Felix On The Run

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Tag: Training

How to warm up and cool down — November 13, 2019

How to warm up and cool down

/Felix on the Run/1 Comment

PostrunStretching

It’s race day, or maybe it’s a big workout day for you and you want to make sure you can give it all you got! Well, in order to do your best, you need to make sure you are prepared to do your best. Today we discuss how to properly warm up and cool down before and after any big effort.

If you don’t already have a proper warm up and cool down routine, you should. Not only will a proper warm up prepare you to smash your next race or workout, but a proper cool down can also allow your body to start the recovery process so you can reap the benefits of all your hard work!

Warm Up

So let’s assume you did all the proper training, ate well, got plenty of sleep and now it’s the day, time to put in some work! There are a million ways to the same end. Finding the right warm up routine will ensure you can perform to your full potential.

Some people like a quick 3-5 minute jog with some light static stretching and they feel ready to go. Some people need a good 15-20 minutes with a grocery list of stretches before they feel ready to toe the line. I will be providing my warm up routine before any workout or race.

The key is consistency. Never switch things up on the day of an important race. You need to be as efficient and streamlined as possible. You don’t want to have to think about anything rather than the performance. Having a consistent warm up routine that you know works for you can help eliminate some of the nerves you may feel. So here’s my routine.

I start off with an easy 10-15 minute  jog (or about 2 miles). Afterwards I follow up with some dynamic stretching. I finish up with 3-4 10 second strides.

Example of dynamic stretches:

  • High Knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Drum Majors
  • High Knee Skips
  • Side Shuffles with Sun Salutations
  • Backwards Strides and Quick Feet
  • Frankenstein Kicks
  • Knee to Chest Pulls
  • Leg Swings (Front and Back;Side to Side)

I choose to do dynamic stretches because I’m firing up the muscles I want to be activated and ready to go when the time calls. Static Stretching will cause the muscles to relax when I want them to still have a little bit of snappiness in them. I usually start my warm up about 40 minutes before my workouts and races to allow ample time to get through everything, lace up, and use the little boys room one last time.

Cool Down

PHEW!!! Now that all that hard work is over with, it’s time to get those muscles recovered so that you can reap those benefits and make sure your body can continue on with its normal training tomorrow. How do you do that? By having a proper cool down, you allow yourself to flush out all the lactic acid from pushing them to their limits and promotes healing of your muscles by pumping new oxygenated blood to them. This is my cool down routine; nothing fancy, keep it simple.

I jog very easy, and I mean EASY, for another 10-15 minuets or up to 2 miles. This allows your calves, hamstrings and quads to gently push out all the lactic acid build up and allow new oxygenated blood to them, which is what helps heal those broken down muscles. Too long and fast of a cool down will cause more harm than good, so keep it short and slow.

Afterwards I finish up with some static stretching. As I mentioned earlier, static stretches help to relax the muscles. Now that we’re done with our training session, we need our muscles to loosen up and relax. Otherwise you’ll find yourself stuck on the couch or gently lowering yourself down onto the toilet after eating your post workout pancakes…or is that just me?

Example of Static Stretches:

  • Flamingo (Quad) Stretches
  • Toe Touches (Hamstrings)
  • Hip Flexor Stretch (Holding a Lunge position)
  • Calf Stretch
  • Soleus Stretch
  • Butterfly Stretch
  • Glute Stretch
  • Trunk Rotations (Low Back) Stretch

Summary

Having a proper warm up and cool down routine will allow you to perform at your best and promote recovery afterwards. Never try anything new the day before a big race. Practice what works for you on workouts to fine tune your own routine. Depending on your goal weekly mileage and any physical limitations your mileage and choice of stretches may very, so make it your own.

If you have any questions or comments, please list them below. And continue to follow for more info on training and what it takes to become a better and stronger runner!

Until next time.

Recovery IS Training — October 30, 2019

Recovery IS Training

/Felix on the Run/2 Comments

 

rest break on the track

Let’s talk about recovery! Now, I know that this can be a touchy subject for some. I mean, why would anyone want to take time off or ease off of their training when it’s going so well?! What’s the point of recovery? What if I lose fitness because I recover too much?

First off, it’s ok to take some time to slow things down and let your body recover. Especially if you train 5-7 days a week for months on end. You have to remember that recovery IS part of training. It should be planned and scheduled just like any workout you do during your training. Whether it’s taking planned recovery days between hard training sessions, or taking time off completely once you’ve completed your goal race or your “season” is over.

Hopefully todays post gives you some peace of mind and promotes a healthier outlook on recovery.

Now, let’s dive in!

What is recovery?

Recovery is anytime you decrease your training load and/or intensity to promote muscle and other soft tissue recovery. When you train, you stress the muscles, joints and tendons in your body. After an intense workout your body is quite a bit broken down, so it needs a couple days to rebuild. During this time your muscles compensate by becoming stronger so the next time that workout is attempted it can handle it a bit better. Recovery doesn’t necessarily mean you need to stop training all together; just take it easy to let your body catch up.

What are the benefits to recovery?

Number one, you allow your body to rebuild. When you do hard training session your muscles get pretty beat up. Some easy training sessions for the next 2 – 3 days after allows your muscles to heal and get stronger.

Secondly, It’s to help prevent mental fatigue aka Burning out. When all you do is train train train, and never take time to slow things down, you become burnt out. You start to lose motivation because your body is always tired, muscles are always aching, your paces are slowing down and you are just no longer enjoying yourself.

Lastly, recovery helps reduce the likelihood of getting injured. Sometimes when you push too hard and don’t take the necessary steps to recover, you leave yourself susceptible to injuries.

What are the consequences of skimping on recovery?

Not scheduling recovery days between hard efforts or training hard 365 days a year can cause your performance to suffer. You may get injured, become burnt out and never reach your potential. When you train too hard too often you weaken your immune system as well, meaning you get sick more often, thus loose out on training.

How to recover.

This part might be easier said than done for some. But the reality is, you need recovery.

Here are a couple ways to include recovery into your training;

  1. Plan recovery days after a hard workout or race. The 2-3 days after a race or workout lower the intensity and/or volume of your training.
  2. If you spent 4-5 months training for a goal race, once you have completed that race, take 1-2 weeks off of no training. This is great for a mental reset so that you come back into training with a hunger to get back into it, and it allows your body to heal all the aches and pains that you training through.
  3. If you are having trouble planning recovery days and need more help, get in touch with a coach that can help guide you. I have Coached Cross Country and Track and Field at the High School and Collegiate level, and one thing I know for sure is that many athletes take recovery for granted and tend to over do thing.

Summary

Take some time to slow thing down and relax. If you plan accordingly, your body will recover better, you will get stronger and faster, and you will enjoy training.

If you have any questions about Recovery or want to know more about having a Personal Running Coach, message me or leave me comment below. Enjoy your training, and don’t forget to recover after!

Workout of the Day: Threshold/Tempo Runs — October 16, 2019
workout of the day blue track background

Workout of the Day: Threshold/Tempo Runs

/Felix on the Run/5 Comments

Workout of the Day: Tempo/Threshold Runs

Want to increase your running performance and overall endurance? Want to run faster and longer? Try adding some threshold/tempo runs into your weekly mileage!

What is a Tempo/threshold Run?

Tempo in terms of running can be defined as the rate, speed/pace; in this case, running speed/pace.

Threshold, or more specific, Lactate Threshold, refers to the intensity of exercise (running) where there is an increase in blood lactate levels.

At the point of Lactate Threshold, that’s when you begin to feel what runners call “The Burn”. The burning sensation and extreme fatigue after a really intense run is a result of an accumulation of Hydrogen Protons. Increased levels of Hydrogen Protons causes muscle contractions and extreme fatigue.

What are the benefits of doing a tempo/threshold run?

Studies have shown that Lactate Threshold is a consistent predictor of performance in endurance based activities such as running. Studies have also shown connections between endurance performance and training at the Lactate Threshold.

Training programs that work on increasing weekly mileage, threshold training and faster paced interval training have huge effects on Lactate Threshold improvement.

So training your Lactate Threshold can improve your endurance and increase the duration of time you can maintain a specific running pace.

What pace or effort level should tempo/threshold runs be done at?

Studies have shown the Lactate Threshold occurs around 80-90% of Max Heart Rate in highly training individuals and at around 50-60% in untrained individuals. If you have raced a 5k recently, a good estimate is to take your average pace during your best 5k race, and add 20-30 seconds per mile. Example: 5k time: 20:00 (6:26/mile). That would translate to 6:46-6:56/mile on your Tempo Runs.

An easy way to think of the effort level to perform Lactate/Tempo workouts is it should feel “comfortably hard,” meaning you definitely are working hard, but the pace is manageable for a long period of time (roughly 20-30 mins). You look forward to the workout ending, but you can maintain that effort level for a while.

When and how often should you do a tempo/threshold run?

Threshold/Tempo workouts can be done once a week or up to twice a week with a couple days of easy recovery runs between. You should also firstly work on increasing your daily mileage and weekly long runs gradually before taking on more intense paces and workouts.

If you are training for a big race or are a High School or College athlete, I recommend adding or working up to Threshold/Tempos runs around your 3rd to 4th phase of training.

Phase 1 is typically base building.(Increasing daily mileage and long runs)

Phase 2 is where you might start adding some short speed paced activities such as strides after easy runs and low volume speed sessions and strength work such as hills and long intervals.

Phase 3 is where you will typically begin your racing season

Phase 4 is right around late season/Championship season

Different types/way to do a tempo/threshold run

Examples of different way you can approach Threshold training;

  1. Steady Tempo: a continuous run at threshold pace/effort
  2. Cruise Intervals: repetitions of shorter durations at threshold lace with little rest between reps

Example workout for beginners, intermediate and advanced runners

    1. Beginner:
      • 15-20 minutes @ Threshold Pace
      • 2 minutes @ Threshold Pace with 1 minute jog rest; Repeat 5-10 times
    2. Intermediate: 
      • 20-25 minutes @ Threshold Pace
      • 5 minutes @ Threshold Pace with 1 minute rest; Repeat 5-8 times
      • 3-4 x 1 mile repeats with 1-2 minute rest
    3. Advanced: 
      • 20-30 minutes @ Threshold Pace
      • 4-6 x 1 mile repeats with 1-2 minute rest

**Always start and end with an easy 10-20 easy jog and some dynamic stretches and strides**

You can mix and match how you see fit or what you feel you most benefit from. If you have a mid week race or want to make sure you have ample rest before a race and wish to maintain some speed work, I tend to incorporate some short speed reps after Tempo runs such as 4-6x 150m or 200m.

My Favorite Workouts:

  1. 4 Mile Tempo run + 4x200m Repeats with 5 minute recovery after the Tempo run and 2-3 minutes between each 200m rep
  2. 4-6x 1 Mile @ Threshold Pace 1 minute easy jog between

Final Thoughts

If you feel the need to increase your endurance performance, look no further than the trusted Threshold/Tempo runs. Make it your own and see what works for you! 

Comment or message me for more info on the topic or for any future topics!

Introduction — October 13, 2019

Introduction

/Felix on the Run/2 Comments

Yosemitehalfdome

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog “Felix On the Run”. In this blog I hope to share my thoughts, ideas and experiences with running. I hope to inform, connect and to encourage other like minded individuals who are thinking about starting their running journey, people who are still relatively new to running and even the veterans.

But first, let me introduce myself a little bit.

Who is Felix?

  • I’m 27 years old.
  • I Live with my best friend and girlfriend Rebekah and her (I guess mine too) cat, Casper.
  • I am a runner…duh!
  • My running experience comes from Cross Country and Track and Field (dabbled in a few road races)
  • I have coached athletes at the High School and Collegiate level in distances ranging from 800m, 1500m/1600m, 3k/3200m, 5k, 8k, and 10k.
  • I also provide online coaching for runners
  • I’m still training and compete in Cross Country and Track when given the opportunity
  • My PR’s are as follows:
    • 800m: 1:58
    • 1500m: 3:59
    • 1 Mile: 4:16
    • 5k: 15:31
    • Half: 1:18:42
  • I Work as a Wellness Coach; I work with seniors in a wellness center that provides personal training, group exercise classes, health education classes, physical therapy and social activities.
  • I drink way too much coffee
  • I enjoy reading, camping, Netflix and sleeping.

That’s about it…

For now anyways. Follow along as I share my training, my ideas, topics related to fitness and running of course. If you have any questions or topic ideas please leave a comment or send me a message! Follow my Instagram account to keep up with what I’m doing right now! Thank you for reading and welcome to my blog.