Do you have a question for our resident running coach? John has completed 16 marathons, 12 half marathons, and countless 10Ks, 5Ks and fun runs. He is a nationally certified running coach through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training® program and has volunteered his time and talents as a running coach for this organization which is the largest non-profit, endurance training program in America. Most importantly, John loves the sport and has the passion to help people achieve their personal goals during an endurance event. Whether your endurance event is a 5K, 10K, half marathon or marathon, John is here to help you, motivate you, and encourage you during your journey. Examples of recent topics John has been asked about include… | - Shoe Buying | - Heart Rate Training | | - Clothing | - Injury Prevention | | - Interval Training | - Training Pace | | - Weight Loss Maximization | - Tapering | | - Nutrition | - Cross Training | | - Lactate Threshold training | - VO2 max |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
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From Katelyn: Coach John, Our coach is requiring us to be able to run 4 miles within 2 months. I know this is not a long way, but I cant seem to go any farther than about a mile. I get so out of breath and light headed. I have tried listing to music, and running on a tred mill and wathching t.v, basically anything you can think of to get my mind off of being out of breath. I have been working on this for about a month now and nothing seems to work. Could you please tell me what I can do to help? Answer: This is a great, and very common question, Katelyn. It doesn't matter if the new distance you are trying to run is 4 miles or a full marathon, retraining your body to run farther than it has before frequently leads to plateaus that seem hard to break. When you train your body to run for longer distances, you are teaching your body to become more efficient while
also running longer periods of time. With that in mind, I have two suggestions for you:
The first thing to look at is your pace when you are running. How you run when you are trying to increase endurance is very important. You should be doing all your long runs at a max of 80% of your maximum aerobic heart rate. Don't worry, you don't need to go buy a heart rate monitor. This pace works out very nicely to be the pace you can hold a conversation at, frequently called conversational pace. So unless you are charging up a hill, you should be able to carry on a conversation while running. If you can't, then you are going too fast and you won't teach your body to be more efficient. You run one mile faster this way, but you're not teaching your body to run longer distances.
My second suggestion for you is to include walk breaks in your training. Walk breaks will allow your body to recover a bit, then allow you to continue training. Your goal right now should be to run as long as possible. So if you can run 1 mile straight or 1.5 miles with walk breaks, taking walk breaks will allow you to train longer and get closer to your coaches' goal of 4 miles. As you get stronger and stronger, you can lessen the walk breaks or do away with them all together. Try this for your next three or so longer runs: Run two minutes and then walk one minute. When that gets too easy, switch to running three minutes and walking one minute. Your goal should be to go farther, while working toward reducing the walk breaks more and more. I have coached a lot of runners who have hit a distance and gotten stuck Katelyn. You are not alone. But by sticking to it and making sure you are maximizing your training, I have no doubt you can get over the one mile mark feeling great soon. Let me know if either of these options work you and how your training goes.
John
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
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From Fred: I have been experiencing a soreness on the top of my left foot. I have new shoes that feel great otherwise, but when I run longer distances I get this irritation on my foot. Any ideas? Answer: This is very common, Fred. In fact I first encountered this when Dig It Tees' own Emily was training for her first marathon. She was having the same problem and we found that her laces, at the spot of soreness, rubbed her foot. That sounds like your problem. Try re-lacing the shoe and skipping the holes that would tie at the point of soreness. You shouldn't feel any less stable in your shoe and the skipped hole will not rub your sore spot. I hope that helps, let me know how it goes. John |
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Tips for Cutting Time Quickly |
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Saturday, 03 May 2008 |
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From Isabella: Dear John, i am running a 800 and i need to shave 10 seconds off my time, in one week. any tips?!
Answer: The bad news is that no training you do this week will help. It takes about two weeks for any training to benefit you in the form of better condition. So my advice is to try and hit a perfect week of race prep. Race week, I always try and think of getting closer to the finish line, but not through training. I would try and get as much sleep as you can in the last few days. I would really eat well, but avoid overeating. And anything you can do to avoid stress and make sure you are very well relaxed this week will help greatly. Finally, take some quiet time to visualize yourself reaching your goal. If you believe you can do it, that is a big part of making it happen. Your goal should be to toe the line rested, calm, fueled and mentally ready to go fast. Hope that helps, let me know how the 800 goes. Good luck. John |
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
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From: John in Nashville Do running clothes that feature moisture wicking require any special care in washing? Answer: John, you can wash and dry these clothes in just the same manner as normal, with one big exception. You can never use fabric softener on wicking apparel. Fabric softener destroys the wicking capability of the fabric. If you want to keep the clothes wicking, stay away from fabric softener. And don't forget that if you want to avoid the odor that has traditionally come from well used running clothes, you should look for clothes that are anti-microbial like those sold by Dig It Tees. These fabrics are sealed so that the bacteria that cause running clothes to smell a bit over time are prevented from getting into the fabric. Hope that helps John, happy training. |
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Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
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From: Sammi in Nashville, TN I am planning on buying a heart rate monitor to help with my training. Do they really help train for a marathon?
Answer: Thanks for the question Sammi. While you can certainly train for any distance without a heart rate monitor, a good heart rate monitor can enhance your training for any event. The great thing about heart rate monitors is they can help you train at the proper intensity to meet the goals of any specific workout. As an example, training for marathons includes longer runs that need to run run at a slower pace than other workouts. A heart rate monitor can help you maintain that pace. And heart rate monitors have gotten cheaper and cheaper over the last few years, making your investment very reasonable when compared to the benefit. Good luck with your training and let me know if you have any questions when you get your monitor. John |
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Thursday, 20 March 2008 |
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From: Ruth in Atlanta
I'm getting ready to see a doctor about heel pain, (Planters Faschitas?). Is there something I can do in the meantime to help with the pain?
Answer: Ruth, there are two main ways to help plantar fasciitis (PF). Most heel pain including PF can be caused by tight calves, so stretching your calves often can help loosen your plantar fascia. Stand in a doorway with both hands on the sides, then gently keep the injured foot back and bend the front knee forward keeping the injured leg straight. Be careful not to over stretch, this is a very gentle stretch.
The second thing you can do is ice the injured area. The bottom of the foot is hard to ice, but a great way to ice it is to get a frozen 16oz water bottle and roll your injured foot over it in a sock for 15 minutes.
Both the stretching and the icing can be done several times during the day and will help your problem get better before you see your doctor.
Thanks for the question.
John |
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