Maintenance
When i was a racing/ training cyclist, every few weeks i would take a day and do a pretty thorough cleaning, lubing and general maintenance on my bikes. I would blast the radio in my garage, set up my tools, rags, lubes, degreasers and al that stuff and get to work. Most of the time it was cool, very zen and therapeutic. Other times it was just another annoying chore i had to do.
Eventually, my last couple seasons as a cyclist, i would just roll into the garage after a race or one of my long sunday rides with the team and would step off the bike then through the bike up on the workstand and start a quick routine of wiping it down, cleaning the chain, cassette, chain rings and taking care of any easy brake or shifting adjustments needed. Thus eliminating that one day set aside for maintenance, leaving it open for another day of riding. Or god forbid, some sort of "real life" responsibilities. This approach seemed to keep my bikes in much better running condition as well. Not to mention keeping me more abreast of any small issues that may become bigger issues.
So, over the years, i've kind of dabbled in running, somewhat. a few marathons starting in 2004, a 50k in 2005, a couple 20 mile charity runs and a handful of 25k's, and 10k's. Inbetween al these runs, I was constantly managing one injury after another and all the while, having a 50 miler on my mind but could never get to that kind of training. i would start, get injured then just go back into cycling mode, forgetting all about running. Wasn't a big deal, I loved cycling but just felt like as a capable human, one should be able to run somewhat confidently without worry of getting injured.
Around late 2011, with some inspiration from a book i was reading, I started looking at running through a more holistic approach. I went to a very "minimalist" designed shoe, slowed my pace and started paying attention to what the hell I was doing. How my feet landed, my posture, breathing, all these little things. Eventually, really quickly actually, my daily milage more than doubled as did my yearly milage. And other than a couple seriously ridiculous "stunts" went relatively injury free and have been ever since.
It's been a couple years now since moving to this ideal of running and training and while it's still consistent with how I undertake it all, I've become aware of some negligence on my part. The negligence of regular maintenance.
Diet, supplements, stretching, yoga, inspiration, meditation, rest, etc....
As far as diet is concerned, this has gotten more and more important to me over the last few years. Of course it's a constant battle. Not only to be consistent but to find the right balance. Finding more and more that what we eat and don't eat is as, if not more, important than what we do in training. Supplements, well..i don't really "do" vitamins but being consistent with recovery drinks, oils, powders (protein and others), eating and drinking on the run, all these little things can make such a huge difference in not only recovery and repair but in attitude. Again, almost more important than training it's self.
Stretching, yoga, massage....ARRGGGH! THIS. This has to be the the most irresponsibly avoided aspect to most every runner's routine. For myself, the last thing i want to do after a 20 mile run is get on the ground with that big, stupid foam roller and roll around on the floor with that thing. Or get out my rolling stick and work out that knot in my left calf that's been getting tighter. In reality it would only take about 10-15 minutes but instead i'll find myself still in my running shorts, eating peanut butter out of the jar. I've even got proof to myself that the roller time does more good than the peanut butter time. This is probably the best comparison to the "after ride clean-up" as a cyclist. Finding the more often i do some of this after a run, the less time i really need to spend doing it. As far as stretching and yoga goes, I think a lot of us reach too far with this. trying to fit in a class or home session a couple times a week and unless we're retired it's just not enough time in the day or week. I've pretty much settled for making stretching something i do throughout the day. If i can do a 20 minute session with a DVD at home from time to time, all the better but a few half-moon routines or a couple one-legged standing bow poses throughout the day i think, will do a lot more than that one hour class every week.
Inspiration, meditation. building the fire. fueling it and keeping it alive. wether it's internal or external, gotta find those sources of inspiration and visualization.
Finally, rest...Take a break. it's only running. PR's and results are cool but I'm in this for life. Not as in, "running for the rest of my life," but "running for the connection to the elements that make up this life." Wether to nature, others or one's self. Facing these elements and becoming part of them.
Eventually, my last couple seasons as a cyclist, i would just roll into the garage after a race or one of my long sunday rides with the team and would step off the bike then through the bike up on the workstand and start a quick routine of wiping it down, cleaning the chain, cassette, chain rings and taking care of any easy brake or shifting adjustments needed. Thus eliminating that one day set aside for maintenance, leaving it open for another day of riding. Or god forbid, some sort of "real life" responsibilities. This approach seemed to keep my bikes in much better running condition as well. Not to mention keeping me more abreast of any small issues that may become bigger issues.So, over the years, i've kind of dabbled in running, somewhat. a few marathons starting in 2004, a 50k in 2005, a couple 20 mile charity runs and a handful of 25k's, and 10k's. Inbetween al these runs, I was constantly managing one injury after another and all the while, having a 50 miler on my mind but could never get to that kind of training. i would start, get injured then just go back into cycling mode, forgetting all about running. Wasn't a big deal, I loved cycling but just felt like as a capable human, one should be able to run somewhat confidently without worry of getting injured.
Around late 2011, with some inspiration from a book i was reading, I started looking at running through a more holistic approach. I went to a very "minimalist" designed shoe, slowed my pace and started paying attention to what the hell I was doing. How my feet landed, my posture, breathing, all these little things. Eventually, really quickly actually, my daily milage more than doubled as did my yearly milage. And other than a couple seriously ridiculous "stunts" went relatively injury free and have been ever since.
It's been a couple years now since moving to this ideal of running and training and while it's still consistent with how I undertake it all, I've become aware of some negligence on my part. The negligence of regular maintenance.
Diet, supplements, stretching, yoga, inspiration, meditation, rest, etc....
As far as diet is concerned, this has gotten more and more important to me over the last few years. Of course it's a constant battle. Not only to be consistent but to find the right balance. Finding more and more that what we eat and don't eat is as, if not more, important than what we do in training. Supplements, well..i don't really "do" vitamins but being consistent with recovery drinks, oils, powders (protein and others), eating and drinking on the run, all these little things can make such a huge difference in not only recovery and repair but in attitude. Again, almost more important than training it's self.
Stretching, yoga, massage....ARRGGGH! THIS. This has to be the the most irresponsibly avoided aspect to most every runner's routine. For myself, the last thing i want to do after a 20 mile run is get on the ground with that big, stupid foam roller and roll around on the floor with that thing. Or get out my rolling stick and work out that knot in my left calf that's been getting tighter. In reality it would only take about 10-15 minutes but instead i'll find myself still in my running shorts, eating peanut butter out of the jar. I've even got proof to myself that the roller time does more good than the peanut butter time. This is probably the best comparison to the "after ride clean-up" as a cyclist. Finding the more often i do some of this after a run, the less time i really need to spend doing it. As far as stretching and yoga goes, I think a lot of us reach too far with this. trying to fit in a class or home session a couple times a week and unless we're retired it's just not enough time in the day or week. I've pretty much settled for making stretching something i do throughout the day. If i can do a 20 minute session with a DVD at home from time to time, all the better but a few half-moon routines or a couple one-legged standing bow poses throughout the day i think, will do a lot more than that one hour class every week.
Inspiration, meditation. building the fire. fueling it and keeping it alive. wether it's internal or external, gotta find those sources of inspiration and visualization.
Finally, rest...Take a break. it's only running. PR's and results are cool but I'm in this for life. Not as in, "running for the rest of my life," but "running for the connection to the elements that make up this life." Wether to nature, others or one's self. Facing these elements and becoming part of them.
