Blog – Page 42 – RunningWell

Set Back

January 27, 2013/2 Comments/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

I’m sure you’re all wondering how my valiant attempt at 70 miles went this week. Well, I came down with the flu. Despite a fair dose of denial, and trying to “get out there anyway” the first few days, the reality has hit and I’ve spent the best part of the last 5 days here:

And here and here

Since no full-blown flu really counts unless your whole family gets it too – musical sick-beds we’ve been playing for the past week.

It’s day 6 of the flu today and I’ve taken three full days off. My rule of thumb: if you feel up to a small run when you’re a bit under the weather, you should go for it. Getting out can help you to feel normal and it does boost your immune system (studies show that going for a run just after having had the flu shot increases it’s effectiveness http://runningmagazine.ca/2013/01/sections/news/study-running-doubles-effectiveness-of-flu-shots/). However, if you have a fever and body aches, take the time to rest – you won’t be able to increase your fitness while feeling like that anyway and can further compromise your body’s ability to fight the bug.

Today, despite telling myself I’m on the mend, I’m feeling as weak as a kitten for not having eaten much over the past few days. (Two real indicators that I’m sick – no eating and no running).

ok, he’s not exactly a kitten, and not all that weak, but I feel something like this:

I tried to run today and made it for 4.5 slow miles to finish my week at 25.5.

Tomorrow I have some uncharacteristic time to run and I had hoped to use it to get a long run in. I’m no longer so optimistic, but I’ll see what I can do. I’m curious how long it will take me to get my strength back. 70 mile week – I’m coming!!!!

Do you run when you’re sick? What are your rules for going or not going?

Winter Running Tips

January 22, 2013/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

Today was one of the coldest days of the year so far. I know, we’ve gotten soft with our winters lately, but -24C with the windchill still seems pretty cold to me – whether I’m used to it or not. SO, what do I do to get out the door on days like this? A few tips:

“Run” an errand. You probably have to get out the door for something, right? If you’re going to brave the outside anyway, why not just don your running gear and see if you can add a few miles to and from your destination if needed (I needed to get to the bank today, so used that as my reason to get out the door)
Take the pressure off your time and pace. In freezing conditions and snowy/icy footing, use effort as your guide, not pace. I had a 5 mile loop in mind today and left my watch at home.
If you do have an effort session in the plans, consider hills instead of intervals. Hills work on strength, so effort based repeats work well and you don’t have to be as concerned with time – you can still get the same quantity in as you do in the warmer weather. I have hills planned for my workout tomorrow with my dedicated and intrepid group so I went to check out how our hill looks.

This is the top of it – the city has salted a path – yay! Here’s the middle part:

I tried to take a picture from the bottom to show the 3rd part and the better perspective, but that’s when my phone decided it was too cold to take any more pictures.

Bundle up! Ok, sometimes when I’m feeling particularly wimpy, I tell myself I’m going to overdo it on the clothing so that I don’t have that uncomfortable first 5 minutes of cold before I warm up. That’s what I did today, but I think I was just overdressed. I had planned an easy day, so didn’t plan on sweating too much. If you’re doing a tempo, you should really be too cold when you just start out in order to be comfortable mid-run. This will also motivate you to run fast! What I wore today:

That is a pair of running tights, a pair of windpants, two long-sleeved shirts, a jacket, two pairs of gloves (although I took one off later to bundle my poor cold phone at the expense of one hand’s warmth), one scarf and two hats. I don’t know why I felt I needed two hats – one of them isn’t even a running hat. As you can see, I don’t worry too much about fashion sense on days like these.

Don’t stray too far from home. If you’re doing a longer run, do a couple of loops which go near (but not right by) your house. I don’t like running by my house when I’m planning on continuing because it always makes me feel like stopping. But if you do need to stop and walk for whatever reason when it’s cold, you will lose heat quickly and could find yourself in trouble if you’re too far from home.
Enjoy the different sensations from running in the winter – my run today was silent with just the sound of my feet crunching on snow. Your routes are all new again with different perspective. The seasons keep it fresh. I can’t imagine seeing the exact same scenery on my runs for 12 months of the year (ok, maybe people who are forced to run year-round in California aren’t suffering, but let’s try to look on the bright side). Here was the sun in all it’s blazing glory today:

Finally, when you’re getting out and running in this, you deserve a treat. I ended my run at Starbucks where my phone came back to life, I got a yummy warm drink, and all was well with the world.

Cheers!

Cross Training

January 20, 2013/in Blog Posts/by RWadmin

A few words about cross-training. I like it because:

It helps prevent injury by maintaining a balance in your muscular strength
It adds to your overall “functional fitness” and by this I mean, your ability to perform in other activities in life at a higher level, rather than just being really good at running in a straight line
It burns more calories, which, let’s be honest, is never a negative

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that a lot of my everyday activities involve “cross training” (at least I put them in that category). Sometimes I think “this has GOT to benefit my running somewhere down the line” and other times I think “thank god I’m a runner or I’d never be able to do this!” Yesterday was a big cross training day for me.

It started with a regular run. Then I had the kids in the house all afternoon and no car. The skating rink right beside our house was booked for the day. No problem. There’s one a short mile away – UPHILL. This is what we looked like heading out:

Then we added the chair which my youngest needs to a) skate and b) be pushed on by me when she gets tired of skating after the first 15 minutes.

This is the view from the top of the hill, and honestly, this photo does not do justice to the grade. It is a long, STEEP hill and I forced the kids to cheer me on from about halfway to the top (I completely forgot bike helmets until looking at this photo – the skating helmets, knee pads, gloves, 3 pairs of skates, hockey stick and chair made me incorrectly assume we had enough gear).

I probably shouldn’t count as cross-training (but I will) putting on 3 pairs of skates, helmets and shin-guards. I use the sweat-barometer test, and I was drenched by the time we hit the ice. Then it was time to actually skate (the main activity). For the most part they were fine skating on their own, although I was called on for more than the occasional game of tag, and to push the chair “Really Fast”. Thank goodness Thing 1 took pity on me and helped out by pushing Thing 2 for a while.

After about 45 minutes it was time to head to our local cafe for hot chocolate. Luckily I’d done this to them, so I could count on some quiet time later at home:

And what did I do with my “Quiet Time” at home? Cross trained of course! The one form of “real” cross training I’ve gotten into is Kettlebell. My husband and I have a set and a routine which takes 35 minutes. It is INTENSE and really feels like it’s doing a lot based on the endorphin buzz and muscle shakes it produces and the body soreness the next day. Here’s a picture of our instruments of torture:

They may look pretty, but they’re killer. We’ll see if they help my running – I’m trying to get them in once-twice a week.

As for how my run went this morning after yesterday’s workouts: let’s just say I’m glad I was finishing off my easy week and didn’t time my 7 mile route.

Now to gear up for a series of 3 build weeks in the freezing temps! I’m going to try to build to 70 in one of them. Stay tuned…