Listener Q&A June 2016

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It is time, once again, for the monthly Listener Q&A episode of the show!

At the end of each month, I love taking your questions about running, life, and everything in between, and doing my best to answer them.

Sometimes, I think I give a pretty good answer.

And sometimes…

Well, sometimes you get what you pay for!

In any event, if you want the best opportunity to get your questions answered in a future Q&A episode, the best thing you can do it join our public Facebook group. In the middle of the month, I’ll create a post asking for questions for that month’s episode, and you just leave your question in the comments and I try to answer it on the show.

Yes, it really is that easy.

This Month’s Questions

We only had a handful of questions this month, so this episode is short and sweet!

The first question was asked by Jill, who has been dealing with a nagging/annoying/frustrating hamstring “issue” for a couple of months now. She recently started seeing a chiropractor, and he thinks she has some pelvic instability but that she can run at her discretion. Jill has seen some information saying running won’t make the problem worse, and other sources of information saying running will make it worse.

So she wants a hard and fast rule on what she should do!

Sorry Jill, you know there is no hard and fast rule out there especially when it comes to recovering from an injury!

That said, telling runners they can run at their “discretion” is a very slippery slope that you need to be very careful with! He could be thinking a mile or two at 10 minute pace, and you’re thinking 6 miles at 8 minute pace.

Clearly those are two very different ideas of what a run might look like!

The biggest advice I would give when it comes to using your discretion is to really listen to your body.

If you can “feel” something, you may be ok with running through it. And if it goes away within a mile or so, you’re probably fine.

But if something legitimately hurts and/or gets noticeably worse within the first 10-15 minutes, you need to shut it down. If you’re doing something and it is causing you pain, you are making the situation worse. It’s as simple as that.

Stephen jumped in with the next question, and he is interested in started a beginner running group in his town but he’s not sure where to start.

I think the biggest thing you can do is just start telling people in your area, whether or not you think they would be interested, because the more people that know about what you’re doing the better.

And if people are aware of what you’re doing, they will tell their friends who will tell their friends and so on.

The group may only start with one or two people, but if you can impact the lives of one or two people that is probably worth it! And once it starts it will pick up some momentum and you’ll keep adding people slowly but surely.

Andy asked about fueling and whether or not weather conditions dramatically impact how you should fuel.

Honestly, I don’t think weather has much of an impact on how you should fuel.

Hopefully you’re eating a healthy/balanced diet year round, and clearly you’re not going to change that whether it’s hot/cold, humid/dry, raining/sharknadoing.

That said, in the summer it is important to make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids and that you’re getting some electrolytes in to replace what you’re losing when you’re sweating.

That doesn’t mean you need to drink a lot of gatorade or the like, just add some salt to your food like you normally would and have a banana here and there and you’ll be fine.

Jenn asked for tips to help acclimatize for hot runs when traveling.

For the most part, there’s not a whole lot you can do.

If you’re on vacation for a week, that’s clearly not enough time to adjust to a dramatically different climate (or elevation, for that matter).

Instead, what I’d encourage you to do is be flexible. If you’re visiting somewhere that is much warmer than where you live, it’s ok to run but don’t worry about going as long/hard.

Get some easy runs in and solidify your base. Take an extra rest day or two to allow your body to recover. Get in the pool/lake for some deep water running/swimming/cross training.

At the end of the day, one week of training is never make or break. So enjoy your vacation and run as you would like, but don’t stress about trying to adapt to the heat.

And pack your sunscreen.

LeAnne is looking for some suggestions for cross training, keeping in mind that she doesn’t have access to a pool.

No pool, no problem LeAnne!

If you’re not already doing yoga, I think that is a great place to start as it will help with flexibility, core stability, and overall strengthening. Check out the resources that Christine Yu mentioned when she was on the show earlier this week if you need options to get started.

But if yoga isn’t your thing, I’m a big fan of adding strength training to your routine.

And then there are the more cardio focused options like riding a bike, using an elliptical, or jumping on a stair climber. If you don’t have access to those things, walking is good. Or if you’re in an area with access to trails and mountains, go hiking.

Really, just about anything can make for good cross training. Find something you enjoy doing, and go for it!

Dan asked my opinion on calorie counting apps.

I think they can be good, especially as an eye opener to learning how many calories are in the foods you’re eating, but I think they are a lot of work if you’re going to stick with them long term.

For the counters to be accurate, you need to measure everything and you need to be paying attention to every possible thing that you’re putting in your mouth.

• How much ketchup was on your burger?
• How much BBQ sauce went on your ribs?
• What kind of mayo was used in the potato salad?

Like I said, doing it long term is a lot of work, but it can also be a real eye opener to realize how many calories you’re taking in if you’re not paying super close attention.

I don’t use one. Too much work for me. But if it works for you, go for it!

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And that’s it for this month! Like I said, short and sweet!

As a reminder, the answers in this post are definitely shortened compared to the answers I gave on the show. To hear the full scoop, hit play on the player above or download the episode on your phone via the podcast player of your choice and listen at your convenience.

And if you’d like to get your question featured on next month’s Q&A episode, the best way to do that is to join our Facebook group!

This month's Q&A episode covers calorie counting, running in the heat, cross training, and more! #runchat Click To Tweet

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