Hi everyone,
You are all doing so well! I was about to say it seemed to be a walk in the park for you, except for once we weren’t in the park… 🙂
So first, importantly – next week is ASL’s October break and many of the group may not be around for the Tuesday run. But not all of you are ASL and not all may be going away, so please reach out to each other to see who is available to run and when. If you are away, try to get one run in between now and next Thursday, even if it’s just a few 2 or 3 minute intervals. Don’t worry about keeping track of how many intervals – just get out there and run/walk for about 35-40 minutes if you can. We want our legs to get used to running on a regular basis.
There were a few questions today about footwear and nutrition and comments about aches and pains so here are a few thoughts on that so everyone can have the same information.
Shoes – if you are feeling like you want/need a new pair of shoes, you can go out at any time now and buy some. Runners Need and the Asics store on Oxford St both do gait analysis and will help you find the proper shoe. However, you do not need to go out and buy a new pair of shoes if you are feeling like yours are fine. There may be a point when we will advise you to get a new pair of shoes because if yours are getting old, they won’t have the support you will need as we start to increase our run times. But for now, as long as you’re comfortable, you’re fine.
Nutrition – it’s good to eat a little something before you come out to run, but you don’t want to eat a lot. Everyone is different in what works for them so try different things each week and see what works for you. Things to try – a banana, yogurt, toast with peanut butter, a granola bar. It’s fine to have coffee before the run. When we are running longer distances, we will give you more information about nutrition for before, during and after the run, but we aren’t to a point yet where we need to be thinking about it. More things to look forward to!
Aches – some of you may be experiencing some aches and pains. It is common to have some aches and pains during the first 2-3 months of this program. For the most part, it’s just our body’s way of telling us "Thank you very much, but I would prefer hanging out at Starbucks and skipping the running part." Many of you are already fit through other types of sports/hiking/tennis/etc, but we use different muscles in running and those muscles/joints will speak up. As a very general guideline, most experts suggest ignoring the first 10-15 minutes of an exercise session then after that monitoring whether the pain/discomfort is stabilizing or increasing. If the pain increases while you are running, then you should stop – if the pain is consistent or lessens during exercise then usually you’re fine to continue.
All of us will benefit from lots of stretching and some squats or lungs whenever you have a bit of time. You don’t have to go to a gym to do squats/lunges – you can do them anywhere. Those exercises build muscle in your legs particularly around your knees. The stronger those muscles become the more they can help to stabilize your knee joint which is extremely helpful in running. Don’t let these suggestions overwhelm you! None of it is required, it’s just the more you do, the easier the running will be. Lastly on this topic, we are still only running twice a week. This is SO important. Feel free to do as much walking as you want, and tennis, or swimming, yoga, pilates or whatever….. but not running. Twice a week is the perfect amount right now. In a month or so we will come to a point where we’ll tell you it will be good to add a third run, but not yet.
If you are away for the break, we hope you have a wonderful time!
See you Thursday,
Amy, Meg and Vicky
Here is our group from yesterday – sorry for the small photo – technical difficulties!