Learn, Live, Dream, Run

I recently wrapped up coaching the spring 2012 season of Girls on the Run (GOTR).  I have been privileged to be a part of this program for 4 years now, first in Pittsburgh PA and now in Newport News VA.  I always end the season in awe of how much my team has grown over the season.  It is amazing to witness the relationships the girls develop, their increased fitness, and their evolution into a team of 5K running, confident, and health conscious little ladies.

The mission of GOTR is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.  During our bi-weekly training sessions we combine training for a 5K running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts with themes like “Fueling Our Healthy Pace”, “Standing Up To Peer Pressure”, and “Learning about community”.

Although GOTR focuses on girls aged 8-13, I believe that the lessons learned in GOTR are ageless. The girls not only grow physically as they train for a 5K but also emotionally, mentally, and socially as they forge new friendships, develop a deeper understanding of themselves and others, and begin to discover their limitless potential among other life lessons.  Looking back on my own experiences with athletics and specifically running I can say that I too have experienced such a transformation as well; Take Nick and I for example, over the years our relationship has been shaped and improved by running and being active together.

Reflecting on this and my GOTR season I began to think about some of the values and lessons that running and being active has cultivated in my life:

Embracing who I am
Uncovering my potential
Improving my self-awareness
Examining my values, likes, dislikes and envisioning who I am as a person
Building relationships and being supportive
Gathering a collection of positive (and some less positive but character building) experiences
Increasing confidence in myself and belief in others
Living with intention, joy, and gratitude
Making contributions to my community
Celebrating my differences and finding a connection with others
Leading a healthy, balanced lifestyle
Becoming more responsible and managing time
Nurturing an optimistic, open-hearted, and compassionate attitude

What has running and being active taught you?  How will it transform you in the future?  Lace up, and find out.  Get out there to learn, live, dream, and run!  Happy Monday :o)

Summer Runs!

Jess has proved to be a poor influence to me when the sun gets strong and the asphalt heats up in the summer.  Her italian heritage keeps her free from sunburn while anything under 70 SPF turns me into dinner.  Despite my fear of turning into a roasted turkey, Jess and I both know that with Chicago in October we will need to keep our mileage up over the hot summer months.  Because of this I was thinking about expectations and training for the fall marathon season.  One of the things I fear about fall marathons is the summer running (simply due to the heat).  Looking forward to long runs on days that will approach 90, speed work in hurricane force winds, and hard rain turning to golf-ball sized hail is not always easy.  Despite all the difficulties that come with summer running there are a few benefits that make my fearful skin cells get out the door.
They include:
1.  Warm Rains
2.  Pale skin gains a nice healthy tomato look
3.  Laying shirtless reading a book under a tree afterwards

What gets you out the door when the thermometer bubbles up?

There are a ton of recommendations out there for hot running:  "Stay hydrated", "Take water with you", "Wear moisture wicking clothes", "Wear a hat", "Find a route with water fountains".
One of my favorite tips is to take a few dollars, your pool pass, and your do-it-all phone.  Head out for a run, pick a nice seat by the pool, buy some swedish fish and a bottle of water, then read and listen to music in the sun.   This will get you two runs, your daily dose of Vitamin D the natural way, and prepared for the chance that your race will be one with a cut-off due to heat.

Enjoy your summer!

Weekend Break

Jess and I have been gearing up and training hard the last few weeks to receive a highly-anticipated weekend off of training as we meet up with friends and head to The Preakness Stakes.  We will let you know if we get back on the wagon Monday! 

A key to being able to take a weekend off is knowing that you have the discipline to return to what you've committed yourself to afterwards.  When you make exercise a part of your life and not a chore the task becomes much less daunting.

Enjoy your weekend and look for us in some big hats!

Running Training Specificity and Variety

Jess and I have taken to using Thursday nights for a bit of cross training lately... Spin Class.
It is pretty common knowledge that to train for something, you should do that thing.  "Specificity" in training is the term.  If you want to run fast, go out and run.  However, it is easy to get burned out from one type of training exclusively, and it's also more likely to get you injured.  When you perform the same motion a lot you'll get better at it, but you also open yourself up to repetitive use injuries.  This is why I always promote for you to find your "Spin Night" at least once a week as well.  High RPM cycling is a great exercise to mimic running speed work without the impact.  I love the music as well.  When I was in college at the University of Pittsburgh, I co-founded the position and was the original "trainer" at Carnegie Mellon University (now a program with 6+ trainers from Pitt).  Making my own mixes of Classic Rock and Top 100 was a blast and motivated me to exercise.  Think Europe "Final Countdown" blending into Gnarls Barkley "Crazy".  Things like rocking out to some good beats can keep you motivated as you add variety to your routine.
Here are a few training recommendations and why they compliment your "specific" run training.

Weight Training
1.  Will require energy system changes, you'll often be using ATP-CP, rather than Aerobic pathways, during lifting to provide the movement
2.  Improves neural connection and variance to muscle (ability to recruit power, which can give you that mid-race burst to pull away)
3.  Focuses on individual recruitment of muscles.  Can manage weaknesses and variable deficits that occur when only one activity is performed over and over

Swimming

1.  Full body exercise including proximal musculature at hips, trunk, and shoulders that assist in efficiency of distal muscle use

2.  Breathing control and resisted breathing which has been hypothesized to improve an individuals vital capacity

3.  "Weight-less" environment to train in when feet get sore or when swelling develops

Any sport you perform is going to improve your fitness, but it isn't necessarily going to make you a faster runner.  You know you'll need to do speed work and focus on running to become better at running.  That doesn't mean that everyday and every workout must be focused on running.  When you do focus on running, remember that you have 4 primary energy systems and that each should be trained, tested, and honed.  You cannot run an 18:30 5K if you can't run one 6:00 mile.  This logic can go on and on with all distances.  Remember to specifically train your ATP-CP (hard efforts of <10 seconds), fast-glycolytic (10-30 seconds hard effort),   slow-glycolytic (30-120 seconds hard effort), and aerobic (>120 seconds activity) systems.  A focus should be made on the system that will provide your primary energy pathway during your event, but neglecting the other systems will put you in a bind when you ignore them prior to an event.  

Want an example?

Here is a short "All-Energy System Workout", a ladder workout including multiple distances

1 mile warm-up

1 x 1600 meters (10K pace) ::: aerobic

3 x 500 meters (5K pace) ::: slow-glycolytic

3 x 200 meters (Mile pace) ::: fast-glycolytic

4 x 60 meters (90% effort) ::: ATP-CP

3 x 400 meters (5K pace) ::: slow-glycolytic

1 x 1600 meters (10K pace)  ::: aerobic

1 mile cool-down

 

What do you do to vary your training?

What methods do you use to train your multiple energy systems?

Remember, specificity is important but variety in both running and exercise type can make you both more adaptable and stronger.  There is no wrong answer but there may be a better answer for you.

Good luck in your journey!

Nick

5K by the Bay with a side of Sunburn

Yesterday Nick and I participated in the 5K by the Bay to benefit the hospital system we work for.   

Specifically, proceeds from the race benefited the Riverside Rehabilitation Institute's Giving Fund which allows the provision of charity care to patients in need.  It was exhilarating to run for a cause so close to us, to enjoy some fun with colleagues, and to have patients spectating and even participating in the wheelchair division.  The race kicked off to a balmy start at 9am with temperatures rising into the mid-80s.  We were reminded of this year's Boston Marathon start and I could tell Nick was happy to only be going 3.1 miles.  The race course lead us out and back along Chesapeake Avenue with a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay and glimpses of the massive Navy ships across the water at Norfolk Navy Base.  The course finished with a loop around the Riverside Rehabilitation Institute campus and post-race refreshments on the hospital's front lawn.  Before leaving work Friday I had encouraged my patients to get up early for the race and I was hopeful that some of them would be able to get out of bed and enjoy the festivities.

It was a gorgeous but somewhat painful race due to the heat.  Nick went through mile 1 in 5:05, mile 2 in 10:12, and finished with a time of 17:23...so much for negative splits. As I trekked down the scenic route, my race went something like this: 
   mile 1 - "Yikes it's hot! But at least this course is fast and flat",
   mile 1.5 - "Yea babe! Nick's in the lead by quite a bit",
   mile 2 - "Oh dear, I really should have chosen a few extra glasses of water instead of that ice
   cream before bed",
   mile 2.5 - "I wonder if Nick won and I wonder if he puked at all because I might",
   mile 3 - "Yay, some of my patients made it out to watch! Time to give a good kick for them!". 

 In the end Nick did keep his lead and finished 1st place overall. I managed 3rd place in my age group and 3rd place overall female in the employee division.  After a couple swigs of water, I met up with Nick and we circled back to cheer on some of our co-workers.  It was nice to see so many colleagues participating and even more wonderful to come across the finish line and see the reason we put forth so much effort...the patients!


Jess

Saucony AMP PRO2 Reco Review

I'm a shoe collector.  Jess thinks that I buy too many shoes.  They are under the table, in my gym bag, next to the door, and if I haven't been using them lately on my shoe rack.  There are not many Saucony shoe models I have not tried at some point.  One "shoe" that Saucony makes is truly different.  Well, it isn't really a shoe at all I guess.  The only time you're running in a pair of Saucony AMP PRO2 Recos is to chase down the UPS man who passed you by or trying to bring your dog back who just took off after a rabbit at 6 a.m.   This is a good thing.  The Reco is meant to be a recovery shoe.  The Reco is a glorified slipper, and one I have rather enjoyed having in my collection.
What's good about the Reco?
     I, for one, find them incredibly cushioned and comfortable for walking to get the mail or lounging in the house.  My feet are rarely the part that hurt after a run so I can't speak to the recovery aspect compared to other shoes, but I do know I search them out after long runs to mope around in the rest of the day.  I also enjoy the fit compared to other bedroom slippers.  The Reco has a stretchable upper connection around the tongue which keeps the fit comfortably snug.  The ride feels like a firm foam under your feet which I find exceptional.  I also like being the bum in the airport in comfortable clothes.  My Recos have made the trip onto airplanes quite a few times and often get compliments as shoes, not slippers. 
What do I complain about?
    The back of the Reco is a combo of fabric meant to collapse so you can slide your feet into them and get going, for me, this doesn't work.  I have to sit down and pull the back over my heels every time anyways (or it'd drive me nuts).  I personally don't feel that it works as a slip-in.  So a potential turn-off to would-be Reco suitors may be the reach down to take off/pull on the slipper each time compared to a bathroom type slipper.

    All-in-All I would give the Reco top reviews as a comfortable around the home slipper which has the sole to make a trip to the mailbox.  For their new sale price, they might be right for you too.

Happy Speed Work

Had a great day today hitting the road pre-90 degree scorcher.  I got out of the house around 6:50 and ran to the local track which happens to be a middle school track paved with asphalt.  Now, I'm not going to lie, I almost ran right by the track despite my plans to go for a nice little run around the block instead.  As I looked at the track I had a strong urge to continue on, but it became obvious: I realized that it would hurt a lot more to have to come home later thinking about doing the speed work than keeping my faith in my training and getting it done.
I can't say I always have fun when my hamstrings tighten up and my lungs seize during repeat 400s.
I can say that I enjoy the Smithwick's on the couch at 9 pm with my tired legs propped up.   
To drive home the point, I will simply point out, if you look at health research, running and other endurance activity can increase your lifespan, intelligence, sex drive, all while lowering stress and appetite. 
What other things in your life can give you that much satisfaction while also improving so much?

Sounds like happy speed work to me.  Enjoy your next trip to the track! (or tire drill)