Belated Training Tuesdays: Avoiding Injury

I'm sorry this post is a day late.  I was having formatting issues yesterday, and I didn't want to publish it without that Paxton Professionalism you've come to expect from us.  But on the bright side, it's saving you from the April Fool post I was going to write about a fictional stress fracture that would keep me from running for a couple of months.

See below in blue for tips from Olympian Jeff Galloway on avoiding injury.  If you're interested in learning more, visit his website at www.runinjuryfree.com.  And don't miss the special promotion at the end!

Why do we get injured?

1.  Be aware of irritation of weak links.  The Key Weak Links are body parts where my runners tend to experience injuries: Knees - Feet - Calf - Achilles - Hip - Glute/Piriformis/Sciaticia.  But the body parts that YOU need to be aware of are the sites where you are injured or suffer more aches and pains.  So if you're sensitive to the first indication of irritation in these areas and take immediate action it's possible to avoid injury.
2. Stress buildup due to the way we train:
• Training schedule is too intense; not enough rest between stress.
• Adverse Training Components - speed is too fast or has too much, too soon.
• Running form - too long a stride, forward lean, bouncing too high off the ground.

So staying focused on the way one runs and following these guidelines can often allow runners to maintain a manageable increase without injury.

Top 5 ways to avoid stress buildup and avoid injuries

1. Take walk breaks more frequently, and run shorter run segments
2. Form: shorter stride, feet low to the ground
3. Slower long runs, with more walk breaks
4. Avoid stretching
5. Be careful when running speed sessions

Teresa here: I find tip # 4 very interesting.  I know I'm dating myself, but when we were kids we were taught to stretch before any activity, while we were still cold.  And not only did we stretch, but we bounced further into the stretch instead of just holding it.  It's amazing that we never got injured doing all that stretching before dance class.  The resilience of the young protected us, I guess.

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Training Tuesdays: Run Injury Free

Welcome to another installment of Training Tuesdays with Tips from Jeff Galloway.  If you are interested in learning more, visit his website at www.runinjuryfree.com. 

Check out his tips below in blue, and as always please let us know what you think.

Most injuries experienced by my runners are due to 1) pacing long runs too fast, 2) increasing the weekly mileage too quickly, 3)lengthening stride and 4) stretching.

The principle in staying injury free is to balance gentle stress with the right recovery periods-allowing for rebuilding. (for more information, see my book RUNNING INJURIES)

Finding the right Run Walk Run strategy from the beginning of a run has been the best way I've found to stay injury free, come back from an injury and in some cases, continue to run while the injury heals. (See my book RUN WALK RUN)

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• Are you concerned that running will damage joints, and other body parts ? I was told this regularly, from my first week of running over 50 years ago but the research shows the opposite result: Runners have healthier joints, etc. than non runners as the decades go by.
• While researching for my book RUNNING UNTIL YOU'RE 100, I reviewed dozens of studies and could not find one showing that running harms legs, feet, joints, etc.
• It may surprise you to know that many studies show that runners have fewer orthopedic issues compared with non-runners as the years go by.
• A respected and large population study out of Stanford following thousands of runners over 50 who had run for more than 20 years concluded that runners had less than 25% of orthopedic issues compared with non runners of the same age.

 

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As long as you stay below the threshold of irritation you can often continue to run while the injury heals.

Runners from Austin, Duluth, Denver, Metro Dc, NW Indiana, and Montgomery County, MD - We are coming to you! There is a Galloway Training Program starting near you in the month of March! Check the calendar for more information.

March Galloway Program Kick-offs

 

Training & Motivation Tips from Jeff Galloway

Welcome back!  It's our second installment of Training Tuesday, with tips from Jeff Galloway.  Check out his tips below in blue, with a few comments in italics from me.  If you are interested in learning more, check out www.runinjuryfree.com, and don't miss the special offers at the end of the post.

The training journey for a marathon or half marathon raises your body's physical performance capability and your sense of what you can do in life.

I definitely found this to be true.  I have so much more confidence in all areas of my life now.    

Running helps to bring body, mind and spirit together in a unique and wonderful way.

In researching my book MENTAL TRAINING I discovered that running turns on brain circuits for a better attitude more vitality and empowerment better than other activities studied.

In researching my book RUNNING UNTIL YOU'RE 100 I found numerous studies showing that runners have healthier orthopedic units than non runners even after decades of running.

When a runner takes walk breaks early and often enough for the individual the muscles are strong to the end.  See RUN WALK RUN at www.jeffgalloway.com for recommendations by pace per mile.

The "exhaustion wall" can be avoided by running longer long runs up to or beyond race distance-using the appropriate run-walk-run strategy.

Marathoners tend to improve time by an average of more than 15 minutes when they increase their longest run from 20 miles to 26 miles.

Interesting.  Has anyone tried this?  It's not what you usually see in most training plans.  

To recover fast, run the long runs at least 2 min/mi slower than you could currently run in a marathon

The right run-walk-run strategy from the beginning of each run, gives any runner control over fatigue, injury-elimination, and recovery.

In numerous surveys, runners improved over 13 minutes when they shifted from running continuously to use of the right run-walk-run strategy. 

  As always, please let us know what you think.  We receive no compensation for participating in the Jeff Galloway Blogger Program.  We simply hope you find these tips as useful as we do.  

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Training Tuesday with Tips from Jeff Galloway

We are excited to announce that we have been selected to be a member of the Jeff Galloway Blogger
Program!  We will be bringing you exclusive content and tips from Jeff Galloway, and some special discounts too.  Look for these training tips every other Tuesday, and please let us know what you think.

Jeff Galloway is a well-known Olympian, coach and runner.  I personally started running using his Couch to 5K app with scheduled walk breaks.  Check out his tips below in blue (with some commentary in italics from me), and don't miss the coupon at the bottom.  If you are interested in hearing more from Jeff, sign up for his free newsletter at www.JeffGalloway.com. 

When paced correctly, running delivers the best attitude boost you can get. Sustain this by pacing yourself gently during the first mile or three.

A well-paced run enhances vitality for the rest of the day.  Start each run at least 30 seconds a mile slower than you will run at the end.

 Teresa: This one is hard to do when you are feeling fresh & ready to run, but if you get it right the end of the run is so much better!

If you have a Run Walk Run strategy that is right for you on that day, it's possible to feel good after every run-even the marathon.

Running is the best stress reliever I've found. Research shows that running tends to activate the conscious brain which over-rides the emotional subconscious brain and manages the negative and anxiety hormones during and after the run.

Research shows that as runners get faster, their stride length shortens.  A quicker cadence is the mechanical key to faster running.

Teresa: This goes along with the tip Mark (Laura's husband) told me: if I want to run faster I should pick my feet up a little higher.  That makes me shorten my stride.  

The finishing of a run that is longer than you've run in the last 3 weeks can bestow a sense of achievement that is unique and empowering-due to positive brain circuits that are turned on.

You can't run a long run too slowly or take too many walk breaks.  You'll get the same endurance based upon the distance covered.

Teresa: This is one of Jeff's basics that I always hold on to.  Some days due to heat, hormones, or whatever; I just don't have it in me to keep running.  But I can always take a walk break and then pick it back up.  When I did my first half marathon, I took walk breaks during my longest training run of 10 miles because it was so incredibly hot.  Race day was cool and perfect and I ran the whole thing.  It really does work!

Have any of you trained using Jeff's methods also?  We'd love to hear what you think!

 

Save up to $200	Looking to run a half marathon or marathon that goes beyond the ordinary?   RUN ITALY Tours offers more than others do and travel with "Coach Jeff". March 22, 2015 - Rome Marathon 26.2, 13.1 and 5K distances Book and save up to $200 at www.RunITALY.com
Offer Expires: 2/14/15

Disclaimer: We receive no compensation or special consideration for participating in the Jeff Galloway Blogger Program.  We are doing it because we believe the content will be as interesting and beneficial to you as it is to us.