Who knew Cowboy's wore adidas?

Well yee-ha! Can you believe it is only six weeks until my birthda...I mean Stampede? yes my friends, the days of wearing questionable clothing, drinking enormous quantities of beer, and staying away from any form of workload are soon to be here. Last weekend I was in Chicago and found the perfect cure for the sore Stampede foot. This beauty of a boot was at the Aurora Outlet Mall adidas store, in case you are shopping. They do retail for $300 but for some reason are marked down to a paltry $100US. Try finding a comfy boot at Alberta Boot Company for that price! Do the Flames get this option when they score a 'boot-trick'?

So the boots screamed a need for a great shirt. Yep, adidas has also created the country shirt of your dreams. For an additional $280US you too can wear tassels like Dwight Yoakam. Little Sister, won't you kiss me once or twice when I wear this shirt???

I was blessed last week to have a chance to run around Stanley Park. What a great day when you can run along the ocean, see a lovely girl sitting in the sun

And of course some of those perrenials that in Calgary we call annuals...or as I call them 'dead if in my backyard!'

Hmmm. Where to train on Saturday? We have had some great travels over the last month (hail, rain, wind, and snow notwithstanding) so I think we should find another good spot to try. Could it be time for John and Joy's backdoor trot? Perhaps the Bowness loop? A reservoir romp? So many options. Well, as I am the leader and get to choose the routes, this week is a Mallard Point start in Fish Creek. Yep, come see Joy and John for a Saturday trip at 8am. To get there take Canyon Meadows Drive as far east as you can go. When you get there you will be in the lot! We will have options for all. See you soon!

So this weekend is the oldest continual marathon in Canada, the Calgary Marathon. I have many fond memories of running this race. I think I have finished the marathon five times. Many friends have joined me here and enjoyed hot sun and one year of snow (in July!) The first time I was able to make a snowball every month of the year - brrr... I want to wish all of my friends who are joining ~10,000 trotting walkers and runners a safe journey from start to finish. I do promise you a scenic race with some challenging terrain. And yes, you will see Joy, Sadie and me in the pace car. This is the real one as seen earlier today.

I had some questions from the trot last weke that I thought I would share with you. It is my version of 7 steps to training 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 to 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 downhills.

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. I think Jodi does it best. Slow and steady to start and storng to the end! 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! Weeee!!!

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…LOL

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. I have been doing some trail runs, TRX, and slow jogs as a mix for my body. The injury of the winter is finally gone!

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. 

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?