Since some of us live near hills and might do our weekly runs on hills we thought it was high time to dole out some information on running hills.

  Hills are an excellent way to improve speed and strength, as well as confidence. Hill work is “speed work in disguise” because after running or walking hills, the muscles in your legs get significantly stronger. Stronger legs allow you to go faster with less effort. In fact, hill training is the most sport-specific form of strength training that a marathoner can do. You should run the uphill portion under control and as relaxed as possible as you can and then you can generally make up the time difference on the downhill.  In other words, don’t fight gravity.  You will lose, we always do.

Some tips for up hills are:

1.   Shorten your stride. Don’t try to bound up the hill.

2.   Keep yourself perpendicular to the ground. Don’t lean too far forward or back.

3.   Stay relaxed in your upper body, which means shoulder down, neck and arms relaxed.

4.   You should not be gasping for air. Try to maintain a conversational pace, your running rhythm should stay the same as running flat.  If you can’t talk, slow down.

5.   If you can, do the entire hill in one continuous motion, up and over the crest.  Don’t stop at the top.  Instead use your rhythm which will help you keep your form on the downhill.  You’ll find it easier to pick up the pace from a running start than a walking start.

6.   If you need to walk part of the hill, do so, but start running before you crest the top as this will make the transition into the downhill much easier and more efficient mechanically.

     7. Try and find a comfortable rhythm with which you can run the entire length of the hill. If the hill gets steeper simply adjust your rhythm so that you maintain your original pace. If the hill starts  to flatten out then you can adjust your rhythm to pick up the pace to maintain the original pace. 

Some tips for the downhill are:

1.   Don’t step out on your stride. Instead, either step straight down or think about picking you feet up as quickly as possible. Keep your stride short. By default, gravity will tend to lengthen your stride so you don’t need to actively do so.

2.   Stay perpendicular to the ground. Don’t lean back or forward.

3.   Controlling speed on downhills is a matter of hip turnover.  Instead of leaning back and breaking to slow down which puts a great deal of stress on the joints and muscles, one should think of a shorter stride and slowing down how fast your legs are moving. A good habit to get into is to start the downhill slower than normal so as not to pick up too much speed too quickly and get scared and start breaking which wastes a lot of energy and is hard on the body. 

4.   Don’t try to go too fast to make up time as quads take quite a beating going down hill. When going downhill, you should be as light on your feet as possible. Let gravity just pull you down at a faster and faster rate to the end of the downhill so that you finish with a nice little bit of speed to use to ascend the next hill or cruise the flat.

See ya out there on the hills.

  Because eating habits vary greatly from person to person, culture to culture and season to season, the following recommendations are to be used as guidelines:

  Everyone needs protein, essential fatty acids and carbohydrates along with vitamins, minerals and other assorted naturally occurring chemicals that help the body repair and protect itself from the stresses of exercise, work, play and life. Eating foods that are closest to their natural state is the most beneficial as these foods tend to have the highest concentrations of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, proteins and healthy carbohydrates.

  These days protein recommendations are all over the place depending on which expert you talk to, etc. One expert may say .6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight, and another may say 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. All athletes need significantly more protein to repair muscle than do sedentary individuals. The amount of muscle mass an individual is carrying, and whether you are trying to add muscle as part of your exercising goals will also affect the amount of protein you need. Finally, everyone absorbs proteins at different levels of efficiency; therefore, experiment a bit, and settle on a level of protein intake that keeps your body working at optimal levels. Keep in mind that the body has a hard time

handling more than 30 grams of protein at a single meal so you need to eat a little protein with all meals.  Some good food sources of quality proteins are eggs, lean meats, fish, dairy, legumes (beans), soybeans (tofu), rice and some vegetables, such as corn.

  Carbohydrates are an important source of energy that the body uses to fuel absolutely every single process that occurs in the body. It is the preferred fuel source as it breaks down into sugars very easily, and the body and especially the brain need sugar to function. Some confusion may come in as to how much of our diet should be coming from carbohydrates, which type of carbs are best to eat and when is the best time to eat carbs. Everyone has heard that marathoners need to carbo-load. Carbohydrates are the only nutritional component of our diet that does not have a deficiency disease associated with it.  This means that one could theoretically never eat carbohydrates and they would be just fine. Carbo-loading does not generally make much of a difference to the average runner; however, it is important to make sure that all of your glycogen levels are as full as possible prior to a long distance training or race. This is why people carbo-load. There are several ways to carbo-load. We recommend that instead of trying to cram in as much pasta as possible the night before the race, you add a little extra pasta or other types of carbohydrates to your diet for the entire week before a long distance training or race. This will produce the same effect, and you won’t have the bloated feeling (carbs tend to retain water as part of their storage mechanism) from ingesting too many carbohydrates. The best sources of carbohydrates tend to be fruits and vegetables as these items have

a lot of fiber and other nutrients that the body needs to work optimally.  Pasta, potatoes, rice, breads and starchy vegetables have very high levels of carbohydrates, but they are not as nutritious and aren’t recommended in large amounts for individuals trying to lose weight.

  In terms of diet and daily eating, we all have busy lives and sometimes we don’t eat the way we should. When we do eat fast food or something that is not consistent with our training or good healthy eating in general we do know that we should be eating better. We all do know intuitively the proper way to eat. Just try to minimize the fat and sugars and try your best to eat in a balanced way. Generally, 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fat will provide a nice balanced diet for an active lifestyle.

It is necessary to keep your sugar level up during long runs.  An easy way, in addition to taking gels or energy bars at regular intervals, is to eat some kind of hard candy.  Low sugar levels affect mood levels. If you notice you are dragging, you might try some candy.

Be sure during the long runs to not forget to take in salt. If you feel nauseated or feel cramps it could be a lack of salt. This can be avoided by taking salt /electrolyte pills or simply eating something like a handful of chips.

Prior to training runs and races you should try and have something to eat that your body can use during the run such as a bagel, Powerbar, banana or oatmeal. Basically something with some carbs and a little protein. You should experiment and try to find out what works best for you. The longer the distance the more food you’ll need.

  All of the above is only a guideline; you need to do what works for you. So you should use the short runs to work out what works best for you and try different things until you find the right things to make your run the best it can be.

see ya out there kids

Stretching is a vital part of marathon training as well as overall fitness. For most of us our days are spent sitting in front of a computer screen in a crappy chair, which kills the lower back. When we work at our desks we usually are trying to see what the heck we’re working on so we crane our necks forward in an attempt to see better. Don’t get me started on the shoulders. The shoulders are almost always rolled forward to access the keyboard better. And sitting a chair all day wrecks havoc on the hip flexors. So after all this abuse we hit the road and run, run, run. What often occurs is, you guessed it, injury. So the following is a brief “how to” on stretching.

Running is basically contracting and relaxing a series of muscles to propel us forward. If the contraction of the muscle is inhibited by the muscle being too short this is when injury can occur. So the point of stretching for runners is to lengthen the muscles to increase range of motion allowing for proper contraction.

When you begin a run you’ll need to do a few warm up stretches to loosen up tight muscles, which have been abused all day at work. These stretches are not like the static type of stretches you see people doing they are active stretches. A few examples are: trunk twists, knee circles and even easy jumping jacks. These types of stretches will loosen the muscles as well as get the blood flowing and “wake” your body up so it is ready for the effort to come. This type of warm up stretching should be done in a controlled comfortable way.

The other more common type of stretching is called static stretching. We have all seen and done this type of stretching. Static stretching is best used after a run as a cool down of the muscles. When the muscles are already warm they respond to lengthening by stretching best. The muscles are kinda like leather, if it is cool outside the leather is much stiffer than if it has been left out in the sun to warm up. This is probably why yoga studios always seem to be so damn hot.

As with everything in marathon training, stretching should be done gradually and built up over time. Whenever you stretch you should only stretch until the muscle is tight, trying to really stretch the muscle until you’re grimacing in pain will only cause you to injure yourself. Here’s how it works: when the muscle senses that is it being stretched beyond it’s limit it reacts by violently contracting in the opposite direction and bingo, ya got an injury. When you have “pulled” a muscle what that really means is that your muscle is in constant contraction. That’s why the doctor gives you muscle relaxers. So although we all love muscle relaxers, they are not that great for our training. So stretch easy my friends.

When you are stretching a muscle try to focus on only stretching that muscle. With certain muscles it is best to achieve the best stretch you should contact the opposite muscle. For example: when stretching the hamstrings you should flex the quadricep to force the hamstring to relax and therefore stretch more efficiently. The fancy term for this is called reciprocal inhibition.

And lastly, the muscles that you need to work on are most likely the ones that you enjoy stretching least. Yup, that means for most of us, the hamstrings and hips, what with all that sitting at the computer and all.

So that’s it for now. We will be having a stretch clinic this Sunday, where we will go in to more detail and show you all how to stretch properly for a healthier happier you.

 Hello again everybody. This week’s topic for marathon training is hydration. I guess everyone knows the importance of drinking plenty of water but there is so much more, so much more. What follows is a series of guidelines for being properly hydrated for not only the Sunday long runs but your mid-week runs as well.

  Get plenty of water the day before long distance training or a race.  Do not over-hydrate. Yes, it is possible to over-hydrate. It is recommended that people start hydrating a couple of days before the race or long training run and keep it until the night before the run.  This way the body can be fully hydrated at least two days before doing a long distance or a race. One should always be drinking water during the week to stay hydrated, and it is essential to not be dehydrated before starting a long training distance or race.  Therefore, everyone should pay extra attention to the two-day hydration recommendation. Stop drinking water at least four hours before going to bed at night to eliminate annoying bathroom visits in the middle of the night.

  In addition to straight water, drinks such as Endurance Formula Gatorade, which contain electrolytes, should be a part of your hydration plan.

  Eating salty foods the day before will help keep the water in your system thus minimizing cramping.  Don’t go crazy on this one just a little more salt should do the trick. This is not a license to eat an entire bag of potato chips! If you have a health condition in which you need to avoid salt eating a little more salt is not recommended. 

  You should drink 4 to 6-oz. of water and/or an electrolyte replacement drink at least every 10 to 15 minutes during long distance training.  For those who are not used to using an electrolyte replacement drink, a weak solution is recommended. A weak solution means a more diluted concentration of electrolytes to water. Usually, take the manufacturer’s recommendations and double the water amount.  As your system gets used to the electrolyte drink, you may want to increase the drink/water ratio. On long runs/walks, hydration is very important, but replacing the electrolytes, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium can also be of benefit.  A rule of thumb is for every 2 plain waters, you should try 1 electrolyte replacement drink. This is a rough guideline, and one should experiment with the ratio that works best for you. Also, heat and humidity can have a profound effect on maintaining hydration and proper electrolyte balances so be sure to up your hydration as well as electrolyte levels proportionately as the heat rises.

  Make sure you fully replenish your fluids after training, especially the long ones. Drink plenty of fluids the rest of the day and the following day to quickly get your body fully hydrated as this will help with recovery and tissue repair.

  Drinks that contain caffeine act as diuretics and can dehydrate a person quite easily. Additionally, substances in coffee can bind with certain minerals and prevent their absorption into the body. If you drink coffee in the morning, try to drink it alone and before eating foods with calcium, as the coffee will adversely affect the absorption of this very important mineral.

  Urine is a good indicator of hydration both before and after running. If your urine is quite clear, not cloudy or colored, then you are probably pretty well hydrated. Urine that has a strong odor is cloudy and/or various shades of yellow, green, etc., is a good indicator that you need to drink more water. Some B vitamins will turn your urine yellow-green so if you take vitamins, bear this in mind.

  Alcohol also has a negative affect on the hydration levels so it is best to avoid it, especially the 24 to 48 hours before a doing long distances or a race.  An occasional drink will not pose a problem, but practice moderation – you’ll be glad you did.

  The amount of water to drink on a daily basis will vary based on the size of the person, the climate and his or her activity levels, but a rule of thumb is at least 64 oz. or 2 Liters (for the metric folk) of water a day. Don’t drink it all at once, but get in the habit of sipping water all day long.  If your job is quite physical, you may need to double or even triple this amount. Listen to your body. If it is telling you to stop drinking water for a while, then do so. If your stomach is sloshing around with water, you probably have drunk enough water for the time being.

  Just like anything else in life, start out drinking an appropriate amount of water, and, you will eventually find that you can not only drink more water, but that your body will use this water more efficiently in repairing your muscles, flushing out toxins, and clearing up your skin.  In other words, don’t start drinking a gallon of water a day if you are used to drinking just few ounces a day. Start out slow and over the course of a few days and weeks, you will be able to handle more water that will benefit your training and racing experiences.

That’s it. Later kids. 

Today saw Rodney and I giving our first (of hopefully many) form clinics. We had a nice turnout and there was much knowledge dished out. We started with each person running in front of the group and we all got to look at each person’s form carefully while Rodney and I noted form flaws for comparison after the clinic.

We then proceeded to talk about form, posture as well as the rhythm of running and all of the benefits of each. We spoke about how relaxing, mentally as well as physically, while running saves energy and therefore makes you more efficient.

Sure we did a lot of talking, but we also did some form drills as well work on trying to feel the rhythm of running. It was a little bit like watching the Rockettes, but without the high leg kicks. (But we did all have on the shiny dresses)

We also showed everyone how to figure out their stride count so they could see how to improve their turnover rate and try to correct overstriding. And the end of the class we counted our turnover rate again along with using all the new ideas about form to see if we could improve. Everyone again watched and this time we all commented on each person’s form in an attempt to identify issues with ourselves. Everyone who participated in the clinic at the end had terrific improvement. Nice work kids.

Here’s a link so ya’ll can find a sweet little running watches that have 2 interval timers found on Timex:

 
http://www.timex.com/gp/product/B000JERFMI/ref=sc_pgp_c_1_1_267161011_m_A1S5XB33AHYRMX_1/104-3303369-0268731?ie=UTF8&n=267161011&s=&timexBrand=core&v=glance
 
if you want one that controls your ipod as well:  http://www.timex.com/gp/product/B000UODXS2/sr=1-9/qid=1218125625/ref=sr_1_9/104-3303369-0268731?ie=UTF8&m=A1S5XB33AHYRMX&n=267161011&timexBrand=core

The 2 interval timer watch is great for setting an alarm that goes off to alert you that it is time to run/walk without having to resort to using totally confusing addition when checking your watch.

see ya out there kids.

This weekend witnessed our very own Laurie Woodrow, ultra-marathoner extraordinaire, running in celebration of her 48th birthday, 48 miles. Geeeeez! She basically did four 12 mile loops starting with a ascent up Runyon canyon which was hard enough then she stacked 36 more miles on top of that. Several of us Twentysixers ran with her along the way as a way of getting our needed mileage for our mortal goals. Even though it got pretty darn hot out there, by all accounts she was her cheerful self and kept moving forward, which in my opinion is the key to ultra-marathoning. 

The run ended up at me and Laura’s house where we all ran outside upon her approach and went crazy with the cheering and whooping it up. 

Once Laurie had finished her ice bath and nice warm shower we commenced to feed our faces with tacos all manner of food detrimental to marathon training, but oh it was gooood. And of course it wouldn’t be the Twentysixers without the tequila. There was a whole mess of tasty tequilas at the tequila tasting bar. 

After everyone had fed the medals were awarded to the birthday girl. Way to go Laurie!

The whole day was so fun that I am predicting all of us will be doing the same, running our age on our birthday. Lucky for me I’ll be 23 next year.

I took a little trip to Oregon this week and I stayed in Eugene Oregon where the famous Hayward field is located. What the heck is Hayward field you ask? 

Well it is was Steve Prefontaine’s home track. Pre is considered to be among the greatest and most inspirational runners ever. He would run every race as hard as he could which always put him in the front of the race field much to coach Bowerman’s annoyance. He ran from his heart win or lose. There are couple of pretty good movies about Pre, the one I like best is: Without Limits with Billy Crudup as Pre.

It was the place where the University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman (also the co-founder of Nike, thank you very much Bill) worked his magic. Here’s some of his highlights: training 31 olympic athletes, 51 all-americans, 12 American record-holders, 24 NCAA champions, and 16 sub-4 minute milers. No bad huh?

This years’ olympic track and field trials were held there.  Oh gosh the history just dripped off the place.

I went for a run on the track which was great cuz I felt I was part of the history of the place. If you ever find yourself in Eugene Oregon I highly recommend stopping in for a run on the beautiful Hayward field

 Hey there boys and girls. This week’s topic topic is safety. I know all ya’ll get in a groove when you’re running and hate to stop, but ya gotta be safe out there. Can’t train if you’re dead, or worse. So here’s a bunch of handy dandy tips to keep you safe out there amongst all the knuckleheads on their cell phones while they’re driving.

Obey All traffic laws. Wait for the walk signal to cross at all intersections. You are not racing, you’re training so waiting a few moments at a light or letting a distracted guy behind the wheel go in front of you will not affect your training too much.

  Give right-of-way to anything on wheels. This means bikes, roller blades, buses and cars. It doesn’t matter if you have the right of way or not let them pass. Be safe not injured or worse. By law, bikes have the right of way in the bike lane. (try and guess why they call it the bike lane) Be sure to always yield to them. Single file, if possible, when a bike is passing. You can get a ticket for being in the bike lane so pay attention to bike traffic.

  Use extreme caution at all intersections. Just because you see a motorist, doesn’t mean they see you. Making eye contact with the driver is the best way to be sure they see you. When in doubt, go behind the car or just stop and make sure the driver sees you.

  Run against traffic whenever possible, run against traffic so you can see oncoming cars, bikes, etc. When running against traffic, pay particular attention to vehicles turning right into traffic. Often times cars do not look into their turn.

  Use caution when stopping or turning. If you make a “crazy Ivan” for any reason, first look behind you to see if it is safe to stop or turn, then make your move. Be aware there may be people right behind you and sudden stops may cause injury to both parties.

 When you run in groups try to be no more than TWO abreast at all times. This rule is especially important on busy streets and park paths. This is done to keep the group safe and manageable in case quick movements are needed. This is also done to minimize the impact on other groups/general public that we encounter.

  Courtesy. We need everyone to keep in mind that we are training not racing so we all need to look out for the other guy and be polite at all times. If you happen to bump into someone by accident take the time to stop and make sure they are okay and apologize. Also, Smile and say hello to other runners or walkers.

  Please do not litter. During the race, you can drop anything you want, but on Sundays and during your weekly runs put litter in its place.

  Be aware of your surroundings. Keep your head up and be aware at all times. Anticipate obstacles. Don’t rely on someone else to point out obstacles. Let others know of obstacles ahead. The runners in your group needs to announce for example “Bike up” when a bike approaches. Further, all members of the group should call out “Bike up” until the call reaches the last person in the group. (This should be done in a reasonable tone of voice, especially in quiet neighborhoods). This should be done with any obstacle, which could cause harm to the group (i.e., cars, rollerbladers, potholes, fire hydrants, signs, pinecones, mud, slippery areas, low tree limbs, etc.) Language for the “calls” should be, for example: “Bike up” for oncoming bike, “Bike back” when a bike is coming from behind or “Bike left” or “Bike right” for bikes coming in for the side streets.

  Headphones of any type are not recommended but if you must wear them, keep the volume low enough so you can hear what is going on around you.

That’s it for now. See ya out there.

Hi everyone,

This is our first post to our new blog. Both Dan and I will be adding content all year long. We plan to talk about running, marathons, half marathons, training, strength training for endurance athletes as well as flexibility and nutrition topics. We plan to use this blog to go into more detail about all of the various training modalities that seem to crop up each month in all of the fitness magazines.