The Running Advisor in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | Gym/Physical fitness centre

The Running Advisor

Locality: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Phone: +61 418 868 402

Address: Downer 2602 Canberra, ACT, Australia

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25.01.2022 The group training effect For anyone that believes they run faster with a group or training partner, believe it!!! It’s known as the group training effect and it works! There are a couple of things at play here;... Firstly; running in a group serves as a pacing mechanism and is a good chance to get into rhythm. Second; during faster running or ‘efforts’, there is often a chance to focus on something other than the discomfort. This might be cadence, keeping the distance between yourself and your training partner or just your breathing. The motivation of keeping up with your training partner is also there. Focusing on things other than the training discomfort allows you to dis-associate with the pain. On an easy run the conversation allows the session to go quite quickly! I remember doing a bout of altitude training, my coach at the time thought it was more important to go for the ‘attitude’, of course he was talking about the group training effect!! Running is an individual sport but if you have the opportunity, no matter what level you are - explore the group training effect Happy running Jimmy

25.01.2022 Taking the threshold session up a notch (but shorter) Another way of increasing your aerobic threshold can be achieved with a shorter more intense session and more closely related to racing especially for the 5 km distance. This was a staple for Steve Monaghetti - Australian great marathoner. In fact he was known to do this every Thursday!... This is typically done on a 400m track but can be adapted to a flat fire trail (my personal favourite). The session on a 400m track is 8 x 400m efforts with a 200m ‘float’ recovery. The float recovery isn’t really a recovery, it’s a slight easing of the 400m pace. For example if you covered 400m at 4min km/pace (1.36) your 200m ‘float’ would be around 4.15-4.30km pace (50 - 54 sec). This session gets you slightly into the lactate zone, above your threshold and then allows you to get back under ( just) the lactate zone. In effect you are over, under, over and under the lactate threshold. You can adapt this session to 8 x 1 min efforts with 30 sec float or build closer to 1.30 efforts with 45 a sec float. This takes a bit of practice but really builds the ability to hold on to your top pace for longer! As I said great for 5km but can be done for great 10km races and above! Give it a try Jimmy

24.01.2022 Should distance runners stretch? This is a topic that seems to evoke strong emotion. The questions I often get asked about stretching are; 1. Does it reduce injury?... 2. Does it improve performance? 3. Does it warm you up? 1. Stretching alone won’t reduce injury. The common belief is, if you don’t stretch prior to exercise then you may increase your risk of a muscle strain. This has not been shown to be the case in numerous studies. What it may help you do, which does appear to be a risk factor, is identifying side to side differences hence musculoskeletal imbalances. These will almost always bring you unstuck as volume or intensity increases. 2. While it does not appear to directly improve performance, it may be part of your whole ‘pre-race’ prep. Most of the stretching distance runners carry out doesn’t increase muscle length, they simply work on the neural control and temporarily reduce neural excitability. This has been shown to reduce overall maximum one rep strength, more important for strength athletes. On it’s own it won’t get you that new PB. 3. Stretching doesn’t warm you up as such but may be used after a warm up. The response is better after your body temp increases. Static stretching probably won’t give you the range you desire through the running cycle. The (running) warm up with some stride outs slowly increasing pace with each rep will act as a ‘dynamic’ stretch. This provides the range, increases body temp and gets you mentally in tune with your body whilst increasing neural drive ready to run! Is it all bad news for stretching? Not at all! I have only touched on the most common type of stretching (static stretching), many others can be used effectively as pre-hab, rehab or athletic preparation. The idea is to look at the range we need to run (distance runners don’t need huge ranges of motion) and think about how we can best prepare the neural system to run. BUT, if you love stretching and it’s part of your total warm up, there’s probably not too much harm in it! I am happy to explore any questions. Happy running Jimmy

24.01.2022 To add to my short post on stretching a couple of days ago, further support that stretching doesn’t reduce injury or improve performance in endurance running. And actually may harm performance!!

22.01.2022 Heat and larger runners; Runners come in all shapes and sizes, one thing you might notice in longer races is usually the smaller bodies perform better! The longer the race the more evident this is. Larger runners not only need to move more body mass but in doing so produce more heat.... Most of the bodies cooling comes from evaporation of sweat. Humans have evolved fairly well to produce very efficient heat loss mechanisms such that we are able to carry out endurance events quite well. Despite this in races that have higher intensities such as the 10km and even the marathon for the faster athletes we can still be limited by the ability to dissipate enough heat. The only outcome from not offloading enough heat is to slow down - a protective mechanism partly driven by the brain. To offset this larger athletes have larger surface areas through the skin (our bodies largest organ). Even with this adaptation they are still disadvantaged as the skin does not compensate enough for the amount of heat produced relative to a smaller body. As marathons at the elite end have become much faster so too, has the size of the elite athlete frame now averaging about 170cm for the men, I don’t have data for the females on hand. I would think it would be a similar trend. This effect is amplified over longer distances, hotter conditions, more humid conditions and larger junior athletes - the latter category usually haven’t developed their cooling systems well enough yet. Of course, some athletes excel better than others in hot conditions and in this context size does matter. Hot dry conditions are preferable to hot humid conditions for endurance sports too. With higher humidity evaporation of sweat is slower resulting in less cooling and thus a performance limitation. What can you do? There isn’t a lot you can do about your size, 1-2kg lighter will help a little bit but short of that you were given a certain height, size and shape and it’s not hugely changeable. Exercising in certain times of the day (early morning is by far the best!) however this is not always possible. If you are training for a hotter climate race - it takes about two weeks to acclimatise and adapt. It’s always easier going from hot to cold than the other way around! If you know you aren’t well suited to hot climates and racing pick your races accordingly (not always possible) Remember the heat slows people down before the heat has actually affected you physiologically. The body predicts how much effort you should be putting in and sparing energy right from the start! Stay in the cool! Jimmy

20.01.2022 Exercising in the heat Summer is on its way and with that comes the heat! Endurance exercise in the heat is hard. Heat stress places a large metabolic load on many systems in the body. As runners the heat is interesting as it often slows us down before we get affected physically by the heat! This is known as ‘Anticipatory regulation’, a term that discusses how the body regulates itself during endurance exercise in the heat. It has been shown that endurance athletes anticipate...Continue reading

18.01.2022 Motivation and perception of effort Does motivation effect your perception of effort? Can you harness the power of the brain to improve perception of effort?...Continue reading

18.01.2022 As we move through the last couple of weeks of summer proper in Australia here’s a nice summary (study) of why you may have suffered in the heat even when you weren’t really any hotter! A nice study was done on cyclists recently but applies equally to running endurance particularly when the thermometer rises. Triathletes and cyclists rode to exhaustion in controlled conditions. The test was repeated a week later but this time the subjects had a heat pad applied to the back ...of their neck which increased the perception of how hot they were. Here’s the interesting thing, although the athletes felt hotter when the heat pad was applied there was no change in core body temp, sweat rate, blood pressure or any other physiological measure. They simply felt hotter! The subjects rode slower from the start and fatigued earlier. They also felt hotter from the start on a subjective scale compared to the controlled ride. On average the subjects when heated reached exhaustion 4 mins earlier (34 min vs 38min). Even when the heat isn’t physiologically real the body self regulates and slows down. So how does this apply to endurance athletes? Perception is everything here even if it’s not occurring. Cooling the body changes your perception and enables yourself a little more room to dig into those reserves! Cold water, slushies, cold baths, wet towels are some of the things you can do to change the perception before training or racing. Give those a trial leading up to your next race.

18.01.2022 Summsrising key aspects of Achilles’ tendon pain: Never rest a tendon for more than 7-10 days Intensity and hill training are more provocative than easy running... Easy running can generally be tolerated reasonably well unless the Achilles is really irritated in which case you rest briefly and load the tendon gradually and progressively Juvenile athletes tend to have bigger flare ups and quicker recoveries Mid portion Achilles is more common and tends to enjoy a slightly quicker recovery Insertional Achilles pain does poorly with stretch type positions (no more heel raise off a step!) Zero drop shoes and barefoot running place more load on the Achilles’ tendon Expect months with tendon pain where you would normally expect days to weeks with muscle You must load tendons progressively on a consistent basis in non compressed positions Isometrics have been shown to calm down tendon pain, but only stay here for 1-2 weeks Tendon pain does not refer, it is Super localised and only hurts to load Start with slow movements and gradually increase speed Add weight (a back pack works fine) at approx 1kg per week Various different protocols exist but runners may need to be in the endurance range 3 x 12-15 reps Perform both straight leg and bent leg calf raises (bent leg pictured below) Address any musculoskeletal imbalances ie; poor pelvic control Once you can hop repeatedly pain free return to running can be considered If start with low level pain (4/10 or less) and it gradually improves to a stable level - you are on the right track! Brain training using apps are the new and emerging frontier in tackling tendon pain Tomorrow, I will look at hamstring tendon pain and it’s relationship to runners

18.01.2022 The magic ingredient for your training! There are loads of different sessions and various ways to structure a program. I often look back on my training diaries (no GPS watches in those days!!) and remember looking for THE session to give me a break through! I remember starting to hit some really good form when I started doing 8x400m efforts with a 200 jog recovery (see ‘taking the threshold session up a notch’). I recall finding the 30 min threshold session in 2002 and thinki...ng this is it - this is the session to take me to sub 29min in the 10km. A few years earlier it was 3 x 2km efforts with the 1km on a 1-2% decline for overspeed. They all got results to some degree. The truth is, there is no magic training session or ingredient. There are sensible programs with consistent effort that get results. Of course you need training sessions that are well planned in advance and specific to the event you are racing. We all have favourite training sessions, runs or trails we enjoy more than others but there isn’t THE ingredient I was looking for early in my running days. The art and science of running is that we don’t all respond the same to a given training session and plan. If we did there would be far less training session variations. Find the sessions you enjoy but don’t be afraid to mix it up! Sometimes you might need to tackle that hill - you just might enjoy it! Plan well, train consistently and watch your times improve. Got any questions on training sessions, plans and race prep - be sure to comment or message me. Jimmy

18.01.2022 A nice snippet on whether ‘foam rolling’ is worthwhile on the ITB!

17.01.2022 Racer or trainer? Are you better at training or racing? For those that have raced and trained for a while you will know the feeling of race day morning! The nerves, the thought processes, the questions. You know you’ve worked hard for this so you should be ready! ... Are you one of those people who train really well but it doesn’t translate to race performance? Why is this? There are many variables on race day but one possible explanation for great training performance is that it doesn’t really matter! It doesn’t matter if you blow up in training. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do a session PB or fatigue early. And guess what? Most of the time you don’t blow up. Most of the time you are more relaxed and able to dig deeper. There are no expectations! Because you are relaxed you often go beyond what you believed you could. Remember the post on the limits of endurance governed by the brain? When you are relaxed, often the perception of pain is lower and you can risk giving it a real crack......... but again often you don’t blow up!! What can we do about race day morning? Know that you have done the work, if you have there will be no second guesses. It’s another race and there will be more. Try to let go of the importance that you have placed on the race - it often doesn’t serve you well, more pressure = less likely to perform. Be as positive as you can with your internal monologue or self talk. You’ll get the most out of yourself if your perceived effort (or discomfort) is less. Positive self talk can do this very well. Self talk has always been a hard sell because it’s less tangible! Now that we know the brain is heavily involved we should use it to our advantage. I remember when I was competing at the age of 20 out of the juniors and into the seniors, I would have a one line positive mantra that I would write down every night in the weeks leading up to a race. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I believed it was something positive. As it turns out that’s really prepping the internal monologue and self talk. Setting yourself a routine often keeps the mood and emotion more stable. It’s a lot easier on paper than in practice but keeping the lid on pressure and self imposed expectations will help you get the most on race day. If you are like many, training isn’t something you have trouble with. Train well, race even better! Jimmy

16.01.2022 The Canberra Times fun run is on in less than 4 weeks. If you are looking for a personal best or running little quicker than last year now is the time to pick up on a little speed work. For this to be effective you need to have a reasonably good base behind you (months of volume). Three to four weeks is often enough time to get a good result at increasing your speed without placing yourself at high injury risk! Some simple but effective speed endurance sessions are 6-8 x 1 mi...n efforts with a 1-2 min jog recovery OR 3,2,1 min efforts (do 2 sets) with an equal recovery. As a general rule the longer the recovery the faster the effort/interval. The focus should be on even pacing so that your last efforts are close to the first efforts. If you need help with programming and increasing your 5km or 10km personal best, I can help you! Happy running Jimmy

15.01.2022 Favourite threshold session: Threshold sessions are a must for anyone running 5 km to the marathon, they are especially good for those wanting a good 10km and half marathon time. What do they do? Threshold training sessions increase your ‘aerobic threshold’. This is the maximum pace that you can run aerobically without producing lactate (known as lactic acid). This is the stuff that produces that burning feeling in the legs. ... How to do them: Set a time for example 15-30 mins for those looking at the 5-10km race range. Longer sessions can be done but must be worked up to. During a threshold session you should be running in a fast rhythm relative to your race time goals. You should always have ‘another gear’ ie; if you needed to run faster into the lactate producing zone you could, but you don’t need to! Currently I do this session once per week on my loading weeks for either 20 mins or sometimes 2 x 10 mins with a 2 min jog recovery. This session is never quite at race pace. In races you will often step into the lactate zone in the last 1-2km. The trick is to stay out of the lactate zone otherwise you get less adaptation from the aerobic system. It is a fairly tough session but reaps rewards in a couple of months! Give it a try on a flat section of fire trail and watch your times come down. If you need a rough guide on times send me your 5 or 10km race goal time and your current fitness and I can set up a threshold pace for you. Jimmy

15.01.2022 Gluteus medius tendon pain. Who is affected? The demographic this normally affects is over 40 females. It’s common in the athletic and non athletic populations. What are the symptoms? Pain and discomfort on the tendon attachment on the outside of the hip. It is worse to load - in this case run and doesn’t like sleeping on that side in bed. This causes compression on the tendon. The pain is quite localised but may have some ‘spillover’ pain in the front/outside thigh and into ...the lower back on the same side. What is the treatment and how long? This can vary and depends on a few factors including severity, age, glute strength or lack of, running biomechanics and compliance to your program. The treatment is really focused around getting strength into the gluteus medius Can I still run? The answer is yes if you stick to the 4/10 pain or less rule and it warms up. Running down hill and doing speed work can aggravate the tendon. What else can cause pain? Stretching often compresses the tendon and increases pain. This can be reduced and slowly added in 2-3 weeks after it settles down. Standing in positions where you ‘hang off the hip’ (when you used to stand in the bank line!) often increases symptoms.

13.01.2022 Want some speed endurance and an indicator of your current race fitness? Read on This session is focused on shorter track races and probably fits better in the track (beginning) season and gives a good indicator of your 1500m expected pace. We used to call it the 1500m breakdown. There are two variations;... 1. For well trained runners (and those over about the age of 15-16) you run 800m, 400m, 300m at the maximum pace you can sustain for each distance with a 3 min recovery after the 800m and 2 min recovery after the 400m. Add the three times together and it’s pretty close to race day times with a good field to race 2. For juniors; I have adapted the session slightly (12-15yr olds) as 600m, 400m, 300m, 200m with 3 mins after the 600m and 2 mins between the rest. This is also a good gauge on 1500m times When to do it: 7-10 days out from your season opener What to expect: High lactate levels and something we called the ‘800m cough’ from extending the lungs That is the whole session! It’s low mileage and high intensity! Have a go when the timing is right!! Jimmy

12.01.2022 Running and the juvenile tendon! This is one for the parents with kids who love to run. One of the most common juvenile running injuries is Severs disease. It affects the young athlete from 10-14 years and is associated with increased periods of growth. Some young athletes can be particularly affected for weeks to months while others never seem to have a problem....Continue reading

11.01.2022 Recovery weeks - what is best? The answer to that really lies where your recovery week sits in your program? Are you generally having a week of reduced volume and intensity within a normal training cycle? Are you recovering from your ‘A Race’? If recovering from an ‘A Race’ you would get the most benefits from having a week of reduced intensity, frequency and volume by doing slow jogging. This reduces stiffness while still allowing the body to ‘absorb’ the training and racing... load. Often after a big race muscle soreness disappears after 1-2 days where as your nervous system may take weeks to recover. These symptoms normally present as a lack of ‘rhythm’ when running or having to work harder than usual to sustain a given pace. If you are generally recovering within a training plan then it’s mostly fine to keep your normal training days but bring the volume down. It is a good idea to do a few stride outs at the end of easy runs to keep the body in touch with faster work without overdoing it. The longer the race - the longer the recovery period. A good rule of thumb is 1 week per 10 km of racing. For a half marathon this would be approx 2 weeks. This obviously doesn’t apply to younger Athletes: 1. They shouldn’t be racing Long distances 2. Their recovery is variable based on a number factors including growing and hormonal changes and differences Lastly, enjoy the recovery week. Sometimes we’re not very good at it but it’s important!! Jimmy

11.01.2022 Distance running is a high load sport due to the repetitious nature. From time to time we over do it! One of the more common and undesirable injuries is an Achilles’ tendon injury known as Achilles tendinopathy. In the past these were career enders for distance runners, we now know a lot more and the best treatments available. Following is one of the ways you can address this nasty injury. Achilles’ tendons are load baring structures that act like a spring during the gait cy...cle. They are well designed to take this load. They are composed of tightly packed bundles of collagen that have only a small amount of stretch ~ 4% if they approach 6% micro tears occur. If anyone tells you that you need to stretch your Achilles’ tendon- don’t believe them! You do not want to stretch this handy piece of architecture! Once symptoms occur tendons can take a long time to settle down. This time is quite a bit more variable in younger athletes. The more mature athlete can expect longer time frames of between 3-6 months IF they are managed appropriately, longer if they are not. Tendons love load, this what allows them to be so strong and adaptable. If you do experience pain you don’t want to rest the tendon for too long; 7-10 days is about the right time for most. The idea is to de-load the tendon and then progressively reload the tendon. A painful tendon can respond to isometric (without movement) calf raises holding between 30-45 seconds for 3-4 sets of straight leg and bent leg calf raises. This can be done 2-3 x per day without aggravating the tendon. We don’t quite understand quite why this occurs yet but it may be driven from the motor cortex in the brain! Once the pain has settled the easiest and best approach is to continue with traditional SLOW controlled calf raises from the floor ( not a step) of the straight leg and bent leg versions; 3 sets of 8-15 reps is about the right amount for most. The biggest key is to increase the load gradually but continually. I am currently maintaining my Achilles injury training 3 x per week with 36kg in a back pack!! It has worked extremely well! This will be maintained for another few months before I taper off. Over time the speed of the reps need to increase ( to act like spring) Tendon injuries take time, tendon pain needs to be respected and addressed as quickly as possible. A cortisone injection and then running a week later is not an acceptable or successful way to treat tendon injuries, especially Achilles tendinopathy! Hopefully this helps those with this nasty condition! For now, Jimmy

11.01.2022 The racing trade off! Would you trade off a good set of average runs where 9/10 were really good for quite a few bad runs and a couple where you hit them out of the park? Allow me to explain; most distance runners who are reasonably well trained learn to run on a knife edge, running sensibly and a well paced race to get them to their best time or close - This is not such a bad thing but potentially holds you back. ... How does it hold you back? Assuming you are well trained you have decided how fast you can run from the very start. Limitations have potentially already been set. A classic example is that of the African runners who have a few stinkers but every now and then they smash their best by a large margin in a local city 10km. The strategy they use is to try and go with the pace early risking a blow up (a stinker!) or holding to a massive PB. If you don’t try this strategy a few times you might miss your magic day!! Are you one of those runners who has a lot of times close to an assumed barrier? Take the 40 min 10k time, let’s assume you have a cluster of times in the low 40 mins. Every race you look at the course, your competition and study the splits required to dip under 40min, most would be happy with 39.59 which is great. The question I am asking is are you prepared to go out with the early pace risking a few stinkers along the way but hitting that magic day and hitting the 38 mins? Racing sensibly will almost always give you the best time average but not necessarily the most out of yourself. You do need some strong self belief, motivation and confidence to pull this off, but it also might be the race that takes you to the next level of racing and training, thus this type of race fuels belief and confidence. This strategy needs to be used in context of where you are with your current training and racing. It’s unlikely you will go from a 40 min 10km time to a 32 min. Taking a risk just might be the day you squeeze a few extra percent out! This is hard for the risk averse runner but undoubtedly these are the ones who miss the magic day! The runners we usually assume to be hot and cold and the ones who hit one out of the park occasionally! Give it a try over your next series of runs!!

10.01.2022 Hamstring tendon pain. This is another common tendinopathy in runners. There are two variations. 1. High tendon pain close to or at the insertion of the back of the pelvis (on the ‘ischium’), this is an insertional tendinopathy. 2. Distal hamstring tendinopathy at the back of the knee (less common) and potentially less provocative.... Many of the summary points on Achilles’ tendon pain apply to the hamstring tendon. Tendons love load!! They are load beasts! They don’t like too much or too little, they like the right amount. Tendons absolutely love controlled progressive load. The problem is we don’t often know what the correct load is until we have done too much!! Monitoring your daily response in the early stages is a good general point to consider. Hamstring tendinopathy generally does poorly with stretch positions as this compresses the bursal component at the insertion. Stretching should be minimised early on as should hip flexion above 90 degrees (think hill running!) Loading ideally should commence early on without the hip being flexed. It’s important to continually progress the load and accept peaks and troughs throughout treatment. One of the most important factors in monitoring load is known as ‘next day pain’, tendons will always tell you how they feel, they are like a delayed text message - they tell you the next day. If your pain isn’t worse the next day the load is likely appropriate! You can also plan your run load around this model on return to running. Monitor using next day pain, for example; if you start out at 4/10 pain and the tendon improves to 1/10 during your warmup we would consider this to be tracking in the right direction. Lastly, passive treatments such as rolling, massaging and stretching the hamstring/tendon complex generally have poor outcomes as they don’t change the pain or pathology. The muscle-tendon unit needs to be stronger yet compliant at the same time. These treatments may be best used as a total program to alleviate musculoskeletal imbalances potentially driving the tendon pain. Overall hamstring tendinopathy can be managed well given time and the right loading approach. Finding the right load is trial and error. Generally slower loads are well accepted in the early stages. The speed of movement can become faster as you progress. I am always happy to hear your comments, stories or questions on hamstring tendons especially related to running. Happy running Jimmy

09.01.2022 Can you still run if you have an Achilles injury? This is quite a common question I get asked. My answer is always it depends..... It really does depend on the person in front of you and how they respond to treatment and their compliance to moderating their current loads. There are a few guidelines as I discussed about 8 weeks ago but here they are again. I’ll use myself as an example with someone coming towards the tail end of the nasty Achilles injury:... 1. Define whether you have an insertional or mid substance injury, the latter is more common. The reason is the treatment can differ in the early stages. In my case I had a mid substance (middle of tendon) injury. 2. The second thing to do is to modify or moderate your load. Using myself as example again I had done too much interval (high load) training, usually 4 weeks is enough before a rest week is needed. 3. There is no magic number doing this, it is very much trial and error, the key is to monitor your ‘next day’ pain. After a week or two of load and volume reduction you should find your baseline - this is where symptoms are stable. In my case I had to come down from 65-70km/week to 50km/week and completely eliminate all speed work. This is where my baseline levels were. 4. Start some consistent controlled loads, early on for the first 1-2 weeks doing isometric calf raises (holds) is the best option. Combined with a reduction in interval training the result is a reduction in pain and tenderness. 5. Understanding that tendon injuries will take time is a key aspect. Where we expect days and weeks for muscle based injuries we need to expect months for tendons. In my own case I accepted a 12-16 week turnaround if I were to keep running. 6. Another important concept to grasp is that you don’t have to be pain free on starting a run but you do need to follow the right warm up trajectory; that is, if you start out with a 3/10 pain in the tendon, after a few km you want to be down at 1/10 pain or even completely pain free. This is also monitored with your next day pain loads. So the answer is yes you can still run but there must be a reduction in the most provocative activities and a graduated progressive loading program. Despite all the ‘guru juice’ options out there the most robust treatment is the load options as stated above. In my own program I currently do 32kg in a back pack that has progressively increased over a 3 month period. Run controlled.....see you out there! Jimmy

09.01.2022 The perfect training program; does it exist? How do you know if you have the perfect training program? Do you simply judge it by results or should it be a little more complex than that? The contention is that the ‘perfect’ plan doesn’t exist as the complexity of each individual, including event, time of season and numerous variables are too hard to control for. Even when variables are controlled for you can still have good day/bad day phenomena (discussed a few months back)....Continue reading

08.01.2022 The basic premise of the generic Couch to 5k program and a few problems... The Couch to 5k has been a popular program over the last few years. There is even an app to follow. It is a very generic program which is stated but it is far too progressive, risking injury and a non achievable goal for some. Most programs are based around running 3 times per week for 9 weeks and some up to 12 weeks. ... Think about this; if you are a non runner, overweight or just sedentary do we really think that 27 sessions is going to get most people to the finish line in one piece and would they want to return? After all the idea is to promote exercise as part of a healthier lifestyle. The program is too quick and needs to have recovery weeks or maintenance weeks built in. The human body is incredibly good at adapting and ‘super compensating’ once training and then rest have been completed. Training loads are relative and each person responds differently. A 1-2 min jog within a short walk would probably be a training load for a couch to 5k participant. The programs need to be a lot longer with participants jogging for time over distance - the pace should be easy or ‘huff and puff’ - slow doesn’t mean much to a beginner. Without recovery, injuries are prevalent! Most of these injuries will require days to weeks off resulting in a goal not achieved (and someone who may be turned off running for life). There is such wide variance in couch to 5k participants that it’s hard for even a ‘generic’ program to work for a good percentage of people. The idea is great, the exercise mode is simple and time efficient, however, in my opinion I think the duration of the program is unrealistic and injury is a real risk factor. Before you run, get a good dose of regular walking behind you for 8-12 weeks before you start trying to run. Your endurance will increase, a few kilo’s might drop off and your muscles, tendons and connective tissues will be more resistant and ready for higher loads that are experienced when running. If you plan now from your couch a realistic achievable 5km could be as early as September-October. Now that’s achievable for many more!!!! If you need help planning your own couch to 5k send me a PM Jimmy

08.01.2022 Continuing on from my last post - can you really train the brain to improve endurance performance? Endurance athletes of many different standards are often looking to take their body to new limits. To be clear, the limits are very safe. The brain places a large ‘buffer’ on the body. Some elites seem to have a smaller buffer where they can override for a period of time the internal signals from their heart, lung, muscles and lactate to their brain. I used to race a guy who re...gularly seemed to ignore pain signals and almost run himself to the limit - whether he performed good or bad! It was very frustrating especially if he had a good day. We know you still have to train the heart, lung and muscles - what we are trying to do is reduce the inhibition or the urge to slow down - physical training will certainly do this but to reduce your urge to slow we need to take ourselves towards our perceived limit and resist slowing down. We need to do this on a regular basis. Sometimes this might mean ‘blowing up’ in a session, more of a psychological blow (pun not intended) than anything. To train the brain in a non running sense for endurance seems to involve long are arduous repetitive tasks for long periods, up to an hr or more - remember the example of a Uni exam? It’s a little bit more involved than a few mins on a lumosity game. Repetitive, monotonous tasks involve focus and concentration to stay on task. This is certainly fatiguing. The idea of endurance training under mental fatigue is to learn to dig a little deeper whilst in a fatigued state. I haven’t seen much in the way of how often you should do this but one would assume you would cycle these tasks on a weekly basis much as you would with interval training. Perhaps once or twice per week. What you are really trying to achieve is going at the same or faster pace with a lower perceived effort. It’s all about trying to override the signals to your brain. Remember your limit is not really your limit as there is a large protective effect from the brain. Sitting in front of a screen for an hour isn’t always practical nor is it fun, I’m a fidgety bugger and have trouble sitting still. If you do have those work days where you are mentally fatigued knowing that your pace and/or heart rate may show a mis-match with your perceived effort is a good thing. On a hard day use it to your advantage and dig deep knowing that the training session won’t always come off the way you want it to. It’s worth noting not everyone agrees on this. If you want a really good read with lots of research, Alex Hutchinson’s book ENDURE is a great read. He has spent the last decade researching the limits of human endurance. Stay relaxed, dig deep and appreciate the brains perception of effort on any given day! Jimmy

08.01.2022 Go Organic! Is there value in running without technology? Today you can measure your pace, HR, cadence, amount of vertical climb and so on. You can graph it, analyse it and slice it any way you want! If you enjoy it, that’s great.... If we take a step back, sometimes I think we are getting further away from the reason we run. Don’t get me wrong, technology and Garmins are great and they can help us, but sometimes they can be a hindrance. Allow me to elaborate. I know more than a few runners who will look at their splits, cadence, HR etc before they decide whether it was a good workout. There’s a real element missing here. That element is ‘feel’, the more mechanistic we get with numbers the more we step away from the feel and flow of running. Checking splits can get you stuck in the mechanics of technology reading your body rather than you reading your body! It’s important to get real time feedback on your effort or more correctly perception of effort. As your fitness improves the effort at any given pace will be less. Here’s my challenge; go organic once a week and just run a loop or time to feel. Leave cadence, HR, lactate and all the fancy stuff behind, tune in and see what your body tells you. You might just enjoy it! For the record I do have a Garmin but I’m not on strava nor do I download my sessions. It’s okay if this is what drives you but running without technology is also pretty cool!! Go organic

06.01.2022 I am a big fan of technique for distance runners, over the years I’ve been through my fair share of injury stemming from poor bio-mechanics. Lex Anderson is one man I trust in this field

06.01.2022 Resistance training and junior athletes for increased running performance; Topic: Resistance training and junior athletes (12-16yr olds) Relevant race distance: 800-1500-3k/5km...Continue reading

06.01.2022 Hydration and running performance; There is a lot of information out there on hydration/dehydration and endurance with the pendulum swinging both ways over the years. This post will look at the physiology of hydration and running performance. It is impossible to give an exact number for each person, rather a few points and trial and error to get you to the point where you are comfortable with your hydration strategy for those longer training runs and events....Continue reading

05.01.2022 Anterior knee pain Running places high loads on the knee. The knee is heavily influenced by the hip and pelvis above and the foot/ankle below. Runners are affected by various knee pathologies such as patellofemoral pain (PFP), patella tendon pain, ITB and fat pad syndromes. There are various other problems that can affect the knee as a runner but the most common is the former - PFP....Continue reading

04.01.2022 Good day, bad day phenomenon! Is it possible to pin down the reason for your ‘bad’ run? We know we have to get the training right, the taper right and all the planning right up until race day. But what happens when it doesn’t work out? Well, after a lot of soul searching and questioning we look for the reasons that perhaps we didn’t perform well.... On the contrary, after a good run we don’t ask too many questions, we just assume the training was right and keep going. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy to isolate. Of course if you have a pretty set routine it does narrow things down a little, but it still not that simple. Even when everything goes to plan right up to race day a good race is still not guaranteed. This is partly what makes racing so interesting. It’s not all about who has the biggest engine or who’s done the most training - if it was we could pick a winner before the race with certainty every time and this isn’t possible! One thing that isn’t given much thought is mental fatigue. Mental fatigue changes mood, motivation levels and perceived exertion and this most certainly changes your performance. Keeping mental fatigue low before race day is ideal but not always practical unless you are a professional - even then, it may be hard with sponsorship commitments! The idea is if you have a spare day before the race it’s probably not a great idea to get stuck into your taxes and increase mental fatigue! Additionally if you are really anxious about a race - mental fatigue is on the radar again! One thing is for sure, you’ll have good races, great races and some bad ones too! You won’t always be able to isolate the causes and of course we need to consider the training primarily but there are other less known reasons that have just as big an impact on your performance. Good luck in your next race!!! Jimmy

02.01.2022 What role does the brain play in running? Does it play a role? Does mental fatigue feature? We all know to become faster, more efficient and better at middle and long distance running we need to train consistently. This applies to all levels of runners. But is it all about heart, lung, muscles and lactate? Are there other factors at play? These are important but there are subtle messages coming from your brain, providing you with feedback and progress. In a sense the brain is... maintaining a ‘buffer’ or protective measure. Have you ever wondered why more people don’t perish when they push themselves to the limit! In one of the worlds biggest fun runs by numbers (City to Surf) there have been only a handful of deaths. It always surprises me there isn’t more especially when a considerable demographic push themselves without training and preparing correctly for this event. Getting back to the brain and perception of effort including the effect of mental fatigue. We have all had those days when you are fit, you have had great sessions and progress is good then something changes. Mentally you’re not as sharp - your fitness hasn’t changed but the perception of effort has! The kilometre readings during your run are the same, but the effort is more than usual and you feel like you don’t have the drive. This is mental fatigue. Mental fatigue is about the perception your brain plays in how hard you are going. Have you ever (many of us have) had the feeling after walking out of a brain depleting 3 hr Uni exam? Imagine going for s standard training session after this. The perception would be harder for any given effort. Your heart rate, lactate levels, breathing and feedback to the brain are being monitored at a subconscious level. If your brain perceives a danger, it will slow you down. If you are mentally fatigued the perceived effort and protection will happen at a slower pace. In a sense what we are starting to understand is that it is almost impossible to hit our physical ceiling or limit - the subconscious protective mechanism kicks in! There is lots of research going into these areas and what we do know is that elite endurance athletes mental fatigue is lower for a given task compared to well trained controls. You could ask if that is an inherent trait or a trained trait. Early on it seems there is a large portion which is trainable. How do we train or prepare for mental fatigue from an endurance perspective? Perhaps a simple explanation why we don’t feel good can be down to so many variables. But, we do know the brain plays s central role in perception. By the way it can go the other way too, when you hit those fast times and you know you have more!! Those are the days runners from all levels crave!! I’ll follow up on this area later this week. Enjoy your next run not matter what the brain thinks of it!! Jimmy

02.01.2022 Technique and distance running... These terms are generally not synonymous. You wouldn’t normally hear them in the same sentence and if you did it would probably be giving lip service. Of all the endurance sports (swimming, cycling, rowing, cross country skiing etc) running is one of the only sports seemingly not interested in technique.... Sprinters are interested in technique and for ease of classifying sprinters at almost any level, those who run up 400m in a race are sprinters. Those who run 800m or more are middle distance runners as this where the aerobic system really kicks in. One of the limiting factors to running performance again, at any level is fatigue. Training with good form allows you to become more efficient and fatigue at a slower rate. However, many do not start with good technique in the first place so as you fatigue your form gets worse again. And for those interested in fatigue - you can become very efficient at being dysfunctional meaning you can train yourself into faster racing, worse form and finally injury. In my time training, few were interested in technique, in fact it wasn’t even a thing. To get faster you just trained harder and did more of the same thing yet hoped for a different result! It isn’t practical to go through all of the errors and ways of addressing technique problems for distance runners however below is a short snippet of my my older son who enjoys middle distance running. The first video shows a 200m rep being done in 33 sec pace. You can see the low arm drive characterised by an open angle at the elbow (approx 130-140 degrees). This causes more rotation in the upper body, a slight over stride and an action of ‘muscling through’ the technique. This can certainly be a driver of poor technique and early onset of fatigue. The second short video is an earlier rep at 36 sec pace. As the pace is more controlled so is the technique. The arms are closer to the body with a smaller arm angle (80-90 deg approx). Here, there is less rotation and a slightly quicker stride but less overstride. Overall it’s more efficient. The longer you go the more fatigue and better technique comes into play. If you are running a marathon, lookout; improving your technique could be the antidote you are looking for! As this is a less spoken about topic, (technique) when related to middle distance running, there may be some questions and comments. These are welcome from any level! Cheers Jimmy

02.01.2022 Trainers need Trainers!! Some of the most experienced runners get to their level because they were guided exceptionally well. One of my coaches early on, Andrew Lloyd, who had won Commonwealth gold years before was still being guided by his coach at the time, he said ‘trainers need trainers’, to this day I still believe that statement. I believe an outside view is more objective and reduces the emotional component to running. Let’s face it, running is highly emotive for those... that have been running for a while. It’s really easy to go out for the extra training run even though you know you shouldn’t because your knee is sore!! Being subjective doesn’t allow you to step back and look at the big picture. Can you guide yourself? There are a few that have managed to do it. The higher the level of running, the more reliance is placed on a strong program that is well planned. Of course training with a coach often brings a group of runners together allowing you to immerse yourself in the ‘group training effect’. A coach and to a degree a program is able to plan things according to your current race goals and fitness. Trainers are often far better at coaching others than they are able to coach themselves. Sometimes if you are running really well the coach is able to be more objective and hold you back. If you don’t have a coach you can bounce ideas off a friend or someone who has some experience. As you get older you do become a little more sensible. Using the internet or online programs doesn’t allow you to get the objective feedback for your particular situation. It provides regular non specific information; hence the couch to 5 km programs. The best runners have trainers, trainers need trainers and if you are new to running with a particular goal in mind at the very least you need an individualised program! A program with your fitness level, lifestyle and previous injuries taken into account. This is why I’m here....let me know if you want to talk programs!

01.01.2022 Last week I discussed a common injury in active young people and some of the factors involved. As this was quite a popular subject I thought I’d expand and explore another common juvenile tendon problem focused on the knee. Osgood Schlatter disease is a traction injury at the tibial tuberosity where the patella tendon meets the knee - about 2-3cm below the patella (‘kneecap’). Like Severs disease it is associated with periods of accelerated growth. As the long bones lengthen... the muscle tendon unit is unable to keep pace creating a traction force on the un-ossified growth plate. Because young childrens bone is not ossified, the growth plate is softer, more mobile and possesses less strength. The timing of symptoms often coincides with increased or sustained periods of sport. Activities that involve running and jumping tend to be the most provocative. What can you do? There are common themes with Severs disease (posted earlier in the week): It’s important not to stop sport, but moderate and monitor symptoms. Once symptoms become stable - this may not be completely pain free, use this volume of activity as a baseline level. This can be tricky with keen young athletes. If you know the offending activity such as repetitive high load jumping plyometrics or hill running, this should also be reduced. Decreasing traction on the knee through reducing stretching loads often helps. Increasing the muscle-tendon unit length through localised soft tissue massage to the quads may be beneficial as this does not produce excessive loads to the growth plate. Various taping methods may help reduce load in the knee also. Icing may help in the short term but does not change the pathology. Often the knee pain is self limiting. Some young athletes are able to get away with a few weeks and most will self settle within 6 months. Occasionally they may linger for up to 2 years. Moderation of load in that time usually does not increase the likelihood of long term damage. Of course, Long term cases should be seen by a sports physician or your healthcare professional. Run well Jimmy

01.01.2022 How many times has someone said to you ‘ running is no good for your knees?’ As it turns out this isn’t true. In fact it’s quite the opposite. The following link has a nice short summary on rates of osteoarthritis (OA) in recreational runners (basically non elite) and sedentary people. It also turns out that if you have OA running is better than sitting around for your knees. You need to keep the movement in the joints to decrease stiffening in the joint capsule and all the ...other benefits cardiovascular exercise has. Motion is lotion!! https://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2017.0505 If you don’t have OA keep running! If you do have OA keep running If you need help with running programming, I can help Jimmy

01.01.2022 What is the best training session for you right now? The short answer is the session you are not doing! Allow me to explain. As runners we migrate to certain training sessions and for the most part they are the ones we are good at. We tend to enjoy the sessions we excel at and in turn do more of them to reaffirm our fitness.... We do need to plan specific training around our race plans and goals but we can get stuck doing the same type of training. When we indulge in the same training over a long period of time the room for improvement diminishes. It’s known loosely as the law of diminishing returns. As an example if you have been doing a tempo session every week for months with no changes in the design of the session, the room for improvement becomes less and less. The body adapts to a new stimulus very well and with a lot of ‘room’ for improvement. This often may only need to be included in a short training block of 4-6 weeks such as some higher intensity VO2 max efforts (2-3 min efforts x 4) with equal recoveries. Providing a new training stimulus every 6-8 weeks often provides a new level of fitness, increases motivation and can reduce over training from repetitive high loads. Change it up and bust the training plateau! Jimmy