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The Necessary Warm-Up for Runners

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Before your feet hit the pavement you need to warm-up. Most runners believe that the first mile is a warm-up, but getting ready to run by running isn’t ideal.

The necessary warm-up that will help your body prepare for the strain running puts on your body is the Lunge Matrix and Leg Swings.

The Lunge Matrix is rooted in Dr. Gary Gray’s work, with this Lunge Matrix designed specifically for runners.

The Lunge Matrix only takes 3 minutes and 30 seconds. You do this warm-up before you run. This warm-up gets you moving in all three planes of motion. Runners who do the Lunge Matrix before their workout have a much lower risk of injury because their body is properly warmed up prior to their workout.

Following the Lunge Matrix you need to do Leg Swings (LS).

This simple routine can be done anywhere – next to a wall, tree, fence, car door.

LMLS only takes about 5 minutes and is the warm-up that all runners should be doing prior to their run, before their first step of running.

Marathon Training Build Up Plans

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Simple Marathon Training: The Right Training for Busy Adults with Hectic Lives is the best marathon training book for the busy adult.

The SMT system is comprised of a 20-week training cycle.To begin the cycle you need to be running four days a week and have done two long runs of 8-9 miles.

The following progressions will get you ready to follow the SMT system that is laid out in the book.

28 weeks from your marathon (need to be doing a 3 mile long run) –8 Week-Build Up.

27 weeks from your marathon (need to be doing a 4 mile long run) – 7 Week-Build Up.

26 weeks from your marathon (need to be doing a 5 mile long run) – 6 Week-Build Up.

25 weeks from your marathon (need to be doing a 6 mile long run) – 5 Week-Build Up.

You can purchase the Simple Marathon Training book here.

Learn more about the SMT program here.

Podcast 020 – Charlie Kern

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Charlie Kern is the boys track coach at York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois.

This podcast is a collection of excerpts from his full interview on High School Running Coach.

He talks about the face that caring for athletes is more important than workouts.  He talks about some of the things they do at York that are different than other programs.  He also shares a couple examples of workouts they’ve done to get athletes ready to run well at big meets.

Charlie is a fantastic coach and I’m so happy he is part of the 2016 High School Running Coach line up.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes or listen to it on Stitcher if you have an Android device.

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Podcast 018 – Amy Feit

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Amy Feit is a former 3:34 marathoner who is now a 3:03 marathoner.  I’m fortunate to coach her and it’s been really fun to see her progression over the past three years that we’ve worked together.  PRs at every distance from 5k to the marathon are all because Amy works hard and has bought into the training system.

Amy trains in harsh conditions in Minnesota, which she talks about on the podcast.

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Amy has bought into the idea of doing a lot of non-running work after her workouts and long runs and she discusses what that part of her training looks like.

Finally, not only is Amy a guest on the podcast, but she’s an avid listener too and she shares some of her favorite episodes of the podcast.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes or listen to it on Stitcher if you have an Android device.

 

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Four Businesses that you need to know about

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I spent Friday at a rainy track meet in Longmont, Colorado. The St. Vrain invitational is one of the best track meets in the state, put on by Jeff Boele and Mark Roberts, two fantastic coaches and fantastic people.

I have four businesses that sponsored the meet, which meant I also got to set up a booth at the meet.

The Boulder Running Camps is a camp for high school runners I’ve been the director of for the past 15 years. It’s my baby. The two weeks of camp are the best two weeks of the year for me. [Read more…]

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