Hi Runners & Coaches!
If you need running
advice, stop by here and check out my posts and articles. Also, you can
find me at www.therunzone.com almost every day.
If you
don't know me, I've been coaching 22 years (since 1989). I've coached
collegiate runners, post-collegiate runners, masters runners, and I've
been a coach's coach, too - meaning I have been an adviser or I've
written training plans for coaches who have university or high school
coaching jobs. I'm sort of a mentor if you will, to those who are
looking to advance their skills of coaching runners. I also coach
cyclist, triathletes, and cross-country skiers.
Today's Topic: The Details of Running
Several emails from runners in the last 3-4 days have been about
illness runners have caught from their families. Joey came home with a
bad cold from school and was coughing. My wife got a cold, and then I
got a cold. What to do now?
First, I am not a doctor, so if I suggest what I use it's not
meant as medical advice. If I get a cold, I take Elderberry tablets, and
I take Umcka, which is an over-the-counter medicine that I get at the
health food store or at a grocery store that sells healthy foods.
Actually, I take Elderberry regularly, and in the last 2-years I've had
only one cold, which was quickly cleared up by Umcka. I started
consuming Elderberry when I heard a respiratory specialist being
interviewed on TV in Portland, Oregon. She said Elderberry is a natural
way to prevent allergies, which I used to have very badly about 3 times a
year. So, in two years I've had no allergies and 1 cold that went away
quickly. This is a miracle for me, as I have suffered a lot over the
years!
Second, sleep! If you don't get enough sleep, regularly, it's
likely you'll catch a cold from someone close to you. Sleeping more
equals getting sick less!
Third, vitamins! All the
nutritionist like to believe that all we have to do is eat 5+ servings
of vegetables and the same amount of fruit servings per day, and all
will be fine. Sorry, but most of us just don't have the time or energy
to fix healthy meals regularly. Right now I am working on a MBA degree,
working half-time, coaching 24 runners, applying for full-time jobs
(anyone who has been filling out job application for professional
positions will tell you it takes a long time just to fill out one
application), answering questions from runners and coaches at
www.therunzone.com and I have a family. My wife is busy too, so we are
burning the candle at both ends all the time. We fix about 5 good meals a
week. Otherwise, we eat leftovers, sandwiches, cereal, and so forth.
Ever since I started taking really good, high-quality vitamins, I've
been sick less and I feel better. My favorite vitamins are Hammer
Nutrition's Premium Insurance. I'm always willing to try other good
products, though. To me, it's worth the money.
Fourth, stretch! Yeah, I know research shows the people get
injured stretching, and it's happened to me, as a serious runners for 26
years. But, if you stretch within yourself - meaning you don't go crazy
and push your muscles to stretch in a state of pain, then you can
loosen up muscles and make their capacity to perform improve. I'm not
saying it's a big difference - but that's not the point of today's
blog-post. It makes a small but noticeable difference, especially as the
days and weeks of stretching are stringed together.
Fifth, strength! I'm not talking about bulking up. I'm talking
about doing strength exercises that make you a stronger runner, not a
stronger weight lifter or body builder. Lunges, heel raises, planks, and
arm-swings. If you don't know what those are, read on! You can do arms
swing with surgical tubing or with hand weights, which are technically
called dumbbells. All you do is move your arms in a natural running
motion, back and forth (forward and backward), as you would while
running. But, because you have resistance from surgical tubing or from dumbbells, you stress your muscles in your shoulders.
In
2-3 weeks you'll notice that your shoulders feel stronger while you run.
This may be particularly beneficial for people who have weak shoulders.
By the way, heel raises are ideal for developing strength of your lower
leg. Stand on the edge of a stair step and raise your body upward so
that you are standing on the balls of your feet, which are just below
your toes. Your heels will be several inches off the ground. Lunges,
well those are step forward and down and back or in reverse. You can
also perform side-lunges for strength of your adductors and abductors of
your hips. Stable and strong hips are important for running fast!
Okay, that's it for today. I have MBA school work to complete.
I'll try to write posts at least 2-3 times per week, and help out
fellow runners and coaches. Again, take a look at www.therunzone.com.
Many runners join me every day there for conversation.
In the future, I'll post some training paces charts this blog: The Runner's Coach.
Take care,
Tom Schwartz
(runfastcoach@gmail.com)
Inquire for more information about personalized coaching.
Great post Tinman! Looking forward to reading here weekly!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and posting XP! Tom
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat site, Tom, looking really forward to following you here as well! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! I love it. We as runners appreciate all the time and advice you provide.
ReplyDeleteThank you in advance.
Great post. Good luck with your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind posts!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am building a website, too. It's part of a required project for my E-Business course, which is part of my MBA program.
Take care!
Tom