Monthly Archives: March 2015

Running tip #70

Goal-setting is tricky.  I usually advise people not to have pass/fail goals but to give themselves a range of goals for success.  However, sometimes life is pass/fail … you either make it or you don’t.  There is a cut-off for top 7 on a cross-country team; Boston does have a qualifying time you have to hit;  only three people make the Olympic team, etc.  I don’t want to come across as Pollyanna when I offer my good, better, best speech:

but it is less stressful if you know there are options after the gun goes off.  Pre-race anxiety can be quelled by realizing, as my dad used to say, the world isn’t going to come to an end if you fail to reach that one, perfect goal.

Here’s what I say (in my head) when I set time and/or place goals for a race:

Conservative goal – “If I don’t run this time, I suck and should give up running forever.”

Moderate goal – “This is about where I am in my training. If I give an honest effort, I can expect this outcome.”

Radical goal – “If I’m having one of those perfect days, I know in my heart of hearts that I can run this.  And if it does happen to be one of those perfect days, I better not blow it because those days don’t come along very often.  I better run my guts out – run blind! – because I know I will remember this race forever.”

As you can see, I put a lot more thought into my radical goals.

Voltaire said, “Perfect is the enemy of good.”

True, but isn’t good also the enemy of great!?

Running tip #71

Now matter how obsessed you may be with running (I prefer the term”passion” over obsession), it is important to cultivate other hobbies in order to have a long and healthy life in this sport.  If nothing else, you need something to do on your easy days and your days off!  Here I am with my latest love, a nearly-finished dorm quilt for my middle daughter:

Over the years, I have balanced my life with many different passionate interests … Shape-note singing, penny whistling, Zelda Fitzgerald, cantoring in a choir, barn quilting, poetry, documentary films (watching them, not making them), guitar, found art,  … even cooking!

So, what’s your other passion?  Better find one if you want to run fast(ER)!

Running tip #72

When traveling to an unfamiliar city, it’s best to ask a local for restaurant suggestions to avoid any pre-race tummy troubles. Thanks to Coonse  for recommending Don Antonio’s for my hungry and peckish 4 x milers racing tomorrow at indoor Nationals in New York City.  Today’s tip is being hunted and “pecked” on my phone keyboard, so go easy on me, dear readers.  I will be back in full blogging force on Monday.

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Running tip #73

Citius, altius, fortius.

Running tip #74

If you want to jumpstart your fitness, give yourself a 40-day micro-goal of adding one new element to your training regimen.  I once challenged myself to not wash my hair for 40 days (because, hey, if Jesus could survive in the desert, 40 days seemed like a worthy amount of time).  My goal was to become less vain about my physical appearance and to become more inwardly mindful in my daily life.  We all do things on autopilot … like brushing our teeth, or driving to work the same route every day; drinking coffee in the morning without tasting it, or asking our significant others, “How was your day?” withoug really listening to their response.  So, my non-hair washing experiment was a way to live my life on PILOT for 40 days.

Aside from the first few days of feeling greasy-headed and gross, I loved my 40 days of mindfulness experiment.  And it’s true that your hair begins to self-clean:

 http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Self-Cleaning-Hair

But how does this relate to running?  Well, you can add 40 days of anything to your life without too much disruption.  So, why not try adding dips?   When I was in college, one of the XC guys challenged me to see how many dips I could do.  First of all,  I didn’t know what a dip was!  So, he showed me and then said I needed to work up to being able to do 25 in a row if I wanted to be a true distance runner. On my first attempt I could only do about 3 before my arms started shaking … but I kept at it … probably for about 40 days (if you figure I went to the weight room twice a week for half the school year) and by the end of my sophomore year I was dip-ripped.

I often think of those strong-arm days and how important micro-goals are for macro-success.

Running tip #75

Years ago my “secret salad” recipe was selected for The Runners Cookbook, compiled by Runner’s World’s Alison Wade:

So, for today’s running tip I give you that secret recipe (below).  I ate this salad every day for lunch the entire time I was a professional runner – from 1984 to 2000 – so, needless to say, I’m rather sick of it now (haha, talk about autopilot!)

Start with about 3/4 cup of cottage cheese (high or lowfat, depending on your preference);
mix in the following:
2 Tbls. raisins
2 Tbls. salted sunflower seeds
1 small granny smith apple, cut up
1/2 banana (the other half was on your morning cereal, I presume), sliced
1/2 cup of pineapple tidbits and the juice poured over the entire salad
optional: chopped dried apricots or dried cranberries, or whatever fruit is in season

over all, pour 1/4 cup cranberry juice and mix thoroughly before eating.

If I were to make this today, I would put the salad over a bed of arugula leaves.

Running tip #76 … give back to the sport.

Last night while enjoying a Carolina spring evening brew on the outdoor patio of Steel String, the head coach of our local youth running club, Harold Hill, stopped by our table on his way to meet the little, middle, greyhound, and big dog coaches of the CC Pacers.  I noticed Harold was uncharacteristically jumpy, so I asked, “Are you nervous?” and he joked, “Terrified!” because the usual cadre of  (over)invested parents were missing from this year’s administrative team.  Of course Harold can handle anything … using the wisdom shown in his Haroldisms … but not without a little help from his friends.  Right on cue, the big dog Pacer coach walked over to smilingly join the conversation which, in turn, caused Harold’s shoulders to visibly relax and his eyes to resume their twinkling.

You see, Hillary Clinton is correct … it takes a village to raise a child.  And it takes a very committed “village” to keep the sport of track & field thriving in any community.  I have been blessed my whole running life to be a part of such communities, so in old age (I’m not there quite yet) my plan, nay my dream, is to rake the pit as a USA track-and-field official.  I figure I’ve lived every other aspect of this beautiful sport … from elementary school 600-yard president’s patch tests, through high school, college, and professional racing, to coaching/speaking/board of director-ing every age and talent level of kid or grown-up that ever laced up a pair of running shoes.  SO, what’s left?!  Raking the pit, that’s what.  I want to join the proud line-up of USA Track & Field officials that keep the heart of our sport beating.

Not surprisingly, Harold’s Januarism #17  is “Volunteer for the heart of a community.”

Running tip #77 … out rest back rest out rest rest rest  … (hear the rhythm?)

I’d forgotten about a favorite workout until I did it this morning with seejanerun, my running club of moms.  Here we are lining up for The Owl’s Roost Rumble, a trail 1/2 marathon we all ran several years ago:

In preparation for an April goal race, we are at the point in our training where we can enjoy what I call a big meal of intervals.  Up until now, we’ve been building our appetite (so to speak) with shorter, easier, “pleasantly fatiguing” workout/snacks … so today’s meal satisfied that deep hunger runner’s get when closing in on a goal race.

Warm up 15 minutes, then change into whatever racing shoes you plan to wear in goal race.

On a stretch of trail that can accommodate 2-3 people abreast, run hard for exactly 100 seconds and mark your end-point with a big stick or a tossed tee-shirt.  Regroup and recover and for 75 seconds.  Then, turn back to re-trace your steps for another 100-second fast interval, making it to or beyond the original starting point.  Recover, again, for 75 seconds before setting off on the 3rd of three 100-second intervals in a set.

Between sets, jog back to the very beginning and wait until your heart rate is back under 100 before set #2 … usually it takes about 3-4 minutes. 

Advanced runners do 3 sets of 3 for 9 total intervals.

Us old gals get full after 2 sets.

Save room for dessert and cool down for 15 minutes!

Running tip #78

I’m not a big advocate of weight lifting … mostly because I’ve never had as much time as other full-time runners to do all the little extras … but if you DO go to the weight room or gym, I highly recommend this one machine for increasing your sprinting explosiveness.  I don’t know what it’s called, but when I googled “circular leg weight machine” the following photo showed up:

This is the correct machine, but this ^ is not the most beneficial use of said circular contraption.

Turn sideways and use the machine this way:

so that you can strengthen your sprinting form by directly working the muscles that propel you forward FAST. Using this machine for toning your adductor muscles may help you swim the breast stroke or keep you from having to wear spanx under your yoga pants …

but if your goal is to run fastER, then turn sideways to choose “body fast” over “body beautiful.”

Running tip #79

I eschew gimmicks.  Especially running gimmicks, like the breathe-right nasal-strip thingy …

or the barefoot running craze …

or the count-every-calorie-measure-every-step FitBit obsession …

If a running accessory can be categorized under “what’s hot and what’s not,” then you probably don’t need it.  However, I must concede that one new addition to the world of running paraphrenalia is NOT a gimmick.

Compression socks!

Though there is some debate over their efficacy (Do Compression Socks really work?) I love my pink compression sleeves after hard workouts because it feels like my calves are being massaged while I walk around.  Even if it is a placebo, try them for yourself and see!