Listener Q&A: December 2017

Don’t look now, but not only is another month drawing to a close but another year is disappearing into the rearview mirror as well!

Before we switch out the 2017 calendar for the 2018 version, we have a little business to tend to.

There are Q’s to A, so let’s get cracking.

The Final Listener Q&A of 2017

Before I dive into your questions, let me bring those that are new up to speed.

At the end of each month, I dedicate one episode of the podcast to answering listener questions.

The process is simple: I put a post up in the FB group asking for questions for the Q&A episode.

Then, I answer them.

And with a little luck, the answers are even useful!

Here goes nothing…

How is it possible that my sore hip is caused by an injury from two years ago that didn’t heal properly?

Honestly, this one is pretty straight forward.

The older injury that didn’t heal properly has very likely changed/altered your running mechanics slightly.

That subtle tweak has led, at least in part, to the injury you’re currently dealing.

These type of things happen all the time, which is why it’s so important to allow your body to heal completely when you have any injury big or small.

What podcasts to you listen to?

I’m a bit of a junkie, so this is a harder question than it might seem.

My “can’t miss” podcasts are Up First, Drunk Ex-Pastors, and the SoloPreneur Hour.

What are some good New Year’s resolutions for runners?

Slow Down!
Listen to your Body
Worry About That Which You can Control
Do the Little Things
Remember Rest Day, and Keep It Holy

What is a go-to sprint/HIIT workout for your clients?

I’m not sure that I have a “go-to” per se.

I know it’s cliche, but every client is different so I don’t really have a go-to workout that I have everyone do.

If I had to offer an answer, t would be some manner of short intervals.

Depending on the client, the distance/duration of the intervals may change slightly, but going hard for a short-ish amount of time or distance is important for all runners.

How would you prepare for a relay event?

Doing some doubles would be a good way to prepare a bit.

Run in the morning, go about your day, and run again in the evening to somewhat simulate the demands of a relay event.

But more important than that would simply be to have a good solid base of fitness.

If you do that, you’ll be just fine running 3+ times over 30ish hours.

I have a pulled muscle in my groin, I can’t run at all, and have a race in a few weeks. What should I do?

If you can do some biking without it bothering your groin, that is a good bet to try and keep your cardio up a bit at this point in your training cycle.

I wouldn’t do much strength training, as the last thing you need/want is for that muscle to contract and pull further.

Instead, maybe get a massage or some acupuncture to try and speed up the healing process? Some foam rolling on your groin, while painful, may help a lot.

And finally, and probably not the answer you want, you probably need to let go of your goals for your race. You might be able to do the race, but I wouldn’t advise you to run it hard even if you’re feeling pretty good on race day.

Muscle strains are tricky things and are ripe for reaggravating them by trying to do too much too soon.

What are your thoughts on Chi running?

I know a few people that are all in on Chi running.

In episode 416, I talked with Eric Collard who is a Chi running instructor. Check that episode out for more info.

My take is that Chi running isn’t anything fancy.

It’s basically taking the core tenets of good running form, put a fancy title on them, and then marketed it as something special.

Good running form is good running form, no matter what you want to call it.

Chi running form is good form, and I think it’s a good place to start if you’re worried about your form, but the believers think it’s the end all be all cure for everything. And I think that’s bit much.

What do you do to take care of your feet?

In all honesty, most hobbits take better care of their feet than I do.

Every once in awhile I’ll use the callus shaver to trim down a growth, but other than that I don’t do much.

Now, I am a fan of taking care of my feet with stretches and strengthening exercises, but I don’t get the sense that that was the topic of your question.

I’m trying to figure out my next goal for the marathon. Any suggestions for workouts to gauge my fitness in an attempt to figure out what’s possible?

Not sure that there is a great workout to just plug and play to demonstrate your fitness and what is possible over 26.2 miles.

That said, something that you may want to do (if you haven’t done so already) is to do some sort of “time trial” type of workout that you can repeat every month or so to help you gauge your progress.

Maybe a 10 miler? Maybe 15?

Something long, but not so long that it’s going to crush you, and use that as a bit of a predictor of what may be possible for the marathon.

And shoot, as much as I hate them, maybe plug your times in those runs into a pace predictor and see what that says as well.

Thoughts on the Maffetone method? How long should one follow this training method?

I’m loosely familar with Dr. Maffetone’s training method, and heart rate training is something I’m planning on learning much more about in 2018.

As I understand it, to the letter of the law the man himself says you should pretty much never run hard in training.

Always run below your aerobic threshold, which you get by subtracting your age from 180, and as you do that you will continue to get faster at the easier effort level.

I think that I’m in favor of a slightly modified Maffetone style, where 2-3 times per month it’s ok to go hard.

But not just a little hard.

Balls to the fricking walls hard!

But the rest of the runs should be done at a low intensity to build your fitness. If you do it right, you’ll keep getting faster without working any harder, and that is the name of the game.

What are your thoughts on run streaks?

That meme pretty much says it all.

I think running streaks are ridiculous.

Rest and recovery are as important to your training as the actual running. If you’re running every day, you’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle.

You can make the arguement that an easy mile for a veteran runner during a long streak is basically the same as a rest day.

But I’m not buying it.

That’s that!

Another good month of questions, and another good year of the podcast.

Thanks for taking me with you this year.

See you in 2018!

What Was Your Favorite Question and/or Answer this Month? Let Me Know in the Comments Below!

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Listener Q&A: December 2017