What's a Good Warm-up Before Intense Speedwork?

Before beginning a speedwork session, it is imperative that you prepare your body with a good warm-up.  Easy jogging followed by dynamic stretching will help warm and loosen up your muscles.  It has been shown that while elite runners have normal joint flexibility, they have more dynamic flexibility when running.

Start with easy jogging anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 miles to get you moving more freely.  You can then do some dynamic stretches, which are movements similar to (but more exaggerated than) the way you will move during your more intense running.  These movements will help your agonist muscles (the ones doing the work) perform optimally by  allowing your antagonist muscles (the muscles opposing the working muscles) to relax. 

Some dynamic stretches you can do:

Lunge Walk - Take exaggerated steps forward with each foot, stepping forward as far as you can in a lunge and letting your knee come close to the ground.  Repeat 10-12 times.

Lunge Walk

Lateral Lunges - Standing, take an exaggerated step with one foot to the side, lowering yourself into a squat position. Stand back up immediately and lunge to the other side.  Do 5-6 times each side.

Lateral Lunge

Tilt Walk - Start walking and as one foot comes down lean forward and balance on that leg (with knee slightly bent) and lift other leg straight back so that your body is parallel to the ground. Come back up swinging back leg through to step forward on that foot and repeat action.  Do this for 30 seconds or so.

Tilt Walk

Zombies - Start walking and extend both arms straight out in front of you as you kick one leg up toward your hands as high as you can and then the other leg.  Do not bend forward; keep your back and head aligned vertically.  Do for 30 seconds or so.

Zombies

Leg Swings - Find a wall or tree to lightly hold onto for balance.  Standing on one foot, swing your other leg back and forth as high as you can in a controlled manner.  Do 10-12 leg swings on each leg.

Leg Swings

Lateral Leg Swings - Facing the wall or tree, both arms extended forward lean lightly toward it to hold yourself, swing one leg from side to side passing in front of your body, going as high as you can in a controlled manner.  Do 10-12 leg swings each leg.

Lateral Leg Swings

Trunk Rotations - While standing, lift both arms straight out to your sides and twist your torso to the right then to the left as far as you can in a controlled manner but without stopping.  Do 10-12 times.

Trunk Rotations

When you have completed your dynamic stretches, begin running again easing into 5 or 6 20 - 40 second strides before beginning your actual speedwork session.

Intense running brings your body systems close to their peak performance rate so it's important to gradually return them to near normal with a proper cool-down.  As you did for your warm-up, 1 1/2 - 3 miles of easy jogging will accomplish this and you can continue the recovery process by following up with some gently stretching.

Ashton Eaton - World's Greatest Athlete

U.S. Olympian Ashton Eaton won the gold in the Decathlon yesterday.  Click here to watch a nice video from NBC.  And from SB Nation's Dan Rubenstein:

The Olympics! So Much Fun!

I am having so much fun watching the Olympics!  I love it, I love it all--the swimming, the diving, the gymnastics, track and field, even the table tennis and beach volleyball!  I watched the women's marathon Sunday morning with my two little grandsons, Jack and Michael. They spent the night with Grandma Joy so their parents could join in their neighborhood fun of "beer Olympics" on Saturday night. I was happy to have them--love my boys!

Each of these athletes' dedication to their particular sport is so inspiring. And listening to the back stories of some of them, how they practiced what they do for hours and hours and hours and years and years...    yes, they all have talent, but it takes more, a lot lot more, than just talent to be a champion.

I believe we all have that in us, the ability to develop and be a champion in whatever it is we like to do, whether it's sports or music or cooking or our job or whatever.  A little willingness..   a little willingness..  to get out of bed at 5 in the morning to get your run in, skipping that party (or going home early) because you're meeting your running buddies in the morning for your long run, doing one more interval on the track because you're feeling so good, and you know the training is working...

Training, practicing, resting, recovering, rejoicing in victories large and small. Not stopping when we fall down or make a mistake, but picking ourselves up, evaluating what went wrong, maybe get some advice..   and going back out there.  And starting again. 

Because it's what we do. And in the end, it's all so worth it. 

Today

Video: The Olympic Body

Film by Kate Peters, beautiful photography and narrative...

Another Training Component - Sleep

An integral piece of the overall training picture is getting enough sleep.  A sleepless night here and there is nothing to worry about, but if you consistently do not get the sleep you need and are training hard, your recovery from training will suffer.  Circulating cortisol and C-reactive protein (a biomarker of inflammation) levels in the body increase dramatically in even short-term sleep deprivation.

Everyone's sleep requirements are different, so how do you know how much sleep you need?  You should sleep until you just naturally wake up, without an alarm clock or someone waking you.  That's how much sleep you need.

In addition to the recovery benefits, research shows that adequate sleep improves motor skill performance (e.g. running) in adults.  Takeaway:  Make sure you sleep well most nights, and especially after a hard workout.

Is Massage a Part of Your Training?

Though there is no scientific evidence that deep-tissue massage promotes recovery or prevents injury, it sure feels good, and there IS evidence that it can allow more blood flow to massaged areas.  Getting a weekly massage may not be in your budget, but if you are training hard, I believe that getting at least an occasional deep-tissue massage given by a trained sports massage therapist is well worth the money.

Common trouble areas for runners are quads and hamstrings, calves, deep hip (including external rotators), glutes, and the IT band.

You can do some self-massage as well, using various massage tools that are on the market.  One of the best ways for runners to massage themselves is by using a foam roller, which is a firm foam 6"-diameter cylinder of varying densities and lengths.  You use your own body weight to apply pressure to trouble areas, rolling back and forth over the area for about 60 seconds at a time, and avoiding bony areas.  Do some gentle stretching afterwards.  For injured areas, do this 2-3 times a day; for prevention, 2-3 times a week.

You can get foam rollers at Amazon.com:

 

Olympics in Two Days!

Olympics inspiration..