The Right Mileage for Me

The Right Mileage for Me

by | Aug 2, 2022 | Coaching, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

As a running coach, athlets often ask me about weekly mileage. How many miles should I run if I want to complete a marathon? Can I only increase my mileage by up to 10% a week? Why can so-and-so run XX miles a week and I am running only half of that? Am I losing fitness if I lower my mileage for recovery purposes for a week or two? And many, many more.

Right Mileage

The right mileage is as individual as each runner. There is not one number that applies to everybody (Photo: Pexels)

Well, the answer to all these questions is the same. It happens to be the same answer to most running questions: It depends.

They key for any runner looking to improve on their times, distance, pace or fitness is to understand that the main goal should be based on performance, not on a pre-set number of miles. It is a matter of achieving your objectives while remaining healthy and injury-free. I recently read that you should run in between “as much as you can get away with and as little as you can get away with”. Genius!

The appropriate mileage for a runner is as individual as each athlete. It depends on a series of variables which need to be dialed appropriately so progress won’t be hindered, and injuries may stay away from the equation. Such variables are:

Goals: Before you figure out what is the right mileage for you, set up your goal. If you want to run your first or your best 5K, you will not run the same mileage as if you were training for a marathon. At the same time, a marathoner may need to run 100+ miles per week if he wants to run 2:20, while that number is a prelude to severe injury for a runner trying to break 4-hours in the same distance.

Age: Even the elites slow down as they age. They still run more than you or me, but they require more recovery in between vigorous efforts. What you could do in your 20s or 30s no longer applies in your 50s or 60s and you must accept it as part of the aging process. Look forward to competition in your age group and to be the best you can be at whatever stage of your life you’re currently at.

Experience: If you have been running for 30 years, your body is adjusted to a certain pounding on its bones and soft tissues. This alone will allow you to run longer. Not because you are holier than thou, but because you have adapted. Understand that not because you have adapted, your body can take unlimited mileage, so don’t overdo it either.

Right Mileage

Miles are dictated by the interaction of many variables, such as goal, pace, experience and injuries, among others (Photo: Mikhail Nilov, Pexels)

Pace: Most runners want to run as fast as we can. We would love to set up PRs in every race, but that’s a chimera. So, we adapt to reality. Running slow is the key to running faster, for many physiological reasons that are beyond the scope of this post. Understand that the long run is about spending more time on your feet, pounding the surface, not about running faster. The sooner you’ll grasp and accept this concept, the faster you’ll be running.

Injuries: Certain injuries will require you to stop running altogether. For days, weeks or even months. Others will force you to reduce your mileage but not necessarily stop. Be smart and make sure you understand what your body is communicating. A shorter mileage today may be the key to avoiding zero-mile months down the road because you overdid it and now you are injured.

The 10% Rule: This is an urban myth. This is not a magic number, not even a well-reasoned percentage. If you are an experienced runner and your body has done it recently, you can increase that mileage by as much as you can tolerate it. If you are coming off 10 years on the couch eating Doritos and drinking Coke, it is advisable to take it easier. Less than 10% per week.

Sure, there is always the freak of nature that hit the gene lottery and can do whatever they want, for as long as they want at whatever pace they want, with little to no recovery time. Yes, they exist, but those are outliers. Do not compare yourself to them. It would be like comparing yourself to Eliud Kipchoge and not understanding why you can’t run a sub-2 marathon. So, be smart.

The essentials for a solid running plan are flexibility and adaptability. It must be dynamic. The best is always an individual plan, personalized just for you. But it is understandable that this is not in everybody’s reach. Generic plans downloaded from the internet may be ok, but are dime-a-dozen, with the key operating word being “generic”. If you are to use one of these, make sure you are not so rigid that you’ll end up hurt because you did too much or undertrained at the starting line because you did too little.

 
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Running by Perceived Effort

Running by Perceived Effort

by | Jun 14, 2022 | Article, Reflection, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

As athletes, we have become so accustomed to technology that is has become an intrinsic part of our daily activity. Our GPS watches capture more data about more metrics than we even know what to do with. Even worse, we feel the need to share every single mile, every single plank and every single cross training session with the world, via our social media channels.

Perceived Effort

Your GPS Watch can measure many parameters, but only you can measure your effort.

As great as it is to have all our metrics a screen-tap away, the need to impress running friends and strangers with our daily achievements could be in detriment of your progress as runners. We know that slow runs are not sexy, they don’t get as many likes. We understand that running 11-minutes miles when you are a well-known Sub-4 marathoner is not what your brand is all about. But, when 80% of your training is supposed to be done at an easy pace, you either make peace with it or stop posting your easy runs. But I digress.

The time has come for us runners to understand that pace and effort are two different parameters. The primary measuring boundary is not how fast you are running, but how hard your body is working at any given time. The latter measurement is called the Perceived Rate of Exertion (PRE). It is also known as Rate of Perceived Effort (RPE).

According to the CDC, Perceived Exertion is how hard you feel like your body is working. It is based on the physical sensations a person experiences during physical activity, including increased heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating, and muscle fatigue.

PRE can fluctuate dramatically depending on the athlete and the circumstances of any particular run. A 50% effort after a restful, full night of sleep, on a flat surface, at sea level during a cool, dry spring day, will have you running faster than if you ran a hilly course, at noon, in the middle of the summer, at 90% humidity, right after a big fight with your spouse.

There are a handful of scales to measure your PRE, and regardless of the one you prefer, they are all subjective and they end up evaluating the same thing, just using a different label. The most prominent are the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale and the RPE Scale.

Perceived Effort

Click on the image to expand

The Borg scale was developed by Swedish researcher Gunnar Borg, as a tool for measuring an individual\’s effort and exertion, breathlessness and fatigue during physical work. Its scale goes from 6 through 20 and it is set to roughly correlate heart rate. But, as revolutionary as it was when first proposed, that 6-20 range results very awkward to visualize. Plus, not everyone’s heart rate rests at 60 nor it maxes out at 200. Even experienced athletes have a challenging time figuring out where they are from 6-20 at any given moment when 6 is sitting/resting while 20 is maximal exertion. See the accompanying chart.

I personally prefer and recommend to my trained runners, an RPE Scale that goes from 1 to 10. This is nothing but a modification of Borg, but much easier to visualize both in theory and in practice. A Training at 5/10 RPE is at 50% of maximum effort instead of a 12/20 PRE. When you need to do a hill repeat at 7/10 RPE it is easy to figure out where 70% of maximum effort is, rather than a 16/20. See accompanying graphic.

Perceived Effort

Click on the image to expand

Because the cardinal sin of running is going too hard on easy days, the key to these scales is to figure out where your easy pace fits in. When your coach asks you to “run easy”, understand that you are asked to run at a 4-5/10 effort (40 to 50% of maximum effort), or whatever other parameter your coach has set up for that day. This is the sweet spot. It will feel like walking if you are not used to easy running but, with time, it will serve you well. Guaranteed.

As cliché as it sounds, always remember the GPS watch is an indicator of your performance, not the director of your training. It is the GPS watch that serves you, not the other way around. Stick to your plan and don’t get exerted more than prescribed. It is the key to maintaining yourself fresh, rested, injury-free and ready for hard workouts.

Have faith in the process. In a Runner’s World article from October 2021, Grete Waitz, former marathon world-record holder, Olympic medalist and nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon, was quoted stating: “Hurry slowly”. Believe me, she knew what she was talking about.

 
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Adjusting to Summer Running

Adjusting to Summer Running

by | May 31, 2022 | Article, List, Reflection, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

Since the majority of my readers and trainees are in the Northern Hemisphere and the weather is warming up rapidly despite being three weeks away from the Summer Solstice, the time has come to remind all athletes that running during the hottest times of the year requires purposeful and intentional adjustments. These modifications are not optional. If you don’t alter your habits, you will not only be unable to maintain or increase your fitness, but you could get seriously hurt.

Heat related injuries won’t break your bones, but they could have lasting effects on your body, and thus, on the future of running.

So, here are 5 tips to adjust to summer running.

1 – Understand what is happening – There are two basic things that happen when you run in a hot and/or humid environment. They just are, so there is no use in fighting them.

1A – The first one is basic physics: Humid air is denser than dry air, so it takes more effort to displace a heavier mass of air, thus enhancing the effort it takes to run at the same speed.

1B – The second one is basic biology: The human body cools off by sweating and the blood contains about 92% water. The more you sweat without replenishing fluids, the more water gets sucked out of your bloodstream and the ticker blood becomes, making it more difficult to circulate. That alone, spells deep trouble.

Summer Running

If you can’t adjust the time of your tun, you may end up on the dreaded treadmill (Julia Larson, Pexels)

2 – Adjust the time of your running – If you live in places like Florida, Texas or similar, your two options are adjusting to run in the heat/humidity or not running at all. If you want to continue running, you must do it at the coolest time possible, when it is gentler to the body. Before sunrise or after sunset are the basic choices. Wake up earlier or wait until later. If you can’t then the dreaded treadmill seems like your option, but that comes with its own set of particularities that you will have to deal with.

A good hack is to keep your running shirt and hat in the freezer and put them on right before you hit the road. This will cool off your core and provide you with a few comfortable initial miles before the inevitable sets in.

3 – Slow your race – There is a reason most mainstream races take place in the fall or the spring. Who wants their goal race in the thick of the scorching summer? So, since summer is usually the time to get ready for the upcoming season, it is the perfect time to take care of the feared strength training and to build up your aerobic engine, which is done by running slower than usual. Your fall and spring PRs are built during the summer. Take advantage of it. Don’t worry about what the fast people in your running group may say or what your Instagram followers may think.

Summer Running


Hydration during the summer months is key, but overhydration can be a life threatening condition (Ketut Subiyanto, Pexels)

4 – Careful about overhydration: Hydration is key during the summer, but hydration is not only what you consume as you run. Hydration should be a 24/7 habit that will put you as close to fully hydrated when you start your GPS watch. Your body is designed to lose fluids and run without replenishing every single drop of water you lose. Don’t fall into the temptation of overindulging on water or sports drinks or you could experience hyponatremia, a condition in which the sodium levels are so diluted that it could cause seizures, coma and even death. For more on hyponatremia, I invite you to read what the Cleveland Clinic website has to say about this serious condition.

5 – Beware of the signs – Running during the summer has challenges that go beyond having to run earlier, later or slower. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are two of the most serious perils from running in inhospitable climates. It is important to know and recognize the symptoms of each one, so you can adjust properly and avoid a mishap that with luck, it will only keep you out for a few weeks, without it, it could kill you. I wrote an earlier post on heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke. I invite you to revisit it by clicking here.

Running in the heat and humidity is no joke. Please be careful out there. Never lose sight that you need to live to run another day. The line between toughness and doing something stupid is very thin and if you cross it, you can get seriously hurt.

There are no medals or podiums during training, so, be smart out there and remember you are only getting ready for next season.

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Book Review – Good to Go

Book Review – Good to Go

by | May 10, 2022 | Article, Book Review, Science

Written by Christie Aschwanden
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I heard of Christie Aschwanden a few months ago when she was as a guest on a running podcast that I follow. She was talking about recovery and she seemed very well versed in the subject. Not only that, but her experience in high-performance athletics as well as her background as an award-winning science journalist at The Washington Post and The New York Times, made me feel she was legit. The host also mentioned she had written a book on recovery, so I immediately ordered it.

Good to Go

A good book worth the money and time investment for anyone wanting to know more about athletic recovery.

As weekend warriors we tend to forget that our hard workouts, our weightlifting sessions, or our long runs will do nothing for us unless we allow our bodies to recover and adapt to what we just put them through. There will be no adaptation if we don’t rest and fuel ourselves properly. “Good to Go. What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” will help you gauge the different elements of recovery and put them in the right perspective.

The book is a tour through the many aspects of athletic recovery. It covers the things “everybody knows” through the ones that seem kind of way out there in the “snake oil” category. You can discern her journalistic and scientific background in her writing as she explored the many angles of each aspect of the science of recovery. I am not going to say that I read the papers she quotes to make up my mind on any aspect of what she presents, but if you start from the premise she is a solid researcher, as she seems to be, and an honest journalist, you will be impressed with what she presents in her book.

“Good to Go” is divided into 11 chapters. Each one goes in depth about an aspect of recovery. Nutrition, hydration, rest, compression, ice therapy, sleep, etc. They are individually treated and from several angles. With pros and cons, science research to back everything up, and the author’s personal experience trying many of the techniques and fads. Because the book was published in 2019, the author had access to the latest science and updates available, so you can learn a lot of new things.

The hydration chapter is fascinating. It goes through the history of the development of hydration as a science and how the sports drinks industry has taken over to popularize many myths that have become gospel in the endurance sports world. It is not that Gatorade doesn’t work, but it is not what it is marketed out to be either. You need to adapt your body to use its fluid resources wisely and then assist it with hydration while it works. A certain level of dehydration is perfectly normal. You don’t need to replenish every drop you sweat.

Good to Go

The author is an award-winning science journalist at The Washington Post and The New York Times.

As for fueling, I found was very interested in her debunking of the myth that there is a window of opportunity to feed your body after you wrap up your training. We’ve all heard that the magic window is the first hour, or even 30 minutes. She explains the science behind this and concludes that there is no “window of opportunity” but a “barn door of opportunity”. Your body is not going to reject the nutrient it needs just because they were offered too late for them to be absorbed. She concludes that unless you are to work out or compete again in a short period of time, there is no necessity to start refueling right away.

When it comes to sleep, there is one paragraph that blew my mind: “The benefits of sleep cannot be overstated. It is hands-down the most powerful recovery tool known to science. Nothing else comes close to sleep’s enhancing-recovery powers. You could add together every other recovery aid ever discovered, and they wouldn’t stack up. Going to sleep is like taking your body to the repair shop. While you doze, your body’s recovery processes ramp up to fix the damage you did during the day and get you ready to perform again”. Do you need to know anything else?

Of course I am synopsizing in one paragraph what I liked the most about entire chapters of about 20+ pages, with scientific quotations, personal experiences and field studies. What I am stating here is by no means the entire book, just a few comments to whet your appetite if you would like to learn more about these subjects.

The author also goes into detail on issues such as nutritional supplements, overtraining syndrome, and the placebo effect, providing you with scientific based information from several angles. These subjects, in conjunction with the other ones, will make you question some pre-conceived concepts you may have, and make you wonder if you’ve been approaching your recovery all wrong.

By the way, the book’s conclusion is that good sleep trumps every other aspect of recovery, so focus on that first. The rest is just icing on the cake.

“Good to Go. What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” is not only a good book, worth the money and time invested in it. It is also well written, very entertaining, and will leave you with valuable lessons that will make you a better athlete.

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On Running While Holding your Phone

On Running While Holding your Phone

by | Mar 22, 2022 | Article, Reflection, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I live in South Florida, not too far from the beach. One of the projects I am currently working on has me driving through Ft. Lauderdale Beach on a regular basis at various times of the day.

One of the favorite pastimes during my commute, has become checking of the form of the many runners I see along the beachside. It started as something fun to do and now it has turned into an exercise to become more proficient at analyzing running form issues. Yes, I do understand there is no one-size-fits-all running form, but there are blunders that are blatantly wrong and if not corrected, they’ll lead to injury.

Running While Holding Your Phone

Holding the phone in your hand while you run, could lead to injury.

I’ve noticed that at least 75% of runners with bad arm mechanics are holding their cellphones in one of their hands. By now, when I spot form flaws from afar, I can bet who is holding a phone, and I rarely miss.

Phones have many advantages and functions and they’ve become ubiquitous. They provide music, tracking, feedback, safety and security, among many others. Yes, it is important to carry it while you run, but that doesn’t mean you must carry it in your hand. With so many options in the market, there are plenty of alternatives to clenching to it. And this is why:

In his book “Running to the Top”, legendary coach Arthur Lydiard states that “If we clench our fists – and I often see people running with weights clenched in the hand – we tighten the upper shoulder muscles and, consequently, start to get a shoulder roll. Something has to go back when you\’re running; it should be your hand, but put tension on those arms and the shoulder will begin to roll, and that\’s undesirable.”

Of course your phone is not as heavy as the lightest of weights, but it is a precious object, both in monetary and emotional value. So, regardless of how light your phone may be, you are holding in tightly. You don’t want to drop it. This means you are contracting the muscles in your hands, and thus, arms, shoulders and even chest, screwing with the counterbalancing your gait needs by compromising the flow of your kinetic chain. While this happens, your other arm is doing its own thing. A recipe for unbalances in your leg, hip and shoulder, and thus, injury.

This is not a new phenomenon. It has been touched upon in many magazines and websites for several year, now.

In a 2019 article from Cosmopolitan UK, by Caitriona Harvey-Jenner, professional running coach Alexa Duckworth-Briggs, urges runners to carry phones in a waist belt. \”When you hold something in our hands, there are subtle knock-on effects to your gait. It creates muscular imbalances, affects the distribution of weight across your body, and makes you a less efficient runner in general. By making one arm heavier, you’re altering the momentum of your limbs. And your body will attempt to compensate for the imbalance by working certain muscles harder than others. That’s where repetitive strain injuries will come into play.\”

Running While Holding Your Phone

Arm bands are a little bit better, since you don’t contract your muscles, but they are not the solution, either.

In another article, this one in Active.com, author Hunter Hewitt explains how “running with something in your hand causes you to use body parts differently than you normally would. Proper running form starts with muscle equilibrium and even distribution of weight across your body. Holding something creates asymmetry, as you use your hand and arm differently compared to when you\’re running hands-free. These asymmetrical effects lead to poor form and muscular imbalance, which make you a less efficient runner.”

Since we are touching on the subject, the same principles apply to water bottles, towels and any other artifacts you may want to bring with you while running. Carry them on you, sure, but don’t hold to them.

Although an arm phone carrier is better than holding it in your hand, it is not the solution, as it adds weight to one of your sides. And even though you may think it is negligible, and for one day or two it may be, running mile after mile, week over week, month over month, at the rate of about 1500-1700 steps per mile, the cumulative effect will eventually get to you.

Let’s get this bad habit fixed before we end up holding those phones to take pictures from the sidelines while our friends, those who carry them in their belts, finish their races.

 
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Should I Run Through Pain?

Should I Run Through Pain?

by | Feb 8, 2022 | Article, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 This is a broad question that all runners have asked themselves at one point or another. Running and pain have a complex relationship. It is a rare occasion when there’s not a little pain here or a kink there that worries us after a hard workout, or as a race approaches. Most of these come with the territory of being a runner. Comedian Dana Carvey wisely said: “If I only ran when nothing hurts, I would never run”.

By the way: I am stating here that I am not a medical doctor, nor a physical therapist, nor a practitioner of any of the medical sciences. These are just suggestions based on 40+ years of experience as a runner. Consult your physician before making any health decision. Don’t base them on what you read here. With that out of the way, I continue.

Running through pain

Be smart when dealing with pain and you will avoid injuries (Photo Pexels: Kindel Media)

Most of our daily aches and pains are usually a product of the normal wear and tear from practicing our sport, and many times it is OK to run through them. But beware. The era of the “no pain, no gain” approach to running is long gone. The “nothing can stop me” macho attitude is not conducive to a long or a healthy running career. It is not the same to finish a marathon when you started limping at mile 25, than running through that same limp since mile 7. Aches and pains can be red flags and we must be able to identify them on the fly.

Most running injuries happen from a combination of repetitive movement and/or not enough recovery. When we approach this place in our training, our body usually provides us with warning signs. The more in tune we are with our bodies, the clearer we receive such communications. And the only way to be in tune with your body’s signals is to acquire more experience by running more.

 When can we run through pain?

1 – When your pain is a product of basic muscle soreness: By running we put an extraordinary amount of stress into our musculoskeletal structure. Muscle soreness is a natural byproduct of it. The more experience you gain as a runner, the more you will be able to discern on the source and type of your pains. Some muscle soreness if normal. If you don’t have to compensate and/or change your form, you should be ok by running through minor discomfort.

2 – If pain subsides or decreases as you warm up: It is normal to feel some pain and discomfort as you initiate your run. If you just woke up or spent an extended period sitting down, this is normal. Muscles, tendons and ligaments need to get back into shape to carry you through. Resetting your range of motion with exercises such as the lunge matrix, and/or warming up properly should help you accomplish this, and allow you to have a good session.

If you have determined that you will run through the pain and discomfort, don’t be afraid to adjust your training session to the current situation. Don’t be afraid to go slower, cut the run short, or dial back the intensity if needed. Always have in mind that no one training session will make you or break you. It is the small, consistent gains what’s will make you better. And you won’t be able to compile them if you are out of commission with a preventable injury.

When should we not run through pain?

1 – If there is excessive fatigue: It is normal to be tired from training, especially when you are increasing your mileage, add weight training, or you approach the peak portion of your race program. What is not normal is to wake up so beat up that you are not sure if you can complete your session for the day. This is a clear sign that it is time to dial back and recover before you get overtrained or injured.

Running through pain2 – When it forces you to alter your form: Minor aches or discomfort is one thing, altering and adjusting your form because pain is too severe is a red flag and you should stop immediately. If you keep going, you could damage something else by moving in a way your body wasn’t designed for or by adding stress to structures unprepared to sustain it at the time.

3 – If it gets worse as you run: If whatever you feel increases as you go through your training session, stop immediately. It is not going to get better by running further. Assess the situation and figure out if it needs professional consultation.

4 – Through intense pain: Regardless of how seasoned you are as a runner, you should be able to discern what intense pain is. You know what a normal nuisance is. Use common sense to identify the types and levels of pain you are not supposed to run through. If it hurts that bad, something must be wrong. Stop. Assess. Consult a professional.

Have in mind that running is an impact sport. You are hitting the ground with about 300% of your body weight about 800 times per leg, per mile. This causse muscle and soft tissue damage. So, something is usually going to ache or be sore. It is when the body repairs itself from that stress that you become fitter and stronger.

Be smart. Make sure you live to run another day.

 
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