Are You Listening?

Runners are notorious for digging a hole and jumping in. We'll push and push thinking that if we just push a little harder, we'll break through that wall and that pain we’re experiencing will just magically disappear. While sometimes a little push is just what you need, other times, REST is better. So how do you tell the difference of when to push and when to rest? The key is listening to your body, knowing the difference between, "I don't wanna" and "I can't" and know the signs of fatigue and over training.

The problem is many athletes (aerobic or anaerobic) don't give their bodies time to adapt before imposing more stress on their bodies. This creates a recovery deficit—that hole you dig and can't get out of. Often runners get stuck in the recovery period or worse, they become injured. This is called overtraining. Overtraining can lead to injury. The signs of overtraining can include any or all of the following

• persistent achiness, stiffness, or pain in the muscles and/or joints (beyond the typical delayed onset muscle soreness felt after a workout)
• elevated resting heart rate
• lack of energy
• fatigued and/or achy muscles
• frequent headaches
• feeling lethargic or sluggish
• drop in athletic performance
• not able to complete your normal workout
• depressed, moody, unmotivated
• nervousness
• lack of sleep and/or appetite, weight loss
• lowered immune system

Bullet #2 above is a great way to determine if you need a rest day. Just before getting out of bed, take your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply that by four. Do this a couple of days to get a baseline for your resting heart rate. If you’re feeling really fatigued during your training, check your resting heart rate. If your heart rate is just a few beats higher than your normal resting heart rate, it could be a sign that you’re over doing it. If you have a cold or virus, that can cause fatigue and an elevated heart rate too. But, if you’re not sick, it could be that you're overtraining and need to take a rest day. When you have a cold or virus, your heart rate will be elevated as your body fights the infection. When overtraining, your heart rate can be elevated. It’s in overdrive while your body tries to rebuild and repair, but you’re not allowing it to, resulting in fatigue.

I frequently hear a runner say, "but it's in my plan." Runners often mistake a training plan for LAW. A training plan is merely a guide to help you reach your goal. A training plan is like a travel plan...a map. Changes will most likely need to be made along the way. A plan doesn't know the factors you may be dealing with in a given week...the stress of the job, lack of sleep from a sick child, dealing with allergies, that pothole you stepped in and twisted your ankle, that unplanned work trip thrown at you. Sometimes life has a different plan for you than what your race training plan had in store. A training plan is based on an ideal world. A training plan also, does not know how long your body may need to recover after a particular workout. The plan is your map. You are the driver and your running coach is your AAA consultant. 

A good rule of thumb to use when listening to your body and following a plan is to never put two hard runs back-to-back. Short and fast (speed workouts and tempo runs) and long and slow (long runs) are considered "hard runs." If you've had to miss a hard run, don't make-it up if you have to butt it up next to another hard workout. For example, in my plans, typically runners do a speed workout on Mondays, rest or cross-train on Tuesdays then do a tempo-type run on Wednesdays, run easy Thurs or Friday, do a long run on Saturday, and have complete rest on Sunday. So, if a runner can't do his/her long run on Saturday, the runner is more than welcome to run it on Sunday, but then that means no speed work on Monday. Another scenario would be if a runner missed his/her Monday speed workout, the runner could do it on Tuesday, but then no tempo run on Wednesday. Missing a workout altogether is better than putting two hard workouts back-to-back with no recovery time, just so the box can be checked off on your plan.

One of the things a coach hears all too frequently is a runner saying, “We’ll it hurt pretty bad, but I pushed through the pain and got it done.” Unless it’s the last 100m of a 5K and you’re in the running for a cash prize, my first thought is, “Why? Why push through pain?” As a coach, I’m always thinking long term. What is going to keep you running for the long haul.

My number one rule for my runners is if you have to alter your gait (your running stride) in any way to compensate for pain, DO NOT RUN.  Altering your gait to help manage your pain will more than likely end up causing a completely different compensation injury.

Running through pain is never a good idea. If you’re experiencing pain along the shin, hip, iliotibial (IT) band, or any area of the body that’s beyond normal muscle soreness, ice it, elevate it, take your usual choice of anti-inflammatory medication, and rest. When you no longer feel any pain, ease back into your running. Use the following 10-point pain scale to help evaluate any pain you’re experiencing:

• Mild pain (rating 1–3): The type of pain you feel when you start to exercise, but it usually goes away as you start to warm up and continue running. The pain may be inconsistent and move around the body, or you may feel it bilaterally, which means you feel it in the same joints in both limbs, such as in both knees. Mild pain or discomfort is common for new runners and considered safe to run through. After your run, place ice on any sore areas. A bag of frozen peas works really well.
• Moderate pain (rating 4–6): Pain at this level is more than mild pain, but it’s not enough to cause a limp or alter your stride. Typically, a few days of rest, low-impact cross-training, and icing as needed will help. If it doesn't, go see the doc.
• Severe pain (rating 7–10): Pain at this level requires immediate medical attention. This kind of pain you feel before, during, and after the run. It usually starts at the beginning of a run and increases until your stride is altered or you stop. Don't let it get that far.

Got Ouchy Shins?

Whether you're new to running or training for a marathon, ouchy shins are

often a complaint. This pain down the inner or medial portion of the lower leg along the shin is commonly referred to as shin splints. Often a runner experiencing shin splints will first notice the pain after the run. Overtime, the pain will surface during the run.

The correct term for what you're experiencing is medial tibial stress syndrome. 

The cause of medial tibial stress syndrome is often debated, but most agree that it's caused by overuse. 

Experienced runners think of shin splints as a new runner's problem. So, they're often baffled when they experience the symptoms themselves. A seasoned runner can experience shin splints with a sudden increase in training frequency or intensity. Ahhh....sound familiar? That's why seasoned runners often experience shin pain during the early stages of race training or even later in marathon training if the runner starts to up the intensity or push too hard. 

Other causes can be lack of calcium, running on hard surfaces, running hills, ill fitted running shoes, or severe overpronation.

Sometimes the pain, soreness, or swelling is felt on the outside or lateral side of the shin. This is called lateral tibial stress syndrome. 

New runners that heel strike often experience lateral tibial stress syndrome. The tibialis anterior muscle is the muscle that runs down the outside or lateral side of the shin. This muscle is used to lift the toes. A heel-striker lifts his/her toes each time they strike the ground. So, if a person suddenly goes from not running to running for several minutes, all the sudden they've overtaxed the tibialis anterior causing inflammation resulting in soreness. 

So what do you do if you have shin splints? Recognize the symptoms and act promptly. If you notice soreness on either side of the shin after a run, ice and elevate the leg. Ice is great for reducing inflammation. I always tell my runners to keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. It makes a great ice pack. Just place the ice on for 5-minutes on 5-minutes off for about 20-30 minutes. Icing throughout the day may help as well. Anti-inflammatory painkillers may add additional relief. If it's still sore the next day, take a break from running. Swim, cycle, or do other low-impact exercise for a few days.

Evaluating your running shoes is a good idea too. Is it time for a new pair? Do you have 300-500 miles on your shoes? If so, it might be time for a new pair. Were you properly fitted and have the correct type of shoe for your feet? If you're not sure, go to your local running store and ask them to evaluate your feet and help you get the best shoe for your foot type. If you're a severe overpronator, custom orthodics may help with shin splint symptoms. Analysing your stride can also be useful. Are you overstriding and heel-striking? If so, work on pulling-in that foot landing. Strive more for a mid-foot or fore-foot landing under your center of mass. This helps the body work with the oncoming pavement. It also helps the body work more like a shock absorber.

Some "pre-hab" exercises can help strengthen the ankles and lower leg which may help keep runners from experiencing shin splints. Click here for some simple but effective ankle and lower leg exercises. If you're currently experiencing shin splints, wait until the soreness/pain has subsided for a couple of days before doing any exercises.

As with any pain/soreness that persists after a couple of days, check in with your medical professional immediately. If you're not able to put pressure on your lower leg, definitely head to the urgent care. Persisting pain along the inner shin could be a sign of an actual stress fracture in the bone. 

If lateral pain persists, it could possibly be compartment syndrome which can be pretty serious. This is more related to poor circulation in the affected area because of increased pressure in the area. 

If you're having to alter your stride to compensate for pain, then you need to check in with your sports doc immediately. Compensating for one pain can often cause other problems in other areas of your body.

Have You Hugged Your Hammies Today?

Mother Nature likes balance. Science calls it homeostasis (stability within the body). This Yin and Yang  appears all throughout the various body systems, especially within the muscular system.

Muscles can act as an agonist (the contracting or working muscle) or as an antagonist (the lengthening/stretching muscle) . Usually agonist and antagonist muscles are located direclty opposite one another. For example when doing a dumbbell bicep curl, you're using your biceps as the agonist and the muscle group directly opposite the biceps (the triceps) are the antagonist muscle group.  If the triceps are the "working" muscle group (as in a tricep kickback), then the biceps become the antagonist. In many cases agonist and antagonist muscles are located anterior (front) and posterior (back) on the body (i.e, biceps/triceps, quads/hamstrings, pec/traps, but you can also have medial (close to the midline of the body) and lateral (along the outter sides of the body) agonist and antagonist muscles such as the adductor and abductor muscles in the legs. And you can have agonist and antagonist that are superior (above) and inferior (below) such as delts and lats.

The key "Yin and Yang" muscle groups for runners are the quads and the hamstrings. There are four quadricep muscles (vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis). The quads work as agonist when they contract and flex the hip and further down work with the patellar tendon to extend the knee and pull the lower leg forward. Opposite the four quad muscles are the hamstring muscles (biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus).  As the quads work as the agonist and contract, the hamstrings stretch or lengthen working as the yang to the quads' yin.

However, what goes up has to come down,  or better yet, what contracts has to relax. So, when the quads contract and flex the hip and extend the knee, the hamstrings switch gears  from being the antagonist to becoming the agonist (the working muscle) in order to extend the hip and flex the knee moving both the upper and lower leg backward. When this happens, the quads switch to antagonist mode as they begin to lengthen and relax.

Now this Yin-Yang doesn't always mean a 50/50 relationship. Your quads are a little bigger than your hamstrings and they just get used more throughout the day, so typically your quads are a little stronger than your hamstrings. The normal strength imbalance between the quads and hamstrings is a 3:2 ratio. Women tend to have less of a difference than men.

Runners can have issues with their quads, but more than likely they'll have issues with their hamstrings, especially distance runners. If you haven't had issues, I'm sure you know of a runner who has suffered from a hamstring strain, pull, tendinitis or even worse, a tear. The cause of the hamstring injuries can be from having weak hamstrings, but more than naught, the cause is quad dominance.

When runners log lots of miles they repeatedly load their quads, making them strong. Longer runs can lead to overloading the quads making the quads too strong. This can create an imbalance between the quads and the hamstrings. When this occurs, several things can happen. A worst case scenario would be a hamstring tear. This happens when the hamstrings are too weak to handle the pull of the quads, so they give way or tear. Quad dominance can also wreak havoc on the knees. A healthy counter balance of the hamstrings helps to keep the knees stable. When the quads are too dominant they can pull and tug on the knee joint, muscles, and/or ligaments causing damage. A frustrating result of quad dominance can simply be decreased power causing you to run slower. This happens when the hamstrings kick in sooner than normal to help decrease the overpowering of the quads.

Runners should try very hard to take care of their hamstrings by building up the muscular strength and endurance. Once you get in a quad dominant situation, it's kind of hard to reverse. Also, hamstring injuries usually take a while to heal, so you may be off running for extended periods of time and frustrated.

So, what's a runner to do? Well the first thing that comes to mind is hamstring exercises, right? Right! But hold on, are some exercises better than others? Yep! The typcial hamstring leg lifts, hamstring leg curls, or hamstring roll-ins on a stability ball are all good, but research has shown that eccentric-loading hamstring exercises are even more beneficial, so be sure to throw in some exercises such as eccentric leg slides and hamstring curls. Check out the video below for examples of some great hamstring exercises (including some eccentric exercises) to add to your weekly lower-body or full-body workout routine.

Anaylze It! The Answer May Be Just a Spreadsheet Away!

I love the Yogi Berra quote, "You can observe a lot just by watching." Although humorous, there’s a lot of truth to Yogi’s statement. Problem with running is that it’s hard to watch yourself.  Which reminds me of something Thoreau said, “It is as hard to see one’s self as to look backward without turning around.” You can learn from watching others, but it’s pretty dang hard to watch yourself without tripping and causing bodily harm. And that ain’t good.  So, if you’re having some issues with your running, what are you to do?

Well, you can read lots of books and there are a ton out there, many with great information (just check out the Book Review section of the blog). But, while all that info is great, it still may not apply to you and your specific issues. You can visit a running coach like me and he/she can give you great info, but unless I’m with you running every day, I’m still only able to speak to you in generalities which reminds me of something Mark Twain said, “All generalization are false, including this one.” (I love that.) 

So, read the books and check in with your running coach or sports doc. All that info will make you more informed and a better runner, but then take it a step further. You need to analyze yourself.  Keeping a running journal is a great way to record your running habits. For years (before the dawn of laptops, PDAs, tablets, iPhones and apps) I religiously kept a running journal. I’d record my weekly mileage and jot down information about the weather, my mood, and so on.  This was a great way for me to mentally reflect on my runs.  The problem was that it was hard to track any trends in my running.  Good or bad.

Fortunately, today there are tons of apps and websites out there that let your track all kinds of information about your daily running. I use many of them myself. The only thing I’ve found lacking in them is they’re still not catered to me. Any running is all about me, right? LOL! Well, when it comes to figuring out why I’m having this ache or pain or that, it’s definitely all about me. 

I’ve found that tracking my runs on a spreadsheet can be very helpful. Someone once said, “Half of analysis is anal.” There are no words more true. So, I’m not recommending that your speed hours tracking minute details of every run (unless you just like doing that), but if you’re having some issues and can’t seem to find the answers to resolve them, then sometimes taking a closer look at your running habits over a short period of time can really be enlightening. 

Customize your spreadsheet by creating column headers for each type of run you do (trail, road, sidewalk, etc) as well as type of workout (easy, long, tempo, intervals, hill work) and distance. Then add weather conditions, your various shoes, time of day (morning, midday, afternoon). Next, add more columns for other factors such as if you fueled pre- and post-run, stretched  pre- and post-run. Then add columns for aches and pains (sore knees, sore ankles, sore hips, sore whatevers.) Finally add columns that rate the run (Jubilant, Great, Mediocre, Horrible, etc.).  The rows down the first column (on the far left of your grid) are where you’ll record the date of each run.

Now you're ready to start recording your data. For a month, after each run scan across the columns and put a check mark in each column that applies to that specific run. 

Here comes the fun part. The thrill of the sort!  Spreadsheets are so wonderful because you can sort the data. Sort by the various column headers and see what trends appear. For example if you’re having issues with your knees, then do a sort by the “Sore Knee” column and only the runs in which you’ve checked “Sore Knees” will appear. Now you can scan the data and see what other data surfaces. You may see that every time you have sore knees, you’re also wearing that older pair of running shoes. Or, maybe it’s only on the days that you’re running on the sidewalk. Or maybe it’s the days you’re wearing the older shoes and running on the sidewalk. In either case, you can start to see certain trends and now you have something tangible to help you make modifications. This will quickly help you see patterns in your running that you can avoid or try to repeat.

10 Tips for Injury-Free Running

1. Track your shoes' mileage. Worn out shoes can often contribute to and/or exacerbate pain in the ankles, knees, and hips. Like the shelf-life of the loaf bread in your pantry, your shoes have a "road-life." Instead of time, shoes are best checked for "freshness" by the miles put on them. A good rule of thumb is to buy new shoes every 300 to 500 miles. This will vary from person to person. A small person with a neutral gate may get closer to the 500 miles while a heavier/taller runner may breakdown his/her shoes more quickly and only get 300 miles.

2. Have more than one pair of running shoes. To extend the life of your shoes, having two pair is a great idea. Alternate your runs between the two pairs. Or, you could also have one pair suitable for longer runs and a lightweight pair for your faster speed workouts. Having two pairs is also helpful when you've had a rainy or muddy run. While one pair is drying, you can run in the alternate pair.

3. Only run in your running shoes. Wearing your running shoes to work or for your daily routine, can quickly break them down. After my running shoes are past their running prime, they become my knock-about-shoes. Then when they're too worn out for that, they become my yard work shoes.

4. Have a gait analysis done. Make sure you're wearing the right pair of shoes for your foot strike. Many running shoe stores and running coaches offer running gait analysis as a service. They'll have you run on a treadmill and/or outside and analyze how your foot lands when you run. Whether you roll inward, outward, or have very little or no roll will help them determine if you need a neutral, stability, or motion control shoe.

5. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch! Pre- and post-run stretching is very important in helping prevent injury. Dynamic stretching such as walking, an easy jog, butt kicks, side shuffles, walking lunges, and high knee are all examples of dynamic stretching. If you still feel tight after the dynamic stretches, then you can do some of the more traditional static (stretch-n-hold) stretches. After your run, static stretches for the quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors are appropriate. If you've been sitting at a desk all day or driving hours in the car, you can become very tight. It's important to loosen up those muscles before taking them for a run.

6. Drink up! Proper hydration is vital in helping to prevent muscle cramps. If you're dehydrated before you begin your run or if you become dehydrated during your run, you increase the risk of depleted electrolytes. Potassium (an electrolyte) is needed in order for your muscles to relax after they've contracted. If you begin your run with depleted potassium levels or you deplete them while sweating on the run and don't rehydrate while running, you increase your chances for cramping of the calves,  quads and/or hamstrings. 

To read Tips 7-10 click here! 

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Ugliest Runner's Feet Contest!

You know you're a real runner when your first toenail turns black or better yet falls off. LOL! I have one toenail that's a permanent honorarium to my first Marathon (NYC '97) Still an odd looking little booger, but each time I clip it, I have fond memories of that first exhilarating day. (Okay, I know...I need to get out more.) 

To celebrate the beauty that only a runner can love, RunnerDude's Blog is sponsoring The Ugliest Runner's Feet Contest! To enter, send RunnerDude a jpeg photo of your feet in all their glory to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Be sure to put "Ugly Feet" in the subject line and then put your full name, location, and a little blurb about you and your "ugly feet" in the body of the email. You'll have until Friday, September 30th to submit your photo/entry. Then the first full week of October, all the entries will be posted for readers to view and vote on. Details on how to vote will be posted along with the photos. So, what are you waiting for, make a Kodak moment with your tootsies and send it in!

Oh yea! The winner gets a $75 gift card to RunningWarehouse.com! Hopefully he/she will buy better fitting shoes with the prize money. ;-)

To read more about Black Toe a common foot ailment for runners click here.

Wonder if Poseidon Was a Runner

Treadmills. We've all used them. They're great for when it's too cold, too hot, or just simply when there's no good or safe place to run. If you're creative you can get in a great workout on a treadmill be it a regular run, sprint intervals, a tempo run, or even hill work. Whether you use the treadmill at the gym or you've invested in a quality home treadmill, it can be a lifesaver for a runner, especially one who is in training.

Recently I was introduced to an entirely different approach to the treadmill—the water treadmill. Yep, that's right, a water treadmill. Water therapy has been used for decades for rehabilitation. The use of a physical therapy pool is very beneficial in the recovery of muscle injuries. The support of the water provides resistance and muscle activation without the impact.

The people at HydroWorx have created the best of both worlds with their HydroWorx X80 portable underwater treadmill and jet machine. This unique underwater treadmill turns any static pool into a highly functional rehab and fitness experience. The portable underwater treadmill offers low impact cardio and also comes with an integrated resistance jet for enhanced rehabilitation and conditioning. By attaching a massage hose to the fully adjustable resistance jet, you can soothe aching joints and muscles with a deep tissue massage.

The water treadmill is not just for physical therapy rehab centers. Fitness centers and universities are starting to see the benefits of water training and are equipping their pools with water treadmills for fitness training. UO, NCSU, OSU, KU, UK, and MSU are just a few of the universities across the country using water treadmills.  The really cool thing is that you can do entirely different workouts on the water treadmill, because there's not the concern of falling off and hurting yourself.

So, is there going to be an Atlantis Marathon? Don't know, but if you ever have a chance to test out a water treadmill, you might be pleasantly surprised. I know I'm heading to NCSU for a test run. Wonder if I have to put baggies over my running shoes? ;-)

Must-Have Injury Prevention Tools for Runners!

Over the years, through personal experiences with running-related injuries and learning from the running injuries of others, I've discovered several "tools" that I think should be in every runner's injury-prevention toolkit. Check out the video clip below to see what tools are recommended. If you have other injury-prevention methods, techniques or tools that you'd like to add to the toolkit, please leave a comment. I'd love to see what you have. Always the learner.

Calf-Strengthening Workout for Runners

A reader of the blog, Wendy, motivated me to write this post and make the related video workout. Wendy contacted me and wanted to know what she could do for a "blown Achilles tendon" other than "bawling on the couch."

Wendy's situation is unfortunately pretty common among runners. When overworked, the Achilles will become inflamed which is usually tendonitis. If the inflammation isn't taken care of and the runner continues to work it, it can tear or rupture. Rest is usually the best thing when you're feeling soreness in the Achilles area, but if the pain is intense and/or continuous, you need to get an appointment with your sports doc and get a diagnosis and plan for how best to let it heal. -
Achilles problems usually are a result of problems with a group of muscles further up the leg—the calves(the gastrocnemius and the soleus). These two muscles run down the back of the lower leg and the Achilles tendon is what connects them to the heel bone. The calf muscles help propel you forward, but in runners the calves often tighten up causing the Achilles tendon to work a lot harder than it's supposed to. This extra work is what causes the tendonitis or in most severe cases, a tear or rupture.

Calf strengthening exercises and calf stretches are the best way to avoid Achilles tendon injuries. The following workout shows 5 different exercises that target your calves as well as two stretches. Once or twice a week pick 2 or 3 of the exercises and do 12-15 reps and 2-3 sets of each and before you know it you'll have calves that are working hard making you a stronger more efficient runner.



I heard back from Wendy the next day and she had good news. A trip to the physical therapist revealed it was some localized swelling and pain, but not a tear. A cortisone patch and some stretching exercises was prescribed. She'll be back running as soon as she can walk up and down the stairs with no pain. Yeah!

No Pain No Gain....Doesn't Apply to Your Knees!

As a runner or any athlete for that matter, you often here people say to "Work through the pain." or "No pain no gain." For the most part that's true, especially if you're exposing your body to something new, be it running for the first time or changing up your normal running workout routine by throwing in some intense speed work. Your body is going to react with some soreness. This for the most part, is what's supposed to happen. You're breaking down muscle and it's the repair of that muscle that makes you stronger.

However, when it comes to the knees, you need to throw that logic out the window. If there's anything in your body that you want to protect it's your knees. Think of you knees as Mother Nature's gift of shock absorbers to your body. With every step you take when running, your body receives an impact of several times your body weight. Your knees work to help absorb some of this force.

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The problem with knee injuries is knowing what exactly is going on. It could be the knee joint or it could be the surrounding muscles, ligaments, cartilage or tendons or some combination of any or all of that "stuff." Best to let a sports doc determine the problem rather than guess your self.

I used to have an 18-year-old Ford Bronco II. That thing was ugly, but it sure was fun to drive. No air and it would hardly do 60 on the highway, but it was a good old truck. Every time we'd hit a bump in the road you'd feel it and go flying. My youngest used to sit in her car seat in the backseat and yell "Weedoggie" "YeeHaa!" "Do it again Daddy!" every time we hit a bump in the road. That is until the shocks went out. Oh man, then every time I hit those bumps, you didn't bounce, you just felt like you hit metal to blacktop. No fun at all. That's exactly what your knees can feel like once you've damaged your knees' shock-absorbing abilities. Problem is that you can't just drive into your local garage and ask for new shocks for your knees. The Bronco? Well, yeah, it lasted a few more years.

So, to avoid the Bronco II Syndrome, when you're feeling pain in the knee and it doesn't go away in a day or two, get yourself to the doc. Yep, he may say you have to stop running for a while in order for things to heal, but that's better than going to the doc after it's gone on too long and have him/her tell you to stop running altogether.

Running in itself is not bad for your knees. More and more research is showing that that old non-runner's excuse of "Oh, I don't run, it's bad for my knees" just ain't so. But, there can be things such as a biomechanical problems (like severe over pronation) that can contribute to extra stress on the knee which eventually will result in knee pain.

Mother Nature was pretty ingenious when it came to designing the knee. Your knees aren't just bone against bone. (That makes me hurt just to think about it.) In between those upper and lower leg bones and the petella is cartilage and something called the synovium. When you think of the synovium, think of a ball bearing. That's basically what it acts like in the knee. The synovium absorbs fluid called synovial fluid and it's this fluid that makes it so that the bones move smoothly over each other. There's even more cushioning called bursae. Bursae are fluid-filled sacs that are found around your knee joint. Actually you have bursae near or around most of the joints in your body. Ever hear of bursitis? That's a condition that happens when one of more of your bursae around a joint become inflamed.

Have you ever been for a run and then later when you try to get up your knee or knees have stiffened-up so much that you can't stand? Or maybe you've been on a long drive or sat in a movie and the same thing happened? If the stiffness is so bad that you can hardly stand, that's not just regular exercise-related stiffness. That could be something much worse called Plica Syndrome. Plica is tissue that sits around both sides of the knee cap. If you've ever fallen and landed on your knee, especially if you twisted your foot in the process and ended up with a sore knee, more than likely it's due to bruising of the plica tissue. A little rest and it usually heals and goes away. However, if the pain is the result of a biomechinacl problem like severe overpronation or maybe a really weak posterior chain (the muscle groups along the back side of your body - glutes, hamstrings, calves) this can cause your knee not to track properly which can inflame the plica tissue causing severe pain.

Some of you may be thinking...well it's just that tissue that's sore, no big deal. Well, if you let it go too long, it can definitely become a big deal. Over time, that inflamed plica can develop scar tissue and get thick. Once this happens rest and ibuprofen ain't gonna fix it.

So, let's back up a little... the biggest lesson from this post is, if you're knee hurts either from stiffness, soreness, dull aches or sharp pain....go get it checked. Better safe than sorry. Remember that old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Hamstrung?

Seems like lately, many of my running buddies, both local and cyber, are being plagued by hamstring injuries. The problem with hamstring injuries, is that they hurt like hell and take a while to heal. Neither does a runner want to deal with. Telling a running not to run for a few weeks, is like taking their first born.

So why are runners (especially long distance runners) plagued by hamstring injuries so often? Well, there can be many causes—going out too fast and too strong without properly warming up, not properly fueling the body, dehydration, lack of strength in the posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings), and being quad dominant. And then there is always the odd injury for which there is no apparent reason for the cause.

From my reading, schooling, and talking with other runners, being quad dominant and having a weak posterior chain are probably the two biggest causes of hamstring injuries. I've mentioned it in previous posts how so often runners do not include resistance training into their weekly routine. Runners often shy away from the gym because they feel they're getting enough exercise on the run. They also don't want to bulk up.

Runners need to change their perception of the gym. They also need to realize that many resistance exercises can be done using body weight or light weights at home. And no, doing resistance training will not turn you into a bulky "Arnold" and no you won't gain an Austrian accent in the process.

A December 2008 Running Times article does a great job of explaining the issue of quad dominance. In a nutshell, quad dominance happens when the "quad muscles overpower the action of the hamstrings in the movement of the leg during a running stride."

Long distance runners log a lot of miles. That constant repetitive action puts an overload on the quads causing them to become more dominant than their antagonist—the hamstrings. When your hamstrings become significantly weaker than your quads, then Running Times says one of two things may happen:

1) Your hamstrings will tear as a result of not being able to take the load developed by the contracting quadriceps and momentum from hip extension
2) You will run slower as a result of diminished power from the hip flexors and knee extensors as the hamstrings have to contract earlier to be able to break the ensuing movement.

Hamstring injuries are slow to heal and often, once you get them, they'll reoccur over and over. The recurrence, however, is usually due to the runner not addressing the real cause of the problem......weak hamstrings. That's where resistance training can play a huge role in overcoming or preventing this problem.

First of all, for everyone (not just runners) strengthening the posterior chain (the muscle groups found on the back side of the body) is most beneficial. Having a strong posterior chain can help prevent a whole host of injuries especially later down the road as we age. The posterior chain mainly consists of the erector spinae muscles (the lower back muscles), the glutes (butt muscles), and the hamstrings (upper backside of the leg).

Exercises that target the hamstrings include:

Dumbbell Squats


Touch-n-Go Squats


Bulgarian split squats


Good Mornings

Deadlifts


Stability Ball Leg Curls


Standing Leg Curl with Ankle Weights

A Run A Day Keeps the Doctor Away!

If you're a runner, especially one who's been running a while, you've undoubtedly heard, "Why do you do that to your body? Doesn't it hurt your joints or knees?" This often comes from someone eating a double-bacon cheese burger, fries, and a Coke. It's hard not to reply back with a similar set of questions, but replacing "knees" with "heart."

I guess it's not too bizarre of an assumption that running could be bad for your joints, after all your knees do absorb about 8 times your body weight with each stride when running. For me that's 1,104lbs, and I'm a little dude. That sounds like a lot of force/weight, and it is, but you know what, the body is an amazing machine. The human body was actually designed to run and Mother Nature crafted some pretty amazing shock-absorbing mechanisms to handle that force.

It's been fairly common thought that regular running during adolescence as well as involvement in other sports that impact the joints at an early age may lead to osteoarthritis in adulthood. One research study back in the 90s seemed to support this thought. Basically is showed that of the 5000 women involved in the study, the ones who were involved in heavy physical sports as teens or were involved in weight-bearing exercise in middle age had a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis of the hip. Well, that was one study.

Today's research is showing the opposite, especially in respects to running. A long-term study out of Standford shows that there's no connection between running and arthritis. Actually the study shoes that running and other "regular vigorous exercise" may even protect the joints in later life. The study followed a group comprised of 1,000 people (runners and non-runners). None of the participants had arthritis at the beginning of the study. Many of them had arthritis by the end of the study. Interesting finding was that the runners' joints were no more or less healthy than the non-runners in the group. This was true for even the really high-mileage runners in the group (averaging over 2,000 miles a year). Another great finding from the research was that the runners tended to be in better health and they had a 39% lower rate of mortality than the non-runners.

There's other research coming in with similar findings. Together all the research seems to be saying that osteoarthritis is mainly determined by genes and other things like obesity. Research shows that obese individuals are four times more likely to to get arthritis than leaner individuals.
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Going back that what I said about Mother Nature.... James Fries (the leader of the Standford research) says, "Normally functioning joints can withstand and actually flourish under a lot of wear," In a recent Time article, he explains that healthy joints depend on movement because cartilage depends on the "pumping action generated by movement to get its regular dose of oxygen and nutrients. When you bear weight, [the joint] squishes out fluid, and when you release weight, it sucks in fluid." This is why daily exercise (including running) is good for keeping that cartilage healthy. Obese individuals may have an increased risk of arthritis because the added weight they're carrying is putting constant stress on their joints while at the same time, they're probably not very active so their joint cartilage isn't benefiting from that"squish factor."

The key is to avoid overuse injuries. Even though your joints like the exercise, you still need to incorporate rest into your running/exercise program. Your body needs time to regenerate and repair which in return builds up your body making it stronger. Another way to avoid overuse injuries such as stress fractures is to increase muscular strength. "Increasing muscular strength" is a phrase that often scares runners because they think it means adding bulk. However, you can increase muscular strength as well as muscular endurance without bulking up. If you focus on lighter weights and more reps, you're not going to end up with the "Arnold look."

Think about it. If you strengthen the muscles not only is this going to protect/support your bones, it's also going to help protect those joints. Your calve muscles are natural shock absorbers for your lower body. You don't need "boulder calves", but if you increase your calf strength, you'll increase their shock-absorbing capabilities at the same time. (Side Note: once during a marathon, my calves blew out. As a result, I ended up with a stress fracture in my heel. I now add calf-strengthening exercises to my weekly routine.) A simple way to to this is by doing body-weight calf-raises or standing calf-raises holding light dumbbells.


Your glutes and hamstrings are also great running muscles not only for power and speed, but for shock absorption as well. The ball-bridge-burnout and dead lifts (using moderate weights) are great ways to strengthen those muscles.

Hamstring Exercises with a Stability Ball -- powered by eHow.com

So the next time, someone says, "You know, running's bad for your joints." Be sure to reply, "Nope, actually it's exactly what the doctor ordered!"

Ease Back Into It

Have you been laid-up from running for several weeks due to an injury or some other life obstacle? When you're ready for your return to running, be sure to ease back into running.

Many runners eager to get back in the swing of their regular running routine, try to start back at the pace and intensity of their original pre lay-off routine. While mentally you might be ready to bounce back to your normal pace, your body probably isn't quite up to speed with your brain. Many a runner has headed out full speed on their return to running re-injuring themselves only to be laid-up even longer. So, take it slow.

If you were laid-off from running for 6 weeks or more, use the following plan to get back up to speed. If you're an experienced runner and you were able to do some cross-training while you were off, then take about a month to ease back into your regular routine. Baby steps at first. Begin with a 5-minute warm-up walk followed by a 10 to 15-minute run every other day. Increase the run by a few minutes each day. The following week, switch to running two days at a time followed by a rest day. Remember to keep all your runs at an easy pace. By the third week, you should be up to around a 30-minute run. During the next week, add another running day, making it three-days-on and one-day off (still keeping it at an easy pace). By Week 5 you should be back to running 4-6 days a weeks and you can start upping the pace and adding in some varied workouts. (Keep in mind that due to specific injuries, your doctor's return-to-running plan may be different. Be sure to follow his/her plan.)

May 2010 be an injury-free running season for all!

All Yellow Muffins Are Not Created Equal

One of my many talents besides running is cooking. My wife is a 1st-Grade teacher and often doesn't get home until after 6PM from preparing for the next day (all you fellow teachers can relate, I'm sure). So, I usually play the role of executive chef. That's right, just call me Mr. Mom (I do laundry too).

Now tonight, like any other night, I was preparing dinner. Unlike most households, in our house, dinner doesn't begin with prepping the food. No, in our house it begins with clearing off the counter and doing yesterday's dishes (okay, I do laundry, but dishes just aren't my thing). But before the dishes can be washed, I have to get the plunger to unclog the sink that has backed up with water from the dishwasher. You see the garbage disposal broke about a year ago. Yep, it's on the to-do list of things to fix along with the leaky toilet, the broken banister, the front stoop railing that needs to be painted, yada, yada, yada. Anywho....tonight I was fixing one of my specialties—pork-n-beans and franks and corn bread. (I know, I know, but it's cheap and I use the fat-free franks.) I even added some canned corned to the corn bread mix. 

All's going well, but I keep smelling something that reminds me of banana bread. I ignore it because my 14-year-old daughter was also doing some holiday baking and I just assumed it was something she was cooking. So, now I'm feeling really good. Dinners cooking, the Christmas music is playing in the back ground, the kitchen is semi-clean and I'm spending time with my daughter. Not quiet a Rockwell moment, but close. Then my daughter asks me why I'm baking banana bread. Of course a perplexed look comes over my face as we both head for the trash can to find the corn muffin mix boxes. Yep, you got it. Chef RunnerDude has just prepared banana muffins with added corn to accompany his main entree of beanie weenies!

My daughter and I laughed and laughed and laughed. We said nothing about the mix-up to my wife, 18-year-old son, or my 9-year-old daughter. We had a big ole second laugh as we watched them discover the banana corn muffins. The expressions on their faces kind of reminded me of that face you make when you take a big ole swig of your long awaited cola only to discover it's tea, instead. Your brain's telling you it's one thing, but your taste buds are telling you something different.

You know what though? Those banana corn muffins weren't half bad!

My experience tonight with the banana muffins reminds me of something most runners are guilty of—ignoring the obvious. Often we'll feel a little twinge or pain and we tell ourselves that it's nothing and that it will go away. And, even when it's months later and we're still feeling that twinge we still continue to delude ourselves into thinking it's nothing. I know I've been guilty of it. Then when the pain becomes unbearable, we'll finally head to the doc to discover its something major that could have been prevented if tended to earlier.

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If it looks like banana bread and it smells like banana bread, then it's probably banana bread.

So, join me in making a New Year's resolution to be more in tune with the aches and pains associated with running, not to let those twinges go on too long, and to make an appointment with the doc when things don't clear up in a few days. Oh yeah, and to double check the muffin box before putting it in the cart. All yellow muffins are not created equal.

Get-Up And Brush Yourself Off!—10 Tips for Staying Motivated When Injured

Ever have one of those days where no matter what you do, no matter how hard you plan or prepare, all goes caflooie? Study all night only to sleep through your alarm the next day and miss the test. Go to that got-it-in-the-bag interview only to be rejected because you're over qualified? Train right, eat right, sleep right only to miss that long-awaited marathon because of food poisoning from the pasta dinner the night before? It's almost as if life is a big prankster and you're the butt of it's joke.

When the "Prankster" enters your life, you have two choices—1. Let the Prankster win by beating yourself up, or 2. Get-up, brush yourself off and use the experience to make yourself a stronger person. Think about it. If you never experience those bumps in the road along the way, how are you going to deal with that whopping-pothole-of-a-curve-ball that life will inevitably throw your way at some point?

This same philosophy applies to running. Some runners are very lucky (or just have great genetics) and never experience any injuries. While others have injury after injury after injury. If and when that injury comes knocking at your door, be prepared to meet it head on. Don't let it get you down. Be prepared for the doc to say, "No, running for a month." Yikes! Yep, sometimes no running is the best way to recover. But no running doesn't always mean no physical activity. If the doc says no running, then follow-up by asking, "What can I do?" You may very well be able to swim, use the elliptical machine, the row machine, the bike, or the treadmill for walking. Staying physically active during a injury-recovery period is one of the best ways to help keep the no-running blues at bay. It won't make up for no running, but it definitely helps.

If the Prankster knocks at your door with a running injury, try hitting it head-on with one or all of the ten motivation tips below!

1. Ask the doc what other types of cross-training you can do during your recovery period.

2. Work on strengthening your core. A strong, solid core can actually help prevent future injuries.

3. If the doc okays it, join a yoga or Pilate's class for runners to help increase your strength, flexibility, and stability.

4. Use this down-time to fine-tune your nutrition.

5. Stick to your same workout routine, just replace the running with the cross-training activities. This will help keep some normalcy in your life.

6. Surround yourself with your running friends. Just because you're injured, don't stop meeting your running buddies for the after-run bagels and coffee. Their support and motivation during your recovery period will help more than you know. If you're able to walk, during your recovery period, plan on still meeting your buddies for your weekly long run. You'll do a long walk, but you'll still be in your same routine, surrounded by your support network of running buddies.

7. Set a goal for when you recover. Make plans for that race you've been wanting to do. Be sure to set realistic goals allowing enough time for your injury to heal and then for the time that it will take for you to get back up to speed before training for the event.

8. Head to the library or your local book store and stock up on running motivation books such as Once a Runner, Running with the Buffaloes, or Running the Spiritual Path or read up on a new or different method of running such as Chi Running, Brain Training for Runners, Run for Life, or Running Until You're 100.

9. Connect with other runners around the country and the world through running social sites such as seriousrunning.com, Athlinks.com, dailymile.com, runnerslounge.com, and runnertalk.net.

10. Prepare yourself for your "Return." If you've not run for several weeks, you'll need to prepare yourself for a gradual return. Depending on your injury and what your doc has advised, your return doesn't necessarily mean you have to run slower. Running too slowly can actually aggravate an injury. Of course 800 repeats at the track at a sub 5K race pace probably isn't a good idea, but running at your normal pace is probably fine. Take walking breaks when you need to. Gradually you'll be able to decrease the walking breaks. The bigger factor to keep in mind is distance. A good rule of thumb is to start back with about half the weekly mileage you had prior to the injury. Then depending on how you're doing, gradually add to your mileage each week, until you're back to your pre-injury mileage. It's also a good idea to run every-other-day instead of back-to-back days during this return-to-running phase of your recovery. Remember, slow-and-steady wins the race.

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The Cure for Cramping in the Hamstrings

Do your hamstrings ever cramp up, lock up, and even feel like you're going to strain them when you speed up on a run? Do they feel fine when you walk, but as soon as you lengthen your stride, you feel pain? Read below to find out what the acclaimed 2008 National Strength and Conditioning Association Personal Trainer of the Year—Ben Greenfield—recommends!

Although there could be many causes, a hamstring problem like this can be an area of hypoxia (low oxygen delivery), calcium leakage, or scar tissue from a past injury.

Initial management for 48-72 hours after feeling this injury come on should involve:
• Gentle stretching

• 10-15 minutes ice massage (i.e. Frozen dixie cup), 2-3x/day

• Topical anti-inflammatory (Traumeel is one of my favorites)

• Topical magnesium (10-15 sprays rubbed in over area)

• Substitution of elliptical trainer for runs

After two to three days, you’d shouldn’t be gritting your teeth when you break out into a jog! Move on to:
• Deeper stretching and preferably yoga

• Return to running, but with a bicycling or brisk walk warm-up to heat the muscle (you can even try a topical heating ointment, like Greyhound)

• Dynamic leg swings front-to-back and side-to-side both before and after workout

• Warming up VERY well before your runs

If it continues to give you trouble, you may need more aggressive therapy, like Active Release Therapy, Primal Reflex Release Technique, Chiropractic, Acupuncture or Deep Tissue Massage. (Reposted with permission from my friends at TrainingPeaks blog.)

Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/, which features blogs, podcasts, and product reviews from Ben. In addition to coaching and training for weight loss and sports performance at http://www.pacificfit.net,/, Ben serves as a business and marketing consultant to fitness professionals, and is the host of a weekly syndicated fitness business blog and podcast at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com/.

Oh The Nerve!

About seven years ago I was running and experienced a pain in my foot like none I had ever experienced before. A few years prior, I'd experienced a stress-fracture of the second metatarsal in my left foot which took a while to heal, but that pain was very different. This pain was a sharp, burning pain between the third and fourth toes on my right foot. The pain radiated from the ball of my foot through those two toes every time my forefoot hit the ground. I had to stop. Couldn't run. I limped back home.

After I rested and iced my foot, it felt better. I walked around and the pain was gone or so I thought. As I got out of bed and walked barefoot across the room the next morning, that same pain reappeared. It wasn't as intense as on my run the previous day, but I figured that was because I was walking not pounding the pavement. Once I put on my shoes, it seemed to disappear again. I was baffled. Running—pain. Barefooted walking—pain. A few days passed and trying to ignore it didn't seem to be working, so I called the doctor who had treated my stress fracture.

The doc checked out my foot. He pressed firmly on the area of my foot where the pain originated and "Eee-owww!" He looked up at me and said, "Morton's Neuroma. You have Morton's Neuroma." Sounded bad to me, but he quickly explained that I was having a problem with a nerve in my foot. The doc further explained that a neuroma is a noncancerous growth of nerve tissue. He said it can occur anywhere in the body, but when it occurs between the third and fourth toes causing sharp burning pain or even numbness, it's called Morton's Neuroma. He also said it was pretty common in runners. When you run, as you land on the ball of your foot, the resulting pressure causes the nerve tissue to get squished by the bones of the two toes, resulting in the pain.

My first question to the doc was, "What causes it?" His response, "Don't know." He said it's been studied but no one seems to know exactly what causes it. Sometimes it appears after trauma to the foot, but other times it just seems to appear for no reason.

Second question, "How do we get rid of it?" Doc's response "Several options—wearing a metatarsal pad, corticosteroid injections, or surgery." I was about a month away from running a marathon, so the injections or the surgery really weren't good options. He preferred trying the metatarsal pad first over the other two options anyway. You're not immediately able to run right after having the injection and sometimes you need more than one and surgery doesn't always solve the problem.

So, we opted for the pad. But I was confused. Seemed to me that if I put a pad under the ball of my foot, it would cause more pressure, resulting in the shooting pain in my toes. Come to find out, the pad doesn't go under the ball of your foot. Instead, the pad is placed just behind the metatarsals. This way when you run and land on the ball of your foot, the pad actually receives most of the pressure. The direct pressure to the metatarsals is decreased alleviating the pain.

He gave me a pad and showed me where to place it on the insole in my right shoe. It had an adhesive backing which secured it in place. I went for a run that afternoon and it worked! No pain. Now each time I buy a new pair of shoes I also buy a new metatarsal pad. Funny how I can hardly walk barefoot, but I can run a marathon! Thanks goodness for metatarsal pads.

Plantar Fasciitis? Try This...

Chances are if you're a runner, you've either experienced plantar fasciitis or know someone who has. This painful, nagging, and hard-to-get-rid-of injury affects the plantar fascia—the band of tissue that begins at the heel runs under the arch and splits off and attaches to the metatarsals. If you're an excessive pronator or if you have arch problems, then the plantar fascia picks up the strain. Problem is that the plantar fascia isn't really able to stretch so instead it tears. When these little tears heal, scar tissue is created. Scar tissue stretches even less. See a vicious cycle starting? Usually what the runner feels is pain under the heel. I also felt pain at the metatarsals. Often the pain recedes as you begin to walk or run, but once you stop and you've been still for a while that nagging pain returns. When I had plantar fasciitis, I noticed it the most in the morning when getting up. I looked like a little old man hobbling around until my feet loosened up.

So what do you do for Plantar Fasciitis? There are a variety of things a doctor might have you try such as ice, taping, wearing heel pads, orthotics, flexibility exercises, physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, and possibly even surgery. My doc had me put heel cups in my shoes and he gave me a couple of stretching exercises to do. One involved putting a towel on the floor in front of my foot and using my toes to scrunch up the towel and draw it toward me. The other exercise involved slowly flexing my toes back, stretching the plantar fascia. All of this helped, but the thing that helped bring the most relief was a little gadget called a Foot Wheel.

The Foot Wheel falls into that ever growing "Why Didn't I Think of That" category of mine. Basically it's a small metal rod that's about 4-inches long. There's a hard plastic wheel in the middle and one on each end of the bar. How does it work? Place the wheel on the floor and then roll your foot across the wheels. That's it! I've read where you can do the same basic thing by rolling your foot along a soup can or a tennis ball. I've tried these methods and both helped, but with the Foot Wheel, I was able to really hit those pressure points getting a better stretch of the plantar fascia.

If you're experiencing plantar fasciitis, then be prepared the first time you use the foot wheel. It hurts like hell! But bite the bullet and roll your foot (the entire length) along the wheel making sure to hit all the pressure points. After a few days, the pain while using the wheel started to subside and better yet, I started to notice my plantar fasciitis symptoms disappear. I had my first and only case of plantar fascitis about 7 years ago. I've used my lil foot wheel every night since then. I keep it beside my bed and the last thing I do before hitting the hay is to roll both feet several times along the wheel. I really do believe that doing this has helped keep my platar fascia limber and injury-free (knock on wood). Making sure I don't pack too many miles on any one pair of shoes has also helped. You see, my plantar fasciitis was the result of running a really long run on an old pair of worn out shoes. Never a good idea.

I've seen the Foot Wheel sold at marathon expos and at several different online running sites. I bought mine online at RoadRunnerSports.

For more detailed information regarding plantar fasciitis, check out the video clip below.