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Two habits I ingrained in 2018

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I was fortunate to have the time and flexibility in my life in 2018 to ingrain two daily habits. The first is a short routine of Active Isolated Flexibility, AIF, which I learned from Phil Wharton. The second is simply twenty minutes of silent meditation each morning. The AIF work takes me less than ten minutes, though it should take longer, as I rushed through the routine most days. For the meditation I use a free app called Insight Timer that has a starting and ending bell, so the time is set. Finally, I use an app called Streaks, which costs five dollars, that was no doubt helpful as I can track these two habits.

I started doing the AIF work in December of 2017. My guess is I did it twenty to twenty-five days that month, with the obvious goal being to establish a habit of doing AIF each day in 2018. What happened? I was able to do AIF 358 days out of 365 in 2018, so ninety-eight percent of the time. I missed seven days. [Read more…]

Marathon Recovery Guide

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One of the most common mistake runners make in the days and weeks after their marathon is simply running too soon after the race. Racing on Sunday and then going for a run later that week isn’t the best way to recover from the race or to set up the next training cycle. This is what most runners don’t understand: if you want to be able to train injury free in the next training cycle, you need to properly recover from your marathon.

This does not mean that you are sedentary. You’ll be in the pool, you’ll cross train, you’ll do core strength, hip strength and hip mobility, as well as doing rope stretching daily. Your desire to be active will be meet, just not in the form of your daily run.

The recovery phase that I use with my clients is a full 28 days. By the end of the 28 days you’ll be ready for a 10-mile run. At the end of the first week you’ll go for a run, with more running each week between the first week and fourth week.

You have to trust that 28 days of proper recovery is going to set you up for a great training cycle for your next race. The flip side is, many runners get back to training a week after the marathon. They are able to run for a few weeks, yet when they increase their mileage or intensity, they get a “niggle,” for the simple reason that they didn’t recover properly. This runner will often ignore the niggle and keep training… and end up with a full blow injury in the ensuing days. There is no need for this to be your story. Take 28 days to recover rather than a week or two.

Be smart, be patient and trust that a 28-day recovery is simply part of smart marathon training.

You can also listen to a podcast on Marathon Recovery on the Run Faster Podcast (episode #10)!

(To learn about Lunge Matrix/Leg Swings (LMLS), Strength and Mobility (SAM), and Active Isolated Flexibility (AIF) visit: http://bit.ly/2gAr31V)

You can purchase the Simple Marathon Book on Amazon by clicking here.

 

MRG- Option 3

 

Podcast 030 – Phil Wharton on Marathon Recovery, Part 2

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Here is part 2 of my interview with Phil Wharton on marathon recovery.

It’s great to hear his story about how he recovered from the three times he ran 2:23 for the marathon.

Make sure to check out the Wharton Post-Marathon Recovery Plan that Phil and Jim Wharton have shared with us. Click here to download the PDF.

The plan utilizes Active Isolated Flexibility, which Phil and Jim have brought to the running world.

From today through next Tuesday, October 21st, you can use the code “october15″ to get 15% off Flexibility for Runners and the Strengthening for Runners videos from RunningDVDs.com (see introduction to the videos below).

Click here to download the audio. Or you can listen to the podcast via iTunes.

This I Believe (second draft)

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The following the newsletter that I sent out to subscribers a month ago.  I shared the first three parts of it here and I thought I would be appropriate to share the rest of it.  I hope you enjoy it.  You can join the newsletter at the bottom of this post.

There is a project called “This I Believe” – http://thisibelieve.org/ – that is based off of the same series done by Edward R. Murrow.  Here is my list as it applies to training.  It is not a comprehensive list, but it’s close.

I believe if an athlete wants to run faster, they need to run.  The Law of Specificity for a runner means that you have to spend a significant amount of time running to get better at running.  Now, the ratio of running to non-running work may (and probably should) change throughout the life of a given athlete.  Early in a career, when the athlete doesn’t have a very good aerobic foundation, more running needs to occur.  When the athlete is in their late thirties and beyond, a bit more general strength (potentially weight room work) and a bit less running is probably the best recipe for success.  But the bottom line is that if you want to improve as a runner then you have to run.

I believe that the long run is the key workout for developing the aerobic metabolism (though many would argue that threshold training is better). [Read more…]

Short Running Gossary

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Here is a short glossary of terms of I use when helping athletes and coaches.  I had a nice suggestion from a reader that I should do a full glossary and I hope to get that done in the coming months.  For now, here is the short version.

Lunge Matrix (LM).  Warm-up that gets you moving in all three planes of motion.  Should be done before every run, before every workout and before every long run.

Active Isolated Flexibility (AIF).  Should be done daily.  A must do, not a nice to do.  This approach to flexibility is the best way to insure injury-free running.  Thanks to Phil Wharton for teaching it to me.

Eight Week General Strength progression (EWGS).  If you follow this progression you will be stronger after eight weeks.  And you will be able to handle more miles and more intense workouts.  Simple.  Do this progression and you will become a better runner.

General Strength and Mobility (GSM).  This is related to the above.  General Strength exercises could include routines like Core X and this progression for athletes, as well as easy routines like Myrtl.

Speed Development.  You can read this article and then watch this video to learn about speed development workouts.  Great way to improve Running Economy (RE).

That’s it for now.  Looking forward to a more robust glossary this summer.

 

 

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