Thursday, April 29, 2010
Day 4 - survived last night's migraine and ran this morning
So I have a feeling, I'm going to get every test in the book during this journey of mine. It's only day four and I managed to make it out to run despite the massive migraine I suffered last night. At about 7pm last night I started to get a headache so I layed down for a few minutes before supper and managed to get up to eat. But had to go right back to bed, between the hockey game playing in the living room and my beautiful princess coming to give me kisses on my forehead it was hard to get rid of the pain. I somehow fell asleep and managed to get some rest so this morning the head ache was 95% gone. As stubborn as I am, I had to run. So I ran 4.02 miles, 6.48km in 45:34, Avg Speed 8.5km/h and burned 551 Cal. not bad for the night I just had. So now this is were I need the expert advice from all you runners, personal trainers and nutritionist. Did I not drink enough water? Eat enough? or maybe my muscles are pulling my spine in an awkward position to cause such a discomfort? Even though I was diagnosed last year (after 11 years of specialists) with sacrilicious - arthritis of the sacrum I am determined to figure out this issue as I believe a 31 year old athlete shouldn't have to suffer in this much pain. I always feel good during the workout it's after wards that the problem creeps up. So I survived another day! I'll drink a lot more water and eat more often today to make sure I don't get a headache like that again.
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A good running friend of the family wrote:
ReplyDeleteTIME ON YOUR FEET – Does it make sense?
The simple answer to the question is YES, but I am aware of some lingering concerns about the concept in general and will attempt to address them. If you have ever run with someone else or indeed many people, then you will realize that everyone has their own level of ability. In other words, in any given period of time some people will go a little farther and others will go a little shorter. As a trainer, it is vital to recognize the various ability levels of people in order to best assist them. At this time, I would like to point out a few things that I think are most important as a trainer/coach. 1. The most important quality of a coach is to provide the athlete with the level of confidence he/she requires to be successful. 2. Next to confidence, encouragement is most important. Jack Daniels, of coaching fame, not of whiskey fame said that the most important thing a coach can do is to tell his/her athletes “Man you are looking good today.” 3. To be successful the thinking must be done before that actual training. In other words all the questions must be asked, considered and answered before the first step is taken. 4. Each athlete must set goals. My favourite philosopher, the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz had it right when he said “Any road will get you there if you don’t know where you are going.” So get on a path and keep moving for as Will Rogers once said, “Even if you are on the right track you will be run over if you just sit there.” 5. During any training regime there will be set-backs. It is at these times that a good trainer/coach will remind the athlete that the apparently impossible task is often the untried task. Put another way, when faced with a challenge look for a way (to succeed), not a way out. 6. Finally, it has been recognized that most times the trainer/coach has to hold an athlete back rather than encouraging them to go further or faster. There are many reasons for this phenomena, but the old adage “No pain No gain” has been replaced with “Train Don’t Strain”. I like to say when it comes to running “Start Slow and Taper Fast”. So in light of the training/coaching strategies noted above, let me continue to discuss the concept of “Time on Your Feet.” As a runner, despite how fast or slow you may be, there is a point in time, generally between 3 and 3.5 hours, when your body is no longer capable of producing the enzyme necessary for the break down of stored glycogen into useable energy and at that time the body starts to use the muscles themselves as a source of energy. When this occurs the body starts “destroying itself” and it takes a long time to recover. In fact the rule of thumb is that after this point it takes a day for every mile run to recover. So, you can see that in marathon training in particular, as a trainer/coach one has to be very cognizant of this potential issue. So, in order to address this issue I introduced the concept of measuring the long runs in terms of time rather than the more traditional distance. Traditional training programs required marathon runners to run a couple of 20 mile runs prior to the actual event, and for some people this would take in excess of 3 hours and put the athlete in the danger zone. So, I introduced that idea that the longest run should be 3 or 3.5 hours and found that even those runners who did not complete 20 miles in the allotted time did very well on marathon day.
This was the first step towards what I think is the best way to train, unless of course you are an elite runner and by that I mean of world class speed. I moved away from defined distances and replaced them with defined times and thus “time on your feet”.
Thanks George, keep the advice coming.
You might also check out some of George's other articles on this website -http://www.6amrunners.com/
GO LAURA GO!!
ReplyDeletePhil. Booker
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
Now listen to that Girl, she knows what she is talking about. Slow down to speed up. There is no hurry here, easy running is the beginners key to a healthy finishing story.
Cheers,
Dad