New Web Site and Q&A

Dear Runner,

I receive so many interesting e-mails from runners, and I can’t share them all, so I thought it would be good to allow people to post those to the blog.

I'm going to be posting and re-sending some older e-mail tips. So, you may receive the same tips that you got several months before. Sometimes that's good, to re-enforce some ideas.

Since, I receive so many e-mails from people, and it is getting harder to answer them all individually, I thought it would be a good idea to put them into my Running Tips e-mail and then post them on my Blog. So, if you don’t get a reply, check out the Blog at: www.runningtough.com/running_tips.html.

Here some Questions and Answers:

Q. Can you give me some tips on how to improve my 1.5 mile time? I have to do this in 13 Minutes.

A. First off, you want to take a ‘benchmark’ of how fast you can run this now. Do a couple of timed runs at a pace that you feel comfortable with and yet and push yourself. Do these runs on different days.

If you are below the time that you want to be at, you need to spend some time doing some speed work. For this shorter run you can do several hill sprints to improve your time.

Be careful when you first start doing sprints, because you can easily pull a hamstring, or create some other kind of injury if you go all out, or do too many at one time. Start at about 70% to 80% of what you feel is your maximum speed.

If you don't have hills, then check out the Power Sprinter from Lifeline-USA. Here's the link:

http://www.lifelineusa.com/products.cfm?categoryid=13&productid=20

Q. My name is Krystel and I love to run. I can run short distances but not long because my throat starts to burn, I get a cramp and I am breathing hard.

A. In order to be able to run longer distances, you have to learn to pace yourself for that distance. A lot of runners make this mistake when they try to increase distance. They start off running at their normal pace and quickly burn out. The best method is to increase your time or mileage by 10% a week. This way, your body will naturally learn to adapt to the longer distance and you will avoid injuries.

Remember, if you are experiencing pain, see a doctor as soon as possible.

And, if you are thinking about or have given up running because of pain or fear of injuries, give my course a try. You can order here: http://www.runningtough.com/order.html.

Thanks,

Jerry Hopkins

This email is for educational purposes only. Always consult your own personal doctor for medical advice and follow it even it contradicts what is said on this web site.

Copyright 2004

Avoid Shin Splints Part 2

Dear Runner,

I want to illustrate why it's important to wear good running shoes.

In my last e-mail, I made a point about how important having a good pair of running shoes is. I want to illustrate the point with a real life example.

Last week I went for a run up at a nice park that is about 25 minutes from my house. In my haste I forgot my running shoes. I decided to run with just the shoes that I had. Unfortunately, these were my everyday shoes, and they were pretty worn out.

I didn't want to go back home, so I figured that I would not run as far as I planned and I would stop if I felt too sore. Plus, I thought it would be a good experiment to illustrate my point I make last time. The good news is that I didn't get injured but I sure took a beating. Since, the shoes I ran in didn't have good cushioning, my lower legs took most of the shock. I was quite sore afterward. I only went about 6 1/2 miles.

I could see that if I would continue to run in these shoes, after a couple of weeks, I would probably start to feel the effects and be in danger of some kind of injury. Most likely "shin splints".

Now, I wouldn't have performed this experiment, if I had not believed that I wouldn't be able to take the punishment. I knew that my body was strong enough to handle the poor shoes from doing the exercises from my course, "How to Run Like A Deer". That's probably why I was able to go for at least 6 1/2 miles.

You can think of shoes like tires on a car, it doesn't matter how well tuned the car is, it isn't going to perform well if the tires are almost flat.

More on shin splints. Remember that I am using the term shin splints to really mean pain or problems in the front of the lower leg, i.e., the shin.

Here are 5 common causes of shin pain:

1) Tendonitis
2) Inflammation of the bone covering
3) Stress Fractures
4) Nerve irritation
5) Compartment syndrome

1) Tendonitis is basically tendon stress, usually inflammation. In this case tendons in your lower leg. You will normally feel this when at rest, and when you first run, then the pain will "go away' as your tendons warm up and loosen up a bit.

2) Inflammation of the bone covering means that the material that covers your bones, called Periosteum, becomes inflamed. Your tendons actual attach to this as opposed to the bone itself. This is caused by too much shock to the bone. This usually gets worse as you run. Remember last week where I talked about how the lower leg takes most of the shock from running.

3) Stress fractures in the shin area are also caused by too much shock and jarring. Can also be caused by twisting or stepping off a curb wrong, then agitated by repeated jarring from running. This also gets worse the more you run on it.

4) Nerve irritation of the tibial nerve is caused by surrounding muscles and/or veins that squeeze the nerve and thus inflame it.

5) The most serious of all shin problems is Compartment syndrome. Your lower leg has several different "compartments" that each house muscles, tendons, nerves, veins, arteries and bones. Each one is contained by a cellophane "sheath". If there is sudden swelling in any compartment, from an inflamed muscle this can squeeze against the arteries and/or veins and can cut of blood flow. This causes pain from the lack of blood flow. This also gets worse the more you run. You may see your foot or lower leg turning blue or purple and it might feel cold. If this happens, IMMEDIATELY SEEK EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT.

Remember, if you are experiencing pain, see a doctor as soon as possible.

And, if you are thinking about or have given up running because of pain or fear of injuries, give my course a try. You can order here: http://www.runningtough.com/order.html.

Thanks,

Jerry Hopkins

Avoid Shin Splints Part 1

Dear Runner,

While I can’t say that will be injury-free from running, by following my program, outlined in "How To Run Like A Deer", you can definitely improve your odds of staying injury free. The first step to understanding the logic behind my advice is to gain an understanding of typical running injuries.

So. in the next few e-mails, I am going to address "shin splints".

Next to knee problems the most common complaint of pain and injury for runners is shin splints. The term "shin splints" is a loosely used term basically meaning any pain, discomfort or injury to the lower leg area. I am going to use it to describe any kind of pain in the front of the lower leg, i.e., the shin. (I will talk about the rear part of the leg in other upcoming e-mails.) This can range from pain from inflamed muscles, or tendons in the shins to hairline fractures in the shin bone itself.

Once again, we find the bane of many runners as one of the causes of shin splints. That is overuse/overtraining. However, there can be other causes, like old, worn out shoes, the wrong type of shoe, and running too long on too hard of a surface.

So, if you are still wearing the same pair of shoes for more than a year, it's time to get a new pair. If you don't know how to buy a pair of running shoes, I posted a short article to assist beginners in buying shoes. Check it out at www.howtobuyrunningshoes.com. I will be putting up some shoe reviews soon. If you want to let me know what kinds of shoes you want reviewed, send me an e-mail. Feel free to tell me what your favorite pair of shoes are.

Since, getting a new pair of shoes is fairly easy to fix, I will concentrate on the overuse/overtraining issue of shin splints in this e-mail.

Overtraining is basically too much training with too little recovery time. Mostly, beginner runners make this mistake, but even experience runners make it, too. Usually, this is when they start to train for a race, and they either give themselves too little time to train for it, or they just become over enthusiastic and just run too much too fast.

The basic fix for overtraining is to cut back and give yourself time to recover. I'll talk more about overtraining in an upcoming e-mail.

Running is hardest on the lower part of your leg. The reason why running can be hard on your body, is when you run, each time your foot strikes the ground, there is a shockwave, that will travel up your lower leg, through your knee, your upper leg and into your hips. It will basically travel all the way to the top of your body. But, once it makes it past your core, a lot of energy has been lost. Your lower leg takes most of this shockwave. You would think it would be the feet. However, since most modern running shoes (that aren't worn out) have lots of cushioning, the feet are pretty much protected.

The energy from the shockwave must be absorbed by the musculoskeletal system. Of course, the harder the surface, the harder the shockwave. However, you want your muscles to absorb the shockwave more than your bones, or connective tissues. In fact, your muscles will absorb most of it. However, when you become fatigued, your muscles start to give out and absorb less. The bones and connective tissue will then end up absorbing more.

You can think of it this way. If you were to jump straight up from a standing position, then as you came down, what do you do. You probably engaged your muscles to help cushion the shock and the jump is pretty painless. However, if you were to jump and then make your legs straight and try not to make your body too rigid, you will feel the wave of pain in your feet, ankles, legs, knee and hip. If you don't engage your muscles at all, you will fall over after your feet hit the ground.

You might want to try this. But, be warned, don't jump too high or you could hurt yourself. Maybe, 1 to 2 inches. In fact, you can just tip up on your toes, like a calf raise and just release the tension and drop onto your heels. Try it on a carpet. Either way, don't be sending me e-mails, saying how you hurt yourself. If you are prone to injury, or think this might hurt yourself, then don't try it and just trust the explanation.

If you were to continue to jump up and down, hundreds or even thousands of times, which is similar to what happens when you run, eventually your muscles will become fatigue. And, from the experiment above, guess how the shockwave is going to be absorbed. This is why rest/recovery is important. As well as having strong (in endurance terms) muscles.

Now most of you might be aware that the more pounding a bone receives, the more dense it becomes. Your bones are not static, and they will adopt to external stimuli. The more you run, the denser your leg bones become, especially the lower leg bones. This is one reason why beginners experience pain in their shins, because their bones are not dense enough to withstand the stresses of running.

This is also one of the reasons why more women seem to suffer from shin splints than men. In general, women have less bone mass than men.

Even though, your bones get denser and can withstand more shock, you still need strong muscles to assist with the shock absorption. Again, reference the experiment above. Try doing hundreds of jumps with out using your muscles to assist and soon you will realize you won't be able to keep doing it for long. On second thought, don't try that. Just realize that it is your musculoskeletal system working together that absorbs the shockwave.

The overtraining/overuse problems and understanding how the body absorbs shock from running applies not just to "shin splints" but to several types of injuries. I think it is important for runners to comprehend this concept. Because that knowledge can help you to run injury free. I brought it up in this e-mail because it more evident in shin splint type of injuries. I'm sure I will bring it up again. For runners who have my course “How to Run Like a Deer Forever”, you should already be familiar with these concepts. But, it is good to read about them again.

So, in the next few e-mails I will go more into the common kinds of "shin splint" injuries.

Remember, if you are experiencing pain, see a doctor as soon as possible.

And, if you are thinking about or have given up running because of pain or fear of injuries, give my course a try. You can order here: http://www.runningtough.com/order.html.

Thanks,

Jerry Hopkins