Most of us are well acquainted with the need to hydrate during long workouts. If you need a refresher, check out what we’ve written before on some basic rules for hydrating effectively. Once you are committed to the plan of periodic hydration during your workouts, you will need a strategy for how to transport that fluid along the way. There are many different ways of doing this, one for every personality and preference. Check out a few great options, and find out which one will work best so that fluid planning is less a chore, and more a pre-requisite for heading out on the door.
Old School Bottle
There are some folks for whom this article is hardly necessary. Grabbing a water bottle tchotchke from your last corporate retreat, the one the kids won’t need for soccer until the afternoon, or a fresh bottle of your favorite sports drink from the corner store, you can set off on an 18 mile jaunt with a basic water bottle in your hand and hardly notice it is there. Benefits: If you bought fluid from the 7-11, you can just toss the bottle when you are done at the nearest trash can. If you brought a bottle from home, this is probably the cheapest option out there. Drawback: If you like your hands free, this route is not for you.
Hand strapped bottle
If you are unafraid to have weight at the end of your arm, but don’t want to think about gripping the bottle, this option might just be for you. Often, these curve to mold your hand, and allow your mind to wander without worrying about dropping the goods. Benefits: Reusable bottle is an environmentally sound choice, feels a bit more comfortable than a basic bottle. Drawback: These types of bottles are not typically very large. You might need a couple or won’t have enough for an extra long route.
Backpack with straw
Popular with ultrarunners and those who like their hands free, this is a solution that allows a runner or walker to have a ready source of fluids while not needing to grip the goods with a hand or feel the weight around the waist. Benefits: Hands Free, keeps weight of fluid distributed evenly across the back. Drawbacks: Not everyone likes drinking out of a straw, and these systems are not nearly as cheap as a basic water bottle.
Fluid belt
This is a very popular option, but some athletes find the extra weight around the waist is a distraction if time is the primary objective. Small bottles are secured at places around a belt, worn throughout the workout. Benefits: Hands free, can add more bottles for some models and increase the amount of fluids you have on hand. Drawbacks: If you are sensitive to extra weight around the middle or a bit of bouncing, this isn’t for you. Also, the individual bottles can be fairly small, requiring multiple for extra long efforts.
Water fountain
Although ideally, your long efforts will include some calorie replacement as well as water consumption, an option always remains to plan your route where you know you can enjoy regular interactions with water fountains. Benefits: Hand free, no weight, water is often cold. Drawbacks: Risky as you never know if maintenance/ construction, or other unforeseen issues might scotch your plans, requires some additional source of calories – bar, gel, etc. Also this method requires you to stop moving for at least a few seconds.
As fluid replacement is such a crucial aspect of your longer training, it is well worthwhile experimenting with a solution you will stick with as your training will greatly benefit with a solid plan in place. Whether one of the solutions above fits the bill or another one is more your style, it is worth the effort to become consistent in this practice and reap the fitness benefits.
Whether you have just signed up for your first goal race or if you are in need of a new or different pair of shoes after hundreds of miles, here are a few terms that will help you navigate the local running / walking store. Familiarize yourself with the below and hopefully your helpful shoe salesperson’s jargon won’t overwhelm you when it comes time to choose the right shoe for you.
Neutral
If you are a neutral runner or walker, you don’t need too much support to get your foot striking and pushing off in a generally textbook fashion. Neutral shoes don’t provide excessive stability mechanisms or other overtly corrective technology.
Pronation / Supination
These two terms commonly come up in conversation when discussing how a foot strikes the ground and what it does after landing. Pronation is the inward roll of the foot after landing. Some pronation is fairly normal, although some athletes over-pronate which means rolling inward much more severely. This can in some cases lead to knee soreness and other over-use issues, and a shoe that helps guide the foot along a more neutral path might be suggested. Supination, on the other hand, is the outward rotation of the foot after it hits the ground, which may cause other overuse issues or just an uneven wear pattern in your shoes.
Minimal / Maximal / Drop
Minimal shoes have reduced the cushioning aspects of a typical shoe to try and encourage a stride which more closely resembles what we would do if not wearing any shoes at all. Maximal shoes have chosen an alternate route – the more cushioning the better. Despite these seemingly opposing approaches to finding the perfect ride, many of the popular models in each camp have a very modest drop, or difference in height between where the heel and forefoot sit. For example, a four inch high heel shoe has a 4 inch drop, while flip flops have zero drop. Many minimal and popular maximal shoes have 4 mm drop or less, while traditional shoes have 8mm or more.
Heel counter
The firm piece in the heel that helps keep it central within the shoe.
Last
The last is the mold on which the shoe is designed, usually made of a hard surface. Different types of lasts result in differently shaped shoes, and different ways of lasting can result differences in how the shoes are put together.
If your usual palette of running or walking routes is dominated by flat paths, there are several reasons why it makes sense to include some hill work in your regular rotation. Similarly, if your favorite loops include plenty of hills, there should be lots of motivation to savor the opportunity to get out there and plug away up the slopes. Even if your workouts are generally confined to a treadmill, raising the incline can also provide a taste of hills
In the past, we have detailed some basic tips for getting up and down hills efficiently. Even if you remember these tips, it is always good to periodically remind yourself of the basics which may have been neglected when other concerns become priorities while out for a run or walk.
Assuming you are moving efficiently and in a way that will help prevent injury, there are a number of good reasons to stick with this type of terrain, even if it is outside of your comfort zone.
Hills help you learn how to manage challenges without stressing out
Races (and even training) can often include unanticipated hurdles to clear, or rough patches. Adding some terrain where the pace may be slightly more difficult to come by or where your rhythm is disrupted can help remind you to move with efficient form. Hills encourage you to focus on slower, rhythmic breathing, which can also help even as the hill is crested. In short, hills help remove distractions and increase concentration on the task at hand. That can help, even if the going is currently a bit more tough.
Hills can turn a fear into a strength
Avoiding hills intentionally or unintentionally because they are difficult might be a way to avoid some more challenging workouts, but they also might obscure an opportunity to develop a new strength. Consider whether you want to approach a hilly section of your goal race with the attitude of dread or one where you tell yourself, “This is my time.” Practice on hills and you might find that you can cover that type of terrain better than others in your typical pace group. Rarely does it make sense to truly charge up a hill in the midst of your half or full marathon effort, but approaching the base of a climb with confidence that you are at least or even better prepared for the challenge than your fellow racers is an extremely positive feeling to have. You can even have a significant impact on your training partners with that positive attitude and help their confidence as well.
Hills can raise your heart rate without the pounding
When your schedule calls for efforts over a certain amount of time with qualitative descriptions for the paces, such as “uptempo,” an uphill path can achieve the desired effort with less gravitational pressure than would be required on a flat or downhill route. If impact related injuries are a concern or even if extended periods of time on hard surfaces are a concern, an uphill route can mitigate some of those stresses while not compromising the desired effort level. You may not be traveling that exact same speed as a flat path, but your cardiovascular system will be similarly stimulated.
Hills are strength work for key muscles
Running or walking up hills places an increased demand on your glutes, and calves, not to mention your quads, which are pushed both on the uphill as well as the downhill portions of your workout. These muscles are key for any goal race where serious fatigue can set in. Including hills sensibly in your weekly routine can help challenge these muscles and prepare them to handle the extraordinary requirements of a lengthy effort over an unforgiving pavement course.
Running or walking hills can be great for these or other specific benefits, but they also can just be a fun new challenge. Embrace what they offer and get the most of your time on the hills. Even if you don’t enjoy the process 100% of the time, it is usually time well spent toward the achievement of your goals. You may not enjoy them at the moment, but you will likely be glad for them when on the victorious side of the finish line.
One of the most interesting and perhaps culturally curious trends over the past several years has been the transition of chocolate milk from a treat for kids, to a serious nutrition application for competitive athletics. Surprisingly, a significant number of studies have been done to measure the effect of chocolate milk on performance over the past several years, charting the performance and recovery of cyclists, runners, soccer players, and more. In study after study, chocolate milk performs extremely well, as an option for recovery and refueling. If you have had a hard time wrapping your head around this idea, consider the various properties of chocolate milk as you would your favorite sports drink or water.
Optimal carb/ protein ratio
Many runners are well versed on the importance of refueling soon after running, and that carb snack 10-15 minutes after the workout can be rendered even more effective by the incorporation of some protein, at a about a 4:1 ratio between the two. Sports drink manufacturers have spent years creating an artificial beverage with those numbers. Chocolate milk features a ratio right along those lines naturally – no lab experiments necessary!
Key nutrients for bone health
Chocolate milk contains a wide variety of nutrients, many of which are great assets to good health and performance. Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and others are directly related to bone health and growth. One 8oz glass of chocolate milk provides approximately 1/3 of the recommended daily value for Vitamin D and nearly the same percentage of the recommended amount of calcium. As such, it is a great way to access some of our key nutrients from food rather than supplements or engineered beverages.
Plenty of electrolytes to replenish those lost in sweat
A glass of milk provides potassium, sodium in amounts that help an athlete stave off the effect from lots of sweating. There are actually more of each in chocolate milk compared with some of the most popular sports drinks, and certainly more in chocolate milk than water. If you need to sweat and sweat often, chocolate milk will help you replenish what you have lost and speed the recovery process.
Protein, a great builder
There are not many sports drinks that can also incorporate protein effectively, and it is even more difficult to have them do so if taste is a consideration. One glass of milk provides nearly 20% of the daily, recommended amount. Like pizza delivery that is both prompt and provides excellent pizza, protein found in chocolate milk is a great way to get this needed nutrient, in a very efficient manner.
Besides these many benefits, other studies have indicated even more reasons to consume chocolate milk, such as the presence of B vitamins, and other assets. Each of us has an individual preference for our recovery and fluid replacement vehicles, whether due to taste or if our bodies can process it effectively while running and without GI distress. If you are looking for an alternative or have never tried overtly refueling after exercise, chocolate milk might be a good place to start, and an enjoyable beverage to have stocked in the fridge for even the non-runners in the family.
Along with warm temperatures and more daylight, summer in our urban and suburban areas can also bring more days with poor air. Running is an activity typically considered beneficial to your health, but a huge dose of smog inhalation doesn’t seem like a great idea either. What else do we need to know?
Why is running in bad air a problem?
When we exercise, we require more air, breathing more rapidly and deeply than when we are on the couch. We also tend to breathe through our mouths, which means the protective capabilities of our nasal passages don’t help filter out some of the less desirable particles in the air as they normally would.
These less desirable particles come in many forms, as detailed by leading voices such as Roy Shepherd of Toronto Western Hospital, as far back as the early 80s in the lead up to the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Some, as in carbon monoxide emitted from car exhaust, inhibit the body’s ability to transport oxygen via red blood cells by sticking to the bonding points on the oxygen molecules. Less oxygen means impaired performance over the course of your session. Other chemicals such as the sulfur oxides coming from industrial sites, may gum up water particles in your body to create acidity and irritation in your airways[1].
Is that problem serious?
Certainly, many of us run all summer in heavily polluted areas and feel ok. Others have great difficulty. If you are pre-disposed to asthma or allergies, if you notice that your airway gets itchy even when others around you are fine, or you feel like you have a lingering common cold in polluted conditions, you should definitely be cautious. Pollution does increase the risk of some serious health issues, such as stroke, asthma, and heart problems, but exercise helps to reduce those risks as well. Visits to the doctor definitely tick up during smoggy periods, but then again, exercising regularly can keep you away from the clinic over the long term[2].
How to reduce the risks associated with running in polluted air
There is no way to completely eliminate the effects of the polluted air that summer might bring, even if exercise is taken out of the equation. However, we can do some things to help mitigate the negative impact and protect your body as much as you can.
Research is still ongoing, but studies appear to generally indicate that the benefits of exercise over the long term are greater than the near term negative impact of bad air while doing so. Listen to your own body, use common sense and the tips above, and hopefully the smog of summer won’t prevent your enjoyment of summer training.
At runcoach we are always researching new ways to help you move more and run faster. Tonight we will introduce several new enhancements for you.
After much demand we have created a new walk program. This program is designed for members intent on walking more miles or completing a race walk. Of course the experience is powered by the runcoach engine and adjusts to your progress and background.
Secondly, we recently completed a deep analysis of your results particularly from various distances. As a result, we have made some adjustments to our predicted races times to match them even closer to your previous results. These changes came from the analysis of over 100,000 race results - you sure have been racing!
We will take our service offline tonight from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time to accommodate the upgrades.
We're excited to introduce even more data-driven guidance and look forward to our future succes together.
On Wednesday, June 11, Garmin announced an application programming interface partnership with runcoach. But what does that actually mean for you and how do you take advantage?
You may have been enjoying your runcoach schedule and recording your workouts directly into the log. However, if you use a device to track your actual pace and distance while running, such as a Garmin device, runcoach has made it very simple to load these runs directly into your account.
Sign into runcoach, click on “Training” and select the “Sync Devices” button. You’ll be prompted to enter your Garmin Connect username and password. Your accounts will sync up and begin to communicate when you provide input, allowing you to save time and protect accuracy by loading your actual information into your runcoach log when you upload your Garmin data.
Note: Even if your Garmin device is set to your time zone, your Garmin Connect account might not be. Garmin Connect defaults everyone to Greenwich Mean Time. GMT is 4-7 hours ahead of most of our members so if you do an evening run it might show up on the following day.
Before your initial sync, we recommend checking this setting on the Garmin Connect site. Log on and then go to your Display Preferences: http://connect.garmin.com/settings
Our system works best for you when the information it receives is as accurate as possible. While a convenience for our users, connectivity such as the partnership with Garmin also helps runcoach work more effectively and craft your individual plan even more specifically.
Clicking on the Sync Devices button on your training schedule will also reveal that you can sync your runcoach device with Nike+, RunKeeper, and Fitbit. No matter which of these devices or systems you use to record your activity, runcoach is recognized by these organizations as a tool many of their customers are using to good advantage, just as runcoach understands that our users are enthusiastic customers of these companies and rely on these devices and their data on a daily basis.
Do you need to use one of these devices to make your runcoach schedule serve your needs? No, but as a technology company ourselves, we hope to grow alongside the increasing capability of devices that help our athletes get the most out of their running, and we look forward to similar future developments and progress. Enjoy syncing with Garmin and more importantly, enjoy the runs that create all that data!
For all the athletes we see sign up for races, set goals, follow through with their training and succeed, there are still others who are held back from taking the all important first step. Often, what prevents these individuals are fears that may not be well founded. Don’t let these common fears stand in your way!
I wasn’t an athlete growing up
Mildly traumatic memories of being the last one picked on the playground or sitting on the bench in youth soccer might sting, and leave runners with a sense that they were not cut out for sports. This is not an uncommon road to running. Many competitive runners turned to the sport after realizing their gifts lay elsewhere from ball sports or team games. Furthermore, the fable of the tortoise and the hare is seared into our memory for a reason. Persistence is an indispensable character trait for distance running. Many athletic people with tons of talent have fallen short of their goals as well. Talent and ability aren’t much without persistence. If you already have that grit, you have the biggest variable already on board.
I don’t look like a runner
A generation ago, the demographics of runners were much more homogenous. There were far fewer opportunities for new runners and those who endeavored just to complete the task. This is no longer the case. While Olympians might be somewhat birds of a feather in terms of body types, the millions of others completing races in the US and around the world tell us otherwise. The important thing to focus on is what your body can do rather than what it looks like. You are a functional device, and perhaps a more amazingly functional device than you could ever imagine. Focus on what you can do, and you might even surprise yourself.
I’ve never even run one mile straight
At one point, neither had any of us! Running is a rewarding pursuit for many reasons, but a huge one is that it provides countless opportunities for intermediate goals along your road to your big race. Running is about a positive mindset, and that confidence is a big factor. If you progress sensibly, what seemed long will eventually seem mundane. Integrating walking breaks between a few minutes of running at a time is one time honored way to progress to a longer distance. What was once 1 minute of running alternating with four minutes of walking can become 2 run / 3 walk, 3 run / 2 walk, and 4 run, 1 walk before you know it. Although it might take a little while, if you make incremental progress and give yourself proper recovery, you will eventually make it. You just need the courage to try.
Nobody I know runs
If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it, right? Running toward an endurance goal is not easy, but when you follow through and complete your goal, you set an invaluable example for family members or friends who may have thought you crazy for even trying. Running can be a great social activity if you have others to run with, and if you think you might enjoy that, try your local running store. Many stores have weekly informal training runs which fit well into your runcoach schedule. Meeting others training for a big goal can help you feel as though you aren’t alone with your body’s quirks, nervousness, or occasionally wavering confidence. Likewise, if you are the only one in the house who runs, flip the script and consider not how little people share your experience, but how you can share it with them. Encouraging others to run with you makes you accountable for how your training is going and can often help spur an athlete to take greater ownership over the road to success. More importantly, it can often make a crucial difference for a loved one who could benefit from improved fitness.
In short, none of us look or feel that great in the 25th mile of a marathon. After 26.2, the feeling of elation and the amazement about what the human body can accomplish wash over us in a much more indelible way and the memory of the difficult 25th mile begins to recede. When we focus on what we can do, what we can accomplish, what we have the ability to accomplish based on our insides rather than our outsides, we get farther. Take a chance on yourself and seize the opportunity to enjoy a finishing feeling of your very own.
If Meb Keflezighi’s victory at Boston taught us one thing, it is that we shouldn’t limit our belief in ourselves. After winning the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, Meb was injured in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic trials and was unable to even make the team. Responding from that enormous disappointment, he bounced back in spectacular fashion, becoming the first American to win the New York Marathon in 2009. Despite this superlative triumph, challenges again loomed as he parted with his primary sponsor, Nike, in 2010. Sponsor-less and with a young family, Meb began to build a stable of small partners, some of which were very new to the elite running market. Skechers, for one, known previously for building shoes that they professed would tone the backside, banked on Meb to help their brand translate to the running masses, and became his footwear and uniform sponsor. Meb responded by winning the 2012 marathon trials and finishing just out of the London medals in fourth. Again riding high but facing training challenges leading in, Meb entered New York in 2013 as the favorite son, only to have the type of difficult day that would cause most in his position to drop out rather than post a result much lower than expectations. Instead, he persisted at a much slower pace for the last several miles, even befriending and finishing hand in hand with a local athlete, inspired by the tragedy of Boston. And then, of course, there was Monday.
Entering a half or full marathon can be intimidating when the pictures we see and the stories we follow are often at the front of the pack. However, one of the most positive changes over the past generation has been the way so many millions of people have been able to personalize the challenge of the race to their own level.
At runcoach we train many walkers and first time runners with a simple goal, to finish the race. For many, that accomplishment is the culmination of a lifetime of doubt and the gateway to a new era of self-confidence and belief. Although it may seem like Meb’s performances are as far away as the sea is wide, there are several ways in which his race and career translate directly to our hopes for these athletes.
He is not the fastest, but he gets the most out of himself every time.
One of the many ways in which Meb’s story hits a nerve with many of us is that his times aren’t the fastest of his cohort. Despite his Olympic medal, his New York and Boston victories, his personal best, set Monday, is a full five minutes behind the world record and several minutes slower than many of the competitors he faced on each of those days. In fact, his time on Monday is equivalent to only the 77th best time run in 2013. If he is concerned with this, it hasn’t shown. Meb trains and races to the best of his ability each time out. As his career has shown, that approach is often more than good enough.
He is persistent despite setbacks.
Meb has had bad days (2008 Olympic Trials, 2013 New York Marathon), but he has memorably chosen to finish rather than give up. He has had times when he could have fallen back on his UCLA degree and quit, rather than persist in a running career when he didn’t have a primary sponsor and many felt he was over the hill. Somehow, he found the belief to persist and his persistence has paid off.
He has modified his training to do what is right for him, not the masses.
In recent years, Meb has cross trained by using the ElliptiGO (elliptical bike), moved from altitude Mammoth Lakes to San Diego, and made other adjustments that have allowed him to stretch his world class athletic career to this pinnacle at age 38,. These are not the changes that would have been dictated by conventional wisdom on world class distance running. Many of our athletes are tempted to chase arbitrary standards about how much a person should run per week, what pace is “really running,” and more. Our plans are personalized to you for a reason – we want you to be healthy and successful on race day. We don’t believe in templates, because we know each athlete has different strengths and challenges in their schedule, injury history, and athletic experience (or maybe they have none at all). Our plans intend to help you progress toward your goals, and then help set new ones. These are personal to you, just like Meb has been able to find a successful formula specific to him.
His goals are to get to the starting line healthy, THEN run his best time. In that order. Sound familiar?
Reflecting on the events of the last week, it is amazing to take a look at his blog from last year at this time. One little known aspect of this story is that Meb was actually forced to withdraw from last year’s race due to a freak injury sustained when encountering a dog on a run. We can all relate to that type of inadvertent event in our own lives, and like us, he knows it is not always subject to his control whether or not he is successful in that first goal. His second goal is to set a personal best. Setting a personal best means doing something you have not done in the past. For many of us, that is no different than making it farther than we have before. “Personal best” does not necessarily mean running fast – it means doing your best. It also requires the confidence to do it at the right time, not pushing so hard every day leading up to the big one that you have nothing left to give. Your plan is crafted to set you up the same way.
Of course, one significant difference from most of us is that Meb’s third goal was to WIN the race, a goal made probably so much more resonant in its accomplishment when he had to miss last year, not to mention for all the other reasons mentioned above. Completing a race for a world class athlete can have reverberations felt far beyond themselves, and they know it. Their families benefit, their communities may benefit, others like ourselves may be inspired to do something audacious. Like these athletes, even as walkers and first-timers, our efforts make a difference. While we may not have a platform affecting millions, our efforts to persist, do our best, and accomplish new challenges can reverberate to those we care about, and to those they care about. Meb’s win at Boston sprung from a series of challenging times and goals set and stuck to. His victory, while amazing, is also just a simple testament to the power of belief and commitment to continue getting out the door each day. Like all of us, there have been days where that was more difficult than others, days when those around him thought he didn’t have the ability to be successful in his task, days when he may have even doubted it himself. We may not be able to run as fast as Meb, but we should never discount the power of that belief in ourselves, and regardless of the finishing time, the elation of passing under the finishing banner.
