When you first start running, you'll soon be amazed at how great you feel. You'll be thrilled at how you are soon able to run faster and farther than you had ever dreamed. If you are competitive at all, you'll soon be setting goals for races at longer distances - half and full marathons, etc.
Stop!
When you start running, changes start occurring in your body very quickly. Your muscles start getting stronger, new microscopic blood paths start developing. Your heart and lungs quickly adapt to your new, healthy habit and you feel great, almost invincible.
Your bones, ligaments and tendons take much longer to adapt and that is where breakdown occurs. Plantar Fasciitis, shin splints, stress fractures - these are the results of new runners taking on too much, too quickly.
So take your time. Move up to the point where you can run 20 or so miles a week and then hold it for a few months. Race sparingly. Every race does not need to be a PR. Run some for fun. Help pace a slower runner. Getting to your best running condition possible takes several years, not a few months.
I know, you're saying it won't happen to you. It will. It happened to me and every over zealous runner I've ever met. Give it time and make your new running lifestyle something you can enjoy continuously, not only when you are not injured.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The Every Other Day, Hard/Easy Week Myth
From time to time I see postings on running web sites, usually by beginners, that go something like this:
I've been running every other day, so that gives me a nice easy week, hard week pattern by running 3 days one week and 4 days the next.
Horse Feathers!
I'll agree that, looking at the calendar, you are indeed, running 3 days one week and 4 days the next. But are you really alternating easy / hard weeks? NO! What does your body see?
Hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy. Day after day after day after day.
Is there ever a period of several days where your body gets a rest? No. Even if you rest every other day, your body needs a spell of less work every once in while for a period longer than a day.
If you insist on running every other day, then every other week try walking one of those workouts, or ride a bike. You need to give your body a rest, or at least a spell of easier workouts that lasts longer than a day.
I've been running every other day, so that gives me a nice easy week, hard week pattern by running 3 days one week and 4 days the next.
Horse Feathers!
I'll agree that, looking at the calendar, you are indeed, running 3 days one week and 4 days the next. But are you really alternating easy / hard weeks? NO! What does your body see?
Hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy. Day after day after day after day.
Is there ever a period of several days where your body gets a rest? No. Even if you rest every other day, your body needs a spell of less work every once in while for a period longer than a day.
If you insist on running every other day, then every other week try walking one of those workouts, or ride a bike. You need to give your body a rest, or at least a spell of easier workouts that lasts longer than a day.
Boston or Bust!
When I first started running back in the early 1980's, Bill Rodgers was my running idol. Boston Billy won the Boston Marathon 4 times. I was a newbie runner, running lots of 10Ks and dreaming of running one at sub-40 minutes. But a marathon??? That was for the crazies and the elites like Bill.
In 2002, after years of short-lived returns to running, I finally started running consistently. I built my miles, started entering races, and set my sites on the goal of running the Chicago Marathon.
I did it! Not just in 2003, but again in '04, '05, '06, and 2007. The last one, in 2007, was the year of the heat, the shortened marathon and for me, the culmination of a mediocre year of training.
My PR marathon in 2006 left me beat, worn out, and in pain for months. My feet hurt, my hips hurt. It is hard to explain. I worked very hard for my 3:53 marathon PR, but I sure did not like how it left me. In spite of the heat and humidity in 2007, I knew, deep down, that my poor performance was in large part my own fault. I had trained poorly. I needed to train smarter. Not just to get faster, but to get to the next race feeling great and to avoid the aches and pains of my PR training year.
When our neighbors told us that their daughter's wedding was the Saturday of Chicago Marathon weekend this year, it gave me a good excuse to take this year off from marathoning. I needed the break to heal, get some motivation back, and hit it hard in 2009.
The motivation has been hard to come by, but I'm feeling much better. I have 13 months to get back to running consistently, get into the best shape of my life, and qualify for the Boston Marathon by running Chicago in 3 hours 45 minutes or better.
Can I do it? I think I can. I know with the right, consistent training, I'll be able to. It won't be easy, but it is my goal. Boston or Bust!
In 2002, after years of short-lived returns to running, I finally started running consistently. I built my miles, started entering races, and set my sites on the goal of running the Chicago Marathon.
I did it! Not just in 2003, but again in '04, '05, '06, and 2007. The last one, in 2007, was the year of the heat, the shortened marathon and for me, the culmination of a mediocre year of training.
My PR marathon in 2006 left me beat, worn out, and in pain for months. My feet hurt, my hips hurt. It is hard to explain. I worked very hard for my 3:53 marathon PR, but I sure did not like how it left me. In spite of the heat and humidity in 2007, I knew, deep down, that my poor performance was in large part my own fault. I had trained poorly. I needed to train smarter. Not just to get faster, but to get to the next race feeling great and to avoid the aches and pains of my PR training year.
When our neighbors told us that their daughter's wedding was the Saturday of Chicago Marathon weekend this year, it gave me a good excuse to take this year off from marathoning. I needed the break to heal, get some motivation back, and hit it hard in 2009.
The motivation has been hard to come by, but I'm feeling much better. I have 13 months to get back to running consistently, get into the best shape of my life, and qualify for the Boston Marathon by running Chicago in 3 hours 45 minutes or better.
Can I do it? I think I can. I know with the right, consistent training, I'll be able to. It won't be easy, but it is my goal. Boston or Bust!
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