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Week 6 - July 16th thru 22nd

Monday 16th               No Run - Cross Training Day

                                Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:

                                Warm Up 10 minutes on Stationary Bike - THEN

                                Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga

                                Cool Down 10 minutes on Stationary Bike

Tuesday 17th              Easy/Light Run 35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 30 sec light strides/60 sec easy within run

Wednesday 18th        Light Tempo/Fartlek Workout - OPTION TO MEET SATURDAY

                                IF YOU CAN'T MAKE WEDNESDAY...YOU MAY COME BOTH DAYS

                                Meet @ Tom Watson Park - 6:30 am

                                Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides

                                Start 5 min @ Half Marathon Effort with 2 min easy to re-group

                                Then 5 x 3 min @ 10 km Effort with 2 min easy to re-group

                                End 5 min @ Half Marathon Effort

                                Run Pick-Ups...Nice and Controlled...Use Paces as a Guideline

                                Cool Down 5-10 minutes

                                                OR

                                Easy Recovery Run 35-40 minutes

Thursday 19th            Easy Recovery Run 35-40 minutes

                                                 OR

                                Easy/Light Run 35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 45 sec light strides/75 sec easy within run

                                IF YOU DOING THE WORKOUT ON SATURDAY                   

Friday 20th                  No Run - Cross Training Day

                                Do ONE of the Following after Warm Up:

                                Warm Up 10 minutes on Stationary Bike - THEN

                                Lift Weights/Pilates (Mat or Reformer)/Yoga

                                Cool Down 10 minutes on Stationary Bike

Saturday 21st              Light Tempo/Fartlek Workout - Those that did not meet Wednesday

                                Meet @ Tom Watson Park - 7:00 am

                                Warm Up 15-20 min/Stretch/4 x 25 sec strides

                                Start 5 min @ Half Marathon Effort with 2 min easy to re-group

                                Then 5 x 3 min @ 10 km Effort with 2 min easy to re-group

                                End 5 min @ Half Marathon Effort

                                Run Pick-Ups...Nice and Controlled...Use Paces as a Guideline

                                Cool Down 5-10 minutes

                                               OR

                                Easy/Light Run 35 minutes

                                Include 5 x 45 sec light strides/75 sec easy within run

Sunday 22nd               Easy Longer Run 70-80 minutes

                                Relaxed Effort-Pace/Hydrate

Easy/Light/Recovery Run - Conversational Pace/Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort

Fartlek - Run between 75-85% Effort of Max

Tempo – Run between 70-75% Effort of Max

Long – Run between 60-90 sec slower than your marathon goal pace

Meeting Places

Tom Watson Park - follow the Diagonal Highway to 63rd St. Go north on 63rd for about a half mile and look for the sign saying Tom Watson Park on your right. Parking Lot is opposite Coot Lake on east side of 63rd. DO NOT park @ Coot Lake.

Coach's Notes

Don’t STRESS…stress can be defined as an external force, demand or pressure placed upon a material object. As endurance athletes, runners train their bodies and minds to endure prolonged physiological and mental stress. The human body has the unique capability to adapt to increases in stress. When bone encounters injury, it undergoes a process of self-regeneration to form new bone. Unfortunately, there is a breaking point at which this process is disrupted and can no longer sustain the loads the athlete’s mind would like it to, resulting in an overuse injury.         Stress fractures are overuse injuries that occur when a bone can no longer tolerate the load or force it is been subjected to. Mechanical breakdown or weakening of the bone occurs over time and is not caused by a single incident. This creates a need for investigation into potential causes in order to better resolve the injury and prevent it from recurring.

Red flags for stress fractures are sudden increases in training intensity or duration, rapid transition from a long history of non-weight bearing activity to a weight-bearing one, nutritional deficits (vitamin D, vitamin K, calcium or iron deficiency), low bone mass, low body mass index or a supinated foot and run gait technique. All of these factors need to be considered when attempting to understand the etiology of an athlete’s overuse injury. Stress fractures occur in the lower extremities (tibia, femur, pelvis, navicular, calcaneus,tarsals and metatarsals) and usually occur with a gradual onset of symptoms that increase with running. Specific symptoms vary depending on the location of the fracture, severity and whether there is other soft tissue involved. Usually there is localized pain at the fracture site, increased pain with weight bearing and in severe cases there could be swelling. A confirmed diagnosis of a stress fracture may be elusive, because the injury may mimic other overuse injuries such as tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, ITB syndrome or piriformis syndrome. When a bone is injured it can refer pain around it, much like shock waves radiating from an epicenter. Therefore, it is important for the injured athlete to be evaluated by a sports medicine professional who has experience in working with overuse injuries in runners.

Once an overuse injury has been diagnosed as a stress fracture, the next step is to unload the affected area. This period may last up to eight weeks, depending on the location and severity of the fracture and is critical for allowing the bone to heal. It is important that the athlete’s sports medicine professional and/or coach provide training alternatives during this recovery period. Using this non-running time period to focus on addressing muscular imbalances or bio-mechanical issues within the athlete is extremely beneficial to injury prevention and performance. Getting in the pool and swimming is typically allowed and running on the Alter-G treadmill after a few weeks into the recovery are potential training alternatives. Unfortunately, there is no magic bracelet or tape that can assist in bone healing…but there is some evidence that using electrical stimulation and low-intensity pulsed ultrasound directed at the fracture site may speed healing, although there is no consensus on the exact treatment regime that is most beneficial to bone repair. Therefore, a recovery program may include the aforementioned modalities in addition to diligent investigation of the cause of the stress fracture, whether it’s related to training errors, biomechanics, footwear or nutrition.

Stress Fractures can be prevented with SMART training and knowing when too much is just too much for the body to handle.  

Remember to follow the Base Schedule based on your Fitness Level right now:

Group 1 – been training consistently since Bolder Boulder and running on a daily basis

Group 2 – took time off after Bolder Boulder and back running 3-4 times a week now