by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 31, 2021 | Article, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
As athletes, especially as runners, we are usually very fit people. It doesnât matter if you weigh 120 pounds and look like a Kenyan world-record holder or if you are on the 200+ or 250+ side of the scale with an overhanging gut. Being fit does not mean being healthy, and it doesnât mean you have a heart disease vaccine.
In the 1982 New York City Marathon, when my dad ran his first 26.2, a French runner collapsed and died. He told us that he passed this guy in the middle of the ruckus, which made it to all the newspapers next day. It must have been quite an impression on a 16-year-old kid, for 39 years later I am telling you this story.
Just a couple of weeks ago, a 24-year-old runner passed away from a cardiac issue during the Montreal Half Marathon. Unfortunately, this is one of the handful of cases that happen every year, where a fit athlete goes out for a run and, sadly, doesnât comes back.
Jim Fixx wrote one of the most influential books in the history of running, yet he passed away from a cardiovascular issue, suddenly, at age 52.
If the father of the running boom in the United States is Frank Shorter, the Godfather must be Jim Fixx, author of the mega 1977 best seller âThe Complete Book of Runningâ. In a pre-internet, pre-Google era, this book popularized access to the knowledge of the sport, including the cardiovascular benefits of jogging and running. This guru went for a run on July 20, 1984, at age 52, and died of a fulminant heart attack. He was in great shape, but his autopsy revealed he had atherosclerosis, with one artery blocked 95%, a second 85%, and a third 70%. His father had died at age 43 of a second heart attack.
During the Marathon Trials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ryan Shay, a 28-year-old, high-performance athlete with a 2:14 PR, collapsed 5.5 miles into the race and was pronounced dead 40 minutes later. Autopsy report said: âCardiac arrhythmia due to cardiac hypertrophy with patchy fibrosis of undetermined etiologyâ. Whatever that means, it doesnât sound good.
But there have been many cases of runners luckier than Fixx and Shay. One of the most active and fit guys you will ever meet is Dave McGillivray. You may know him as the Boston Marathon Race Director since 2001. His athletic accolades include running across the United States, (3,452 miles) in 80 days, running the Boston Marathon every year since 1973, 9-time Hawaii Ironman finisher and has participated in over 1000 organized races. Yet, in October 2018, at age 63, underwent triple bypass surgery. His family cardiac history was against him, regardless of how fit he was. He is one of the lucky ones that is telling his story.
Ryan Shay, a young marathoner with a 2:14 PR, passes away suddenly at the 2008 Olympic Trials.
These are just three relevant cases from many that time and time again prove that just because you are fit, doesnât necessarily mean you are cardio-vascularly healthy. These are two concepts that are not inclusive.
And there is a reason I bring up this subject, today. And it is because of my personal experience, which I would be dishonest if I did not share with my readers. Two years ago, during my yearly medical check-up, my doctor told me that even though a stress test wouldnât do much for me because I was a fit marathoner, I should do it anyway âbecause you never knowâ. And guess what? you do. A congenital issue in my arteries was discovered. Unoxygenated blood was recirculating while bypassing the lungs, which created such a stress for my heart it could have provoked a heart attack. Fast-forward two years, and on June 23, 2021, I underwent open heart surgery to fix the issue. This âunneededâ stress test potentially saved my life. Now, very shortly, I should be cleared to run again.
The moral of this story is to make sure that you understand that even though you keep an active and healthy lifestyle, you are not immune to the genetics of your ancestors, cardiac birth defects or the sequels of your unhealthy habits prior to your active life. Get checked up. You never know. I am proof of it.
NOTE: If you are having or had a cardiovascular issue and you are an athlete, one of the best support resources Iâve found is the Cardiac Athletes Facebook group. I invite you to check it out.
by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 24, 2021 | Article, Coaching, List, Science
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
 Tapering time approaches for those about to run the Abbott World Marathon Majors this year. Training time approaches for those eyeing their marathon towards the end of 2021 or start of 2022. So, seems like a good time to review some basic mistakes that runners, from beginners to experts, should avoid. This way they can reap the most benefits out of their efforts.
Training for a marathon is a process that involves multiple moving parts that need to work in sync. It needs to reach a point where the body can be stressed enough to compensate its deficiencies and adjust to the workload-thus improving- but not to a point where it becomes too much, and it canât recover to do it again. This means overtraining and, most likely, an injury if intend to tough it out and train through it.
No need to overstress yourself if you avoid these basic mistakes in your training (Photo by Pexels.com)
The following are nine of the most common mistakes runners incur into during a marathon training cycle:
1Â Â Â Â Â Â Running the long runs too fast: There is a time to go fast and there is a time to go slow. The long run has that name because it is designed for you to go long. It is not called the âfast runâ for a reason. They are intended to build up your aerobic system, which, for a marathon, it is used 99% of the time, even if you are the world-record holder.
 2      Focusing too much on the long run: The long run is an important part of your training, sure, but it is just one element, not the bulk of it. The success in your race will depend on the accumulated effect of all the elements in your training, not just one.
 3      Doing the same workouts all the time: Because about 80% of the training needs to be done at a slower speed, there is a small number of hard sessions available, usually no more than two per week, so distance, speed, intensity, and other parameters, need to be worked so the body can benefit and adapt.
 4      Poor fueling and hydration plans: if you donât test strategies during training, you wonât know what works for you. The time to find that out is during training, long runs, especially. The time to realize a certain gel upsets your stomach, is not during the race. Same applies to hydration. What to drink and when needs to be part of race plan, shouldnât be improvised on race day.
 5      Skipping rest days: Not running on a specific day is part of your training. These days should be written into your schedule and followed to the tee. No amount of ice baths, compression socks or protein shakes will do you any good if you donât give your body a break to recover so it can run again.
Rest is as part of your training as your work. Donât skip it!
6Â Â Â Â Â Â Not scheduling cutback weeks: Â During training you build up endurance, aerobic capacity, Vo2Max, and multiple additional parameters. But you canât build up forever. Your body has a limit and needs time to actively rest so it can adapt to the benefits provided by your workouts. Programming a week to cut back on your training provides your body with time to adjust and recover, is key.
7Â Â Â Â Â Â Cutting sleep: Â Remember you donât improve when you work out, you improve while you sleep. The long run the tempo, the weightlifting, or the speed session damage your body. It is when you sleep that your body gets repaired. If you skip on sleep, you wonât realize all the benefits of the training, but you will keep the muscle damage.
 8      Screwing up the tapering: Physiological adaptations after exercise, take between two and three weeks to adapt. So, there is no benefit on one last long run in the last couple of weeks. You need to actively rest and recover your body so it will be in its best shape for race day. During tapering there is nothing to gain, yet a lot to lose.
 9      Following someone elseâs training plan: There is nothing wrong with talking to your buddies about what they are doing, but they may not have the same goals as you and you do not have the same physiology as them. Set up YOUR PLAN, adjust as needed, and stick to it. Trust your coach. Trust your plan. Trust yourself.
Of course, there are more than nine mistakes you can incur during a marathon training cycle. These are just some of the most common and they mostly apply to any distance. As you finish your training for your Abbott Marathon Major or get ready for your upcoming goal race, make sure you are on the lookout for the aforementioned mistakes, so you wonât screw up your hard work. Â
by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 17, 2021 | Article, Opinion, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
Maybe because I started running way before personal computers and the internet were ubiquitous. Or because I am a visual person. Or because I am just traditional. I like to keep track of my sporting activities in a written log. For years I handwrote in a 3-ring binder and, as the technology progressed, I set up a spreadsheet that has been constantly changing as I learned more about the wonders of MS Excel.
These days, with Garmin, Strava, TrainingPeaks, RunKeeper, and many, many more, you just forget about it, and someone keeps track for you. And they do so with more parameters than you will ever need, know what to do with, or care for. I do believe it is inevitable that any âseriousâ runner will end up with a GPS watch and an online account, and that is a good thing. But at the same time I believe that so much data, uploaded up there in the cloud, where you can access but small portions of it at a time, is not necessarily better. Yes, well into the 21st Century, I advocate for a written running log.
World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge has been keeping a handwritten running log since he turned professional
Eliud Kipchoge, âyes, that Eliud Kipchogeâ has kept a had written, yearly running log since he became a professional runner. He records in every single workout as detailed as possible, also adding things and thoughts from outside the running world that may help his training. âWhen you write, then you rememberâ, he says. If it works for Kipchoge, maybe you should give some thought.
There are multiple ways to keep track of your activity. You can do it by hand in an appointment book, a 3-ring binder, or a notebook. There are also a variety of journals on sale specifically designed for this purpose. In your computer you can develop an Excel sheet to track what is important to you, or you can just write in your entries in a Word (or equivalent) document. Google has spreadsheets and documents that are accessible in your desktop computer and phone. The options, these days, are limitless.
It is important to take your time to write or type something into your journal, purposefully, so you can internalize it, meditate on it, and visualize. Your GPS watch doesnât record your thoughts.
Your entries can be arranged, based on the platform where you keep them: daily, weekly, or monthly. My personal preference is monthly because it allows me to review a bigger segment of my training in a single glance. Since I developed my Excel sheet, I have added weekly totals, monthly and yearly totals, pace average, heart rate, temperature, humidity, cross training, and much more.
Why do we keep track?
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Because when we get in a rut (and you will), you can go back to when you were doing great and check what worked for you back then.
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Because when you are training for your goal race you can glance your entire training without thumbing through hundreds of single entries in Strava or Garmin.
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Because when you decide to change GPS watch brand, or want to change your online tracking platform, you wonât lose the data in your account.
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Because when you are looking for a specific piece of data you can flip a page or two instead of combing through thousands upon thousands of data entries that were not designed with your needs in mind.
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Because you can store it by year, month or whatever parameter works for you so data will be easily accessible when you need to consult it.
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Because it creates a spectacular database that will become your frame of reference to get you from where you are today to where you want to be, tomorrow.
Handwritten logbooks or computer spreadsheets can become as elaborate or a simple as your individual needs.
If by any chance I have persuaded you to give a running log a try, start right away. Now! Write down date, mileage, time and specific, detailed notes of each workout. If you did a particular mobility exercise or weightlifting routine that made you feel good, write it down. If you ran with someone who helped you get the best out of your ability, write it down. If the temperature or humidity became a pro or a con on your run, write it down. If you started with a new pair of shoes, write it down. If you feel any parameters become key in every workout, start tracking them.
The key to the usefulness of your log is the quality and trustworthiness of the data. If you fail to do your entries after each training, if you donât keep good notes on why it went great or why you bonked, if you are just guessing your mileage and time, if you are lying to yourself, if you misplace your logs in your home or computer; then you are better off not wasting your time.
Think of all the benefits Iâve enumerated and check for yourself if they have any merits.
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Aug 10, 2021 | Article, Opinion, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
I visited The Netherlands for my birthday, a few years ago, and of course I looked for a race. I was going to be in The Hague, and God smiled at me with the Den Haag Marathon on the exact same weekend I planned to arrive. I ran the half. It was an unbelievable experience. The most beautiful course in one of the prettiest and quaintest cities Iâve ever visited.
But one of the memories that has endured from my experience in the Den Haag race is kind of weird. The urinals at the starting area, which was in a public park. Yes, urinals. And not just at the starting line but also in many public places around town and as permanent structures throughout several cities in The Netherlands.
Public urinal in front of the Department of Justice in Den Haag, The Netherlands.
While waiting for the gun to go off at Den Haag, I saw these weird rigid plastic structures. They were on top of a square shaped base, maybe 4 feet to a side, about 7 feet tall, each side bisected with a wall, which created four âcubiclesâ. Each space had a âVâ shaped opening at about 3 feet high at the innermost corner. They looked like⌠No!!⌠It canât be!!!… But they were! They were urinals and weirdest of all, men were actually urinating in them, leaving the port-a-potty facilities for those males with âbigger needsâ and women.
As you may imagine, I did not take pictures of people using these artifacts, but I did take a picture of an exact one, at a later date, this one in a square surrounded by restaurants, bars and located right in front of the Department of Justice (See accompanying image). It was there 24/7 for people (men) visiting their favorite watering holes to âtake care of businessâ without resorting to the unsanitary and illegal option of going against the walls, cars, trees or bushes. Very pragmatic, like most Dutch solutions.
I know this may be a weird topic for this forum, but I assume we are all adults and we can discuss the issue with some degree of maturity. And, since every runner has at least a handful of port-a-potty horror stories during their racing career, I wanted to make the case in favor of the use of urinals for races in the United States.
THE MATH
Letâs set up a case study with a mid-size race of 3000 runners. Letâs assume a 50-50 split on the binary genders (1500 each). And letâs assume for this example the race director calculated a port-a-potty for each 75 participants, for a total of 40. If 75% of people use the facilities pre-race (2,250) and letâs say one third of them (563) are in line at any given time before the gun goes off, this means an average line of 19 people per door. Assuming an average time of 3 minutes per use, the average waiting time is 57 minutes per user. Weâve all been there and if not, we havenât raced enough.
Now, letâs say this same race director decides to be pragmatic and exchange just five traditional port-a-potties with 4-corner urinals placed at an appropriate location in the starting area. For this example letâs say 75% of the male users (844) are using the facilities only for urination. Then, the overall population of runners using the port-a-potties has been reduced from 2,250 to 1,406, which at 35 doors and the exact parameters of usage as before, the average runner will be waiting in line for 40 minutes. Does it sound like still a long wait? Iâll take it. It is 30% shorter. It is a start.
 THE SOLUTION
There is a solution to this problem. Do we have the maturity to solve it?
I donât assume to be speaking for all male runners, but I believe I am for a vast majority. Letâs face it, most of us at some point have found a tree, a bush or a wall to relieve ourselves while waiting at the starting area of a race. And while there, very likely have witnessed females crouching with their shorts half down doing the same and for the same reason as us. And letâs come clear here, there is nothing sexy or sexual about adults exposing themselves to take care of business before a race. I havenât experienced the first sexual frenzy in such situation. So letâs grow up and find a solution. There is one and it has been in use in Europe for years.
A difference between the Dutch and the Americans is that the former are extremely pragmatic in the solutions to their public issues while the latter are still embarrassedly prudish with anything related to sexual organs, even if they are being used for purposes other than procreation or related fun-driven activities. While the municipality of Amsterdam installed urinals around the bar areas once they figured out a substantial percentage of drowned men in the canals were found drunk and with their fly open, in the USA we would face a âToday Show exclusive investigation on the immorality of urinals in foot racesâ, reported by non-runners, despite the fact that it will ameliorate a big problem within this industry.
The use of port-a-potties is as part of a race as complaining of nagging injuries with your friends. None of them are going away anytime soon. There is a solution out there. Can we grow up and use it? Or are we to prudish to implement it?
Any thoughts?
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jul 20, 2021 | Article, Coaching
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
The thrill of setting up my 10K PR, back in 2018
As any racing season moves by, you talk to many runners about what they have accomplished and what they want to accomplish. It is not just the natural flow of things among the people that do what we do, but it is also part of the fun. Most of us love to test ourselves on races because, as Dr. George Sheehan brilliantly stated: âRacing is the lovemaking for the runner. It is hard to pass upâ.
PR stands for Personal Record. It can also be stated as PB (Personal Best). There are many variations of it. As we age, some runners reset their PRs every 5 or 10 years. Others live of the former glory when the ran a sub-3 marathon 30 years ago even if they canât make it to a sub-4, now. And that is OK, too. The âPâ stands for âpersonalâ, so it is what works for you and what makes you happy. They key is to not lose sight of the reason we like to practice our sport. Nobody started their running journey so they can run a sub-20 5K or a sub-2 half marathon. All that came in later, and there is a reason for that.
As I mentioned before, while interacting with fellow runners last season, one told me she wasnât feeling that good for an upcoming 10K race so she would have to settle for not going for a PR. This after a few good races in a row where she did set 10K and half-marathon PRs. I reminded her that the body needs to recover in order to maintain itself strong and injury-free. I also asked her to remember the main reason why she started her running journey and finally suggested to go out there and just have some fun. I must have hit something there because she thanked me and said she felt better.
Brilliant quote by Dr. George Sheehan
Another runner, this one a closer friend, had registered for a half-marathon a year ago and between this time and the race, a lot had happened, including the grueling training for two full marathon PRs, the last one less than a month prior to the race. I insisted that he should just go an enjoy the race, as it had a beautiful course, but he said: âI know you are right, but when the adrenaline hits me at the starting line it is difficult to contain yourselfâ. In order to shock him I replied: âYes, I understand, but do you want your friends go through that rush while you just cheer for them, injured from the sidelines because you couldnât contain yourself?â. At the end, my friend did set a PR, finished strong and felt great, but I firmly believe the advice still applies.
My point with these two stories is that it is imperative to allow our brains to override the adrenaline and the satisfaction of being adulated for our athletic prowess in Facebook and Instagram after a PR. We started to run to get healthier, to lose weight, or fill-in-the-blank-here; and we kept going because we enjoy the freedom of being outside, keeping ourselves in motion, the social aspect of it or fill-in-the-blank-here. So, if you want to keep doing that, be smart and understand that a PR is just a by-product of your running, not your reason.
I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Please leave me a comment, below.
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jun 15, 2021 | Article, Coaching, Opinion
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
A few weeks ago I went for a run with one of my trainees. He brought a friend to join in. He knew how beneficial it had been for my trainee to follow a structured, individualized, and supervised training plan. He was very aware of my traineeâs progress during the months we worked together. So, as we ran, he picked my brain with a few poignant questions.
There was one that caught my attention and kept me thinking for a few days. He was training for a 50-mile race, and he wanted to know: As a coach, what is the weekly mileage I recommend for someone wanting to complete his distance?
As you may imagine by now, there is one and only one answer for such a question: âIt dependsâ.
It was then when I started enumerating the different variables that need to be considered before I answered such a question. There is a whole set of variables that needs to be pondered and expressed in a training plan before a goal may have a chance to be realized. These variables, among others and in no particular order, are:
* Goal â What is it that you are trying to achieve?
* Balance – There must be a reason why miles are prescribed. No junk miles.
* Rest â It is a much part of a training plan as a long run.
* Nutrition â Without being a dietitian, a coach must understand the basics of healthy eating.
* Speed work â has to be balanced between long runs and recovery days.
* Intensity â It is not about how fast but how hard you are pushing.
* Aerobic capacity â For runs over 800 mts, it is the basic measurement of endurance.
* Strength training â core and weight work are key to the success of a runner.
* Cross Training â It canât be all running. Supplementary activities need to be performed.
* Hydration â Not only about avoiding dehydration but when and how much fluids to consume.
* Fueling â caloric intake that needs to be consumed for the body to complete the task efficiently.
* Race strategy â What will you do on race day with what you have worked so hard to obtain.
* Recovery â What to do once you are done with your training cycle, so you donât burn out.
Combining all these and many more variables in a reasonable, achievable, and well-balanced plan, requires knowledge, preparation, and experience, both as a runner and as a coach. But even with all these elements, coaching runners is still not an exact science.
Each body reacts different to the same stimuli, and because life affect every runner in an individual way, it is imperative for a running coach to be openminded, flexible and willing to adjust as weeks go by. This canât be achieved by cookie-cutter, generic plan downloaded from the internet.
Running a 10K, a half marathon or a marathon is not unachievable. Hundreds of thousands of people do it year in and year out. But as you look to achieve certain distance or time goals, if you want to get the best out of what you have and/or if you want to improve and test your limits, the guidance of a knowledgeable coach, one who can balance art and science, becomes more important, if not indispensable.
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