Pat nuggets #5

Living In Faith Exchange Runners (LIFER's) Chicago Marathon Team
* Shane, John, Tracy, Steve, Chad, Bill, Lindsay, Rich, Courtney, Angi, Pat, Scott?
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Hi, LIFER's!

Lot's of great exchange this past week...great teamwork! A few nuggets:

Registration: Scott is still on the fence. Let's all encourage him to register and officially join our team!

Running Goals: Everyone has posted their goals except John, Shane, Bill, Lindsay, and Scott.
* Several of us signed up for Pikes Peak (Aug) on 12 Mar, including Scott, Courtney, Steve, Angi, and I. Steve replied to my Pikes Peak "let the suffering begin" email with these comments: "I think I'll make a shirt that says, "Don't look twice - You've just been passed by a very large man with 21 fusions and titanium rods in his spine!" I will just be glad to get to the top."

Training: The 18 wk training plans begin 8 June (novice, intermediate, advanced). Gradually build up your miles to be at the week 1 level by 8 June. Increasing your mileage no more than about 10% per week will usually prevent you from ramping up too quickly and getting hurt. Also, to prevent injury, do not go more than two days without running, take one but no more than three days off in a week, and include one cross training day (at least between now and 8 Jun). Starting 8 Jun, stick to the schedule!...you may have to ease off and then back into it if you have a minor injury or illness. Don't exceed your schedule...if the schedule says 9 miles and you feel real good, make it a solid 9 mile run...don't go 13 miles. Exceeding your schedule could lead to injury or jeopardize an upcoming workout.
* Rich is going to journal his daily training notes as a "comment" to his "Running Goals" post (consider doing this).

Stretching: To prevent injury and increase speed, stretch after every run. When you stretch, go until you feel tension and hold for 10 sec to 1 min (don't bounce). You should stretch at least these areas: calf, Achilles, quad, hamstring, groin, back, ITB. If you do not have an iliotibial band (ITB) stretch, Google it and start it today (very painful, common for >30 yr old runners).

Strengthening (core): To prevent injury (and for mountain running), do core training after stretching (after every run), including at least sit ups, push ups, calf raises, and shallow dips and/or lunges. Whenever you start a new exercise start easy (low reps) and build up about 10% per week until you level off. I leveled off at 20 pull ups, 100 crunches, 80 push ups, 150 toe raises (50 on each foot and then 50 with both feet), 100 shallow lunges/squats (50 lunges rotating legs followed by 50 squats).

ProLife Ministry support: Let's keep this simple and start casually asking friends and family to sponsor us ($/mile). Pick your own ProLife ministry to support. Angi and I are thinking about donating to the local crisis pregnancy center. Other ideas?

Run for ProLife!,
Pat
Phil 4:13

* LIFER's Chicago Marathon Team blog at marathon-for-life.blogspot.com.
* ProLife Ministry support: We have ProLife wristbands. Start asking friends and family to sponsor you ($/mile).

Some Helpful Resources/Tips

Here are some helpful resources that I used as I trained for my first marathon and some helpful tips I learned the hard way. After all experience is the best teacher, right?

Resources:

• Training Plans - http://www.halhigdon.com/ HAL IS THE MAN - FEEL THE POWER!
• Split Calculator - http://runningtimes.com/rt/articles/?id=6766 - great for warm up races, training runs, or the real deal.
• Target Heart Rate Calculator - http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml ~ great way to gauge how you are progressing - gives you a focal point when you first start running
• Run mapping/mileage site - http://www.mapmyrun.com/ - this is by far the best site I have found (I did a lot of leg work on this). You can create markers, etc. and it's based off the Google earth technology. Check it out!

Tips:

• Keep a running journal of your training (I do mine right on my outlook calendar - I put my training runs in there then log my info each day that I am tracking). It's fun to look back on too.
• Do some races as part of your training (5K's, 10K's, half-marathons, etc.) - great for getting used to the road race environment or getting reacquainted if you're a vet. Why not set some PR's along the way?
• Long Runs - by definition anything over 13 miles (though you could use if for lesser runs too)
• 1) run early when it's cool
• 2) think long and slow
• 3) hydrate and fuel throughout out (gel packs every 45 min.'s and drink every 10 - 15 min.'s). How much and how often will be determined through trial and error, but those are general guides. I'm a larger guy so it took more often and more quantity. The heat also plays a role in the summer.
• 4) get a hydration pack system that works for you so you always have it on you - I used a hydration belt and loved it, but some people hate them.
• 5) if you are new to the long runs - find a "loop" that brings you back to your starting spot a couple times in the run - you'll only get stuck on a long out and back once. There's nothing worse than having to walk 8 miles back to your home. It's that or carry a cell phone in case you get into trouble and have a helpful voice on the other end (props to my wife, Tina, who did a number of rescue missions)
• Stretching and Ice are your friend - you are not a wuss if you have to use ice! Thanks to pes anserine bursitis/tendinitis in my right knee I am incorporating a more vigorous and aggressive stretching routine based upon long, slow stretching (hamstrings, quads and Achilles for me) at the advice of my doctor and PT professional. I paid lots of money for this advice so you can learn the hard way (get injured like me and pay lots of money for people to tell you what you already know) or the easy way (work smarter not harder).
• I will also be incorporating some strengthening exercises for my quads and hamstrings - I didn't realize it but long distance running actually weakens your quads. This can cause your knee cap to pull off it's natural track (sharp pain in the top of your knee when you start to run). Another issue I ran into about week 12ish into my training.