Heidi-ho neighbor! What a lovely day in Calgary today. Chinook winds have blown in and warmed up the air. I smell shorts for a lovely trot this evening. For those not trotting please remember two things:
- our friends Afton & Janelle hosting a Bridgeland fundraiser while our friend Ashley is doing the same Airdrie way
- to Remember those that supported us tomorrow. My grandfather is one…
We had a very enjoyable Winterstart Race last weekend. 1500 friends enjoyed cool air with clear skies as the moon showed us the correct way up Tunnel Mountain. People say this was a hill, but in the dark who could tell? Not I said me…
The race always reminds me of Patrick. Yes Patrick enjoyed the race a little too much a few years back. He got back to his hotel room and got into bed. Groggy he got up and headed to the washroom in his underwear, cracked open the door and closed it behind him. The bad part is this was not the door to the washroom but to the hallway.
He sheepishly walked the hall to the concierge phone and called the front desk to admit he was locked out. They replied “that’s okay sir, just come to the door and we will get you a key.” He of course replied that he was ‘underdressed’, plus his hotel wing was separated from the front desk by a parking lot.
Ten minutes later and many guests stumbling home he was finally admitted back into the room. The lesson for me: It pays to leave the door open when you pee…ha, ha!
Patrick, we miss you all the way in PEI!
You have to love stories that ‘prove’ that some things bad are actually good…great!
Eat chocolate, die happy, and live longer. Sweet.
I used to talk before training about various topics, and I thought this week I would revisit one that always had positive replies (or so you let on). This topic was about seven ways to stay injury free.
First is to find a friendly surface. While the sheet on your bed may seem like the right answer, we are talking more about pavement. The surface that can be most damaging to us on the long days is the canted path. When you are on the edge of the road it slopes to the side for drainage. While good for the rain it is not so good for training. We tend to put more stress on our hips and back with the one foot striking lower than the other. If the road is your only option, train out and back on the same side. This way there is a balance. As well, we need to make sure hills are not too steep on our journey. A path too steep up is one where you can’t get your heel on the ground. Going down should be well controlled and not causing you to accelerate from gravity. Heel pain can happen from impacting too hard from these down hills.
Second is to warm up and cool down. We do a short walk to warm our bodies for the long day ahead. Ideally we should get about 15 minutes of light warm-up before we get to our normal pace. This will help get your body more flexible before we start the high intensity of the main training. Our cool down would be similar. We should not finish and then stop. A walk for the same length as the start will help immeasurably in the reduction of soreness the next day. Remember do as I say, not as I do!
Third is Stretching firmly but gently. Our muscles are basically elastics. They have the ability to stretch out and come back. My personal opinion (not the bible!!!) is to stretch after the run to help the muscles resist tightening after training. We all have suffered the stiffness after a long training day. Stretching is there to slow the after affects of running and it increases performance. When I was a competitive runner I would do a light 10 minute jog and then 15 minutes of stretching. The muscles are more flexible from the warm-up and you will be able to stretch them further. It did cut 10% off my times. I gained ALL that time back now…
Four is keeping your training flexible. You may find that some days you feel just awful and don’t feel like running. Listen to your body! It has its own internal doctor that can diagnose problems and recommend rest. If you’ve been faithful to your plan, a day off will not affect the result. Recover my friends, recover!
Five is to blend the training. Do not have high intensity training on back-to-back days. By having easy blended with hard days your body gets some stimulation and recovery to make training easier. Training is about balance.
Six is spacing out your racing. Doing your maximum in a race situation every weekend is not the best for performance. We should have a plan for our schedule months in advance, blending training in with the odd race. Not all of us are “Greg” and can do it all. If you watch him in training he takes every day as a relaxed day. No stress in his body!
And lastly number seven. Keep track of your training. Tracking your performance day in and out helps you discover the good and bad of you. Our friend Kara had it right when she said we are a 10/80/10 group. Ten percent of the time we have a great day, 80 percent is okay, and another ten is ‘I should have stayed in bed’ days. By logging the training you can see what makes the good days good and the bad days bad. For Kara the latter ten is all about Las Vegas. Ask her about it. Your log can also help with your nutrition needs while out on the trails. What works and what does not. The more information you track the better you will know your body and how to keep it functioning!
You are fed many pieces of info that promote the best way to do things. We take these pieces and they form the puzzle that creates your training masterpiece. Can you get the pieces together? Hmmm, why am I craving pizza?
All the best,
John
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