Springing into Action

It’s the time of year where many runners who hibernate during the dark and cold Winter months take their first few miles of the year. It’s also the time of the year for Newbies! Perhaps inspiration from a friend or family member, a stress in life is forcing a change, something has sparked the interest in the sport – new runners are testing out their running legs. If you’re new and flirting with the idea of running, or you’re coming back from a serious hiatus, here are some tips and tricks for getting started.

  • Check your shoes. If they are over 6 months old, you’ve used them for walks or time in the gym, or they don’t feel supportive or fresh anymore, get a new pair! Your feet are important. There is no “magic” shoe. Just see what feels right to you. Most decent running shoes will run you about $85-150.00.
  • Start where you are! It can be humbling for the first run ever, or the first run back after some time off. Aim for 20-30 minutes out there. Maybe it can’t all be a run. Maybe it can. No matter what, go at an easy/moderate effort. It’s important to ease into the sport.
  • Avoid cotton socks. Blisters can plague runners, but cotton socks are usually a leading variable. Running socks are a bit more expensive, but worth the investment.
  • Lots of runners want to know their data – how far they went, how fast, elevation, calories burned, heart rate, and so on. If that sounds of interest, I’d recommend investing in a running watch. You can find gadgets between $100-700.00 – depending on how high-tech you want to get. There are also a dozen or two apps you can download on your phone. I find the apps to be less accurate, but it’s a cost effective place to start – especially if you don’t know what your relationship with running will be.
  • Recruit a running buddy to help with accountability and reduce pressure in speed or distance. Focus on simply making running a consistent part of your life for 3-12 weeks. Run with a furry friend, push the stroller, simply build a habit and allow your body to slowly adapt.
  • Don’t compare yourself with anyone else. Your journey with running will be uniquely yours. Your paces, body, mental capacity, preference in route and weather – embrace all of it and own it.
  • Set realistic goals and expectations without dismissing your potential. It’s important to accept where we are at that time. For example, signing up for a marathon 18 weeks out from the 1st run of your life or in months is not advisable. But is a marathon 12 months from now? Sure! And can a 5K or 10K be a realistic and attainable goal in 18 weeks? Definitely. The same could be true with setting the goal of running without stopping around Central Park – for example. But can you run to Battery Park from Riverdale? That’s a bigger goal and realistically would take more time. The sky can be the limit, but maybe not by tomorrow.
  • If your schedule is stressful, add your runs to your calendar. Make gym dates to stretch, cross train or weight train. If you know you’ll be most successful at consistency if you run before work, plan to always run in the morning and start your day off right. If you thrive on a lunch time run, lace up and get in that afternoon sunshine. Set yourself up for success. Reduce obstacles.
  • Accept that your running journey can change and adapt. This doesn’t have to be a serious sport. It can be fun, a stress reliever, or whatever it is you want. It can be a lone experience or a social activity. It can be incredibly competitive and driven. Make it yours!

Running by Exertion

Running out of one of the tunnels, Saints and Sinners Half Marathon 2018.

Runners are often caught up in numbers. We measure our runs by distance or time, and often chalk the success of a run or determine our fitness by our paces. While numbers should certainly play a motivating and informative role for many runners, it’s important to listen to our bodies. After all, a 10:00 minute mile may be a sprint for one runner, a tempo pace for another, and a recovery pace for a third. While 10:00 minute miles will always equal 6 miles per hour, what that pace feels like will vary per person. And that’s incredibly important – especially for newbies or runners coming back from a hiatus or injury.

Despite all the cool techie gadgets, our bodies simply understand exertion or effort. It’s important for us to be able to honestly feel our efforts and listen to our bodies. Most weekly runs, regardless of talent or speed, should be done at an easy/moderate effort. Most miles should feel low stress. That effort will give us all different numbers. That number may also greatly swing one way or another based on weather, altitude, sleep, nutrition, and so on. Perhaps one of the greatest mistakes most runners make is running too much at an effort greater than prescribed. I’d be the first to admit that for years I’d run my recovery runs too fast, and then I’d be wiped out and cooked before I’d even start a speed workout.

Learning to listen to our bodies and understand our efforts takes consistency, time, practice, and self awareness. I recommend runners ditch the music whenever possible, so that they can tune into their body, form, breath rhythm and run without distractions.

It’s also important to remember that our devices can crap out. While GPS watches and apps. can give us useful data; buildings, mountains, tunnels, and simply bad weather can mess with our device. If you are 100% relying on that device, your workout or race could greatly suffer. It sucks when technology fails us, but there should be a calm confidence in knowing your body as a runner.

For my new runners, I try to stress the importance of exertion. For one thing, we are completely shooting in the dark if I tell a new runner to run 10:00 minute miles for their first run. That number could be way off base and inappropriate for them. Instead, go for a run and keep the exertion to comfortable/conversational, or a 4-6 out of 10 exertion and no harder. That device can then later give clues as to the current fitness based on the number on the watch, assuming the exertion was honest, and how to gently progress their training.

To drive this concept home, I’ve known a few coaches in my day who don’t want their athletes looking at their watches during track workouts. Even with a very specific time goal, working incredibly hard, some coaches want their athletes to lock that rhythm and effort into their body. To be huffing and puffing and thinking “yep, this feels like a 10:00 minute mile,” without the watch can almost feel like running blind. While I used to constantly look at my watch, I’ve slowly tried to learn to rely on myself more and my watch less. I still glance at my watch during my track workouts, but now only halfway through that repeat or interval.

When a watch malfunctions on a training run it can be frustrating. When it happens on a race course, it can be the thing that truly throws a runner off their game. If that happens, relax and focus on your exertion. Use mile markers, and try to do the math in your head. If you know the course elevation, you’ll know where you can potentially cruise and where you’ll need to really dig deep.

Just the other weekend at Saints and Sinner’s Half Marathon, my watch went crazy during the second half. The first half of the course is essentially in the desert. No big trees, mountains or buildings, it’s simply open. The first half is also incredibly fast, and so it was a strategy to go out and use the downhills to bank some time for the gravel portion. The second half includes about a dozen tunnels, and you hug part of a mountain. I expected my GPS to get a bit off (the race website gives a head’s up to expect this), but it also happened at the place in the course where you are on gravel, and have a little uphill. Suffice to say, not the easiest place physically or mentally to have focus unravel. Despite the slowing time on my watch, I told myself to keep my head up and keep grinding. I knew the final 2.5 miles would be fast, and I just had to hang tight.

Here’s my splits according to my Garmin:

5:42, 5:52, 5:49, 6:17, 6:02, 6:07, 6:29, 6:39, 6:42, 6:33, 6:22, 6:05, 5:27 (for .92 miles). GPS finish had 12.92 miles, so it was off by almost a quarter mile.

Now, I could have totally lost my head out there during miles 7-10. In fact, a few years ago I probably would have shut down. But being able to focus on my form and exertion, while reminding myself that a PR was going to demand a whole lot of discomfort – I was able to focus on the mile markers and do the math in my head. Knowing my goal was just slightly out of reach was enough for my to keep fighting.

Last year at Boston Marathon, my exertion and watch weren’t matching up. Between the warm weather and being on antibiotics for bronchitis, I stubbornly went out at my goal pace. By mile 14, I knew my exertion was way too high to sustain for the remaining 12 miles. I could feel myself quickly dehydrating, and the effort and pace wasn’t sustainable. On that day I decided to pull back on the pace and not fight myself. If I had married myself to the watch and the plan, the odds are good things would have gotten incredibly ugly out there.

My hope is that whether a newbie or an experienced running veteran, you embrace the concept of exertion. The better you know your body, the wiser an athlete you can be.

Debunking Diet Delusions

Today’s blog is about nutrition habits. Many folks looking to hire a trainer or sign up for a marathon are hopeful that with committing to something physical, they will magically be able to eat everything they want and lose weight. It’s a nice thought, but usually not true. In fact, it’s not uncommon for folks to gain weight during their first season of training – because it is really easy to say “hey, I ran today!” and eat everything. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that burning 500 calories on a run doesn’t erase the calories in a burger and fries.

Did you know that many elite athletes are very careful about their caloric intake and nutrition habits? It may sound silly and unnecessary, but it’s quite often true. Folks who may be running 120+ miles per week are careful to not gain any weight. Yes, someone running 120 miles per week can afford to eat a hell of a lot more calories than the folks running 20 mile weeks, but my point is that to be their best, they need to be strong and as light as safely possible. The same is true with you and your goals, if they are based on pace and a time. If your goal is to lose weight, nutrition when training becomes incredibly important.

When I meet with new clients, I am sometimes told they want my physique. They joke to “sign them up” for whatever I am personally doing. I should also say that many friends and family assume I eat anything and everything all the time. I don’t. When I am visiting friends and family, I am often choosing to indulge. We are at a party, a celebration, out at a restaurant, a family get-together, or they simply see me on a day I am indulging because I simply want to. These same family and friends don’t believe me when I say that what they see me consume isn’t the norm. Do I eat bagels, cake or pizza everyday? Nope. Not even close. Do I talk about food, blog about it, dream about it and love it? Yes, guilty as charged. So I wanted this blog to showcase the reality of what it takes for me to be fit, strong, and extremely goal-driven – and perhaps you can apply some of what I do to your own life and goals.

Here are a few facts about me you may not know:

  • I very rarely weigh myself. In fact, in the last year I have only weighed myself to keep track of dehydration levels when training and racing Ultra Marathons (12-24 hour races).
  • I keep track of everything I eat, every day. I use an app. on my phone. I want to know what I am consuming and I find I need to keep myself accountable – be it calories, grams of protein, servings of fruits that day – I track EVERYTHING.
  • I also track my activity. Hours of sleep, time standing, running, weight training. I keep all the data.

To show you what my nutrition usually looks like, I am listing below 2 random days from the past few weeks. One day is an “average” day for me, the other is a “rest day,” – and I tend to eat more calories and junk on rest days. I’ll also make note of my training on the “average” day.

Thursday, May 14th, 2015: an example of an “average” day for Coach Corky.

  • Breakfast: Coffee, 2 TBS. Half/Half, 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 4 tsp. brown sugar
  • Lunch: 1 large sweet potato, 5 tbs. parmesan cheese, 2 links of turkey sausage
  • Dinner: 1 cup Goya black beans, 2 whole wheat tortillas, 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese
  • Snacks: 1 orange, 1 Gala apple, 1/2 fresh pineapple
  • Total calories consumed: 2084
  • Training: weight trained for 1 hour, ran at a moderate pace for 1 hour
  • Total calories burned: 2837

Saturday, May 9, 2015: an example of an indulgence day

  • Breakfast: Coffee, 2 TBS. Half/Half, 1 large avocado, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup shredded cheese
  • Lunch: 1 Larabar protein bar, 1 pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food FroYo
  • Dinner: Whole wheat pasta
  • Snacks: 1 brownie, 1 orange, 1 Gala apple, 1 banana, 3 bottles of Sierra Nevada beer
  • Total calories consumed: 3902
  • Training: ran for easy coaching miles for 50 minutes
  • Total calories burned: 2513

As you can see, some days I burn more than I eat and other days it’s the opposite. I usually try to focus on consuming fuel that makes me feel good – I want to be strong and healthy for my training. But I am also human, and am a really great stress eater.

A month or two ago, I decided I want to drop a little bit of body fat. Why? Well because if I want to be my fastest and my best out there for goal races, I need to be light. Trying to drop what little excess weight I have is tough. It’s like that last little bit your body is hanging on to and doesn’t want to give up. So I made sure to focus on weight training, running, and eating less than I burned. Did I lose the fat? Probably a little bit. But I am not going to lose sleep over it. I feel stronger, and am lifting more than ever before in my life, and am getting back to some speedy running and so things are going in the right direction.

Your journey and your goals are your own. Just be aware that when you see a coach, athlete or person on the street you don’t know – you have no idea what goes into their training and what genetics, sacrifices and dedication may have been necessary for what you see to be possible. Am I going to torture myself to be the lightest I can be? Nope. It’s not worth it to me. And as long as I feel healthy and capable of achieving what I want, the rest is gravy. Mmmm…gravy. No, I don’t eat gravy frequently. But it is damn delicious.

Indoor Coaching in NYC

elizabethOne of the main excuses I get from runners this time of the year is the weather. While some folks find ways to power through, embrace the weather, and simply refuse to let bad weather compromise their training or goals, others look for alternatives. For those of you fair weather runners in NYC, I have some good news! Mile High Run Club is a new running study, 100% dedicated to runners. And beginning in 2015, Coach Corky is joining their roster of coaches!

Unlike many treadmill classes, MHRC is all about improving as a runner. This isn’t a place dedicated to vanity training. It’s a studio that welcomes runners of all abilities, and pushes each person to improve their form, focus, breath, strength and running potential. The two different class structures are designed to challenge every runner, and are interval-driven.

Personally, I cannot stand running on your average treadmill. I hate it. Hate. I’d prefer to fight high winds and freezing rain pelting my face for a 17-miler than strap my legs up to a moving belt for 2 hours. So it must say something if I am on board with treadmill running classes!

Anyway, come check out a class! Every coach comes from a different running background, and brings their individuality to their classes – and they music selections. Don’t let the dark, cold Winter get in your way. Make 2015 awesome.

Lying Machine

_MG_9072_finalIf you have been watching your calories, sweating hard at the gym, and left scratching your head because of little improvements, here’s something to consider: the machines at the gyms are lying.

Cardio equipment make us feel good as we see how many calories we have burned as we sweat away and watch tv at the gym. Here’s the problem: cardio equipment doesn’t give you an accurate count of calories burned. If you are taking the number on the machine as your factual calories burned, I have bad news.

When hopping on cardio equipment, you can enter your age and weight on the machine. Here’s the problem: there are a lot of factors that machine ISN’T asking you. Your sex, hight, body fat, fitness level – those are factors that the machine doesn’t consider. Even the heart rate monitor can be wrong.

Don’t lose faith. You can find tools to more accurately calculate your cardio burn. Remember, knowledge is power. If you don’t know your numbers, you may be consuming more calories than desired. Still confused? Contact your coach or personal trainer.