6 Mistakes Runners Make

it’s not a lack of the latest running shoes, technical T-shirt, gels or does-it-all-and-more GPS that holds us back as runners – it’s something much simpler. Whether we care to accept it or not, basic mistakes – the kind nearly every runner makes – are what stop us from reaching peak condition and racing as well as we can.

‘The thinking must be done first, before the training begins,’ said the late Peter Coe, father and coach of two-time Olympic 1500m gold medallist Sebastian Coe. So, before your turn to your next training programme, here are 10 big errors – culled from runners and coaches – to avoid if you want to run your best.

1. Making all runs ‘medium’

Some runners complete all workouts at a medium level, failing to garner the benefits of longer, easy distance runs or short, tough speedwork. Every workout has a purpose and achieving it requires an optimal intensity and duration. Long runs provide some of the same benefits (strengthening slow-twitch fibres, etc) at an easy pace as at a medium pace, but at the easy pace you’re able to run longer and recover more quickly. Speedwork demands shorter, more intense efforts, alternating with intervals of near-total rest. Decreasing the intensity of the hard parts alters the workout’s effect.

The fix: Ditch the default

Recalibrate your ‘daily’ run pace to a conversational pace. If it isn’t a quality-workout day (eg intervals, fartlek), don’t test your fitness. Back off every time you feel yourself pushing your legs and/or lungs. Drop behind your training partner or group if they’re pushing it, or run alone if you have to. Set a goal (easy) pace and make the challenge to stick to it – no faster.

2. Neglecting speed

Runners cannot live on mileage alone. We can always benefit from some faster training. Here’s what happens when you skip strength and speedwork entirely:

• Atrophy of fast-twitch fibres

• Decrease in neuromuscular recruitment and efficiency

• Increase in lactate accumulation during high-intensity exercise

• Decreased muscle-buffering capacity (ability to neutralise lactic acid buildup)

The fix: Pick up the pace

Adding some faster training allows you to maintain strong fibres, retain neuromuscular efficiency and stop your buffering capacity from dwindling to the point of no return. Adding regular sessions of short hill repeats, fast strides or form drills reinforces muscle-fibre and nervous system development. Moderate tempo, fartlek or hill runs preserve lactate removal and buffering capacity.

3. Refusing to adjust workouts

Many runners believe that once a certain workout is started, it must be completed exactly as planned. Any deviation is tantamount to quitting. ‘The biggest mistake athletes make, especially good athletes, is their inability to adjust workouts on the fly,’ says distance coach Christian Cushing-Murray, a former US masters cross-country champion. Wise coaches and runners understand that unpredictable variables – weather, fatigue, allergies, stress – can affect workouts. A refusal to adjust to these variables changes the workout.

The fix: Go with the flow

Remember that workouts are tools to achieve running goals; they are not the goals themselves. In a workout, you create a specific stimulus to trigger a specific adaptation. Adjusting on the fly lets you keep your eye on the target and apply the correct stimulus. Adjusting the workout does not mean failing the workout – it isn’t a test, it’s a tool. Remember, the adaptation is the goal.

4. Being resistant to change

Some people just don’t know how to let go: these running fundamentalists have zero interest in trying new or untested workouts. They cling to training routines that have served them since they were first fitted for running shoes. The training worked then, it’ll work now, goes the reasoning. And injuries or poor performances are just temporary setbacks. The truth is that any type of training – any running at all – will make an untrained runner a better runner. The first time you pulled on running shoes and headed out the door, you kickstarted a physiological process that led to improved fitness. That’s a hard first impression to shake. But as your running body changes, your training must change, too. What worked during your first year won’t work for your fifth. Or tenth. Or twentieth.

The fix: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

All runners require new conclusions to meet the new information they should be getting from their bodies. Some masters runners, for example, will change their training every few years – to combat fast-twitch fibre loss, declining VO2 max, decreased flexibility and other age-related issues. But by making these adjustments, their performances will slow less dramatically than many of their peers. If your body never changed, then your training could remain forever the same. But every workout creates a slightly different running body. Every age, every setback, every success alters you a little. Ignoring the physiological reality to maintain faith in a ‘one and only’ training approach isn’t just misguided; it’s unbelievable.

5. Pick-and-mix workouts

The term ‘cafeteria runner’ describes that subset of runners who treat training like a smorgasbord – they choose the elements they find most appealing from a variety of sources and then, with great enthusiasm, they cram them all into a week. Cafeteria runners aren’t trying to build a training plan, they’re looking for a workout-based multivitamin pill, a workout that by itself transforms fitness, instills confidence and ensures race success. They just aren’t sure which workout it is, and therefore feel obliged to try all of them.

The fix: It takes a programme

Workouts are links in the chain of a good training programme. They create fitness adaptations that will be exploited in future workouts or reinforce gains from past sessions. You wouldn’t mix ingredients from chocolate, carrot and strawberry shortcake recipes. And you shouldn’t create a training plan by picking from lots of training sources and shoehorning what you like into one workout.

6. Delaying injury prevention plans

In the introduction to his 2010 article 10 Laws of Injury Prevention, RW US Editor at Large Amby Burfoot noted that ‘running injuries can be caused by being female, being male, being old, being young, pronating too much, pronating too little, training too much and training too little’. In other words, running injuries are going to happen. Studies confirm that 50-80 per cent of runners will suffer an injury during any given year. So the ideal time to deal with them is before they occur. Yet most runners don’t; instead, they wait until the first pinch in their glutes, pain on the outside of their knee or twinge in their arch to start researching terms such as piriformis, IT-band syndrome or plantar fasciitis.

The fix: A stitch in time

Five key injury prevention principles to embrace:

• Don’t push to breaking point in your workouts

• Do exercises to prevent or correct muscle imbalances

• Allow proper recovery

• Begin glycogen (carbohydrate) and liquid replenishment within 30 minutes post-run

• Do strength exercises to ward off common injuries

DO We Need All The Stats

It’s a good time to be a running geek. Just a few decades ago, digital watches still seemed like a pretty neat idea; now heart-rate monitors and GPS watches are standard, and new gadgets analyse your stride and cadence, compute your power output or measure your lactate levels, all in real time midrun. But how do you pick out what’s useful without drowning in an ocean of data? Here are some guidelines to keep in mind.


Don’t limit yourself
Jerry Schumacher coaches top runners like 2015 world championships 10,000-metre bronze medalist Emily Infeld, Olympic marathoner Shalane Flanagan and three-time U.S. cross-country champion Chris Derrick, and is backed by the full resources of his sponsor, Nike. But rather than relying on the latest technology, he prefers his runners trust their instincts about whether they’re running too fast or slow. “He doesn’t want us to be restricted by data,” Derrick said in an interview last year. “He wants us to feel it, and sometimes you just need to run hard.” That means no heart-rate monitors, for example. In a race or hard workout, only your body will know if you’re ready to go faster because you’re having a great day.


Be descriptive, not prescriptive
To avoid letting your tech boss you around, spend at least two months with a new device monitoring your usual training. Look for patterns: how much does your pace slow the day after a hard workout? In what ways does your stride change toward the end of a long run? Once you know what is normal for you, you can look for deviations that might indicate something is wrong - or, better yet, improvements that show something is right. Baseline data will also help you identify big-picture areas to improve, like getting the right mix of easy, medium and hard running.


Pick your battles
Instead of tracking every run, focus on the ones where data makes the biggest difference. For many runners, the trickiest effort to nail is threshold pace, right at the transition between easy aerobic running and hard interval running. Figure out roughly what heart rate it corresponds to for you (by monitoring tempo runs for a few months) to help prevent pushing too hard. If you tend to hammer easy runs, use heart rate or GPS to prevent yourself from going too fast. For hard intervals, ditch your electronics (except for a non-GPS watch, whose intermittent feedback isn’t as distracting) and tune in to your sense of effort.


Look inward
Study after study has found that self-reported mood is one of the most reliable indicators that you’re not recovering properly from your training - even better than objective measures like heart rate or blood tests, according to a recent review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. After every run, record in your log how you felt. It sounds low-tech, but that’s the most important lesson to remember about data monitoring: What matters isn’t how nifty the gadget is, but how useful its data is.

9 WAYS RUNNING BENEFITS YOUR BODY FROM HEAD TO TOE

Following on from the piece on how running can help your brain, more benefits for running.


Cartilage growth
Ignore the doom-mongers – running isn’t necessarily bad for your knees. Research from Australia’s Monash University suggests that the impact of running can increase cartilage production, which can safeguard your joints against arthritis.


Sharper hearing
Research from Bellarmine University in the US found that very fit women were six per cent more likely to have better hearing than less fit women. Exercise improves circulation to the ear, which provides a greater supply of nutrients to help preserve hearing.


Healthier skin cells
Rutgers University researchers in the US found that mice that drank caffeinated water and then ran had fewer skin cancer tumours than rodents who either just got caffeine or just ran. The caffeine-exercise combo caused fewer damaged cells to develop.


Fewer migraines
Put down the painkillers. A study conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that migraine-sufferers experienced fewer head-pounders when they worked out for 40 minutes three times a week over three months.


Regenerated muscle
Muscle mass declines over time – or does it? University of Illinois researchers found that exercise triggers a type of stem cell (mesenchymal stem cells) to spur other cells to generate new muscle. That process could combat age-related muscle loss.


Less anxiety
Feeling panicky about an upcoming work presentation? Go for a run. Researchers from Southern Methodist University near Dallas found that people had significantly milder reactions to stress if they engaged in regular intense aerobic exercise.


Lower risk of cancer
Finnish researchers studied 2,560 middle-aged men over 17 years and found that the most active men were the least likely to die from cancer, especially in the gastrointestinal tract or lungs. The more intense the exercise, the better.


Boosted brainpower
To see how exercise stacks up against other mental stimulants, University of Illinois researchers exposed mice to three types of brain boosters: savoury foods, new toys and exercise wheels. The wheel was the only tool that improved cognitive function.


Stronger bones
Weight-bearing exercise increases bone density, which guards against fractures and osteoporosis, according to researchers from the University of Missouri, US. High-impact exercise, like running, appears to offer the greatest protective benefit.


I know it is cold out there at the moment but with all these benefits, lace up those trainers and get out there, if you are looking for motivation then see our website www.govirtualrunner.co.uk we offer monthly medal runs which you can run anytime, anywhere. The running club where you can compete against other runners and earn prizes.

8 WAYS THAT RUNNING CAN HELP YOUR BRAIN

From the initial hit of the endorphin high to stimulating your creativity and concentration, all the way to warding off dementia, this is why running matters to your grey matter.




1. Smarten up
Big meeting in the diary? Get your running shoes. Going for a run was found to improve reasoning ability by US researchers from the University of Illinois, while a study at National Taiwan Sport University has pinpointed 30 minutes of moderate exercise as the ideal duration and intensity to optimise cognitive performance immediately afterwards.
But you may not have to wait until you’re done to reap the rewards, as recent University of Aberdeen research found that the act of running triggers creative thinking. According to the researchers, the mechanism at work here is that your brain associates forward motion with the future. The study also found that to maximise the effect you should stick to a route you know well, so worrying about directions doesn’t limit your mind’s capacity to wander. Also, keep the effort easy, as maintaining speed and tracking splits will divert brain power away from creativity.


2. Get high
If your sweat-elevated smarts aren’t enough to put a smile on your face, then perhaps the fabled runner’s high will do the trick. German research has traced the effect to regions of the brain releasing natural opiates as we run. (These regions also become active in response to emotions such as love.) Other studies have shown the sweet spot for endorphin production is a comfortably hard effort (think tempo run), while research at Oxford University found exercising in groups could increase endorphin release.
And there’s more bliss-inducing chemistry bubbling away; running also triggers your brain to release substances called endocannabinoids, which promote feelings of calm. Challenging but not all-out efforts (70-85 per cent of maximum heart rate) are the key to this drawer in your brain’s natural pharmacy.


3. Stay happy
Unlike other chemical shortcuts to happiness, pounding the pavement doesn’t come with a comedown. In fact, research shows that regular running reduces stress and elevates mood over the long term. A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise identified increased levels of tryptophan in runners – elevated tryptophan is typically paralleled by increased levels of the mood-elevating neurotransmitter serotonin. Another study, published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, found physical activity helped to lower patients’ score on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS).
Other research has found that running can be as effective as prescription antidepressants, (or even more so), acting in the same way as the medication by causing mood-improving neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine to stay in the system for longer.


4. Beat cravings
Mental visions of post-run pasta may power you through your miles, but on a brain-chemistry level running can actually aid the systems that prevent you from overindulging. A study at the University of Western Australia found intense interval training was most effective in regulating appetite. The researchers think this could be down to exercise curtailing production of ‘the hunger hormone’, ghrelin.
Other studies have shown working out in the heat is more effective in reducing appetite, so if curbing calorie intake is high on your priority list, consider the treadmill on winter days. If your vices go beyond the biscuit tin, there’s more good news: when scanning smokers’ brains, University of Plymouth researchers found that areas associated with addiction showed less activity post-exercise.


5. Memory jog
One particular area of the brain where a wealth of research has established the potential benefits of running is the hippocampus, which is associated with learning and memory. One such study, conducted by Japanese researchers and published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, showed regular moderate exercise improved hippocampus-related memory in rats but, interestingly, rodents who picked up the intensity and did all their running faster than lactate threshold pace didn’t do any better in memory tests than a sedentary control group. The scientists put this down to the stress of consistent hard training diverting the rats’ physiological resources to recovery rather than buffing up brain systems, and they believe the same would hold true in humans.


6. Build brain power…
Running does more than keep your existing grey matter well oiled; it could also trigger the growth of new brain tissue. Exercise drives the growth of new nerve cells (neurogenesis) and blood vessels (angiogenesis), which combine to increase brain tissue volume, according to researchers at the University of Maryland, US. This is crucial, as research has shown that we begin to lose brain tissue after our late 20s. More specifically, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found regular exercisers increased the volume of their hippocampus – that part of the brain linked to learning and memory – by two per cent, compared with their inactive peers. That’s big news, as it was previously thought that this region of your grey matter couldn’t grow at all after childhood.


7. ...and hold on to it
Staying fit as you age is vital in keeping your brain in good shape. A study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found higher cardiorespiratory fitness in older people was associated with greater activity in various areas of the brain, including a region critical for high-level cognition. And researchers at the University of Texas who found a correlation between fitness and cognitive function in middle-aged adults believe the link is at least partly down to fitness aiding better blood flow in the brain.
But don’t start too late. Analysing data from over 1,000 men and women, Boston University School of Medicine researchers found that those who were less fit at midlife (in their 40s) had less brain tissue volume 20 years down the line. The lesson? Exercise now for better brain function later.


8. Long-term benefit
To reinforce that message, a growing body of research is showing that the long-term mental return on your investment in running may be to reduce your risk of suffering from dementia. One study, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, found regular treadmill running early or late in life slowed cognitive decline and improved brain function in mice with a type of Alzheimer’s. Research presented at the 2015 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference also found physical exercise may be an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s and also reduces psychiatric symptoms of the disease. A study published in The Lancet found physical inactivity was the strongest modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s in the UK, Europe and the US. 
Much of the research has focused on the hippocampus, but running hasn’t been found to only help you form memories, but also to help you better access those memories. Brain scans of early-stage Alzheimer’s patients found those who exercised showed more activity in the caudate nucleus, a brain region that supports memory circuits. Running appears to improve the quality of the signals transmitted through those circuits. Yet another reason why running is just about the smartest move you can make.


So get out pound the streets/treadmill.  Have a look at

www.govirtualrunner.co.uk

Transition from running 5km to 10km.

When you first take up running, everything is geared towards that first 5K. At first, you struggle to make it through five minutes, let alone ten, but soon enough the day comes around that you can run for a full 30 minutes without stopping. It’s liberating and you can’t help but tell everyone you meet that you’ve run for a whole 30 minutes – “WITHOUT STOPPING!”


But then what happens? Once you’ve mastered the art of the 5K and your local Saturday morning parkrun, the next challenge looms – the 10K and the prospect of doubling the distance you’ve worked so hard to conquer can be daunting.
However, a 10K race is a fun and rewarding distance to train for. It won’t take over your life and you’ll very quickly see huge improvements in your fitness during the process. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be ready for your first 10K in no time!


Build up your distance gradually
Building up to a 10K takes time so don’t expect to achieve too much too soon. Set out a training plan for a period of roughly eight weeks and gradually increase the mileage each week. If you set out to run 10K in week one, you’ll not only put yourself at risk of injury but also risk shattering your confidence.


Take rest days
Training for a 10K can be achieved with three to four training sessions a week. Ensure that you factor in rest time in between these days to allow your muscles time to repair and recover. In the last 3 weeks of training before a race, your runs will begin to taper. In this time, don’t be tempted to over-train by running long distances to prepare for your race. If you’ve stuck to the plan, you’ll be ready for your race.


Cross-train

Integrating a different form of cardio workout into your training plan is not only a great way to keep your training plan interesting and fun but will also give your leg muscles time to recover. A 30 minute swim once a week is great way to maintain your cardiovascular fitness. A zero-impact workout, it also aids recovery and will help prevent injury. if you have the time a 30 minute Pilates and yoga class once a week is also a good form of cross-training in preparing for your first 10K, giving your body a good stretch and increasing strength in your core.


Stretch
It’s so easy to ‘forget’ to stretch at the end of run – particularly when all you want to do is collapse on the couch. Stretching your quads, glutes, hip flexors, calves and hamstrings, before and after your run, will help to keep you injury-free and will increase your flexibility in the process.


Do one long run a week
Ensure you fit in one to two long runs a week, running for a period of 75 minutes as your longest run around week five of your eight week plan. This will build up your endurance ready for a race day.


Do a threshold session once a week

Integrating threshold sessions into your training is another fantastic way of building up your endurance, while preparing the body to run faster for longer. Do one threshold run per week, working at the edge of discomfort at an eight out of ten intensity level (a level where you would struggle to talk during a run).


Set yourself a goal
Setting yourself a goal is a great way to ensure you commit to your training plan. Sign up to a race eight to ten weeks before to ensure you give yourself enough time to train so that you’re feeling confident come race day. Looking for a race? Then visit us at www.govirtualrunner.co.uk and we have a race just for you.

You ask: How can I stay warm on my runs when it is cold outside but still keep from sweating too much once I get warmed up?
This is the paradox of winter runners - keeping warm while avoiding overheating. From my perspective, the key for exercisers who produce a lot of metabolic heat is to layer appropriately and wear clothing that can be vented to allow extra heat to escape before you start to sweat heavily. There are great clothes available for outdoor cold weather activity that seem to improve with each generation of materials and design.
Clothing layers add up to insulation. Wool and synthetic materials are best as they move water away from the skin to the outer layers, maintaining a dry insulating air layer next to the skin. Wool retains its insulating properties even when wet with sweat, and many of the new wool products do not itch.
In contrast, cotton hangs on to water and conducts heat out of the body, which becomes a problem if you stop running from injury or exhaustion and cannot get to warm shelter.
Sometimes it is difficult to nail the number of layers for a given condition. That is where zips that vent the layers make a difference. Most of my activewear is zipped, and my outer shell has zippered pocket, armpit, and front vents to allow heat and water vapor to escape. It also has a hood that can be tightened down for extra warmth.
A hat or cap can help keep you warm in the cold and can be the difference between a comfortable run or not. The head makes up about nine percent of the body surface, and it has high blood flow. So if you are hot, removing your hat will allow a fair amount of heat to escape the body. The same is true for your hands; heat loss can be high due to the extensive blood vessel network in the hands. Mittens work well because the finger grouped together keep each other warm, and when mittens are removed the exposed hand becomes a heat-loss surface.
On cold days, I wear or carry a balaclava and ear muffs to put on under my usual cap. I have several thicknesses of caps and mittens to match the day. I also carry liner gloves to add to my hands, if needed, for cold or to wear alone if my mittens get too hot.
A shoe that is windproof will usually keep your feet warm if you wear wool or synthetic socks. Again, cotton socks are not for cold-weather activity. Some companies make winter running shoes with Gore-Tex or similar materials that block the wind when you are moving and keep your feet warm. I use a neoprene boot cover for Nordic skiing in the cold, and there may be similar products for running.
It is also important to protect your eyes in the cold. A pair of clear or light yellow lens sport glasses work well in the low light and dark of winter and your usual sport sun glasses work well during the day light hours. Although relatively rare, frostbite of the cornea of the eye can cause blindness in that eye.
With contemporary outdoor clothing it is relatively easy to stay comfortable on the run, even in really cold conditions.GO VIRTUAL RUNNER


Courtesy of Runners World UK