Operation Move

Online Running Coaching

You are here: Home / Archives for Moving

Moving

Am I too sedentary? 7 strategies to improve your movement outside of training

· · Leave a Comment

It might seem like an odd question to come from people who run regularly, but it’s not as uncommon as you might think.

A lot of us have inconveniently computer dependent jobs and while we might get out for our run in the morning, we spend a whole lot of time sitting other than that. And sometimes, the running workout might be so intense, that it actually seems to enforce this. That’s not to say that rest is bad, or you shouldn’t have a lie down or binge watch Queer Eye on Netflix, but that often what is linked to your health isn’t how much time you spend exercising, but actually how much time you spend not moving at all. Which is a different conversation.

So, it becomes less about your run or your workout and more about how you actually spend your whole day and also how you utilise active recovery as opposed to complete rest.

I work from home so I do have a lot more flexibility in this than people who don’t. But even if you are working 9-5, there are ways that you can work it in to your day.

1. Take regular breaks

They don’t have to be huge, it can be as simple as getting up from your desk every hour or so. If you do have the flexibility what I like to do is to do some computer stuff for an hour, then maybe break that up with cooking, cleaning or errand or other tasks that get me moving a bit more. I think the tendency in our brain is to want to do things in blocks – so x hours of work and then do all of this ‘other stuff’ later but you might actually find yourself a lot more productive if you break it up more.

2. Cross training isn’t just for injury

Admittedly, pretty much the only time I hop on the exercise bike is when I am injured, but the benefits to cross-training aren’t just about developing or maintaining aerobic fitness, it’s about moving your body in a different way – especially as running is so repetitive. So for me my cross training of choice is swimming, CrossFit, walking and also yoga lately although for me and the style of yoga I do I would consider that more as body maintenance because I’m doing restorative yoga not a full practice. For me, swimming is probably the one I get the most out of, because it’s full body, it’s non impact and it’s a completely different movement pattern.

3. Could you walk there?

So many things I used to drive to, I now walk to. Now, admittedly if you live out of town this might not be a possibility for you. But maybe if you are at work and you have an errand to do you could walk to do that and then come back to the car before you go home – that kind of thing. Or maybe if you are having a meeting at work you could suggest a walking meeting (definitely the best kind of meeting). And if you do have to drive to your errands – maybe park a little bit further away so you can get in some extra moving that way.

4. Alphabet feet

This is one you can do at your desk. Use your feet to draw the letters of the alphabet. Pretty simple, but adds in a nice bit of foot mobility into your day.

5. Use environment cues to help you

I put my foam rollers and other assorted devices in the lounge room in front of the couch, so if I am sitting down they are there too, judging me. Have a look at your environment, is there something that is blocking you? You might like to do some yoga or stretching but do you have hard floors and that’s a deterrent. It might sound simple, but those little environmental cues can have a big impact. I find even with having my space set up in front of the TV, it’s not actually ideal because I don’t really want to do yoga with Spongebob in the background, so I’ve started moving it into the bedroom instead.

6. Pick something to work on through the week

This might be squat mobility (so accumulating time at the bottom of a squat), or it might be improving push ups or working on single leg balance – and then at several times through the day just take a minute or two to work on it. It’s a whole lot less intimidating when it’s only a minute and you don’t have to commit to a full routine.

7. Adjust your workout schedule

This is one that can be the most challenging to do. But if you are so exhausted or sore from training that it’s impacting your movement through the rest of the week, it might be time to reduce your load. Consistency is greater than intensity – so if your hard workout is stopping you from being consistent, it’s probably too much right now.

The important thing is to try new things. It might take you awhile to find something that you enjoy and feels good for you and your body and that is okay. Just keep trying things on until you find what works for you.

The best piece of running advice I ever got wasn’t from a runner

· · Leave a Comment

I find inspiration for running everywhere, not just from running.

Young asian woman enjoys running outside with beautiful summer evening in the countryside.

I am definitely one of those people who finds a whole lot of interesting things for my sport, outside of my sport. I suppose, a lot of it has to do with finding a different perspective or looking at something from a different angle.

In anything, there’s a certain level where you just tend to accept that it’s the way things are, without asking why they are, because that’s the way they’ve always been.

I listened to Jason Koop talk about just this thing in terms of coming to running coaching from a cycling background, he just took less things as gospel.

Imposter complex can come into this too. Especially when you have experts in the field who know so much more than you do, who are you to go a different way than well established principles.

It’s important to put that imposter complex aside and always test. Test and re-test. See what’s true, and what holds up. Especially with coaching women, because the reality is the vast majority of research is done on men, so how valuable is it really?

Anyway, back to my best running advice.

When I first started CrossFit it was hard to figure out how to pace workouts – what was too easy or too hard? It was unfamiliar territory because it felt different to running. Running has a more immediate feedback loop than strength training does. So if you go out to hard, you know pretty much straight away.

There’s a level where that can be true with CrossFit but it’s also easy to feel like you could have gone out harder and then get to the afternoon and realise, ‘nope, I’m good!’

I was asking my coach at the time about what I should be aiming for and his answer was ‘it’s your time, you do what you want with it.’

Which is true for everything.

And has both escalated and tempered my approach to everything since.

I decide what I want to get out of it.

I decide how hard or how easy it needs to be.

I decide what is worth it.

Not every day can be an all out effort – in fact if you want that great day at a race, very few can be an absolute all out effort. Some days need to be easy, other days you can lean in to the discomfort.

And it’s always your time.

This is Learn to Run: Helen’s Story

· · Leave a Comment

It is such a pleasure to bring you Helen’s Learn to Run story. There’s no greater power than investing in yourself, every day. Even when you don’t feel like it, even when it’s hard. And along the way, Helen inspired so many other people to do the same. It was such an honour to see her progress over the three months in Learn to Run and to see her continuing to build on what she achieved in Run Club. 

Zoey

Wangaratta 5k Fun Run 2019

I’m an “it’s better than the alternative” runner.

My running journey started back in 2013, overweight and unfit I signed up for the 12 week challenge at the gym that I had joined. The hook that got me in was training to walk a local fun run; hills, 11km, fire trails.  I seriously underestimated what was involved, and that very first walk I was hanging on to trees to stay upright trying to catch my breath. If it wasn’t for the fact that my car was at the far end I would have turned around and gone home.  10 weeks later, event date rolled round and I’d done 9 training walks. I knew I was fitter because when I got to the top of the hill it didn’t take anywhere near as long for me to get my breath back and on the day of the event I finished 34 minutes faster than the very first walk.

After that event life went back to what it had been, and next thing you know it’s 12 months later and I’m signing up for another 12 week challenge in pretty much the same spot as where I’d been a year earlier.  This time I set a time goal for the fun run that meant I had to do some running on the flat sections.  Somewhere in the next 10 weeks of training I realised that I didn’t mind this running thing; I didn’t love it, but it was way better than doing burpees or TRX rows – not that there is anything wrong with those things, I just really really don’t like them.

From there I moved onto parkrun. I loved it and worked my way up to being able to run the whole 5km.  Somewhere along the way I tried to leap from being a once a week 5km runner to a 10km runner and collected myself an injury although I didn’t have a clear reason why. I couldn’t tell any of the health practitioners I consulted what I’d done, there was no I did X and now Y hurts.  I tried to keep running, but things weren’t improving because I was treating the symptoms not the cause, and this was the start of a slow downhill slide to long periods of no running.  With hindsight, I know now that I just tried to do too much too soon and too fast.  One thing I did learn was that I’m pretty much a 5km girl who’s prepared to step up to a bit of a longer distance for special occasions.

Eventually my injury led me to a local physio group with a clinical Pilates class and a fiercely persistent massage therapist. It wasn’t a quick fix, but after a couple of program cycles I stopped worrying about my symptoms returning and started to think that maybe I could try running again.  I had some intermittent attempts to start again but never had a proper plan or a clear goal so each time I would fizzle out and give up. And I’d still be at the same point as when I very first started, overweight and unfit.

Around this time advertisements for Learn to Run started appearing in my Facebook feed and in the ads that google tossed at me, I guess because I had googled Couch to 5km apps. I ignored them at first but these things can be a bit persistent and niggle in the back of your head.  I was a bit interested. The idea of having a plan to follow was really appealing, but I was going away on a holiday and wouldn’t be able to finish if I signed up for the advertised program.  I sent Zoey an email to find out when the next program would be, and discovered I would be back from holidays just in time; and even better, Zoey followed me up with an email a couple of weeks before the program started.  Personal contact is so much better than just downloading an app.

Learn to Run was absolutely what I needed. There was a clear plan for the week, and explanations about why there are differences in the plan across the week.  The Monday check in and posting each of my sessions was great accountability that I would never have found had I gone down the Couch to 5km route.  Knowing that there were others having similar issues as I was (why can breathing be so hard!) actually helped me keep going, and of course being able to ask questions either in the Facebook group or of Zoey directly was fantastic.  I was home from holidays in time to do half of the pre-program walks which I think really helped, particularly going from doing not much to 3 run/walk sessions a week. Even more important was the gradual progression through the weeks.

Of course it wasn’t all roses. There were some days when I really wondered what the hell I was doing, when my huffing and puffing was so bad I couldn’t finish an interval, or when my legs felt horribly heavy. This is when the feedback in Learn to Run really kicks in, because well, sometimes running just sucks and it’s good to have someone to remind you of that, but running never seems to suck as much as burpees do!

Before I knew it, 12 weeks was done, and no injury issues.  As well as confirming for me that 5km is my sweet spot, Learn to Run taught me that I really need to have a goal sitting out there that I’m working towards, and a plan to get there, because I’ll never be the person who exercises just because it’s good for me.  So this year, because being back running is a special occasion, I’m going back to that very first event, 11km, hills and fire trails and I’m pretty excited about it.

 

 

Should you have more than one pair of running shoes?

· · Leave a Comment


The theory goes that people are either dedicated to one particular pair of shoes, or they have more than they can count, but for most people you are probably somewhere on the spectrum of that. When you find something that works for you, there is the tendency to stick to that thing like glue – but there are some benefits to getting a rotation happening and having specific shoes for specific jobs.

Before you jump into buying something new because it’s SO PRETTY (I know, the struggle is real), there are a couple things that you should look at first.

Neutral vs Stability

Neutral just means that your foot doesn’t roll either in or out when you run. If it does, you might like a shoe with a bit more support to stop that happening – which is known as a stability shoe. The cool thing is that most websites now will allow you to search exclusively for neutral or stability shoes so it makes it easier to look at the right shoes for you. One thing to be aware of is that often a pronation might be to do with a strength imbalance – so rather than treating the symptom – it could be worth your while to check it out with your treatment professional. By far the easiest way to tell if you need neutral or stability shoes is just to go find your favourite and most comfortable running shoe and search online to see what type of shoe it is.

Heel Drop

This is the difference between the height of the heel and the height of the toe. You’ll find some shoes are zero drop (popular with minimalist running shoes) or low drop (Hoka is famously high cushion but low drop and most of their shoes have about a 4mm drop) and then you’ll have shoes which are more standard with a higher drop (standard is around 10-12mm usually). There’s no right or wrong here, it’s just about what you personally find comfortable. The argument for a low drop is that it is a more natural motion and discourages heel striking, thus engaging your body’s natural suspension system. However, if you are prone to plantar fasciitis, the higher drop can help to take the pressure off your calves. Again, the imporant thing here is not to replace a shoe for actually getting to the source of your issue – but it can help to know the benefits of each.

What about all the technology and fancy words

Research indicates that despite all the jargon used to sell shoes, it all actually comes down to what you find comfortable. So don’t worry too much about the marketing and go with things that feel good for you and your body.

Different shoes for different runs?

In your week you’ll probably have long runs and easy runs and interval runs and sprint runs and tempo runs and probably a whole bunch of other types of sessions too. There are a few benefits to having different shoes for different purposes. One is longevity. If you think about the fact that shoes need to be replaced every 600km or every 12 months (whichever comes first) then spreading out your distance across a few shoes will tend to make them last a bit longer and you will have to break in new shoes a bit less regularly. The other benefit is that there is evidence to show that running in different shoes can reduce your risk of injury. This is mainly to do with the fact that introducing variety into your running movement (which tends to lack variety by design) is a good thing. But the main reason is that different sessions will have different goals. For long runs and easy runs where you have not pace goals a super comfortable shoe with a nice amount of cushion makes sense. But for sprint work, where it’s all about the power you apply to the ground, a larger sole and a bulkier shoe are counter productive. You want something that is as close to the ground as possible. And for tempo runs you probably want something in between. It has to be comfortable, but you want it to be lighter and more responsive as the pace demands.

You’ll notice in descriptions things might be described as a daily trainer (easy running shoe), racing flat (sprints or races) or an uptempo shoe (faster paced sessions like tempo runs) and that can help you find something that’s going to be appropriate for you.

Where do you start?

Chances are you already have an easy running shoe that is working well for you, so take a look at your training and decide which type of shoe you would get the most value out of and start there. Often, a safe bet is going with the shoe brand you already like because there’s a much higher chance their lightweight and responsive shoes are going to be good for your feet too.

I never thought I’d be injured for as long as I was

· · 3 Comments

When I first realised there was a problem that needed professional help, I think in the back of my mind I knew it might take some time to fix. Most of my experience was with fairly straight forward injuries. I’ve had muscle tears before, but the best part is they heal. And often within a couple of weeks – at worst within about 6 weeks. I was totally unprepared for something that would take longer than that. It presented like something that had always niggled in the past, I’d rolled it out and it had returned to normal and been fine.

It was a blessing, the not knowing. If I’d known – I’m not sure I would have handled it so well, or been able to stay motivated enough to get through cross-training and rehab and all the things that kept me trucking along in the meantime. My last run was on the 18th December and I had no concept that it was actually my last run. I pulled the pin on it because my muscle was pulling awkwardly and I knew it wasn’t a good thing. I thought as it was a week before Christmas anyway that I’d do full rest for a couple of weeks and it was bound to get better. But it didn’t get better. I wouldn’t run again until the end of March, I wouldn’t continuously run until the end of April. I wouldn’t run over 30 minutes until the end of May and I wouldn’t see a full long run until the end of June. It was hard not knowing, but I think it would have been harder to conceptualise such a huge chunk of time. The not knowing, kept me in the moment, where I needed to be.

Frustration with my initial diagnosis of nerve entrapment took me to the Osteopath, where it confirmed what I had begun to suspect – that it was a structural issue to do with my scoliosis. Not only where all of my bones out of position on the right side, but I had significant strength imbalances that were causing me to be chronic. Once some of the structural stuff was taken care of, I went off to the exercise physiologist to further assess the strength imbalances and get a rehab program together. I’m pretty sure he felt like vomiting the first time he saw me walk and it was hard to convince him that I hadn’t been in a car accident of some kind, just based on the sheer scale of my issues. Sometimes that was overwhelming. Sometimes not knowing made it hard to imagine I’d ever get to the end of it. But mostly, it kept me focused on the task at hand.

After all of that the thing that I realised is that there is no end. There is a point where there is more running, absolutely. Whether you want to call it rehab, prehab, strengthening or body maintenance it is always going to be part of what I do now. It is hard to motivate yourself for. Doing 3 sets of 4 x 10m foot contact running drills forwards, backwards and laterally down the path in my backyard is significantly less exciting than going for a run. But if there’s one thing rehab has given me it’s an appreciation for the fact that if I was happy with where I was at before, somehow running with essentially the use of only one functional side – imagine what I could be capable of with the use of two sides.

It was a good thing that I didn’t know how long it would take, or how much work it would require or how far I would have to dig into my mental strength to get through the work. But the greatest gift is that it’s given me a greater insight into my body and although I have improved out of sight, I now know how much more work there is to do. I know I have only just started scratching the surface of where I need to be. I know that if anything, all of that work is more important now than it even was in the beginning.