Staying Cool on the Run
Coach Amy Staying Cool on a Hot Run
“Bzzz” my smart watch alerted me three miles into a grueling hot and humid run. I looked down to see what all the “buzz” was about: my fitness level was a negative 3! What the heck? Despite all my recent training, my watch determined that my current fitness level was down. URGH!
The fact is my pace WAS slower and my heart rate WAS higher, as was my RPE (rate of perceived exertion). It was not due to lack of training but rather the heat and humidity. I know I’m not alone and it’s completely normal as our weather shifts from spring into summer.
Check out the article on the Roadrunners of Kansas City blog for strategies on how to properly and safely acclimate to running in the heat and humidity.
Glitchy Technology? Temporarily Go “Old School.”
Imagine this…after a long day at work, you muster up the willpower, throw on your running garb, squeeze your feet into your bike shoes or yank on your swimsuit for a workout. Against every fiber of your being, you pull energy from seemingly nowhere and step outside, hop on the trainer, or jump in the water. You turn on your training device and wah wah wah, it stops working! You don’t receive heart rate, pace, cadence, power…whatever it is that you want or NEED to track.
We’ve become evermore reliant on technology to provide us with helpful data. Coaches prescribe, tailor and assess workouts based on a number of parameters such as cadence, pace, power, and heart rate. As athletes we rely on this information to meet goals during the workout, but the completed workout also becomes part of our log. We even tease each other, “if your device didn’t record it, it didn’t happen.”
So what to do when our training device fails? It inevitably does, whether it’s a connectivity problem, a battery problem or even worse a software programming issue! Should we take a hammer to the device and pulverize it? Oh, I’ve recently spent several trainer rides envisioning that option when my device kept failing. Thankfully, I didn’t follow through with my grand plans for a temporarily gratifying solution. Several chats with helpful and knowledgeable tech support and a software update later; it’s working and I’m back on track.
When technology fails, what can an athlete do besides exclaim obscenities? Use it as an excuse to bail altogether? My advice is to just press on. Not the “ON” button - maybe pressing OFF would be good actually. What I mean is, just keep going.
Don’t give up. Instead, go “old school.” In the not too distant past we trained with nothing more than a stop watch. In the pool, we used a poolside timer. For heart rate, we stopped and counted beats per second. We didn’t have power output on our road bikes, unless we were in a research lab.
Use what you have on hand like your phone’s stopwatch (another piece of tech that is hopefully charged and working), and your brain. Do the math to determine your splits. Take your pulse at your wrist: count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to get your beats per minute.
Most importantly, listen to your body. It will tell you what to do. How do you feel? What is your rate of perceived exertion (RPE)? Are you supposed to be pushing your threshold? If so, go for a “feels like” hard difficulty level. Be flexible, and know it’s not just ONE workout that makes or breaks your training. It’s consistency and effort that lead to success. So allow yourself a moment of frustration when things don’t work as planned, and then let it go, press on and go “old school.” Soon you will get your device working and will have that precious data back. Even though you may end up without any technological proof of your workout, you know you did it and so does your body, and that’s really all that matters.
Why a Coach Needs a Coach
Coach Amy on the podium (far right) while her coach takes a photo with her phone.
Coach Amy explains the value of having her own coach in her most recent Roadrunners of Kansas City blog article.
Take Care When Riding Upright on the Trainer
Who’s guilty of warming up on the bike trainer or stationary bike sitting upright, hands free, scrolling through social media? Me! Riding upright in the saddle with unintended excessive lordosis (arch) in the lower back could cause back pain and injury (see photos above).
Mike Irwin, owner of BicycleFit Rx recently weighed in on this subject: "For triathletes, the nose of the saddle is purposefully adjusted in more of a downward tilt for proper fit, so sitting upright will tend to cause even more anterior pelvic tilt. Once the athlete starts pedaling in the upright position and the hips are moving, it forces the back into more extension (tilt)."
So, friends, be aware of proper posture when riding upright and use a strong core to stabilize and prevent back injury. Otherwise set that phone down and lean forward, hands or forearms on the bars!
Article Co-Contributor: Mike Irwin
Don't Run on a Balance Beam
Ever have muddy, bruised or bloody shins or ankles after a run? This can happen with a crossover running gait. Not only does it leave unwanted scuffs on your ankle, it is inefficient and can cause IT band pain, knee pain or shin splints.
A crossover run gait is a narrow step width. To the trained eye, it kind of looks like the runner is running on a balance beam. One leg drifts inwards near the front of the other with each step. This tends to happen in runners with weak hips, and with some runners sets in with fatigue towards the end of longer runs.
Runners lose power with this gait because the hips are not in the ideal position for push off, and more energy is required to push off the ground from the crossed over position. Landing in the cross over position also puts added strain on the the lateral line (gluteus medius, ITB, tibia) and can result in pain and injury.
Most runners don’t even realize they have faulty gait patterns. A professional running gait evaluation can help bring this to light. Changing run gait should be done gradually and with professional assistance to avoid injury.
Experiencing pain while running, or suspicious of an improper run gait? Schedule an appointment with CoachAmyPT for a thorough evaluation and treatment plan.
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How to Treadmill Safely
Ice, deep snow and sub zero temperatures are driving many endurance athletes indoors to the treadmill this winter. Unfortunately, running a long distance on the treadmill may do more harm than good especially if used as a short term substitute to overground running without adjusting for the fact that it is a different surface. Coach Amy explains why runners should exercise caution when choosing the treadmill and shares tips on how to treadmill safely in this article from the Roadrunners of Kansas City blog:
Need for Speed
Did you know Coach Amy is actually a coach? Amy is a running coach who owns and operates the running club, Roadrunners of Kansas City. If you are a distance runner or endurance athlete, there is so much more that goes into achieving your goals than just getting in your weekly miles.
RRKC offers weekly outdoor speed workouts (Winter and Spring) that incorporate running drills, intervals, fartleks, supersets, hill training, and more. Workouts are personalized to each athletes' goals and experience level. The purpose of speed training is to improve efficiency and power, and to teach the body to run under fatigue. Coach Amy’s method includes a focus on both running form and the running mind.
RRKC’s first 6-week speed work session starts on February, 12th. Sessions are held at various outdoor parks on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. Space is limited, so act fast to run fast!
Why Runners Shouldn't Sit Like A Tailor
The Tailor Sit
Sitting in the tailor position is comfortable for a lot of people, but for the runner, it comes at a hefty price. Tailor sitting for a prolonged period of time puts strain on the knees, over stretches some muscles and shortens others. One of the key muscles plays a big role in running: the PIRIFORMIS.
Sitting in the tailor position lengthens the piriformis making it weak; imagine the muscle is like a really old, saggy stretched out rubber band. It doesn’t spring well does it?
The piriformis is supposed to stabilize the hip when the run foot strikes the ground. Running with a weakened one can lead to injury of the muscle itself as well as other muscles, nerves, and joints of the back, hips, knees or feet!
The weak piriformis is deceiving. It will often times feel tight even when it really isn’t because the brain is sending messages to it to contract. This can also irritate the sciatic nerve causing a big “pain in the butt”.
What to do with an overly long piriformis? Foam roll, strengthen and if more help is needed, schedule an appointment at CoachAmyPT for Active Release, Dry Needling and functional strengthening.
Brain Power: Using Mental Imagery to Boost Recovery from Sports Injury
Visual imagery during a cat nap can boost performance and recovery.
I was reminded of the power of mental imagery recently when learning to breathe bilaterally (to the right and the left) while swimming. I started out visually rehearsing breathing to both sides as I fell asleep. I dreamt about it over and over again. The next day I hopped into the pool and tried to swim bilaterally for the first time. The first 200 yards were ugly; I swallowed a lot of water, but then I was able to do it!
Research has shown that even without physical practice, mentally playing through activity such as running, biking or swimming can carry over into the physical world. And, when combined with actual training has a significant impact in performance over training alone.
If mental imagery works to enhance performance, then patients resting from sport could benefit from this practice, along with their other therapies, boosting the success of recovery until return to sport is physically possible.
So, lay down for a cat nap - close those eyes and begin to imagine your moves. When we believe, great things can happen!
How to Safely Run in the Snow
There are risks and rewards to running in the snow. Knowing how to do so safely can be enjoyable and beneficial. Snow running provides resistance making it a challenging workout. Because of the increased resistance and uneven surfaces, injury can occur if steps are not taken to accommodate for it.
To safely run in the snow, slow down pace, shorten stride and decrease planned distance. Consider decreasing the distance by 1/2 to 1/3 of planned mileage depending upon the depth of the snow. For example, a training plan that calls for 10 miles, should drop down to 5-7 miles in snowy conditions.
It is helpful to wear trail shoes or traction cleats such as yaktrax to improve stability with landing and power with push off on the snow.
Expect your calves and hamstrings to be a bit more sore than usual. Running should never be painful. Pain = STOP.
If snow is so deep that it requires high knees to clear the feet, consider snowshoeing or cross country skiing instead and skip the run! The hip flexors will be much happier.
Be attuned to the weather conditions. Did we have a thaw and then a refreeze? This can cause snow to become icy on top or underneath. Running on ice is a no-no. The injury risk is too high for the reward. Consider running on an indoor track or cross training instead.
Happy snow running!