Rev up your warmup to prep your body for hard efforts.

3rd July 2012

You know the feeling. It's the first repeat of an interval workout, you're breathing like a steam engine, and your legs feel like they're caught in quicksand. But you also know the second interval will feel a little better, and by the third, you will have settled into a rhythm. It's called the priming effect—as your body adapts to the physiological demands of running hard, the effort feels easier. Learn to prime your body during your warmup instead of the first repeat, and you'll run the entire speed session—or entire race—at your best effort.

When you first start running hard, your muscles immediately demand more oxygen. The rest of your body tries to respond with a higher breathing and heart rate, dilated blood vessels, and metabolic changes within the muscles that all speed the delivery of oxygen. But by the time these systems have ramped up, your oxygen-starved muscles have already dipped into anaerobic energy reserves (this is when you get that quicksand feeling). However, if you include a few minutes of strategic hard running as part of your warmup, you will bring your oxygen delivery system up to maximum efficiency while still allowing enough time for your anaerobic energy reserves to recover before the start of your repeats or race. In other words, here's how to get those demoralizing first-mile blahs out of the way during your warmup—not during your workout.

MAKE IT HARD
To trigger the priming effect, you need to exceed your lactate threshold, which corresponds roughly to half-marathon pace, for at least a few minutes. Legendary coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., suggests two to three minutes at 10-K pace. World record holder in the mile Hicham El Guerrouj would perform several 200-meter repeats close to mile race pace, jogging back to the start for recovery.

PERSONALIZE IT
University of Alabama researchers recently studied three different warmup routines for swimmers. On average, the longest warmup produced the best performance—but results varied widely among the individual swimmers. In fact, half the swimmers swam slower when they tried the "best" warmup protocol. The takeaway is that what's best for the average runner may not be best for you. Experiment with the length, intensity, and timing of your priming surge until you find a combination that works.

TIME IT RIGHT
Aim to finish your priming about 10 minutes before the start of the race. You don't have to get it exactly right; the effect lasts for up to 45 minutes, says British exercise physiologist Mark Burnley, Ph.D. A shorter break between priming and racing won't hurt either. Logistics at the start of a big event can be complicated, so be flexible, and don't fret if you have to adjust on the fly.


Ready to Go
The shorter and faster the race, the more important priming becomes

PRIME FOR IT:
Mile: 2 x 400 meters at 5-K pace; 1:00 rest
5-K: 2:00 to 3:00 at 10-K pace
10-K: 4:00 starting at marathon pace and steadily accelerating to finish a bit faster than half-marathon pace
Half-marathon and longer: Skip it. For longer races, starting with full glycogen stores is more important than oxygen delivery.




By Alex Hutchinson Runner's World

Hit your speed and fitness goals even when you can't run as much as you'd like.

29th June 2012

Ah, summer: Humidity slows you down, vacations disrupt your schedule, and the call of the barbecue proves irresistible. It can be tough for a runner to stay on track. But those distractions can be a great excuse to streamline your schedule and start accomplishing more by running less. "People are surprised to find out that improving their running doesn't necessarily mean committing more time," says Mike Smith, a Flagstaff, Arizona, coach who works with runners of all levels through the Run S.M.A.R.T. Project. It simply means maximizing each minute and every mile. Here's how to take a minimalist's approach to achieving your goal to run fast, run far—or run yourself into a routine.
Read more

Article by Cindy Kuzma - Runner's World

Saturday 2nd June 2012

Stress Fractures

I thought I'd write a few lines regarding how doctor can fob off runners who have stress fractures by telling them that they have shin splints and that their course of treatment is Rest Ice Compress Elevation (RICE) and to stop running.
A very good friend of mine started to feel pain in the shin area, I told her to do the RICE treatment and in the mean time check her leg out with a doctor. In case it was shin splints we went to the London Marathon Store to have her fitted with the correct running shoes for her foot strike and pronation, 2 hours later we walked out with a new pair of running shoes. All that time was spent on my friend, the London Marathon Store staff are brilliant, very attentive, very professional and they know what they are doing, I use them all the time myself.
My friend spoke to her doctor and he advised her that she had shin splints and to stop running, at the time this seemed a reasonable diagnosis so my friend followed the RICE treatment. 5 weeks later her leg was still painful, I know that with complete rest that the pain should have at least eased if not gone. I told my friend that as the pain has gone on for this length of time that she may have a stress fracture and to consult her doctor again, tell him that she has not run for 5 weeks and her leg is still painful also to mention stress fracture. Again she was told that it was shin splints.
Well 6 months later, still in pain, my friend managed to convince another doctor to send her for an x-ray in order to check for stress fractures. This doctor made an appointment for her to see a consultant and have an x-ray. When my friend saw the consultant he actually suspected a stress fracture, he went on to say that an x-ray doesn't always show a stress fracture and that an MRI scan would be better but before she could go home she had to have an orthopaedic boot fitted.

After a couple of weeks my friend had her MRI scan and was told that she did have stress fractures, straight away she was sent to have her leg put in a plaster cast.

Now don't get me wrong, doctors (GP's)  are generally very good but general practices' have turned more business like due to being given a budget to run by therefore they don't like sending you for tests, x-rays and such like unless they are pushed. You need to be sensible regarding any injuries you receive, like my friend give it a reasonable time to heal in case it's the lessor injury but should it go on for longer than is reasonable push your doctor for further investigation.

Prevent Your Running Shoes Causing Black Toenails

Black toenails caused by running shoes seems to be a common problem with runners, including me at times. I came accross this new lacing instruction, I've tried it and it seems to be working at the moment so I thought I'd pass it on to you.

Watch this, it's the wierdest advert for Paddy Power !