Holding it All Together

[Sandy]

     If you are contemplating a long race for the 2012 season now would be a good time to get back to basics.  As runners we want to run, not do yoga or weights or worry about anything else besides piling up the miles.  As a running coach I?m most concerned with keeping my clients running over the long term.  All runners at the elite level know that to run your best race you have to commit to a five year plan.  Within those five years you work on improving all elements of your run but should not anticipate running your goal race in your ultimate goal time sooner rather than later.
     Even when you prepare properly, have the best equipment and run all your training miles if you have neglected your form things could potentially fall apart late in your runs causing you to slow and possibly stop...this is best case scenario.  Worst case scenario is developing an injury due to weak stabilizer muscles.
     Turn over or cadence is a great place to start, ensuring that you are targeting 175-185 steps per minute.  Next ?listen? to your body and be aware of what it is doing.  Have your feet gotten louder indicating floppy feet or fatiguing lower leg muscles?  Are you swinging your arms correctly from the shoulder back and forth or are you rocking the baby?  Are you tight?  Try smiling and imagine holding an egg in your hand.
     If you find yourself slouching think about tightening your core muscles, specifically your transverse abdominus.  It is the deepest layer of abdominal muscles and is responsible for balance, rotation and behaves like a corset.  To feel this muscle put your hand on your stomach and cough.  The contraction you feel is your transverse.  If you can learn to activate this during simple activities like sitting, standing and breathing then you can learn to hold it tight during running which will put your pelvis in a proper position for running and will allow other core muscles to engage and carry their designated load.  The ability to engage your transverse can make the difference between a stumble to the finish and a PR.
     
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     Disney Marathon weekend was held on January 8th.  Frolicking through the parks in the half marathon were Nicole Novroski (3:00:45), Sandy Novroski (2:12:04), Matthew Killby (2:53:22), and Julianne Schwartz (3:22:22).  In the Goofy and a Half Challenge where participants run the half-marathon (21k) on Saturday and then the full marathon (42k) on Sunday were Laurie Thompson posting a 2:25:03 followed by 4:54:58 and Phil Howlett running 2:51:33 then 6:29:08.
     Upcoming local races: The Frozen Ass 4k/8k Snowshoe race to be held at Batawa and hosted by Tri & Run Sports on February 5th at 10am; registration available at www.triandrunsports.com.  The Bakers Dozen 5k, 8k, 13k and Joanne?s Own Damn Race 2.5k will be held from Tri & Run Sports on January 29th at 9:00am.  This is a fundraising event for Jim and Joanne Baker, for more information please call Tri & Run Sports at 613-392-7752.

[Debbie1armstrong]

Very helpful, thank you Sandy....oh I have so much to learn!

[Gazelle]

Upon reading about the 175-185 spm (steps per min) I began researching music that could help and then I began to realize something.  My fitness instructor occasionally played a CD that had Billy Idol Dancing With Myself, Ricky Martin Livin La Vida Loca, Don Henley Boys Of Summer, etc when I ran on the treadmill.  I found those songs so darn runnable and now I understand why - they all have bpm around 180.

Unfortunately it is difficult to find songs at 180 bpm or even 90 bpm (doubling up by striking with the same foot).  Most music is around 120-130 bpm.

You can do a search for music with 180 bpm and come up with many lists that various runners have compiled, even by genre.  Some of those songs seem rather slow or peaceful for running, and there are others like In Da Club (90 bpm) by 50 Cent that I'm sure some would find annoying.  There are other alternatives to signed artists including running CDs of popular songs rehashed to 180 bpm (if you don't find the renditions too cheesy), podcasts, and software that can speed up the bpm (you can kill some songs for yourself - lol).

But discussing running music should be started in a new thread if people are interested.

[Sandy]

If you have an Ipod there is a metronome app or do as we do at the store and use an electronic hand held metronome.  Set it to 180 and turn it on periodically throughout your run.

Here are some some websites to check out:
http://runningmusicmix.com/180-mix.html
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2952814
http://running.about.com/od/musicforrunning/a/Running-Songs-At-180-Bpm.htm
http://www.remanents.com/blog/180-bpm-running-music/

[David]

I use the metronome on my runs and that tick rock sound is not so soothing. Music now that sounds interesting, tell me more!

[Sandy]

Does the tic tock motivate you to run faster?   

[Gazelle]

I don't listen to any music when running outdoors as I like to be aware of my surroundings.  Since my route uses a park path I rarely have to deal with cars which is the main thing to be aware of when outdoors, although I may attract the occasional yappy dog.  There is some benefit to not having your ears plugged by earphones to help gauge wind direction and speed - part of the overall wind sensory determination by the brain.

However indoors on a treadmill, that would be different, where some distraction is beneficial.  The problem I have is I hate the flopping of the earphone cord.  I tried running the cord underneath my shirt, but since I like to wear form-fitting moisture wicking shirts, I find the cord rides down and eventually pulls out from the ears.  It is possible to go wireless but there aren't many choices out there.  Sweat resistant earbuds are desirable.  JayBird makes a high quality (and pricey) pair but I have not tried them yet.

As far as finding songs to pace to, there are many lists out there and Sandy has posted some good ones.  You just have to watch that some lists aren't accurate.  For instance the 3rd link "Running songs at 180 bpm" generalizes the songs to be about 180.  It lists Running Down A Dream to be 180 when it is in fact 169.  That could be a problem for pacing to go from a 185 bpm song to 169.  There are a few online metronome or drum beat generators that you can check the bpm against (if you have the ear for it).  

You can also search for the name of the song followed by bpm or beats per minute, and many links will list what the bpm approximately is.  I say approximately as some links are for remixed versions by DJs and may have been altered a bit to suit their purposes.

The one thing I wonder about running to a bpm song or metronome is that as you get faster will your turnover naturally increase a bit?  It would be detrimental to get locked into certain songs then.

[Sandy]

You should be able to "run" at 180 spm standing still which is the first drill we teach people.  Some people will increase their turn over naturally as they increase their speed but we mostly see people trying to take longer more looping strides as they speed up because they think that is the way to get faster.

[April]

I use my iPhone in my pocket/fuel belt, turned up loud enough to hear it when it's quiet. Nothing in my ears. When cars pass I can't hear the music but after a while it's just white noise anyway. I've found I've fallen into a natural pace now. Every once in a while I count my steps, especially when I'm fatiguing. I have a check list that I go through. Posture, turnover, look forward, etc. It helps me get through the rough patches