Author: Luke Adams

The advantages of having strengthening your glutes and stretching hip flexors are…..

1. Better Running Technique – The better your technique, the easier running becomes

2. A Reduction in injuries

3. Able to Produce More Force (through the muscles) when running, helping you to run faster.

Watch the video below for exercises to help improve these areas….

Luke is the North East Running Leader of the Year and coaches runners of all abilities with Run Eat Sleep.

He is also the South Shields parkrun Event Director and Hosts the Run For Fun Podcast.

Luke runs for Gateshead Harriers and has Personal Bests of 15.39 for 5k, 32.11 for 10km and 70.57 for Half Marathon.

On a cold, wet and windy Thursday evening only the hardcore members made it out to a session in Marine Park. Well done to Isabel, April, Naomi, Andrea, Karen and Sharon.

A special mention to Andrea (pictured left of me) won the Runner of the Month Trophy along with Start Fitness Vouchers! Andrea attended every single session of the month including completing 2 park runs. A brilliant effort.

A big thank you to all of the members who trained this month – there has been some huge improvements and I can’t wait to get started again on Monday 11th March. If you’d like to join the rest of the members – you can sign up here 

Last week I asked a number of people in my online facebook group if they had any AWFUL photos of themselves.

I had some terrible photos of myself and wondered if others had the same. Thank you to all of the people that posted their ugly photos up and had a sense of humour about it all!

Here were the results…… BRACE YOURSELF!

If you’d like to join in the fun you can join the facebook group here…..

I asked this question to a number of my runners this week…

“Do you consider yourself a runner?”

Obviously – I got alot of mixed answers (which I expected). As you’ll see above I’ve actually already called them “runners” and there’s a range of abilities within my camps.

My answer was – “if you feel like a runner, you are a runner.”

However, there is something you can do TODAY to help you to feel like a runner, and this is understanding the reason WHY you run.

EVERYONE will have different reasons for this. This is one of the greatest aspects of running. Knowing WHY you run and the benefits you see from it is so important for staying on track and maintaining your running.

The best part about this is that everyone’s reason for running is as good as the next person’s.

The majority of us will be in agreement that running makes us happy. But what other reasons do you have for choosing to run?

Why do you run? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WANT TO JOIN IN WITH MY RUNNERS ON THEIR LATEST PROJECT

“MARATHON IN A MONTH”

YOU CAN SEE THE FIRST WEEK OF TRAINING HERE

Have a great day!

Luke “I am a Runner” Adams

So if you’ve took any sort of interest in my running in the past year or two. You’ll know that I’ve been really happy with my progress and I was steadily improving all of the time. I never really had a dip in form, I just kept improving.

Well – now I’ve had that dip in form.

In fact, I don’t even think I’ve done a serious running event since the Great North Run in 2012. I haven’t been injured, I haven’t been ill. So why haven’t I ran?

I guess I’ve been feeling like I’m “STUCK IN A RUT”, and I’m sure it’s something that you’ll have experienced at some point.

A combination of working more and helping other runners, bad diet and the weather (yea, I hate the cold too) had been the excuses I’d been giving for not running. My dad actually had a go at me for making these excuses not so long ago!

I know that losing your fitness is something that comes with being a runner, and I’ve never really had that problem until this winter.

I’ve not shared this with anyone really, because I was a little embarrassed. I get pretty bored of running blogs and articles when people are moaning and just talk about how everything is going badly. Who wants to read that??

So I thought I’d go through some of the problems I’ve faced and hopefully shed some light on the reasons why they’ve occurred and to give my advice on how to get out of ‘the rut’ you may be stuck in.

So a few weeks back I had a sore throat, phlegm and was feeling run down (pardon the pun). I haven’t had a cold since 2011 by the way, so this was a little out of the ordinary for me.

I know that these symptoms are my body’s way of telling me that it needs a rest and that is it highly acidic. An acidic body is caused by a number of things such as poor diet, stress, overtraining (or under-resting). Acidity in the body causes sickness and causes you to store fat – two things that I DO NOT want. So I knew I needed to alkalise by consuming more fresh food and enough water (I usually just check my pee isn’t yellow). You can work it out by having a litre of water for every 20kg you weigh. I also had to make sure that I was sleeping better.

Alongside feeling better, I knew that I had to make a change to get my running kick started again.

Here are some of the other simple steps I took a few weeks back with the aim of maintaining for a good period of time (at least 12 weeks)…

1. Finding a group to train with…

This was a big problem for me as most of my training was done on my own. Running on your own sucks right? Now I have a schedule and know when I’m training and who with.

Having 2 or 3 training sessions you can go along to each week with other runners makes it so much easier to get out, run, and get fitter.

So my training was VERY sporadic over winter because I was running on my own. But now I have a schedule and a foundation to work from.

All I need to do now is turn up to the group training sessions and do the session. Training sessions go much quicker when you’re running with others and it almost seems easier. Another added bonus is that it makes it MUCH HARDER for me to cancel when the rain is pouring and I just want to chill out and watch Friends on E4.

Monday 

Tuesday – Group Training Session

Wednesday 

Thursday

Friday – Group Training Run

Saturday – Group Training Session

Sunday 

The rest of my training in between sessions has also become easier as a result.

Monday – Run across the fields on my own

Tuesday – Group Training Session

Wednesday – Run across the fields on my own

Thursday – Strength and Conditioning + Run

Friday – Group Training Run

Saturday – Group Training Session

Sunday – Run on the roads

I also do a little running with my running camps alongside coaching.

2. Increasing Protein Intake and Sleeping More

The aim of increasing both of these is to boost testosterone levels – for growth and repair.

I’ve studied quite a bit into running, nutrition and recovery. A high majority of books and even a lot of my studies throughout college and university were about how cow’s milk, sugar and sports drink help performance.

After university I started studying more and more into nutrition and found that these products aren’t always tolerated well by a number of people. I AM DEFINITELY ONE OF THESE PEOPLE!

A few hours after consuming dairy and sugar, I feel sick, tired and have a complete lack of energy. Last year was definitely my best year of running and I put this down to reducing my intake of dairy, sugar, sports drinks and processed foods.

However, the problem for me over the winter was that these foods crept back into my diet over time. This has definitely caused my stress levels to increase. You may be feeling the same – TIRED, FATIGUED and quite honestly – I DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO RUN!)

Another problem with high stress levels is that testosterone levels become lower, which makes it more difficult for the cells to repair after training – causing you to need longer periods to recover.

By taking in a portion of protein with every meal, alongside fresh fruit and vegetables and at least 8 hours of sleep – testosterone levels are boosted and you’ll start to feel MUCH better!

If you’d like to know more about the type of meals I’ve been having. You can download ‘Clean Eating for Runners’ at https://runeatsleep.co.uk/free-download/

So now I’m now 18 days into my new kick start training plan and enjoying my running. I wouldn’t say I’m quite out of my rut but I’ve made the first steps to climbing out!

Will I be fitter after 28 days? Of course I will!

Can you be fitter after 28 days? Of course you can!

One of my favourite things about training people is when they tell me that they are the fittest they’ve been and felt for years.

The thing that interests me about this is that they now enjoy it and find it almost effortless to feel this way.

I say ‘almost’ effortless because they still put the hard work in during training, but they don’t feel like they’re doing anything out of the ordinary any more. The training has become part of their Lifestyle.

It’s this lifestyle that makes it so interesting, and so IMPORTANT!

If YOU think about when you felt at your fittest – what made you feel so good?

Your Training?

Your Lifestyle?

A combination of both?

For most people, it’s the combination of these two things that made you that fit and healthy.

Everybody knows the benefits of training and that you need to train to get fitter.

However, if you count the hours of training you do and compare it with the hours that you AREN’T training…. Do you think that these hours spent not training are important?

OF COURSE THEY ARE!

Think about your lifestyle like when you were at your fittest?

Who did you spend time with and what did you do together?

What time did you exercise?

Where did you work?

How did you travel to get to places?

What did you do in your spare time?

What did you spend your money on?

How did you feel?

What did you look like?

What did you eat?

When you were at your fittest, the majority of the questions above would have answers that were beneficial to your fitness.

Think about it….

Most people tend to say they were fittest when they were at school. Let’s look at why we might have been the fittest we’ve been when we were at school.

I thought I’d answer the questions myself about when I was 14 and just started out with running.

Here’s me, aged 14. In my Great North Run jacket. Still got the same messy haircut haha!

Who did you spend time with and what did you do together?

I’d spend time at my local athletics club with other kids and play football on a weekends.

What time did you exercise?

I exercised in the morning, during the day in P.E, and train or play out in the evening. My favourite game was blocker or tal-ee-oh(spelling). Both of these games were played in Holder House by around another 10 kids in the area. Basically these games were running and chasing after your friends (usually ending up in an argument because someone would go in the house and hide… the little cheats!)

Where did you work?

I did a paper round getting up at 6.30am every morning and riding my bike for 3 miles. I made around 14 quid a week for this and spent it on Metallica cd’s every weekend.

How did you travel to get to places?

I either got a lift off my dad, the bus, or I’d just ride my bike or walk everywhere!

What did you do in your spare time?

I’d play football, go on bike rides or climb trees. Sometimes we’d play knocky door neighbour!

What did you spend your money on?

Cd’s or DVD’s. There’s not a lot you can get with 14 quid a week. My mam and dad used to buy all my stuff!

How did you feel?

I felt great. I never felt tired, it was just normal life. It was my lifestyle. I could ride my bike and play football all day because that’s just what I did!

What did you eat?

Although I’m pretty sure I had my fair share of Turkey Dinosaurs, potato smiley faces and Turkey Twizzlers…. I know I also had lots of homemade food and ate lots of meat, fruit and vegetables.

MMMMMM – PROCESSED CRAP!

As you can see, it’s not that surpising that I was a pretty fit kid, and I’m pretty sure 90% of you had a similar childhood to me. Lots of exercise, fresh air, having fun and not even thinking about how much exercise you were doing.

Now I’m not saying that you should live like a spotty teenage kid that doesn’t get out of bed until 11am on a weekend and then plays out all day.

But think about the lifestyle you have right now. Is it helping you to become fitter?

To get to your fittest level again…..

Who do you need to spend time with and what will you do together?

What time will you exercise?

Where will you work?

How will you travel to get to places?

What will you do in your spare time?

What will you spend your money on?

How will you feel?

What will you look like?

What will you eat?

Thanks for reading,

Luke Adams

In my relatively short time in running (10 years) – I like to think I’ve achieved ALOT more than I thought I was capable of when I first started out. I’m not the best runner, I’m not even anywhere near the best in the North East. But I keep improving and I’m happy with my progress. I’ve thought about quitting so many times and I’ve lost motivation at times, had lots of injuries and suffered setbacks. But since last year everything seemed to come together for me, and I built a lot of confidence as I learned from my mistakes, found the solutions to my problems and then applied them!

Knowledge is Power – WRONG.
APPLIED Knowledge is Power

I’m a little embarrassed by a lot of these mistakes but I thought I’d post them up for you to either

A) Laugh at them
B) Learn from them
C) Relate to them

So here they are.

1. Listening to people who hadn’t achieved what I wanted to.

I did this a lot when I first started out. Admittedly I was 14 when I started out and listened to pretty much everyone that was running back then.

My advice would be to find someone who HAS achieved the things that you want to achieve, and seek guidance or coaching from them. I got pretty lucky in the end and surrounded myself with people who had achieved everything I wanted to achieve. Even today I still get advice from people who have achieved my ultimate goal – to break 70 minutes for the half marathon.

2. Training reeeeeally hard for a week or two – before feeling absolutely goosed and not wanting to run for a while

I used to do this all of the time. I’d train so hard for up to 2 weeks until I either got injured, ill or until I just hated to run. I think this is the kind of mentality most people have when they first start out. They want quick success with their running, and the truth is…. It takes A LOT of time and effort! I’ve seen some amazing changes in 4-6 weeks with some of the runners that I now coach, but I always tell them that it takes months and years to reach their potential.

Taking a long term approach is key – make small changes and run a little bit further each time.

3. Too many Average Training Runs

The basic idea behind training is that you stress the body, recover and then repeat again. As the body becomes fitter, stronger and faster you will need to stress the body a little more to see the adaptations.

When I first started out with running I got results quite quickly. I didn’t even need to do a lot of specific training sessions to see improvements.

The problem was that I reached a plateau quite quickly and didn’t see any further improvement. I used to think running miles and miles at a slow pace would make me quicker and stronger.

A lot of my runs were at an easy pace and I’d just focus on increasing the distance. The big thing that was missing from my training was INTENSITY, and running at a variety of intensities.

I did a lot of high intensity sprints with long recoveries, and I did long easy runs…. THAT’S IT!!

The problem was that I was feeling tired after these long runs so I thought that it was doing me good – but when I ran in events my times weren’t getting quicker and I wasn’t improving.

I quickly learned that I needed to keep my training SPECIFIC and to train with Intensity.

Train Slow = Race Slow
Train Fast = Race Fast

I’d do this either by running the distance or splitting the distance into intervals.

E.g. If I was training for a 10km Run – I’d do 6 x 1 mile

I’d start running at the pace that I wanted to race at. I’d do 6 x 1 mile at the pace I needed to run.

(6 x 1 mile means run 1 mile, then rest and repeat 5 more times with rests in between)

4. Being scared to Make Mistakes

Being scared to fail was a big problem for me. Fear of being judged by others and fear of failure would often stop me from running.

“It’s impossible to live without failing at something, unless you lived so cautiously that you might as well have not lived at all” JK Rowling

I actually used to start my races at a gentle pace so I knew I wouldn’t get any slower. Do you think this worked in helping me to push myself to reach my goals?

NOPE!

I learned to be a little braver – to run a little faster at the start. If I blew out and slowed down – I’d find out why I blew out and I’d also find out my current limits. So what if I messed up? There’s always another run or race to be done.

5. Following one plan one week, and then changing the next week

I think this related to me wanting to get quick results without putting the work in. I’d follow one training plan for maybe a week or two and not see any improvement, and then hear from a friend who was trying something differently so I’d try their method. I used to switch from lots of different training plans and never find out what actually worked for me.

I started to write my plans in advance using the following SIMPLE system….

1. Write a plan
2. Stick to the plan
3. Test myself after the plan
4. Evaluate what worked and what didn’t work
5. Repeat steps 1-4

6. Negative Attitude

Changing my attitude or mindset was one of the biggest things I knew I had to do. I know the majority of you reading this will have had the same problem or still suffer from it.

I used to use all the excuses about why I wouldn’t perform well with running….

“I’m the slowest in the group”

“I didn’t run well today”

“Training isn’t going too good”

I used to use these excuses as reasons why I wouldn’t run well on a particular day…. And guess what??

I RAN TERRRRRRIBLY!

Not surprising really.

I started to change my mindset, the way I spoke about my running and I flipped those excuses on their head. Charlie Spedding’s book “From Last to First” has a great chapter on doing this if you want to read more!

So I started to look at my excuses differently….

“I’m the slowest in the group”
(Instead I thought…. I’m training with better runners so I’ll get better)

“I didn’t run well today”
(Instead I thought… “What a fantastic training session!”)

“Training isn’t going too good”
(Instead I’d say “Training is going GREEEEEEAT”… until I actually believed it and built my confidence)

Taking positive points and learning from the mistakes is key to maintaining and improving your performance.

Applied Knowledge is Power!

Happy Running,

Luke

Congratulations to the Winner!

THE MENINGITIS MILE

As part of the new RUN.Eat.Sleep Training Camps taster week – a 1 Mile Charity Fun Run was held on 4th February.

All levels of runner took part and made a donation to Meningitis Research Foundation.

Together we helped to raise a FANTASTIC £118.23 !!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT ATTENDED!