Sensible Training, Satisfying Results
A beginner runner’s success or failure often hinges on just being able to manage several key aspects of running training.
In this episode Deb addresses several struggles common to new runners.
Preparedness is everything. Seeing the big picture and being prepared for these inevitable challenges may make the critical difference between success and failure for anyone at the beginning of their running journey.
As we finish 2020, we need to do the right things to prepare to make 2021 a powerful, positive year, despite the pandemic.
No one would argue that 2020 has been anything but dreadful, but don’t let it beat you.
It’s easy to let running goals slide when struggling with such a crazy year, but this is just exactly when you need to double down and focus on the things within your control, and your fitness, your running is just that.
In this episode, I provide advice to help you reach the mindset you will need to start 2021, handle whatever it brings, and persevere in maintaining your healthy by focusing on you running regimen.
I introduce a challenge that everyone can do to finish the year, strong; it’s the 1 + 1 Holiday challenge.
Listen and join the challenge. Participation in the challenge is free.
Running trails requires different technical running skills, a different outlook, and different equipment, but it is so beyond worth it, and if that’s not enough, your on-road running will greatly improve. Why? Because running on off road trails demands more work and more finesse. Your muscles work more and differently. You’ll feel it the next day, that good feeling that you are getting fitter in a new way. You won’t question whether it will pay off. You’ll be confident that it will.
In this episode, I break down everything you need to know for off-road running, from running technique to gear and how to not get lost.
In this episode I invite you to join my Run Tampa Gnome Fest 250 Challenge. Here is the registration page, and blow are pics of the shirt options and the medal.
Listen to the podcast here: How to Run Trails
On and off-road miles are not equal. Off-road miles make you a better runner, make you more fit, and make you more sane.
A mile in the woods holds greater value than any on-road mile.
Running in the wild, produces startling results. It improves strength by engaging more muscles, especially the small muscles in the feet. It increases agility as each step is placed, avoiding roots or water or slippery spots, and it enhances proprioception as each step varies from the last, forcing constant split second communication between brain and muscles.
All this makes better runners. All this will translate into faster running and better form when running and racing on roads, but there is so much more.
At least as important as all the above is the mental pleasure of being out in the woods; it’s truly run therapy, and there was never a time when it was more needed than right now.
In this episode, I hope to convince you to give trail running a try; whether running or hiking, it’s worth it. Trust me.
Most people know about the hard easy principle of training. Goodness knows, I’ve talked about it on this podcast enough, but in practice, many runners don’t enjoy the benefits because they run their easy runs at the wrong pace. That can easily sabotage a runner’s training.
In this episode, I explain how to determine the right easy run pace, and I have a couple of tips for maintaining the right pace. The result will be a much better payoff for training and much more effective speed work.
Wow! I would never have guessed I’d be doing a podcast on this topic, but here I am. This is not normal, nowhere near normal, not by ay stretch of the imagination. We are all living through this, one day at a time, finding our way, figuring out how to cope. We have no other choice; however, fortunately, ‘we’ have running to ease our trip through this difficult time.
Every single runner of every level is struggling right now, stressed, some more than others, but living during this pandemic has shaken us all. We need our running more than ever; it’s our therapy, right?
Our running behavior has been extremely restricted and may continue to be restricted for months. Our races have been cancelled, and we don’t know when they will happen. Sure, many have been rescheduled, but experts are saying things may be worse rather than better in the fall.
That is not the focus of this podcast; this podcast is about how you should and can train, right now. I talk about your options, ways to maintain your running fitness under current circumstances.
Training during a pandemic is challenging, but it’s not impossible. I have plenty of ideas for you to continue your running training during a pandemic.
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This is it! You’ve been learning about what to do for nine days. Think of this as graduation day, the day you get the last, but most critical, piece of the puzzle. Today, you find out exactly what you should do, and I mean you, personally, should do on Day 1 of your running journey. Today, is your diagnostic run.
In this podcast, I explain what to do to find out how far you should run during each running segment of your walk to run mile, which is the distance you should start with.
I also explain how to progress from there, the three variables, and the details regarding the decisions you’ll be making in deciding what to change and when.
I’m excited for you because this is, of all the secrets I’ve imparted, perhaps the most crucial one, because if you try to start your running training with too much running, you’ll likely never succeed.
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I’ve been hearing the phrase, ‘turtle power,’ for years, always from slower runners, usually in an upbeat, positive way, an “I’m fine with that” way, but sometimes they utter the words apologetically, and that makes me sad.
Often, these are beginner runners, but not always. It is my hope that after listening to this podcast, no one listening will ever feel bad, in any way, about being a slower runner.
What is slow, anyway? It’s all relative, isn’t it? When an Olympian runs a 6 minute mile, it’s an off day. Most runners will never see the faster side of 9 minutes, and some will always run 12 minute miles, and I sure hope those people don’t apologize for that because there is no reason to be the least bit apologetic. To me, that’s like apologizing because you have brown hair.
If anyone ever makes you feel like your pace is too slow, then that person is just being unkind and isn’t worth worrying about. In fact, they probably feel inferior in some other way. You have as much right to go your own pace and be happy with it as any other runner has a right to go the pace that is comfortable to them.
After all, running is an individual sport. One of the most enjoyable elements of running is that anyone can do it; you don’t need to be a gifted athlete, but I sure hope you do realize that anyone at any pace is an athlete.
Turtle Power is the mantra of slower runners everywhere, and so it should be. I hope it’s empowering. If you’re a slower runner, and since you’re a beginner, you probably are, own it; don’t apologize for it. Turtle runners unite!
Below is the link to my beginner runner program. It includes beginner running schedules for six months.
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Weight loss – or management – plays a role in the life of virtually every runner. Either they start running to lose weight or they’ve already lost weight, and they want to become a runner to help them maintain that weight loss. Too, some runners run because they’re worried that their weight will gradually creep up if they don’t get lots of exercise to offset the calories of the food they consume. [Read more…]
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When beginner runners don’t succeed, it’s usually the result of one of two problems:
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