Author: Luke Adams

Strength and Conditioning has become really popular in the running community – particularly after the Olympics. Mo Farah has spoken of the benefits of a strength and conditioning programme to his performance.

However, S & C is not exclusive to elite athletes, and should be an important part of any runner’s training. Here is a short interview I did with my Strength and Conditioning Coach, Nick Ridgeon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POdOR-YNt4E

Please feel free to ask questions and share your views.

Here’s a photo of my new cocker spaniel puppy called Ozzy.

I see a lot of runners that have been taken in by the advertisements of drinks such as Powerade, Red Bull, Monster Energy, Relentless, Lucozade and Powerade. The advertisements claim that these drinks actually IMPROVE performance and are almost ESSENTIAL to an athlete’s diet…

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.

BETTER HEALTH = BETTER PERFORMANCE

CRAMPS ARE NOT GOOD!

BETTER HEALTH = BETTER PERFORMANCE

Is it just me or is training harder and for longer just so you can have more ‘treats’ not a good idea?

How many times have you trained really well before going home, drinking lots of alcohol and ate lots of high calorie/low nutrient foods because you’d “earned” it?

Now I’m not talking about after accomplishing your main goals here – I’m actually a big fan of going out and enjoying myself after achieving something that I set out to do and worked hard for.

I am talking about on a day to day basis in your training. Are you one of the many people that have the mentality that every time you train or if you train well – that you reward yourself with something that has a negative effect on your body?

Chocolate, crisps, ice cream, lucozade and alcohol are often the common choices. These foods include wheat, gluten, sugar and sweeteners – which are toxic and can be harmful to the body. Your body actually has to use up it’s own nutrients and energy to remove these toxic substances – meaning your body can’t relax and recover after training. Everyone knows the real benefits of training are developed during your periods of rest between training!

Are you making the most of these benefits by ‘’treating’’ yourself with toxic food?

If these toxins are entering the body on a consistent basis and the body becomes unable to process them, the toxins get stored in the fat cells. You may have noticed this with a number of runners (they’re pretty good at storing fat around the stomach area). If you keep training well but keep putting toxins into your body – there will come a time when you’ll not be able to maintain your current form. Overloading on toxins can be very dangerous and cause a number of degenerative illnesses so it’s important to reduce these as much as possible. 

Here’s my advice for you…

1. Try not to think of these types of foods as a treat. You’re likely to be associating training well and eating badly together. They are very contradictory and don’t work together to help you become a better runner.
2. Try to limit toxins as much as possible
3. Think about what your great grandparents would have ate on a daily basis – would they have ate your current diet?
4. Eat a variety of foods with lots of different colours. Green vegetables are my personal favourite.
5. Make small adjustments to your diet that you can maintain. Lots of small changes = 1 big change

For those of you that are interested in making a change – I’ll be sending out my CLEAN EATING FOR RUNNERS 7 DAY EXAMPLE PLAN some time next week. Keep your eyes PEELED!

Thanks for reading,

Luke

I love running in the hills when it snows. Here’s a few of the photos taken from some of my sessions this past week in South Shields.

A great morning of running in the snow and enjoying the scenery.

You know – I always feel amazing when I’m enjoying my running. I’m guessing if you’re reading this you know that feeling too. You get in from your run on a high – and you want to tell EVERYBODY how good you feel! I do this A LOT!!

Alongside this though – is the feeling of being down in the dumps about yourself when you’re not enjoying your running and not doing so well! I get this around 3 or 4 times a year. You know that feeling too – You don’t want to run – you’d rather be chilling out, having a beer or doing something more enjoyable!

We all know that we love running when we’re feeling good – but we just can’t seem to enjoy it when things aren’t going so well.

So I thought I’d let you in on a couple of tricks that I use to help me to enjoy my running again.

1.    Run with a friend that makes you laugh and smile

When you’re not enjoying your running training – you begin to have feelings of boredom and lack of enjoyment when runnin. This can cause you to associate running with negative thoughts.

This is VERY common in beginners as they tend to train on their own and sometimes aren’t sure of even HOW to get fitter – leaving them frustrated and unfit. You may know this feeling too?

So you could try find a training partner or a group of people to train with. Find someone that you enjoy spending time with. Someone to laugh and joke with while you’re out running. You’ll then begin to have feelings of enjoyment and having fun – running becomes associated with positive thoughts and you’re more likely to continue and make more progress… which only adds to the sense of enjoyment and positive emotions.

TIP – Just having a training partner is not enough! Having a friend that brings out positive emotions is VITAL. If you have someone that drains your energy or always moans (don’t you just want them to SHUT UP???) then this is less likely  to work!

2.    Run in daylight hours

Throughout the winter – your runs are highly likely to be in the dark in the early morning or the evening.

Again – running gets associated with the dark, wet nights and you can fall into the habit of just calling your run off and relaxing in front of the fire place. The likelihood is that you WILL have to run in the dark most of the time.

However, you should try to find time to get out and get some sunlight – if there is any!!! In my hometown of South Shields – you’re lucky if you see any at all throughout the year. Just kidding – it’s great (sometimes!!).

So…. If you’re at work during the day – try taking your running shorts and trainers with you to work and getting out for a little run on your lunchbreak. This doesn’t need to be every day – but you will enjoy running in the daylight a little bit more and it breaks up the running in darkness routine. If you suffer from the winter blues – getting some sunlight alongside a vitamin D supplement may be beneficial. Message me for more information on these.

3.    Find somewhere new to run

The greatest thing about running is the ability to do it almost ANYWHERE! You can run on almost every terrain and in almost any climate. Yet most people tend to stick to the same roads and the same routes OVER AND OVER!! This is one of the main reasons I think people get bored of running.

Here’s what you can do –

Find a place that you’ve always wanted to visit, or choose a route that you’ve never even done before. Experiment! Enjoy it! Get lost in the moment! RUN!

How about….

A park?

Castle grounds?

The beach?

The Countryside?

My favourite places to run are filled with trees, rivers and of course plenty of trails and hills (OH HOW I LOVE HILLS!). I rarely run on roads or on the same routes because I like to “escape” from cars, traffic, NOISE!

Cleadon Hills – My favourite place to run.

Go for a run TODAY and go a different way to usual. Drive somewhere new.

EVERY RUN YOU DO SHOULD BE AN ADVENTURE.

Thanks for reading,

Luke

Running is one of the most basic forms of sport there is. It looks simple and straightforward – but there is ALOT of skill involved.

The main skill that I want to talk about today is PACING.

Alot of runners say things like…..

“I always slow down towards the second half of the race”

“I don’t know how fast to run”

“How do I maintain my pace throughout the run”

“I never know how fast to go off at the start”

To answer all of these questions simply….. you need to PRACTICE all of these in training.

So here’s a type of training I would suggest – something that is called the Acceleration Run or what I like to call “RUNNING IN GEARS”

So what do I mean by “RUNNING IN GEARS” ?

1st Gear – This is the pace you start off at and a pace that you could maintain for the full duration of the run quite comfortably but still running at a good pace.

2nd Gear – A pace that is a little faster than first gear but you KNOW that you can go even faster when you need to.

3rd Gear – This is the final gear and you’re final push to the finish – depending on your fitness level you may be able to stay in this gear for 100m- 1 mile

(Some people may feel they have a 4th gear – which is something you can develop.)

So what will you gain from RUNNING IN GEARS?

*You’ll learn not to go off too fast and SUFFER LIKE A DOG in the later stages – believe me i’ve been there! There is NOTHING WORSE than knowing you are slowing down and being unable to do anything about it.

*You’ll learn how fast you can run for a prolonged period and how your body feels running at that pace…. which you can transfer into an upcoming race or running event.

*You’ll develop in LOTS of different areas…..

Physically (Speed, Strength, Stamina)

Mentally (Focus, Pain threshold, Concentration)

Skill (Pace Judgement, increasing your speed, running how you ‘feel’)

If you’re serious about improving your running times – you’d be crazy not to want to improve in all of the areas mentioned above.

So…. here’s how to RUN IN GEARS

Mark out 3 laps of a distance you want to cover in training

Run the first lap in 1st Gear

Run the second lap in 2nd Gear

Run the third lap in 3rd gear

Sounds simple – that’s because IT IS!

…….But it is NOT EASY!

So go and give it a try – “All You Need is a Stopwatch and Trainers!”

Thanks for Reading,

Luke