Over the course of a 13 or 26-mile effort, music can be a welcome distraction. And after a few of these, bands or music along the course become a part of the day worth looking forward to. Occasionally, there are some renegade bands or neighborhoods that will greet the athletes streaming by with some unexpected tunes, but more likely than not, there are some tested and true tropes that will appear like the daily mail. See if this rings true for your next goal race or brings back fond memories of your last.
Fanfare
Goal races like marathons or half marathons are often signposts indicating the culmination of weeks and months, maybe years of hard work. Race organizers know this, and rarely miss a chance to set the tone with music usually associated with the grandest stages and ultimate opportunities. “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” can set the mood, or in the case of the New York Marathon, a ritual playing of “New York, New York” after the starting cannon sounds. These songs mean to celebrate your achievement, and with a wink, remind you how awesome it is that you get to do such an amazing race as the one you are doing right now!
Movie Tunes
Without a scientific study it is hard to know for sure, but no experienced marathoner would be surprised if the Rocky theme was awarded the most played song award. Those familiar notes are there to remind you that you are in a fight! You can win! All that training is going to pay off! “Rocky” along with the song from the opening credits of Chariots of Fire, and “Eye of the Tiger” are not there for subtle encouragement and secondary meanings. Those songs are played and received as direct reminders of your purpose and your ability. Listen and heed - the finish line is coming! While the Chariots of Fire tune is a good song for the first few miles when the runners and walkers are thick across the road and optimism is high, playing “Rocky” or “Eye of the Tiger” too early implies that you should be tired and need encouragement. Those are best deployed for the second half of the race.
Cover Band Music With an Inspirational Sweet Spot
Any band signing up to play along a half or full marathon must consider what overtly or even vaguely inspirational songs are in their wheelhouse. Failing that, they must consider if they can play any songs that have lyrics related to running or even just the word “running” anywhere in the song. For many cover bands, this list includes “Runnin’ Down a Dream” by Tom Petty, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, and “Where the Streets Have no Name” by U2. For the guitar alone this last one works wonders on the tired spirit, but when you belt out “I wanna RUN” for that first line, you know you are legitimately helping people! Urban selections might include “Runnin’” by the Pharcyde or “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae. With a barely more subtle subtext than the overt anthems, these songs help to remind you (in case you forgot) that you should be running, moving, walking, progressing. Just in case you did indeed forget. Failing that, many of them have a good beat, which works just as well.
Highly inappropriate or sad songs
Sometimes, the best-laid plans go awry, and the playlist wasn’t quite as thoughtfully considered as it might have been. For example, “Tears of a Clown” is probably not a winner (true story – it has been played), and other sad songs might greet a walker or runner who has the misfortune of passing a band who is now playing on vapors, exhausting the last drops of their repertoire. Sometimes, a cheer station or a neighborhood lets loose with a song that nobody remembered had a line or two of completely inappropriate language or verbal imagery. Better bet is to play the same solid songs three times each rather than a ballad, a sad song, or an explicit tune played over the loudspeaker to the entire neighborhood. It might be boring to the band, but the runners and walkers only get the one moment. A few depressing thoughts as well as a smile due to the randomness of the choice can occur as a result of these. Even concurrently. Additional note: “We are the Champions” or “Celebration” by Kool ‘n’ the Gang should never be played unless the finish line is in sight. That’s teasing!
High School Bands and Various Cultural Music Sources
Sometimes school bands volunteer to support the local athletes in the big race or a band with a specific cultural musical specialty signs up to help. What they may lack in anything resembling tunes that relate to running, they often contribute doubly in energy and spirit. Sometimes it is their tunes and even the actual incongruence of the music with the situation that end up resonating as a fond memory in the days and weeks after the race.
Hype man
One of the many great informal traditions of a large running and walking event is the occasional neighborhood individual equipped with a microphone, a speaker, potentially some background music, and a great deal of energy. Kudos to these folks, willing to just call out bib numbers, shirt colors, Sharpied names, and other filler for hours. Never underestimate the power of having your name called over a loudspeaker, and never underestimate the ability of a well-timed musical distraction to make the finish line seem just a bit closer.
The recently held Berlin Marathon lived up to its potential for fast times and then some, with Dennis Kimetto shattering the existing world marathon record by 26 seconds and becoming the first human being under 2 hours and 3 minutes. If you are keeping score, that is an average pace of 4:41 per mile, or essentially the equivalent of running 105 laps around a track and hitting 70 seconds on each one.
Performances like this can seem so many light years away that the average athlete may feel that they can barely relate. Yes, Kimetto covered 26.2 miles in an amazingly fast time, but looking beneath the surface, races like his can yield connections that can encourage us all, even if we are in the middle or the back of the pack.
The Berlin marathon benefitted from the mano a mano duel Kimetto staged with his mentor Geoffrey Mutai. Although we aren’t yet looking for Must See TV or world fame with our distance exploits, having a complicated race plan can sometimes add more stress than it is worth. Some top quality races have huge fields of aspiring world class athletes, but the race may become strategic as a result. If a fantastic time is the goal, nothing beats an old fashioned foot race with one or two people. The mind can’t drift and so stays alert, and the athlete is able to race at the optimum pace indicated by training. Toward the end you can race for the finish, but until then remind yourself of your confidence, tell the truth about your training log, and wait patiently for your turn.
Many of our runcoach trainees are in the middle of heavy training for their fall goal races. As some of the most challenging weeks of the year, this period can often seem like one step after another beyond the comfort zone. Experienced runners will recognize this as a normal part of the training cycle, but if experience is not yet on your side, here are a few tips for making it through the heavy load to the restful period of the taper.
Your full body of training is preparing you – not just the long runs
It is easy to get very caught up with your weekend long efforts, and if one goes poorly or has to be skipped due to an unforeseen circumstance, it can be scary to be even a bit off track. Don’t forget that the efforts you make throughout the week – harder ones as well as the key recovery days, are building a tapestry that provides your safety net. One snag doesn’t mean disaster, and staying confident despite a setback can be good practice in case your race plan doesn’t go absolutely smoothly on the day either.
It’s ok to “look down”
Heights can be scary, unless you are standing on a firm foundation. Your many weeks of work have stacked up, and now you are attempting very challenging tasks. The good news is, you are prepared! Don’t be afraid to look back at your training log to see where you’ve come from when you started. Be encouraged that if you have been able to ascend so far and are doing ok, you will be ok to keep it up just a few more weeks.
Plan for dessert
If your challenge is staying motivated as the training has become more difficult, consider planning something fun to look forward to at the end of your goal race. The planning and anticipation can be a bit of a healthy distraction to keep your mind off the hard parts to come and to keep the goal race day and its aftermath as a red letter day to look forward to rather than be fearful of.
“I can’t” is almost always just down the block from “I will”
Oftentimes the hardest part of a training cycle or race is closer to the end than the beginning. You are a bit tired and have been stretched, maybe mentally and physically. You might be wondering if you have what it takes to go all the way. These thoughts are completely common, but experienced racers know that often the time between these thoughts and the time when the finish line feels absolutely within reach are almost always pretty close together. If you have been training for 12 weeks and you only have four to go, consider that 2-3 of those weeks will have a decreased demand as you taper and doing the math, you only have about one week of tough stuff to endure. If you have made it through 12 weeks, the fact is that you can definitely make it through one more. Take one day at a time and look forward to the moment when you can sniff the finish and you can rejoice in getting through the forest of heavy training. You’ll deserve some congratulations not only for the training itself, but staying calm and confident despite the occasional storm. Savor the feeling!
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.
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!
