Image by Mitch Mandel (September 2010 Runners World)

Exercising while barefoot is a good way to work on your balance, proprioception (joint position sense) and lower leg strength. Runners World has a fine short article on Barefoot Exercise written by Adam Bean (which I was interviewed for) in the September, 2010 issue and online.

Several Videos of an agile athlete demonstrating the exercises are online and on the iPad app.

The wobble board exercise is particularly good for many ankle injuries as part of a recovery plan. The toe curls and toe pickups can be helpful in conjunction with an overall plan for plantar fasciitis. Overall the series of exercises was set up for a healthy runner. In you have an injury, check with your sports doc or PT for advice specific to your injury.

Toe Curls

Toe Pickups

Wobble Board

One-leg Hops

One Leg Squats

Two Steps Forward One Step Back: Marching To Marathon Success

The 10% rule of limiting weekly increases in mileage to no more than ten percent is widely quoted as the sin qua non of incremental training. In many cases even this may be too much. An invariably rising load of 10 percent each week may not give your body time to recover from the stresses of running.

In marathon training, I believe that for beginners, the long run is the key to successful completion of the marathon. Many years ago, in a very early survey, it was found that if an individual had completed 3 long runs of  18 miles or more (for example two 18 mile runs and one 20 mile run) the chances of completing the marathon were well over 90 percent.

Good questions are: 1) how to get to those long distances and 2) how long should your longest run be. The reason we ask these questions are to both be successful in completing the marathon and to limit injuries and enhance recovery.

I like what I call a “two steps forward, one step back” approach. I recommend this as a guide to the long run, up to about 17 or 18 miles. What this means is that you move up gently in your long distance running mileage for two weeks, than have a considerably easier and shorter long run. Once you have reached a long run of about 18 miles, you take two easier weeks to allow your body a good recovery.  And the long run only has to top out at about 20 miles for a successful completion of the marathon. Two to three other days of running and one to two days of cross training would work well with this approach to the long run. There are some programs that advocate an approach like this, while a good many just keep moving up the mileage. For beginners, I favor this gentle approach with recovery that is built into the schedule.

Weeks until Marathon : Long Run Distance

19: 8

18: 9

17: 10

16: 6

15: 12

14: 13

13: 8

12: 15

11: 16

10: 10

9: 18

8: 10

7: 12

6: 18

5: 10

4: 12

3: 20

2: 12

1:  8

Marathon: 26

There is much variety among the blogs at Runner’s World. But not long ago the Penguin flew off and waddled away. He is missed by many and has left a void among the determined blog reading, but non-elite runners.

Journalism professor and fitness geek Ted Spiker has started a new blog at Runner’s World called The Marathon Virgin. He is trying a program with a lot of innovative cross training including tire flipping and basketball. Recently he caught me for a bit of an interview and chat, and wrote it up very nicely on his blog.

Best Meme: Exercise is Medicine. Trademarked and owned by the American College of Sports Medicine

Best Public Domain Meme: Exercise is good for what ails you. It’s mine and probably someone else’s too. You can have it for free as an open source code for life.

Best Runner of The Year: Usain Bolt

Best Marathon Victory of The Year: Meb Keflezighi bringing it home at the New York Marathon.

Best Running Magazine: Runner’s World. (with Runner and Marathon & Beyond close by)

Best Secret of Success: Avoid over training and the terrible too’s. Too much, too soon, too fast,  too often, with too little rest. Khalid Khannouchi, says that rest is the secret ingredient for success for the aging runner. Of course, I’d guess good genetics, and a lot of hard work helps too! This past summer Khalid received the Golden Foot Award of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. He is also deserves to be known as one of the nicest people of the year.

Best Running Politician: And controversial in this slot would is Sarah Palin. But as a marathoner, and one who isn’t sure what papers she reads daily, she did know that George Sheehan is one of her favorite authors and philosophers. Bonus points for that put her over the top.

Best Basketball Playing Politician: Barack Obama. Now, Barack needs to publicly announce he has given up cigarettes and taken up running and he has a chance at the position above this one.

Best Book: Born To Run, by Chris McDougall. Best running read for a long time and  clearly dominated in the running world.

Best Fitness Book For Nonrunners: The Body Fat Solution, by Tom Venuto. While I’m more of a fan of cardio, and cardio out of your comfort zone more than HIIT, Tom Venuto has much advice for those trying to lose weight. Motivation, often a weak point, is well covered here.

Best Quick Workout Book I Haven’t Read Yet: Cardio Strength Training by Robert Dos Remedios. It’s new and it’s on order. I’m sometimes forced to get a workout in with only 20-40 minutes available. Coach dos Remedios has written up a bunch of short plans including some 15 minute plans. That may be a bit short, but I like to see what others are thinking of and I’m sure there are plenty of fine ideas here for those who like to mix in strength training. His text on “Power Training” is incredibly thorough.

Best Humor Running Book: The Runner’s Rule Book by Mark Remy

Best Out of Print Running Book: Running and Being by George Sheehan

Best Vacation Spot: Hawaii. Clearly the choice on both the right, left, and center. Pick an island, any island. You can’t go wrong.

Best Publisher: Rodale Press. Rodale publishes Runner’s World, Runner Magazine, and tons of books on fitness and health topics.

Best Game To Quit: World of Warcraft. How many games could keep so many people playing for so many hours? 5 year anniversary just passed, time for a change and the rest of life. Besides, sitting still for 5 hours in front of a TV screen or computer monitor has serious adverse health effects.

Best Revealed Wisdom: Hip strength and core strength is important. Abductors help ITB syndrome and gluteal muscles can help Patellar tendinitis (tendinopathy) and resistant patellofemoral pain sydnrome.

Best New Thought On Exercise: Exercise isn’t only good for what ails you, but sustained movement may have driven evolution of the hominid brain.

Best Sports Medicine Publication: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Official publication of the ACSM

Best Science Magazine: Science Magazine. (Nature is right up there too.)

Best Must Read Running Humor Blog: Mark Remy’s Daily Views Mark occasionally takes some hits on his blog, but he is consistently funny and occasionally controversial. And this summer, he pointed out a new member of the running community: Eminem, seen on the Jonathan Ross show. Jonathan is occasionally involved in controversies himself.

Best Running Blogs: Runner’s World Blogs. There are others, but overall the blogs at runner’s world are a great assortment and worth reading. Read them all and pick your own favorites, if you haven’t already. There is something for everyone. If you’ve missed Amby Bufoot’s two blogs, put them on your list: Foot Loose and Peak Performance. General fitness blogs: Leigh Peele’s Diet, Fitness, Life is also worth a look. Leigh tells the truth about diet, fitness, and trends at her new and likely permanent domain.

Best Music Video of The Year: Ima let you finish, but Beyoncé’s “Put A Ring On It” is it. This, it should be noted, was also selected by that exemplar of fine taste, Kanye West.

Best New Music Act: Florence and the Machine.

Best Commitment: Work on fitness and health. Made by many, kept by many, and in line to be the best commitment for next year too!

Best Thing Avoided: The Tiger Woods/ Mark Sanford life style. Thanks to those who helped with this one. More reasons why working out, running, and staying home is better than golf and politics.

Best Connector: The Internet. Intertubes, interwebs and all!

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope your year gets off on the right foot! Make your plans and commitments and get off to a good start!

After unusually persistent aches and pains during training or after your race, you may decide it’s time for a visit to your sports doc. Of course, we hope you’ve increased your training slowly, checked your shoes and done your best to  learn how to avoid the doctor’s office.

Now that you’ve decided it is time for a visit, how can you make that visit work in the best way possible for you?  What should you bring? Of course bringing yourself in is the most important thing.  The following items are helpful. And the running shoes are often contributors to the injury and it can be very helpful to examine them.

Try to bring in the following items:

Notes on your injury:

• When did it start?
• Where does it hurt?
• When does it hurt?
• What has changed in your training?
• What speedwork or harder than normal running have you been doing?
• What shoes did you wear before you were injured, when injured and what are you wearing now?
• What surfaces have you been running on?
• What have you tried to make things feel better?

Things to bring:

• Current running shoes ( the newest running shoes you have used)
• Previous running shoes (recent ones which may have contributed to your injury)
• Orthotics (if you use them)
• Running/Exercise Log (if you have one)

• Look for a sport specific shoe.
• Go to a specialty store. Runners should visit a specialty running store.
• Take injury history into account.
• Measure feet each time shoes are fit.
• Wear the customary socks for to be worn for sport participation. Sock thickness affects the sizing and fit of shoes.
• Bring orthotics to fit shoes, if you wear them.
• Fit shoes later in the day since feet expand slightly by then.
• Leave a finger’s width in front of the longest toe.
• Make sure both the heel to ball fit and the shoe length are both matches for your foot.
• Make certain the shoe feels comfortable. It won’t be feeling better in a week, if it doesn’t feel good right away.
• Check the shoe for manufactured defects. It should line up perpendicular to the ground and not wobble.
• Replace your athletic shoes regularly. Runners should replace the shoes every 350-450 miles.
• Remember to forget about the size and focus on the fit
• Don’t wear a new shoe in a race or in a long distance competitive event.

For more information see:

Dr. Pribut’s Running Shoe List

Dr. Pribut on Fitting and Selecting Running Shoes

Elvis: Put On Your High Heeled Sneakers (Master Out-take)

Now that you’ve trained properly after having a medical exam and clearance to run, you are nearly ready for the big day. Prudence should keep you upright for the next 26.2 miles. Some have said “Start slow, and finish slower”. But that may not be your plan. Make sure you run within your means. Be certain to taper for 3 weeks. And let’s make another list:

• 3 training runs of 18 – 20 miles should have you set for your marathon.
• Taper and run much less for 3 weeks.
• You may gently carbo load. Don’t “deplete”. Don’t gorge. And don’t eat new or spicy foods for the 4 – 5 days before the marathon.
• Sleep well the nights before the marathon.
• Don’t drink too much the night before. Don’t use drugs. (In Woodstock the word was to avoid the brown acid.)
• Don’t take herbal diet or stimulant mixes. They are not checked by the FDA and may have unhealthy contents.
• Hydrate wisely. You may hydrate before the race. Don’t drink till you slosh. Don’t overhydrate. For the slow marathoner, hyponatremia (low blood sodium) from taking in too many fluids is a bigger danger than dehydration. Some races have scales for you to weigh yourself on. If you weigh more as the race goes on, you are drinking too much.
• Wear a medical condition and allergy bracelet or have the information attached to your shoe.
• Eat your regular long run breakfast.
• Warm up gently.
• Don’t start out too quickly.
• Pay attention to your body. Dizziness, faintness, chest, shoulder, jaw pain or tightness should be checked with the medical team immediately.
• Drink and eat foods you’ve used before on your training runs.
• Don’t sit down abruptly at the end of the race. Walk around a bit as a gentle cool down. If you sit, your muscles will likely tighten up and you may not get back up again easily.

General Tips

• Wear shoes that you’ve had good success with and shoes that are broken in.
• Make sure the rest of your clothes are also comfortable and broken in also including your sports bra or other sports underwear, shorts, singlet, sweats and socks.
• Use broken in Coolmax socks or another “wicking” fiber for all of your runs and  on race day.
• Try to get adequate sleep over the last month so your body can be as well recovered as possible from all the training you’ve been doing.
• Eat healthy throughout your training. Don’t overeat  or drink much alcohol  on the night before  your  race. Do eat a carbohydrate rich meal for a few evenings before the marathon.
• Wear outer layer clothes you can throw away as the race goes on and you warm up. If you are going to be at the race line early, dress warm for the morning chill, and be prepared to ditch your outer layers as the race draws near or as you go along and warm up.
• Use the same fluid replacement and  gel that you’ve practiced with on your long runs. Beware of under hydration and over hydration. If you are running for longer than 4 hours, consider using weighing stations if your marathon has them available to attempt to avoid hypernatremia.
• Remember to go out slower than you think you should so you can have a negative split and  not burn out somewhere before mile 20.
• Figure out where some of those cameras will be taking your photo so you can  look  good for your marathon portrait.
• Don’t forget after the race that you should rest about one week before running again and then “reverse” taper.

Things To Bring:

1. Race number  and safety pins. Pin this to your clothes two nights before the race.
2. Running Shoes and all your racing clothes
3. Clothes to toss, if it is cold. Long sleeve teeshirts, sweat clothes.
4. Change  of clothes for after the race.
5. Money for emergencies.
6. Body glide, if you’ve used it for areas  that rub on previous long runs.
7. Your own food for after the race  in case the race runs  low.
8. Plastic  container of water  or sports drink to drink before the race
9. Toilet paper to carry in your carry-along, in case of emergency.
10. Very light  weight, miniature camera if you don’t expect to win.
11. Throw away reading material for the  long  wait before the race.

For post marathon recovery, I have some tips on recovering from the marathon and a reverse taper program.

I just came across the following “tips” video performed by Toby Tanser via Mark Remey at RW

Last Minute Marathon Tips: shot with Nikon D90 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

Army 10 Miler

I’ll be speaking this coming Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 9:45 am at the race expo in a clinic for the Army Ten Miler. The clinics are at the DC Armory and are free and open to all. There should be ample time for Q&A’s. I plan to touch on the following topics: “exercise good for what ails you”, evolution and running, avoiding injury, getting your shoes right, moving up to 26 safely, and adjusting for injury. If there is any topic you’d like covered in the lecture portion, let me know and I’ll try to work it in. Or feel free to ask during the Q&A.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Army 10 Miler Race. 30,000 runners are registered for it. It is known to be the largest 10 mile race in the United States and there is no 10 mile race in the world that is known to be larger than this.

The road to improvement, like any journey begins with your first steps.  And it really happens by examining your last few steps. You have to know where you are to know what you have to do next to improve. Slow, gentle beginnings and graduated additions to that will get you in shape and prepared to do more so that you can  become the best you are capable of at that moment.

This post is for Jason who asked about improving Max VO2.

So, in following the road to improving your aerobic capacity. It does depend on what shape you are in when you start. Simplifying things just a bit: For some, exercising at 65%-85% of your maximum heart rate for 30 – 40 minutes is a good place to start. And if you need to build up to that.

For others interval work will be helpful. Mile repeats, 800’s, 400’s, 200’s all have a role to play. Fartlek or hills should likely come before the interval work. The aerobic distance running build up for competitive runners, even those doing 10Ks, will include runs of 10-12 or more miles. But of course everything depends on your goals and the distance you plan to compete at.

Getting out of your comfort zone, and avoiding injury while doing so are the two most important components to raising your VO2 max to the highest level it can be for you. The goal is also to improve your ability to expand your aerobic limits so that you can run faster and longer before reaching your lactate threshold and running in an anaerobic zone.

Generalized, a tad over simplified, and quickly written down and with great respect to the grand daddy of all coaches, Arthur Lydiard. Here is the outline of a plan ( perhaps clearer than macrocycles and microcycles). And for those looking to excel, a personal coach may be extremely helpful.

Outline Of The Road To Improvement

First phase -Long Distance build up

Second phase – Fartlek, Hills (preparation for intervals)

Third phase – Intervals, Lactate Threshold Runs

Fourth phase – Specialty runs for your distance
- over distance for shorter/mid distance track runs (= other speedwork)
- long runs for the marathon, with appropriate rest between long runs (and Yasso 800’s)

Fifth phase – taper for race or race season

For Runners:

1. Remember that stretching is not a warm up.
2. Don’t stretch before you’ve moved. Warm up gently first with movement and slow running with short strides. There is no evidence that stretching before exercise is helpful to prevent injury, but it might be useful at the end of a run. Specific injuries or susceptibility to specific injury may make certain stretches particularly useful. (In conjunction with appropriate strengthening exercises for any muscle imbalances.) An example would be gentle calf stretching after 10 minutes of gentle running for those with a tendency towards Achilles tendinopathy.  Empirically this is often helpful.
3. Stretch gently after exercise. Use stretching as part of your cool down after running. And for most people finishing your run with a sprint is probably not wise. A cool down, of continuing to move while going slower at the end of a run helps get your body gently adapted to having a slower pumping heart. This can help lessen the chance of a heart arrhythmia during the immediate post exercise period and blood pressure dropping in those susceptible to such problems.
4. Don’t over-stretch. Overstretching is likely worse than no stretching.
5. Stretch gently for an intermediate length of time, not too long and not too short. 10 Seconds x 10 is a good example of an intermediate time and repetition number.
6. Focus on the posterior leg muscles if you are a runner. The calf muscles and hamstrings are usually tight. For runners, there is only rarely a need to stretch the quads.  Those performing other sports, including strength training, can stretch the quads (and much more) gently. Walking lunges can serve the purpose of stretching the quads.
7. Don’t forget other forms of exercise. Strength training and cardio will help you reach a balance, and a healthy diet will put the topping on your search for fitness. And of course core strengthening is helpful in many ways. So that means we’ll need to have a blog up on a 5 minute Runner’s Core Workout soon.

Additional Information:

More on Stretching

Running Injuries