The "Not-So-Dirty Dozen"
8 Great Injury Prevention Exercises & 4 Super Strength Builders For Runners
By: Dr. Cindy Lewis @ Absolute Endurance
Running Injury Prevention Exercises
1. Single Leg Squats: Stand on one leg, with the non-weight-bearing leg extending forward, then to the side, then back. If you are able to use a 10-lb. weight on the load-bearing side you will realize more benefit but only if this is done with proper mechanics. This exercise focuses on strengthening the quads, hamstrings, glutes and works on stability.
2. Reverse Lunges: Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. Take a step backward with your left foot and lower yourself down into a lunge position—your left knee should almost touch the ground. Keep your back straight and make sure your right knee doesn't extend past your toes. Return to the standing position, then step backward with the other leg. Do 12 to 15 lunges on each side. To make this more challenging, you can hold dumbbells.
3. Hopping Exercise: Stand on one foot in a small imaginary square. Hop a foot or two forward to the top left corner of the square, then a foot or two to the right, then to the back right corner, then to the left. Go six times around and then switch legs. If that's too difficult, just hop forwards and backwards, rather than in a square, and repeat 12 times on each leg. You should use body weight only for this exercise.
4. Single Leg Dead Lift: Balance on your right leg with your left foot a few inches off the ground. Bend at the hip (it is important that your back remains neutral, and that you are NOT bending at the back) and reach to your right foot with both hands. Your left leg will raise upwards behind you. Do 12 to 15 on each side. Hold dumbbells for a greater challenge, again only if you can do this with proper mechanics and you feel no added stress on your low back.
5. Swing Drill: Bend and lift your left leg in front of you, then swing it back behind you as far as it will reach without moving your pelvis or lower back. It is important to maintain a strong core so your low back remains neutral. Swing the leg back forwards and repeat with this same leg. This is the running motion you want to have—hip extending back, pelvis and lower back neutral (not arched). Do two sets of 20 swings with each leg, alternating legs with each set.
6. Sideways Squat with a Theraband: Tie a theraband so it makes a circle that is approximately 6-8 inches in diameter unstretched. Put the theraband around both ankles, so your ankles are “inside” the circle you formed with the band. Then, squat sideways, and continue taking sideways steps in a squat, so you take 15-20 steps in one direction. Then, repeat in the other direction. It is important to maintain a neutral back and strong core during this exercise. It is also important to make sure that both of your feet are pointing directly forward. If your foot faces outwards, this can increase tightness of muscles that we don’t want to shorten!
7. Dynamic Hip Flexor Stretch: Step into a longer lunge position, so your front leg is further forward than you would do for a regular lunge. Lower your back knee towards the ground. Keep your upper body straight while you tilt your pelvis forward. Hold for 3-5 seconds before taking a step forward with the back leg and repeating on the other side. Take 10-15 steps forward with each leg. Your goal is to lengthen the hip flexors on the front of the hip.
8. Plank: Assume the plank position with your weight evenly supported on toes and elbows/forearms. Elbows should be directly under your shoulders. Feel should be shoulder width apart. Head should be aligned with your spine. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. And repeat 5-6 times. To advance this exercise, maintain the exact same trunk and upper body position, while lifting one leg slightly off the ground.
1. Bench Step Downs: Start standing on top of a bench that is 12-16 inches in height. Stand on your left leg only, with your weight on the left heel. The right foot should be free and held slightly behind the body. Lower your body in a slow and controlled motion, until the toe of the right foot “just” touches the ground. Drive your weight through the left heel and stand back up on the step. Do not transfer your weight to the right leg at the bottom of the motion, it should remain fully on the left leg throughout this entire motion. Ensure back is neutral and you maintain proper alignment. Hands at your sides. Repeat 12-15 times per leg. This exercise focuses on hamstrings, quadriceps and glutes.
2. Pull Throughs: Support your weight on your left leg. Flex your right hip and bring your right knee up to waist height. Hip and knee should be at a 90 degree angle at this point. Then, slowly straighten your lower leg as much as you can, while maintaining that 90 degree hip flexion – like you are going to jump over a hurdle. Then, quickly activate the glutes and pull the leg down and through ground contact. As your foot passes across the ground, flex your leg at the knee so the heel elevates toward your buttocks and cycle the leg through to the starting position again. This rotary motion should closely mimic the natural running motion. Repeat up to 20 times per leg.
3. Double Leg Forward Hops:
Stand in an upright position with your knees slightly bent and your feet shoulder width apart. Quickly bend your knees so your body drops 10-12 inches (not further) and quickly explode upward and forward. Use your arms to help you, so they will swing upwards. Try and maximize the distance that you hop forward each time, by staying low to the ground. Repeat immediately upon landing. 12-15 repetitions.
4. Ball Squats: Place a swiss ball between your back and a wall. Rest against the ball. Place your feet approximately 3 feet from the wall, shoulder width apart and with toes facing directly forward. Slowly bend your knees and lower yourself into a squat position, allowing the ball to support your back as it rolls toward your shoulders. Continue bending until your knees are bend to 90 degrees and then squeeze your quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings to return to the starting position.
Dr. Cindy Lewis and the other practitioners at Absolute Endurance Training and Therapy perform Gait Analysis on runners and provide recommendations on drills, stretching and strengthening exercises that will help in making specific improvements to each person’s running stride and efficiency. Go to www.absoluteendurance.com for more info
Best Winter Running Weather in 30 Years!
Spring racing weather? Mehhh, not so much...
What a winter that WASN'T, huh? Great for us runners (ski bunnies...well, not so much). Poetic justice then, that our warm winter morphed into an extra warm spring--at least on Sunday mornings when most of you have been racing lately: Boston (especially), Goodlife, Mississauga, Cleveland, etc... All too hot for hammering, though some were worse than others.
(at left) MDI sophomore Jacquie Jacobs hammers strongly home toward the finish line of one of the hottest Boston Marathons in over 100 years...STILL SMILING!
Alas, as the conclusion of the spring campaign drawns nigh, with the coming weekend's races in Ottawa and Toronto, we look forward to pub nights and BBQ picnics with our fellow MDI teammates shortly after, to share our stories stories and dream aloud on what next season holds for us.
As for this past season, it was another genuinely fantastic trip for those we had the privilege to coach and train with, with great times and personal bests and wonderful experiences abounding. We often do a "top 12" or even a "top 100" listing here, but we thought this time round we'd just draw your attention to the incredible races run by our crew over the past 3 months (soon to be updated with Ottawa/TO Womens Half results), already summarized neatly on our homepage. Click here to see which top performers made the MDI news.
Next season is just around the corner: new Customized Running Plans and our GTA Training Groups start up in early June--click here for specific details--and we'll do an informal "Early Bird 1 Mile Trial Night" on May 30th at Central Tech, for those of you chomping at the bit to get started right away.
Meantime, we've put together a newsletter jam-packed with material we hope you'll find informative, useful and perhaps even a little entertaining...enjoy!
See you soon crew!
FOR RUNNERS, IS 40 THE NEW...50?
Don't we mean "Is 40 is the new 30" You Ask? NOPE!
8 WAYS TO BE GREAT MASTERS (40+) RUNNERS
"Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty." (Shakespeare, "As You Like It")
Astute Marathon Dynamics runners may remember an article I wrote last fall called "The Old Lion Is Not Dead Yet" detailing some of the elements I'm convinced are responsible for my return to racing form as a masters runner of late. Click here for a reminder...consider this Part 2.
Over the past 6 months, I've managed to become the Ontario Masters Marathon Champion, and more recently, placed 3rd at the Canadian Masters Half Marathon championships, despite never averaging over 35 miles per week. I'm convinced that my recent consistency and modest success (contrasting years of frequent, severe and protracted injuries that preceded it), is due to a few simple but critical lifestyle changes I've made over the past 2-3 years. It is these that I'd like to share with you, in hopes that whether you're 25, 45 or 65, by adopting a few of these practices you'll enjoy great running for decades to come.
First, let's set the stage with 2 important facts about "runners getting older":
1) Running, by itself, will NOT proof us from the ravages of "living like we're old"
With all the great things we hear running does for our health and well-being, we expect it to add years to our lives, or at least give us the bodies, minds and souls of people 10-20 years younger, right? Isn't that the case? Well...yes, ample studies conclusively back this up (phew). And...no (arggh!)
You see, due to the wide-sweeping societal and cultural impact of the electronic age, over the past 10-15 years we are leading increasingly STATIC lifestyles. Working longer hours, enduring longer commutes, and pursuing more passive recreation activites (watching rather than doing) mean that even those of us who lead very active lifestyles (training for marathon, for instance), end up sleeping, sitting, or at best, standing for 22-23 hours a day on average (Ironman triathletes and ultra marathoners excluded...we know, you train 4-5 hours a day!. As a result, many of today's 30, 40 and 50 year-olds are living in bodies of equivalent health to those 20+ years older, back in the 70's and 80's.
And the trend is intensifying. Since the advent of new technologies like smart phones and social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), we all spend more and more of our time reading, typing and texting, rather than DOING. For those who don't do regular aerobic exercise and strength training, the negative impact on their health is staggering. Click here to read a recent New York Times article highlighting the fact that "sitting truly has become the new smoking."
Case in point...a few months ago, while at the gym in the middle of a workout, I looked around and was stunned to see that of the other 10-12 people there with me, 7-8 of them were sitting on equipment TEXTING on their phones...argh!!
For those of us who DO regular exercise, we scoff "I could have told you that!". But, perhaps shockingly, what we may not realize is that even WE (active and/or experienced distance runners) are susceptible to many of the same health risks as our non-running, unfit counterparts! Click here to read a recent Sweat Science posting by my favourite "science of running" author/blogger, Alex Hutchinson on that very subject.
2) Th
e news gets worse...Not only will "just" aerobic exercise and being static most of the day contribute to long term serious health woes for us all, but it can actually raise the risk of getting injured WHEN running.
All that protracted lying, sitting and standing, year after year, makes traversing the great chasm from the proverbial "zero" (stasis, doing nothing) to "60 mph" (serious run training...either long or strong or fast) increasingly difficult to do without injury, especially with bodies already naturally getting a little more brittle each year. Our weakest link is often (but not always) our "ankle lever"--our feet, ankle tendons and ligaments, and calf muscles. Thus if we have strong engines from running and or other erobic cross-training activities (most of which don't strengthen the ankle lever as much as the rest of us), we are unwittingly RAISING the likelihood of injury to this area for runners.
My "V8 moment" (smack to the forehead) came almost 3 years ago. There I was, a frustrated runner in the midst of yet another months-long injury layoff, sitting "parked" in the Tim Horton's drive thru line up one morning, as I had every morning for many years, spewing exhaust into the atmosphere, burning through overpriced gas, wasting valuable time. I remember thinking "this Timmy's is 1 MILE away from my house. I run marathons...what the &#$*^# am I doing driving to it every day!
S
omething clicked...right then, right there. I reasoned that what was needed was a "middle ground" activity, that used much of the same biomechanical equipment as running, but in a much softer, subtler way, in the hopes of providing a bridge of safe passage from the stasis of most of my life to my very intense running. The idea was to gradually inure the weak links in my chain in hopes of nixing the injury setbacks before they started.
Well, from that day forward, at least 5-6 times per week (through the hottest, rainiest, coldest, snowest weather) I've WALKED to Tim's and back. And it just so happened that my running slowly but surely began to take a turn for the better. This "walking to support running" initiative, along with a few other key changes I made to my routine and lifestyle have lead to a string of strong, consistent running seasons. I still get injury niggles and the odd training layoff, don't get me wrong, but they are less frequent, less severe and much shorter than they ever were before. I'm now fitter and faster than I have been in almost 15 years, and am bent on going after my PBs from 20 years ago this coming fall!
So without further ado, here they are in rapid-fire point form are...
"8 Ways To Be Great Masters Runners"
- Run Fast - (Duh!) Do some speedwork every week. Vary your speedwork (tempo, intervals, repetitions, fartlek), do 4-5 striders (gentle 90-100m progressive pick ups) before speedwork and after at least 1-2 other run types each week. Spend at least 10% (10Kers) to 20% (marathoners) of your weekly volume running at or faster than your current goal race pace. Use it or lose it!
- Strength Train & Power Train - Keep up running form drills year round (A's, B's, C's, etc.). Include at least 4-6 weeks of specific hill rep training in your build up, and run at least one of your regular weekly runs on a course "hilly in nature". Do run-specific strength work &/or weight training (legs, hips, core, upper body), to maintain your explosiveness and propulsiveness
- Getting Nervous? Good! - Do quickness and balance drills that challenge your nervous system to respond, such as pilates, yoga, dynamic mobility exercises, 10 second hill blasts, short downhill run reps, step-up sets, Tabata routine, run trails for proprioceptive agility. If Jack be's nimble...Jack be's very quick!
- Stay Healthy My Friends - Dynamics stretching before runs, static stretching after. First 15 min post-run are VERY important (click here for video on what/why). Eat smart (high quality, "right" quantity), sleep well (always 7hrs, try for 8, especially after taxing run days), drink lots (5-6 extra cups of water, between meals), pop vitamins (A-Z probably can't hurt, but at least remedy any known difficiencies), pamper yourself--massage, relax, create (read, write), contribute (volunteer), play (games, puzzles)...don't forget sex either, lol! The more complete and well rounded a human being you are, the healthier you'll be and over time the more you'll continue to improve (or at the very least, hold your form/speed/ability).
- New Ideas...New Ideals - Embrace new activites to support and enhance your run training, and even new philosophies on HOW to train. Keep things fresh, and fun & fast will come! Remember that as you age, you will need to adjust and adapt your goals and expectations, so find running challenges that motivate you the same way as when you were younger, rather than pitting yourself against the very same challenges (PB's, for example).
- Longer Warm Up, Longer Recovery - Preface any/all runs faster than Long Run pace with 1km-1mile (2km max) of very easy, slow, relaxed jogging (but with very quick and light cadence). Optionally add up to 1km of easy cooldown as well. Remember that for older bodies, it takes longer to recover from very hard/long runs, so later in the season, for your 4-5 longest pre-race runs, push back your next planned "key" run workout till THREE days after, rather than the traditional two. Also consider impromptu extra days off after any mid/late season particularly hard midweek steady strong runs or speedwork. Finally, some of us (myself included), don't seem to handle the "3 weeks build, 1 week drop down" rule of marathon training very well. So once youre long runs get up into the 25+km range, consider doing no more than 2 "build" weekend long runs before rewarding yourself with a drop back recovery run (of 50-60% of your longest recent run)
- Read "Running Times" - This is not a sponsor plug, honest. I used to read RT back when I was a young lion, then switched to Runners World (since that's what most of the running population was reading), but after 16-18 years of "same old", I decided last year to switch back. GREAT decision. Almost every issue has an extensive and enlightening masters running feature by truly expert contributors. The rest of the mag is golden too--lovin' it!
- Lead a Physically DYNAMIC Existence! - This is probably the most important point we can make for enduring masters running success. KEEP MOVING! Not just running, not just aerobic x-training, not just strength training. If you've found that over the past few years, you are:
a) continually suffering long injury breaks (especially below the knee!)
b) not improving
c) gaining weight
d) in a mental/emotiona rut with your running
e) all of the above
then please, from now on, add in either a 30 min power walk or 20 min "jiggitty jog" (see the "Old Lion Not Dead Yet article mentioned above for more specifics) 5-6 days per week, every week, and slowly but surely watch your running improve.
For more specifics of HOW to put these all together in the context of your own training and racing this summer/fall, please (re)join Marathon Dynamics this coming season. Not only will we be encouraging runners we coach to embrace these techniques, but through our new "Running Health Insurance" practice built into all our custom plans, we'll be EXPECTING it of them, and will be explaining, describing and demonstrating the nuances of doing them well on an ongoing basis.Rest assured, your best running years are still ahead--you just need the right road map to find your way!
Kevin Smith is a full-time coach with Marathon Dynamics and a sometime elite masters distance runner, water running enthusiast, (hyper) active elliptical trainer-er, life cycle-ist, inline speedskater, power walker, hiker, reluctant rock-climber, and skinny gym-monkey when not enjoying family time with his wife Sherri and son Sebastian!
$hit Happens...Literally!
By Michelle Clark, Marathon Dynamics Runner & Coach
Sunday I ran a half marathon [Mississauga] and just when I thought Boston was the toughest thing I have ever ran through – I was given yet another tough challenge to overcome on Sunday.
The race started like any other. The gun went off and away I went. Again with the sun high in the sky I started to worry whether it would wreak havoc with my ability to hold a steady pace – I was sure this wasn’t going to be a Boston heat wave blood bath, but only after 3km I was feeling it.
Little did I know that the heat was the least of my worries this day. Without much warning I felt my stomach make a weird sound. I needed a porta potty…already? This was not happening to me. I took the next tree that came my way and squatted without any cover from the public eye. I didn’t have time to worry about such incidentals. I knew there were spectators to this awful event but I refused to make eye contact.
Away I went, back on track. I was 2nd female and was still holding my position in the race. It was at this point I had made up mind this race was probably going to be about placing and not time. I lost sight of the 1st place girl; I lost sight of my friend who I had started with. I was now alone – except for the 2nd female bike guide and the occasional male runner.
Early on, I was still on track for a decent high 1:22 time and there it goes again. The stomach rumbles and before I can even think about doing anything about it. I explode. I’m at the 9km marker and my bowels start to react in ways words cannot describe. My options were limited at this point. Stop and walk? My MO was to get to end as fast as possible and get myself cleaned up. It was not the perfect circumstance but I knew I could handle a little poop in pants. Then a little turned into a whole lot more. It wouldn’t stop! I kept thinking km after km this has to end at some point. I know intestines are long but this was ridiculous!
It’s around 15km that I feel things running down my legs. It’s around 18km where I see my coach. He rollerblades alongside me trying to motivate me to finish strong, but little did he know what I dealing with. Every step forward got more horrific as I kicked into my final gear. All I could hear from the sidelines was “that isn’t what I think it is?” The last 800 metres I make a run for the finish, which was probably the most intense 800 m of my life.
I got my 2nd place finish – in a time of 1:25, not bad for someone who shit her pants. I grabbed one of those silver blankets and wrap it around my waste like a skirt. I even took a finish line picture with my friends and that was where it hit me. The stink, it was eye watering. I beelined for the porta potty and stripped down naked!
I left everything outside the porta potty, and used 5 bottles of water, a bar of soap and a hand towel to essentially shower in the porta potty. Thankfully I had an extra change of running clothes. I cleaned off, changed – threw away mostly everything and sealed what I couldn’t throw away in a plastic bag. After my potty shower, I walked to the massage tent not for a massage but in hopes that they had hand sanitizer. I’m sure I was a biohazard. I smeared the sanitizer everywhere, my legs and arms, hoping that it really does kill 99% of germs. It was my friend who had to tell the woman helping me that I wasn’t a crazy germaphobe but I had had “an accident” on the course.
As runners we all have or will experience a situation such as this at some point in time (well, close anyway!). Some say it’s a right of a passage. So I guess I finally earned my badge at the half marathon.
Want to see the gruesome finish line pics? Click here...
Michelle Clarke is a competitive runner (5K to marathon) sponsored by Mizuno, with recent personal bests of 2:57 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon (3rd Canadian woman), and 1:22 in the Half Marathon. When not ripping up the roads, she enjoys mountain & road biking, yoga, snow shoeing, skiing, baking and spending time with her dog Kona
The Benefits of Trying Something New
By MDI Coach Jackie Dupuis
These past couple of years I have made a complete change in my life. After 20 years of working in the telecommunications field, I gave it all up and went back to university full-time. It had been a while since I exercised my brain to that degree, my body yes, but my mind; it was a quick ramp up. The change was a bit daunting at first but I am in the full swing of things now.We have heard the expression ‘change is good’. I tend to agree with this statement as long as things aren’t changing too drastically in a moment-by-moment, full-on panic-attack fashion. The kind of change I am talking about is a change in your current running routine (but if anyone wants to join me back at school that would be great too!).
To get better at running, you need to run. Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands or the SAID principle tells us that the human body adapts to a specific activity. This activity or stimuli such as running will change the body at the physiological level and result in adaptations (getting strong and faster) to this specific training. You will not run faster by doing just weight lifting; again you need to run. However, too much of specific activity can lead to mental fatigue, injury and/or over-training. So how does a runner balance this situation?
Keeping the principle of specific training in mind, you can look at cross-training activities that will compliment running. You will also want this activity to be fun too for the benefit of your mental health. Are you a loner or do you like to be in a group? This too will be important in choosing a cross-training activity. Some of these activities can be done alone (riding your bike outside or on a trainer in front of a TV) or with groups (indoor cycling or riding with friends outside).
The key message is to get out and do some sort of cross training at least once per week (sorry all, but beers or wine with friends does not count as cross-training). It will keep your run training fresh and will complement it too if it is done in a similar movement plane (think forward motion) or it supports those hard working running muscles (weight training and core).
Something to ponder on your next run amidst the hopes, dreams and aspirations for next season!
Jackie Dupuis is a coach with Marathon Dynamics and has been known to commit endurance crimes. (Of which coach Kevin can attest). These crimes are balanced with fine wine, travel and reading books.
Looking for a super fun, flat and fast fall half marathon right here in Toronto?
You found it! November 11th...mark the date and sign up soon! (click logo for more info)
You Rocked! - MDI Runners BIG Season!
Is 40 The New 50? - By Coach Kevin Smith
Not-So-Dirty Dozen - By Dr. Cindy Lewis
Try Something New! - By Coach Jackie Dupuis
$hit Happens! - By Coach Michelle Clarke
- Winning Edge Guarantee is back!
Kristin Dalzell after her 1st year with MDI
“Even more important to me is that Kevin works really hard to foster a friendly and supportive team environment throughout training and coaching sessions... As a result, I have been able to establish incredible new friendships with some great people that share my passion for running.”
New Marathon Dynamics Runner Harvey FooteMDI Rocks! Why? The Personalized Training Plan and the Weekly Group Coaching. I did both. The result? 18 weeks later I qualified for Boston! The Plan was personalized for me, advocated cross training combined with a sensible number of non running days and was easy to follow. So I was realistically able to manage life outside running. And bonus...when I needed my Plan to be tweaked (due to really rough winter weather) it was easily done.
The Weekly Group Coaching got me ‘out there’ with other runners (of all abilities) and my professional MDI Coach. The coaches are runners too and were adept at keeping me on track (literally!) with my Plan by providing encouragement, advice (by email, phone or in person at the weekly workouts) and good jokes! Boston here I come!
MDI Runner Katie Thomas improved her marathon PB by over 15 min and qualified for Boston
"Marathon Dynamics’ training program showed me that if I run the race the right way, I can break 3 hours.
My first marathon was painful, but the training for it was a lot of fun, and I would definitely recommend Marathon Dynamics to anyone. Whether you’re aiming for a particular time, or your goal is just to finish, the coaches will design a program that will help you safely and enjoyably reach your goal"
"8 months ago I was immobilized on an hospital bed with severe injuries suffered in a horrible motorcycle accident. I just ran my half marathon in 1:29--an 8 min PB!
This would not have happened without MDI's help. The personal plans are very effective at keeping you focussed & the camaraderie of the group running sessions and coaches push you to the limit without you even noticing it!"
.
, after honing our craft of designing training plans and coaching runners now for almost 15 years, we're SO confident in our system, philosophy, staff and spirit, and what we can do to help you improve your running, that in 2012, we're offering what we call our "Winning Edge Guarantee".
