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Last week on the AtoZrunning Podcast we discussed training through transitions with 15k US Champion, Clayton Young. In that episode Clayton shared with us his insight and experience. This week we take it further and dive into the changes we all commonly experience and what this means for our running.
INTRO
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- Follow and Subscribe (on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform)
- Check out Zach’s POV from Rivertown Races
- Question from Jennifer: What is your pre-running routine?
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- Basic pre-run routine: Lunge Matrix and Leg Swings
This week’s sponsor: XOSKIN – seamless athletic apparel to keep you comfortable in any conditions
- 100% Made in the U.S.A. (Veteran-owned company)
- Every product uses our patented RapiDriCopper™ materials which are PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene – the most common formulation is Teflon) and Copper.
- PTFE hates moisture and dramatically reduces friction – virtually eliminating chafing, blisters, and hot spots
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- XOSKIN apparel has been race tested in some of the hardest ultras in the world
- XOSKIN makes a full line of apparel including: shirts, shorts & tights, underwear/liner shorts, socks (both toe and traditional) and compression arm and leg sleeves
- Every product is backed by a 30-day money back guarantee – wear it for 30 days and if you’re not completely convinced they will give you a full refund
- So remember to use code AtoZ to get your 20% off and let them know that we sent you!
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World of Running
Congrats to A to Z Runners this weekend
Bill – chipped 6 seconds off half marathon PR
Erin – new official half marathon PR
CONGRATS on a successful race to previous guest and race director of Rivertown Races, Andrew Buikema
Kait – nearly 9 minutes off half marathon PR at Glass City Half Marathon
Mark – marathon PR and Boston Q in the Glass City full marathon
April 25th, Sunday, Glass City Marathon, Toledo OH
Glass City Marathon Mayhem
- The elite corral at the Glass City Marathon was misled during the early miles of the race.
- As a result times were slow and some dropped
- Shout out to Mitchell Klinger and Zacch Widner for going 1, 2 in the half marathon
April 25th in Wales, England at the Cheshire Marathon
- Jake Smith was set to pace it, having never run a full before
- Mid-race, decided to stay in
- Won the race in an Olympic qualifying time of 2:11:00!
April 24th, Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa
- Previous Guests Leah Falland wins the 3k steeple chase
- and Cindy Ofili wins and gets a personal best in the 110hurdles (first PR since 2015)
- 18-year-old Nico Young, a freshman at Northern Arizona University, covered 5,000 meters in 13:24.26 to finish third at the Drake Relays. Young’s time was the fastest ever by an American teenager.
- However, 19-year-old Cole Hocker, University of Oregon, ran 13:19.98 to win the 5,000 meters at the Oregon Relays.
- Indoor Hocker won the NCAA mile and 3k titles in the span of just over an hour.
April 24th, 2021 USATF Grand Prix, Eugene, Ore.
1500m
- Men’s 1500m
- Oliver Hoare shows Athletics Australia that he belongs at the Olympic games with a 1500m W in 3:33 which is an outdoor 1500m PR. Oliver Hoare about racing season.
- Donavan Brazier earns 3rd in 3:37.58
- In the same race, Hobbs Kesseler runs the 3rd fastest time for a high schooler in history running a time of 3:40.46.
- Kessler ran a final 400m in 56.06 which was the fastest close in the field.
- Women’s 1500m
- Laura Muir takes a chance and goes out in 61.55. That’s 3:50 pace (like world record!). It wasn’t the day to hit that break through and ends up slowing to the win in 4:01.54. She was never challenged.
- Men’s Steeplechase
- Isaac Updike won in 8:17.74, a big improvement on his 8:25.38 pb from 2018.
- 2016 NCAA champ Mason Ferlic also got the standard, running 8:18.49 — his first personal best in five years.
- This after being dropped by his sponsor, Nike, earlier this year
MAIN TOPIC: Why is CHANGE so hard (for runners)?
The big challenge here is that for most of us when we fall off the training wagon, it’s during times of significant change when we find it hard to keep the running going and harder still to bring it back.
Why?
We are creatures of habit. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote, “We are, all of us, creatures of habit, and when the seeming necessity for schooling ourselves in new ways ceases to exist, we fall naturally and easily into the manner and customs which long usage has implanted ineradicably within us.” It could be said all the observable universe seeks order. In a similar sense, the human experience tends toward rhythm.
What happens to us during significant changes?
When there are changes there is a measurable decline in mental, physical, emotional health. Even good changes cause stress. We experience growth when that stress necessitates flexibility and agility. It also demands patience in training and life in general.
Common Changes
During this episode of the A to Z Running Podcast we discuss different kinds of changes. Below are some of the changes. We could have covered many more.
A new type of training or coach.
A new/different job.
Moving.
- In our article, Some Days are Harder than Others, WHY? We specify one reason being that unfamiliar settings require additional cognitive effort because you’re making more decisions than in a habitual and predictable setting.
Relationships.
Loss.
- Studies about the physical manifestation of grief and stress include inflammation (study), blood pressure, nausea, stomach pain… all of which will affect your running.
- In fact any psychological stress can induce raised blood pressure (study)and in running specifically reduces performance including a decreased VO2max and decreased heart rate (article).
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We talk about how to intelligently modify training in ep 56 of the A to Z Running Podcast. Go back and listen for the full conversation.
Looking for a running coach? Please reach out!
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