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Wearing Compression Gear Flying Home After the Blue Ridge Marathon

Quick Tip–My Experience With Compression Gear for Runners

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In Wednesday’s post, I shared an article that Teal Burrell had written for Outside magazine recently about the impact that compression gear has for runners both during a run and when used for recovery.

If you didn’t get a chance to read Teal’s article, please take a minute and check it out.

My Take On Compression Gear

Full disclosure on my part, I have purchased one pair of compression socks and was given one pair of compression sleeves for my calves. I have used both of these items multiple times, but I’ve never used any other form of compression gear.

Wearing Compression Gear Flying Home After the Blue Ridge Marathon

Wearing Compression Gear Flying Home After the Blue Ridge Marathon

Now that I’ve cleared the air.

In my experience, when it comes to running performance, Read more

running naked

Quick Tip–The Benefits of Running Naked

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There are very few runners that I know that would be willing to go running naked.

running naked

No, not that kind of running naked. (Though I don’t know a lot of runners willing to do that either.) Read more

New Runners Should Hire a Coach

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Should new runners hire a running coach?

To put it simply, yes.

New Runners, Running, Coach

“Doh! I should have worked with a coach!”

While it’s true to a point that running is nothing but putting one foot in front of the other a little faster than you do when you’re walking, there are a lot of things that can (and often do) go wrong for runners–both newbies and seasoned veterans alike. If new runners hire a coach, even for just a short period of time, they can avoid some of the missteps that may lead to burn out, dissatisfaction, or even worse–injury. Read more

Put Up or Shut Up

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Do you ever feel like you just need a few more hours in each day to get everything accomplished that you set out to do?

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That’s been me for the past couple of weeks.

I shared with the tribe via email that I’ve been very non-productive over the past couple of weeks, basically since the baby was born. While it might be easy/convenient to blame the baby for my struggles, I’ve wasted a lot of time since she’s been born here.

And that needs to stop.

So I’m calling myself out. I need to do a better job of prioritizing and staying focused on the task at hand, both in terms of work, in terms of family life, and in terms of my running.

Blending Work and Running

In the email I sent to the tribe last week, I also let them in on the top secret project I’m working on, which will be ready to roll in early September.

While I’m not ready to spill the beans publicly yet, I’ll give y’all a little teaser. I’m a huge believer in the positive impact of regular strength training for runners. And yet, it’s something that many runners don’t do enough of.

And I need to include myself in that group.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to be offering all kinds of opportunities to learn about the benefits of strength training, no matter what level of a runner you would consider yourself to be.

  • I’ll be talking about why some “gym staples” have no benefit to runners, and how some of the best exercises for runners will earn you some stares if you do them at the gym.
  • I’ll also get into some of the many benefits of regular strength training, including a decreased risk of injury, improved endurance, stronger kick, and a higher top speed.
  • I’ll also cover why it’s so important to work your upper body as well, not just your legs.

But before I do all of that, I need to practice what I’m going to preach. Because as much as I know the benefits of strength training, I haven’t made strength training a priority for myself yet. And that needs to change.

It’s Time to Put Up or Shut Up

I have a lot of plans for the future of this website, and the podcast is just the first piece of the vision that I have. But in order for any of the plans to be successful, the first thing I need to do is to take a dose of my own medicine.

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My focused strength training starts now, and I can’t wait to share with you guys what I’ve got planned for next month.

Want a sneak peak? Join the tribe and I’ll give you the scoop!

 

 Join my Tribe!

There’s always room for more members of the tribe!

Both the Facebook group and the email group provide opportunities that can’t be found anywhere else.

The Facebook group is still small, but it is a great way to connect with fellow runners and foster community amongst like minded individuals. The email group is THE way to stay up to date about future guests on the show, as well as getting some other freebies and offers that aren’t available to anyone else.

If you’ve got questions about either/both, just let me know!

The Benefits of Strength Training for Runners

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Strength training is something that many recreational runners, and even a lot of semi-serious runners, tend to omit from their training regimens.

The prevailing feeling of many runners is that to get faster, one simply needs to run farther and run faster.

And the prevailing feeling is wrong.

The Many Benefits of Strength Training

In most sports, the notion that lifting weights and getting stronger will improve performance is widely accepted. Football players spend hours in the weight room, as do hockey players, basketball players, and even baseball players.

So why do runners think we wouldn’t see a benefit from regular resistance training?

Here are just a few of the many benefits of strength training that runners can see if they commit to regularly doing resistance training.

  • Stay Healthy–Believe it or not, endurance runners have one of the highest rates of injury of any athletes. This may sound crazy at first, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Running requires that you repeat the same motion over and over and over again, sometimes for hours without a chance to recover. Any motion that is that repetitive in nature can cause muscle imbalances and overuse injuries. But regularly performing strength training exercises, runners are able to limit muscle imbalances and strengthen the muscles that are used in running, which helps to prevent them from breaking down over time.
  • Finish Stronger–Nothing is more frustrating for a runner than fading fast down the stretch (believe me!). Regular strength training helps to improve muscle endurance, so hopefully the fading will be minimized. For those of us crazies that run marathons or longer, this is especially important. Those last few miles are where you need that additional strength to make it through the finish line the most.
  • Improved Running Form–This is an addendum to the previous points, but as you fatigue your form breaks down. By working on your strength and improving muscular endurance, you’ll be able to maintain good form for a longer period of time which will help you finish stronger and stay healthy. To be clear, strength training won’t improve poor running form but it will help keep your form from breaking down over the course of a longer race.
  • Increased Metabolism–Strength training, without getting too technical, is a great metabolism booster because the effects of the exercise are felt for up to 36 hours after the workout is completed. Whereas running burns a lot of calories during activity, unless you’re really killing yourself in your workouts, running won’t keep burning a lot of calories once you finish your run. Strength training works exactly the opposite–not many calories burned during exercise but a continued burn for hours after exercise is complete. (If you want more info on the reasons this happens, shoot me a message and I’ll go into specifics.)

For most of us, we run to improve our overall health and push ourselves to new limits in terms of speed or distance.

Both of these goals are best achieved by including regular strength training to your routine.

If you’re not sure what kind of exercises are best for runners, stick around. I’ll be giving out some great ideas in the next post.

Do You Regularly Do Any Strength Training? What Does Your Routine Look Like?

 

PS–I’m working on a suggested exercise guide that I’ll be giving away to my tribe members, so if you want that just enter your best email address and I’ll get it sent out to you soon. (If you’re already in the tribe, stay patient. The guide is coming!)