Running is usually considered a solo sport.  My road to Boston has been a total team effort from my coach Dr. Stephen Connor (referred to usually as “Dr. Stevil”), Rebecca (my favorite writer who wrote into iRun), Lisa (my pace bunny), my running girls and boys, to my biggest supporter, my husband Scott. Scott has taken on a new job on the team – “blog editor”.

I’ve just returned from #2 of the big 5 (ran Chicago with my Dad in 2003). I ran New York City Marathon with 5 girlfriends.  What a great way to start my iRun journey to Boston!  It was a slow start – 25 minutes slower then my Toronto qualifying marathon.  I guess that’s what happens when you have to take 8 weeks off running because of plantar fascitis, start a new full time job and busy raising two wonderful kids. My foot is 100% ready and I now have a new drive to get back to a sub 3:45 marathon. My “team” is going to be huge at Boston. I don’t want them to have to wait that long to see me run across that finishing line. I’m giving myself one more week to fully recover than we start hitting the pavement. I have a little detour before Boston – a family trip to Disney with a little 42.2k race thrown in – cause 42.3k would be crazy!

To commemorate Remembrance Day, Toronto coach Jeff Cooper will be running for 12 hours from 11:00 am until 11:00 pm, and he’s inviting anyone who is interested to join him for part of the day. Cooper states he is running to “remember what’s important.”

If you would like to run to remember, here are the details provided by Cooper:

I will be starting from our usual Bayview and York Mills location from the Second Cup and running the 10.4 mile loop to the bridge … 6 times!

The running plan for the day is as follows:

To run the 1st, 3rd and 5th loop heading South down Bayview and finishing West along York Mills.

To run the 2nd, 4th and 6th loop heading East along York Mills and finishing North on Bayview. (just the reverse direction).

Due to some park construction, this route may vary slightly.

NOTE: We will be leaving approximately every two hours so if you plan on coming out to join me for a run, please judge your time accordingly.

If you plan to come out and run after 5:00 p.m. when it’s dark, please remember to bring a headlight, flashlight etc

If you are available, willing and able on 11/11/11, I would love to have you come out join me. Hope to see you all out there!

The following is a guest post by Anthony Rose.

In 2010 I lost over 50 lbs. and then took up running. At first it was a challenge to make it 100 feet, everything would hurt and I would quit. I didn’t give up, I kept going just like my weight loss. I did 2 5K’s that year and fell in love with running. 2011 Rolled around and my relationship with my girlfriend ended. This was a blessing in disguise, I ran more, and pushed myself more. I eventually ran a 10K, and a half on the same weekend. After the half I had a crazy thought about Ironman. What a challenge and what a way to push yourself and see who you really are. I went out and bought a triathlon bike, never having done a triathlon in my life I would not know if I would like it or not. My plan was to do Ironman Lake Placid in 2012, until they announced Ironman Mont-Tremblant. That changed everything! The day registration opened, I registered and booked my hotel. What did I just do? 140.6 miles? I have never done a triathlon in my life! And the first one I registered for was Ironman.

This year I worked on my swimming, bike, run and nutrition. I have done 3 triathlons since registering for IMMT. The first triathlon I panicked in the water, I almost quit. But I didn’t, I kept going and I am so happy that I did! I love triathlons and I miss it. I wish I didn’t live in a climate where the triathlon season ended so early. For the new people trying tri’s out, do not forget your nutrition, it is so important! Especially in longer distance races. You don’t want to bonk coming out of the water before transition.

When you do your first tri, you don’t need a $5000 bike, or a $600 wetsuit. All you need is a bathing suit, regular runners, a regular bike without clipless pedals and a helmet. Very cost effective and you probably own everything already. The overall cost can be intimidating and I suggest doing some homework on your expenses. For example if you plan on doing an Ironman, look at $6-900 for registration, add your hotel, your gear, other supplies (spare tubes, co2 cartridges, nutrition etc). With all of that it can add up pretty quick.

After the big change in my life, in 2011 I have done a 1K with my son, 3 5K’s, 2 10K’s, 2 half-marathon’s, 1 Marathon, 3 triathlons, 1 spartan race, a 70KM cycle race, and I still have another half-marathon and a 5K lined up with my 6 year old son this weekend. Jan 2012 I will be going down to Phoenix Arizona for the Rock N Roll Marathon and then the Ottawa Race weekend Marathon with Team Diabetes in May.

I may not be the fastest in the triathlon or running world, but I am there to have fun and finish something I thought I could never do 2 years ago.

To the new people(I’m still new) just go out and register for a “Try a Tri” You will get the bug just like you do for running. It’s an amazing feeling after you are done! Weather it’s a try a tri, a sprint, Olympic, 70.3 ore even a full Ironman, you will get hooked and it will change your life forever.

This journey to Boston began a while ago, but writing about it here, and knowing that I am actually going to be standing at that starting line in April with an official race bib makes this portion of the journey the ‘final stretch’ to me.  The final stretch in any race is always the interesting part.  Those infamous last 10 kilometres of a marathon are the toughest, and definitely build the most character.  But for me, those character-building miles are the best part.

Over the next few months (just over 5 months until the big day!) I will share my journey through the character building miles that will bring me to Boston.  I will run many long runs, many interval training sessions, many tempo runs, and countless runs pushing my children in the jogging stroller.  Most importantly, I will be having fun!  Ok, those cold, dark winter mornings don’t rate high on the fun-meter–but somehow, we all get through them and we can smile again when our cheeks have thawed?!

I was in a race this past weekend, and rounding out the last mile of the race, there were spectators everywhere, cheering on friends and loved ones like it was their calling in life.  Those loved ones may not have been there for all of the training runs, but they were there for the final stretch.  Showing their support for their runner.  I feel so lucky to have support in this journey to one of the biggest races I will ever race.

Meet Amy Robitaille.

Amy’s story, titled “Getting There, or Not Quite Getting There: A Happy Story”, tells of how she trained hard for her 2010 marathon to qualify for Boston, only to discover well into her training that she was expecting a baby! Amy embraced her Plan B with a strong, positive attitude.

Our Favourite Part of Amy’s Contest Entry: “I had trained for so long and this marathon meant a lot to me…I had the good fortune of being healthy enough to continue training … knowing that this was my last chance at the BQ for the 2011 Boston Marathon was something I just had to accept and let go. As I stood at the starting line that cool, perfect September morning in 2010, I felt such a sense of accomplishment and amazement. I was 4 and a half months pregnant, about to run a strong but smart marathon. One that probably wouldn’t bring me to Boston, but one that I could talk about to my kids for decades.”

Now, the 32 year old from Rockwood, Ontario, will be running the 2012 Boston Marathon, courtesy of adidas. Follow Amy’s blog to join her on the Road to Boston!

Meet Kiska Colwill.

Kiska’s friend Rebecca wrote in to tell us how Kiska is an inspiration to runners in her community, going the extra mile (literally and figuratively) to ensure they meet their goals.

Our Favourite Part of Rebecca’s Entry about Kiska:” Kiska loves her sport, she loves sharing her passion for it even more…Kiska ran the Toronto marathon last spring with a group of friends. One of these friends failed to complete it. She was devastated, but decided to try again a month later…Kiska was 100% supportive… she drove her car up and down the race route with supplies, a tambourine and a massive cheering voice… her enthusiasm and joy for the sport is, quite simply, contagious. When she ran the Toronto marathon last spring she fulfi lled an almost decadelong personal goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Kiska needed a time of 3:45:00 and ran the race in 3:44:49. She was ecstatic – her best time ever…when it came to registering she didn’t make the cut. Of course she was upset, but perhaps not surprisingly still positive. She says that Boston is about fast runners and the fastest runners deserved to get in before her.”

Now, the 36 year old runner from Oakville , Ontario, will be running the 2012 Boston Marathon, courtesy of adidas. Follow Kiska’s blog to join her on the Road to Boston!

By: Dr. Trevor Vander Doelen BSc (Hon), DC

Due to the repetitive nature of any sport, cross training with strength training in Body Planes recommended to challenge the body in ways that the athlete’s main sport cannot offer. Strength training not only offers benefits of injury prevention for runners, but can also benefit running performance.

Cross training corrects the inevitable structural imbalances that occur with the repetition of an athlete’s main sport. These structural imbalances are found in the length/tension relationship of muscles, ligaments, and tendons across specific joints. Certain muscles, tendons, and ligaments predictably become overused or underused. These predictable imbalances can be observed and or palpated by a trained individual familiar with proper biomechanics. Running is a sport that is performed completely in the sagittal plane. This means the runner is always moving forward (sagittal plane), not moving laterally (coronal plane), or rotating (transverse plane). See the “Body Planes” picture to help understand this concept. This also explains many of the injuries that are experienced by runners, listed in order of prevalence below.

• Patellofemoral pain syndrome
• Iliotibial band syndrome
• Plantar fasciitis
• Meniscal injuries
• Tibial stress syndrome
• Patellar/achilles tendinosis
• Gluteus medius tendinosis

Cross training for runners should be heavily focused on stressing the athlete in the coronal and transverse plane’s as these are the motions that are neglected while running. Overuse injuries result from a complex of training errors including lack of specific strength and flexibility, inappropriate surface and terrain, biomechanical lower extremity misalignment, and inappropriate footwear. Cross training with strength exercise can positively influence two of these four variables.

Strength training for running performance has been heavily researched in the past ten years. Running performance is determined by maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), lactate threshold, and running economy. These factors were traditionally thought to be improved simply through aerobic endurance training. In the past, endurance athletes have been hesitant to try strength training because of concerns of possible negative side effects of hypertrophy on capillary density and energy production. Research has shown that strength training does not negatively affect the VO2 max, but rather can be very beneficial for running performance if done effectively. While all three of the above factors for performance can be increased through strength training, it is running economy that is positively affected the greatest with strength training. So what exactly is running economy? The concept of running economy can be understood by examining two runners at the same speed. The runner that is working at a lower VO2 (oxygen consumption) at this speed has a better running economy. Resistance training is thought to affect running economy by three proposed mechanisms:

1. Functional strength improves mechanical efficiency, muscle coordination, and motor recruitment patterns
2. Increased total body strength leads to advantageous mechanical changes in running form
3. Increased muscular strength and coordination may reduce relative intensity

Strength training has been shown consistently in the literature to improve running performance in amateur runners, but these results have been questioned in highly trained runners. More recently, a systematic review of the effects of strength training among highly trained runners suggests that strength training improves long-distance running performance in this group as well. Running economy has consistently been shown to increase by 3%-8% with strength training, which can drastically affect your performance when extrapolated into a long distance race like a marathon. Specifically, the use of explosive plyometric strength training, due to increased musculotendinous stiffness, has been shown to have a significant effect on running performance, most notably in the 3km–5km distance.

The inclusion of a well-structured and periodized strength training program can be beneficial for both injury prevention and running performance. The program should include circuit training (short breaks between exercises), traditional functional strength training (squats, lunges, deadlifts, etc), sports specific high intensity training, and plyometric based cross training. The athlete’s goals are very important when designing a strength training program and a functional assessment and gait assessment should be done by a trained professional prior to starting a resistance training program.

Happy strength training!

References:

• Fredericson et al. Hip abductor weakness in distance runners with iliotibial band syndrome. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine (2000) vol. 10 (3) pp. 169

• Jung, Alan P. The impact of resistance training on distance running performance. Sports Medicine (2003) vol. 33 (7) pp. 539

• Tanaka and Swensen. Impact of resistance training on endurance performance: A new form of cross-training?. Sports medicine (1998) vol. 25 (3) pp. 191-200

• Taunton et al. A retrospective case-control analysis of 2002 running injuries. British Journal of Sports Medicine (2002) vol. 36 (2) pp. 95

• Yamamoto et al. The effects of resistance training on endurance distance running performance among highly trained runners: A systematic review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (2008) vol. 22 (6) pp. 2036

Trevor works as a personal trainer at Absolute Endurance Training and Therapy, training athletes from weekend warriors to elite.  He is trained as a Chiropractor and thus has extensive knowledge of biomechanics, physiology and anatomy that he applies to his program design and implementation.