Inflexibility Hinders Performance and Causes Injuries

By Alix J. Shutello

Are you inflexible? Do you know if you are? Here are some signs. It really hurts when you try to stretch your hamstrings past the ninety degree mark when you are on your back. You cannot touch your toes. Yoga to you is a four letter word.

You could be inflexbile.

Running is one of those sports people just kind of pick up for a variety of reasons.  If someone decides they like running they may start to train with no direction at all.  What running experts say is that we need to build strength and endurance to perform well, but since most runners start training without a coach, our best intentions lead to a training regimen that contributes to training failures and injury.

Tight hamstrings in particular, are common in runners with flexibility issues and/or poor running form. When a runner’s flexibility is hindered by tightness or pain their running efficiency is reduced and hence, their speed.

Being loose is important.  Joe Jurczyk, an ultra distance racer, ultra distance race director, and middle school age cross country coach will concur.  “Runners can increase their pace by three to five percent merely by being loose.”

You stay loose by stretching but stretching has gotten a bad name over the years. Gone are the days when we hang our leg over a fence and push down for a minute to stretch our hamstrings….at least not before our runs. Dynamic stretching involving active movement helps loosen muscles before we exert ourselves.  Kimberly Linton, a personal trainer in Woodbridge, VA has shown me some excellent dynamic moves I can do before I start my run. I do them almost every day, whether I am running or not.

The benefits of working with a trainer, coach or physical therapist are that they can help you see where you are weak and can help with stretching. In Cathy Walker’s article, Why Flexibility Is So Important, on the Runners Illustrated website, you can read about Fascial Stretch Therapy, a stretching therapy did more than stretch out ultra distance man, Kevin Cutjar, it enabled him win his age group and place for Ironman Hawaii in 2009, win and break multiple Ultraman Canada records in 2010 and place 9th and get top master status in the recent 2010 Las Vegas Rock ‘N Roll Marathon.

Four Weeks to A Better Trained Body and Brain

Central Park Runner, May 2009

I have a 1oK race coming up in the next couple of months. My goal, therefore, is to become very efficient at running those 6.2 miles. To do that, I need to condition myself to run at least that distance if not farther.

To run farther distances runners must run LSDs (long slow distances) to increase their mileage slowly without injury. I have a problem doing that.  Last year, as I trained to run my first half marathon I ran too fast and my long slow distances were long fast runs. While I performed well in the race, I burned out and injured my hamstring.

Mentally, it seems impossible to run slowly because I have a mental problem with running slowly.  To train my mind to adjust to the time it takes to run seven miles slowly, I have developed a four week program to allow my body to acclimate to running 7 miles as slowly as I can.  By doing this I will condition my body to run my race distance without injury. So here I introduce  4-week 7 miler program.

You obviously cannot do this with repetitive marathon distances but for 10Ks or shorter, or even up to a half marathon, doing this can provide many benefits. First of all, you condition your body to the longer distance while conditioning your brain to allow yourself to run slower. Since 7 miles is over my race length, I can take four weeks out of my training to condition my brain all myself to run slower and more efficiently. The idea is that I will get better at running the 7 miles slower – either through a more consistent pace or with less soreness and fatigue the next day.

I recommend this if you are runnnig two fast normally and are conditioned to run the distance of your race. If not, you still need to continue to build your base up to your race distance.

Last evening I ran my second of the four 7-mile runs. I ran those miles slowly to and when I say slowly, I mean slowly – between 11-12 minute miles and no faster.

What I am finding when I do this is that first of all, it takes forever to run these miles (like an hour and 20 minutes) but this week my mental issue with running the distance slower was better than last week. Meaning, I planned to run for an hour and twenty mintues.

Now why on earth would I practice running slower? I mean, isn’t the goal to run fast? Well, ultimately, yes, you do want to run fast but you cannot run fast all the time. It takes a lot of time and patience to run slowly and the best way to condition my body to “accept” running seven miles is to become proficient at merely jogging these miles. When I do this, my body will adapt through a series of biological changes which will effectively improve my VO2 max, muscle conditioning, and use of resources (sugar) in my body.

This concept is not new and when I took my coach certification course, that was the message of the day. You see, we cannot merely run ourselves into the ground. Optimal conditioning comes from merely going the distance. It does not come from running the distance as fast as possible because if you do that, I will guarantee, you will end up injured.

By slowing down, I am giving my body a “rest” while I condition it to go further. So for me with a nagging hamstring, my hamstrings don’t need to work so hard if I am jogging instead of running full throddle, and while I am jogging, I am conditioning my muscles instead of straining them.

I am also conditioning the hardest “muscle,” my brain.  The mental difficulties of slogging along are major for me. I figure if I am running this slowly I might as well stop. I try to run 2 miles in 18 minutes or less, but when I look at the clock and my first two miles are completed in 23 to 24 minutes, my mind starts to go nuts. Suddenly, it seems impossible to fathom that I need to run for another hour to acheive my seven miles. In my crazy days, I’d be trying to run these miles in about an 1:07 or less.

So yesterday I ran my seven miles in about 1:22. In fact, I only ran about 6 and 3/4 miles before  Icouldn’t take it anymore and just walked the last quarter mile.  The week before, I had petered out at 6 and 1/4 miles so I went a 1/2 mile further this week before I mentally burned out.

Two weeks from now, I will complete my long, slow distance of seven miles I hope at a long slow average pace of 11:30 per mile.  Because I do this mileage on a treadmill I often get bored and speed up to a 10 minute mile for a little bit just to make me feel like I am getting ahead (which I am not I am merely loosing the mental battle). Ultimately, I hope this exercise will help me train through the mental anquish of running so slowly. In the end, I just want to be injury free.

That, my friends, is my running goal.

Training For a Race? Try Progressive Overload

Training Rx

Why Running a Combination of Short and Long EASY Runs is Beneficial to Improving Running Fitness

By Alix Shutello

Are you someone who runs the same distance EVERY day? Well, you might not be doing yourself any favors if you are training for a race.

Running the same distance every day does have its benefits. First, you are running – which means that you are maintaining fitness and reducing stress. But if you are training for a race, running the same distance everyday will not increase your fitness in a way that will maximize your speed and strength when you run.

I completed the Road Runner Club of America’s (RRCA) trainer certification course in Annapolis, MD a few weeks ago. I took the course not only to become a certified running coach, but to really learn the art of training for my own personal benefit as well.

The most fascinating thing I learned was about base training and how to build a base in preparation for a race correctly. For all runners,  including those who are looking to run their first race, alternating long and short distance days is the best way to increase fitness because of the scientific and biological concepts of progressive overload and periodization – both are very technical terms but after reading this article, the concepts will make more sense.

 The concept of progressive overload and periodization really is the process of running  a combination of easy and hard days in succession at least 5 days a week. Doing this will train your body to increase running distance by putting stress on the body - and for some reason, doing this stimulates the body’s ability to manage stressful situations (running a long, easy run) and adapt to them (during short, easy runs). The operative word here, is EASY. In base building, one does not run hard tempo runs, Fartleks, or attempts to run to fast too much. This only leads to injury. I trained this way all last year while base-building for a 1/2 marathon and while I kicked butt in the race, I  ended up with a ham string tear and plantar fasciatis and have spent the last six months trying to get it to heal.

So to repeat, Progressive overload, as defined by Wikipedia, is the gradual increase of stress placed on the body during training. While progressive overload is used in many sports, in running it means running a series of short and long runs in succession to give your body the experience of stress and recovery. Miraculously, during the process of running long runs and recovering on short runs, the body actually makes more capilaries allowing blood to flow more efficiently. The body also utilizes energy better and becomes more efficient at burning fuel including fat.

Runner’s World magazine’s training plans are based on the concept of progressive overload – the biggest fault with them is that they suggest running every other day – which is how I have trained for years. Progressive overload seems to be more effective when a runner plans to run a series of hard and easy days for four or five days a week, coupled with a longer weekend run and a day or two off for full recovery and rest. 

The reason why periodization, or the scheduled recovery time between longer runs, is important is because the body cannot be continually stressed day after day. So in a proper progressive overload/periodization running schedule, you would incorporate a schedule as follows

Sunday – off (cross train)
Monday – run 2 miles
Tuesday – run 4 miles
Wednesday – run 2 miles
Thursday – run 4 miles
Friday – off (cross train)
Saturday – run 6 miles

The next week, your long run becomes 7 miles, then 8, etc. until you reach the desired distance you and your coach or your running plan suggests, and then start a strenghtening phase where you begin to incorporate speed in your distance plan.

Last year I was running hard speed work runs every other day. The one day off in between hard days did not do me much good because I needed more rest. I became injured because I was trying to run at race pace for unsustainable intervals every single time I ran. While I did get faster,  I soon needed more recovery. I was fatigued, sore, and became ill more easily – why? Because I was not training correctly. When training for any race – especially those of longer distance – it is crucial to base build with easy-slow paced running for EVERY run for a set period of time before incorporating speed work. One does not build a base by running full throttle all the time.  The only injures your body and weakens your immune system. And in times like now, with new strains of flus and other illnesses, now is not the time to tax yourself so that you become susceptible to illness.

By allowing yourself to slowly adapt to longer distances and recover by running only a couple of miles on off days you body can acclimate itself better to the stress of increased mileage. There is no reason to think you will not get more fit. For those of use with huge running egos, this is a tough pill to swallow. Now, however, I find I am more apt to run on consecutive days because I only need to run a couple of miles, and I feel more motivated to run, because I am not running so hard that I burn out after a couple of weeks, and then need  time to recover from over doing it.

This was very difficult for me but for the past three weeks I have been using progressive overload and I have found that I am more motivated to stay on a schedule and increase my mileage. Something that is tough for me because I work fulltime and have two very energetic young children.  Between working and having to get them at the end of the day, I often don’t have time to run. Now, knowing that on recovery days I only need to run for about 20-22 minutes (very slow 10 to 11 minutes miles), I feel that I can fit that into my schedule on off days and as a result, my weekly mileage is increasing. 

Please tell me about your training planning. 

Email me at viennawriter@verizon.net.