McMillan Running Question & Answer

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Q: I have a hard time juggling family (children), work, and running. I often
miss a workout because of work or the kids and feel guilty because the workouts is on
the schedule. I really want to get faster and improve my running. How should
I deal with this?

A: Remember why you run. You run because it's fun. You enjoy it whether you run to lose weight, to get faster, or to decrease life stress. Running should not be stressful. Granted everything in life is stressful at times, but it is important to keep it fun. Family always comes first. That's life. A goal to make for yourself every week is to get in ALL the quality workouts. Get in the stride workouts, the intervals, and the long run. Whatever happens to be on your program. You can easily switch days here and there to accomplish this. Check them off upon completion. Get these workouts in and you hit your goal and should be proud of yourself. Think of everything else (the non key workouts) as a bonus. - Kelly Liljeblad Keane

Q: I run to stay in shape and loose weight, but running makes me so hungry.
How can I lose weight by dieting while running?

A: I preface this by saying that I am not a nutritionist, but can offer some
advice. Make an effort to eat healthy ALL day, This includes morning, afternoon,
and especially night. The most important thing to remember is that the time
to try and lose weight is not before, during, or after a run. During these
times you need to fuel your body, sustain energy, then enable the body to recover
with healthy foods/drinks. The time to really diet is at night. Avoid the
late night snacks. Don't eat after dinner. Eat most of your calories at
breakfast or lunch, and the least at dinner. Eat 4 or 5 small meals throughout the day. Avoid processed foods, and refined sugar. Keep a log. It keeps
you honest. We all know the rules, whole grain foods, lots of fruits and
veggies, low sugar. There's no secret. Just make the commitment to yourself.
You will lose weight and run faster! - Kelly Liljeblad Keane

Q: Last night I started to come down with a cold.  So far it's just slight and I hope it doesn't escalate.  If I need to cut back, should I scrimp on distance or intensity?  

A:  Always reduce exercise intensity when fighting a cold; but, ultimately, listen to your body relative to what you should be doing.  You know the difference between the voice that wants you to cut short a run—or eliminate it entirely--due to general lethargy and the voice that informs you that you are really ill and need to rest.  Heed the latter voice. - Jonas Holdeman

Q:  I used to run hills in high school and remember being completely trashed at the end of a session—it was like doing reps on the track but WAY harder.  Should I be doing them like that now?

A:  As Arthur Lydiard described it, hill repetition training is used to provide specific strength training prior to undertaking faster, more anaerobic training.  We recommend three basic types of hill repetitions:  hill bounding, hill springing, and hill charges. When hill bounding, select a moderately-sloped hill (4-6% grade) that will take about 1:00 to climb and use a slightly exaggerated stride length, pushing forcefully off the back foot and using high arm swing to drive the knees up and forward.  When hill springing, select a more steeply-sloped hill (6-10%) that will take about 30 seconds to climb and use a more spring-like technique, focusing on vertical displacement.  As before, drive hard off the back foot and really swing the arms in exaggerated fashion to drive the knees up and through like a sprinter.  Last, when performing hill charges, find a very steep hill and do repetitions of 15-20 seconds, focusing on powering up the hill while exerting a lot of push with the glutes and quads—technique is less important here; but, maintain an upright posture, if at all possible. The recovery interval for all of these should be an easy jog down the hill, resting at the bottom with some light jogging if extra recovery is needed.  You should not feel terribly winded doing any of these exercises—this is localized anaerobic work that uses your body weight as resistance.  Think of this as very functional plyometrics. - Jonas Holdeman

Q:  For about two weeks my right calf had been bothering me; but, I continued to run on it.  Now, my left knee has started to hurt as well.  What’s going on?

A:  Your strength and flexibility balance lives on a relatively fine line.  In order to take some pressure off the calf—and thereby alleviate some discomfort—you may have altered your running mechanics enough that it has stressed another part of your body.  Think of the area extending from the pelvic girdle down to the feet as a chain.  When one link becomes weak, the others will attempt to shoulder increasing parts of the load. That’s why you should avoid trying to “run through” an injury that causes you pain, even if it seems minor.  It’s best to have the problem evaluated by a physician who specializes in running injuries so that a treatment protocol can be determined and acted upon.  This might run the gamut from taking oral anti-inflammatories and reducing workload or intensity for a short period or could involve physical therapy of some sort.  Getting professional help with running injuries will pay dividends by potentially limiting the duration and severity of an injury. - Jonas Holdeman

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