The Importance of Stretching and Mobility for Runners! 💪

The Importance of Stretching and Mobility for Runners! 💪

by | May 19, 2023 | Uncategorized

Today, Coach Sandi Nypaver wanted to talk about how much runners should stretch, as well as a little bit about mobility.

“I think this has been become a more confusing topic than it should be, but I’ll do my best to walk you through the similarities and differences. I’m applying the best research I’ve seen, and it also includes some thoughts from different physical therapists and sports doctors I’ve worked with.

How it Works For Elite Runners:
🏆Jumping to it when thinking about flexibility for runners — it’s about being flexible in the right places!
If you look up a picture or a video of an elite runner who’s actually running fast and get a shot of them from the side. What you’re going to see is a really nice hip extension. However, that same runner might not be able to touch their toes because the back of their legs are so tight.

There may not be enough tightness to cause an injury, because tightness allows for the ideal storage of energy while the leg is on the ground and then the release of energy as the leg is in the air.

The Rubber Band Example:
⭕️It might be helpful for most people to think about different rubber bands:A small, thick rubber band is hard to pull back, so when we do pull it back and release it, it might not go very far. Moreover, a long, skinny rubber band can be pulled back really far, but it’s hard to build a lot of tension. So it also may not go very far!

However, a rubber band that is somewhere in between can be shot much farther. This is a long-winded way of saying that you should stretch anything that could be tight. As a general rule of thumb, stretch your hip flexors and quads. That’s one thing most runners should always stretch.  You don’t need to be so flexible that you can stick your foot behind your head.

Let’s Talk Mobility 🤸Okay, let’s go on to mobility now. Having good mobility by doing dynamic stretches could help ensure that all the joints of your body are moving optimally, especially for running. By this point, though, you might be asking, “what’s the difference between flexibility and mobility?”

✅ Flexibility can be summed up as a muscle’s ability to lengthen.
✅ On the other hand, mobility is about a joint’s ability to move through a certain range of motion. Doing a little bit of mobility from the shoulders to the feet can go a long way to help runners stay healthy. Many runners who start doing mobility exercises find that they might be sore the following days because they’re using muscles they haven’t accessed in a long time!

If you also commit to throwing in a hip flexor stretch, quad stretch pretty much daily, that can help you keep a nice long stride that can allow you to get more power from your glutes. Furthermore, a long hip extension can help you increase that elastic energy as you run.

In summary, adding in mobility daily, and then always stretching your hip flexors and whatever else is tight, is a really good part of any running program. Even if it’s just a little bit every day!

That brings up an important note, which is it’s often better to do “mini sessions” throughout the week, rather than doing one long session every week. Personally, I always like to do a little bit of mobility before I run, along with some activation exercises.

Then, if I’m doing another strength training session, I’ll do a little bit more mobility before I do the strength training exercises just to help me. Feel free to do what works best for you but at least you have a picture of how I do it.  
And with that, this is all I had for this week! I hope this is something you can put into your own running routine.

5 Tips to Help You Transition to ULTRAS!

by | May 9, 2023 | Uncategorized

So you’re trying to decide to take the leap from road running to trail running — that’s amazing! Moving up in distance can be an exciting and challenging experience, but transitioning from a half or full marathon on the road to a 50km or longer trail ultra-marathon requires additional preparation and considerations. Trail running offers unique challenges and rewards, from navigating uneven terrain to taking in breathtaking scenery.

In today’s article, Coach Sage Canaday will share his top 5 tips to help you prepare for your first ultra-marathon and make the transition as smooth as possible. Whether you’re a seasoned runner or new to the sport, these tips will help you stay focused, motivated, and confident as you tackle this new challenge:

“For a little background on myself, I raced 5k, 10K in track in college, and then eventually moved my way up. Maybe you’re in the same boat though. Maybe you’ve started running recently or you’ve gotten back into running and you’ve been doing 5K or 10K road races.

Maybe you’ve been doing dabbling in some half marathons, and now you’re looking to do a marathon and eventually an ultramarathon. The general trend is that you move up in distance as you gain more experience. This newsletter will specifically focus on transitioning from those road half marathons or road marathons.

I have five key tips, for making a successful transition to ultra-marathons, such as the 50K distance, 100k distance, even a hundred miles in the mountains and trails.

Tip Number One:

You have to have a consistent mileage base, which is essentially the aerobic base I frequently refer to. 🫁

For example, instead of running three days a week, you start running five days a week. Instead of running 30 miles a week or 50K a week, maybe you’ve started to average 50 miles a week or 80K a week. That kind of base generally really helps you in long distance racing! If you’ve got that consistency of just getting out the door, hitting those weekly mileage totals, spending time on your feet, training the aerobic system, even at relatively low intensity, it’s gonna set you up really well for doing an ultramarathon.

Now let’s briefly look at the physiology in terms of stressing your heart and lungs. A 50K is really just a minor extension off of a marathon, right? As long as it’s not a super high-altitude race or something really technical, it hopefully won’t feel too different than a regular marathon. A 50K should be very doable if you’ve gotten in consistent mileage base and experience in marathon training, so it probably best to start off with a 50K and see how your body responds.

Tip Number Two:

Add in hills or vertical. 📈

Not all ultra-marathons are going to be flat. In fact, most won’t be! Because there’s going to be a lot of vertical gain (at least more than what you’re used to in a regular road marathon), it’s critical to prepare your legs for that pounding of downhills and climbing strength for uphills.

To run strong uphill, it’s important to build overall strength and get that type of cardiovascular benefits for your heart and lungs. In a lot of our Higher Running Training Plans for Mountain Ultra training plans, we do have workouts like high intensity, short hill repeats, or have you do all uphill tempo runs or treadmill works where you’re adding in vertical gain and up relatively steep grades.

We’re talking 5% grade, 10% grade, even 20% grade. If you’re going to be training for a mountain race, you need to get used to that change in vertical. To take this one step further, add in hills and add in some long runs that are rolling that mimic the profile of the course. Your legs will get really strong doing this. Your heart and lungs get better with these specific types of aerobic adaptations.

Tip Number Three:

Throw your time and splits out the window. ⏱🚫

Unless you’re running a 50K on a track or you’re doing a really flat, non-technical ultramarathon race, you’re probably going to have no idea in your first ultra what kind of relative pace you might hold. For example, we have a lot of people that run sub-3-hour marathon in the roads. They run the Boston Marathon, and they’re fast on the roads. Then, all of a sudden, you throw them out on the trails and they’re splitting four or five hours for a 50K. Letting go of your expectations will help you enjoy the race more and get a better understanding of how you respond to longer races.

For me personally, I’m frequently slogging 10–15-minute miles. I’ve even done races where I’m power hiking up a mountain at 25-minute mile pace (18-minute km pace). It’s not like road running or flat, fast track running. Throw times out the window, you have to go by effort.

Tip Number Four:

Ultra-marathons require their own, specific long runs. 💪

Long runs are the bread and butter of a lot of our marathon and ultramarathon training plans at Higher Running. Try to build your long runs off what the actual course is going to be. Take the time to do your due diligence and research the types of trails it’s on, how much total vertical the race has, etc.

One you’ve done this, try to mimic that in some of your long runs. Now, obviously, you’re not going to go out and run a 50K ultra when training for a 50K. But you might be doing a 20-mile long run (32km) as part of your regular training, and it’s important you’re mimicking the terrain you’ll be racing on.

And like I said in the previous tip of throwing your time goes out the window, you might just be looking to spend time on your feet. Go out on the weekend (or whenever you have more time to actually train on trails) and you say, “okay, I’m going to do a four hour long run.” Or, “I’m going to spend half the afternoon out on the trails.”

Tip Number Five:

Ultra-marathons require specific nutrition and gear. 🍌

This is something you’re going have to figure that out, because everyone is different!

However, I can briefly address the basics:

Nutrition: You need to have probably more calories on you. Some people use hydration packs, whereas others rely on aid stations. Research what’s at the aid stations, practice your fueling strategy, and dial in what works best for you.

Gear: You’re spending more time out in the elements. You’ll have to have all types of jackets, extra shoes, extra socks, etc. You could get more extreme temperature changes as well. But it depends on where your ultramarathon race is and how long it will take you.

Moving up in distance from a road marathon to a trail ultra-marathon can be a daunting task, but with the right preparation and mindset, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Remember to focus on your training, stay motivated, and be patient with yourself as you adjust to the unique challenges of trail running. With these tips and your own determination, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your trail ultra-marathon goals.

The 3 Key Ingredients to a Proper Warm Up

The 3 Key Ingredients to a Proper Warm Up

by | Apr 24, 2023 | Uncategorized

Engaging your muscles fully and preventing constant tightness is essential to maximize your performance and reduce the risk of injury. Coach Sandi Nypaver will be sharing her expertise on the three key ingredients to an effective warm-up routine that will not only prepare your body for exercise but also improve your overall mobility and flexibility. So, whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting out, keep reading to learn how you can take your warm-up routine to the next level!

Step #1: Active Release and Foam Rolling
The first step to a proper warmup routine is foam rolling or doing some type of active release. This is often something athletes think they should do post-run, or just remember they can fit it in, but the benefits may be short-lived when done alone.

Current research has shown people can get lasting benefits if they foam roll right before mobility exercise. Think of it this way: if there’s a knot in a rope, you can pull the rope all you want, but it’s not going to reach its full length until the knot is removed. Foam rolling and active release aids in getting rid of the tight muscles and promotes good fascial movement so that you can get a better range of motion during your mobility exercises.

To be realistic, if you’re short on time and nothing feels tight, then I do believe it’s sometimes okay to jump right into mobility. However, I strongly believe in the benefits of consistent foam rolling and active release sessions to keep runners mobile and healthy. Many runners have no idea how tight certain muscles are until issues arise.

Step #2: Mobility
Let’s move on to the second key ingredient, mobility. Mobility is the joint’s ability to move through a range of motion. In other words, doing mobility before a strength session or a run reminds your body to move through its full range of motion instead of staying in a shortened state. Think of it this way, if you just sat at a desk all day, your hip flexors are used to being in a shortened state and your glutes are used to being turned off.

Doing hip mobility would remind your hip flexors on how to lengthen while waking up your glutes. The same goes for sitting in a hunched position for long hours. Doing a little thoracic mobility can open up your chest and allow for a proper counter rotation to your lower body as you run. When runners lose thoracic mobility, they may try to get the counter rotation from their low backs instead. Proper mobility as you run can help you better absorb impact forces while simultaneously allowing you to create more force or allowing you to get more power from your muscles.

Step #3: Activation
Now let’s tie an active release and mobility with a third key ingredient: activation. Since you took a couple of minutes of foam roll and did some mobility exercises, you can now get the full benefits of your activation exercises because you can fully access the muscles you’re targeting. In turn, this can help prevent chronic tightness. For example, if your hip flexors are chronically tight, when your glutes are engaged, your hip flexors will lengthen as you move. So, your hip flexors are no longer in a chronically shortened state which caused the chronic tight.

The crucial factor with any activation exercise is to make sure you are using the muscles you’re supposed to be using. That mind body connection is essential, especially as you start your run or strength workout. It is entirely possible to look like you’re doing a glute bridge, but not feel your glutes working at all.

That’s not what you want. If you can’t feel the right muscles working, you may need to do a little more active release and then start off with simpler exercises in smaller movements. Different people need to work on different things. But with my experiences as a running coach, my practical advice would be to spend the first couple minutes of your warmup routine, aiming to create good fascial movement and relax the tight muscles.

Next, do a hip thoracic spine and ankle mobility exercise. Lastly, pick a couple of activation exercises to target your different gluteal and hip muscles. Yes, there are exercises that double as both mobility and activation exercises, like a lunge with a side rotation.In conclusion, a proper warmup routine that includes foam rolling or active release, mobility exercises, and targeted muscle activation is critical for preventing injury and optimizing performance. By investing just a few minutes in a comprehensive warmup, you can effectively prepare your body for the physical demands of your workout or competition. So, take the time to engage your muscles fully, relax any tight areas, and prime your body for success. Incorporating these three key warmup ingredients into your routine can help you become a stronger and faster athlete.
Find the PERFECT Workout Pace Every Time

Find the PERFECT Workout Pace Every Time

by | Apr 10, 2023 | Uncategorized

Here are five strategies 🖐 to use when faced with a problem like the following:

“HELP! What’s the best way to adapt my workouts when [theoretically] I should be getting faster over time?”

We hear this every so often with some of our Higher Running athletes using one of our training plans. For today’s newsletter, Coach Sandi Nypaver thought it would be helpful to explain what to do in instances where you’re not sure about a workout pace. Or even knowing when to run faster paces for workouts because you’re improving over the course of your training cycle:
“It’s important to understand that fitness is a moving target. If you haven’t had a recent race performance to gauge what you should be running your workouts at, then yes, it will be a bit difficult for you to fully know what paces are achievable for you. But all hope is not lost! There are a couple of strategies for working around that.

Strategy #1: Keep a meticulous training log. Keeping a meticulous training log will enable you to look back at your training and understand what kind of paces you were once at, how you felt at the time, and what kind of event you were training for at the time. If you’ve never kept a training log to track all of these types of things, there’s never a bad time to start! Some people like to use online fitness apps like Strava, Garmin Connect, and Training Peaks. Any of these work great, but it’s most important for you to be able to use something that can be referred to years down the road.

If you are someone that’s kept a training log for a long time, look to see how you’ve improved over time. Is there heart rate data for you to compare with a 7:15 mile pace at week 2 versus a 7:15 mile pace at week 10? (Note: we definitely understand there’s a lot of variability and factors that go into heart rate, but this can still be used as a “general” guide). Did you training log note how you felt at certain paces? Again, these are all good things to start doing if you aren’t, and great things to refer back to if you’re someone who does have these data available.

Higher Running Training Plans also come with an Intensity Spectrum Pace Chart that you can use to see approximately how you should be feeling for different types of efforts. By the way – you can also get this for FREE by clicking THIS.We give this to athletes to help them understand how paces should feel, especially if they don’t have an extensive training log or racing history.

Strategy #2: Use a heart rate monitor I already kind of touched on this above, but I wanted to dive deeper into how you can use heart rate when training to your benefit. Again, we don’t want heart rate monitors to be the thing you swear by, because there is a lot of “fickleness” (is that even a word???) when using one during training (read more about that HERE). You can compare your “feel” or “perceived exertion” with your respective heart rate values. Over time, your fitness will improve and you’ll notice that your paces will get faster even at the same heart rate value.
Strategy #3: Start off easy and increase the pace if you’re feeling good. 📈If you’re just totally unsure where to start with regards to a “marathon type effort” or “10km type effort” for an interval, I would always caution my athletes to start off easy and then try to pick up the pace if it still feels too easy after the first couple of intervals. On the flip side, if you start to fall off the pace for the given rep, then you know you started off too hard. This may take a bit of trial and error, but over time, I’m confident that you’ll be able to find your flow at the correct paces.

Strategy #4: Be real with yourself when it comes to your goal finishing time. 
I’m all about setting huge goals and doing everything in your power to make them happen. However, it’s also important to be realistic with our desired finishing times in races to ensure your workouts help set you up for success. In all of our Higher Running Training Plans, we prescribe some workouts that are based off of your goal race pace. This “goal race pace” of yours may have been based off of a previous race finish time, or it may be what you feel like you can do in several months’ time. If it’s the latter, there are warning signs to know if you’ve chosen a goal race time that is too fast (or too slow).

Let’s say you’re at week 12 in your marathon training plan (and approaching taper time), and your workout of the day was 2 mile repeats, if you’re not hitting under race pace for these two mile repeats, your race pace is probably too fast. This same mentality can be applied towards any race distance. To reiterate, it’s best to be on the more conservative side because you can always get in the duration of the workout and increase the intensity later.

Strategy #5: Know when it’s time to increase your paces, and more importantly, when NOT to increase your paces. If you’re 2-3 weeks out from the race and you think you can run faster than what you’ve been doing, it’s best just to keep that in the bank. You don’t want to overdo it before a race, and the best course of action is for you to hit the paces you know you can. This still allows for a good training stimulus while saving yourself for race day.

Knowing race paces and when to increase paces can be confusing. We hope this provides a few suggestions that will help you better understand the best way to approach these unknowns. It may take some time for you to really feel in tune with your body and be able to feel these things out, but we’re confident that you can succeed in doing so over time.”
How to build an optimal periodized training schedule

How to build an optimal periodized training schedule

by | Apr 4, 2023 | Uncategorized

One of these days we’ll get around to devoting an entire newsletter to periodized training and why that’s important, but we wanted to dive into something a little more specific that we think you’ll find useful: How many hard or “quality” sessions should you do per week? Here’s what Coach Sage has to say:
“I wish there was an easy answer to this question. It sure would be nice if I could tell you to, “do three hard sessions per week in order to get fast!” But unfortunately, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Of course things like this somewhat depend on ability level, how long you’ve been running, and what you’re training for, but there are certain rules that I follow that can be applied to all runners. If I had to summarize it though, the complexity around this issue can be broken up into a few different components which I’ll touch on individually in a bit, and those are: Mental, Periodization, Crash Training, and Speed Training.

Component #1: Mental 🧠Mentally, you simply cannot push and give 100% of effort all of the time. Even longer breaks from hard training throughout the year are necessary in order to be in a healthy headspace. If you push, push, push all the time, there’s really two things that could happen. The first is that you simply get burnt out and you can’t peak for your “A” event you’re training for. Alternatively, you could peak too early because of all the intensity, underperform at your “A” event, and still end up burning out. All this to say, you don’t want to be doing something like 5 hard sessions per week, not even close. It’s also important to clarify that there’s a difference between completing a quality workout versus doing something like 4x100m strides with a full recovery in between. Doing a few strides like that could easily be done every day, but again, you want to be giving yourself a mental break from the hard efforts.If you’re looking for me to quantify the number of hard sessions I think you should be doing in a 7-day period, I would never go over three (3). Even with three quality sessions per week, this would be me at peak fitness when I know my body can handle the stress. In our Higher Running Training Plans, I rarely (if ever) prescribe more than two (2) hard workout days in a 7 day period. One of those sessions may even be a long run, because research shows that longer hard run efforts also have a great training stimulus. All in all, I generally like to aid on the side of caution and have my athletes be slightly undertrained rather than 1% overtrained.

Component #2: Periodization 📊Periodization does not necessitate that athletes follow a strict 7-day calendar cycle. When I’m giving my athletes a training plan that incorporates periodization, what I’m essentially doing is giving them workouts and runs that slowly change over time. I’m not thinking in terms of days and weeks, but rather, in terms of months! These months are viewed as “blocks,” where each block will have a different overall focus. If you’re using a well-designed training plan (such as any Higher Running Training Plan 😉) we will be giving you hard workouts based on where you are in the training block. This will also dictate how many you do and what type of hard workout it is. For example, if you’re in a base building phase (usually the first ~4 weeks of any of our 16 week training plans), we’ll give you a hard workout or two (max) per week that focuses on tempo runs or longer base-building type aerobic efforts.

Component #3: Crash Training 💥What is crash training, you ask? Well, it’s basically where someone would go hard five days in a row and then you take a few days off until you think you’re recovered. This is a perfect example of what NOT to do. I repeat, I do not recommend this method whatsoever. What should one do instead? While, as I already mentioned, focus on 2-3 “hard” days a week with at least 1-2 days of recovery in between each hard workout. This moderate approach will yield more success than something extreme, such as crash training.

Component #4: Speed Training 💨The last thing I wanted to touch on is that there are different types of speed training or “hard sessions.” I know I’ve already alluded to this in previous components, but there are variations of going “hard.” Simply running for as long and fast as you can each day won’t optimize your time spent training. I will just quickly go over the various types of workouts that we like to include in our training plans as the “hard” or “key” workouts. If you’re interested in learning more about these, we explain them in depth in our Training Guide, which is included when you purchase any of our Higher Running Training Plans.
-Long Runs: This may sound straightforward, but we actually like to make the most out of our long runs. As opposed to just “slogging it out” to get the miles in, we will sometimes ask runners to speed up the second half of their long run, or to throw in a few sets of race-pace efforts.
-Vo2Max: This is where your lungs are burning, and you’d wish the pain would stop. These are used to help refine the top end speed of yours.
-Tempo: The “infamous” 20-minute tempo run is a favorite workout of ours. This effort would start off feeling comfortable but towards the end you’d wish you could be done.Fartlek: The “speed play” type workouts typically use variations of things like “2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy” that allow you to not focus so much on the mileage or pace.

We hope this gives you a little bit better of an idea of how often you should do hard sessions, when to incorporate them, and what the different types of hard workouts there are. If you’re interested in a training plan for #AnySurfaceAnyDistance, be sure to check out HigherRunning.com to browse from 20+ plans for any distance and any level of experience.