Alameda Runners – Get After It!

In spirit of the Tour de France kicking off this weekend, and Ted’s continued training for Vineman 70.3, it’s time for a bit of focus on cycling.

If you’re in need of a list of cycling fundamentals, Active.com (courtesy of Bicycling Magazine) has posted a couple of things to help you train better. Tips range from how to ride hard and include intervals to eating and making sure you still have a fun time.

For a more organized approach to training for a bike ride late this summer — and into early fall — Bicycling Magazine has posted a solid basic training guide.

If you’re riding a mountain bike this summer, Alameda Runners hasn’t forgotten about including a couple of links for you. Pro mountain bikers offer a couple of tips how to ride faster (courtesy of Mountain Bike) which should help give you some things to think about when riding this summer.

Outside Online quickly became one of my favorite online sports resources, with “The Top 11 Cycling Technique Tips” blog (available here) for you to read over.

Remember, chances are you’re not a professional athlete, so adjust your training and dietary needs depending on your skill level and physical activity.

If you’re a frequent visitor to our blog, it’s probably obvious that we enjoy hitting the trails and getting our feet muddy. Trail running offers a refreshing challenge with breathtaking views — and the satisfaction that only a portion of current runners dare strive for away from the pavement.

There are plenty of tips and tricks you will learn after getting out there and doing it a couple of times. However, we wanted to help give you some background knowledge and additional reading material, I have a couple of useful links you may want to read over at your leisure.

First, I wrote up a short guide on TrailsEdge about trail running for newbie trail runners.

As you’d probably expect, Runner’s World has an amazing online microsite aimed at trail running.

Whether or not you enjoy using Active to register for events, the Active news and training portion of the site is great. I’d recommend visiting the Active “Sport Spotlight: Trail Running” section of the website, as there are some great resources available.

Men’s Health tends to focus more on weightlifting and core exercises — but can easily deliver when it come to high quality running material. Here are a few tips published by Men’s Health that will help you survive your first trail running experiences.

Trail Run Crazy also includes information about basic trail etiquette and information about surviving a possible mountain lion encounter. The information is available here.

Want to find new places to run? Looking for a way to revitalize your running workouts? It may be time to shake things up and find your way to some local trails for a bit of fun in the woods.

Trail running offers a unique, challenging way to explore new areas you may not even know existed in your neighborhood. As the weather warms up and much of the nation begins to slowly thaw out, state and federal parks will become thriving hubs of activity among hikers, campers and athletes looking to enjoy the great outdoors.

A few basic tips: start slowly and on flatter terrain, as your running stride will need to adjust to compensate for uneven running surfaces. Since rocks, roots and other debris are often located on the trails, you’ll have to lift your feet and find a new slightly-modified running stride.

Trail running can be a humbling experience, even for faster, more-experienced runners. If you’re tackling a steep uphill or treacherous downhill, don’t be afraid to slow down and walk down the hill. As your body becomes more familiar with trail running, you’ll be able to pick up speed.

The San Francisco Bay Area has a number of beautiful parks and well-maintained running trails you can explore. Since we live in the East Bay, we spend the majority of our time exploring parks operated by the EBRPD (EBRPD’s Twitter) — which does an exceptional job of maintaining trails.

Even if you don’t have trails nearby, you should still reach out and contact runners in your area. They will be able to locate running spots in your area — and we strongly recommend you avoid remote, secluded areas until you’re better familiar with the geography.

Here is some additional reading for you:

Backpacker Magazine tackles the benefits of trails
Trail running basics from Trails.com
I’d also recommend reading the trail running 101 document (PDF)

HAVE FUN!

Spring is here.  A lot of people are looking at their waist lines and worrying about that winter layer hanging over the Speedos.  If this is your first attempt at working your weight off, there are a few rules to follow.

The rules will follow below.  First, think about how many people make a living off selling you exercise stuff that you will rarely use.  You don’t need much to get into shape.  For running, you really only need the following: shoes, clothes and a road to run on.  To the rules!

• Get out and do it
• Do not worry about pace
• Take your time
• If you are tired, take a walk break
• Get plenty of rest
• Running a few days a week is fine
• Stretching is good but do not stress about it

Do you notice a theme here?  I am all about getting out and working.  I am also all about taking it easy.  I rarely go more than two weeks without someone coming up to me with some type of injury because they are just starting out and they are going too hard.

Rome was not built in a day.  The foundation has to be built before the aqueducts can be erected.  Get out and play.  Do not worry about what other people are doing.  Do your thing.

After a while, you will build up strength and speed.  Go to dailymile.com to find other people who have similar abilities.  You will find fast people.  Learn from them but do not try to emulate them.

Salesman and television advertisements will try to sell you socks full of sand if they could get away with it.  You don’t need a lot of toys.  If you want to workout with other stuff, you can buy a cheap weight set for about $50.  There are plenty of exercises that you can do to build strength with a simple weight set.

Nutrition is dear to my heart since the day I bonked hard and Emily from Clif thought it was worth a call to tell me what a terrible thing I did to myself.  She also told me to make sure I never do it again.

If I ever wind up on the back of an ambulance because I bonk, I only have myself to blame.  She is such a wonderful person.  Can you readers guess who our number one expert is going to be for this series of articles?

Everyone is different.  We all have different nutrition and physiological needs.  I posted a question about nutrition to a small sample of athletes on www.dailymile.com.  Their comments are posted below.  To make it easy on our vendors who are answering the questions, I will post the questions first then the comments.

How do we find out what to eat before a morning workout?
What do I eat before a race?
I can swim for 30 minutes at about 80% effort 60 minutes after oatmeal.  I have trouble transitioning to the bike or run after the swim.  Nothing seems to want to go down.  I can drink some (4oz) coffee between the swim and next effort and be fine (note: the water is about 50F) Do you have any ideas on what I should try next?
How do we prevent the dreaded post workout crash?
How do we consume enough calories to complete a 4-10 hour training session?
How do we train our bodies to burn fat during these long workouts?
Do you have any general dietary tips for us amateur athletes?  Something like, eat more spinach and limit Big Macs to one per week.

Athlete’s comments on asking questions to the professionals:

Great idea! I seem to be really bad at avoiding a post-workout crash. I’ll get through the workout and feel awesome afterwards… for about 15 minutes. Then I often go downhill- lightheaded, overly tired, very rarely I’ll be a tiny bit nauseous.

It’s always worse if I didn’t eat enough earlier in the day, but I’d like to know more what I should be eating before and also after workouts to help with recovery. Especially because often when this happens I haven’t even done anything too crazy!

I would love to know what to eat before a run. I usually eat something kind of high in protein afterward. It’s so hard to know what to believe when it comes to nutrition! Thanks!

I’d love to hear the information you get from the nutritionists – I struggle with knowing how much to eat before an early morning run, as well as what I should be adding to my diet to specifically help as I train (anything in particular that the average person might not eat much of, but that really helps runners?)

Good to see I’m not the only person that struggles with what to eat before a run.

This is an article about what I did wrong.  I don’t know how to fix my workout nutritional problems but I will find out.  I will post the proposed solutions when I do find out.
Today was a triathlon training day for me.

The issues are the same for all hard exertions.  If you are going to do long workouts, you need proper nutrition to complete the workout.

Today I was supposed to ride for 40-50 miles then run 9-13 miles.  Someone just had to put a mountain near my route.  I decided to add 2 or 3 miles and about 4,000 feet of climbing to my ride.   This gave me 53 miles and 5,300 feet of climbing.  Changing my workout to suit the situation is no big deal to me as the primary purpose for today’s workout was to tame the nutrition beast for long workouts.  As usual, I did very poorly with the nutrition.

I may have to send a memo to my buddies at Clif to help get this thing straightened out.  I knew today would be tough so I carbo loaded last night with lots of pizza and beer.

For me 2 glasses of beer is lots.  I started out the morning with two servings of oatmeal with two tablespoons of grade B maple syrup.  During the ride I had the following:

20 oz of Clif shot Electrolyte drink Cranberry Razz 3 scoops
3 Clif shot gels, chocolate, vanilla and some type of berry (Razz).
Did not eat the chocolate
1 large Macadamia Clif Bar.  Ate three-fourths of the bar.
28 ounces of water.  Drank 1.5 bottles

Food                              Calories
Electrolyte                      240
Gels                                   200
Bar                                    180

That gives me 620 calories consumed and I am probably being optimistic here.  My Garmin said I burned 4800 calories.  I seem to be at a calorie deficiency.  To make matters worse, I only drank an optimistic 60 ounces of water over the course of a 5 hour ride.

Is it any wonder why I was a mess for the final 5 miles of the ride that were mostly downhill?  I ate a gel at about 4:15 into the ride and wanted to throw up for the remainder of the ride.

I did a lot of things wrong today and lived to tell about it.  Adding 4,000 feet of climbing to a 50 mile ride is not always the brightest thing to do but it was so nice out I just had to go to the top.  The Clif instructions say to eat 2 gels per hour.  That seems a bit excessive to me.  GU says to eat 4 packages per hour!  I don’t know why but was racing to get sweats on before I started shivering too much to function.  Maybe, I was shivering because of the cold or maybe, it was because of my poor nutrition.

Tour guide

Shout outs for this ride:
Kenny for being a great guide and waiting patiently for me at the confusing intersection.  I may be hurting but I had a lot of fun riding up Mt.  Tam.
Clif for their great products to carry on the ride.
Athletes Honey Milk for making strawberry protein milk taste like a milkshake.
Alpha-Flex for making a great massage lotion for post workout pain.

Now that people are starting to run for the upcoming season, I have been hearing a lot of complaints about lower leg injuries.  For people on Dailymile.com, it is easy to see them racking up the miles, fast.  A few questions from the other runners always leads to the same conclusion: we like to injure ourselves from over doing it.  We increase the mileage before our bodies are ready for the additional stress.

Social media makes the problem worse because we see all of these people doing things we want to do.  We do not think about how long it took them to get their elevated status.  We think we can work hard and get there too.  Most of the overuse injuries are on older (over age 30) runners too.  Here is a list of injuries that come to mind.  Keep in mind that I have suffered from all of these injuries because I tend to over train a lot.

Plantar Fasciitis – Pain along the bottom of the foot generally in the heal area.  I had Metatarsalgia which is on the pad of the foot near the toes.  This website has a lot of good stretches and exercises to help this pain.  I have not tried their inserts, perhaps I should.  I swear by inserts.  All of my shoes have inserts, even my cycle shoes.

Calf pain – Another injury us older runners get when we try to go out too fast.  We need to take it easy, stretch and do strength training to get our legs up to speed.  Sports injury clinic

ITB – The dreaded Iliotibial Band Syndrome.  This is a terrible injury.  It is usually caused by over training and catches up to you during or after a long run of like 18 or 20 miles.  There is nothing worse than working up to 20 miles then getting injured.   Time to run injury page

Knee pain – front and back, most likely from tendonitis.  This is one of the best injuries because it is rarely chronic and heals relatively easily from applying ice and rest.  Medical site

• All of these injuries are generally caused by overuse and can be avoided by taking your time when increasing your speed or distance.  When you get an injury, it is always practical to follow the good old R.I.C.E. Method.  Rest-Ice-Compress-Elevate.
• Rest is probably the hardest things for us athletes.  We just want to get out and go.  If you rest as soon as you feel the pain, your healing time will be greatly reduced.
• Ice is easy.  Strap on an ice pack for 15 minutes every couple of hours and you are good to go.  The ice reduces swelling and increases circulation.  Be careful to make sure gel packs do not touch the skin.  You can get a nasty ice burn from a gel pack.  It will take off a few layers of skin so be careful.  I have a shelf full of various gel packs in my freezer and use dollar store support braces to protect my skin and hold the gel packs in place.  Old T-shirts also work to protect your skin.
• Compress – You can wrap your leg in an ace bandage or use the dollar store braces for compression.
• Elevate – If you are like me, you won’t sit still long enough to elevate.  Do your best.

After your injury heals, take it easy with your training, build your strength, stretch and warm up before you work out.

I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I forget about the people who are just starting out.  I am not a professional athlete or trainer.  I do excel at trying hard and getting injured from over doing it.  I usually fix the injury and move on to find a new body part to injure.  I always manage to have fun and find alternate routines to keep me training while
injured.

The most common cause of injury for beginners is from doing too much, too soon.  People following my training plan or any other training plan usually try to go faster every day.  Fitness and endurance are long-term goals.  You have to stay within your abilities.  It is easy to look at someone who has been exercising for a long time and think running is easy.

Running is easy; it just takes time and practice to run for extended durations.

I posted links to sites from professionals.  Look at their sites and look around for more information.  As they say, knowledge is power.  The more you know, the better you can treat yourself.

I just wrote a piece on DeFeet socks and footwear last month.  I don’t know if it is because of the article or because so many people are training for the Oakland Running Festival but feet have been a hot topic.

I will start off by saying that foot problems are not a badge of honor saying that you are a runner.  They are something to avoid and take care of as soon as something comes up.  There is nothing good about injuries of any type.  The most common foot injuries that I hear about:

• Black toe nails
• Toe nails falling off
• Blisters on the toes
• Blisters on the feet or heels
• Foot pain
• Arch pain
• Athletes foot

Black toe nails and toe nails falling off usually come from the same source – your toe nail is hitting something.  The first and easiest thing to do is make sure you toe nails are nice and trimmed.  If you don’t like clipping your toe nails, go get a pedicure (polish is optional).

If your nails are good check the quality of your socks.  Cheap socks can bunch or have a seam across the toes.  Then check your shoes for proper size and room in the toe box.  Take your time in the shoe store, when selecting shoes.

You should find shoes that fit comfortably and have room for the toes.  Walk around in the store for a little while and jog a bit to make sure the shoes stay put.  One of my dailymile friends has to drive 4 hours to get to a running store.  I have a theory on that…  You should spend as much time trying your shoes as you do commuting to the shoe store.  While you are at the store try some high quality running socks and shoe inserts.  They will both last longer than the shoes.

Blisters usually happen for the same reasons as black toe nails but they happen on the bottoms of the toes and feet.  Blisters are always from rubbing.  Sometimes, you get blisters because your feet are just not ready for running.  Check out your shoes and socks and keep running.  When you get a blister, do not pop it!  Put ice on it to relieve the swelling.

The next time you run, put some Vaseline or Body Glide on it.  I prefer Body Glide because I like the texture.  After about 3-5 days the blister will shrink away to nothing.  If you are at an aid station of an event, it is popping the blister is fine.  It will add to the time it takes to heal but you are at the event to finish.

Foot pain can be serious.  If you have foot pain that persists, go see a doctor.  I live in California where the medical care is not quite up to standard so I usually go see the sports chiropractor first.  The choice is yours.  Keep in mind that feet are very important and a lot of injuries can be taken care of easily if they are treated early.

Athletes foot/feet – Do not mess around with athletes foot.  Treat the first itch between the toes.  Over the counter medicines work fine.  I prefer creams because they do not stink up the house or locker room and the cream stays where you put it.  If you take care of athletes foot at the first itch, there is a good chance it can be cured before the skin is damaged.

I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I forget about the people who are just starting out.  I am not a professional athlete or trainer.  I do excel at trying hard and getting injured from over doing it.  I usually fix the injury and move on to find a new body part to injure.  I always manage to have fun and find alternate routines to keep me training while injured.

The most common cause of injury for beginners is from doing too much, too soon.  People following my training plan or any other training plan usually try to go faster every day.  Fitness and endurance are long term goals.  You have to stay within your abilities.  It is easy to look at someone who has been exercising for a long time and think running is easy.

Running is easy; it just takes time and practice to run for extended durations.  I am in my base building phase right now and I still add some extra miles because it is a nice day or I feel good.  I know better but I do it anyway.

The most common injuries for runners building up their miles occur from the knees down.  The knee problem I suffer the most is an ITB injury.  The best way to find out what knee ailment you have is to do a search on the internet.  All of the search engines work well and come up with similar answers.  Strength, or lack thereof, is a common theme for older runners taking up the sport.

After I get done tearing up my knees, I start working on my calves and shins.  The common cause is lack of strength, flexibility and building up too fast.  Calf injuries are not to be trifled with but they are relatively easy to correct by strength training and stretching.

The feet are extremities that are not really affected from poor strength training but they are affected by a lack of stretching and doing too much too soon.

Next I will post about feet.  The feet are the most common annoying issues that people endure but they are usually easier to fix.

It is time to start training for the Oakland Running Festival half marathon again.  I will be carrying my 2:15 pace sign once again this year.  Last year, a lot of people fell off the pace during the run.  I did not like watching so many people fall off the pace, so I wrote a training plan for a successful 2:15 half marathon.  Completing a 13.1 mile run in 2:15 requires an average pace of 10:20 per mile.  Last year, I planned on running a 10:15 pace to make up for time lost at the start line.

In reality, we ran at a 10:03 pace to make up for the start time and walking through the water stops and finished at 2:15:35 clock time.  To finish at 2:15 you will need to train for a 10:03 pace.

To make training easier, I wrote a training plan for you to follow.  I know a lot of people do not want to run four days a week.  Running four days a week will certainly make things easier for the half marathon but days can be skipped.  It is very bad to skip long runs (need to build up those miles) or tempo run (which is when you build your speed and endurance).

I like to do my long runs on Saturday.  Sunday is fine for long runs too.

Long runs – During the long runs there should be no hard breathing.  You should be able to hold a conversation for the whole run.  If you start to breathe hard, slow down.

Cruise runs are a bit faster than the long runs but do not need to be too fast.  These runs are just to add miles to the legs.

Runs are random things that are a bit faster than cruise runs.  You can vary the pace of normal runs to change things up.

Tempo runs are where you build your speed.  They hurt.  You will need to build up to 9:00 to 9:30 miles for 30 minutes.  It is good to start out by jogging for about 10 minutes then pick a target a few hundred yards away and run towards it.  You should be breathing hard when you get there.  Slow down and repeat the process.

It is tradition to tell you to go get a physical before you start a running plan.  If you have good luck with getting a sports physical, let me know who your doctor is.  Get to training and I will see you on March 27th.

Week :   Mon                  Tue             Wed               Thur           Fri          Sat    Sun

01/03| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|4 mi | Rest
01/10| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|5 mi|Rest
01/17| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|6 mi|Rest
01/24| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|8 mi|Rest
01/31| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|7 mi|Rest
02/07| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|9 mi|Rest
02/14| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|10 mi|Rest
02/21| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|11 mi|Rest
02/28| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|12 mi|Rest
03/07| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|13 mi|Rest
03/14| 30 min up tempo| Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min run| cross train|10 mi|Rest
03/21| 30 min easy run | Cross train| 40 min cruise| 30 min easy| cross train|rest  Half Marathon