Hi Guys,
I know it's been far too long since my last post, but as the training becomes more intense and I still have my regular workload during the week unfortunately it seems as though the blog has been getting the short end of the stick. But here's a post now and I promise to be better in the coming weeks.
As February has just ended I guess it was fitting that on Saturday, February 28th I went for a Saturday morning long run with the Dana Farber group. For those of you new to the marathon training regime it is typical that once a week you include a long run in your training. The distance of the long run increases as the training goes on, ultimately culminating in a run of around 21 miles. For the Boston Marathon, it's widely known that three weeks prior to the marathon the 21 mile run occurs and typically involves runner's trekking out to Hopkinton (the start of the marathon course) and following the course to mile 21, which happens to be at the top of heartbreak hill. But as we're still 48+ days out, this run is still a few weeks away.
Instead, the group run was "only" 20 miles this weekend... I didn't know about this distance until Friday so I was a bit nervous at work about doing that much distance the following day. I went to the Celtics game that night which was great, had nachos which had repercussions, and got to bed by midnight. Woke up at 6:30 in the morning, thought to myself "this is earlier than I get up for work most of the time and here I am on Saturday up at this ungodly hour". I managed to get a ride out to the athletic club we were running out of and we hit the road after a few announcements at around 8:30. I am not the best runner when it comes to going out slow and not running a faster pace than I can maintain, so I tagged along with a group of people I know from Dana Farber. The first few miles felt ok although I started to wonder if Montezuma's revenge had caught up to me from the nachos the previous night. I also have had a cold all week and wasn't feeling all that well. Mentally after the first few miles I began to wonder how I was going to go 20 miles with all these excuses that I had lined up about why I shouldn't run well. And to boot we were running at a conservative pace.
Fast forward to mile 7 - we've now run a few more miles and my mind and muscles have both started to wake after an hour of running. I was still running with the group of Dana Farber folks but as we hit the first hill on route 16 I guess I was feeling really good and before I knew it I was on my own running. I was slightly nervous that I was going too fast and whether I could maintain the new pace for 13 miles, but it felt good and I often run what feels good, regardless of the pace. Anyway, I make it to the turnaround pount, 10 miles into the run in 84 minutes. For some reason I thought that the next 10 miles were going to be brutal, but they seemed to fly by. The next water stop was at the 14 mile mark and I was feeling great. Miles 14-17 were the hills of the marathon course, culminating with heartbreak hill (which I was not happy to see and decided to look at the pavement rather than the top of the hill since when you're running it you don't feel like you're getting any closer). Once at the top at mile 17 and the last water stop it was smooth sailing back to the athletic club having run the second 10 miles in 77 minutes (7:42 pace). Overall it was a time of 2:41 (161 minutes or about 8:03 pace).
I was really happy with my run even if a bit disappointed that perhaps I went out too slow given my running the second half seven minutes faster (called a negative split). The other good news to take away from the run was that I did in fact think I could have run the extra 6 miles come race day. Overall it was definitely an encouraging run and it gives me hope that in 48 days I might pull out a great time.
One last tidbit after that long drawn out story is that after adding up my mileage for February it seems that I racked up 181 miles (about 45 miles/week). And considering I took 8 days off means I ran an average of just about 9 miles a day. We'll see what March holds in store; 200 miles perhaps? More than anything I hope there are no injuries.
http://tinyurl.com/ctrye9 (I hope this links you to a google map of the route I ran on Saturday. I think sometimes it's difficult to visualize it until you see it on a map)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Fast Training Update and Runner's High
Hey Guys!! How is everyone doing with this winter that just won't seem to end? Has everyone signed up for some sort of race to get them motivated in cold times like these? Let's be honest here for a moment, in a few months you're going to go "oh shit, it's almost summer and I'm out of shape". Don't go killing yourself to get back in shape because you let things slip during the winter; be proactive about it and sign up for a race like I told you; you'll thank me later hehe.
Anyway, to the heart of the matter; TRAINING!!! This past week I ran about 51-52 miles (sorry I don't track mileage to the tenth or anything lol). On Sunday I ran 17 miles although it wasn't a great run, but I finished and on some long runs that's all you can hope for. I thought today's run was going to be awful after the long run yesterday, but I ran 6.5 miles today and it was probably the easiest time I've ever had running that distance and I feel great. So you can thank the runner's high for the post; and if you don't know what a runner's high is you're missing one of the best parts of running. Basically when you run a distance of some length (different for each person) your body crosses an endurance threshhold upon which your body begins to produce endorphins which your body does to help you because it senses you may be in danger and gives you a heightened state of emotion. Many runners will feel extra speed and once they end the run feel overly happy. WARNING: You will not always be happy because although it's typical, you'll more specifically have more heightened emotions. I've been all over the spectrum and would suggest not watching any chick flicks or soppy movies or you will be a wreck; not that it's happened to me...
But no matter what emotions you feel with the runner's high, it's a free high and almost 30,000 will be experiencing it on 4/20 legally (the date of the marathon). The rest of the people that day are paying lol; sorry couldn't help but make the joke.
Anyway, to the heart of the matter; TRAINING!!! This past week I ran about 51-52 miles (sorry I don't track mileage to the tenth or anything lol). On Sunday I ran 17 miles although it wasn't a great run, but I finished and on some long runs that's all you can hope for. I thought today's run was going to be awful after the long run yesterday, but I ran 6.5 miles today and it was probably the easiest time I've ever had running that distance and I feel great. So you can thank the runner's high for the post; and if you don't know what a runner's high is you're missing one of the best parts of running. Basically when you run a distance of some length (different for each person) your body crosses an endurance threshhold upon which your body begins to produce endorphins which your body does to help you because it senses you may be in danger and gives you a heightened state of emotion. Many runners will feel extra speed and once they end the run feel overly happy. WARNING: You will not always be happy because although it's typical, you'll more specifically have more heightened emotions. I've been all over the spectrum and would suggest not watching any chick flicks or soppy movies or you will be a wreck; not that it's happened to me...
But no matter what emotions you feel with the runner's high, it's a free high and almost 30,000 will be experiencing it on 4/20 legally (the date of the marathon). The rest of the people that day are paying lol; sorry couldn't help but make the joke.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Water - Helper and Hinderer
I mentioned in my last post that I would talk about hyponatremia. Hyponatremia is an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the plasma is too low. In severe cases, it can lead to swelling in the brain and cause fatalities. In 2002, "A 22 year-old man died after completing his first London Marathon because he drank too much water. David Rodgers collapsed at the end of the race and died yesterday in Charing Cross Hospital" read the newspaper. Hyponatremia, also called water intoxication, was to blame. When there is too much water in your body it dilutes vital minerals like sodium to dangerously low levels. The condition leads to headaches, confusions, and a fatal swelling of the brain.
OK... let's break that down a bit. As you run you become dehydrated as you sweat, losing both water and sodium. Therefore we often drink water or a sports drink to replenish what we've lost. But how much do you actually need to drink??? Well let's start by saying that the old 8 cups of water a day line has no scientific backing. In terms of exercise you shouldn't drink too much water if you are exercising for under 1 hour and you suffer little loss in sodium levels/other vital minerals. For over an hour, you should reach for some Gatorade, not powerade. Gatorade contains twice the sodium (electrolytes) that Powerade does, so grab the good stuff. As you sweat more and more during a long run, such a marathon (the only time hyponatremia is really a plausible and likely danger) it's rather easy to replace the water component of sweat, but much more likely that you won't replenish the sodium content. And as you continue to replace more water than salt as the miles pile up, it leads to dangerous dilution of minerals like sodium. Excess water sloshing around without sodium to catch up with is bad for your kidneys and leads to swelling in the brain which causes the headaches, confusion, and possible fatality.
NOTE: Don't worry about this unless you're doing extreme physical activity for over 3 hours. It's just something to keep in mind for those of you doing very long bike races, or considering a marathon. It's safer to NOT recharge at every mile water station than to drink at each one is all I'm saying. Personally I don't drink too much water when I'm running at all. My half marathon in October I had one small cup of water at mile 11 and it may have been just because I was feeling tired an hitting a wall. Of course it's also bad not to have any water either as it can lead to dehydration. The key of course is balance, but keep a focus on sodium if you can.
I ran 15 miles yesterday in terms of my own training and it felt ok; about a 7:45 pace but my body wasn't feeling great during the run. But sometimes you just push through and make sure you finish strong. Today was hilarious running though because I was so tight and tired; but I'm kind of demented in a way and love a next-day sore run. To give you a sense of the feeling think back to your days at the beach as a kid when you made a simple sand castle with a bucket. The sand is packed together and is tight, but if you kind of shoved your hand in there you could feel it kind of give under the pressure and smooth back out into what it was before. Similarly I feel that in my legs. The next day they're all tight but after you get on the treadmills and start things up they begin to smooth back out and loosen. The thing to take away is to not be afraid of going the next day after a hard workout because "my legs hurt" or "I put in a good enough one yesterday". I'm saying not to take rest days, but if you push your body once in a while to make a quick recovery it'll just become easier in the future and help you put in more miles and better workouts.
Sorry for the long-winded post; as always please think about donating to my fundraising effort for Dana Farber by following the link below. Your generosity is gladly appreciated:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
OK... let's break that down a bit. As you run you become dehydrated as you sweat, losing both water and sodium. Therefore we often drink water or a sports drink to replenish what we've lost. But how much do you actually need to drink??? Well let's start by saying that the old 8 cups of water a day line has no scientific backing. In terms of exercise you shouldn't drink too much water if you are exercising for under 1 hour and you suffer little loss in sodium levels/other vital minerals. For over an hour, you should reach for some Gatorade, not powerade. Gatorade contains twice the sodium (electrolytes) that Powerade does, so grab the good stuff. As you sweat more and more during a long run, such a marathon (the only time hyponatremia is really a plausible and likely danger) it's rather easy to replace the water component of sweat, but much more likely that you won't replenish the sodium content. And as you continue to replace more water than salt as the miles pile up, it leads to dangerous dilution of minerals like sodium. Excess water sloshing around without sodium to catch up with is bad for your kidneys and leads to swelling in the brain which causes the headaches, confusion, and possible fatality.
NOTE: Don't worry about this unless you're doing extreme physical activity for over 3 hours. It's just something to keep in mind for those of you doing very long bike races, or considering a marathon. It's safer to NOT recharge at every mile water station than to drink at each one is all I'm saying. Personally I don't drink too much water when I'm running at all. My half marathon in October I had one small cup of water at mile 11 and it may have been just because I was feeling tired an hitting a wall. Of course it's also bad not to have any water either as it can lead to dehydration. The key of course is balance, but keep a focus on sodium if you can.
I ran 15 miles yesterday in terms of my own training and it felt ok; about a 7:45 pace but my body wasn't feeling great during the run. But sometimes you just push through and make sure you finish strong. Today was hilarious running though because I was so tight and tired; but I'm kind of demented in a way and love a next-day sore run. To give you a sense of the feeling think back to your days at the beach as a kid when you made a simple sand castle with a bucket. The sand is packed together and is tight, but if you kind of shoved your hand in there you could feel it kind of give under the pressure and smooth back out into what it was before. Similarly I feel that in my legs. The next day they're all tight but after you get on the treadmills and start things up they begin to smooth back out and loosen. The thing to take away is to not be afraid of going the next day after a hard workout because "my legs hurt" or "I put in a good enough one yesterday". I'm saying not to take rest days, but if you push your body once in a while to make a quick recovery it'll just become easier in the future and help you put in more miles and better workouts.
Sorry for the long-winded post; as always please think about donating to my fundraising effort for Dana Farber by following the link below. Your generosity is gladly appreciated:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Long runs + no posts = sad blog fans
Ok, I'm sorry I've neglected you blog readers like an plant that hasn't been watered for weeks. But here goes.
On Thursday night, I went on my first "Crossroads" run. Every thursday, a decent size group of marathon trainers will meet up at the corner of mass ave and beacon st in downtown boston; at an irish bar called Crossroads. Yes, unfortunately the name of the run is not very original. Anyway, we get on the T and take the D line out to Woodland, the second to last stop. It's a little over 9 miles to the finish line from here and from where the T drops you off you basically complete the final 9 miles of the marathon course. The last 9 miles also happen to be where the Boston Marathon course stops it's descent and begins a grueling series of a hills that culminates in one large incline known as "heartbreak hill". It is the most difficult finish to any marathon and is one of the major reasons Boston is regarded as one of the most difficult marathons to complete.
Getting back to the run though, I needed to get some hill workouts in and decided I would go this past Thursday. Of course Thursday happened to be the coldest day of the year and the temperature was somewhere around 0 degrees not including wind chill by the time we got out to the starting point. And there I am on the T wearing shorts, a long sleeve running shirt, a light running jacket, running gloves, and a face mask (I was the only one in shorts; go figure). Needless there an increased impetus to make it back into Boston in as short a time as possible.
Hills are like a fine wine; you do not chug it down like a busch light that we all enjoyed in our college years. Yes, hills are like a fine wine in that you must approach it carefully and understand that there are many layers that must be appreciated. The only difference is that if you chug the wine you've just wasted some expensive stuff; if you rush the hills you've wasted precious energy and are going to crash quickly. And after 16 miles of running, if you go rushing into the first hill on the Boston Marathon course you are not going to be running many more of those hills let alone make it to Heartbreak Hill. Hills require practice because you must be able to guage how much of your energy you can use and sustain given the extra work it takes to get up the hills.
Anyway, back to me being cold in the freezing weather and the idiot in shorts. All of the other "cool runners" in their tights and Garmin GPS watches (which I admit are cool) were commenting on my shorts, but the talking changed at the end of the run. I was careful during the hill staying behind some of the faster runners and in the first few miles got scared because I was losing feeling in my fingers. But I warmed up and so did my running; after hitting Heartbreak Hill which peaks at Boston College, I picked up my pace a bit and wound up blowing past all but one guy. I ran the 9+ miles in 66 minutes, which is about a 7:15/mile pace. This is an impressive split for typically, but considering these are the dreaded hills of the Boston Marathon this goes down as quite possibly my best run ever.
The girls who were commenting on my shorts and saying how they qualified for the Marathon were complimenting me on my running; it was nice to not be that slow idiot in the shorts and just remain the fast idiot in the shorts. Anyway, I figured I'd share the happy run with you all.
Anyway, as always please think about donating to my fundraising effort for Dana Farber by following the link below. Your generosity is gladly appreciated:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Tomorrow will come a discussion of hyponatremia, a danger for marathon runners, which will be part of a larger discussion of drinking and eating during exercise. Night all.
On Thursday night, I went on my first "Crossroads" run. Every thursday, a decent size group of marathon trainers will meet up at the corner of mass ave and beacon st in downtown boston; at an irish bar called Crossroads. Yes, unfortunately the name of the run is not very original. Anyway, we get on the T and take the D line out to Woodland, the second to last stop. It's a little over 9 miles to the finish line from here and from where the T drops you off you basically complete the final 9 miles of the marathon course. The last 9 miles also happen to be where the Boston Marathon course stops it's descent and begins a grueling series of a hills that culminates in one large incline known as "heartbreak hill". It is the most difficult finish to any marathon and is one of the major reasons Boston is regarded as one of the most difficult marathons to complete.
Getting back to the run though, I needed to get some hill workouts in and decided I would go this past Thursday. Of course Thursday happened to be the coldest day of the year and the temperature was somewhere around 0 degrees not including wind chill by the time we got out to the starting point. And there I am on the T wearing shorts, a long sleeve running shirt, a light running jacket, running gloves, and a face mask (I was the only one in shorts; go figure). Needless there an increased impetus to make it back into Boston in as short a time as possible.
Hills are like a fine wine; you do not chug it down like a busch light that we all enjoyed in our college years. Yes, hills are like a fine wine in that you must approach it carefully and understand that there are many layers that must be appreciated. The only difference is that if you chug the wine you've just wasted some expensive stuff; if you rush the hills you've wasted precious energy and are going to crash quickly. And after 16 miles of running, if you go rushing into the first hill on the Boston Marathon course you are not going to be running many more of those hills let alone make it to Heartbreak Hill. Hills require practice because you must be able to guage how much of your energy you can use and sustain given the extra work it takes to get up the hills.
Anyway, back to me being cold in the freezing weather and the idiot in shorts. All of the other "cool runners" in their tights and Garmin GPS watches (which I admit are cool) were commenting on my shorts, but the talking changed at the end of the run. I was careful during the hill staying behind some of the faster runners and in the first few miles got scared because I was losing feeling in my fingers. But I warmed up and so did my running; after hitting Heartbreak Hill which peaks at Boston College, I picked up my pace a bit and wound up blowing past all but one guy. I ran the 9+ miles in 66 minutes, which is about a 7:15/mile pace. This is an impressive split for typically, but considering these are the dreaded hills of the Boston Marathon this goes down as quite possibly my best run ever.
The girls who were commenting on my shorts and saying how they qualified for the Marathon were complimenting me on my running; it was nice to not be that slow idiot in the shorts and just remain the fast idiot in the shorts. Anyway, I figured I'd share the happy run with you all.
Anyway, as always please think about donating to my fundraising effort for Dana Farber by following the link below. Your generosity is gladly appreciated:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Tomorrow will come a discussion of hyponatremia, a danger for marathon runners, which will be part of a larger discussion of drinking and eating during exercise. Night all.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Update on my training
Well I wanted to start by just throwing out a much needed disclaimer that any advice or tips I give are in no way professional. I still have a lot to learn about running and all things associated with it. I just like to babble on about things that have worked for me or I think are cool.
That being said I wanted to throw in a quick update on my running. Yesterday I ran 10 miles and did it 82 minutes (pace of 8:12/mile). I don't think I've talked about my paces yet so now you can all start to judge me and say "well I could do that"; so why not go out and run 10 miles and prove it to me and yourself? Let me know how you're doing if you go for a long run of any distance; I'd love to hear how everyone is doing whether it's faster or slower. I started pretty slow on the run and at the end still felt really good and knew I could have given more. But since it was a long run that's expected for me to run slower than I could, but what was very encouraging was how good I felt at the end. I definitely had some gas left in the tank and actually feel like I'm ready to run a half marathon right now. Too bad I'm running a full marathon :P
I ran 5 miles tonight and took it real easy and kind of just used it as a recovery run from yesterday to get my muscles moving again. Let me tell you, the day after the marathon last year I went for a run for the same reasons. People who'd run marathons told me, "you need to go out for a real short run to help the recovery process". So I went for a 3 mile run.... I'm still not sure if I should qualify it as a run haha. My legs were like jelly and I must have been the funniest thing to watch on two legs that day. But yes, recovery runs are in fact good and healthy but don't go pushing yourself otherwise it kind of loses the point of recovery, right?
Anyway I've logged 21 miles so far this week and will probably log just under 40 miles for the week. I need to start picking up the distance of my long runs a lot and plan on doing 12, 14, 16, and 18 miles as my long runs for the next 4 weeks. Then I'll drop back down to 12 and work back up again. It's suggested that every fourth week or so you take a lighter week to ensure you get not just a day of rest but a week of not quite rest, but reduced activity.
I don't fret too much about following a training schedule where it dictates your mileage every day. It might work some people, but I tend to focus on getting good mileage in and on ensuring long runs occur at least once a week and progressively build up to the 21 mile run that is typical to do about 3 weeks out from the race.
My body is holding up great so far with minimal aches and pains; I attribute it to my off-season training and my renewed focus on maintaining a solid core.
Well, I hope I haven't bored you, but if you are impressed with what I'm doing and appreciate my cause to raise money for Dana-Farber through the Boston Marathon please go the following site and donate towards a worthy cause
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
And as always, go out there and let's logs some miles together.
That being said I wanted to throw in a quick update on my running. Yesterday I ran 10 miles and did it 82 minutes (pace of 8:12/mile). I don't think I've talked about my paces yet so now you can all start to judge me and say "well I could do that"; so why not go out and run 10 miles and prove it to me and yourself? Let me know how you're doing if you go for a long run of any distance; I'd love to hear how everyone is doing whether it's faster or slower. I started pretty slow on the run and at the end still felt really good and knew I could have given more. But since it was a long run that's expected for me to run slower than I could, but what was very encouraging was how good I felt at the end. I definitely had some gas left in the tank and actually feel like I'm ready to run a half marathon right now. Too bad I'm running a full marathon :P
I ran 5 miles tonight and took it real easy and kind of just used it as a recovery run from yesterday to get my muscles moving again. Let me tell you, the day after the marathon last year I went for a run for the same reasons. People who'd run marathons told me, "you need to go out for a real short run to help the recovery process". So I went for a 3 mile run.... I'm still not sure if I should qualify it as a run haha. My legs were like jelly and I must have been the funniest thing to watch on two legs that day. But yes, recovery runs are in fact good and healthy but don't go pushing yourself otherwise it kind of loses the point of recovery, right?
Anyway I've logged 21 miles so far this week and will probably log just under 40 miles for the week. I need to start picking up the distance of my long runs a lot and plan on doing 12, 14, 16, and 18 miles as my long runs for the next 4 weeks. Then I'll drop back down to 12 and work back up again. It's suggested that every fourth week or so you take a lighter week to ensure you get not just a day of rest but a week of not quite rest, but reduced activity.
I don't fret too much about following a training schedule where it dictates your mileage every day. It might work some people, but I tend to focus on getting good mileage in and on ensuring long runs occur at least once a week and progressively build up to the 21 mile run that is typical to do about 3 weeks out from the race.
My body is holding up great so far with minimal aches and pains; I attribute it to my off-season training and my renewed focus on maintaining a solid core.
Well, I hope I haven't bored you, but if you are impressed with what I'm doing and appreciate my cause to raise money for Dana-Farber through the Boston Marathon please go the following site and donate towards a worthy cause
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
And as always, go out there and let's logs some miles together.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Stretches, Cross-Training, and Working Out
Yes, this post will have it all! But it's deserved after the days since my last post. I was running a 10K tonight (6.2 miles) and was thinking about these three things and how they're the unsung heroes of running.
Let's start with stretching. I already mentioned it in the last post and thought I'd give you a few that I do. To stretch the back of your legs, particularly your calves, place your legs together and bend forward at the waist, clasping your hands behind your back. Then place your weight towards the front of your toes and pick your head up. You should be able to feel the pull in the back of your legs. Another easy one for the backs of your legs is to find a ledge or the streetcurb and place both feet such that half is hanging off the curb and push one of your heels towards the ground while keeping the other flat (perform for both feet). A simple but effective quad stretch is standing on one leg and, using your hands, pull the other leg, bent at the knee, up towards your back. Finally, pretend like you're taking a knee for a prayer before the big game. Take the leg you aren't leaning on and extend it back behind you with the toe pointed to the ground and then gently push your heel towards the ground and you should feel the stretch (do for both legs). There are so many different exercises depending on which parts of your body tend to get tight, but these cover some basic body parts that are going to be doing a lot of work while running.
Running should not be work, part 2. Unless you really really love work, in which case let's try to make it like work, part deux. What I mean is that if you don't feel like running or you've run 4 days in a row and are dreading the fifth day in a row, don't. Cross-training; things like rowing, biking, walking, swimming, playing aerobic sports, dancing (or spastic movements if you're me), are a great way to give your running body parts a rest but still attain a high cardio level during a workout. Believe me, it'll keep you from burning out from the constant running and it will give you that one or two days that you look forward to at the gym because "it's swimming day" or "I'm going to play tennis with my friend".
"Working out? But I just want to run and runners are small little things." WRONG!! Sorry, that was a little over the top. What I meant to say is that working out is crucial to injury free, effective running. I read about top runners who say that the key to their running is in their core (meaning their abs, chest, back). When you're running there's a large amount of stress on your body, but the tighter your core is, the more your body is able to manage the stress. And besides the stress, the better shape your core is in the better your running will become as your body won't hurt as you run faster or longer. So invest in a few key exercises and you can prevent injury and improve running. When I'm at the gym I focus on these few, doing some daily and some just a few times a week. For your lower back, which can be a trouble point for many runners (I pulled a muscle in my back in September and almost missed my half marathon in October), try the rowing machine. It really works the back and is also a good cardio-sidekick to your run. For your abs, I'd suggesting targeting your rectus abdominus muscles which aren't really the six-pack ab muscles but the ones that lie behind them and support them (but don't worry, if you work these out you can more easily get the six pack ones if that's your goal). And for your chest do some pushups or if you want to use weights, go ahead. But I have to stress the importance of the core.
I can't finish the discussion of working out without also talking about your legs. If you are taking a day off but feel guilty, I implore you to go and do some leg workouts; presses, squats, leg raises, etc. I mean, I don't need to spell this out but the legs are doing a lot of the work in running and take most of the stress, so help them out by getting them fit and ready to take what you're throwing at them.
Next time I want to talk about eating and water consumption before and after working out, but this post is getting entirely too long I think.
I do want to just say thank you to the people who have donated in the past week. Your generosity is much appreciated. For those of you who have not donated, I ask that you consider giving to a worthy cause in Dana Farber with whom I'm running the Boston Marathon, and go to the link below.
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Let's start with stretching. I already mentioned it in the last post and thought I'd give you a few that I do. To stretch the back of your legs, particularly your calves, place your legs together and bend forward at the waist, clasping your hands behind your back. Then place your weight towards the front of your toes and pick your head up. You should be able to feel the pull in the back of your legs. Another easy one for the backs of your legs is to find a ledge or the streetcurb and place both feet such that half is hanging off the curb and push one of your heels towards the ground while keeping the other flat (perform for both feet). A simple but effective quad stretch is standing on one leg and, using your hands, pull the other leg, bent at the knee, up towards your back. Finally, pretend like you're taking a knee for a prayer before the big game. Take the leg you aren't leaning on and extend it back behind you with the toe pointed to the ground and then gently push your heel towards the ground and you should feel the stretch (do for both legs). There are so many different exercises depending on which parts of your body tend to get tight, but these cover some basic body parts that are going to be doing a lot of work while running.
Running should not be work, part 2. Unless you really really love work, in which case let's try to make it like work, part deux. What I mean is that if you don't feel like running or you've run 4 days in a row and are dreading the fifth day in a row, don't. Cross-training; things like rowing, biking, walking, swimming, playing aerobic sports, dancing (or spastic movements if you're me), are a great way to give your running body parts a rest but still attain a high cardio level during a workout. Believe me, it'll keep you from burning out from the constant running and it will give you that one or two days that you look forward to at the gym because "it's swimming day" or "I'm going to play tennis with my friend".
"Working out? But I just want to run and runners are small little things." WRONG!! Sorry, that was a little over the top. What I meant to say is that working out is crucial to injury free, effective running. I read about top runners who say that the key to their running is in their core (meaning their abs, chest, back). When you're running there's a large amount of stress on your body, but the tighter your core is, the more your body is able to manage the stress. And besides the stress, the better shape your core is in the better your running will become as your body won't hurt as you run faster or longer. So invest in a few key exercises and you can prevent injury and improve running. When I'm at the gym I focus on these few, doing some daily and some just a few times a week. For your lower back, which can be a trouble point for many runners (I pulled a muscle in my back in September and almost missed my half marathon in October), try the rowing machine. It really works the back and is also a good cardio-sidekick to your run. For your abs, I'd suggesting targeting your rectus abdominus muscles which aren't really the six-pack ab muscles but the ones that lie behind them and support them (but don't worry, if you work these out you can more easily get the six pack ones if that's your goal). And for your chest do some pushups or if you want to use weights, go ahead. But I have to stress the importance of the core.
I can't finish the discussion of working out without also talking about your legs. If you are taking a day off but feel guilty, I implore you to go and do some leg workouts; presses, squats, leg raises, etc. I mean, I don't need to spell this out but the legs are doing a lot of the work in running and take most of the stress, so help them out by getting them fit and ready to take what you're throwing at them.
Next time I want to talk about eating and water consumption before and after working out, but this post is getting entirely too long I think.
I do want to just say thank you to the people who have donated in the past week. Your generosity is much appreciated. For those of you who have not donated, I ask that you consider giving to a worthy cause in Dana Farber with whom I'm running the Boston Marathon, and go to the link below.
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan20
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Stretching
In training news I went for a solid 5 mile run that just felt really good so I was happy about that.
Today I figured I'd drop a quick note in about stretching. I was having a beer with Jack Fultz, 1976 Boston Marathon champion, last month and asked him about stretching (no joke, he's our training coach at Dana Farber). He suggested that if you like to exercise first thing in the morning, it's important for you to stretch as your muscles are slightly stiff after a night of sleep. Whereas if you exercise after work it really doesn't make too much of a difference if you stretch or not. Stretching or not stretching, Jack did suggest that you start your run with some warmup walking/jogging and end the run with a cooldown of some sort. I'll assume that the reason behind that suggestion is that it gradually increases your cardio rate to prevent you burning yourself out right away and both warmup and cooldown help prevent you from injuring yourself too. I'll point out a few amazing stretches tomorrow that I find get me ready to go in two minutes.
So come on people, get out there and let's run some miles together :)
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Today I figured I'd drop a quick note in about stretching. I was having a beer with Jack Fultz, 1976 Boston Marathon champion, last month and asked him about stretching (no joke, he's our training coach at Dana Farber). He suggested that if you like to exercise first thing in the morning, it's important for you to stretch as your muscles are slightly stiff after a night of sleep. Whereas if you exercise after work it really doesn't make too much of a difference if you stretch or not. Stretching or not stretching, Jack did suggest that you start your run with some warmup walking/jogging and end the run with a cooldown of some sort. I'll assume that the reason behind that suggestion is that it gradually increases your cardio rate to prevent you burning yourself out right away and both warmup and cooldown help prevent you from injuring yourself too. I'll point out a few amazing stretches tomorrow that I find get me ready to go in two minutes.
So come on people, get out there and let's run some miles together :)
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Upside to the treadmill
While I much prefer running around the Charles River here in Boston, when it's slushy and 21 degrees outside, I somehow find myself on the treadmill instead. There's a couple of tricks that I find really helpful if you are stuck on the treadmill, or, if you prefer the treadmill to outdoors; although let's be honest, it can admittedly get boring and dull.
For starters, you should change some setting on the treadmill, be it incline or speed, every 5 minutes. This will ensure that you stay engaged in your workout and often leads to you pushing yourself. My general rule of thumb is to increase the pace during the run, and usually insert a mile that includes a good incline for fake hill training. But I'm not allowed to slow the pace down; once you've committed to up it you're stuck my friend. It may seem sick and twisted but knowing I can't take it back down is perfect for ensuring that good workout.
Additionally what I find really helpful is if you can pick out a few TV shows (if there are tv's on your treadmill) that you like during the week and watch them while you're running. You know we all love to multi-task and it's not like you weren't going to watch Gossip Girl anyway, so why not feel good about yourself and motivate yourself to look like a cast member of the show while on the treadmill? This is one of my favorite times of the year with TV for two reasons.
1.) American Idol season has begun - I generally don't watch the entire season but we're at the beginning episodes that are just plain hilarious at times and I end up laughing and when you're laughing on a treadmill people kind of give you weird looks because they are most likely convinced that you are masochistic. But when an audition involves a woman saying "that came out of the wrong rectum" you just can't help yourself.
2.) Biggest Loser - I mean what will make you feel more motivated about working out then saying people heavier than you doing it and losing drastic weight. Last year this show was my go-to for long runs and I'd run the entire hour the show was on and it did not feel like an hour at all.
Anyway, I had a good 6 mile run tonight and have a huge blister on my right toe which I'm sure you all wanted to know about; pictures to come shortly :P
And as always don't forget to contribute to Dana Farber and my Boston Marathon fundraising effort at the link below:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
For starters, you should change some setting on the treadmill, be it incline or speed, every 5 minutes. This will ensure that you stay engaged in your workout and often leads to you pushing yourself. My general rule of thumb is to increase the pace during the run, and usually insert a mile that includes a good incline for fake hill training. But I'm not allowed to slow the pace down; once you've committed to up it you're stuck my friend. It may seem sick and twisted but knowing I can't take it back down is perfect for ensuring that good workout.
Additionally what I find really helpful is if you can pick out a few TV shows (if there are tv's on your treadmill) that you like during the week and watch them while you're running. You know we all love to multi-task and it's not like you weren't going to watch Gossip Girl anyway, so why not feel good about yourself and motivate yourself to look like a cast member of the show while on the treadmill? This is one of my favorite times of the year with TV for two reasons.
1.) American Idol season has begun - I generally don't watch the entire season but we're at the beginning episodes that are just plain hilarious at times and I end up laughing and when you're laughing on a treadmill people kind of give you weird looks because they are most likely convinced that you are masochistic. But when an audition involves a woman saying "that came out of the wrong rectum" you just can't help yourself.
2.) Biggest Loser - I mean what will make you feel more motivated about working out then saying people heavier than you doing it and losing drastic weight. Last year this show was my go-to for long runs and I'd run the entire hour the show was on and it did not feel like an hour at all.
Anyway, I had a good 6 mile run tonight and have a huge blister on my right toe which I'm sure you all wanted to know about; pictures to come shortly :P
And as always don't forget to contribute to Dana Farber and my Boston Marathon fundraising effort at the link below:
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Long-Run Sunday
All marathon training regimes focus on two things - increased mileage per week and long runs. During the week I like to get my miles in and keep a pace that is close, but just below, the pace I want to run on race day (8 minute miles - which puts me at 3:30 marathon although secretly I'd love to run around 3:15 so that I have hope of qualifying for Boston one of these days). Today, with 91 days, 15 hours until the start (you'd find this amusing if you read the last post), I went for an 8 mile run. While the nice thing about long runs is that I can pull the pace back as I'm just focusing on getting the distance in, the downside of course is that it's a lot of time and I'm always sore the next day.
Well my posts are probably too long usually so I'll keep this one short and simple.
I encourage you all to run some miles with me and let me know how things are going.
And if you are so inclined, please consider donating to Dana Farber for whom I'm running the Boston Marathon.
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Well my posts are probably too long usually so I'll keep this one short and simple.
I encourage you all to run some miles with me and let me know how things are going.
And if you are so inclined, please consider donating to Dana Farber for whom I'm running the Boston Marathon.
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Constant Reminders
So I happen to be fortunate enough to live about a 1 minute walk away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. On a daily basis I cross the finish line as I heard towards the T to get to work and as I head towards the gym at night. And as if it's not daunting enough to have the daily reminder that I need to get to that spot from 26.2 miles away, the running store at the finish line called "Marathon Sports" has recently placed a "countdown timer" in the window of their store that tells me there are "92 days, 17 hours, 15 minutes, and 44 seconds" until the marathon starts. While I certainly appreciate the reminder, it just makes me nervous as the time ticks away and I need to start getting into serious training mode. Tomorrow I'll be running 8 miles which is not exactly a "long run" at this point in training but hopefully will make me sleep better at night after passing by the "countdown timer of impending doom".
The one thing I'm happy about and a place where I'm well ahead of myself compared to last year at this time is my weight and fitness. I was overweight after the holiday season last year, but I wound up spending the first month and a half of training losing a good chunk of weight. I felt like I was on "Biggest Loser", one of my favorite shows. I lost the weight quickly because considering I was never a runner before it boosted my metabolism a lot and I ate smarter by ensuring I had enough iron, protein, and dietary fiber.
Today I weight around 158 pounds with a lot more running background under my belt and a lot more muscle. The goal is to drop down to around 150 pounds by marathon day which given that I have three months to do it I'm feeling confident in dropping about 1 pound a week. If you want to hear something I think is ridiculous, if you're my height, according to the BMI (Body Mass Index) chart normal weight should be 125 to 165 pounds. I'm sorry but I don't know that I would look right if weighed 125 pounds; but maybe that's just me.
And if anyone is looking for weight loss tips or tips for getting in better shape here's a final thought: Go out and buy an article of clothing that's a size smaller than you normally wear (or one that doesn't fit great if you're not looking to lose weight but gain muscle). You won't be able to wear that nice shirt out or feel good in those jeans until you lose the weight and exercise. I find that it serves as a great impetus to get out there. Plus, you feel like you just wasted money on something that you can't even use, so once again it gives a little kick in the pants.
So get out there and run some miles with me :)
As always, if you're feeling generous I'd appreciate some help in my fundraising goals for the marathon with Dana Farber
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
The one thing I'm happy about and a place where I'm well ahead of myself compared to last year at this time is my weight and fitness. I was overweight after the holiday season last year, but I wound up spending the first month and a half of training losing a good chunk of weight. I felt like I was on "Biggest Loser", one of my favorite shows. I lost the weight quickly because considering I was never a runner before it boosted my metabolism a lot and I ate smarter by ensuring I had enough iron, protein, and dietary fiber.
Today I weight around 158 pounds with a lot more running background under my belt and a lot more muscle. The goal is to drop down to around 150 pounds by marathon day which given that I have three months to do it I'm feeling confident in dropping about 1 pound a week. If you want to hear something I think is ridiculous, if you're my height, according to the BMI (Body Mass Index) chart normal weight should be 125 to 165 pounds. I'm sorry but I don't know that I would look right if weighed 125 pounds; but maybe that's just me.
And if anyone is looking for weight loss tips or tips for getting in better shape here's a final thought: Go out and buy an article of clothing that's a size smaller than you normally wear (or one that doesn't fit great if you're not looking to lose weight but gain muscle). You won't be able to wear that nice shirt out or feel good in those jeans until you lose the weight and exercise. I find that it serves as a great impetus to get out there. Plus, you feel like you just wasted money on something that you can't even use, so once again it gives a little kick in the pants.
So get out there and run some miles with me :)
As always, if you're feeling generous I'd appreciate some help in my fundraising goals for the marathon with Dana Farber
http://www.runDFMC.org/ryanmeehan2009
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