Jessi Stensland - Adventures in Endurance Performance

TRAIN ALONG // 12.29.09

I visited the track for the first time in a long time today. The plan was to get in some great movement and a few short intense intervals. My friend and I had about 75 minutes to workout.  Here's what we did:

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MOVEMENT

Spinal Flexion/Extension (on all fours)
Thoracic Mobility with Tennis Balls
Mini-band External Rotation
Mini-band Bent Knee Lateral Walks
Knee Hugs
Leg Cradles
Hand Walks
Lateral Lunges
Squat Jump
Lateral Hops
Pillar skipping:  Linear + Lateral

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TRACK WORKOUT

8 x [400m hard + 200m easy] + an additional 200m to make 5k total.

This is one of my favorite track workouts.  It was passed on to me by Greg Welch who attributes it to another well known runner whose name escapes me.  It is a short workout that gives a ton of great feedback about fitness level and efficiency.  There are two elements the workout: the running and the rest.

The idea is to decrease your overall 5k time each time you run it, whether you run the 400s faster and take the same rest, run the 400s the same, but take less rest, or, ideally, do both.  The fitter you get, the faster you'll be able to run the 400m and the less time you'll need to recover during the 200m. The goal is to decrease the time you need for each element, and therefore decrease your overall 5K time. 

Keys to performance:

• Run the 8 x 400m hard, at a pace you can maintain for all eight sets.
• Run the 200m as recovery. Take enough time to maintain 400m pace.
• Record splits for each 400 and 200, then record your overall 5k time.

Here's how it went for me today...by 400s...

1 = 1:33
2-4 = 1:30
5-6 = 1:35
7 = 1:40
8 = 1:35

200s were between 1:03 and 1:10

OVERALL 5K TIME = 22:19

Ideally all the 400s would be the same or get faster as the set goes on.  I, obviously, did not accomplish this.  Next time I'll shoot to make the first 4 x 400s feel a bit easier, so I can finish at the same speed as I start.  I've done this workout as fast as 18:17 and as slow as 26:00.   I'm happy with where I'm at, for as little as I've been training. It's a great place to start. I'll aim to shave 20-30 seconds off each time I do it.  I usually repeat this set once every two to three weeks to evaluate my fitness.  It's great getting instant feedback from a workout like this.  What ends up happening is that you need less and less time to recover.  Its a great workout for anyone training for any distance as it helps increase the anaerobic threshold and power in the running stride.

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After the workout we finished up with:

Pillar Bridge // Diagonal Arm Lift
Single Leg Lowering
90/90 Stretch
AIS Stretching
Self-Massage

Do a dynamic warm-up.  Try out the 5km.  Use it to measure your fitness from time to time.  Push yourself.  Aim to improve.

Move well!

Performance POV // Coincidence? I think not.

For a while now I've been seeing asymmetries and imbalances in my own body and everyone elses as well, both on a macro and micro scale, almost to a point where I wish I could shut it off at times.  It has come with the body awareness I've been honing and training with since 2004.  The photos below show the change I've seen in my body as a result of my functional performance training I began in 2004.  Since then I have not had a single chronic injury and my times have dropped significantly.  Coincidence, I think not.  The photo on the left is from the 1999 ITU World Championships in Montreal, Canada.  I ran a 39:30 10K, won the silver medal in my age-group and was 5th amateur overall.  The photo on the right is from a triathlon in 2005.  I ran 37:00 for my 10K off the bike.

I've also been, from time to time, looking at elite running race photos and putting "bets" on who won the race based solely on the degree of asymmetry.  My guesses have been right 100% of the time. 

Here is a photo from one of the most riveting and memorable race finishes from the sport of triathlon this year.  You may have seen it already.  Six of the best runners on the planet in the sport of triathlon vying for one of the world's largest prize purses in the sport this past June. 

Can you guess who won the race below, if you don't already know? 

It's been said before, I'll say it again.  Find cause and effect where others find coincidence.

Look closer. 

 

The athlete running in the straightest line (linearly and laterally), Simon Whitfield of Canada, won.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Nor do I believe it is a coincidence that Kahlefeldt (AUS) was second.

Kris Gemmell (NZL) made a comment on the photo about that being the last time he loses by a bird's pecker (or some similar kiwi colloquialism.)  Kris - I'm curious to know what you're working on to close that gap...I know you can!

It is, of course, one thing to point out what is wrong and another thing to point out why its wrong and offer solid solutions to correct it.  Dr. Joe Torg has been considered a top authority on running injuries as the co-author of the book, The Running Athlete, the definitive radiographic analysis of every conceivable running injury.  He can tell you, with utmost precision what part of the body is injured.  He is also quoted as telling Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, who wanted to run longer than 2-3 miles at a time without pain that, "The body is not designed for that kind of abuse." [Excerpts from Born To Run by McDougall.]

Times are changing.  Be a part of it!!  Form and function are taking the spotlight.  Injuries are not something to cope with but to avoid with specific actionable steps.   There are elements to performance that many athletes have yet to take into consideration in their efforts, greatly minimizing their ability to tap into their true performance potential.

Whether for injury resistance or performance, the same principles apply. But you've gotta understand them and apply them day to day for yourself.  Eliminate the guess work and implement a strategic, time efficient, performance maximizing plan and you'll be able to replace unnecessary injuries and unnecessary pain with fun long lasting memories for a really long time.

MovementU was created for this purpose...change is in the air : ) 

Move well!!

Running // 6mph to 10mph in 18min flat

I just twittered about this:

"Had client on treadmill @7mph for 1min.  Said it felt like 9 out of 10 difficulty.  End of 18min workout he's @10mph :15sec on :15sec off!  Possible!"

I thought it was worth a bit more explanation, especially after Jeff White inquired about the following on Facebook, "What adjustments do you attribute that kind of improvement?"

Here's the scoop.

Earlier today I had a one-on-one session with one of the participants from last weekend's MovementU here in Arizona.  I like to call these sessions performance consulting.  I enjoy them.  A lot.  They are tailored to the needs/wants of that individual person, and depending on the open-mindedness/curiosity/knowledge of the individual will also include some degree of learning "what you don't know you don't know." Today's was a two-hour interactive learn-by-doing kind of session in the gym.  It started off with some Movement Prep, then a rundown of key functional strength exercises including double-leg front squats and single-leg balance squats, RDLs, rotational row and anti-rotational chops and lifts along with some key TRX Suspension Training movements like the low back row and the single-leg chest press.

Then we headed for some Energy System Development (cardio) on the treadmill...and that's where it got really good.

The client:  40-year old male, tall, lean, athlete-back-in-the-day, new to running.

My plan for him was based on where I've started my own pre-season training in the past:

3 sets of 3 x [1min hard + 1min off] with an extra minute between sets.
Total of 9min of effort within a 20min period.  No sweat, right?

First I took him through a 7-8 min warm-up at about 5.5-6mph where I threw out one cue at a time to focus on and interspersed those with over-exaggeration drills (focus on one leg, then the other for example.) I also had him switch back and forth between his 'old' form and a stronger/taller 'new' form for about 15 seconds at a time.  He was more than warmed up by the end.

Then after a brief rest period we started the main set.  He did not know what speed he should start at so I took a stab at 7mph to start.  Here's how it went.

7mph for 1 min.  1 min off.

[Perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10 was a 7-8 (somewhat hard to hard.)]

7mph for 1 min.  1 min off. 

[Perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10 was a very out of breath, doubled over 9.]

Not a good sign for him making it thru another minute at that speed so I modified it...by INCREASING the speed.  Yes, you read it right, BUT...I decreased the length of the interval and increased the recovery period.

7.5mph for 30sec.  1 min off.

7.5mph for 30sec.  1 min off.

End of first set.  1 min break.

Second set...

7mph for 1min + 1min off.  

Watching him it hit me.  It was so apparent...and I told him so:  "7.0mph. That is LAME." He looked at me funny through the sweat that was dripping off his forehead into his eyes.  I continued "and you'll realize it.  Soon."  Little did I know I was going to make him realize it in the next 10 min.  But I had an inkling, and it went like this:

I got on the treadmill next to him.  Him: a fit-looking, tall, healthy dude, only running at 9min mile pace or so and for only 1 minute feeling like it was a 9 on a scale of 10 of difficulty.  No doubt it was, but I wanted more work done, for that same effort.

I put my treadmill at 10mph (6min/mi.)  We started the next interval together.  Him at 7mph, me at 10mph.  Without trying (at least I wasn't trying) our cadence was exactly the same stride for stride.  I would've loved to see this on video from the side.  All I could do is look down at his treadmill and see the logo on his tread coming around a lot slower than mine, but still our strides were in sync.  The minute finished no problem.  I hadn't even broken a sweat (which I was kinda stoked about not knowing where my fitness is at the moment, but that's not important here...) He did the interval fine.

He had one more minute of work left in that set. I asked him if he wanted to do another minute at the same speed or go higher speed for the :30 intervals again.  He gave a thumbs up.  Speed. 

The 3rd minute of the 2nd set went like this:

8.0mph for :30 + ONLY 30sec OFF.

[Getting back to a 1:1 ratio of work to rest. Good.]

8.0mph for :30 + 30sec off.

1 min break.

The third set is where it got fun.  At this point, he was working his butt off, and I loved it.  For him it was that beautiful love/hate relationship (more or less is what I think I got from him.) He admitted during this little break two things:

1.  He wouldn't have put the treadmill over 6mph.

2.  He rarely broke a sweat when he was running.

At the moment he was sweating, red in the face, breathing harder after that one minute of rest than he would've been during his entire run the way he was used to doing it.  His heart was working like crazy.  Awesome!

Then came the 3rd set.

He himself adjusted the speed for the first 2 intervals.

It looked like this:

1min @ 8.5mph + 1min off

1min @ 9.0mph + 1min off

He was WORKED.  For all intents and purposes DONE.  He had one more minute of work left to do.  So what did I do?

Jacked the treadmill up to 10mph and decreased the interval time.  Kept the work to rest ratio the same though.  I wanted any little leg speed he had in him even if only for 15 sec. 

He finished his last minute of work this way:

4 x [15sec @ 10mph + 15sec off]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Then I was satisfied. He was REALLY done. : )

Only 9 minutes of effort.  So much benefit.  Pushing the cardio system to work over and above the anaerobic threshold causes an improvement, an increase in that anaerobic threshold.  The result?  He'll be able to do more work at the same effort next time OR do the same work (speed) will feel easier than it did the week before.  Leg speed got worked.  The core HAD to activate. He HAD to take control over it to keep his legs under him.  The harder I asked him to go, the harder he had to activate his core just to keep his legs under him.  Tightening things up.  Getting more out of his same effort.  Awesome.

So to answer Jeff's original question:

Was it mental?  Was it physical?  I'd say it was a little bit of both.  The mind is capable when given a purpose.  15 seconds is much easier to focus on and push through the effort than 1 minute.  If I ever think my mind or my body can't handle the interval, i'll shorten it and eek out my last bit of energy that way rather than slowing down to accommodate my mind/body.  I only gave subtle running form cues to the athlete during the workout.  Just by him having to try to keep his legs under him to achieve that speed, was causing him to run more biomechanically correct and efficient.  He wouldn't have been able to go that fast if he hadn't. So there's something to be said about working on mechanics, thinking through the process, but combining that with simply challenging the body to move the way it was born to move...is just as important in the performance process.

Redefine your 100%.  You can change it.  Daily.   You've just gotta push your limits.  Be curious.  Go where you haven't gone before! 

More to come. 

Move well!

Q + A // My Thoughts On "Methods" Of Running

Thanks Howie Stein, The Triathlon Optimist, for the question.  It was in response to the Performance POV // Running Efficiently Downhill.

QUESTION: Hi Jessi. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Are you familiar with Chi Running? Any thoughts on those principles? I still struggle with proper stretching and elasticity, thanks for the reminder!

ANSWER:  Hi Howie. Great question and one I get a lot.  The answer is:  I am familiar with Chi Running and other 'types' of running though I do not have much experience with them.  The way I have learned from my mentors has been with a focus on the physics and biomechanics of efficient force production in running.  Through this understanding, I've come to the opinion that although particular 'methods' of running often give a decent framework that can elicit good running form, they often fall short of maximizing movement efficiency for performance.  I believe that nothing empowers people to understand their body and acheive the most efficient, injury resistant and powerful running mechanics better than teaching some simple foundations of good old physics and biomechanics and the running form cues and drills that directly relate to them. 

PERFORMANCE POV // Running Efficiently Downhill

The first time I remember flying by people while running downhill in a race was at the 2008 Wildflower Triathlon Festival during that infamous two kilometer downhill to the finish. It wasn’t until a second experience, during the XTERRA Boney Mountain Xduro 21k earlier this year when the same thing happened on multiple steep, long downhills throughout the race, that I started wondering why I was able to go so much faster downhill relative to everyone else on the course and consequently started questioning: what makes a good downhill runner?  Immediately, of course, my mind started to wonder about the body’s involvement.  What was it that was allowing me this ‘free speed’ and what were other athletes doing that caused them to be unable to take advantage of it and even find themselves having to fight gravity, instead of using it?

Running downhill wasn't always a strength of mine.  Interestingly enough, looking back on my races against other pro triathletes, I remember one athlete in particular, who blew by me one day on a downhill on the LA Triathlon run course. I remember thinking something like “Wow. How is she doing that?” and I’m pretty sure my mind probably stopped at something like: “She’s just better at it,” without giving a second thought as to why. That was before I had started to understand the body’s role in my performance.  Now I understand that there are specific movement efficiency related reasons to all performance outcomes.

The foundations of efficient downhill running are not unlike running on flat ground.  In running, the foot hits the ground with a certain amount of force and the better the body is at scooping that energy back up as the foot leaves the ground and not letting it ‘leak out’, the more efficient, fast and powerful running can be. 

In efficient downhill running, gravity is your friend.  More often than not however the body is unable to handle the momentum, and in many cases, is forced to put on the brakes to maintain control down the hill. Double whammy!  This means a runner will miss out on the advantage of gravity, and will actually have to use some of their energy to fight the force that’s could be helping them downhill!

There are a few factors I believe that come into play during efficient downhill running. It’s not about a different style of running than when on flat ground.  Think about it as maintaining your running mechanics and “keeping your legs under you” as long as you can at the highest speed you can handle. To do so you need proper running mechanics, key muscles activated, stability through your joints and strong, elastic muscles.

1.    PROPER RUNNING MECHANICS 

As in all running, the foundation of running efficiently downhill relies upon maintain tall posture and a strong circular motion of the legs underneath the body which means, in its simplest terms, lifting the knees out in front, footstriking directly beneath the body and then pulling the heel back around to start again.  In general, I see many people running lower-leg dominant instead of from their hips, with minimal knee raise. This alone would greatly reduce the ability to keep up with momentum while running downhill and certainly make it necessary to ‘put on the brakes’ very early on.

2.    ABS AND GLUTES ACTIVATING

In any type of movement, including running, the abdominals and the glutes are so important to both force production and overall control of the body.  Activating and utilizing them properly throughout running mechanics gives the body much greater control over the legs.  It also minimizes the impact on the quadriceps and knees that so often take most of the beating on downhill running.  Having that control is pivotal in taking advantage of gravity and keeping control over the momentum, especially while having to avoid obstacles if on the trail.  Be sure to integrate core strength and stability work along with glute activation exercises in your training.

3.    JOINT STABILITY

Your ability to maintain stability through your spine, hips, knees and ankles during each step will be key to controlling you body’s direction and forward speed as you hit the ground.  Having strong muscles surrounding the joints that can coordinate efficient movements between the hips, knees and ankles is key.  To increase your joint stability, combine single and double leg strength and balance exercises that challenge both linear and lateral movements.  Especially for extreme trail running, being able to be stable during those quick changes in direction is not only great for preventing injury, but helps with quickness and agility.

4.    ELASTICITY

Elasticity is one of the most overlooked elements of endurance performance and I would consider it like icing on the cake for downhill running. “Think of your body as a pogo stick.  The metal framework is analogous to your pillar and the springs are like your muscles.  We want our bodies to be able to store and release energy powerfully, just like that pogo stick.  [Elasticity] is like your body’s shocks and springs.” writes Mark Verstegen in the book Core Performance.  You can also think of elasticity as how fast your body is capable of changing the direction of force.  In tennis it might be a lateral move to get back across the court.  In running it would be how quickly you can get your foot off the ground once it hits, ideally while scooping up all the force you hit with and bringing it all with you into your next stride.  It is pivotal to being able to “keep your legs under you” as mentioned earlier.  You can train the body to be elastic with explosive exercises, like jumps and bounds, and specific running drills.  Opt for fewer reps and make perfect form a priority.

The following video of Chris McCormack enroute to his win at the 2008 Wildflower Long Course Triathlon exemplifies great downhill running.  Chris and Eneko Llanos were shoulder to shoulder, both with incredible running form as they approached the final 2km downhill to the finish line.   On the downhill Chris easily pulls away from Eneko to win.  If you watch closely (pausing the video from time to time helps) you'll see Chris continue to keep his running form intact.  He keeps his knees high which allow him to maintain his long running stride down the hill while Eneko's stride shortens.  Eneko's knees are not getting as high, so as he extends his leg in his stride, his foot hits the ground sooner than it expects to and there's a bit of a braking effect and definite loss of momentum every stride.  What's interesting is that  in the video Chris describes his mindset as he's running down the hill in that race and he mentions "forgetting about his technique." Yet you can see that doesn't mean "let the technique go".  It's called being "unconsciously competent" and I'd imagine in this case it's due to not to luck but perfect practice making perfect...

Practice smart.  Here’s to free speed!  Enjoy. 

Performance POV // Misconceptions about running

Here are three statements I've heard over the years, from all levels of athletes, that have made me cringe.  I've been thankful to have known differently and have always wanted others to know the same, whether they are looking to set a personal best, dealing with injury, or just believe they "can't run anymore."  There's a good chance I would not be running today, certainly to this level, let alone racing, if the following were true.

1. Injuries are inevitable and/or unavoidable and/or just a part of the sport.
2. If you want to run faster, run more and run faster.
3. Running is basically a technique-free sport.

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1.  Injuries are inevitable?

Change that to:  Injuries are avoidable.  By taking responsibility for your actions, your body and your movements and committing some of your training time to creating injury resistance within your body, you can avoid chronic injury 100% and minimize your chances of acute injuries as well with increased body awareness, coordination and quickness of movement.

2.  If you want to run faster run faster?

If you want to run faster, more often than not you'll benefit most from learning how you can be more efficient with your efforts every stride. Less efficiency = more energy leaking.  Running farther = even more energy leaking, more pounding on the body, and greater chance of injury.  Running faster can force the body into somewhat better running mechanics naturally, however it is not the cure all for inefficiencies in your running and will only get you so much faster and who knows for how long. 

3.  Running is technique-free?

Running is highly technical.  At least efficient, injury resistant and fun running!  Much like swimming, running is heavily driven by body position, mechanics, technique and efficient power production along the ground.  Just as simply moving your arms and your legs around in the water does not constitute swimming (as it pertains to the sport,) the same goes for running.  Understanding even the most basic running mechanics and being deliberate with movements during running is key to more efficient, injury resistant and, i'll say it again, FUN, running. 

Think about it...then spread the word!  : )

PERFORMANCE POV // AT THE TRACK

I observe things all the time in endurance sports workouts, at the gym or elsewhere, that either completely miss the boat of performance efficiency or make a really good effort, but maybe miss a simple principle that takes away from the rest of the effort in a major way.  Best performance comes from understanding and implementing all of the elements together to make one injury resistant, efficient, powerful body that's capable of doing work.  I'm going to call these blogs:  Performance POVs.  In other words: observations on day to day happenings from the point of view of true performance and movement efficiency.

This Performance POV is based on observations from two track workouts I did recently with two different triathlon teams. 

Doing running drills as part of the workout = GREAT
Doing them mediocre or wrong = A WASTE OF TIME
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

1.  Hurdle drills are great for joint mobility and muscle elasticity when done correctly.  What I saw was athletes crunching at the waist, hunching their back over, neglecting their posture and any power through their pillar just to get their leg over the hurdle in a somewhat sloppy sing-songy kind of cadence.  Posture should be the number one priority in any exercise if you want to maximize your efforts.  In this case you could lower the hurdles or do skipping drills that allow you to maintain great posture.

2.  Running form drills are great when done correctly.  What I saw was athletes sent out for 2 loops of the track, doing a drill on the straights and jogging through the curves.  Coaches weren't coaching and athletes (on the whole) were chit chatting away not focused on their body or the drill. Here's my thoughts: drills should be purposeful, coached, and run over shorter distances so attention can stay focused on the drill at hand.  It gets hard to maintain good form with drills over long distances.  It's a coaches job to understand how to coach the drills given to athletes and coach them through it. Athletes if you want to make the most of your time, focus on your body and the running drill, don't chit chat. 

Defining "WARM-UP"

Picture a group of athletes, having been doing running drills for at least 30 minutes, sweating, hearts racing, looking at each other like, "I'm WORKED! And we haven't even gotten to the track workout yet!"  I was stoked to see the running drills not only incorporated but actually taught, and taught well.  Then there came what I've come to call a "so close and yet so far" moment. The coach asks: "How many of you warmed-up [meaning jogged] for 30 minutes? 20 minutes? 10 minutes or less?" Most people raised their hands for 10 min or less.  At this point the group was scolded for not having warmed-up enough.  I thought, oh geez, really?  These athletes are not "warmed-up" enough? Ha!

Is warm-up defined as simply jog for 20 minutes?  Maybe its to "get your heart rate up."

If you understand running, you understand that there's a whole lot more to your performance than higher than average heart rate.  Posture, glute activation, joint mobility, stability, elasticity, strength and proper running mechanics all go into every running step you take.  Those athletes in that track workout had done all of that and yet were being told they hadn't warmed up enough.

The term warm-up is a bit one-dimensional.  I prefer to "prepare my body to move" and give some physiological purpose to my preparation.  My movement preparation involves little running.  I prefer spending my 10-20 minutes with functional exercises, running drills, and a few strides.  Even 5 minutes of it does a body good.

I"ll follow up with a blog on movement preparation later this week.

More PERFORMANCE POVs to come.

My ESD on the Treadmill Today

Have to share this workout I did today.  It was one of my favorites, that I tweaked as I went along.  Again, ESD stands for Energy System Development.

It was based around leg speed.  The goal was to do 16 minutes of total work.  I could just list the workout, but there's a lot of purpose that went into it and that's the part I like to share!

First I chose a goal speed of 10mph.  I wanted to see how long I could maintain that, which turned out to be 3 minutes.  I ran easy (rested) for 2 minutes, but could not repeat another 3 min, so I went 2min @ 10mph with 90sec easy and was able to repeat that twice.  That was Set #1.  Upon completing it, I realized I wasn't happy with my leg speed.  I was having a hard time keeping my legs under me at that 10mph.  I felt my upper body having to do some of the work just to keep that speed.  Ideally my upper body would stay relaxed and my legs would be doing all the work beneath me. It didn't make much sense to me at first, that I would be having that issue, since I've been working out so dynamically with strength, stability, elasticity and running form, but it occurred to me that I hadn't yet really trained my leg speed, essentially tying all those elements together...connecting the dots... biomechanically, neurologically, mentally, etc.  6min/mi really shouldn't be a problem for me certainly for a only minute or two, if all is working properly.  It hit me that I couldn't just expect my legs to turn under me that fast if I had yet to do it in training, at any speed. So after the first set, I wanted to focus on that leg speed:  keeping my upper body relaxed and my legs under me.  I shortened the interval AND the rest.  Set #2 went well that way.   The third set was a bit of a test.  I always like to push my limit to find my limit and create a new 100%.  I increased the speed first, to see if I could do it.  And I could.  I've realized that there are times when increasing intensity actually forces a more natural reflex and engagement of correct movement patterns.  That's usually IF alignment, stabiltiy, strength and all that good stuff are working together.  Knowing that 10.5 felt fine, I bumped it up to 11.0 to see if I could maintain it.  And I could.  I felt my abdominals engaging actively to do so.  That was a good sign.  They should be activated, not my upper body, which I was able to keep quiet.  For that sixth and final rep of 30sec I bumped it up to 11.5 (5:20/mi) and that was hard.  I was encouraged though because I did it, and though it wasn't effortless, I was able to actively engage and move my body parts in an efficient movement pattern, which tells me my strength and form is there.  Just gotta keep working up some more leg speed. 

Previous experience tells me that 10mph will feel easier once my body has been challenged to do 10.5-11.5, even if only for 3 minutes total.  We shall see...next week!

Try it out!  Start at your own 'goal' speed.  Even if you can only hold it for 1 or 2 minutes to start.  It should be challenging enough however that you can't hold it for longer than 3 (maximum 4) minutes.  Take enough rest between reps that you recover enough to maintain your form.  As your fitness level increases, you'll need less rest.  Adjust it as needed and in relation to the length of your 'work' reps.

THE WORKOUT

Set #1

1 x [3min @ 10mph + 2min @ 6mph]
2 x [2min @ 10mph + 90 sec @ 6mph]

2 min break off the treadmill

Set #2

6 x [1min @ 10mph + 30 sec rest]

2 min break off the treadmill

Set #3

3 x [30 sec @ 10.5mph + 1min rest]
2 x [30 sec @ 11.0mph + 1min rest]
1 x [30 sec @ 11.5mph + done]

RACE RECAP: XTERRA Black Mountain 15K

To run or not to run, that was the question (for a couple of reasons like:  did it fit in my training plan? and the fact that it was not quite the best time of the month if you know what I mean. Sorry guys...just keeping it real!)  Glad I did though, as usual.  Lucky for me it was in my backyard, first, because it's just an awesome race and friends came from as far as Arizona for it, and second, (should I admit??) I didn't even get out of bed til 7am (after thinking/sleeping on it for an hour while my alarm went off) when the race was scheduled to start at 8am.  Anyone who runs will know that's not the BEST idea when it comes to trying to be pottybreak-free for a morning run, as was proven once again by Yours Truly.  But only once, luckily.

At the start I had to settle for my condensed version of movement prep. Rocked my mini-band monster walks, then did a few lunges, leg cradles and some skipping, all the while hoping that my body and mind would go into race mode at some point before the start as my adrenaline got pumping.  That pretty much happened, though it didn't take away the overall feeling of this-just-isn't-gonna-be-an-easy-day that filled every cell of my body.  Typically, although not the best case scenario, anytime my whole body is in it together, I'm a happy camper.  It's the imbalanced "this or that hurts here and there" type things that are the true troublemakers.  So I just got into as much of a rhythm as you can get on an XTERRA course, kept efficiency in mind (everything's easier done efficiently) and bit my lip, metaphorically speaking.  It wasn't flash, but I felt strong.  Ended up finishing 4th among the ladies.  Super happy with that.

Here's a couple things I noticed and a couple things I was thinking about during the race:

First, I noticed that I was only able to see the back of Heather Fuhr for about 3 minutes into the race.  She runs like the wind.  Wow.  Paula Newby-Fraser was my carrot for about half of the race.  Kept staring at her bright red Multisports.com singlet til I couldn't see her anymore either. She ended up finishing 7 minutes ahead.  Oh the last half hurt. Third place passed me during my potty break.  She finished two and a half minutes ahead. My break didn't take that long, so it was legit. 

Second, I was thinking how stoked I was to finally be racing in the brand new Under Armour Trail  Running Shoes.  I'd been running in their road shoes for a while, but not the trail shoes.  Since they launched on Jan. 31st I've had a pair, but haven't been training on the trails.  Straight out of the box and my feet had no problem in them, even on that terrain.  Loved em.  And they look super cool.

Third, I noticed my left foot was making a slapping noise everytime it hit the ground.  Upon paying attention, I realized that my forefoot was hitting the ground flatly every stride, instead of my mid-foot hitting the ground beneath me, quietly, allowing my leg to continue its smooth circular cycle just as my right foot/leg was doing.  This is something I've been working on, but have yet to clean up in my running mechanics.  During the race I would change things up from time to time, for a few strides, implementing a few cues I've been working on in workouts to help me get better timing down on that left side and allowing me to engage my glutes more on the backside of the stride.  Though I could certainly not maintain that proper form for more than a few strides at at time, it was good to know I was at least aware of the inefficiency and capable of making change to the stride.  The 'unconcious competence' will come later, once I clean up the culprits (like lower abdominal and/or psoas/iliacus weakness on that left side, causing me to be slow on my 'knee up' phase of the stride, and essentially slowing down the rest of the timing on that side, so when my foot should be striking below me, it's hitting the ground early, out in front, on my forefoot instead.)  All that combined with more strength and running drills will do the trick.

Fourth, I was thinking "I'm glad I learned to run with my glutes.  It makes these hills much more bearable!"  Here's what I think about:  When I run, I lift my knee up, drive my foot back down under me so my mid-foot strikes directly underneath my center of gravity.  At that point glutes should engage and if all is working properly, momentum pretty much takes care of the rest (ok there's more to it, and I'll get into it in another post, but for this example, that's the gist.)  The only thing that really changes, for speed or terrain, is the amplitude of that action (essentially a 'circle'...like Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist American Meb Keflezighi says...its like pedaling a bike.)  When I approach a hill, I don't think about getting my whole body up it, I simply keep my upper body tall and engaged yet relaxed, and do the same motion as always:  knee up, foot down under my body, feel glutes engage, repeat.  Sure there's a change in effort level, because its a hill, but this way allows me to get up the hill using only the energy I need to get up it (called efficiency) and nothing more.  I haven't hated hills for a while now.  : )  So thats what I was thinking about on the neverending .3 (which was really .8 allegedly) miles of super uphill to the finish, and the 24 other hills during the race (ok, maybe a bit overexaggerated, but there were quite a few as you can imagine as the name XTERRA implies.)

Finally, I always love seeing Generic Events race director and friend, Brennan Lindner's smiling face somewhere on the course, which he always is, usually somewhere towards the end of the course, when I'm in loads of pain, yet not quite close enough to be able to look forward to the finish.  He asked me how it was going, I mustered a huge smile and said "AWE-SOME!"  One-hundred yards later, out of ear shot of him, I said with a smile, to the aid station volunteers who would've heard me say that, "I lied to him.  I'm not awesome." They laughed.  Took the pain away for a second or two.  Then reality set in.  Smiles came back at the finish line and then again as I grabbed some fresh scrambled eggs they were cooking up there on the spot for us all.  How thoughtful is that of them? Thanks to the chef and the rest of the crew!

Another SUPER SUPER race.  Again, glad I got my butt out of bed.  Didn't even feel bad the next day when I kicked off my week of training.  Which, as I'd mentioned on Twitter that day, is a great sign of some solid conditioning and that my body is staying aligned well even under pressure (including the uneven footstrike I worked through,  which my coaches, physical therapist and I are diligently focusing on getting rid of this week! It's going great so far.)

Til next race...

Stop TRAINing in RUNning Shoes

It is pretty well known these days (finally!) that:

THERE IS MORE TO RUNNING THAN JUST RUNNING

Like flexibility, joint mobility, strength, stability, elasticity and overall power.  Tack on efficient running form (drills and such) and now we're talking.

It's been great to see a more integrated approach being taken when it comes to endurance sports training.  To me, it's about working on the overall athleticism and injury resistance of the body, so that we've got the best body to DO our sport of choice with.  This of course underlies much of my blogging...if you haven't already noticed...it's certainly changed my career and my life!

Getting back to running shoes...

As you know, running shoes are built for a very specific purpose:  running.  They are meant to support your foot as it moves in a linear direction while experiencing the ground reaction forces of the running gait.  The better the running shoe, the more precise the support is, and I'm assuming you've done your homework to find the right shoe for you.

Like most people, when I started to train in the gym, my running shoes are all I had, so that's what I used.  Just as when running, great foot contact during these types of specific exercises is just as important and yet very different than during the running stride.  It is important to get a shoe that suits your specific training needs both for efficiency of movement AND safety. It took me a while to realize it but once I did, back in 2004 I believe, I made the switch to more of a court shoe with a more neutral, stable base, which gave my foot a much better base of support when working on everything from linear, lateral, stationary, and power movements.  I also do a lot of my work barefoot when possible, but this is the next best thing.

Speaking of SAFETY:  Back in high school I attended a tennis camp and wore the only sneakers I had at the time which were running shoes.  At one point we were doing lateral suicide drills on the court, and I rolled an ankle BAD.  I tore all the ligaments off the bone.  Little did I know how much of an effect that injury would have on my future running career.  It's been a challenge, but its now under control.  A running shoe is DEFINITELY not meant to support side-to-side movements as you can easily see from the way the side of the shoe is taller than wider like a cross-trainer or court shoe (among many other reasons.)

My suggestion is to have at least one pair of cross-training or neutral support shoes to do your non-running activities in, whether it be your functional training workouts, or other sports like basketball, soccer, running around after the kids, or whatever other multidirectional activities you do!

It was awesome to see Under Armour take this idea to a whole other level with their training shoes: Proto Power, Proto Speed and Proto Evade.  POWER for stationary movements like strength (squats).  SPEED for linear movements like linear plyometrics and short bursts of running power or drills.  EVADE for lateral movements or any other multidirectional dynamic movements.  I wear the Speed shoes when I'm doing my short interval work on the treadmill, or on my linear movement days where I might be pulling sleds or other short bursts of speed or running drills.  I wear the Evades for my strength and my lateral or multidirectional movements (i.e. running ladder drills or other elasticity drills.)

You will typically see me with 2, if not 3 pairs of shoes at my workouts.  At the gym I will wear my Evades, then switch to Speeds or running shoes before I hop on the treadmill.  At the track, I'll do my movement prep in my training shoes.  I'll run in my racing flats.  And I have my running shoes in case I run a little as part of a warm-up or warm-down.

That's the scoop...

I highly recommend giving that gift to yourself and your bod!

Train smart and fun...Jessi