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This month marks two years since I’ve launched Predawn Runner, and I haven’t really done one of these wrap-up / vision type of posts since the six-month anniversary. A lot has changed since then, and a lot will continue to evolve going forward. But there are certain principals that will continue to drive the content on this blog:
- My greatest admiration is for runners or other endurance athletes who have a passion to compete while meeting (or rather, exceeding) all of their other commitments in life. So I’ll continue to focus on practical ideas that a vast majority of you will be able to implement without sacrificing other things that are important to you.
- Regardless of your “level” as a runner, running makes you a better person, and that’s the main reason you should continue to do it. There will be more content on how running makes us more rounded and builds our character.
- The marathon strikes the perfect balance of consistency and challenge, and will continue to be the focus of training discussions (and my own pursuits) for the foreseeable future. This isn’t to say that much of the advice isn’t suitable for other distances, but the crux of training-specific focus will remain on the marathon.
- I believe in simplicity, and hate trends. My definition of minimalism in running is around sticking to the basics, not necessarily around shoe selection. Miles, time, and mobility and strengthening are the core of my beliefs, and will continue to drive the value system here.
It has been a lot of fun connecting with so many different runners here and via other social media forums the past few years. For those who are a bit later to joining us here, I thought I’d share some of the more popular (or my favorite) posts from these two years. Note that these aren’t necessarily the most read (as search engines drive a lot of views of shoe reviews, injuries, and some of the training plans), but rather the ones that best embody the message and objectives of the site and help to differentiate it.
First, on the topic or predawn running itself, there are several central posts
- Twenty Reasons to Become a Predawn Runner (and Twelve More)
- How to Beat Back the Snooze Button
- How to Get out the Door More Quickly
One of my passions is to connect running with real life, especially business and leadership. Some favorites in that category include:
- Building Your Running Board of Directors
- Seven Keys to Successful Marathon Training (that have nothing to do with running)
- Twelve Steps to Reaching Your Running Goals
- Six Keys to Being Excellent at Running
A lot of my other favorite posts not listed above regarding training tips and coping with the challenges that “real life” present to your running are covered in Running Ahead of the Sun, so I didn’t want to repeat them here.
And I do enjoy an occasional journey to the lighter side, maybe harkening back to my days of writing the pi**er or shi**er sheets in my college fraternity days. In that vein, I offer the following:
- A template for your future race reports
- The Ten Commandments of Predawn Running (note, I may do a slideshow version of this)
- Signs you Might Be a Predawn Runner
As far as what the future holds, I’m contemplating a few more books, though shorter and less ambitious than Running Ahead of the Sun. I also plan to update the artwork for The Running Manifesto, recognizing that my skill set is in writing, not art. And, accordingly, I’ll update and expand the Predawn Runner stores on CafePress and Zazzle.
Obviously the blog content will continue, and there are dozens of posts I already have in mind. Some of the ideas have arisen from questions that you have asked. I’m also looking at adding a resource page to link to helpful running tools (training pace calculators, etc.). But the biggest news down the road may be expanding into a new service, for which I’ll share more details in the future if I opt to go that direction.
One suggestion from 18 months ago was to offer some forums to discuss predawn running and related topics. Frankly, that just seemed like a bit too much work to create and manage. However, Greg Leasure has started a promising-looking forum site for marathon runners if you’re interested in participating in conversations with like-minded runners.
I’d like to thank you for reading this blog, whether for the full two years or just a single day. And I’d like to ask you a favor – if you do like what you see here, please share it with your running friends. I’d love to continue expanding the community and conversations, as it can enrich all of our knowledge and experience.
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I know the feeling well, oh mighty Achilles
Photo Credit: Achilles by Flickr user quicksilver_, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
If you follow my training here or on dailymile you’d know that I’ve been battling an Achilles issue for the better part of three months. While I initially thought I’d had it licked through some self-treatment approaches and had gotten back to running, the issue flared up again and forced me to take further steps.
The next step involved seeing a physical therapist, which quickly turned into an expensive lesson on how not to do physical therapy. My wife had consulted with a sports medicine colleague and intervened to put me on a course of stretching the Achilles and using heel lifts during daily activity. The stretching seemed to have helped some (but not the heel lifts), but what helped even more was the massage she did to work out a lot of tightness in the calf and hamstring.
This was in advance of what turned out to be the ultimate solution for the Achilles (I hope), which was active release technique (ART), performed by renowned local chiropractor Tim Keyes (hoping for a discount on future services here with the plug). Given that this was the solution to my hamstring injury last winter, I should have known that I would ultimately end up here. It’s just that I was hoping to avoid the expense of doing so, as the treatment isn’t cheap.
The premise behind ART is that most injuries of muscles, ligaments, or tendons are the result of built-up scar tissue, and that releasing the adhesions this scar tissue creates is the key to healing. A typical ART session involves the practitioner feeling their way around the injury (or other regions of the “kinetic chain” that may contribute to the injury – such as the hamstring in my case), and then combining forceful massage with motion of the affected area (extension and contraction) to work out these adhesions. The motion seems to make this a far more effective method than traditional “static” massage, as the relative sliding of the muscle tissue creates greater opportunity for release.
The impact from ART can sometimes be felt in as little as one treatment, though it typically takes three to six treatments to be “cured”. There are a few caveats to keep in mind when considering ART for your injury.
First, most ART practitioners are chiropractors, and they rely largely on the diagnosis you give them. While their exploration may reveal other issues, these issues will be strictly muscular. They aren’t going to diagnose any imbalances that may be creating long-term issues or, more significantly, structural issues such as stress fractures. I do know of at least two people who followed and ART course and found no relief because their underlying condition was not diagnosed (in both cases, they ultimately required surgery).
Second, I can’t vouch that the quality of all ART practitioners is equal. In fact, like most professions, there is probably a range. It would be best to consult with other local runners before selecting one, assuming you have alternatives in your area (which isn’t always the case).
Finally, it can be difficult to get in to see the most qualified providers, so you may need to allow for some flexibility in your schedule (leave work early, etc.). It is still an emerging field, so demand seems to be outstripping supply. In general, once you are in the door, scheduling the follow-ups may be easier as most professionals are eager to keep a regular rhythm with their clients to get them better.
For this case of Achilles tendinitis, Dr. Keyes approach was very aggressive, as he thoroughly worked not just the calves but the Achilles tendon itself. This seemed a bit scary – kind of like pulling on Superman’s cape, spitting into the wind, or pulling the mask off the old Lone Ranger. But it was remarkably effective, if a bit painful (though not as bad as Graston). In walking out from the first appointment, I knew we were on our way to successfully treating this issue.
A little ahead of doctor’s orders (8 hours, to be exact – as the instruction was to not run until after my second appointment), I just had to try things out – the Achilles was amazingly pain-free. And the run did little to make it any worse – plus, I had confidence that the follow-up appointment would address any issues. I have had two more treatments since then and anticipate one more as a check-up. Most of the residual Achilles pain has been more of a general tightness or perhaps even some minor bruising from the treatment, and it has gone away easily with gentle stretching. From the experiences of other runners, I’m hesitant to ever call this Achilles issue “solved”, but the progress is encouraging.
The start-up has gone smoothly thus far and the fitness hasn’t been as bad as feared (knocking off a few “easy”, cadence-focused runs of 8-10 miles in the low 7:00’s). I don’t think this is as much of a testament to the ancillary and cross-training work done during convalescence as it is to the shape I was in pre-injury. Darn shame that I didn’t choose to do ART sooner and cash in that fitness on a good spring marathon.
As legendary college basketball coach John Wooden said, “Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.” Here’s to a lot of character building in 2012. Of course, last year’s Towpath was as much the luck of a lighter field as it was the result of hard training. You never know who will show up on Towpath Sunday this year. But my commitment is to be as ready as possible, balancing aggressiveness and patience throughout the next 21 weeks.
So next time, I’ll know where to start. Attempting to avoid the expense of ART just added a $350 physical therapy bill (after insurance coverage) in the interim. It just goes to show that, when injury is involved, running isn’t such a cheap sport after all.
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This week we catch up with Jeanne Bayers (@jeanneb on Twitter). She is the Baltimore Bayers, as her blog clearly points out. Jeanne stands out not just for her commitment to using predawn running (and a lot of strength training) to make her a better runner and her overall friendliness, but also her ability to inspire others to do the same through an outstanding organization that she works with in the Baltimore area. Her ability to maintain focus on her own training while helping others reach life goals, and thus bringing added purpose to her running, is something we can all learn from.
Predawn Runner: How did you first get involved in running?
Jeanne Bayers: During the summers in the late 70’s and early 80’s, I participated in the Jesse Owens games in my hometown in New Jersey. I usually got a ribbon for running the mile since the other kids wore themselves out in the shorter distances. Never a sprinter, I joined cross country in high school for a couple of seasons, but quit after two years. Since then I have run off and on – mostly smaller road races until 1997 when I ran my first marathon. I would say that I became a more consistent runner since moving to Baltimore in 2006.
PR: What have been your biggest accomplishments in the sport?
JB: I would say qualifying for Boston of course! I hadn’t run a marathon since 2002, but my friend asked me to train for Chicago in 2008, the year that she would turn 40. Time went by and I began to train, but she wasn’t able to. I didn’t really want to travel to Chicago by myself, so I entered the NYC marathon lottery thinking that if I got in, it was meant to be. My training was so much better than it had been six years earlier, and with five extra minutes for entering a new age bracket, I thought there might be an outside chance that I could qualify for Boston. I was pretty excited crossing that finish line in New York! I have also placed a few times in my age group in local races in the past two years. That is always pretty exciting. I am never going to win a race, but I will take an age group award any day.
PR: What do you do outside of running that makes you want to get so many of your workouts done in the predawn?
JB: I find it easier to get up and go than to run after working all day. I have more energy in the morning. Plus, most races are in the morning, so it is good training. I also like to have time to spend with my boyfriend (usually referred to as my roommate on dailymile) and I enjoy going out to dinner or to wine tastings. But the real reason is that I want to make sure that I get my workouts in and I find that if I don’t do them in the morning, the chances of them getting done becomes slimmer as the day goes on.
PR: You recently seem to have become more committed to strength training as well – can you explain why that is?
JB: Over the past year and a half, I started running a lot more than I ever had. Because of this, my gym time suffered. I started noticing a difference in my performance last fall and I also began to suffer injuries this spring. I think it is because I stopped strength and cross-training. I hope that by adding it back, I will get stronger again and stay healthy. Plus, I am getting old and I need to make sure I don’t get bingo arms!
PR: Can you tell us about the “BoMF” group that you work with?
JB: Back on My Feet is a non-profit organization that runs with the homeless population in Philly, Baltimore, DC and Boston. They will be expanding to Chicago this Fall and plan for 5 more cities next year.
Basically, BoMF partners with homeless shelters and forms teams where the residential members (those living shelters) agree to meet at 5:30am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to run with a group of non-residential members (volunteers). Once they have been running for a month, and as long as they maintain a 90% attendance rate, they are then eligible for grant money to use to help them move forward – like money for school or a down payment for an apartment when they are ready to move out. It’s an amazing organization and one that I am excited to be part of. You should check them out.
PR: How did you become involved with BoMF?
JB: The organization was featured in Runners World in early 2009 and the last paragraph mentioned that they were expanding to Baltimore. I emailed their Philadelphia office and was informed that the orientation and inaugural run would take place in March. I have been running with the group since then. I have witnessed guys start with one mile huffing and puffing to running a marathon 9 months later. It’s pretty amazing considering the majority of these guys are battling some form of addiction as well.
PR: What keeps you motivated to keep running?
JB: I want to stay active and healthy for as long as possible. Heart disease runs in my family so I am trying to keep that at bay. I am also pretty competitive so I want to see how fast I can get. They say that women get faster and can runner longer distances in their late 30’s and 40’s. I have certainly gotten faster in the last few years and completed a 50K this year so I think they are right. I also like a challenge and running continues to challenge me. Another big reason that I keep running is being part of the BoMF organization. I made a commitment to the team and I intend to run with them for as long as possible. And finally, I don’t want to get fat (Ha!).
PR: What are your major upcoming goals with your running?
JB: Right now, it’s just to get healthy again. I have suffered from tendonitis and PF recently. I just want to get back to not being injured. I have a few shorter races scheduled for the rest of this year, but my calendar is marked for October 18th. I didn’t sign up in time for Boston for this year, but that won’t happen again. I am signing up the day registration opens this year. I ran Boston once, but I want to give it another go!
PR: Well good luck at Boston Jeanne, and I look forward both to meeting you there and seeing your result.
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Photo Credit: Happy Mother’s Day by Flickr User Maureen Didde, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Of all the influencers who shape your character, perhaps none is more important than your parents. So this year, I’m going to offer a tribute to my parents, and share how the manner in which they raised me made me the runner I am today. On Mother’s Day, I’ll of course start with my mother.
As I mention in Running Ahead of the Sun, both of my parents were raised on farm. Far from being a random trivia fact, I think that the traits necessary to successfully run a farm have a lot in common with those needed to be a committed runner. Obviously, in my case, there is the early-morning start to the day – though I’m far happier to be running rather than gathering eggs. And a farm suffers quickly from both neglect and a lack of long-term commitment to the health of its soil and livestock – as our running suffers from too much time off or ignoring our ancillary work.
As the eldest of four children in a family where the parents were busy tending to the farm, my mother developed natural leadership tendencies. As her eldest child, she passed a lot of those tendencies to me. I think that leadership traits have a lot in common with being a better runner, from the ability to set and achieve goals to a deep sense of self-motivation. I suspect that my endeavors as a runner would have been less successful without the traits my mother imbued in me.
My mother was part of the generation of women that began to emerge from the home to have careers of their own. As such, she taught me the importance of balance of one’s own goals and one’s family, and the value of pursuing one’s dreams. While she was initially a stay at home mother, later returning to the work force as we grew more independent, she was constantly striving to improve herself, attacking her various interests such as personal finance and reading with intensity. This is the same approach I have brought to my running – there is not much casual about it, and I constantly seek out new ideas or the latest thinking on physiology and training approaches. And just as importantly (though not necessarily related to running), seeing her commitment to a career has helped me fully support my wife’s own professional growth from a pediatrician to, increasingly, as hospital administrator, with no resentment whatsoever.
It was my mother (I’m sure, though I don’t remember specifically) who pushed me into sports at an early age. I’m discovering how challenging it can be for a parent to continuously shuffle their children around to various sports commitments throughout the year, and to offer the support and encouragement needed to practice on their own (without making it feel like a compulsion one grows to regret). But I also now realize how important it can be for promoting healthy decisions through the rest of your life, and the physiological gains you make during your developmental years likely carry over to provide the base on which to build competitive running success.
Another trait my mother left me with is a constantly racing mind (which is the way she describes it – and I prefer that to my wife’s phrase “borderline attention deficit disorder”). I firmly believe that this is an asset in life if you can channel it. Running has both given me the environment to let it wander and a passion to let it dive into with intensity. It breeds curiosity, which drives a desire to learn, which builds a craving to practice what one learns, and thus the cycle of improvement perpetuates. Sure, it has its downside, but at least running gives the opportunity to build willpower and focus to overcome this hurdle.
Beyond running, my mother was a stickler about grammar and vocabulary, so you may have her to thank for the length and verbosity of some of my posts. But, such is my style, and while it’s not for everyone, it tends to serve me well in my career, as my communication capabilities are usually cited as one of my strengths.
And I’d be remiss not to acknowledge another mother who has had a major influence on my development the past nearly-20 years. That would be my wife, mother to our three sons. Beyond the obvious ways in which she has helped me become a better runner due to her minor in sports medicine, she has above all made me a more patient person, and one who is more accepting of his limitations (as she reminds me of the fact that I’m not 25 anymore). And she herself has also been patient in letting me discover more about myself as a runner and a person, even if it involves disturbing her slumber at 4AM as I shuffle around getting ready to head out the door. But as she readily admits, as far as midlife crises go, this one is pretty benign.
How about you? What has your mother contributed to your development as a runner?
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Photo Credit: PATIENCE by Flickr user Gemma Bardsley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License.
Patience is a rare asset these days. We are programmed to be impatient – instant meals, video-on-demand, express shipping. We see impatience for results permeate through society – the coach fired because he can’t rebuild fast enough, short-term investors driving a loss of strategic focus for a company, and the countless instant weight loss schemes that turn a fast profit by tapping into our desire for quick action.
To be patient with others, we must first learn to be patient with ourselves. Few activities generate such discipline better than one that doesn’t lend itself to quick returns. And running provides the perfect environment in which to let problems percolate, and to avoid the temptation to react too quickly. This can often lead to a better, more thought out solution. Faced with a frustrating challenge to start your day? Go for a run and either a better answer may come to you or the problem may sort itself out.
But running can also help us develop patience as a lifetime skill. This character-building starts from setting the right goals. It is only by reaching for achievable gains each season that one can set the stage for progress both in performance and in learning patience. This is especially critical early in one’s “career”, when a solid base of mileage and experience is lacking. Momentum can grow in running if you let it; it comes through practicing restraint, not through aggressiveness.
Each season provides a new exercise in patience. The challenges may vary – dealing with disruptions, making the most out of an injury, changing your expectations along the way – but the tools we need to develop to succeed in each case are similar. You can invest well in excess of 100 hours in pursuit of your “A” goal, and you can’t skimp on the effort.
Yet you can fall short due to any of a number of reasons, some of which may be out of your control – weather, illness, poor race organization, etc. It is the times like these where you learn how to bounce back and take what you can from the experience during your race and season post-mortem analysis. This is when we need to take the long-term perspective and employ our confidence to minimize the stress created by circumstances out of our control. This is exactly the same mindset that is needed in coping with all of life’s challenges with patience and grace.
Patience gives an advantage to a runner, who can focus more on consistent incremental gains instead of biting off more they can chew. The runner who overreaches gets injured or burns out, and never achieves their full potential. They may shine brightly for a single race, but quickly disappear from the scene when they can’t repeat the performance.
Nearly any impressive race performance you see, at any level, was the result of years of hard work. Sure, there are some who have natural talent, but they only achieve their very best after years of consistent dedication. Thus, patience pays its reward in a way that just a short burst of hard work and good luck never can.
To paraphrase Walter C. Klein:
“God bestows upon one man running potential without patience and upon another man patience without running potential. The relative achievements of the two are often surprising.”
I’ll let you interpret which runner is more likely to see long-term success.
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When recovering from injury, physical therapy, if used, may be a significant investment of time and money for a runner. There are some definite signs that indicate the physical therapy may not be delivering what you need. Here is a case study of one such situation.
The runner (we’ll call him Sam) was trying to recover from Achilles tendinitis and a retrocalcaneal bursitis. He was prescribed a course of physical therapy by his sports medicine professional, and said prescription called for:
- Treatment of the bursitis
- Healing of the tendinitis
- Stretching and strengthening techniques for preventing recurrence
- Custom orthotics to deal with a long-term leg length discrepancy
The physical therapist was a runner himself (good), roughly the same age as Sam (good), and treated other runners (good). During most visits, 75% of the other patients in attendance were recuperating from surgery and trying to regain sufficient mobility to pursue their daily lives again, though they were not athletes (not so good).
The visit started with a very high level discussion of level what had happened since the last visit a year ago (won a marathon, etc., etc.), but no in-depth discussion of training approaches (bad). Observed which shoe Sam was wearing (good) but didn’t ask what other types of shoes Sam might run in (bad), which included a lower heel-to-toe drop model that could be a contributing factor to tendinitis (bad).
As a first step, Sam was fitted for orthotics, though there was no real discussion as to the purpose of the orthotics, and the primary goal was communicated to be to provide more arch support (bad). The therapist was unfamiliar with the recent trend towards more minimalist footwear, so it didn’t enter into the discussion, either positively or negatively (bad).
The next step in the first appointment was to evaluate Sam’s running form. The video below was taken during the evaluation.
Notice a couple of things about the approach. First, Sam typically trains and races in traditional running shoes, with anywhere from a 4mm to 10mm heel-to-toe drop, and incorporating some stability features. This doubtless impacts Sam’s form, so running in socks may not be representative of his typical mileage. Additionally, the space to run was only 15-20 yards – it’s hard to settle into a groove when running such a short distance. Finally, Sam knew he was being observed, which has to have impacted his form as well.
Now with all that, can you guess what the therapist observed? This question was posed to Sam’s friends previously, and the guesses ranged widely. When the actual conclusion was posted, there was broad disagreement, and it’s hard to see in looking at this video how the therapist reached his conclusion. It almost sounds like the answer was predetermined based on the nature of the injury. Sam can say that, after having run several times after the incident and closely observing his form, it is very unlikely that he suffers from the given diagnosis.
The rest of the visit focused on short-term fixes (good) including ultrasonic treatment (which has never seemed to provide much benefit to Sam) and ice/compression.
The next visit was a few days later (good) and Sam received his orthotics. The rest of the visit focused on balance drills to drive potential long-term form improvements (good), and short-term fixes like ultrasonic treatment, ice and compression, and Graston massage to work out tightness in the calves. Unfortunately, the Graston was done without much investigation as to wear the trigger points were located (bad) so it provided more psychological gains than physiological gains.
On trying out the orthotics over the weekend, he found they created a lot of soreness in his foot, Achilles, and iliotibial band (bad). Sam raised this at the next appointment, and the physical therapist said he wasn’t concerned that they caused Achilles pain (?), and cut them down a bit to try and reduce the soreness in the foot. This appointment consisted of more balance drills, and the remainder of the session was taken up by stretching, with exercises that Sam was already familiar with (bad). And he also learned that, for the second season in a row, the therapist himself was going to miss his A race due to injury (bad).
At this point, Sam stepped back and reassessed the situation. The PT appointments were scheduled at inopportune times, and Sam had no idea how much of the cost his insurance would cover. Sam felt that if he were going to continue to invest the time and money in the therapy, the sessions needed to be valuable, focusing on activities that he couldn’t do on his own. The stretching and balance drills clearly fit this bill, yet they were taking up more than half of the appointment time. The diagnosis on the form issues seemed questionable, and there was little really being done in the short term to get Sam back to running. And the orthotics created a lot of pain after just one hour of wearing them, so seemed a big waste of money.
On balance, Sam wasn’t getting his money out of the experience. While he could have explained his concerns to the therapist and sought some course correction, he felt a better investment would be in the same treatment regime that got him back to running from a hamstring injury last year – Active Release Techniques (ART) applied by a local chiropractor.
The moral of the story is, when investing your time and money in physical therapy, don’t be me Sam. Make sure you are getting what you need, or don’t hesitate to seek a different therapist.
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After dwelling in the “technical / how-to” domain of running literature for some time (with the works of Lydiard, Hutchinson, Douglas, and others in the queue), I wandered a bit over to the “memoir” side of the aisle and picked up the Kindle Version of Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. As opposed to the fiction for which he is well-regarded, this is a simpler work, an attempt to answer the often-asked question – “why do you run?”
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is available in hardcover, paperback, and for the Kindle from Amazon (affiliate link)
As an author of truly global stature (and travels), this book was guaranteed to sell well without much effort, and it comes across as a work into which not much effort was placed. With a casual, chain-of-thought approach, punctuated by frequent flashbacks to specific destinations, seasons, or events that provided more memorable running experiences, it is a breezy read that doesn’t require much thinking on the part of the consumer.
Murakami-san portrays running as routine, as the metronome for his daily rhythm. In the somewhat unstructured life of the writer (and translator/fellow/jazz aficionado), where it may be difficult to find the right mix between intense/focused work and allowing the creative juices to percolate, such routine can be an anchor that grounds the day, the fulcrum that helps balance other responsibilities.
The most compelling sections of the book are the three significant race descriptions:
- A milestone run from Athens to Marathon – his first “marathon” (almost) and not really a race (performed at the behest of a men’s magazine), reminding us of the challenge that such a distance provides even to “just finish”.
- An ultramarathon (100K) in Hokkaido, Japan – the transcendental state he reaches at the 47th mile (after the suffering of the previous 13, which spawns some brilliant analogies) makes the appeal of the ultra to increasing numbers of runners more clear, more than just a “new challenge” to conquer.
- A triathlon in Murakami City (presumably, not named after the author), Japan – not his first, but one that he prepared for with some focus and a reminder of how even the most mundane things can go wrong. Yet, if you run for the joy of it, it doesn’t need to ruin your experience.
Surprisingly, the 2005 New York City Marathon, the training for which provides the central timeline of the book, goes mostly unreported, as just another marathon in a long litany of unsuccessful efforts to reach the performance of his younger years. So in a way, there is a bit of a dark overtone to the book, a recognition that age eventually takes its toll on all of us, despite our efforts to the contrary.
In reading a bit about Murakami-san (though, admittedly, I haven’t read any of his fiction), it seems he is a bit of solitary individual, as many writers are. In fact, some of his books strike the theme of loneliness and isolation. It would seem that running is a great fit for such an individual – and it is notable that Murakami-san makes few references to running with others.
I was struck by, as Geoff Dyer was in his New York Times review, the sometimes-amateur nature of the writing – some sloppy transitions, a tendency to jump from one time period to another, and it feels that the book was unedited. “Attention deficit” prose, as Mr. Dyer calls it, is an apt description. This doesn’t detract significantly from my enjoyment of the book, as my expectations weren’t all that high to begin with. I mainly picked up the work to see how a more accomplished author would handle the creation of an autobiography about running, having just done my own such work. One would think that I would have done this before writing my book, but frankly I don’t think I missed much by waiting until now.
Pete Larson on Runblogger reports feeling a kinship with Murakami after reading this book. I’m not sure I felt the same way, but then again my adherence to a daily schedule (precise, at certain points, down to 5-minute intervals) and my marathon training approach is a bit more structured and intense. Many runners may well find familiarity in the work, and a reminder of why they run (or should start again).
If you are looking for a book to motivate your competitive juices and provide insights on how to achieve new highs in your racing, this isn’t the book for you. But if you need a gentle reminder of the centering force that running can provide, or a reason to sign up for that next marathon to keep you committed, then by all means, invest two to three hours of your time in this easy read.
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Photo Credit: Dixie! Run!! from Flickr user kenna takahashi, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-2.0-Generic license.
Caleb Masland is always reliable for a few good training posts each month on the dailymile blog. This month he shifts his focus to shorter races and provides some killer speed workouts. I’m normally a fan of the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach to speed work, but these can certainly add some variety while driving key physiological gains for short races. And he contributes his thoughts on base training as well, a true tribute to the principles of Lydiard.
Coach Jeff Gaudette, who you can normally find at Runners Connect, wrote an excellent post on Competitor.com where he takes Caleb’s thoughts a step further by proposing some strategies for overcoming the mental barriers to running faster. I find that breaking milestones in speed workouts (like sub-6:00 for 4X1600) are a great step for building the confidence to race at a more aggressive pace. Jeff also points out what can happen when you stop trusting your training – and his blow-up examples he gives at the 10K level would only be magnified in a marathon. This is not a race you can afford to go in carrying doubts.
Also on Competitor.com, Scott Jurek provides yet another attempt to clarify the tempo run – the value in this post might be the ideas for mixing up your tempo workouts using hills or an interval approach.
Another source of several good posts per month in the physiology realm is Alex Hutchinson at the Sweat Science blog. Fortunately, his move to Runner’s World hasn’t resulted in any dumbing down of his content. This month he reports on a study showing you use a lot more energy to run when you weigh more (a topic on which I’d posted previously). Contrary to studies that show your efficiency improves if you add weight via a backpack, your efficiency flatlines when it comes to body weight. I.e., you pay for every pound you gain. And that’s why I’ve been diligent about my diet while recovering from injury.
Also from Alex comes a post highlighting the benefits of using regularly scheduled exercise to overcome jet lag. As a believer in staying fit while on the road (and doing so in the predawn), this was music to my ears.
Dr. Steve Gangemi (aka the Sock Doc) began a 6-part series on aerobic fitness on Dr. Mark Cucuzzella’s Natural Running Center. In Part 1, he clarifies the meaning of aerobic fitness (as differentiated from anaerobic) and re-emphasizes why it is so important to your athletic development (hat tip to Mike Friedline).
Tis the season for shoe model updates, and Thomas Neuberger reviews the updates in the Saucony Kinvara 3. My feelings were a bit mixed in my review of the Kinvara 2, and with the recent Achilles issues, they will probably play a smaller part in my shoe rotation for the near term as I move back to a slightly larger heel-to-toe drop. However, it seems this update is going to work out well for a lot of runners who do like the Kinvara, with the biggest gain possibly being an extension in its life.
Speaking of Saucony, you may have seen their Find Your Strong campaign the past several weeks. If you’ve wondered who the model is for their campaign, it’s apparently Dorothy Beal at Mile Posts. She manages a great blog that is worth checking out.
I don’t normally plan to highlight race reports here, but how can you ignore this year’s Boston Marathon? In a year where most reports were pretty similar (intended to slow down, didn’t slow down enough, but still finished), and where even finishing was a major accomplishment, two runners stood out for delivering strong performances and good reports. Rob Savarese ended with a comparable result to most normally-3:00 marathoners, but his journey is fun to follow. And fellow Clevelander Elizabeth Hiser (aka “Pepper”) delivered her best-ever Boston, and finished 38th female overall.
On the lighter side, Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano at Run the Edge (look for a review of their book in the next few weeks, as I’m reading it now) help update your pick-up lines (and I don’t mean pace) while out for a run. Fortunately, I have no need to employ such devices.
A year ago on Predawn Runner, I was just getting over an injury, and posted advice for those suffering with similar issues on how to prevent hamstring strains. Too bad I didn’t follow my own advice on massage, as I believe that accumulated scar tissue from the hamstring on down has contributed to my ongoing Achilles issues.
And in a departure from the running world, Tony Schwartz reminds us, via the Harvard Business Review blog, that stress is not our enemy. While we instinctively know this is true physically, as our training relies on the appropriate and measured introduction of stress, it is helpful mentally too. We can condition our minds to perform just as we do our bodies. Tony’s posts on leadership and productivity are nearly always worth the read, no matter what your aspirations in life may be.
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Photo Credit: By Everkinetic [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Perhaps even more important than having a go-to upper leg routine as a runner is to have a solid core routine that you perform two or three times per week. Having a strong core helps you:
- Improve your form to train and race more effectively
- Maintain efficient form, especially as you fatigue
- Correct potential imbalances that can lead to injury
- Look and feel good (and we must all admit that this is a reason why we run)
The following routine can be done in 30 minutes using a circuit approach (working through each exercise before repeating the sequence) by either performing three circuits with 60 seconds per exercise or two circuits at 90 seconds per exercise. Allow minimal rest between each exercise, and 30-60 seconds between circuits. The “minimal rest” is possible between exercises because no two sequential exercises address the same muscles.
This sequence addresses a broader definition of your core than those typically found in a running magazine workout, encompassing your abs, obliques, glutes, lower back, and hamstrings. It is based partly on the Functional Core for Runners routine by Jason Fitzgerald at Strength Running, and partly on Jon-Erik Kawamoto’s Runner’s Six-Pack in Running Times, with a few of my own tweaks.
The only equipment needed is a timer (I prefer Chronolite for my iPad) and, optionally, a stability ball.
Modified Bicycle. This exercise targets your abs. Lay on your back with your knees raised and bent at 90 degrees (so your shins are parallel to the ground). Extend your left leg fully and hold for about 2-3 inches above the ground for 3-5 seconds. Retract your left leg while extending your right leg fully, and hold for 3-5 seconds. Continue until you reach the goal time.
Standard Plank. This addresses your abs, stabilizers, and back. With your stomach towards the ground, support yourself on your toes and elbows/forearms, and hold your body straight (like a board or “plank”) for the specified time. Modifications – to add challenge, you can put your feet up on a stability ball, or lift each leg in turn and hold for 3-5 seconds (so you are supporting your weight on one leg and your elbows/forearms for most of the exercise).
Single-Leg Bridge (or, Leg Extensions). Bridges are great for increasing strength in your gluteals and hamstrings, and this variation is particularly effective. Assume the bridge position, with your feet on the ground, knees bent, and your posterior raise from the ground (so you are forming an arch or bridge with your body). Holding this position, extend your left leg straight, and hold for 3-5 seconds. Then return your left foot to the ground, and raise your right leg. Continue repeating for 60 to 90 seconds.
Side Plank. This may be the best exercise for minimizing excessive rotation and leg crossover as you run, by strengthening your transverse abs and obliques. Roll onto your left side and raise your hips so that you are supporting your weight on your elbow and left foot – again, your body should be straight like a board. Hold this position for the specified time. Modification – do 10 side leg raises (with your top leg) in the middle of the plank.
Unilateral Bird Dog. This exercise challenges your balance while strengthing your abs, glutes, and stabilizers. Start on your hands and knees, with arms and legs about 6 inches apart. Extend your left arm all the way forward and left leg all the way back at the same time (you will need to shift your weight to the right to maintain balance). Bring your left elbow to your left knee underneath you, and then return them to full extension. Return them to the ground, and do the same thing on the right side. Continue repeating for the length of the exercise. Modification – if this is too difficult, you can extend the opposite leg and arm instead of doing it unilaterally. Ideally, you should work towards being able to do the unilateral version due to it’s better focus on spine stability.
Leg Lifts. Great for targeting the abs, these are performed while laying on your back. Keeping your legs as straight as possible, and moving slowly, raise your legs to 90 degrees. Lower slowly until your legs are within a few inches of the floor. Repeat until the timer stops. I usually get 15-20 of these done in 60 seconds, and 25 or so in 90 seconds, to give a sense of the “pace”. Alternative – Jason’s routine includes supine leg lifts, which are basically reverse planks (supporting your weight on elbows and feet while your back is towards the ground), with the added challenge of lifting each leg individually. This is a great hamstring exercise, but I find it, for now, to place too much pressure on my ailing calves.
Locust Pose. This addresses your lower back, gluteals, and hamstrings. Lie on your stomach and raise your legs and upper chest/arms off the ground (by arching your back), with your arms angled back near your hips (as if you were diving head-first). Hold this position for the 60-90 second goal. Modification – to shift more of the emphasis to the lower back, move your arms straight out in front and assume a “Superman” pose. I sometimes start with this and hold it as long as possible before shifting back into the locust pose, with the arms back.
Rotating Plank. This combines the benefits of a standard and side plank, addressing your abs and obliques. Start with a plank and, after holding it for 3 seconds, rotate into a side plank on the left side. Hold for 3-5 seconds, and return in a controlled manner to the standard plank. After holding again for 3-5 seconds, rotate into a right-side plank. Continue for the desired time.
Over the course of three to four weeks, you may start feeling the impact of adding this routine to your weekly schedule. To get the full effect, it’s best to dedicate six to eight weeks to the routine, performing it two or three times per week. This makes it an ideal addition to your base mileage or marathon recovery schedule. Additionally, it can be performed with only minor modifications while recuperating from a pretty broad range of injuries.
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Photo Credit: By Otis Historical Archives Nat’l Museum of Health & Medicine (originally posted to Flickr as A44-341-7 therapy) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
One resource that many runners turn to when injured (or, even proactively if prone to injury) is a physical therapist. However, the quality of physical therapists as it pertains to their capability to help runners vary widely, so it’s helpful to know the warning signs that your therapist is not a fit for you.
Some therapists may be outstanding for getting people back a degree of mobility, or training certain types of athletes. This doesn’t guarantee their qualifications for working with a runner, or specifically for working with YOU! Here are some things to look for to help determine when it might be time to look elsewhere.
1. Catering to a clientele that doesn’t match your background or goals. I don’t mean to sound elitist here, but if the therapist’s main clients are those trying to rehab to get back to work or have some degree of mobility, this may not be a fit. You may get your first sense of this in the lobby – are the magazines more on the order of Running Times, or do they display Better Homes and Gardens or Car and Driver?
2. Taking too little time to learn about your background or goals. Yes, you are a runner, and maybe they figure that out. But every runner has different goals and needs, and your history is very important to understanding what may be driving your current issue. If he (I’ll stick to the male gender here out of simplicity) goes right into treatments without taking the time to chat for a bit, he’s likely to miss addressing your true needs.
3. Not investing time in finding the source of your current pain. Often the source of your current pain is one or a few “trigger points” – areas of tightness or scar tissue adhesion. Releasing these trigger points may be a necessary condition to feeling better. If the therapist just applies general area treatments in their massage or stretching approaches, your recovery may be delayed.
4. Focusing too much on short-term issues. There is often a longer-term issue that contributes to your injury (though not always – sometimes it’s just overtraining, for which you may not need a therapist anyway). If he doesn’t take the time to assess your history, mechanics, balance of strength, etc., then your therapist may well cure you temporarily only to get you back as a customer in a matter of months.
5. Focusing too much on long-term issues. While it’s great to identify ways to become more injury resistant, goal number one is getting back to training. If there’s not a clear enough plan on how he is going to do that, then you may be visiting for some time to come.
6. Not keeping up to date on running developments. There is a lot that is changing about shoe recommendations, perspectives on the importance of form, and other running-related techniques. While the therapist may not agree with these changes, he should at least be aware and able to have an intelligent discussion about such topics as minimalism. Professional development is important in most careers; physical therapy is no different.
7. Relying heavily on a single approach. A good therapist has a range of tools to draw from as needed, and frankly most runners need help in several areas (if at all). Flexibility and mobility, strength, balance, massage, and various treatments such as ultrasound should typically be part of the menu. If it feels like one area is emphasized over all others, and he can’t explain why, then it may be time to look elsewhere.
8. Not adjusting strategies in the light of new information. If a technique isn’t working, or if your pain is moving, the therapist should adjust their treatments accordingly. Obviously you don’t want to be doing something different each session and jump from one approach to the next, but some adjustments “at the margins” should happen over the course of your treatment.
9. Spending too much valuable session time on activities you could be doing at home. The therapist’s role should be to teach and monitor performance of specific exercises or stretches. If your session turns into nothing more than a “trip to the gym” that you could do on your own, where you are performing significant repetitive work, then you are wasting money and time.
10. The therapist himself is often injured. Many physical therapists are athletes themselves, and this is obviously desirable. However, if they get injured on a regular basis, you may fairly wonder about their own understanding and practice of running mechanics and injury prevention methods.
Physical therapy is a costly investment in terms of money (though obviously this may be reduced through insurance) and, more importantly time. Furthermore, additional lost time from running can hurt your short and even long term results, as can the development of the wrong habits. Don’t hesitate to make a change if more than a few of these warning signs are true for you and your therapist.
I’d be eager to hear other examples of issues you’ve had with physical therapy. Or, even better, please share any recommendations you have on finding the right therapist and making the relationship work for you.
I’ve also posted a case study of how physical therapy turned out wrong for one runner.
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Injury Prevention by .
What happens when a thirty-something father of three boys in a dual career family sets his mind towards achieving his marathon dreams?
Running Ahead of the Sun summarizes the journey from injury to a shocking success at the 2012 Towpath Marathon. And I’m pleased to announce that it is now available in paperback from Amazon, as well as for the Kindle.
Part training advice and part life coaching, Running Ahead of the Sun brings a degree of reality to the requirements and possibilities involved in pursuing your athletic dreams while balancing the demands of family and career life. Plenty of books have been written by elite athletes about their experiences in the higher echelons of running, and there are books encouraging prospective runners to get off of their couch and start moving forward, but few if any books have focused on the locally competitive runner trying to take the next step.
Tim Meier, a recent finisher of the Paris Marathon in 2:40, says, “Thanks for publishing your book the week of the race and giving me a HUGE mental boost!” Stefan Smith, after going under 3:00 for the first time in the Paris marathon, adds, “You have no idea how much your sound, common sense has helped. Your Towpath race report was in my head a lot today.”
Now I’d like to ask you a favor (beyond just buying the book!). If you have or do have the opportunity to read it, I’d appreciate it if you could offer your thoughts as a review and rating on Amazon. I’m open to your honest feedback, as this may not be the last book I publish so would like to take the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience.
If you don’t have a Kindle and would rather borrow instead of read the book, feel free to ask your local library, as they should have access to acquire it as well.
Also, I have had the request for some signed versions – if you are interested in one, please send me a message at strosaker(at)gmail(dot)com and let me know, and I’ll arrange one for you, the cost would be $14.99 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.
The Running Manifesto T-Shirt is Available at CafePress
To celebrate the launch, I’d like to hold a contest. The prize will be your choice of a free copy of the book (print or electronic version) or, if you have already purchased the book (or just aren’t that interested in it), a copy of the Running Manifesto t-shirt or poster (your choice) from the Predawn Runner CafePress store.
To enter, please do one of the following (each distinct action counts as an entry) and let me know in the comments. The contest will run through Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 5:00PM EDT, and I’ll announce the winner on Thursday.
- Tweet this post or a link to the book page from Amazon
- Post this post or the book page from Amazon on Facebook
- Pin this post or an image and link to the book on Pinterest
- Post this announcement or the Amazon page to Google+
Thank you for all your support in getting the book to this point, and I look forward to your feedback!
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The Predawn Runner Book
Running Ahead of the Sun portrays a journey from injury to marathon glory. Let it inspire and inform your own approach to chasing your dreams in the midst of your busy life.
The Running Manifesto
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