End of summer (part 2)

  Most people are probably thinking the same thing this week, so how did it get to September so quickly? Back to the school runs, back to work back to dark evening runs. Also after a summer of little activity a lot of runners will be hoping to ‘up’ their miles, get back on ‘it’ or ‘smash’ their training or whatever the current popular term is to describe a return to pre-vacation levels of fitness. However there’s the issue…launching back into something after a period of relative inactivity needs to be handled carefully. I’ll bet there’s a fresh spate of injuries that appear in any running club around mid-October timeframe as a result. Some injuries can heal quickly, others less so. You will often hear runners talking about tired muscles and so on…ever hear anyone talk about connective tissues, unless of course they are sulking on the injury bench. Most runners don't think about connective tissue until it hurts. We have a general awareness that our bodies contain structures like bones and ligaments to prevent us from collapsing into blobs, but that's it. Then we get our first dose of Achilles Tendinitis or Plantar Fasciitis or IT band syndrome….or until we sprain an ankle, tear cartilage in our knee or suffer a stress fracture. Then we become experts. We visit Sports injury clinics, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists, learn about the particular connective tissue we've injured, begin a lengthy course of therapy. It’s not cheap either. There is also a nasty truth: Once connective tissue damage is done, it's difficult to undo. Anyone with an IT band problem, will tell you how long it takes, even in mild cases, to recover. Connective tissue is a catchall phrase for tissues that take many forms, from the areolar tissue, which binds skin to muscle, to the bones that comprise your skeleton. Connective tissues most associated with running include tendons, ligaments, cartilage and fascia. Most connective tissues adapt to training, but there's a catch: They adapt at a much slower rate than muscle. When you allow your muscle development to outpace connective tissue adaptation, the result can be injury. Runners begin training (again) and their lung function and muscles improve rapidly. They become encouraged, they increase the intensity and length of their sessions through equal parts ignorance and impatience. The euphoria of improvement and the desire to be back ‘in the game’ leads them to ignore sensible training patterns. The next thing they know, they've got Achilles tendinosis, tibial tendinitis or stress fractures in their feet. Their connective tissue couldn't cope with the increased workload, even though their muscles seemed fine. Some connective tissues won't ever improve much with training. For these tissues, such as cartilage and ligaments, your emphasis needs to be on injury prevention. You must strengthen muscles that directly affect the tissues and use stretching and massage to reduce tissue tension. Most of all, training connective tissue requires patience. Get-fit-quick schemes rarely produce fast fitness; they produce injury. So before launching back into training this September, try to think about allowing your body time to get back into ‘it’. Think about goals but also about how to reach them sensibly, injury free, and come December when everyone is thinking about their 2016 training goals…you’ll have one up if you’ve trained injury free through Autumn.

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End of summer (part 1)

Apart from the theory about when summer is supposed to end, anyone thinking that it may actually still be here would be, sadly, very wrong. A brief single-day last hurrah last weekend and it was gone. Anyone out running yesterday will testify to the dismal autumnal conditions. But that’s not so bad, what it does though is serve as a reminder that the autumn racing season is nearly upon us and that as most of us have probably been gorging on too many holiday beers and BBQ chicken wings, perhaps now is the time to think about those races we booked all those months ago….Whilst training plans give us the physical conditioning to be able to take part on the day, there are plenty of other ways in which we can help ourselves, whatever the race distance. Some that I’ve found useful I include here. Time: Allow enough time to train. Rushing the training just leads to disappointment, through injury or failure to meet your expected time on the day – if the training has really gone out of the window and you still want a great time, perhaps consider a different race and defer? Consistency: Life always gets in the way of running, but choosing specific days to run on will get you in to a regime and force you to be consistent. Get back into the swing of it, and schedule runs again. If you know every Tuesday you have a club run, you will do it. Same goes for the other runs, schedule them all, and work life around them where possible not the other way around. Comfort zone: The truth is that you can’t improve without going outside of your comfort zone, but that shouldn’t actually mean pain. Hill work, speed work, tempos are all designed to do just that – take you outside your comfort zone temporarily. Know the difference between pain and discomfort. Variety: Be prepared to change things about from time to time. Boredom is what kills a lot of training plans (as well as summer holidays) You simply loose the plot half way and this happens to lots of runners. Try to throw in cross training, a swimming session for example or a biking session, or try moving all your runs about in the diary for a week, to mix things up, or if you normally run on the road, try a trail. This will trick the brain into thinking its not so repetitive. Group runs can be good here also, but not too many as you then become too reliant on them. Nutrition: There are basically two types of people here. Those that run so they can eat what they want, and those that eat healthily to aid their running. Depends on how serious you are about your goals, but its never too late to cut down on a few bad things in the build up to a race, but don’t go mad. You don’t want to change your entire diet and bring on GI distress. No, you don’t want that. Pacing: Practice running at your actual race-pace. So many runners have a “I’ll just see how I get on” view of the world, which is ok in fact. Fine for them, but if you are serious about smashing it, then this is a very useful tool – you already know the time you want, so use this pace and try running it. How far did you get? Not as far as you wanted eh? Try again next week. Further? Ok so you see how this can be a good tool to getting you the pb you want. Rest: I will bet that most runners have been in a position where they thought, shall I run today or rest, I missed that important session, so I need to catch up. Remember, rest is really, really important too. Always ask yourself this: if I run, what do I gain? If I rest what do I gain? if you know your workout will be compromised because you are ill, tired, fatigued from a big session, then rest. Its that simple. Race day: Never ever break the rules here. Only eat what you’ve eaten before, only wear what you’ve worn before, don’t do anything new. Ever. Eat a good breakfast and try not to think too much about the race. Enjoy.

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Group runs

Group Running and training   Who doesn’t like a good group social run? That’s right. No-one. Group runs are a fantastic way to turn your weekend run into something a bit more pleasurable, especially if the runs are longer and you need to get some miles in. The runs are typically slower than normal runs of the same distance as you stop more frequently, make loop backs and generally regroup for chit-chat and banter. In some cases, like this weekend, you schedule bacon sarnie pit-stops along the way to add another dimension to the experience. You can also be more creative, planning different routes that others may appreciate, that ordinarily you wouldn’t bring yourself to do. The flip-side also works when joining a group run organized by someone else in that you could end up following a route you don’t know, or visiting places that you don’t really know. Because the average social run tends to be slower, you can also factor in a few extra miles which is good if you are wanting to extend your long run, and the extra time all counts as time on your feet.   So all in all there’s not much to dislike about group social runs. They can help you get through long winter marathon training miles and you get to meet some great people.   But is there possibly a catch? Is it really all good news? Well consider that most training plans don’t normally contain a section called “social run” and there’s a good reason. Because the runs tend to have a slower overall moving pace and combine that with the regular banter breaks and the overall training benefit is reduced, even if you enjoy it.   So the thing to bear in mind with social runs is that on one hand they can help extend your long runs and add time on your feet, they don’t really do much more than this for race preparation. This is all academic of course if you are not training for a race, but what is a great way to plan for your races is to schedule in to your plan some strategically placed group runs at key points in the training plan. For example at the end of some hard training weeks, rather than trying to run long miles at your normal pace, a social run can be a great way to ensure that you keep the pace down whilst still getting in the miles. This will take some stress off your body and help with overall conditioning. In general there are guidelines for extending weekly mileage, extending the length of the long run and doing intensive workouts during the same week – in other words – don’t do it. However the group run adds another lower-risk way of still hitting the miles and taking a bit of pressure off.   A training plan that comprises of nothing but social runs will ultimately not help you achieve your goals. Some of the long runs need to be at a certain pace and you need the conditioning from the tempo runs and finally also you will ultimately need to get used to the breathing and overcome the discomfort associated with your race-pace, else on the day you will not be prepared.   Group runs are great, but if you are serious about training for a race, you should perhaps consider using them sparingly, at strategic points in your training plan and get maximum enjoyment from them as a key part of your plan. That said, what a great way to spend a weekend morning or evening! So why not plan one yourself or join one of the many LFR group runs that take place throughout the year. You wont be disappointed.

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Podiatry

Some of you may know that at LFR we now run periodic podiatry sessions from the clubhouse on a club night. The aim of such sessions is primarily about raising awareness of running gait and the biomechanics of running and how this can impact you. With the plethora of running shoes available today, and the constant sales that seem to exist on the internet, its sometimes tempting to pick up any pair of shoes on the internet, because they are cheap, or because the colour or style suits us and try them out. What can go wrong? They were cheap, so I couldn’t resist! The truth is that all of us have very individual biomechanics and running styles and this places particular needs on the type of running shoes appropriate for us. The right running shoes for us, may not be those appropriate for someone else and this is what the podiatry sessions tries to uncover. There’s no single 'best shoe' – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things - your back, hips, knees, ankles and feet all play a part as does your weight, the surfaces you run on, and the shape of your feet. Obviously then, one person's ideal shoe can be terrible for another person. Running shoes are typically categorized in the following ways: Stability: Recommended for runners who are mild to moderate over-pronators and who generally have low arches. In laymen’s terms this means people with ‘flat feet’ . The stability is there essentially to control the foot as it hits the ground and stop it from rolling over as you then progress through the running movement. Do you need stability shoes? Well typically if you do mildly over-pronate and you only run very low mileage, then this could be a personal choice, but as mileage starts to increase you might typically expect blistering, sores and aches and niggles as you run more. Stability (sometimes known as motion control) shoes can help with that. Performance/minimalist: Recommended either for racing or, if you’re biomechanically efficient, for training. They have varying degrees of support and cushioning, but often feel close to the ground and they’re generally lighter and narrower than other running shoes. What does biomechanically efficient even mean then? Well this is how runners who have a running gait where the back, legs and feet are all as close to perfectly aligned as possible for the job of running and the running gait requires no alteration or support. This is really only a minority, the vast majority of runners are not biomechanically efficient. Neutral: Typically for runners who want maximum midsole cushioning and minimum support. So essentially you need to cushion the blow as the foot hits the ground, but don’t need to control the rolling of the foot with support in the shoe. Again its about how biomechanically efficient you are. Some shoes are now even taking the amount of cushioning to another level, such as the Hoka one, with some describing them as like running on air. The amount of cushioning will always be personal preference but the key is to pick a pair that doesn’t negatively impact your running gait. In other words your shoes could in theory change the way you run, and this may not be a good thing, depending on your needs.   The best bet is to have your running gait analysed in a running store where the best shoes can be advised for you. However bear in mind that what is often overlooked is how far and how often you run and if you race, regularly. For example if you normally require support shoes it may be ok to occasionally run in performance shoes or minimalist shoes for short races, but again, the right analysis can tell you if that’s something that’s applicable or not. The bottom line is that people run for a variety of reasons, but no-one likes getting injured. Without the right shoes, at some point you risk injury and side-lining yourself. Maybe not immediately but at some point, so the right choice of shoes becomes a question of ‘do I want to keep running’ ? if so, get the right shoes.   So this is what the podiatry sessions are about, if you’re interested why not come along to the next one!

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