Want to Start Running?

A friend of mine, to keep her anonymity we'll call her Jennifer is pregnant and has been thinking about taking up running after her pregnancy. I'm not sure what triggered this since she admits that she's not really into working out or sports but something struck her interest.

Her husband a good friend of mine, we'll call him Eric, was a track and field guy in college and is probably the only T&F guy that I know that hates to run which I find funny. He used to do the high jump and I think the long jump (man can he jump) and his coach made him run every day.

I'm all about encouraging running especially for those who have really never tried it before. I myself hated running and hadn't run a mile when a 5k I was forced into (see other post) a few years ago turned me into a full fledged runner.

I mentioned to Jennifer that I've read many articles on what they call the 'Couch to 5k' training plans and would find it for her. While doing this, I started jotting down all the advice that I would give a new runner. Things I learned along the way. I figured it would be good blog content so here it is. (please excuse the grammar and typos - I just don't have the time to clean it up right now).
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Here's three good articles I found. I couldn't find the one I was looking for but these seem pretty good. The first one is good but I personally feel that to get running to stick you need to pick a race as a goal. You can find almost every race in NJ here...

http://www.compuscore.com/

It will have next years schedule added soon. Some have links to just the PDF application and some will have links to the races web site.


Beginner Runner
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-387-2201-0,00.html?cm_mmc=beginner-_-2007_10_24-_-beginner-_-Ready%20to%20Run

8 weeks to your first 5k
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-387-1703-0,00.html

Might be the same article or at least similar
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-380-381-386-11940-0,00.html

Lot's of good stuff here. The discussion boards are great to get answers from other new runners on any topic. They also have a great email newsletter that you can sign up for.
http://www.runnersworld.com/0,7118,,00.html

Tips I came up with for new runners:

Shoes:
When you are ready to start go to a running shoe store and not Dicks Sporting Goods... It will cost a bit more but if you tell them you are new to running and that you don't know what kind of shoes you need, they will watch you walk around, look at your feet, ask questions and choose the right type of shoe. Most beginners don't realize why their knees, ankles, hips... hurt and it's because they aren't in the right type of shoes. Most people overpronate a bit which means they more or less roll their feet over too much. Some supinate which is the exact opposite and some have neutral feet and some are flat footed while others have high heels. All of this makes a big difference in how your feet hit the ground and push off. Guys in running stores like Running Company in Morristown (there's others) can tell you what kind of shoes you need.

Too Much Too Soon- stick to a plan otherwise many people get too excited when they start and over do it. Only leads to injury. Rule of thumb is adding 10% mileage each week or so.

Stretching - new school of thought is that stretching doesn't help before you run and can hurt you. Warm up instead. Warm for 5 minutes and then run/walk for 5 minutes to get warmed up. Especially when it is cold out. Some still stretch afterwards but there's debate on that. There's a new type of stretching that is suppose to be better for you that really just mimics what your muscle do when running rather than forcing them in one direction too far (when you feel the pull). I'll see if I can find that article.

Drinking - you only need gatorade on runs over an hour. Otherwise water is fine. Same goes with recovery drinks. Gatorade and recovery drinks have lots of carbs and calories (and sodium) but that is only really useful on long runs or hard training sessions. You can run with water but you can also skip it if it's not hot and you are out less than an hour. Best to drink a good 16oz 1 hour before you go out but if you are out less than an hour, it really doesn't matter.

Eating - when you get your mileage up a bit and go out for an hour or longer run, when finished, replenish with a snack of carbs and a little protein. (bagel and peanut butter, half a turkey sandwich, recovery drink... Might sound a bit too complicated right now but it's 4 grams of carbs to 1 of protein. Then eat a bit more (lunch, dinner,...) within an hour to 1 1/2 hours after the run. You are still burning calories from the run (after burn) and its the best time to replenish your glycogen (carbs in muscles that store energy). Just don't go crazy if you are only out for an hour.

Calories Burned - you burn about 100 calories for every mile run. And around 110 if it was a pretty strenuous training session. Of course as you get fitter you have to run faster to burn that off at that rate. If you are out for 5 miles, that's almost a whole meal.

Comfortable Pace - this means you should be able to speak in sentances while you run. If you struggle with that, you are running faster which is fine but if a plan calls for easy running, they mean comfortable. At first all running will seem hard and hard to speak while running but in 2 weeks, it will be much much easier.

Traffic - run into traffic and not with it. Although I don't practice this all the time, it's a good idea at least until you are comfortable especially if you are running with music.

Watch - buy a cheap watch which can keep laps/splits and write down on your training plan how long you went for and how you felt.

Miles - once you start, at some point try to figure out how far you are running. Get a feel for it. Drive the route so you know where each mile market is about. Then hit the split you watch. It's interesting to see afterwards if you are consistent, if you get faster as you warm up... Knowing this will help you get faster and then run longer. If you don't do that, you can get in a slump where you don't improve because you won't know if you are getting better, worse, or just the same. The goal is to run longer.

Long vs Fast - main goal in the beginning is to start running longer not necessarily faster. Faster will start to come naturually. The real goal is to get to 3.1 miles and beyond. SOunds like a long time now but in time you will bust out 3 miles in less than half an hour. Seems fast but it is very very doable. Real aerobic conditioning, burning calories... really only occurs on runs longer than 40 minutes once you get beyond the first few weeks of beginner running. Yes you will be aerobically better and burn calories when you run 30 minutes or even 20 when you get started but that quickly changes and you will need to go out longer. Again, you should be able to someday (within 8-10 weeks) be able to go on your weekly long run for an hour and not kill yourself. Those long runs are about going out long and not fast and should be easy running.

Clothing - buy running clothing. Cotton Kills. That is the motto. Cotton doesn't breath, it holds moisture which is bad when it's cold and chafes. You want material like Dry-Fit... go to dicks and find running clothing or work out clothing that is not cotton.

Cold then Warm - When you go out the door you should feel cold but you will warm up within 10 minutes. Most beginners over dress and then sweat way too much. If its a problem just be ready to take a layer off.

Dogs - watch out for dogs not on leashes even on trails where owners let their dogs run free. They think their dogs are well trained but they will be excited and want to jump on you to say hi. Give them a wide berth and for those that pull their dog to the side to let you pass, say thanks to encourage.

Concrete - say off sidewalks. Concrete will hurt your knees. The perfect surface is a flat even dirt trail but macadam is much softer than concrete and makes a huge difference.

Bad Roads - some roads are bad for running where the side of the road has a slope to the right or left for water to drain (the camber of the road?). All roads have this to some extent but others are real bad. If you continue to run on the same side of the street on these types of roads one leg has to reach further down to hit the road which over 1000 steps will hurt your hips, knees... Try to avoid these types of roads or run on one side of the road on the way out and the other side on the way back to even it out. The same is true for running on a track in the same direction for many laps. You're always turning left. Not usually an issue if you are running 4 laps but if you are running 20, consider running the other direction for half of them but stick to the outside lane if there are others on the track.

Fartlec - it's just just a funny word but a great workout. It means Speed Play in Swedish. You will come across this easy workout at some point. Basically you are running different speeds and different distances with easy running in the middle. For example, run the length of each telephone pole fast and the next one easy to recover. You can do this after warming up 5-10min and leave 5-10 min for cooling down. This is a great way to get your body used to running fast and it extends out your threshold (time it takes before you go anerobic where you're legs start to burn and get tired where your body starts to use glycogen - it's more complicated than that but you get the point). The idea is to extend your anerobic threshold so you can run faster longer without hitting that limit.

Turnover and Stride Length - stay low - ideally when you run you don't want to bounce up and down but rather staying low to the ground and all energy towards moving forward. To do this concentrate on not over striding (kicking your heels with long strides). It might feel like your running better but the idea is to stay low with shorter faster steps. Aim for 180 steps a minute. YOu can check this by counting your right foot hitting the ground for 15 seconds and multiply that by 4. If you're close to 80-90 that's good. Running faster is first about faster turnover which in turn will give you a longer stride covering more distance because you are moving faster naturally vs making your stride longer. This is a good one to remember to check from time to time. So to run faster, quicken the pace not your stride.

R.I.C.E. - when something just doesn't feel right, RICE is where you start. It stands for Rest - take a day off if needed, or dial it back. Ice - ice it up every 10-20 minutes for 10-20 minutes but not directly on the skin (use a towel. Buy an ice pack and put it in a big sock). Compression - wrap it up when needed. Elevation - keep it elevated to prevent swelling.

Pain and Real Pain - sometimes its hard to tell what kind of pain you should run through or sideline yourself. If it's sharp and in a specific spot, take a day or two off and then pressure test it. If it still occurs 4 days later, see a Doctor or PT. If it's sore like muscle sore, you can usually run through it but take some extra time to warm up, stretch lightly and see how it goes. If you are two sore and tight to run take a day off. When you first start running, you are going to be sore. It's going to happen. Just take it slow, stretch lightly and you'll be fine. You'll find in a week or so that this goes away. Soreness after that can occur when you up your mileage or start doing speed workouts or hills. Usually this soreness comes on the 2nd day. It's called Delayed Onset Soreness. Again, just stretch lightly, take extra warm up time and you can usually run through it.

Lastly...

Encourage Others - say hi to runners you run by, encourage others to run. Let them know it's really not that hard. There is a running community out there and it's great to talk to others who also run. Sharing tips, stories, how their work out went... It helps keep you motivated.

I'm like an iPhone commercial on my birthday

So I turned 39 today.  Yikes. 

As part of my bday celebration I take on some of my in-laws traditions.  My brother-and-father-in-law will do things in X based on the # of years.  So for example, it was suggested to me that I drink 39 little cups of water, have 39 Cherrios, do 39 sit-ups, 39 pushups, ride 39 miles and run 3.9 miles...

We'll I don't have that level of ACD but I go with the 39 mile ride and run 3.9 so I head out for the open road figuring I'd run later in the day.  

I head out with no route in mind.  I know the area generally well but more from running so I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to get my 39 miles.  I head out on my long run routes and see a sign for Summit NJ so I head out of town towards Summit which is a great town on the rail line with a great down town area. 

I eventually hit downtown Summit and figure it's a good place to stop for a quick lunch and espresso.  CAFFEINE!  I feel the need for caffeine overtake me and I start to panic.  Where's the StarBucks!

OK, so here's where the commercial starts.  

I reach behind me and pull out my newly acquired iPhone.  I click the Google Map feature, type in StarBucks, Summit NJ and ta-da, I have a map of Summit with a push pin showing me Star Bucks.  Hey look, it's right around the corner.  I clip out and walk my bike around the corner to the Star Bucks, grab a coffee and a sandwich.

Now here I am at a Star Bucks, sitting outside on a beautiful day, across from the train station with commuters coming and going.  I'm decked out in spandex sitting next to my silver Cannondale CAAD-8, drinking coffee and sending emails, checking the weather and seeing what calls came in while on the ride (I took my birthday off but need to check in).  I finish up, check the Google Map for the best way back and head out.

End of commercial.

I logged 45 miles by the time I get back, over my required 39 and I'm in the park as I roll up to my car.  Why not run the 3.9 while I'm here.  I do a quick transition (not that quick according to Seth - 5 minutes  - but I had to lock up the bike) and hit the trail.  Running about 7s and suddenly realize how exhausted I am.  I turn at 2 miles or so and head back.  Mile 4 was crushing me. Only 4 miles and I'm dead.  When I return with the 45+4 I felt like I just finished a marathon.  OK maybe a half marathon.  I'm done.  Where's the couch.

I'm planning at some point doing a duathlon  and some day a tri and realize how difficult it is to ride hard and then run.  Hmmm.  I feel a training plan coming together.  Wondering if I can work that in with my marathon training plan.  I'll have to see if that's a good idea.

I decide not to run the Revolutionary Run 10k on July 4 (the next day)  Wasn't really into running it unless I was going to race and the way I feel I know it wouldn't be pretty.

BTW, the iPhone is freaking fantastic.  Is it the swiss army knife of smart phones? No.  But the user experience and general usability of the phone is beyond what I've seen and is exactly what I expect from Apple.  I'm excited to see what enhancements come over the next few months.  At this point it's just software updates.  GO AAPL - $127!  My iPhone is more than paid for if I sell but I think I'll hold.

My Creds

OK, so I didn't run track in high school or any school for that matter. I'm not a track coach. I have not been running for 20 years. I'm not the fastest runner (not the slowest either). I'm not winning my age group (yet) and I haven't yet qualified for Boston (yes, it only counts if you qualify).

But I am proud of where I've come from and what I've achieved over the last 3 years.

Scranton, PA Steamtown Marathon 2006 - 3:38

LAPD Lewes Deleware Half Marathon 2007 - 1:41

Princeton Fete 10k 2007 - 43:41

Big Chill 5k New Brunswick, NJ 2006 - 20:14

Beyond those PR's I've run a dozen or so 10ks. Maybe 10, 10ks, a couple 5 milers and 10 milers and 3 or so half marys (I love half marathons. There's a post on that topic I'm sure).

I'm not sure how I'm doing it but I've been on a PR streak. I have PR'd every race I've run in. I can't quite figure that out. I'm getting older but faster. I've had many theories on this but keep coming back to this one.

I'm either not running 100% race day or I'm not training optimally and learning more each year. I suspect it's the later since there's plenty of races where I'm about ready to puke as I cross the finish. (I'll cover the Steamtown Marathon some other time). I'm sure it's not that I'm a genetic freak like those guys (and many girls) running 5 minute miles or faster.

It's taken lots of hard work for these times and although I'm proud of them, I'm not yet close to qualifying for Boston. Then again when I see what others are doing including Seth (my bro-in-law) I'm not doing nearly what the other half (or top third) is doing in terms of training and commitment.

I've trained hard and have been very committed but have seen that there are different levels of commitment that goes along with progressive increases in performance.

I'm pretty sure that my first marathon training season I was doing the most I could without risking injury (and I still got injured - groin/hip and as my wife tells it to my friends "my pubis"). But after that initial "Let's just make sure I finish but at a respectable time (3:51)" I found it pretty hard to stay as committed as I did.

Yes I ran a more challenging training program and put more miles in but I didn't watch what I ate as much. I didn't work the core and get in to the gym and of course I didn't cut back on the beer/wine like I did the summer before.

Although I took 13 minutes off my previous marathon (I've run 2 so far), once you get up to the point of getting beyond "just finishing or picking a time that is just beyond just finishing" there's a whole other level of training.

I'm pretty sure that once you can past that first one and maybe the 2nd like I did, you realize to get faster (as you get older!) there's a whole other level of training.

I see my brother in law (granted 3-4 years younger). BTW I'm 39 next week, training twice as long as I do. He's in the gym, Oh something like 4-5 days a week but also was running 5 days a week on top of that. Not just running but full on training (track, tempo, hills, long, pace, plyometrics...) and he's pretty fast. I'm trying to keep up.

So what's holding me back from getting to the next level?

Time - I don't have the time to train like that. Or I can't make the time to train like that. He's up at 5:30 running and then hitting the gym after work and when he was training for the Iron Man, swimming at lunch.

Commitment - I still like to eat when I go out and every once in awhile I like french fries (and other things). I still like a glass of wine (or two or more) a few times a week. I don't get to the gym because I hate the gym. In general with my training if I don't have it in writing and don't have someone helping me push I can't get all of these cylinders firing at once for 4 months (It's a way of life and not just 4 months though).

So when it comes down to it, it's commitment. I can find the time to do this (I could be doing crunches, stretching, yoga... but I'm writing this instead as Kill Bill volume 1 is on) but choose not too.

Maybe this is the proper balance. Maybe it shouldn't be the most important thing in my life just as long as it is important in my life.

Either way, I'll try pretty hard to keep my PR record going (actually 5 years if you count a couple of pauses in my running years at the beginning) but you know what? I can't let it kill me if I don't PR in my next 10k. There's the Revolutionary Run 10k coming up on July 4th, the day after I turn 39. I haven't been training for it but it's a tradition.

I'll think I'll run just to run. If I PR, great, if not the streak ends but you know what? It's going to happen. I'm approaching 40 and at some point my body is going to say "that's as fast as you can run and you're getting older".

Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it turns out.

How I Got Started

This is really my first post. The last one was more of a discussion that my wife captured. This one might be a bit boring since I'm not sure if you want to hear about how I got started but too bad. I'll get to the other stuff tomorrow.

It was December 31, 2000. I was 32 years old. The family (my wife Stacey, her brother Seth, father Fred and mother Tanya) were spending the new year in Saratoga Springs over a long weekend of cross country skiing.

Turns out that night Saratoga has a First Night 5k. Stacey's family all runs. Seth was on his way to running his first marathon. Fred had run a few and Tanya, well what can I say, was still running hurdles up until a couple years ago (ACL but still runs). I digress. They all decide to sign up for the 5k including Fred and Tanya's friends.

Oh, I forgot to mention. This all occurred after 5 solid hours of cross country skiing (I was new at that at the time as well).

Now I haven't run even a mile in my life time. I hated running. All that wheezing, burning quads, sweating... So I wanted no part of that. But here I have Seth calling me a wuss, Tanya and Fred saying you'll have no problem and you can run a bit and then walk with everyone else at the back of the pack and of course my wife telling everyone 'Tom Loves to Run" (you'll learn more about in other posts). So we're standing there at sign up and they're all filling out forms and writing checks and I look around at all of these people with all different shapes and sizes and ages from 10 to 90 and I'm thinking, "hell I can do this" I'll just run until I can't and walk the rest.

I sign up. I receive my race number and some weird piece of plastic that I'm told to tie to my shoelace. I'm looking around at where I'm suppose to put this race number and pin it on (only on the top which I learn later was a mistake).

Forgot to mention, it's COLD. About 20 degrees. I have no running gear. Just my cross country pants. I don't have real running shoes. Just some trail shoes. I look around and I see shorts, high tech fabric tops, people stretching, did I mention shorts?

I line up with the 500 other "runners". I lined up with Seth and Fred (running for years) and my heart is begins to race. Now I'm nervous. What if I collapse. What if I have a heart attach. The gun goes off (OMG they really use a gun) and I practically duck thinking drive by. People go flying by me. Seth is gone. Then I start.... OK I'm not sure if I would call it running. Not quite jogging (see previous post) but more of a slog. My legs are tight and tired and hell, it's midnight.

Then people stop passing me and I'm actually running with the pack. I'm RUNNING and I don't feel bad. Adrenaline starts to pump and I see some guy who is... well... fat. OK I don't like that word. I have to say that right now and I was no string bean. (6'3' 220) but this guy had a beer belly and he passes me. Suddenly something new comes over me. It touched a competitive nerve and I speed up. I feel like I'm running 5 minute miles. The cold wind is in my face and I catch up and PASS him. Holy shit. That felt good. So I try another and another...

I'm feeling good. I think I can do this and throw away the plan that included walking. Just before mile 2 I spot the water stop but I'm feeling good so I cruise by those suckers who need water. I spot the mile 2 marker and OH SHIT. My stomach starts to ache, I'm wheezing, my legs are burning and I'm sweating profusely even in the blistering wind. I'm in trouble. But I plug on just a bit slower.

Then Stacey's mom goes cruising by. OK that hurt my ego a little but common, she's in shape and been running for years so how I can I let the bother me. I run on.

Then Stacey goes cruising by. My loving wife. What does she say? Think Nelson from The Simpsons. "Ha Ha" and goes by.

There's thousands of spectators (It is New Years Eve) and they are all cheering you on. By god I'm not letting the rest of the party run by. I suck it up and pick up the pace. I turn the corner and I can see the finish line (later I learn this is the shoot). I break into a sprint. God I must be breaking 5 minute miles I'm thinking. I cross the line and someone hands me a medal. Well I should mention they hand everyone a medal.

I AM HOOKED.

We go to the results board and I look up my time 34:58. OK so I wasn't running 6 minute miles like I thought but hey, my first 5k. I RAN 3 miles (and some). HELL not bad.

Later I learn that I burned around 300 calories (about 100/mile), that the pain I felt was something called a side stitch (my in-laws found it very funny when I told them about this odd pain and didn't know what a side stitch was and learned that Fred and Seth were running 8 minute miles or so but just cruising along taking it easy. They ask if I broke 10 minute miles. Well no but they say that's OK.

Then it came to me. My New Years Resolution was to run a sub 30 minute 5k.

Later that year I did just that.

The Fred and Tan Show: Running, Jogging, Slogging, Trotting and Other Forms of Locomotion

Tom: "The difference between running and jogging is the race application. If you never run in a race, you are a jogger."

Mom: "That's just arbitrary and capricious."

Dad: "Here's the difference between jogging and slogging: Over 12 minutes a mile and you're a slogger.

Mom: "That's just arbitrary and capricious too."

Tom: I don't like when people say, 'oh, you were out jogging.' I want to be a runner."

Mom: "If you only go out once a week, you are not a runner or jogger. You're nothing."

Dad: "This is really complicated and too complex to be decided now. We need to conduct a survey. When we see someone locomoting down the road, we pull up and we ask. 'What are you doing?'"

Mom: "No one is going to admit they are slogging. Who the hell would say, 'I'm out here slogging.' I would be very insulted."

Mom: "Even though it has lipstick on it, that glass is not mine. Someone else was drinking out of it and it is no longer mine although it was mine earlier."

Dad: "What is trotting?"

Mom: "Trotting? That's on a horse. If a human is trotting, it means something else."

Dad: "Ken Cooper, MD, the father of aerobic exercise, says if you run over 15 miles a week, you are running for something other than fitness."