• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Run The Long Road Coaching

personalized coaching for distance runners

  • Philosophy
  • Services
    • Policies
  • Shop
  • Success Stories
  • FAQs
  • Meet Kristy
  • Contact
  • FaceBook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Born To Run

if it ain't broke, don't fix it

November 8, 2011 by Kristy 14 Comments

I get a lot of questions about gait, especially if I’m coaching in-person.  People will ask if I’m going to watch them run, tell them what they are doing wrong, and tell them how to run “correctly”.  My short answer is always no.  Of course, I can check their form to ensure their head is up, shoulders are relaxed, they aren’t bent forward, etc.   Checking footstrike and turnover?  That’s messing with Mother Nature.  Changing up simple things can have a disastrous domino effect.

So when people ask me my first question is “are you having problems”?  If yes, there is usually another cause of the problem (improper shoes, overtraining, increasing mileage too quickly) but if there’s no problem?  Follow these wise words, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Case and point:  me and my heel striking self.

image

I’m a classic heel striker.  Always have been.  Am I going to change?  Probably not…because I’ve been running this way for almost 11 years injury-free.  But, I have been making a conscious effort when I race or do speed work to use more of a midfoot strike to avoid overstriding. Also, heel striking will slow you down.

Until I read Born to Run I thought barefoot running was a little nutso.  But that book really opened my eyes to the science behind it.  Will I ever go sans shoes?  Probably not because….if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 🙂  And I love my Brooks Adrenalines too much.  But if I was runner with chronic injuries (much like the author Chris McDougall), I would definitely give it a go.

Are you a heel, midfoot, or forefoot striker?  Have you ever permanently altered your gait?

Ever tried barefoot running or running in Vibrams?  

Random Thursday

July 6, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

I love these posts since, on any given day, I have a number of random running thoughts in my head. Nothing significant enough to warrant an entire post…just random musings.

  • Apparently, many of you wear underwear (thongs) with your running tights (if you have no idea what I’m talking about see here). I’m shocked! I’m in the minority!  I still don’t think I could do it; I would be so uncomfortable. I feel like I’m left out of a secret club!  Who knew?!
  • I finally finished Born To Run. LOVED it. I won’t do a book review or give anything away though. All I’ll say is this book should be on your must-read list. I really had no idea what it was about (and I think it’s better that way); all I knew is that everyone raved about it. Now I know why!
  • Many of you were interested in the North Face Stow-n-Go Sports Bra that I reviewed last week but were concerned about size.  The bra is recommended for A/B cups.  Amanda suggested another pocketed-bra from Gracie’s Gear.  I’ve never tried them but they come in all sizes.
  • Please help out fellow blogger Claire win the Cheribundi Vegas Marathon Challenge.  She’s currently in second place!!  All you have to do is “like” the Cheribundi FB page and then “like” Claire’s picture.

What is your favorite running book? Or a running book on your must-read list? I keep hearing that Running On Empty is good.

Fatigue Is Your Friend

June 17, 2011 by Kristy 10 Comments

6/17/11
17 miles / 2:35 / 9:07 avg pace
*A 4:45 wake-up call and I’m home calling into a meeting at 8:30!  I love Friday morning long runs.  Today I did my version of long, slow distance.  I’m aiming to run a few of my long runs a little slower this cycle.  

I had an aha moment the other night reading Born To Run.  They were talking about embracing fatigue…and the only way to really conquer fatigue in training and racing is to learn to love it.  Very interesting!  Fatigue won’t be going away anytime soon (unless someone comes up with that magic pill so we can all run tirelessly for hours) so we might as well welcome it like a house guest.

Whether or not you hit the Wall during a marathon, you will experience fatigue to some extent.  Fatigue can be the Grim Reaper to some or just a god-awful pacer to others (I tend to experience the latter).  But what if we anticipate it’s arrival and embrace it?  We won’t give in; we won’t let fatigue slow us down.  We become friends with fatigue.  Imagine that!

Call me loony but I’m giving this a go.  Seriously.  I’m welcoming fatigue during my hard effort runs – speed, tempo, and long.  It can only help with my mental game come 9/11/11.

 
source

I want to give a HUGE shout out to Cindi (my running twin) and Sarah, Jennifer, and Heather (Always Training Trio) who are all running the Grandma’s Marathon tomorrow!  Best of luck ladies!

Random Thursday

June 16, 2011 by Kristy 7 Comments

6/16/11

5 miles easy / no Garmin

  • Does anyone know how to transfer your Garmin split times from the Garmin Training Center to a post?  Or, am I clueless?  I’ve tried the good ol’ cut-and-paste but that doesn’t work.  I have the Garmin 305…maybe it can’t be done with that model?  I find that hard to believe though.  Any help would be appreciated!
  • So I’m halfway through Born To Run (LOVE IT!) and they just talked about barefoot running.  I’m shocked to say this but I found their arguments (they were pro-barefoot running) very compelling.  I’m a tough person to convince too; I’m both flat-footed and bow legged.  I rely on both my beloved Brooks Adrenaline GTS and orthotics to keep me injury-free (and it works…I’m one of those “mutants” that Chris McDougall refers to).  But now I can see how barefoot running would help someone battling chronic injuries.  As a coach I shouldn’t be so close-minded.  I’m not about to jump on the barefoot bandwagon (if it ain’t broke…) but I definitely want to read more about it.
  • Not 1 but 2 people Googled “we love Chuck Bass” and got directed to my blog.  Awesome.

Do you or someone you know run barefoot or in VFFs?  What do you think of the whole barefoot running phenomenon?  

© 2023 · Developed by JX2 Development.