Training Tip Tuesday - "The Importance Of Rest Days!!!"

THE IMPORTANCE OF REST DAYS

Annika BraunArticles

As a runner and with most things in life when I do something I go all in, 100%, and I don’t like to break my routine. I think that most runners feel the same way and would agree that taking a day off from running can sometimes feel like a punishment. I didn’t do a lot right as a collegiate runner and I found out along the way that my body needs rest, sometimes more rest than my running buddy, and that is okay. I’ve learned that a key to successful long-term training is learning how to read your body, understanding what your body needs to train at its highest potential, and then trusting that process and sticking with it. Here are a few tips on how to handle adding rest days as part of your training program.

THE VALUE OF REST DAYS

In college I got into the habit of taking Fridays off because that was our NCAA day off (the day we were not allowed to meet as a team and my coach would allow us to cross train if needed). It just became a routine for me to aqua jog on Fridays. Sometimes I would run instead because I wanted to run with my roommates or I was short on time and going to and from the pool took longer than running out of my front door. I always felt a little beat up come Sunday if I did not take a rest day that week. Over the years as I developed as a runner and matured as a person and athlete, I have learned the value in taking a rest day. It allows my body a full day of rest from pounding, something I really needed in college when I was battling injuries and struggling to stay healthy.

Taking a rest day also allows your body to absorb the training you have been doing and you may actually see a fitness boost following a day of rest. This is the same logic that applies with lifting weights. You make your gains when you take a rest day and allow the body to absorb the work you have been doing. Running follows the progressive overload principle (the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training) and as we adapt to that stress on our body we get strong enough to handle back-to-back runs. We don’t do back-to-back speed workouts though because it’s the easy run between them that is designed to be active recovery. Active recovery is a day or two where you are specifically recovering from the stress you placed on your body during the speed session.

Some runners can handle not taking a day off during a training segment but there are other runners, like myself, that need a rest day here and there. Think about rest days as an important part of your training and one that will only help you to improve your training quality and racing times.

SCHEDULING REST DAYS AS PART OF YOUR PROGRAM

These days I am strong enough to handle a rest day every 2-4 weeks, however, I still find it challenging to take that day. As routine people and lovers of the sport we crave our run every day. So how do we replace that feeling? I find that if I do some sort of exercise I feel okay about taking a rest day. As a busy wife and mom of two children, it is a bit harder for me to get to the gym so my go-to on rest days now includes 30 minutes of strength work with some sort of cardio mixed in: jumping jacks or spin bike for 1-2 minutes between sets. This routine seems to be enough for me to mentally feel like I did something physical but also to know that I’m taking an important day off running that my body needs to keep training at the volume and demand that I am asking of it.

Try scheduling rest days into your program whether it is once a week, twice a month or once a month or somewhere in between. Tell your coach if you need to take a rest day on a specific day that you prefer and how often you need it. If it is on your schedule you are more likely to take it and as runners, we tend to follow our schedules! I know that many of the McMillan athletes I coach ask for a rest day at least once per week. They use this day to cross train or get other things done around the house, run errands etc. Embrace the day off as an integral part of your development and improvement as a runner. Welcome your rest days and learn to enjoy that time too.

LEARN TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Maybe you are the type of athlete that doesn’t ever take a rest day during your segment. I suggest planning at least one day off during your block of training: do something fun or plan it as part of a trip and take the stress away from having to cram in a run before you catch your flight. Runners tend to get so caught up in a routine that we will do anything to get our run in, even if it means stressing ourselves out to do it. If you know your body and you truly don’t need or want a day off during a training segment just keep these tips in mind and be flexible if you find that you are feeling a little bit run down or stressed about getting your run in. One rest day can give you a few more days running, especially if you are feeling run down or injury prone.

What about days off for injuries? So many times I felt like I should have taken another day off after an injury or dealing with a small annoyance, but I just kept running and it only made it worse. Greg often talks about the importance of taking one extra day off coming back from an injury. This means that even if you feel you are ready to resume training, give yourself one extra day. This strategy won’t hurt you and by taking another day of rest you can ensure you’ll stay healthy in the long run. This same principle applies with any nagging ache or pain you may be feeling or something random that pops up after a run. If you have to question the run, just take a rest day to give yourself time off running and then try tomorrow. It will probably be a hard decision if you are anything like me but you will never regret one day off if it means that you can keep running healthy and injury-free. Remember the golden tip to train smarter, not harder.

""College To College 5k - MARIST TAKEOVER"

It was a banner day for the Running Redfox family at the Walkway Marathon weekend! Leading the way were former Red Foxes Nicki Nesi and Stefan Morton with their convincing wins in the College To College 5k's to start the day! Later on we all witnessed grad student Spencer Johnson absolutely crush his marathon debut with a margin of victory of 18:03!! Spencer is shown receiving his award among a sea of Running Red Foxes. 

Although this was just a few of the great highlights of the day, the most convincing statement was made in the women's 5k with a 1-2-3 sweep of Coach Nicki (18:05), Ali Bartolotta (18:36) and Jordan Casey (18:38)!!! Considering that we are just doing base building mileage and nothing more pretty impressive in the heat! 

                                     

On a lighter two of our lovely Sophomores, Boushra & Alyssa missed the start of the 5k and had to play catch up with the field!! As they traversed through the McCann parking lot towards the homestretch they were absolutely hysterical as they explained to me mid-race what had happened. The funny part is since our Boushra still has yet to turn 19 she placed top-3 in her age group despite missing the start. That has to be a first in the short history of the event!!!

                                            

All in all it was a great day sand a great event!! In addition to the group of current ladies who ran the 5k we had a great turn out of alums who ran in both the 5k and half-marathon!! It is always great to see different generations of Running Lady Foxes get together to cheer each other on. We also had a great turnout of those who weren't there to race, but to simply cheer on their teammates and take pride in all those who donned a Marist singlet on this steamy Sunday morning! 

Thursday's Thoughts - "The Power of Positivity"

The following is a great excerpt from the article, "6 Ways to Change Your Running For The Better In 2017." We all know that running is truly a mental sport and the following excerpt shows how to make it an asset in your running!!

5. Embrace Positivity

“Run joyfully.” It is Goodman’s mantra, her website’s name, and what she tries to personify when she opens the door every morning to put in her miles. What does running joyfully entail?

“One, it’s really living off those endorphins,” she says. “I mean, how many runs do you ever regret going on? Nine out of 10 times, you feel better, happier, and have a clearer head for having spent a few minutes out in nature—or the urban jungle. The other half comes from a place of gratitude. Just appreciate the opportunity that you have to be out there.”

Tim Catalano, coauthor with Adam Goucher of Running the Edge, ran for the University of Colorado before getting advanced degrees in psychology and education. He says this approach is a good example of self-determinism. You can choose to focus on the positive or the negative in any endeavor and create your own experience. When Catalano tackled the six-day, 120-mile TransRockies Run stage race in 2015, he put that approach to the test.

“There are going to be some terrible times when you run 50 miles in a day or 120 miles in a week,” he says. “But what I chose to remember later—and what I chose to remember in the moment—was, ‘Holy crap, this is an amazing gift that I have a body that can do this. I’m in the middle of the Rocky Mountains with no one around, experiencing Colorado in a way that very few people get to.’ And when you hold on to those notions while running, you’re just happier.”

Controlling your mental outlook is no New Age gimmick, nor a call to abandon concrete goals. You can be a positive perfectionist. Eminent German psychologists Arne Dietrich and Oliver Stoll have published recent studies that show how perfectionism falls into two categories. Positive-striving perfectionism leads you to set high standards and benchmarks for your performance and helps you achieve your goals. Self-critical perfectionism, on the other hand, leaves you in a state of constant worry and disappointment and is correlated with anxiety, stress, and depression. Despite all their attention to detail, self-critical perfectionists were less likely to achieve their goals because any minor setback was seen as defeat.

This is one reason why experiencing running as an autotelic experience (one that’s enjoyed for its own sake) may be the key to running faster. Putting in more miles, doing quality work, and experimenting with different workouts become rewards, not chores, when pleasure is found in the act itself. That doesn’t mean every mile will be wonderful, Goodman says. But if you take a moment, even in the middle of a raging nor’easter or a tough workout, to remind yourself how fortunate you are to be running in the first place, then you’re more likely to appreciate the process.

“We don’t have the power to change an experience—an experience is what it is,” Catalano says. “But we do have the power to change how we experience that experience. You can let those dark voices [in your head] overwhelm you and have a bad day, or you can make the voices focus on all the good stuff, and it turns out to be a pretty amazing day. And the thing is, it’s the same damn day.”

Change this: Enjoy running for running’s sake, not just for its outcomes.

Why: A happy, positive runner performs better and feels more satisfaction.

The challenge: Runners are competitive—we use the numbers to convince ourselves of our worth. It is difficult to accept the relativity of our performances and reframe our perspective. Plus, some days running just doesn’t feel good, and positive psychology can feel like a load of you-know-what.

The risk: You may sound like a flower child to your running buddies.

Training Tip Tuesday - "Top 3 Reasons Runners Fail!"

TOP 3 REASONS RUNNERS FAIL

Greg McMillanArticles

After coaching so many runners – from new runners just getting started to Olympians and every thing in between – you start to see patterns and tendencies. Patterns of successful runners and tendencies of those that fail to hit their goal.

In coaching, my #1 job is to help runners avoid the tendencies that keep them from their goals so they get to the starting line healthy and the finish line faster. Let’s review the top three reasons runners fail to hit their goal. I’ll also provide the fixes you can add to your next training cycle to give yourself a better chance at meeting or exceeding your goal.

#1: INJURY

Raise your hand if you’ve had an injury that kept you from racing your best (or getting to the race at all!)? You are not alone. The injury rate in running is astonishing. Surveys show that between 60 and 80% of all runners get injured to the point that it compromises their training and racing. Sixty to 80% each year!

It’s clear that too many runners lack optimal training due to injuries and are left limping to the starting line, if they can get there at all. Obviously, this is not the best scenario for a peak performance.

But, avoiding injury is easy. I know. I know. That’s a bold statement but in my coaching, I’ve seen that I’ve been able to reduce the injury rate from the usual 60-80% to less than 10. That’s right. If you do it correctly, you can virtually eliminate running injuries. Here’s how:

A Smart Training Plan

First, get on a smart training plan for YOU. I highlight YOU because all training plans can be good but all training plans might not be good for you and your individual needs and life schedule. That’s why I break my plans into different levels and runner types, so you slot into the plan that best fits you. (You can even use my Plan Picker and I’ll recommend the best plan for you.) I firmly believe that running isn’t one-size-fits-all.

I believe there are four key elements to a smart training plan:

First, you should be able to “spread the stress” when necessary. In other words, you need the ability (and should feel empowered) to move workouts around so you can add more recovery. That’s why our system allows you to drag and drop workouts to different days in your calendar.

Second, a smart plan gives you ranges so you can modify the training load based on how you are feeling from day to day. Feeling tired? Do the lower end of the volume range. Feeling great? You can do the higher end of the range. You’ll see ranges in all of my plans.

Third, a smart plan includes “down” weeks. Down weeks are reductions in training volume every few weeks to give you body time to recover from the few previous training weeks. And not only do down weeks help physically but the reduction in volume also helps refresh your mind so you are more excited for the upcoming training.

Lastly, a smart plan has lots of “wiggle room.” We must accept that life happens and it happens a lot so a smart plan should be very, very doable on a “normal” week, meaning a week where there are other life commitments. Too often, runners try plans with no wiggle room so unless they have a perfect life week, they can’t get in the training. This leads to inconsistency and I’d rather have you in a plan that you can complete even if the kids get sick, work gets busy or something else pops up.

Prehab Routines

The second way to avoid injury is through prehab training – non-running activities that keep you healthy. These are things like pre-run prep, core training, mobility work, running form drills and runner-specific strength training. (I even put together the McMillan Prehab Bundle to make it easy for you.) You’ll be amazed at how a little prehab keeps the injuries at bay and helps improve the quality of your training.

The key here is to do a few little things but to do them frequently to keep your body healthy. Running injuries are repetitive motion injuries so if the tissues are left untreated; you could be on the road to injury instead of victory. It doesn’t take much, which is why each of our programs is designed to easily fit within your running and life schedule but a good prehab program can help you beat the injury bug.

Common Sense

The third way to avoid injury is to simply apply common sense when it comes to your training. I say, “simply apply common sense” but we all know that runners can get a bit crazy. Objectively, we know that little voice in our heads that says we need to take an extra day off, slow down on a recovery day or move the workout to another day but emotionally, we are often so driven that we ignore the warning signs and push on. This is what great coaches mean when they say, “Listen to your body.” What they really mean is that there is a little voice in your head that provides good guidance. Heed the advice and while your training calendar may not look like you originally intended, you will stay injury free and more consistent and I bet you’ll race faster in the end.

I’ll sum up this final point with the opinion that what too many runners forget is that no runner missed her goal from taking an extra day of recovery now and then but many missed the goal because they didn’t rest enough and got injured.

#2: LOW QUALITY TRAINING

The second reason runners fail to hit their goal is because their race-specific training is of low quality. When I say, “race-specific training” I mean the period of training (usually the last 6-12 weeks) leading up to your race where you are doing workouts that really get you ready for your goal race.

Obviously, issue #1 – injury – can cause low quality training but I find there are two big causes of low quality training.

First, runners aren’t properly prepared for the race-specific training phase. What I learned from the late, great Arthur Lydiard is that runners need to “do the training so they can do the training so they can really do the training” to get race ready. For example, Lydiard learned that if he had his runners, even his short distance (800 meters and milers) runners, build a big aerobic base, they could perform much better in the race-specific training (in their case the speed and sprint workouts). Further, he learned that if they not only built a big aerobic base first but then developed leg strength and dynamic “springiness” through a hill phase, they performed exceptionally well in the race-specific workouts and would be in peak shape for their peak races. It’s all about being ready to do your best in the most impactful race training and that’s why preparation is so important!

This is why for each of my training plans, I list the preparatory training you should do before your race-specific training. These “preparatory” phases of training help you get ready so you have really high quality race-specific workouts. Think about it. If you are able to perform better in your race-specific training, it just makes sense you’ll perform better in your races. You’ll get fitter so you can race faster.

The second reason for low quality training is poor workout execution. We’ve all done it. We start a workout too fast and then have to stop early because we are too tired to complete the workout. Or, our tempo run progresses to a race as we start competing against instead of training with our running buddies. You get the picture.

In both cases, the training wasn’t executed properly and I’ve found that athletes who consistently perform the best are the ones that execute workouts correctly. That’s why I include my detailed coaches notes along with videos and articles on how to perform each and every run in my training plans. I also include a very clear purpose for each run so you are reminded of what we’re trying to get from each run. Follow these and you’ll end each workout with just the right amount of stimulus to build your body and mind toward your goal fitness.

#3: TOO MUCH PIE

No. Not apple or lemon meringue pie. I’m talking about your stress pie. I think of daily stress as a pie. One slice is your work life. Another slice is your home life. Still another is your running. And many of us have several more slices as well.

The point of this third reason runners fail to hit their goal is that you can only tolerate so much stress – your full pie. Once you exceed your stress pie for a few days, the body and mind rebels, often resulting in injury or illness. Further, if one slice of the pie gets bigger – say work stress really ramps up – then another slice must get smaller or you will exceed your stress tolerance. I’m going to say that again. When one slice of the stress pie gets bigger then another slice must get smaller.

Here’s the challenge. Most runners are goal-driven people. They are driven in their work life. They are driven in their family life and they are certainly driven in their running. Can you see how this sets up the potential for failure?

It’s easy for runners to become over committed and to get their stress/rest cycle out of balance. But more times than not, I see this lead to sub-optimal running performance.  The runners I’ve worked with that have the longest and best running careers are certainly the ones that are yes, determined and disciplined, but they also are the ones that know how to chill out. They knew how to let their training flow with life. (I mentioned this earlier when I spoke about my plans being easy to shift workouts around and offering ranges of distances for each run so you can adjust to keep your stress pie full but not overflowing.)

Think about your stress pie as you train and work to balance additional stress in one area with more rest in another area. It’s an ongoing dance between all your commitments but if you are willing to join in, you’ll have more consistent training and faster racing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Running your best really is as easy as 1, 2, 3:

• Get on a smart training plan, do your prehab training and listen to your inner coach.
• Be properly prepared for your most important training and then execute each workout as directed.
• Respect your stress/rest cycle and make sure you modify training so it flows with your life, never exceeding your stress pie.

"A Captains Letter To Their Team!!"

In keeping with the theme of creating some new traditions for the team we have decided to start the summer with a letter to the team from your captains!!

Dear Foxy Friends,

               The phrase they save the best for last truly does apply to the group of girls I’m about to be lucky enough to close out my running career with. The potential amongst every individual is unfathomable and the strength that we pertain as a whole is undeniable. You guys have shown so much heart for both one another and your own training and thinking about it gives me goose bumps for the upcoming season.  With that being said, this summer I hope you focus on two things: dedicating yourself to being a component of our team’s success and remembering who YOU are as a runner. Ask yourself each morning when you wake up what you can do that day to be a better team member. Whether its fitting in drills, remembering to stretch, or texting a teammate to have a good run, make everything you do something that will ultimately propel our team in the fall. The little things we do now will build for bigger successes in the future. This team making Marist history starts with each of you staying focused and healthy in the summer. EVERYONE’S training matters!

As for remembering who you are as a runner, I think the summer is the best time to re-engage yourself. Smile when training hurts, close your eyes and think of how running is closest we come to flying. Remember where you came from and the girls who have carried you to this point. Think of how you’ve felt at your best times, your lowest times. Dig deep and find solitude on long runs, have confidence in your capabilities on hot tempos. Fall even deeper in love with this sport (or take the time to remember why you do) because your team loves you as an athlete. So remember why you are proud to be able to call yourself one.  Love you guys cannot wait to train with you in August. Feel free to call me at anytime you need training pick me up, always here for each and every one of you.

-Mur

  

Hello, ladies!

Summer training has just begun! It is a long time before we all come together in August! It can seem daunting, but we are all doing it together. Use each other for motivation when you need it! I'm so stoked for cross-country to come so that we can put together a great team. Let's use this summer to train smart and healthily so that we come into cross fresh and ready to work. Use this time to create healthy eating habits. To give yourself the base you need. And to get ready to beat other teams! We will be training off of the roads come august, so stay off of the roads as much as you can this summer! Focus on putting the right fuel into your body, if you want to be great, you have to start with the nutrients your body is working with. Starting the habit of eating healthy foods is perfect over the summer, because you can put in extra time in trying new things and what works/doesn't work with you. 

To the freshmen, welcome to the team! Please ask any and all questions you may have. Good luck to everyone in their first and second weeks of training! 

~Jenna

To my teammates, best friends, and the best gals I know; happy summer training!!

Summer training is one of the best times of the years, and, when done right, really sets a great base for a successful cross country season. That being said, I know how easy it is to get overexcited about goals and push every run. The important thing to remember this summer is to train smart, and remember that recovery days are just as vital as workout days.

I recently came across a quote that stuck with me, and is a good reminder; “always keep in mind that ultimately we are training to race and not training to have impressive training logs”. This summer keep that in the back of your mind, because we need each and everyone of us healthy, so that we can be a strong unit and force to recon with come championship season! Remember, our main goal as a team is to be a top three team in the MAAC, and “what your mind can conceive you can achieve”. So let’s spend this summer training smart, and training for one another.

~Mariah

"Training Tip Tuesday - The Importance of Prehab"

THE IMPORTANCE OF PREHAB

Andrew LemoncelloArticles

The reason we run differs for each individual. It could be to run a certain time, lose weight, for the long-term health benefits or for pure enjoyment. The list is endless and it’s always a joy to help athletes to move steps closer to hitting those goals. Something that often gets in the way of that is injury and most runners will face some sort of setback during their time training. It’s just the nature of the sport, unfortunately. Our bodies can handle quite a bit of pounding but as you adapt and get fitter throughout the training process, you should be able to handle more training and faster training.

We want to keep adapting so that we can be the best version of ourselves and achieve better results. Then we get greedy. We feel the gains and start pushing harder knowing how good it feels to reach new peaks. Boom, an injury curtails your progress. This isn’t how it always happens but it’s a very common injury story. Why did the injury happen when you were fitter and stronger than ever? The stress/rest cycle was out of balance and you were pushing too hard for the amount of recovery you were giving yourself or it was a freak accident (like twisting your ankle or stubbing your toe on a curb). Option 2 we can’t control but making sure that we are helping our body to recover adequately is something we can do a lot about and on a regular basis.

PREHAB NOT REHAB

Prehab is the process of helping yourself stay away from preventable injuries by taking care of the weaknesses ahead of time and not allowing them to evolve into something that will stop you from running. Running is what we love doing so it’s easy to do but prehab? For many of us, not so much. For the vast majority it seems like an inconvenience or you may believe you don’t have the time for it. But once injury hits, the regret sets in and you wish you’d spent that extra 15 minutes a day doing those little things to help your body get back to neutral (a term I use for your pre-workout state).

One of the things that sets apart successful athletes from others is that they can train consistently for long periods of time without any interruptions. They do the little things that help their body to stay in great condition year round and they do those things regularly. The best runners in the world are known for how diligent they are in making sure they are at their best all the time. Why not learn from them? It’s easy to do and it doesn’t take much time or effort. Here are some of the things you can be doing to help you reduce the risk of injury and keep you feeling good on a regular basis.

MASSAGE

The easiest way to do this is to pay an expert to get into your muscles and work them out for you. That’s a more expensive, but a very worthwhile version of massage as they can feel for knots in your body and work them out through a series of movements and manipulations. A much cheaper way to use massage is by using a foam roller or massage stick. You can pinpoint areas on yourself where you feel tightness and make passes over those areas and ease them out yourself.

There is lots of evidence for and against massage but almost every top athlete gets massage so they must do it for a reason right? I heard a great analogy recently about why massage is so good for the muscles. Think of your muscles as hair and the foam roller/massage stick/masseur as a hairbrush. If you don’t brush your hair for a while, it will get knotted up and eventually break. The hairbrush (massage) keeps the hair in good condition and moving naturally.

STRETCHING

Everyone has an opinion about stretching and whether it works for them. A lot of athletes feel it doesn’t make much of a difference but that’s because they’ve never done it for a period long enough to see true results. It takes around 210 days for your muscles and tendons to adapt to stretching and for the flexibility to really kick in so just like endurance running, it’s a long term process.

The key to flexibility isn’t about being able to move in larger ranges of motion but to be able to use those new ranges combined with extra strength. This is the difference between flexibility and mobility. We want mobility otherwise you can’t put that newly found flexibility to good use. Personally, I have found that active isolated stretching to be very useful in recovery and making my legs feels better before big efforts and after runs. This is the process of stretching your muscles to their end range, holding for a couple of seconds and then loosening off and repeating a few times. Within a few minutes and with minimal effort, you can feel unbound and ready to flow through your training. Our muscles shorten while we run so doing this after runs can be very helpful as you re-lengthen the muscles to their pre-run state which allows them to be in good condition for your next round of training.

CORE TRAINING

I see core training as a form of prehab. Making sure that we constantly work on our back, abdominal, hip and glute strength not only allows us to be more fluid and efficient but it allows us to be stronger and more able to stand up to the rigors of running. It doesn’t have to take long either.

Greg devised a core routine that you can fit into your day conveniently and that you can do anywhere. That means no extra time traveling to the gym, working out and then traveling home again. You can finish your run and move straight into your core work. Many of us think of a strong core as a rock solid 6-pack but it’s much more than that. It’s your whole mid-section so the work you do has to encompass activating all the muscles in that area. If you haven’t done it before you will be tender the first few times but that goes away as your muscles get used to working in this new way. That tenderness actually tells you that you have work to do. This type of work will also help with your posture, which allows you to keep the rest of your body in good shape by not putting extra strain through your musculature. If you can get into a good routine of working on your core two to three times a week then you’ll be well on your way to reducing your risk of injury.

SORENESS

If you do end up getting sore from training, and you will, then there are a few easy ways to help you heal quicker than just leaving it alone. Note that if it’s a true injury then you should get treatment from an expert like a Physical Therapist or Sports Doctor. The three usual injury sites in runners are in the muscle, tendon or bone. As you increase your mileage and the length of your workouts your legs take a lot more force than they’re used to. That’s a good thing and it will produce a training response (breaking you down only to make you stronger). We enjoy this part because we know we are getting stronger every time we’re going out and working hard towards our goal. We just have to be careful not to cross the line where the stress/rest cycle comes out of balance.

Bone soreness: See a doctor. Remember that achiness and soreness are two different things. Achiness is fairly normal but if you have soreness in your leg bones then you may want to get a scan to make sure that you don’t have a stress fracture or the start of one. Best advice is see a doctor as soon as you can.

Muscle soreness: Again, fairly normal as running volume increases. Soothing the muscles with massage will help as will ice and Epsom salt baths. Ice baths allow the swelling in your legs to go down plus you get the added benefit of a great hormonal response producing more testosterone to help you recover. So even if you think ice baths don’t do anything for you, it does. Read more about ice baths. Epsom salt baths help you to absorb magnesium through your skin helping with muscle recovery and healing. It’s also very soothing to relax in a hot bath and I always take the opportunity of having thoroughly heated muscles to get some stretching in afterwards.

Tendon soreness: The common problem here is Achilles soreness. The world’s leading experts often say the same thing for healing the Achilles and that’s rest. Often times the soreness will go away after a few days and you can return to running again, or you can cross train by biking, going on the elliptical or best of all, do some pool running as there is no pressure on the area. Or, you may have to take some substantial time away from activity depending on the severity of the injury. To help with the healing of the tendon tissue, ice for the initial 24 hours and then use heat after that time to bring more blood flow to the area. Tendons heal through diffusion so the more blood you can get to the area, the more opportunity it has to heal. Contrasting between heat and cold can be good for the area too.

All of the tips above may seem like a lot to do but once you hit your goal having not had to take off any time from running, you’ll be glad you took that extra time to keep your body in good shape. Keep your focus on the end goal and what you can do today to make sure you can achieve success tomorrow.

"Announcing the 2017 XC Captains!"

  (Left-->Right) Mariah Christian, Jenna Robinson, Mara Schiffhauer

2017 Cross Country Captains!!

As is our team tradition the captain vote took place at our annual cross country meeting for returning student athletes on Monday May 8th! There was great energy at our meeting after a very successful year in which the women's track team set 12 school records combined during the indoor and outdoor track seasons!! It also marked the first time that Coach Erica Maker participated in our annual pre-summer team meeting after completing her first year as our assistant coach. Erica did an outstanding job working with our women this year and we all look forward to what Year 2 brings for this new coaching partnership! In addition we announced the addition of Nicki Nesi to our cross country staff as an assistant coach. Nicki just completed her 5th year of eligibility and will make an excellent coach after working closely with many of our underclassmen this year as a mentor! 

As we talked about the upcoming cross country season there was noticeable excitement about the group of returners we had that made huge strides in their development this year and a very talented incoming freshmen class. In order to truly maximize the potential of this team we believe that our number one priority is to become a truly great TEAM, one that puts the goals of the team above all else! In order to truly become a great team in any sport it involves great communication between the coaching staff and its athletes! To help ensure that the lines of communication are always open coaches rely on their captains to be that bridge. I am proud to say that this years 2017 XC captains are Seniors Mariah Christian, Jenna Robinson and Mara Schiffhauer!!! We have no doubt that these fine young women will do a tremendous job leading our team this fall and working closely with every team member in order to make sure that everyone is the best version of themselves as members of our program. For the past three years all of them, along with their classmates (Christine Gambell, Shannon Gildea & Roxy Novo) have done an excellent job of supporting their coaches and captains in order to prepare them for this season, their senior season!!! This is their time to lead and their chance to truly define what they feel it means to be a member of the Running Red Fox family!! 

#BeBetter #AllIn #MCXC2K17