a much more reasonable increase over that last 12 years. In fact I would say that I could accept $90 as a reasonable entry fee.
This brings me to the question, “What if anything can be done about these unreasonable price increases?” In reality not much. Not unless there is a big revolt and boycott of these larger events. Realistically I don’t see this happening as it seems there are plenty of people willing to pay this price to run in a marathon. So for myself I will try to stay clear of the larger events as much as possible and try to stick with smaller more reasonably priced events.
I find no problem with the the aspect of Laissez-faire doctrine that sets pricing at whatever the market will bear. However, I have reached my limit and plan to rebel at the present prices of large marathons. I will try and stay with the small ones except for maybe, Boston and a very few other selective races!
Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to express yourself!
When I entered my first marathon, 12 years ago, the early-bird entry fee was $65.00. That was for the 2000 LA Marathon. This year the early-bird entry price was $145.00. That is an increase of 123% over the last 12 years.
I used a website to calculate the inflation rate from October of 1999 to October of 2011 and it gave me a cumulative rate of 377%. So that means it’s decimal equivalent would be 3.77%. I plugged in the $65 dollar amount of my entry in 2000, and the calculator said that in today’s money that would be $67.70.
See this URL: http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Calculators/Cumulative_Inflation_Calculator.aspx
From this we can see that the rising cost of marathons has almost nothing to do with inflation and everything to do with greed! OK, that may be a little harsh. We all know that total inflation is not reflective of smaller micro sections of the overall economy. Still, how did we get from $65 to $145 entry fee?
Without going into a dissertation exploring the intricacies of what may have led to this increase I will explore what seems, to me at least, to be a reasonable increase in this fee.
During most of this 12 years I received generally close to a 2.0% increase in wages each year that I worked. We won’t use what my actual wages were but let’s use $20.00 an hour as a starting wage. That would bring wages to $25.36 after 12 years. That is about a 25% increase over 12 years.
Let’s follow that with our $65 entry fee. That would give us a new entry fee price of $81.25. This seems to me to be a much more reasonable increase over that last 12 years. In fact I would say that I could accept $90 as a reasonable entry fee.
This brings me to the question, “What if anything can be done about these unreasonable price increases?” In reality not much. Not unless there is a big revolt and boycott of these larger events. Realistically I don’t see this happening as it seems there are plenty of people willing to pay this price to run in a marathon. So for myself I will try to stay clear of the larger events as much as possible and try to stick with smaller more reasonably priced events.
I find no problem with the the aspect of Laissez-faire doctrine that sets pricing at whatever the market will bear. However, I have reached my limit and plan to rebel at the present prices of large marathons. I will try and stay with the small ones except for maybe, Boston and a very few other selective races!
Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to express yourself!
My start into the World of Running!
I have been a runner since July of 1999. That was almost 12.5 years
ago. It started because I had just graduated from ITT Technical
Institute with a Bachelors Degree in Electronics Engineering at the age
of 46. I was totally out of shape at 5’11.5” and 212 pounds. After
graduating I needed a new goal and had often wondered what it would be
like to run a marathon. So, I decided that I would train to run a
marathon, lose weight and get back in shape all at the same time.
I knew nothing about training for a marathon other than I would start with a mile and gradually try to build my mileage. But, how hard to run? How far to run? How many days a week to run? These were all questions that I needed to find out.
I decided to do a one mile fitness test to see just how out of shape I was. I went to a track and started running. My mind told me I was in better shape than I actually was and by the time I had run one lap I was feeling like I needed to stop but I kept on going. My legs were on fire and before I had finished two complete laps I had to walk. Soon my legs felt a bit better and I resumed running. I ended up doing this run walk several times before I finally completed my first mile.
I was in shock! It had taken me a little over 13 minutes to complete just one mile. I remembered back in high school where we had an 8 min test. If one could complete a mile or more in 8 minutes then they were considered to be in very good shape. I had blown that test away; without even trying that hard I had run a mile in just a little over 5 minutes. (Don’t remember the exact time.) Now, here I was completely exhausted doing a single mile in over 13 minutes. I thought to myself that surely there must be some mistake. How could this be? I felt truly humiliated with what had just transpired.
Of course, in high school I was 5’ 11 3/4” tall and only weighed 147 pounds. Now I had shrunk a quarter inch and weighed 65 pounds more, and of that 65 pounds I had added only about 8-10 were muscle, the rest was all fat.
As I drove home I started reconsidering my goal of running a marathon. It seemed like an impossible task after what I had just put myself through. But, I convinced myself that surely I could get back to at least an 8 minute mile by early March of the next year for the LA Marathon. I would just start running and walking every day and gradually get back in shape. Boy was I wrong about that 8 minute mile.
After two weeks of running by myself, my wife came to me with an article she had read, in the local paper, about a group that trained people to run a marathon. The name of the group was the Loma Linda Lopers. They met every Sunday morning at 6:30am and had seminars and talks all about running. She thought it would be a good idea for me to join them as they had only been running their marathon clinic for two weeks and that was about how long I had been training on my own. So, the following Sunday I showed up early and joined the group.
I don’t remember a whole lot about my first day with the Lopers other than I was overwhelmed to see so many people all out to train for a marathon. There were well over 600 people there and they had smaller groups divided into what they called “pace groups.” I decided to join the 13 minute group. The distance for the day was just 3 miles. Our pace leader took us out at a pretty good pace but then after 5 minutes we started walking. After a minute we resumed running and continued this run 5 minutes walk 1 minute, for the complete three miles. He explained that the Lopers used the Galloway method for marathon training and that doing a run walk was the quickest way to build endurance for new runners.
I was elated when we were done as I had done the whole 3 miles and did not feel like I was completely worn out as on my other runs. I continued going to the early Sunday morning meetings and doing the long run each week with the lopers. Each Sunday we added another mile to the long run for the week until we reached 10 miles. We also had home work miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each week we added a mile to the homework miles until we reached 6 miles. Before we got to the 10 mile milestone for our long run, I had switched groups and had moved up to the 12 minute group. I ran with them until we got to 15 miles and then I let my ego get the better of me and I joined the 11 minute pace group. Now each long run seemed more like a race for me each week and I could hardly run again until Wednesday. I continued this insanity for the rest of my training with the Loper marathon clinic. I was so exhausted after each long run that I would come home each Sunday and fall asleep in my recliner while watching TV. Then came the marathon.
March 5th, 2000 was my first marathon. The weather forecast was for rain and lots of it! I had on a trash bag with holes cut for my head and arms. It was a great way to stay warm until the race began. We heard the gun go off but it was minutes before we started moving as there were so many people ahead of us. It took over 12 minutes before we crossed the start line and even then we weren’t really running right away. Soon we were actually running and the rain started coming down hard. I got too warm and threw the trash bag away. The rain was really coming down hard for most of the race, but I was fine as far as temperature. Some of those I was running with seemed to think it was really cold.
At about mile 17 I started to have trouble with my IT band and the outside of my left knee was beginning to hurt some. At mile 18 I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into as I was really beginning to feel fatigued and the knee was hurting a bit more. I said to myself, “Just two more miles and reevaluate the situation.” I made it to mile 20 and didn’t really feel any better but no worse either. I said to myself, “I have made it 20 miles there is no way I am quitting now.” So on we ran. With three miles left to run my knee was really hurting me, especially when resuming running after each walk break, so I decided to slow down a little and just keep running without doing the walk break. About one mile from the finish two of my friends, who I worked with, greeted me from the sidelines and jumped in running with me to the finish line. I felt a rush of adrenaline with their enthusiasm for what I was doing and that they would come all this way just to cheer for me. I was rejuvenated the rest of the way to the finish line. As I crossed that line a wave of emotion hit me as I realized I had actually finished my first marathon. 5 hours 19 minutes and 49 seconds is what it took me to complete my first marathon. At that time the thought of doing another marathon was far from my mind. In fact when asked a few hours later I said I would never run another one. Two days later I reevaluated and decided to sign up for another marathon. Two and a half years after my first marathon, (Oct 5, 2002) I qualified for Boston at St George, UT with a time of 3:33:40, needing to be at or better than 3:35:59. I ran Boston the following April and it was the highlight of my running career thus far.
I have now completed 20 marathons and am hoping to soon enter the world of ultra marathon races. Running distances from 50K (or 31 miles) to perhaps a 100 miles or more. First I have to overcome my troubles with sciatica, but I am confident that will happen.
By the way as I mentioned earlier I started running at 212 pounds and finished my first marathon at 195 pounds. I now weigh about 182 pounds but have a goal to be down to 165 pounds by this summer.
April 2013 update: I am not down to 165 pounds! Wahoo!
I knew nothing about training for a marathon other than I would start with a mile and gradually try to build my mileage. But, how hard to run? How far to run? How many days a week to run? These were all questions that I needed to find out.
I decided to do a one mile fitness test to see just how out of shape I was. I went to a track and started running. My mind told me I was in better shape than I actually was and by the time I had run one lap I was feeling like I needed to stop but I kept on going. My legs were on fire and before I had finished two complete laps I had to walk. Soon my legs felt a bit better and I resumed running. I ended up doing this run walk several times before I finally completed my first mile.
I was in shock! It had taken me a little over 13 minutes to complete just one mile. I remembered back in high school where we had an 8 min test. If one could complete a mile or more in 8 minutes then they were considered to be in very good shape. I had blown that test away; without even trying that hard I had run a mile in just a little over 5 minutes. (Don’t remember the exact time.) Now, here I was completely exhausted doing a single mile in over 13 minutes. I thought to myself that surely there must be some mistake. How could this be? I felt truly humiliated with what had just transpired.
Of course, in high school I was 5’ 11 3/4” tall and only weighed 147 pounds. Now I had shrunk a quarter inch and weighed 65 pounds more, and of that 65 pounds I had added only about 8-10 were muscle, the rest was all fat.
As I drove home I started reconsidering my goal of running a marathon. It seemed like an impossible task after what I had just put myself through. But, I convinced myself that surely I could get back to at least an 8 minute mile by early March of the next year for the LA Marathon. I would just start running and walking every day and gradually get back in shape. Boy was I wrong about that 8 minute mile.
After two weeks of running by myself, my wife came to me with an article she had read, in the local paper, about a group that trained people to run a marathon. The name of the group was the Loma Linda Lopers. They met every Sunday morning at 6:30am and had seminars and talks all about running. She thought it would be a good idea for me to join them as they had only been running their marathon clinic for two weeks and that was about how long I had been training on my own. So, the following Sunday I showed up early and joined the group.
I don’t remember a whole lot about my first day with the Lopers other than I was overwhelmed to see so many people all out to train for a marathon. There were well over 600 people there and they had smaller groups divided into what they called “pace groups.” I decided to join the 13 minute group. The distance for the day was just 3 miles. Our pace leader took us out at a pretty good pace but then after 5 minutes we started walking. After a minute we resumed running and continued this run 5 minutes walk 1 minute, for the complete three miles. He explained that the Lopers used the Galloway method for marathon training and that doing a run walk was the quickest way to build endurance for new runners.
I was elated when we were done as I had done the whole 3 miles and did not feel like I was completely worn out as on my other runs. I continued going to the early Sunday morning meetings and doing the long run each week with the lopers. Each Sunday we added another mile to the long run for the week until we reached 10 miles. We also had home work miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each week we added a mile to the homework miles until we reached 6 miles. Before we got to the 10 mile milestone for our long run, I had switched groups and had moved up to the 12 minute group. I ran with them until we got to 15 miles and then I let my ego get the better of me and I joined the 11 minute pace group. Now each long run seemed more like a race for me each week and I could hardly run again until Wednesday. I continued this insanity for the rest of my training with the Loper marathon clinic. I was so exhausted after each long run that I would come home each Sunday and fall asleep in my recliner while watching TV. Then came the marathon.
March 5th, 2000 was my first marathon. The weather forecast was for rain and lots of it! I had on a trash bag with holes cut for my head and arms. It was a great way to stay warm until the race began. We heard the gun go off but it was minutes before we started moving as there were so many people ahead of us. It took over 12 minutes before we crossed the start line and even then we weren’t really running right away. Soon we were actually running and the rain started coming down hard. I got too warm and threw the trash bag away. The rain was really coming down hard for most of the race, but I was fine as far as temperature. Some of those I was running with seemed to think it was really cold.
At about mile 17 I started to have trouble with my IT band and the outside of my left knee was beginning to hurt some. At mile 18 I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into as I was really beginning to feel fatigued and the knee was hurting a bit more. I said to myself, “Just two more miles and reevaluate the situation.” I made it to mile 20 and didn’t really feel any better but no worse either. I said to myself, “I have made it 20 miles there is no way I am quitting now.” So on we ran. With three miles left to run my knee was really hurting me, especially when resuming running after each walk break, so I decided to slow down a little and just keep running without doing the walk break. About one mile from the finish two of my friends, who I worked with, greeted me from the sidelines and jumped in running with me to the finish line. I felt a rush of adrenaline with their enthusiasm for what I was doing and that they would come all this way just to cheer for me. I was rejuvenated the rest of the way to the finish line. As I crossed that line a wave of emotion hit me as I realized I had actually finished my first marathon. 5 hours 19 minutes and 49 seconds is what it took me to complete my first marathon. At that time the thought of doing another marathon was far from my mind. In fact when asked a few hours later I said I would never run another one. Two days later I reevaluated and decided to sign up for another marathon. Two and a half years after my first marathon, (Oct 5, 2002) I qualified for Boston at St George, UT with a time of 3:33:40, needing to be at or better than 3:35:59. I ran Boston the following April and it was the highlight of my running career thus far.
I have now completed 20 marathons and am hoping to soon enter the world of ultra marathon races. Running distances from 50K (or 31 miles) to perhaps a 100 miles or more. First I have to overcome my troubles with sciatica, but I am confident that will happen.
By the way as I mentioned earlier I started running at 212 pounds and finished my first marathon at 195 pounds. I now weigh about 182 pounds but have a goal to be down to 165 pounds by this summer.
April 2013 update: I am not down to 165 pounds! Wahoo!
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