Tag: marathon

Running Assessment with MoveMend (Part 2 of 2)

Three weeks ago, I had the first part of a two-part running assessment with Dr. Tanner Melnick at MoveMend. As a refresher, it’s been 14 years since a professional has looked at my form and offered guidance on what needs adjustments for better running. There were many things I learned that day:

  • Circumduction (how much my feet swing out and cross over my body’s midline)
  • Cadence (the steps per minute)
  • Running quieter (I’m very stomp-y)
  • And more

The past three weeks, I applied Tanner’s recommendations to fix my running form. These small adjustments make a big impact, and keeping this form up has been harder than expected. With each stride, I did my best to run quieter while keeping my cadence to 175 steps per minute. Staying with the beat has been physically and mentally challenging. Deliberately aligning my body while running takes a kind of focus that will take some time to build.

I also found that I space out much more than I realize when running. When that happens, I don’t even notice it. My mind drifts into auto-pilot, and before I know it, I’m slogging up a hill with my old habits.

When I come back to earth, I nudge my footsteps back into place. My heart rate goes through the roof as I do my best to stay with the beat.

When I reported all of this back to Tanner, he said that other runners have similar experiences. Adjusting the form will take longer than three weeks. It could be a couple of months before these adjustments start to feel natural.

Capacity vs. load

The body has a certain capacity for stress, or load, that it can handle. In this case, my load is the increasing weekly mileage during marathon training.

Running is physically stressful, largely because of the feet’s initial contact with the ground. With every foot step, the impact force is 2 1/2 to five times the body weight upon landing. Multiply that by 26.2 miles, and that’s tons upon tons of force that the body is absorbing.

The way I increase my capacity is by gradually putting on more mileage every week, and then scaling it back every three weeks. Every week, I push my body just beyond its max capacity to adapt—especially with the long runs. It’s good to do that often enough to get stronger. But if I did that every day without giving my body a chance to catch up, that can lead to an injury for sure.

I follow the training plan and increase my capacity safely. All is well, unless I’m not eating or sleeping enough, or even if I’m stressed. (I even shared what helps me get more rest after noticing my performance had seen better days.) It makes perfect sense, because without enough rest, my body can’t increase its capacity for a bigger load, or more miles. If I’m not taking care of myself, then my body won’t adapt as well.

Posterior chain exercises

My quadriceps (front thigh muscles) have been doing most of the work when I run, so it would be helpful to strengthen my posterior chain, or the backside of my body: the glutes (the butt muscles), hamstrings (the back of the thigh), and calves. When the backside of my legs work together, that would give more power to push me forward as I run. This is especially important as I run up those steep Seattle hills; it means switching to a lower gear.

Doing these posterior chain exercises would help make my hips stable, so there’s less circumduction. It would be easier to keep a good running form for longer as well. Maybe that would make my slight hip flexor pain feel better.

Tanner introduced four different exercises to help strengthen my hips so that I can run stronger. He recommended doing each set until reaching fatigue, and then switching to the other side. As far as how often to do these, he said that at least once a week is enough.

Single-leg dead lifts

This exercise tested my balance. I focused on my breath and core, and slowly hinged forward at the hip on one leg with a 20-pound kettlebell. I stopped when I felt a good stretch in the hamstring. Then I slowly stood up to the starting point without putting my raised foot on the ground. I continued with more reps, dipping forward again like one of those toy drinking birds. My right leg is stronger, but I have better balance on my left leg. I kept doing the dead lifts on each side until my hamstrings burned.

Side plank hip abduction

With my elbow firmly planted on the ground below my shoulder, I slowly dipped my hips as closely to the ground as possible and then raised them back up. I could feel the burn on my lower back and glutes.

From my experience, I find it super helpful to strengthen the core. When started I running more marathons, my lower back would ache from holding myself up for many miles. A strong core gives more support for those long distances.

Single-leg heel raises

A wooden block or a stool could be used for single leg heel raises. It felt easy at first. It wasn’t long until my calves burned as I slowly pushed my weight onto the ball of my foot. After about 12 of these, I switched to the other leg.

Single-leg sit-to-stand

The single-leg sit-to-stand exercise was the hardest. I had to push myself to stand using just one leg without momentum. At first, I focused all of the energy in each of my quads, or front thighs, to push me up. I fell over a couple times. Then I remembered to shift the power source towards my glutes and hamstrings. Not only did using those muscles give me better balance, they also lifted me more effectively. This exercise was still so hard! It didn’t take many reps to be done with this one, so it must be very effective.

Applying what I learned at MoveMend to run better

Now that I have a better idea of how to run stronger, I can apply what I learned from MoveMend and hopefully get a faster time. I’m still mindful of keeping my footsteps quieter as I run to a higher cadence. Changing old habits is going to take some energy and patience. These new posterior chain exercises should make me more stable, so that I can use my energy to run stronger. Eventually all of this will become second nature. Maybe running will be even more enjoyable, since I know how to move better.

*Thank you, MoveMend, for sponsoring this post.

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended as medical or professional advice.  I’m sharing my experiences, and they should not be a substitute for physical therapy advice for anyone. Any exercise has potential to cause injury or pain if it’s done incorrectly. You should consult with a physical therapist or doctor for any medical advice.

Training for the 2021 virtual Boston Marathon

I’ve been running for over 20 years. It’s a sport that has kept me going during the best and worst times in my life. Running gave me an anchor to come back to. It has always tested my limits as I pushed through resistance, and it fostered a new strength and clarity as I worked through my Complex PTSD.

In addition to many half marathons and 10k’s, I ran my first full marathon in 2008, my second in 2016, and my third in 2018. Then in 2019 – 2020, I ran a total of six marathons and that one 50k ultra in a span of 14 months. It was a lot. Doing that many races had eventually forced me to honor my body’s requests for rest. And so, for the first time in 20 years, I took a break for many months.

I’ve considered trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. For my age group and gender, the minimum qualifying time is 3 hours and 30 minutes, which is about an 8-minute mile for 26.2 miles. I could run an 8-minute mile on a really good day, but sustaining that pace for that distance has always been a challenge.

Boston offers a virtual option for 2021

The Boston Marathon is one of the most prestigious races in the world. It’s so highly regarded that runners have to qualify in order to participate. This year, qualifying for the Boston in-person race has limited the number of participants to 20,000 because of the pandemic–which has raised the stakes. For 2021, runners who were 7 minutes and 47 seconds faster than the minimum qualifying times made it in.

For the first time ever in race history, the Boston Marathon also offers a virtual race for 2021. Participants can run that distance any time in October 8-10. A virtual marathon is where you run 26.2 miles on your own and use a GPS to record the distance. Then you upload your results where the race organization tells you to. This one doesn’t require a qualifying time, so anyone who is interested can register for the event.

The difference is that the virtual Boston race doesn’t count as an Abbott World Major, which is a group of the six most famous marathons in the world: Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo, and Berlin.

It also isn’t clear if this virtual race is offered because of the pandemic, or if it’s something that will happen again in the future. Because of this uncertainty, I jumped on the opportunity to run the virtual Boston Marathon–just in case it’s a one-time event. This would be my tenth full marathon. It would also be so cool to collect that coveted unicorn finisher’s medal.

The running tools I’m starting with this time

This is a new training cycle after taking a break for months. With this clean slate, I started off with a couple of things.

The perfect shoes for a cosmic health goth

The model of these shoes are Brooks Ravenna VI.

I got new shoes! This pair is the Brooks Ravenna VI model; I’ve been getting these shoes for 14 years now.

In high school, I kept getting shin splints. The arches of the feet naturally pronate, which means they roll in a little bit to absorb the shock of each step. My feet over-pronate, which means they roll in too much. This puts more stress on the shins, which can cause a common running injury called shin-splits. After analyzing my foot strike, my former running coach suggested the Brooks Ravenna shoe, combined with Spenco inserts for additional support for my arches. I haven’t had the shin splints since! (Blogger’s note: I’m not sponsored by either Brooks or Spenco. My coach suggested what would work for my injury, and I haven’t looked back since.)

The Brooks shoes aren’t cheap–they run anywhere from $100-$200. To save money, I always go onto E-bay and get a gently worn pair that still has a lot of life left. (Always check the photos and inspect the conditions, especially the treads.) The pair I got above was selling for $30, plus E-bay had a $10 promotional coupon–which meant that I got these shoes for $20!

An effective training program for a busy life

I’ve always turned to Hal Higdon’s marathon training programs. As long as you follow the weekly mileage and long runs, the plans are fool-proof. The last marathon training program I used was Advanced 1, when I had more time to train. Lately, I’ve been quite a busy bee: I commute three hours a day to and from work outside of Seattle, plus I’ve been taking a writing class. It doesn’t leave much time after work to do classwork, work out, or prep for the next day. So, I picked the easiest plan this time: the Novice Supreme. There’s no shame in doing the easiest program to fit a busy schedule.

Since I’ve been getting back into running, I needed to start from the beginning. (Ninety percent of my endurance was lost!) This time, I’m also supplementing the running with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) several times a week in order to strengthen my muscles. Stronger muscles might mean a faster finishing time than my previous virtual races.

I may also hike one of the numerous trails around Seattle as cross-training. Being in nature is good for the soul anyway.

The body remembers what you’ve put it through. Because I’ve been running for most of my life, my body quickly bounced back into the flow. Running up the steep hills took my breath away as I was starting over. But now these hills feel energizing as I charge up to the crest and coast down again.

A hydration pack for hot days

A teal hydration pack with 6 Gu energy gels on either side of the pack.

I don’t have a hard rule of when I strap my hydration pack on. My body is good at retaining water, so I generally bring it if I’m running more than an hour. Many people still bring water for any time or distance, whether it’s one mile or a full marathon.

I consume energy gels if my long runs exceed a half marathon distance (13.1 miles). Energy gels provide extra electrolytes and sugars (and sometimes caffeine) for added energy and functioning. Always consume the gel with water.

Spiraling up in life and in health

The rest of what I need to run a virtual marathon will follow as I get further into the training plan.

Honestly, at first, I didn’t feel 100 percent ready to do another virtual marathon. As in many parts of life, you never do feel fully ready for the next big thing. But this virtual Boston Marathon was really calling to me.

I also want to enjoy my new life chapter–with another marathon in the works. I’ve been eating very clean. (I’ll post more recipes in the future.) My content writing career has really taken off. My partner, our cat and I make a happy space goth family. Things really are falling into place.