Monday, September 28, 2009

LIfe Begins When You Throw Out The TV

I wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called "brightness," but that doesn't work. ~Author Unknown

Life Begins When You Throw Out The TV

I remember someone telling me last year. "Life begins when you throw the TV out!" I thought that was a strange thing to say but we have been doing the same thing the last 6 months. Got rid of all the satellite and all the stuff everyone says you need. You gotta watch this, you gotta watch that. The result was a larger appreciation of little things. I enjoy my runs so much more than I did before. They are harder than ever for me and yet they don't seem to bother me much. It has also given me a renewed life for writing. After I wrote my first book some many years ago, I stopped writing. I am hoping to change that with an inspirational book I am working on. Here is a poem I wrote in my head on today's run. Enjoy!

From The Depths of Despair

by Vin Gleason

You say life isn't fair
But have you really given it your all
Left it all out there
And you continue to fall

Life has sent me
to the depths of despair
but I am a fighter
I will not wear

I am climbing the mountain
Without any gear
But I don't need any
Because I have no fear

Today I rise up
From the Depths of Despair
I take the flight
Unto the Air up there

As I stand on the mountain top
I put both hands in the air
I grasp my sense of self
and say bye bye to despair!

Written in my head on todays run! LOL

Saturday, September 26, 2009

TW2G Week #5 In The Books! Go MOM!

TW2G Week #5 In The Books

This new program we designed is for those who want to improve their times in their 5k-8k events. It is a program that is old school pre style with many speed sessions. It has the style of Kevin Collins and Jeremy West. The speedwork is Collins style. I love it. This week hurt because I was sick all week but I wasn't about to fold to a mere sickness. It was nice to eclipse the 34 mile run mark again for the first time in a long time. Next week will be the longest week I have run since January training for Boston. So I am very happy that the rehab has gone well and I am back improving again. I am looking forward to the 50 mile relay on the 10th!

I have to say that many have looked at the program and a couple have been a little nervous about the work on the program. It is hard but any good thing you have to work at. My mom has worked her butt off through 5 weeks on the program. The result so far is taking nearly 2 minutes off her mile in certain workouts. She is also doing the "speed work" portions of the program. Great job out there mom! Now pick a race this fall! Just Do it!

Week #5 Program

Here was a look at the week #5 Program: (I did all of mine in 5 days due to events going on this weekend. So you can arrange it to fit your schedule.)

Week #5 32-34 Miles per week

Monday- 22 min warm-up, 3x 3 min intervals, 2 min rest intervals, 4 x 100 meter sprints 22 min cool down (8m) (Ab Core Part 3)

Tuesday 5 easy (Optional Weight Training)

Wednesday 22 min warm-up, 3mile tempo run, 22 min cool down (7.5) (Ab Core Part 3)

Thursday 3

Friday 3 easy

Saturday Beginning Runners will do a 8-Mile Long Run on Saturday

Advanced Runners- 5k Race/ 5k Speed Prep 2 mile warm up, 3 mile cool down

Friday, September 25, 2009

Second Chances: Player Ends Game With Noble Gesture

I came across an online article this morning I felt worthy of sharing. It reminds me that sometimes we fall and we make mistakes. When we are surrounded by good people they pick us up and get us back on our way. Please take the time to read this story. I really liked it!

Arkansas Player Ends Game With Noble Gesture

Story by Luke Matheson (Arkansasvarsity.com)

"Thamail Morgan took the kickoff and headed up the field.

He was at the 20 ... 30 ... 40

He had been avoiding, dodging or just simply running through tacklers on the way. Football always had come easily for Morgan. This game was no different. By the time he hit midfield, only open space was ahead of him. The two-time Arkansas all-state selection was headed for a touchdown.

40 ... 30 ... 20

He glanced at the clock and saw the final seconds ticking away. He realized his team, Cave City, was on the way to a victory over Yellville-Summit, comfortably ahead, 34-16. He also realized two other things: This wasn't an ordinary game. And he wasn't the same Thamail Morgan.

When he reached the 2, he stopped. He took a few steps back and took a knee at the 5-yard line."

Read the rest of the article at http://arkansasvarsity.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=992976

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Girl Who Thinks She Can

Today is my sisters last home meet. No invitational this year due to funding! Gotta love it! I have been sick in bed most of the day after my run. I remember a poem my friend Steve sent me. So I edited it for my sister and her meet tonight! Go Get Em Meg!

THE GIRL WHO THINKS SHE CAN

by Waler D. Wintle (edited by me)

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN, YOU ARE
IF YOU THINK YOU DARE NOT, YOU DON’T
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN BUT YOU THINK
YOU CAN’T
IT’S ALMOST A CINCH YOU WON’T
IF YOU THINK YOU’LL LOSE ,YOU’RE LOST
FOR OUT IN THE WORLD WE FIND,
SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A GIRLS WILL,
ITS ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND
IF YOU THINK YOUR OUTCLASSED, YOU ARE
YOU’VE GOT TO THINK HIGH TO RISE
YOU’VE GOT TO BE SURE OF YOURSELF
BEFORE YOU CAN EVER WIN A PRIZE.

LIFE’S BATTLES DON’T ALWAYS GO TO THE
STRONGER OR THE FASTER GIRL,
BUT SOONER OR LATER, THE GIRL WHO WINS
IS THE GIRL WHO THINKS SHE CAN.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Mid Run Injuries and Trouble Spots Articles

The one thing I hear from every runner is the everyday aches and pains. Many times they are uncomfortable pushing through the pain. Heck I don't blame them. Many ask me why I push through the pain. I do it for a high purpose. When I run, I run inspired to make change. Not to set some all time PR. Though sometimes you do set a PR while your out there and just love it when it happens. Below are some tips that were posted today about "Trouble Spots":

Cool Running- 6 Solutions to Mid Run Mishaps

These are 6 possible scenarios that many of us face. Also at the end I will post a link to other common injuries: Article Link

"Oh No! Muscle Cramp

Recovery Plan: Stop running and apply pressure to the muscle. Press firmly for 15 seconds — don't massage. Then gently stretch the muscle. Repeat the pressure/stretch cycle until the cramp subsides. Walk at first, then slowly increase your pace.

Oh No! Blister

Recovery Plan: In a short run or race, keep going. Otherwise, it's best to deal with a blister before it becomes painful enough to throw oft your gait. Covering it with a Band-Aid or moleskin is ideal. But if an aid station or home is miles away, adjust your laces. Tightening them could stop heel slippage (a common cause of blisters); loosening them could take pressure off a hot spot.

Oh No! Side Stitch

Recovery Plan: Notice which foot is striking the ground when you inhale and exhale. Then switch the pattern. So if you were leading with your right foot, inhale when the left foot steps. If that doesn't help, stop running and reach both arms above your head. Bend at the waist, leaning to the side opposite the stitch.

Oh No! Ankle Turn

Recovery Plan: If you suffered a minor sprain, your first few steps will be painful. But once the ankle loosens up, you'll be able to run on it and get back in the race with ease. Stop if your pain is more severe with each step — that's a sign of a fracture.

Oh No! Stumble and Fall

Recovery Plan: Get up and assess yourself. Road rash or minor scrapes can be patched up later. (Heavy bleeding needs immediate treatment.) Running might feel difficult at first because your heart rate will be elevated and you'll be shaken up.

Oh No! Stiffness After a Pit Stop

Recovery Plan: Keep your breaks brief — two minutes at most. Walk while taking water rather than coming to a complete stop. Start back up slowly; don't resume your prior pace right away."

Trouble Spots

Check out the online article called, "Trouble Spots!"

This will give you some more information on running injuries.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

College Running: The Snake & The Mason/TW2G Week 4

College Running: The Snake & The Mason

I've been following two local college runners from the CNY area. Both have class on and off the grass and are great local talents. Jake "The Snake" McAndrew and Chris Mason. Jake for those who don't know was the winner of the Great Race 5k. Chris like I stated a couple weeks ago in my blog runs for Middle Tennessee State. As of today MTSU cross country was ranked in the top 10. I have been blogging the runs every weekend.

Jake "The Snake" McAndrew

Jake won his first event of the year for Lemoyne and today competed at the Mountaineer Flatland Invitational. "Mansfield, Penn. - During the first annual Mountaineer Flatland Invitational on Saturday, senior Jake McAndrew (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) placed 5th overall in a field of 49 runners as the Le Moyne men's cross country team tied for fifth place in the 10K event." (Lemoyne XC Website)

Team Results

Le Moyne Men's Results
5. Jake McAndrew (32:19.90), 31. Nicholas Cutter (34:06.50), 36. Evan Oustrich (35:06.05) 39. Patrick Micaroni (36:47.40), 42. Matthew Carey (37:43.10), 44. Patrick Shaffer (38:11.40), 45. Nicholas Sadlocha (38:24.00), 47. Josh Graves (39:27.90), 48. Justin Trombetta (45:46.70), 49. (45:59.10)

Le Moyne Women's Results
11. Emma D'Ambro (22:40.80), 16. Gina Micaroni (23:09.50), 59. Erin Hudson (25:36.30), 66. Chelsea Gibson (26:20.40), 69. Kimberly Thompson (26:35.10), 72. Ashley Myers (27:17.60), 73. Angelina Baggetta (28:06.40), 74. Anna Rich (28:45.30).


Chris Mason

I speak with Chris from time to time and read his facebook posts. He has been working hard and putting in workouts that he says are some of the best workouts he has done. He is running on an incredible team that according to the website is ranked in the top 10 in D-I cross country. Here is information from today's meet as per the MTSU website:

"Festus Chemaoi led the Blue Raider men's for the third straight week as he placed third overall in the men's 8,000 meter race. Teammates William Songock and Chris Mason rounded out the top three Blue Raider finishers. Isaac Biwott and David Emery also continued to improve in the fourth and fifth spots." This meet was an unscored invitational.

I wish both runners continued success!

TW2G Week #4

On a side note I have finished training in TW2G week #4. The workouts are getting tougher and tougher but are fun as well. It is great to do slower workouts and be faster then I was in sprinting workouts years ago. Here is a recap of my week:

Monday 18 min warm up 8 x 1 min sprint intervals with 1 min rest and 18 min cool down
Tuesday 5 miles easy
Wednesday 18 min warm up 2 mile tempo run 18 min cool down
Thursday 4 miles easy
Friday 3.12 miles mid run
Saturday 8 mile long run with second half intervals

Total week mileage 32.5. I am very happy it is only the second time I have gone over 32 miles since the injury before Boston. I can't be happier! I am looking forward to the 50 mile relay in a couple weeks!

Until next time....Keep on running!

The Man Who Thinks He Can

A friend shared this with me and I want to share this with all you. I had posted a small portion of this as a quote some time ago.

THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN

by Waler D. Wintle

IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN, YOU ARE
IF YOU THINK YOU DARE NOT, YOU DON’T
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN BUT YOU THINK
YOU CAN’T
IT’S ALMOST A CINCH YOU WON’T
IF YOU THINK YOU’LL LOSE ,YOU’RE LOST
FOR OUT IN THE WORLD WE FIND,
SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A FELLOW’S WILL,
ITS ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND
IF YOU THINK YOUR OUTCLASSED, YOU ARE
YOU’VE GOT TO THINK HIGH TO RISE
YOU’VE GOT TO BE SURE OF YOURSELF
BEFORE YOU CAN EVER WIN A PRIZE.

LIFE’S BATTLES DON’T ALWAYS GO TO THE
STRONGER OR THE FASTER MAN,
BUT SOONER OR LATER, THE MAN WHO WINS
IS THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Carbo Loading: The Myth, The Facts and The Ahlborg Method

Carbo Loading

I hear many runners say, "oh man it's race day, I gotta eat a ton of bread or pasta." That is fine and dandy but what did you eat the previous 4-5 days. I have done exercises where I would carbo load and not carbo load before a race. What I found was that my performance was nearly the same within 04 seconds. However when I didn't carbo load my muscles and body was tired. I think the art of eating everything in site the day before the race is not effective. A proper week in and week out carbo loading plan is needed. I am going to explore the Ahlborg method. The Ahlborg method is a race method that seems to be effective. Recently I trained similar to this method. It's also something that you hear about many Kenyan Marathoners doing. It does have it's set backs but if you are racing every weekend then that is your strenuous workout on the plan.

The Ahlborg Method: Pro's and Cons

"Ahlborg came up with a seven-day carbo-loading plan in which an exhaustive bout of exercise was followed by three or four days of extremely low carbohydrate intake (10 percent of total calories) and then three or four days of extremely high carbohydrate intake (90 percent of total calories).

The Ahlborg
Carbo-Loading Method
  1. Perform an exhaustive workout one week before a long race (90 minutes-plus).
  2. Consume a very low-carb diet (10%) for the next 3-4 days while training lightly.
  3. Consume a very high-carb diet (90%) the next 3-4 days while continuing to train lightly.

Trained athletes who used this protocol in an experiment were able to nearly double their glycogen stores and exhibited significantly greater endurance in exercise lasting longer than 90 minutes.

After these results were published, endurance athletes across the globe began to use Ahlborg's carbo-loading plan prior to events anticipated to last 90 minutes or longer. While it worked admirably, it had its share of drawbacks.

First of all, many athletes weren't keen on performing an exhaustive workout just a week before a big race, as the plan required. Second, maintaining a 10 percent carbohydrate diet for three or four days carried some nasty consequences including lethargy, cravings, irritability, lack of concentration and increased susceptibility to illness. Many runners and other athletes found it just wasn't worth it."

Article found at http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/The_evolving_art_of_carbo-loading.htm

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Gotta Have Goals: TW2G Week #3 Over!

“People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals / that is, goals that do not inspire them.” -Tony Robbins


You Gotta Have Goals

Far too much do I see people get all excited about running only to lose interest within 3-4 weeks. You have to have a goal. If you are just running aimlessly with no control, your going to falter. You have to have a goal or something to look forward to. Something to keep you going and keep things in perspective. Get on a training program and set a goal!

Today's Training

I was a little down that none of the people who asked me to bring this training program to Auburn showed up. This is the time we should be working together. Like always I move on and I keep on training. Don't let other people's shortcomings effect my life. Today I started my week #4 a bit early. Normally I take Sundays off but with the thought of the group runs, I moved it up a day. Today's workout was an 18 minute warm up, 8 x 1 min sprint intervals with 1 min rest and a 10 min cool down. Here is a recap of TW2G Week #3. I actually finished my week a bit higher at 30 miles per week run.

Week #3 26-28 Miles per week

Monday- easy 4 then 12 x 100 meter sprints (Ab Core Part 3)

Tuesday 5 (Optional Weight Training)

Wednesday easy 4 then 8 x 100meter sprints (Ab Core Part 3)

Thursday 3

Friday 3

Saturday Beginning Runners will do a 7-Mile Long Run on Saturday

Advanced Runners- 5k Race/ 5k Speed Prep 2 mile warm up, 2mile cool down



Stay True to yourself and follow through with your word! Follow your goals!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Blue Raiders Update: Operation Pack Run

As promised I am going to blog the weekly races of our local runner Chris Mason. Last nights meet has a team orientated theme. The goal was to stay as a pack for 2 miles. I think not only does that show how good these athletes are but that sends a message that the team is better than the individual. I wish more athletes would send that statement. This was once again an impressive team performance.

Teams Sweep at UTC Opener

Here is a snippet from the Blue Raiders website about yesterdays race:

"The men's squad ran a solid team race staying in a tight pack for the first two miles of the 5,000 meter race before Festus Chemaoi and William Songock pulled ahead to battle it out for the final lead. Chemaoi edged Songock in the final 1,000 meters to keep his perfect 2009 record in tact, winning in a time of 15:30. Songock placed third in 15:44.

The remaining men's team was led by Chris Mason who placed eighth in 16:12 with Isaac Biwott and David Emery both pushing hard finishing with a time of 16:17 placing 11th and 12th, respectively. Josh Wheeler placed 38th in 18:25."

The rest of the story can be found at: http://www.goblueraiders.com/content.cfm/id/40896

Race Results: http://www.goblueraiders.com/content.cfm/id/40899

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Don't Let Anyone Hold You Down: Go For Your Goals

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else."
~Lawrence J. Peter


Go For your Goals

This will be my once a year rant. I have been receiving many emails from people in their running and fitness goals. The thing I found out is that many want to embark on an amazing journey but can't figure out how to take the first step. Some that have taken the first step are held down by others who don't want them to succeed. My advice for the day is: Don't Let them hold you down. If you want to run a 5k, then do it! If you want to run a marathon then do it! It's that simple. Make a goal (Dream), See yourself doing it (Believe)...then go out and do it...(Achieve)

Training Smart

The one thing I didn't do when I started was train smart. I would get anxious and excited and always end up hurt. It's normal for a beginner but I learned as I went. The one thing I learned right before Boston is how to train and listen. Do what needs to be done to get by and protect any injury.

Three Steps I learned are:

1. Have a good training program. I don't mean one of those plug your numbers blah blah programs from runners world either. Get a program that is customized to you and your schedule. Then you will reap the rewards. I once did a runnersworld program that did not custom to my body and it was a nightmare. Thankfully I had good people in my corner to set me straight.

2. Train Smart. Don't do speed workouts the day before a race. Come race day your spent. I have people telling me they are practically racing everyday. They are trying to get faster but are burning out. Well that is because your not incorporating enough rest in your schedule. Rest is more important that hard days. Put your hard workouts in early in the week. Easy workout 48 hours before any Saturday race. Rest and easy (talking pace) runs are key to a good workout plan. Thanks to Jeremy West for the work with the new program.

3. Listen to your body. The most important step. You can push through pain and soreness but listen to your body. If you feel like your gonna fall over out there then you might. It may mean like some newbies I know, your running too hard everyday. When you get burned out it is important to rest and renew your energy.

Everyone have a wonderful day! Go for your goals! Don't let anyone or anything hold you down
!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

TheRun4Life Challenge This Sunday at Noon

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm.”-unknown author


TheRun4Life Challenge

This Sunday I am going to kick off a new program. Some wonderful people gave me the idea of doing personal and group training. Anyone interested please let me know. I have done many free plans and event planning for people and organizations. I would appreciate if you could spread the word in this tough time.

TheRun4Life Challenge is what you make of it. Do you want to take a minute or two off your 5k? Do you want to lose 20lbs? Do you want to increase energy and feel better? If you want to do any of those things, contact me. I can help you write and reach your goals.

For more information go to http://therun4life.org/TheRun4Life_Challenge.html

or for a flyer go to http://therun4life.org/uploads/personaltrain4.pdf

Monday, September 7, 2009

A Classic Labor Day! Great Job Everyone!

Everyone did an amazing job in the Mason & Grant Labor Day Classic. It was a cool start and a hot finish. It was a challenging grass course and one I wont forget anytime soon. The race had everything in it from Speed on the lead, people falling down and a great kids fun run! I want to congratulate Amy Spin on her course record setting run in the women's 10k run. Anyone interested in results or photos can go to http://www.therun4life.org

Both results and photo links are active at this time! It was nice to see so many people out there on Labor Day. Great job all and I hope to see you soon!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Labor Day Classic: TW2G Week #2 is Over

Mason & Grant Labor Day Classic
5k, 10k, and 1 Mile Fun Run
Monday September 7th Run starts at 10am
Registration from 9am-9:45am

Location: Emerson Park (Fee to Park $2)

Course: Grass Loops run within beautiful Emerson Park.

Facilities: Come dressed to run.

Awards: Age group awards and m/f course record

Race-Day Reg: 9am- 9:45am Emerson Park Pavillion

Entry Fees: $10.00 5k and 10k run Fun run FREE

Amenities: Race Time Child Watching

Proceeds go to Auburn High Cross Country

_____________________________

TW2G Week #2 is Over

Well another week is in the books. This week my quads reared their ugly head. Thankfully though no knee problems which is a plus. Everyday training is like walking on eggshells. You never know when your going to wake up this knee problem I have. So I run on. My week was a little different with the race coming up. I did a 27.5 mile week. Here is a recap of week #2 on the program.

Week #2 24-26 Miles per week

Monday- easy 3 then 10 x 100 meter sprints (Ab Core Part 3)

Tuesday 4 (Optional Weight Training)

Wednesday easy 3 then 6 x 100meter sprints (Ab Core Part 3)

Thursday 3

Friday easy 4

Saturday Beginning Runners will do a 6-Mile Long Run on Saturday

Advanced Runners- 5k Race/ 5k Speed Prep 2 mile warm up, 2mile cool down

Sunday Off Day

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Chris Mason: A Light in Dark Times

Chris Mason: A Light in Dark Times

With all the talks of a bleak local economy, one runner out there continues to bring light to dark times in Central New York. Chris Mason, a native of Auburn, ran his first Div-I race yesterday at the Belmont Invitational. Many newcomers are content to just blend in the pack in their first race. Not Mason who is shown on a Middle Tennessee State running site, going to the lead.

Chris finished a strong 5th overall with a time of 15:47. His teammates Festus Chemoi won the event in 15:11 and William Songock 3rd in 15:36. The Blue Raiders won their opening event edging out Belmont.

Many of you know Chris from his many winning conquests in our area. This year he won our first annual Majorpalooza Run4Life 5k.


He then went on to finish 24th in The Boilermaker. An amazing showing out of 11,000 athletes. Recently finished 4th in the Great Race just a couple weeks ago.

We need more positive news in this community. With that being said I am going to blog all of Mason's meets to the people of Auburn. I am not the greatest writer in the world but I will do what I can to get the information back. Therun4life wishes Chris continued success on the upcoming season.

For those who want to read more information about the cross country team can check out the following links:

Yesterdays Meet

Chemaoi wins Belmont Opener - GoBlueRaiders.com

Photo Gallery

http://www.goblueraiders.com/gallery.cfm/id/40747

Middle Tennessee State Cross Country Media Guide

http://issuu.com/goblueraiders/docs/09_guide?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed

Upcoming Schedule

http://www.goblueraiders.com/schedule.cfm/sport/trackxc/season/2009

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Support The Run4Life: Training Starts September 13th

Support TheRun4Life

No fancy quotes today. I am thinking of the many emails that I have received over the last couple years. If I had to guess I would say a couple thousand. I am so happy to know that the concept that my kids and I started has touched so many lives. We have created almost 100 events big and small over the last 3 years. Most of them fundraisers for different things in the community or for children's hospitals. I want to thank many of you for all of the support and ideas. I love this area. I love the fall 5k runs, the people, the places and everything that goes with each. However we have partnered with many organizations and made their charities much revenue while not taking a dime. We are hoping now for their support in keeping our programs going. As many of you know I am an honest and open guy. I have received a small offer to move therun4life out of state. One that I may take because of our financial state. I declined an offer about 6 months ago because the hard work and relationships in the community outweighed the money. Now things are different and I have to provide for my children. So in this time I also expect your understanding. I am not 100% on the decision yet but I know that as of January I will have to make a decision.

Training Starts September 13th

We have started training programs in the Auburn, NY area. The information is located at http://www.therun4life.org for further details.

TW2G Program

Today's program is pretty easy. It is a 4 mile recovery run. Leg's are stiff from yesterdays 8.2 mile run. 10k of it being a tempo run. I am getting ready to run the labor day classic 10k. I have never run a 10k and I want to do so to finish my running goals.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Sprints & Quads: TW2G Day #10

"I have always sensed the exhilaration and independence of being self-propelled. Besides, you can jog while pushing a baby carriage. Maybe I'm a product of Wonder Woman comic books."-Nina Kucsik

Sprints & Fast Twitch Muscles

On the TW2G program there are many days that start off with small periods of sprinting. The short periods of sprinting help your body adjust to the longer periods of harder runs to come. Many don't think of the importance of fast twitch muscle fibers and how they control how we run. There are over 200 million muscle fibers in our bodies. It is our job in training to key on the fast twitch muscle fibers. It is important that we stay mentally positive during these workouts as well as the workouts can get quite grueling. I found it interesting this chart I found on the Internet. It states that the sprinter is almost equal to the cheetah in percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers that are called on. Nearly 83-84%. While the distance runner only calls on 25%. So what did that tell me. It told me that we need to sprint more and recover. After only a 3rd session of sprints I could already feel the difference in my runs.

Table 1: Fast-twitch muscle percentages compared

Subject

Fast-twitch muscle fibre (%)

Sedentary

45-55

Distance runner

25

Middle distance runner

35

Sprinter

84

Cheetah

83% of the total fibres examined in the rear outer portion of the thigh (vastus lateralis) and nearly 61% of the gastrocnemius were fast-twitch

Adapted from Dick page 109(1) and Williams (97)(2)


http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/fast-twitch-muscles.html


Sprint Recovery


Now the one thing that myself and many others will have an issue after repeated sprints are quad soreness. This is fairly normal. It is important that you treat it right away or issues can come up. In the last 24 hours I have done a remedy of 20 minutes ice, followed by warm baths. Some will do ice baths and it works too, I just don't like em. I repeated this 4 times. On the day after I applied bio freeze to kill some of the muscle pain and it's nearly gone. When you start up with high repetitions of sprints you most likely will experience some quad pains. Don't let it discourage you because in a couple weeks, after repeated workouts, you won't feel it again. It is your body getting used to the workouts.


TW2G Day #10

Today my program changes around a bit. Even though I am battling the quad soreness from the sprints, I am doing a 6 mile tempo run. I moved this around to make room for an easy day on Saturday. I always want an easy day two days before a race. If you put in hard workouts two days before the race, you will get DOMS issues. This will hinder your performance. For everyone else doing the TW2G program today is 3 miles easy. 6 x 100 meter sprints and the part 3 ab core section.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Beginning Running Injuries: TW2G Day #9

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." -Unknown


Beginning Running Injuries

I was talking yesterday about rest. Whay happens when you don't get enough of it. The result is the body starts to breakdown. Let me tell you I have learned that from experience. I've learned that rest and proper treatment is key to any successful running plan. I mean when we set out to run we know we will have some pains occasionally. So don't worry about the pain. It will come and go. The pride in yourself will last a lifetime! I was reading up on some beginning running tips from Hal Higdon. I think they are also tips us old timers need to put back into our memory banks as well!

Hal Higdon Article Here

TW2G Day #9

Well today wasn't anything special. It was an easy 5 mile run. I changed the schedule around because I took my 5k speed prep off for Saturday due to the Labor Day Classic 10k I am going to do just 2 days later. I don't want DOMS ruining my race for me. These also means that tomorrows workout will move as well for me. (Everyone else stay on the program unless your running the labor day classic) Tomorrow will be a 10k Tempo run on the labor day course. That's it for today. I've noticed I am already stronger in week #2 then I was last week.

..M..O..T..I..V..A..T..E.......Y..O..U..R..S..E..L..F..


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