February 22, 2022 • 48 mins
On this episode Coach Emily, Coach Michael, and Coach Ryan discuss the role of Spring Training and how you might leverage it to assist you in your short and long term running goals. Whether you have been training through the winter or taking some time off of running, Spring Training offer many unique opportunities runners of all levels.
What makes Spring Training unique? What special opportunities does Spring present for the novice and experienced runner? Whether you have already committed to Spring Training or are still on the fence, this episode should supply a lot for you to think about.
Some of the topics covered in this episode include:
- The Role of Training Cycles
- Successfully emerging from Training Hibernation
- Use Base Training For Prehab
- Laying the Groundwork for Summer Fall Goals
- Getting the Most Out Of The Season
Reference: Prepping Your Mind for Running Success
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Coach Michael (00:06):
Welcome to the Chicago Endurance Sports
podcast.
On this episode, we're going totalk all about Spring Training.
Hopefully get you excited aboutthis upcoming season.
and Talk about how SpringTraining to fit into your
running and your racing goals.
My name is Coach Michael and Iam joined today with a couple
other coaches, including,
Coach Ryan (00:27):
and Coach Ryan,
Coach Michael (00:28):
and we're here today to talk all about Spring
Training.
Some people I know areregistered already, for Spring
Training, but if people are onthe fence or thinking about it,
maybe encourage them and talkabout, why they should consider
Spring Training and strategiesgo into spring training.
So maybe a good way to getstarted is teach.
You can check in with everyone.
(00:49):
How have your training joined orwhat your plans are for spring?
We've just came out of thewinter session and jumping into
this new session.
So Ryan, what's going on withyou when you're training.
Coach Ryan (00:59):
Yeah, this is an interesting season.
As some of you know, I'm atriathlete.
So the last few years, a lot ofthat focus has been on triathlon
training.
Whereas actually now I'vetransitioned my thought process
and my goals to straightrunning.
So marathons, half marathons,potentially ultras and things
like that.
Training has been okay.
You know, we'll be honest I'mcoming off a big year from the
(01:21):
previous year.
So getting myself back into areally solid routine, a routine
that was at the same level assay the Ironman training that I
was doing it's been a challenge.
I think it's been a challenge.
I've been hearing this from alot of people, you know, coming
off big years and going into thefollowing year after you had
such a big successful epic year,heard this from a few different
people.
So just trying to find my way,and we just came off the Winter
(01:43):
Warrior season, again, WinterWarriors, winter running in
Chicago is always a really bigchallenge, but I was happy to
get in some good long miles.
I think I got to 16 miles duringWinter Warriors, training
through my own training with theBoston group.
I unfortunately had a little bitof a setback, so I did have a
little bit of a muscle strainthat I got from running on the
snow.
(02:04):
There's a lot of opportunitiesthat could have happened there,
but I think, you know, a lot ofit was just the challenge of
running on the snow and the ice.
Nonetheless, I'm feeling prettygood on the mend.
I actually have a race coming upthis weekend in Tampa, Florida.
So that'll be kind of fun.
I'm looking forward to takingthat race as a training run, but
yeah, looking to use the SpringTraining just to build a really
good base in hopes to aim for asolid Fall marathon.
Coach Emily (02:31):
Well, I know what you mean Ryan about coming off
like a big year.
I definitely know that for me,after training for a marathon, I
trained for the Chicago Marathonthis last year and really
enjoyed my race.
And I find that like the monthafter I just like, and so lazy,
I'm just like burnt out.
It usually takes till afterChristmas for me to get back
(02:55):
into my routine, I'm stillrunning, still exercising, but
it looks really different.
There's no schedule at thatpoint and I was hoping to start
ultra training, but then I gotCOVID and it was a mild case.
It wasn't super awful, but itlingers like crazy.
So I've been struggling to getmy miles up quite as high.
(03:16):
I did my first temple run inlike a month.
So that felt really good.
Like I wasn't fatigued.
So I kind of put my initial, bigultra goal on hold.
Hoping I can do that in thefall.
I'm not going to talk about whatit is live until I feel good
about it.
But for Spring Training, Ialways see that as a really
(03:39):
great base for me.
And what I'm working on rightnow is a lot of strength
balance, and agility training.
So hopefully I can translatesome of that balance and that
strength to the trails and enjoythat.
The only race I'm signed up forright now is the Indianapolis
Marathon, which is the firstweek in November, always.
But my sister's running herfirst hundred miler in Colorado.
(04:04):
I don't quite remember where,but I put the date on the
calendar because the plan isthat I will be her pacer for the
last three when she's deliriousand not going very fast, so I
will be fine.
So, yeah, so I, I'm reallyenjoying rebuilding that strong
base.
And I always feel so excited togo into Spring Training because
(04:27):
it.
It's like exciting after winterand I want to run even more.
So yeah, that's what's going onwith me.
Coach Michael (04:38):
Excellent.
Excellent.
Well it was really, I think,early this winter, I got an
email reminded me that I wasregistered for the Kenosha
Marathon a couple of years agothat was canceled because of the
pandemic.
And last year I took a defermentout it because I forgot about it
(05:00):
and I wasn't prepared for it.
So this year I am training forthat which is the first week in
May.
The last couple of weeks I'vestarted back formally on my
training plan.
So I'm starting to build mileageon that.
So that's my initial goal is atthat marathon.
And then I've got some biggergoals early in the summer.
So hopefully from here out andback in a smooth path, back in
(05:23):
good health, and hopefully theweather will hold up.
Coach Ryan (05:27):
Emily you pointed out you had the feeling of
coming off a big race season andMichael you've had monster
races.
You've had these big epic ultraraces.
I know I'm going to tangent, butthe idea of a post race
depression.
It could be years, right?
Like could be couple years.
It could be the entire year orwhat, or even just a few months,
but you are so dedicated toeverything is all about that.
(05:48):
Your sleep treat your weekends,the nights, the way you interact
with your family and friends andthings like that.
It's all about that.
And even your posts on socialmedia and all of a sudden, you
know, the race comes, you talkabout it.
You maybe wait a week later thatyou like, oh, flashback Friday
to my race that I did a weekago.
And then it comes to ascreeching halt, right.
(06:08):
Then it's like, where like thepickup after that is it, it's a
very interesting process.
Coach Emily (06:14):
And I think that people have like this weird
guilt about it, because theydon't realize that most people
or a lot of people actually dealwith it.
And then they just feel like,oh, I'm lazy and I'm not doing
anything.
And then it's like, yeah, Idon't know.
That's what I felt from likeathletes where they're like, I
just like, feel so lazy and badafter you know, that realizing,
oh, we're all kind of in thattoo.
(06:37):
It probably like you said, itcould be an interesting
conversation unto itself, but italso sort of speaks to kind of
what we'll get to speak to youtoday and start off spring.
The idea of training cycles.
Coach Michael (06:48):
And like I said, we just came off the winter
training session.
It just ended up Winter Warriorsso people went through that, but
some people, as you said, maybethey trained for the marathon
last year or their first halfmarathon or, triathlon and they
had this excitement they builtup it was exciting for that
period of time.
And then, now what's right.
(07:09):
That almost sense of loss in away, all your drive, all kind of
your whole life was revolvingaround this big event.
It's no longer there anymore.
So a lot of times we, we'retraining.
We like to talk about it incycles.
And I think maybe we should talka little bit about training
cycles and the thought behindthat and the way that works.
Ryan, do you wanna talk a littlebit about that?
Coach Ryan (07:31):
Yeah.
Yeah, in the more specificsense, I think that when people
think of Training cycles or Iwould say, think about what
coaches or, people who fullyeducate themselves on a cycle of
training.
There's the base training phase.
Right, which is just kind ofbuilding, you know, the base of
the house, right.
You need to build this solidfoundation before you start
(07:54):
really building up an increasingmileage.
Just getting out to be active,spending time on your feet,
building consistency and thingslike that.
And then you go into the secondphase, which would be the
preparation phase, which I feellike the big chunk of training.
There's a lot of endurance work.
It's like 60% under its workers.
You're starting to include speedwork and Strength work.
(08:16):
You know, it's really funny wewere just talking offline about
this strength training.
I think strength training be abig part of your base training
phase, building up all themuscles that will be necessary
to accomplish the goal.
And then I think there's acertain degree of that that
needs to be continued on intothe preparation phase.
I think coming from a medicalstandpoint, I am not a doctor by
(08:38):
any means, but I worked withinthe healthcare industry.
I work with a lot of differentphysical medicine, internal
medicine, things like that.
I hear all too often and offthat people will drop a
significant amount of theirother strength training.
And they can point out to wherethings could kind of weaker and
things can go wrong withinjuries and things like that.
And then, you know, after thepreparation phase, you know, you
(08:58):
go through like the big buildupof training, all the speed work.
Then you get into the peaktraining phase.
We were kind of like caughtsharpening the knives, right as
in getting ready for tuningyour, your training to race.
Coach Emily (09:10):
I think that that's a good way to describe the
different phases of training.
I think it's interesting whatyou said about people, cutting
back on their strength trainingwhen they are in What phase did
you say that was in the basephase or the preparation phase?
In the preparation phase and Iget it, there was time in the
day and that's, that's the toughpart, right.
(09:31):
Is like fitting it all in.
I'll be guilty too, pulling offa certain workout in my whole
mix of exercises and like, ah, Ireally want to make sure this
does workout only last 45minutes.
Coach Ryan (09:43):
So I'll take away these two exercises.
And sometimes those are reallyimportant ones, but I hear a lot
of times people in preparation,during training, when they get
injured and I'll ask them aboutwhat they're doing and like, oh
yeah, I know.
I definitely haven't been doing,walking lunges and my planks and
things like that.
Yeah.
I realize that that's wherepotential area where injury
(10:04):
could have happened.
Coach Emily (10:04):
Yeah.
I would say I, 100% agree withthat.
I think that the base phase inthe preparation phase, runners
benefit from adding and keepingstrength in, because not only
are you preparing your mileagebase.
Right.
And, but you're also preparingyour body to take on the brunt
of the load that you're doing.
And it's right after thatpreparation phase, I would say,
(10:28):
or maybe in that when anyinjuries that you had from like
10 years ago from high schoolsports or something else might
start showing themselves thatwith some really moderate
exercise, you might not see it.
But then as they start adding abit of mileage, you see those
weak links.
So those issues pop up.
And so oftentimes I think like,I agree with you.
(10:52):
Strength training needs to be apart of that.
And I think you can add it in,in a lot of really small ways,
like where you were saying like,oh, I don't want this to be 45
minutes.
I want to cut these two out.
You could think of how you wouldbreak that up in the day to
actually make it fit into yourworkout.
That's how I get it in.
Otherwise I don't.
Coach Ryan (11:09):
I think I actually what can change within strength
training is actually just theway you strength, train.
So building up and have yourweights in the base phase maybe
you were stating that to acertain degree, but maybe now
you go to a lower weight, higherrep just to maintain.
So you're not over exhausting,your muscles and taking them to
failure.
I think that's actually wheremaybe one would want to go is,
(11:32):
is take that all the way down tomaxing out your weight and
constantly building, but justmaintaining, just maintain a
good routine of like, yeah dofew plays per day.
I feel like that strengthtraining as part of the base and
into preparation doesn't have tobe wild or crazy.
It could be a simple 20 minuteworkout that you do.
That's just a simple sum thatyou know, that you're used to,
(11:56):
that you can sustain throughouttraining because certainly a lot
of other factors are gonna bechanging, within the preparation
and peak.
Michael do you concur?
Coach Michael (12:06):
Yeah.
Definitely.
But getting back to the conceptof training cycles and I think
it gave a good definition from acoaching standpoint, but from a
layman's term, when I talked toparticipants a lot of times, for
example, we just of Win terWarriors and they've, they've
trained and they've reached thehalf marathon now we're going to
start spring again and theirmileage is going to start back
(12:29):
at six miles, four miles,whatever, and people, a lot of
times want to progress.
So though I'm at 13 milesalready.
Why are you asking me to takelesser mileage?
Now when I've already shown andbuilt my body to 13 miles.
So I'd like to talk a little bitabout cycles in that way as
well, and explain the conceptof, you can't build, build,
(12:52):
build, build, build nonstop,because at some point you're
going to snap, right?
Basically your body needs timesfor recover and build back up
again.
And, that's kind of the purposeof a training cycle, you take it
from building that base, youknow, to performance, to what'd
you call sharpening.
Yeah,
Coach Ryan (13:11):
yeah the peak phase
Coach Michael (13:14):
a lot of times it's referred to as specificity
training.
But then you have your test, theultimate test is the race.
Right.
But at that point you just giveyour body a break and he's
talked about recovery.
And kind of start again.
And you're really not starting aagain you're not starting from
scratch because you have, dohave some more of a base there,
(13:36):
but your body is kind of beat upand worn out from 12, 13 weeks
of the previous training cycle.
Coach Ryan (13:44):
Yeah, yeah, thank you for, he was on track here
Michael.
To the bigger point, but yeah,to build muscle, you need to
recover.
That's just fact that periodWhenever you're building muscle,
you're essentially creatingmicro tears within your muscle.
And in order for that to, to getstronger, it needs to recover.
(14:04):
Right.
It's also why the way we buildour training plan, we have cut
back weeks.
Going back to the very beginningof this conversation, You just
built up to the peak of thisrace and there's a lot of
emotion, there's a lot more thanjust physical strength that kind
of goes into it.
You're mentally taxed you'reemotionally taxed be able to
restart that training cycle fromthe beginning.
(14:27):
Allows you take a breath offresh air.
Right.
Everyone knows, whether you'rean extrovert or introvert when
you're out there and you're in acrowd of people, maybe you're a
work, maybe a big party and youhave to be on.
And at a certain point of like,gosh, I just want to go home and
get to my room and not say aword and just chill out.
And then, you know, tomorrow Ican get back on.
It's kind of like that sameidea, right?
(14:48):
Going back to the start of thetraining is kinda like, getting
home, going to sleep, getting abreath of fresh air the food
that you want, and then okay,cool.
I'm gonna, I'm going to buildback up.
Coach Michael (14:57):
I've got a big thing about recovery lately and
really talking to participantsabout recovery that recovery,
meaning people think to recoverbecause they don't feel pain,
not feeling pain does not meanyou're recovered.
If you're well-trained, youmight feel some pain right after
a big exertion, but youshouldn't have a chronic ache
pain the absence of that doesn'tmean you're recovered.
(15:19):
There's a lot of stuff going oninside your body.
And only time and rest andsleeping well, eating well and
giving yourself a downtimereally allows you to fully
recover.
But people think like, well, itdoesn't hurt, so it must be
recovered.
Coach Ryan (15:36):
Maybe you did the marathon once.
Maybe you've done it twice,maybe three times, but this is
really like the optimal way tolike hit your big goals, right.
Is to allow yourself to justbuild a layer, let everything
set and then building anotherlayer on top of that.
It's kind of the visual, Ialways go, I do always have a
visual building this immensemansion or building in house.
Coach Michael (15:59):
You're kind of transitioning to actually a good
point.
Maybe we can move into isanytime we start a new cycle,
for example, if we're going intospring is the importance of
setting goals.
Right.
Because a lot of times you thinkof a goal is I want to run a
marathon, or I want to completethis race, but goals could be a
thing from getting healthy orfully recovering or building
(16:21):
strength, or maybe gettingfaster, or maybe working on
transition from run, walkinginto continuous run, there's all
different types of goals.
It could be consistency.
I'm going to get so manyworkouts in a week.
So could we talk a little bitabout goals for spring and how
they may or may not be differentthan other parts of the season
(16:43):
of the training year?
I should say.
Coach Ryan (16:44):
You know, the first thought that it kinda came to my
head was I think a lot of uswant the immediate, what's, what
was the word I'm looking for?
Um, satisfaction.
Without having to work or buildup to meet a particular goal.
And I'm speaking that because Ithink too often we will train,
oh, this is so true.
Okay.
We will train for the goal thatwe have in mind versus where
(17:11):
we're at actually physically orwe're where we're at when our
actual physical fitness doesthat make sense?
Although those other one of mybig goals and I made this a
point to put this out there.
I think a bit at the beginningof the year, that one of my
goals is to get the Boston.
Right.
I would love to qualify forBoston.
I know it ain't going to happenthis spring, or even maybe this
(17:32):
fall, I realized where I need togo and where I'm at right now
with my physical fitness, itmight take me a little bit
longer to get to, but I will getthere and I will, I'll break up
this goal in a couple of yearsand then break that up into a
few different months andtraining seasons.
Whereas I think a lot of people,okay, this is year one of
marathoning, which was like 11or 12 years ago.
(17:54):
My silly thought was, I'm goingto qualify for Boston this
training cycle, regardless ofwhere my physical abilities
were, I'm like, okay, well, if Ineed to run at this pace, I have
to train at this pace.
And then I was trying to trainat that pace.
I'm like, gosh, I couldn't keepup with that pace.
I was racing every singleweekend.
It was unreal.
So that was just a false thoughtprocess.
(18:15):
Right.
And unfortunately to be thebearer of truth here I think a
lot of us too often train forthe goal that we have in mind
versus training for where we'reat and then setting the smart or
the realistic and attainablegoal.
I get reaching for the moon andgoing after the big goal that's
so good.
(18:35):
That's so great but you got amix and bounds with some
reality.
Coach Michael (18:38):
I'm going to put a plug in for an earlier podcast
episode.
I did do with Coach Kristinawho's also a psychologist I
think it's called prepping yourmind for running.
And she talked about smart goalsand smart goals are a come away
to a approach goals where thestands for specific measurable,
attainable, relevant, andtime-based.
(19:01):
She walked through what thoseare.
So when you set up these goalsyou're setting yourself up for
success.
That might be a good referencefor people.
Coach Emily (19:08):
Just kind of piggybacking on the idea of
smart goals and off of what Ryansaid about how we set our goals
based off of where we want tobe, as opposed to where we are
at.
I think one of the things thatcould also interfere is maybe
where we have been in pastseasons.
I know people coming back totraining this Winter Warriors
and this past summer after thepandemic, it really threw people
(19:32):
for a loop.
And so they have these ideas ofthis is where I was before and
that's where I should be now.
And there's a constant measuringof those standards, but that
doesn't really serve you.
So I like to talk to athletesand myself in this way of like
where's my present day self andare my goals aligned with that?
(19:53):
And will hold those goals, servefuture Emily, or we'll do those
goals or future self.
So like you're saying, Ryan, ifyou set your pie in the sky
goals, you end up probablygetting more discouraged or
fatiguing or getting injured andyou kind of questioned your
abilities.
But goals can look like.
(20:15):
My goal today was that I woke up10 minutes early and I did abs
in the morning and I drink awhole glass of water and I got
my run in.
And that could be a really smartgoal that you could add in that
training, but starting withwhere you're at now.
And I'm thinking like, will thisserve me or also I think that
some people might come totraining and they might have
(20:36):
training partners who maybe youguys work kind of at the same
training pace, but it looks alittle different because you're
in different fitness levelsright now, and that's fine.
It's just where things are.
And so you might want to pushyourself further than you should
on maybe some runs because youwant to keep up.
And so maybe just like beinghonest with yourself about that,
(20:58):
And that's pretty importantplace to start.
Coach Michael (21:00):
I think this is a good point because it's bringing
me back to when Ryan first cameup with the idea for this
episode is how we can usespring, maybe to set some goals,
to get us ready for our biggergoals over the long training
summer into fall.
Right.
What maybe we could build onthings we need to work on now,
(21:22):
if we've been maybe not asactive or we took some time off
use spring, sort of a as a areato build on.
So when we are kickoff insummer, we're not just getting
off the couch and in June wealready have some sort of base
to start on.
Right.
Is that, am I speakingcorrectly?
(21:42):
Right?
Yeah,
Coach Ryan (21:44):
absolutely.
You know, the beauty of livingin, the Midwest in Chicago is
that we have a built in cycle.
It's the, it's the seasons.
Right.
You know, winter, it's, it's arough time not, everyone's gonna
have a rough time in, wintertime, but I think a lot of
people do, right.
I mean there's seasonaldepression, just dealing with
the lack of sunlight that's outthere and things like that.
Anyone living in here in Chicagounderstands that spring time.
(22:07):
It's actually still winter inChicago until about June 1st
Coach Emily (22:13):
trickery.
It's just, it just tricks you,you think it's going to be nice.
Coach Ryan (22:18):
Yeah, no, there's be a lot more, a sprinkle of days
where you can get out there.
It's getting warmer out andright.
You start like even actuallylast few days in Chicago, I've
been not bundling up as much,I'm wearing my trucker hats
again and not my beanies.
Use that momentum right.
I think you can use the springseason, knowing that once summer
(22:40):
comes around, everybody'soutside, right?
The lake front sees millions ofpeople every single year.
You're going to want to get outthere.
It's, totally FOMO.
You want to get out there and dosomething and, Chicago is a
runner town, right?
It has one of the marathonmajors in it.
So it's through, through arunner town.
You're gonna see a lot ofdifferent races kind of popping
up.
So there's literally hundreds ofraces for anyone and everyone,
(23:01):
you can be doing your, yourfirst 5k, springtime has the
soldier field, 10 miles now, andalso the 10 K race.
There's half marathons.
The Shamrock Shuffle, likethat's like the unofficial right
kickoff and start to the season,go ahead and use that.
Tons of people go out there andjust simply walk that event.
I think that's the start ofeverything.
It's just getting out there andgetting active and finding, that
(23:24):
joy.
And as long as you can do thatand find some consistency now,
kind of going back to the phasesof like base training, I think
one of the great things that wedo with like Chicago Endurance
Sports is that we typically havethe 1920 week marathon training
season, and while some peopleare like, wow, that seems like a
real long time.
We do build in a little bit ofextra time, for those who
(23:45):
haven't fully built in the basenow it's not the most optimal.
It isn't you still need to builda bigger base, before marathon
training.
So I'll speak to that a littlebit more.
And, part of the reason whywe're at your having this
conversation you know, Michael,you and I we've been coaching
for maybe close to 10 years now,right?
Emily, I know you've had a tonof experience.
You're, you're getting yoursecond level, certification.
(24:06):
But we see too often, especiallywith the Chicago Marathon like,
because it's such an amazing bigspectacle and it's very charity
driven.
You can get anyone and everyoneinspired, to run their race.
I have three colleagues who arefirst-time marathoners with
Aligned Modern Health.
They were out there, they sawlast year.
Like I gotta do that.
So I've been actually talking tothem like, do you know what
(24:26):
you're doing now?
We like, one of them has aspouse.
That's a marathoner.
So he is being built up by hiswife.
The other two have no idea.
They're both in physicalmedicine.
So like their, their rehab orI'm sorry.
Prehab is pretty good
Coach Emily (24:47):
all the time.
Why waste so much time beinginjured when you can spend the
time building a strong body?
So you're not so into.
Coach Ryan (24:56):
Yeah.
In general preventative workwill save you a lot of time and
money, and, heartache.
Heartache for those who aretraining for a race, this is
just the last thing you want tohappen when you actually have a
goal race, you know, right infront of you.
And you're in that trainingseason and you have to have it
derailed by an injury you gotthere, you could totally prevent
(25:16):
that.
Coach Emily (25:17):
I think I'll piggyback off for you there.
That's a good point.
I agree with you and just like athought about the spring.
So there's people who want totrain for their first marathon.
They want to train further 15thmarathon or you want to train
for your first 10 K or youhaven't ran in forever.
I know my sister-in-law rightnow, She's texted me two, three,
(25:38):
and five miles for the firsttime forever.
She's got three young children.
She's working back up to halfmarathon.
I ran my first half marathonwith her and it's like a whole
new game for her.
It's like, she's starting over.
You know?
So, even for those who aren'tdoing the marathon, this is a
great time to settle in thedistance for the 10 K and the
half is like more manageable.
(25:59):
You can ease into it and payattention to like your weak
links.
Like, so say you get out thereand you've run.
And you're like, man, my hipflexors are always so sore after
my friends will pay attention tothat.
Talk to your coaches about that.
Maybe go to A ligned ModernHealth and get your
complimentary injury screeningand get it taken care of.
And there's not this highmileage pressure on what you're
(26:22):
doing.
Coach Ryan (26:22):
That's totally right.
There's a lot of people thatwill go into and go cool.
I signed up for the race Isigned up for training was like
training begins in June.
That's when I'm going to startIt's like, Ooh, you know, that
first day, there's a pretty bigdemand in that first week of
training.
And a lot of people, like what,especially for first timers,
when you realize like, no, we'renot starting at a mile, we're
starting at six miles or eightmiles, for a first time
(26:46):
marathoner it's aggressivewould, you've never looked at a
training plan before and you'llrealize, oh, this, you know,
this train is going, it's notgonna stop.
It's gonna build up and you'regonna find yourself going, oh my
gosh, we're building up again.
And then we're gonna build upagain.
Coach Emily (27:00):
I remember when I trained for my first marathon, I
think it was 2000.
14 I remember laying on my bed,the, in bed, like at 9:00 PM the
night before our first, I think,16 mile run and just moaning to
my husband about why I signed upand being like, what, what is
(27:21):
this?
And here I am all thesemarathons later.
So don't use that as an excuseto not sign up because obviously
it was worth it, but yes, it canbe daunting and having a good
base really helpful.
Coach Ryan (27:35):
You know, what also what Spring Training will get
you into it can get you into agood routine the routines.
Again, speaking too a lot offirst timers or people taking
some time off and forgotten howmarathon training is.
We all have lives, right?
None of us are, we're not proathletes.
We don't, we don't have theluxury of waking up a little bit
later or getting paid to dothis.
(27:56):
So training throughout the themiddle of the day.
So a lot of us have to take careof that training early in the
morning.
That runs happening at 6:00 AM,7:00 AM, some people five AM or
you're adding it on to the endof the day.
Getting your, your stretchingand you're cross training.
You realize it right then andthere, like, oh my gosh, I still
have a nine to five.
(28:17):
I still have children.
And I need to take care of, Ihave a spouse that needs
attention out of dog that needsto get walked.
So finding that rhythm androutine and finding that in the
springtime.
Is so good and key to having asuccessful summer, right?
Like all of a sudden summercomes around and now you're
building and you're checkingthose workouts, but that
routines there, Everything's inplace.
(28:37):
Your body's used to it.
You're in this great cycle.
Coach Michael (28:40):
Along with that, the more you run, the more you
work out, you got to take itmore food, getting enough rest
in.
And I think program like springis a good chance to play around
with things and see how thingsare gonna fit into your life.
Coach Ryan (28:54):
And anytime you do something for the first time,
you're like, I don't know, am Isupposed to feel this way?
This is good.
This is bad.
I don't know.
When you're allowed to reallyplay with a few different things
and understand your body, Ithink that's the beauty of doing
that base training.
Coach Michael (29:10):
We're talking about reason to sign up for
spring training.
One thing is getting a good,solid base down, you talked
about strength training,building up some possible
weaknesses.
We got Emily to light up as soonas prehab was mentioned, but I
also, want to note it's a goodtime, good opportunity to have
(29:30):
access to your coaches.
Yeah.
To pat ourselves on the back.
Marathon season a lot is goingon.
There's a lot more people goingto be there.
Spring is a smaller program.
You'll have a lot of access tothe coaches and maybe that's a
good time to talk to them aboutyour goals for spring and for
the longterm, whether it'ssummer fall qualify for Boston
(29:54):
in three years and talking tocoaches and using them to start
working on strategies on how toaccomplish things.
Coach Emily (30:04):
I think that's a great thing to point out that
you have access to us.
And as you're coming up withyour plan and maybe kind of
honing in, on things maybeyou're coming back into training
and you're saying, Hey, I alwaysrun the like a 10 minute mile
for my long run.
And I want to run a faster, longrun.
You shouldn't go into marathontraining doing that unless you
(30:25):
already have the fitness to runthat faster, long run pace.
So coming in for a 10 K inSpring Training is a good time
to talk with your coaches andfigure out maybe a few things
that you need to work on to helpyou reach those goals.
But spring is the time,especially Ryan, you talked
about Chicago and us being onseasons.
It's like we come alive, liketoday has been so gorgeous.
(30:48):
And I, I was like, we have to gooutside.
We must go out.
It makes us come alive thatmakes us want to do things.
And I think having a commitmentand having people and somewhere
to be, and someone that expectsyou to show up really helps.
I mean, I know that for me, Ineed accountability.
(31:09):
My gosh.
Yeah, you have access, you cantalk with us.
We love talking with you guys.
And I would love to chat withanybody who chats me up.
Yeah.
You know with coaches there'sonly so much information that
you can kind of give in onemoment, right?
To be able to connect withcoaches on a regular basis week
to week there's just so muchopportunity to fine tune and
(31:32):
figure out like what going onwith and for us to help you get
to your goal.
The more you open up and havethat conversation starting in
the spring, it'll allow us tohelp you better.
100%.
And I feel like it can beintimidating to go up and talk
to coaches.
Maybe if it's your first time oryou haven't really before.
I know I get intimidated, eventhough I'm an extrovert, I'm an
(31:54):
introvert on the inside.
We love.
We love setting you up to win.
I guess that's the best thing toknow.
Coach Ryan (32:03):
It's all relationship building.
Right.
And the more we can work withyou and understand you, we can
all get to that goal together.
Coach Michael (32:10):
And plus your fellow runners, I know there
were some Win ter Warriors.
Who signed up to seasoned had noattention to racing, but the
peer pressure of there are pacegroups running with every week
and people race distances theynever raced before I hadn't
planned on, but thensuccessfully because of the
(32:31):
relationships they built withtheir fellow runners and the
motivation from their fellowrunners.
Showing up on the days that theweather maybe wasn't as nice or
they were tired from work buthaving the friendship and
support of their fellow athletesdrove them to show up.
Coach Emily (32:51):
I mean Michael, you helped me show up in the
morning.
Coach Michael (32:58):
We're not supposed to talk about the
bribery thing.
Coach Emily (33:02):
No, the shame I don't want to be shamed I want
to be there on time.
I wouldn't be in there.
No, but for real having peoplecounting on you or expecting you
is really helpful.
Coach Michael (33:17):
So Spring Training offers obviously a
training plan for some targetraces, this new half marathon
that's coming up and also 10 Kas well, but that doesn't need
to be your only motivation oronly goal for the season is we
kind of talked about.
It just could be a factor in it.
(33:38):
You can race, you don't have torace.
We talked about, you could focuson strength training and make
that your target, make itconsistency or your diet, or all
the above as part of your SpringTraining.
Coach Emily (33:51):
I know for me a lot of people here are big racers
and at some point I started justlike loving the act of running
more than racing.
It just kind of depends.
So sometimes it doesn't have toalways be a race goal.
It could be like you said, aconsistency goal or, I just want
to push myself a little bitfurther or I just need to get
(34:12):
myself out the door and beconsistent, or I want to work on
the way I mentally think aboutthis run or things during this.
Like, there are a lot ofdifferent goals that don't have
to be just a timed race goal.
Coach Michael (34:28):
That reminded me.
I recently read something from acoach that I thought was really
interesting and they werementioning things about racing
and how racing is sort of a oncein a while thing.
You don't race every single day,but when race day comes up, you
have that excitement and energycoming to it.
It's like, why do you only givethat to race day?
(34:52):
Why don't you give that to allyour runs with that same energy
and excitement, that you'regoing to go out there and push
it and enjoy it every runinstead of just saving it for a
few selective race days.
And I thought that was a realinteresting perspective on how
to you kind of think abouttraining and your runs.
Coach Ryan (35:12):
The goal of Chicago Endurance Sports is to encourage
you to make this into alifestyle.
Emily and, and I was absolutelyin that mindset for a really
long time where I just enjoyedthe seasons and the process of
going through these things.
I love doing marathons.
I love traveling to differentmarathons.
It's the best way I think, tosee a city.
(35:33):
Like truly like the racedirector chamber of commerce
may, or whoever's involved therewants you to see the best parts
of the city.
And they're gonna put on a showfor you.
And I think when you lock in andyou have that racing mentality
and I get it, you know not,everyone's gonna agree.
And some people are in thatmindset right now.
Everything's a race.
Totally cool, to each their ownon the other side of things, to
(35:54):
make this a real like lifelongthing which I would actually
encourage everyone to do, Iwould absolutely have an
argument against anyonewhoever's say that like, oh, I
wouldn't run my entire life.
It's bad for your knees.
Or like, it was somethingridiculous.
I'll promise when that thatconversation, but I think to
stay active running is the onething that you can do always,
(36:17):
right.
You can just kind of pop outthere and go for a quick little
run.
You don't have to, wait for apool lane to open up or, for
like the lake conditions to begood.
You don't need equipment like abike, you need a pair of shoes
and if you can keep this goingfor awhile, I think that that's
a really admirable goal.
But going back to that racingonce in a while, I can't
remember the guy's name, butsomeone recently after the Tour
(36:40):
de France, a professional racerhe did the tour de France on his
own a week after the tour deFrance racers.
He was only riding his bike.
He, he didn't get a chance tohave like a van or a truck
moving to the hotels.
He was camping out all byhimself, self supported the
whole way through.
(37:02):
And then it had like, obviously,like he had to like adjust on
the fly, like real bigadjustments.
I can go on stories about thisguy, but he ended up, finishing
the the tour de France courseand then some cause he had to go
to the camp sites with just hisbike, in a week, faster than
than what it took the Tour deFrance riders to do it in.
(37:23):
And one of his things at theend, I thought was really
amazing, he was like, you knowwhat, I wasn't racing at all.
I was just out there playfully,like I'm a kid.
Enjoying the ride.
At the at the Hills that thepeople would say are the most
grueling of Hills during therace is because they're racing
of those Hills.
It was like, they weren't likejust going up then leisurely and
enjoying like the views.
(37:43):
He was like, it was my, is itthose mountains that I was
climbing?
Where, some of the mostenjoyable parts he's like, I
realize not everyone's going toget a chance to slow down and
like, I am, slow down, likeyou're on a bike or being in a
vehicle and get a chance toreally take in the environments
around them.
And they point out, he was like,yeah, he was like, look, I don't
ever do the tour de France.
I choose one, maybe two races ayear.
(38:05):
This is a paid athlete.
Right.
And he was really quick to pointout I don't race all the time.
He was like, I would actuallyrather just train and train like
a professional and I'll pick outone to two races a year and I'll
help my teammates train, becauseI just love the process.
This is my lifestyle.
And, and he'll choose to race ortwo races year.
And I think that's really big.
If you're racing all the time,there's no way you're going to
(38:25):
catch the sights and the viewsand take everything that there
is to take in for the race, ifyou're always racing.
When I say I'm going to race arace, it's because I've already
done the course before, and Iknow the course, so I'm going to
race that course.
Coach Emily (38:38):
It's funny that you say that because I know that the
last Chicago Marathon, peopleare telling me after I ran the
race, all the things that aregoing on, and I didn't notice
any of it this last year, I wasjust in my mode of I have to
finish this, whereas I did theFox Valley Marathon I just
enjoyed it so much.
The scenery was beautiful and itwas one of my most enjoyable
(39:00):
races.
It wasn't my fastest marathons,but it just was so enjoyable to
see the scenery and be like, Ican do this.
My body does this, and that's awonderful gift.
And so I think it's funnybecause both of those
experiences are very differentfor me.
And both of those experiencesreally, are monumental in my
(39:20):
mind for what I actually see assuccess and how I've trained
does that make sense.
So yes, I liked one of thoseperspectives.
100%.
Coach Ryan (39:30):
Yeah.
We're not trying to shame atall.
Like you could, you couldtotally race, but you know,
enjoy the journey.
It's all about the.
So there's one other thing Iwould love to talk about, that
is actually discussing nutritionand dieting and things like
that.
And the reason why I want tobring that up is because, again
too often I'll kind of bring itback to marathon training
(39:51):
because that's when we get themost participants and we'll get
the most, I would say, newpeople to Chicago Endurance
Sports and joining trainingprograms.
There's a good amount of peoplewho have a goal of weight loss
as one of their main goals.
In marathon training.
And I want to explain why that'snot the best of ideas.
One thing you, you just don'twant to be in a caloric deficit
(40:14):
state to start, you don't wantyour gas tank to be fully empty
when you're going out there anddoing these long runs You're
going to need, the caloriesactually helps sustain your
energy throughout training.
So there'll be a certain amountof pounds that do just naturally
come off, but to go into itthinking I'm not going to eat as
(40:34):
much is, a recipe for failure.
I think there's a really goodopportunity within spring
training.
If you're using it as a basebuilding a time to like again,
find the right routine, find theright diet and nutritional plan.
Again, I am not intonutritionists, dietician,
functional medical doctor Idon't have that expertise.
But I will say just from my ownexperience, what I do to simply
(40:58):
clean up my diet.
It's incredible how much extraweight I could just naturally
peel off just from cleaning upthe diet.
I think that they can carry along way.
Coach Michael (41:07):
So, as you mentioned, if you're really
concerned about weight loss orweight control talk to a
licensed professional, adietician or a nutritionist to
get you on the right course.
And a professional will ask youabout your activity, your weekly
activity and what you're doingand work that into how much you
should be taking in.
Coach Emily (41:29):
Yeah.
I agree with you, Michael, abouttalking to a licensed
nutritionist if you're concernedor you're not sure how to go
about that.
I know for me that, my firsttraining cycle, I mean, I feel
like for like much of my life, Iwas trying to lose weight.
So it's just, I think that a lotof other people are, have been
(41:51):
in that boat too.
So I think that, that when youstart a new training plan,
especially if you've never doneit before, it just seems like,
oh, this is a great way for meto drop pounds.
Cause you do your trainingrunning, you see, oh my gosh, I
burned all those calories.
That's great.
And then you want to ride thatout.
And I know for me, at least thatI was burning out during my long
(42:13):
runs.
I was fatiguing.
I wasn't recovering super wellcause I would just be trying to
cut my calories anyways I could.
So after exercise, our musclesneed both protein and
carbohydrates to repair them.
So if we're not giving them theadequate nutrition they need,
then our body can't go as far oras fast or as hard as you want.
(42:37):
And one of the ways I like totake what I've learned from my
experience and talk to ourathletes about is energy in is
energy out.
So any energy that worksspending, we need to make sure
that we're replenishing andrestoring.
So even on the long runs, Iwould push it off when I would
(42:58):
take my calories.
Cause I wanted to maybe limitthe number of gus I had.
And that would lead to what wecall bonking, which is basically
when your glycogen stores areall burnt out and you just kind
of feel a little fatigued and alittle out of it and you feel
like you can't really go thatmuch further.
(43:20):
And yeah, it really, it took atoll on my body.
So I guess to Ryan's point ifyou do want to lose weight,
Spring Training where the loadisn't so heavy is a really good
time to do that, but also toMichael's point, talk to a
professional.
So you can do that safely.
And so that you're not actuallycausing more distress for your
(43:42):
body.
The course I just had on injuryprevention, talked a lot about,
women and what to look out forwomen who are in a sport where
there's emphasis on being leanand how that can really affect
us, because we feel like we haveto do all of these things to
alter our body, to get to wherewe want, but we're really
hindering what we need.
(44:02):
What I have found is that when Ifocus on whole foods and foods
what my body needs protein, goodfats, good carbs, and making
sure I'm replenishing those.
It's like my mental load is somuch better.
And your mental stamina, yourmental load, how you carry that
really affects how you run,especially if you're running
(44:23):
distance.
And I have recoveredsignificantly faster.
And then I'm able to go out anddo more of what I want and
perform the way I want, becauseI'm taking more calories in.
So that's my little personaltidbit that if you come to South
Loop and run with us, you canask me more about it.
(44:44):
I'm an open book.
Coach Ryan (44:46):
So just understand food is fuel and fuel is
medicine, right?
So understanding those, thosecertain things and You know,
again beforehand, before the bigmarathon train season or the big
summer training season forwhatever race or you're going
into to understand your bodylike that and really give it the
proper fuel that it needs.
Coach Michael (45:05):
Once again, returning into the original
thought is people coming in tomarathon training, especially
for weight loss, maybe not thepriority, but if you follow the
program, we follow the training.
You're going to get healthierjust by the exercise itself.
Being more active you'reautomatically going to get
(45:25):
better shape.
You might antidote ly lose somepounds.
And like you said, making gooddecisions on what you eat and
the volume that you eat is goingto contribute to that.
We've covered a lot of thingstoday.
So lets go around themicrophone, and give me one
reason why you might want tojoin spring training.
If you haven't, or you couldalso say, what to expect that as
(45:48):
Spring Training,
Coach Emily (45:50):
I think you should joined Spring Training because,
you have a lot of coaches atyour disposal who have
experience in who care andspring is a really good time,
especially in Chicago to kickoff the year and training season
and we all feel a little fresh.
Coach Ryan (46:11):
I would say it's just the healthy choice to make,
right?
Isn't it the best choice to makefor yourself in so many
different ways?
We're coming off of the winterseason where a lot of us are
spending a lot of times indoorseating all the junk being stuck
in front of our tech orcomputers and TVs, I think one
of the best things that we cando for ourselves, getting out
there, getting active, you'regetting all the endorphins.
(46:34):
It's just better for yourhealth.
And if it's cold out and you'relike, ah, I don't want to go,
but then you end up going, Iwill guarantee you, it will
always be a good feeling thatyou get, that you did get out
there.
You will go out there and like,oh, I'm so glad I did that.
That was so good.
I'm so glad.
It's all those people in theSouth Loop and Lincoln Square in
Old Town, Elmhurst, and I justmade these awesome connections
(46:54):
and you'll just feel so muchbetter about yourself.
So do it for you.
Coach Michael (46:58):
And I'm going to finish off by saying, for those
of you who've been trainingthrough the winter time.
If you're doing Winter Warriorshave been running on your own,
it's a great opportunity tocontinue with that momentum to
keep that momentum going.
If you've been one of thosepeople we talked about earlier
who was kind of hibernating,either because of the weather or
you've gotten those blues afteryour fall marathon or event.
(47:22):
It's a chance to kick things offand get revved again, before you
get into the, the big summerrunning season.
And for those people who alreadyhave their big goals, maybe
they're registered for theirfirst marathon, 50 K triathlon,
whatever, this is a good chanceto get that base going.
So when will you start thatfirst day of training you've
(47:44):
have a leg up already.
But other than that, I want tothank Coach Ryan and Coach Emily
for talking today.
Any last words?
Coach Emily (47:53):
Thanks for talking to me.
It's great talking to you.
Coach Ryan (47:56):
Yeah, I love that too.
Thank you for having us on hereat Coach Michael.
I love this.
Just the conversation.
I, I truly did pick up a handfulof notes from both of you, so
it's always good to kind of talkthings out.
So thank you.
Coach Michael (48:08):
All right.
Great.
So this has been the ChicagoEndurance Sports podcast.
Thank you for listening.
And if you haven't already madesure you subscribe or as the
kids say, smash that subscribebutton.
If you're one of the kids, youknow, that
Coach Ryan (48:28):
it gets to a million subs so we can get paid.
Welcome to the Chicago Endurance Sports
podcast.
On this episode, we're going totalk all about Spring Training.
Hopefully get you excited aboutthis upcoming season.
and Talk about how SpringTraining to fit into your
running and your racing goals.
My name is Coach Michael and Iam joined today with a couple
other coaches, including,
Coach Ryan (00:27):
and Coach Ryan,
Coach Michael (00:28):
and we're here today to talk all about Spring
Training.
Some people I know areregistered already, for Spring
Training, but if people are onthe fence or thinking about it,
maybe encourage them and talkabout, why they should consider
Spring Training and strategiesgo into spring training.
So maybe a good way to getstarted is teach.
You can check in with everyone.
(00:49):
How have your training joined orwhat your plans are for spring?
We've just came out of thewinter session and jumping into
this new session.
So Ryan, what's going on withyou when you're training.
Coach Ryan (00:59):
Yeah, this is an interesting season.
As some of you know, I'm atriathlete.
So the last few years, a lot ofthat focus has been on triathlon
training.
Whereas actually now I'vetransitioned my thought process
and my goals to straightrunning.
So marathons, half marathons,potentially ultras and things
like that.
Training has been okay.
You know, we'll be honest I'mcoming off a big year from the
(01:21):
previous year.
So getting myself back into areally solid routine, a routine
that was at the same level assay the Ironman training that I
was doing it's been a challenge.
I think it's been a challenge.
I've been hearing this from alot of people, you know, coming
off big years and going into thefollowing year after you had
such a big successful epic year,heard this from a few different
people.
So just trying to find my way,and we just came off the Winter
(01:43):
Warrior season, again, WinterWarriors, winter running in
Chicago is always a really bigchallenge, but I was happy to
get in some good long miles.
I think I got to 16 miles duringWinter Warriors, training
through my own training with theBoston group.
I unfortunately had a little bitof a setback, so I did have a
little bit of a muscle strainthat I got from running on the
snow.
(02:04):
There's a lot of opportunitiesthat could have happened there,
but I think, you know, a lot ofit was just the challenge of
running on the snow and the ice.
Nonetheless, I'm feeling prettygood on the mend.
I actually have a race coming upthis weekend in Tampa, Florida.
So that'll be kind of fun.
I'm looking forward to takingthat race as a training run, but
yeah, looking to use the SpringTraining just to build a really
good base in hopes to aim for asolid Fall marathon.
Coach Emily (02:31):
Well, I know what you mean Ryan about coming off
like a big year.
I definitely know that for me,after training for a marathon, I
trained for the Chicago Marathonthis last year and really
enjoyed my race.
And I find that like the monthafter I just like, and so lazy,
I'm just like burnt out.
It usually takes till afterChristmas for me to get back
(02:55):
into my routine, I'm stillrunning, still exercising, but
it looks really different.
There's no schedule at thatpoint and I was hoping to start
ultra training, but then I gotCOVID and it was a mild case.
It wasn't super awful, but itlingers like crazy.
So I've been struggling to getmy miles up quite as high.
(03:16):
I did my first temple run inlike a month.
So that felt really good.
Like I wasn't fatigued.
So I kind of put my initial, bigultra goal on hold.
Hoping I can do that in thefall.
I'm not going to talk about whatit is live until I feel good
about it.
But for Spring Training, Ialways see that as a really
(03:39):
great base for me.
And what I'm working on rightnow is a lot of strength
balance, and agility training.
So hopefully I can translatesome of that balance and that
strength to the trails and enjoythat.
The only race I'm signed up forright now is the Indianapolis
Marathon, which is the firstweek in November, always.
But my sister's running herfirst hundred miler in Colorado.
(04:04):
I don't quite remember where,but I put the date on the
calendar because the plan isthat I will be her pacer for the
last three when she's deliriousand not going very fast, so I
will be fine.
So, yeah, so I, I'm reallyenjoying rebuilding that strong
base.
And I always feel so excited togo into Spring Training because
(04:27):
it.
It's like exciting after winterand I want to run even more.
So yeah, that's what's going onwith me.
Coach Michael (04:38):
Excellent.
Excellent.
Well it was really, I think,early this winter, I got an
email reminded me that I wasregistered for the Kenosha
Marathon a couple of years agothat was canceled because of the
pandemic.
And last year I took a defermentout it because I forgot about it
(05:00):
and I wasn't prepared for it.
So this year I am training forthat which is the first week in
May.
The last couple of weeks I'vestarted back formally on my
training plan.
So I'm starting to build mileageon that.
So that's my initial goal is atthat marathon.
And then I've got some biggergoals early in the summer.
So hopefully from here out andback in a smooth path, back in
(05:23):
good health, and hopefully theweather will hold up.
Coach Ryan (05:27):
Emily you pointed out you had the feeling of
coming off a big race season andMichael you've had monster
races.
You've had these big epic ultraraces.
I know I'm going to tangent, butthe idea of a post race
depression.
It could be years, right?
Like could be couple years.
It could be the entire year orwhat, or even just a few months,
but you are so dedicated toeverything is all about that.
(05:48):
Your sleep treat your weekends,the nights, the way you interact
with your family and friends andthings like that.
It's all about that.
And even your posts on socialmedia and all of a sudden, you
know, the race comes, you talkabout it.
You maybe wait a week later thatyou like, oh, flashback Friday
to my race that I did a weekago.
And then it comes to ascreeching halt, right.
(06:08):
Then it's like, where like thepickup after that is it, it's a
very interesting process.
Coach Emily (06:14):
And I think that people have like this weird
guilt about it, because theydon't realize that most people
or a lot of people actually dealwith it.
And then they just feel like,oh, I'm lazy and I'm not doing
anything.
And then it's like, yeah, Idon't know.
That's what I felt from likeathletes where they're like, I
just like, feel so lazy and badafter you know, that realizing,
oh, we're all kind of in thattoo.
(06:37):
It probably like you said, itcould be an interesting
conversation unto itself, but italso sort of speaks to kind of
what we'll get to speak to youtoday and start off spring.
The idea of training cycles.
Coach Michael (06:48):
And like I said, we just came off the winter
training session.
It just ended up Winter Warriorsso people went through that, but
some people, as you said, maybethey trained for the marathon
last year or their first halfmarathon or, triathlon and they
had this excitement they builtup it was exciting for that
period of time.
And then, now what's right.
(07:09):
That almost sense of loss in away, all your drive, all kind of
your whole life was revolvingaround this big event.
It's no longer there anymore.
So a lot of times we, we'retraining.
We like to talk about it incycles.
And I think maybe we should talka little bit about training
cycles and the thought behindthat and the way that works.
Ryan, do you wanna talk a littlebit about that?
Coach Ryan (07:31):
Yeah.
Yeah, in the more specificsense, I think that when people
think of Training cycles or Iwould say, think about what
coaches or, people who fullyeducate themselves on a cycle of
training.
There's the base training phase.
Right, which is just kind ofbuilding, you know, the base of
the house, right.
You need to build this solidfoundation before you start
(07:54):
really building up an increasingmileage.
Just getting out to be active,spending time on your feet,
building consistency and thingslike that.
And then you go into the secondphase, which would be the
preparation phase, which I feellike the big chunk of training.
There's a lot of endurance work.
It's like 60% under its workers.
You're starting to include speedwork and Strength work.
(08:16):
You know, it's really funny wewere just talking offline about
this strength training.
I think strength training be abig part of your base training
phase, building up all themuscles that will be necessary
to accomplish the goal.
And then I think there's acertain degree of that that
needs to be continued on intothe preparation phase.
I think coming from a medicalstandpoint, I am not a doctor by
(08:38):
any means, but I worked withinthe healthcare industry.
I work with a lot of differentphysical medicine, internal
medicine, things like that.
I hear all too often and offthat people will drop a
significant amount of theirother strength training.
And they can point out to wherethings could kind of weaker and
things can go wrong withinjuries and things like that.
And then, you know, after thepreparation phase, you know, you
(08:58):
go through like the big buildupof training, all the speed work.
Then you get into the peaktraining phase.
We were kind of like caughtsharpening the knives, right as
in getting ready for tuningyour, your training to race.
Coach Emily (09:10):
I think that that's a good way to describe the
different phases of training.
I think it's interesting whatyou said about people, cutting
back on their strength trainingwhen they are in What phase did
you say that was in the basephase or the preparation phase?
In the preparation phase and Iget it, there was time in the
day and that's, that's the toughpart, right.
(09:31):
Is like fitting it all in.
I'll be guilty too, pulling offa certain workout in my whole
mix of exercises and like, ah, Ireally want to make sure this
does workout only last 45minutes.
Coach Ryan (09:43):
So I'll take away these two exercises.
And sometimes those are reallyimportant ones, but I hear a lot
of times people in preparation,during training, when they get
injured and I'll ask them aboutwhat they're doing and like, oh
yeah, I know.
I definitely haven't been doing,walking lunges and my planks and
things like that.
Yeah.
I realize that that's wherepotential area where injury
(10:04):
could have happened.
Coach Emily (10:04):
Yeah.
I would say I, 100% agree withthat.
I think that the base phase inthe preparation phase, runners
benefit from adding and keepingstrength in, because not only
are you preparing your mileagebase.
Right.
And, but you're also preparingyour body to take on the brunt
of the load that you're doing.
And it's right after thatpreparation phase, I would say,
(10:28):
or maybe in that when anyinjuries that you had from like
10 years ago from high schoolsports or something else might
start showing themselves thatwith some really moderate
exercise, you might not see it.
But then as they start adding abit of mileage, you see those
weak links.
So those issues pop up.
And so oftentimes I think like,I agree with you.
(10:52):
Strength training needs to be apart of that.
And I think you can add it in,in a lot of really small ways,
like where you were saying like,oh, I don't want this to be 45
minutes.
I want to cut these two out.
You could think of how you wouldbreak that up in the day to
actually make it fit into yourworkout.
That's how I get it in.
Otherwise I don't.
Coach Ryan (11:09):
I think I actually what can change within strength
training is actually just theway you strength, train.
So building up and have yourweights in the base phase maybe
you were stating that to acertain degree, but maybe now
you go to a lower weight, higherrep just to maintain.
So you're not over exhausting,your muscles and taking them to
failure.
I think that's actually wheremaybe one would want to go is,
(11:32):
is take that all the way down tomaxing out your weight and
constantly building, but justmaintaining, just maintain a
good routine of like, yeah dofew plays per day.
I feel like that strengthtraining as part of the base and
into preparation doesn't have tobe wild or crazy.
It could be a simple 20 minuteworkout that you do.
That's just a simple sum thatyou know, that you're used to,
(11:56):
that you can sustain throughouttraining because certainly a lot
of other factors are gonna bechanging, within the preparation
and peak.
Michael do you concur?
Coach Michael (12:06):
Yeah.
Definitely.
But getting back to the conceptof training cycles and I think
it gave a good definition from acoaching standpoint, but from a
layman's term, when I talked toparticipants a lot of times, for
example, we just of Win terWarriors and they've, they've
trained and they've reached thehalf marathon now we're going to
start spring again and theirmileage is going to start back
(12:29):
at six miles, four miles,whatever, and people, a lot of
times want to progress.
So though I'm at 13 milesalready.
Why are you asking me to takelesser mileage?
Now when I've already shown andbuilt my body to 13 miles.
So I'd like to talk a little bitabout cycles in that way as
well, and explain the conceptof, you can't build, build,
(12:52):
build, build, build nonstop,because at some point you're
going to snap, right?
Basically your body needs timesfor recover and build back up
again.
And, that's kind of the purposeof a training cycle, you take it
from building that base, youknow, to performance, to what'd
you call sharpening.
Yeah,
Coach Ryan (13:11):
yeah the peak phase
Coach Michael (13:14):
a lot of times it's referred to as specificity
training.
But then you have your test, theultimate test is the race.
Right.
But at that point you just giveyour body a break and he's
talked about recovery.
And kind of start again.
And you're really not starting aagain you're not starting from
scratch because you have, dohave some more of a base there,
(13:36):
but your body is kind of beat upand worn out from 12, 13 weeks
of the previous training cycle.
Coach Ryan (13:44):
Yeah, yeah, thank you for, he was on track here
Michael.
To the bigger point, but yeah,to build muscle, you need to
recover.
That's just fact that periodWhenever you're building muscle,
you're essentially creatingmicro tears within your muscle.
And in order for that to, to getstronger, it needs to recover.
(14:04):
Right.
It's also why the way we buildour training plan, we have cut
back weeks.
Going back to the very beginningof this conversation, You just
built up to the peak of thisrace and there's a lot of
emotion, there's a lot more thanjust physical strength that kind
of goes into it.
You're mentally taxed you'reemotionally taxed be able to
restart that training cycle fromthe beginning.
(14:27):
Allows you take a breath offresh air.
Right.
Everyone knows, whether you'rean extrovert or introvert when
you're out there and you're in acrowd of people, maybe you're a
work, maybe a big party and youhave to be on.
And at a certain point of like,gosh, I just want to go home and
get to my room and not say aword and just chill out.
And then, you know, tomorrow Ican get back on.
It's kind of like that sameidea, right?
(14:48):
Going back to the start of thetraining is kinda like, getting
home, going to sleep, getting abreath of fresh air the food
that you want, and then okay,cool.
I'm gonna, I'm going to buildback up.
Coach Michael (14:57):
I've got a big thing about recovery lately and
really talking to participantsabout recovery that recovery,
meaning people think to recoverbecause they don't feel pain,
not feeling pain does not meanyou're recovered.
If you're well-trained, youmight feel some pain right after
a big exertion, but youshouldn't have a chronic ache
pain the absence of that doesn'tmean you're recovered.
(15:19):
There's a lot of stuff going oninside your body.
And only time and rest andsleeping well, eating well and
giving yourself a downtimereally allows you to fully
recover.
But people think like, well, itdoesn't hurt, so it must be
recovered.
Coach Ryan (15:36):
Maybe you did the marathon once.
Maybe you've done it twice,maybe three times, but this is
really like the optimal way tolike hit your big goals, right.
Is to allow yourself to justbuild a layer, let everything
set and then building anotherlayer on top of that.
It's kind of the visual, Ialways go, I do always have a
visual building this immensemansion or building in house.
Coach Michael (15:59):
You're kind of transitioning to actually a good
point.
Maybe we can move into isanytime we start a new cycle,
for example, if we're going intospring is the importance of
setting goals.
Right.
Because a lot of times you thinkof a goal is I want to run a
marathon, or I want to completethis race, but goals could be a
thing from getting healthy orfully recovering or building
(16:21):
strength, or maybe gettingfaster, or maybe working on
transition from run, walkinginto continuous run, there's all
different types of goals.
It could be consistency.
I'm going to get so manyworkouts in a week.
So could we talk a little bitabout goals for spring and how
they may or may not be differentthan other parts of the season
(16:43):
of the training year?
I should say.
Coach Ryan (16:44):
You know, the first thought that it kinda came to my
head was I think a lot of uswant the immediate, what's, what
was the word I'm looking for?
Um, satisfaction.
Without having to work or buildup to meet a particular goal.
And I'm speaking that because Ithink too often we will train,
oh, this is so true.
Okay.
We will train for the goal thatwe have in mind versus where
(17:11):
we're at actually physically orwe're where we're at when our
actual physical fitness doesthat make sense?
Although those other one of mybig goals and I made this a
point to put this out there.
I think a bit at the beginningof the year, that one of my
goals is to get the Boston.
Right.
I would love to qualify forBoston.
I know it ain't going to happenthis spring, or even maybe this
(17:32):
fall, I realized where I need togo and where I'm at right now
with my physical fitness, itmight take me a little bit
longer to get to, but I will getthere and I will, I'll break up
this goal in a couple of yearsand then break that up into a
few different months andtraining seasons.
Whereas I think a lot of people,okay, this is year one of
marathoning, which was like 11or 12 years ago.
(17:54):
My silly thought was, I'm goingto qualify for Boston this
training cycle, regardless ofwhere my physical abilities
were, I'm like, okay, well, if Ineed to run at this pace, I have
to train at this pace.
And then I was trying to trainat that pace.
I'm like, gosh, I couldn't keepup with that pace.
I was racing every singleweekend.
It was unreal.
So that was just a false thoughtprocess.
(18:15):
Right.
And unfortunately to be thebearer of truth here I think a
lot of us too often train forthe goal that we have in mind
versus training for where we'reat and then setting the smart or
the realistic and attainablegoal.
I get reaching for the moon andgoing after the big goal that's
so good.
(18:35):
That's so great but you got amix and bounds with some
reality.
Coach Michael (18:38):
I'm going to put a plug in for an earlier podcast
episode.
I did do with Coach Kristinawho's also a psychologist I
think it's called prepping yourmind for running.
And she talked about smart goalsand smart goals are a come away
to a approach goals where thestands for specific measurable,
attainable, relevant, andtime-based.
(19:01):
She walked through what thoseare.
So when you set up these goalsyou're setting yourself up for
success.
That might be a good referencefor people.
Coach Emily (19:08):
Just kind of piggybacking on the idea of
smart goals and off of what Ryansaid about how we set our goals
based off of where we want tobe, as opposed to where we are
at.
I think one of the things thatcould also interfere is maybe
where we have been in pastseasons.
I know people coming back totraining this Winter Warriors
and this past summer after thepandemic, it really threw people
(19:32):
for a loop.
And so they have these ideas ofthis is where I was before and
that's where I should be now.
And there's a constant measuringof those standards, but that
doesn't really serve you.
So I like to talk to athletesand myself in this way of like
where's my present day self andare my goals aligned with that?
(19:53):
And will hold those goals, servefuture Emily, or we'll do those
goals or future self.
So like you're saying, Ryan, ifyou set your pie in the sky
goals, you end up probablygetting more discouraged or
fatiguing or getting injured andyou kind of questioned your
abilities.
But goals can look like.
(20:15):
My goal today was that I woke up10 minutes early and I did abs
in the morning and I drink awhole glass of water and I got
my run in.
And that could be a really smartgoal that you could add in that
training, but starting withwhere you're at now.
And I'm thinking like, will thisserve me or also I think that
some people might come totraining and they might have
(20:36):
training partners who maybe youguys work kind of at the same
training pace, but it looks alittle different because you're
in different fitness levelsright now, and that's fine.
It's just where things are.
And so you might want to pushyourself further than you should
on maybe some runs because youwant to keep up.
And so maybe just like beinghonest with yourself about that,
(20:58):
And that's pretty importantplace to start.
Coach Michael (21:00):
I think this is a good point because it's bringing
me back to when Ryan first cameup with the idea for this
episode is how we can usespring, maybe to set some goals,
to get us ready for our biggergoals over the long training
summer into fall.
Right.
What maybe we could build onthings we need to work on now,
(21:22):
if we've been maybe not asactive or we took some time off
use spring, sort of a as a areato build on.
So when we are kickoff insummer, we're not just getting
off the couch and in June wealready have some sort of base
to start on.
Right.
Is that, am I speakingcorrectly?
(21:42):
Right?
Yeah,
Coach Ryan (21:44):
absolutely.
You know, the beauty of livingin, the Midwest in Chicago is
that we have a built in cycle.
It's the, it's the seasons.
Right.
You know, winter, it's, it's arough time not, everyone's gonna
have a rough time in, wintertime, but I think a lot of
people do, right.
I mean there's seasonaldepression, just dealing with
the lack of sunlight that's outthere and things like that.
Anyone living in here in Chicagounderstands that spring time.
(22:07):
It's actually still winter inChicago until about June 1st
Coach Emily (22:13):
trickery.
It's just, it just tricks you,you think it's going to be nice.
Coach Ryan (22:18):
Yeah, no, there's be a lot more, a sprinkle of days
where you can get out there.
It's getting warmer out andright.
You start like even actuallylast few days in Chicago, I've
been not bundling up as much,I'm wearing my trucker hats
again and not my beanies.
Use that momentum right.
I think you can use the springseason, knowing that once summer
(22:40):
comes around, everybody'soutside, right?
The lake front sees millions ofpeople every single year.
You're going to want to get outthere.
It's, totally FOMO.
You want to get out there and dosomething and, Chicago is a
runner town, right?
It has one of the marathonmajors in it.
So it's through, through arunner town.
You're gonna see a lot ofdifferent races kind of popping
up.
So there's literally hundreds ofraces for anyone and everyone,
(23:01):
you can be doing your, yourfirst 5k, springtime has the
soldier field, 10 miles now, andalso the 10 K race.
There's half marathons.
The Shamrock Shuffle, likethat's like the unofficial right
kickoff and start to the season,go ahead and use that.
Tons of people go out there andjust simply walk that event.
I think that's the start ofeverything.
It's just getting out there andgetting active and finding, that
(23:24):
joy.
And as long as you can do thatand find some consistency now,
kind of going back to the phasesof like base training, I think
one of the great things that wedo with like Chicago Endurance
Sports is that we typically havethe 1920 week marathon training
season, and while some peopleare like, wow, that seems like a
real long time.
We do build in a little bit ofextra time, for those who
(23:45):
haven't fully built in the basenow it's not the most optimal.
It isn't you still need to builda bigger base, before marathon
training.
So I'll speak to that a littlebit more.
And, part of the reason whywe're at your having this
conversation you know, Michael,you and I we've been coaching
for maybe close to 10 years now,right?
Emily, I know you've had a tonof experience.
You're, you're getting yoursecond level, certification.
(24:06):
But we see too often, especiallywith the Chicago Marathon like,
because it's such an amazing bigspectacle and it's very charity
driven.
You can get anyone and everyoneinspired, to run their race.
I have three colleagues who arefirst-time marathoners with
Aligned Modern Health.
They were out there, they sawlast year.
Like I gotta do that.
So I've been actually talking tothem like, do you know what
(24:26):
you're doing now?
We like, one of them has aspouse.
That's a marathoner.
So he is being built up by hiswife.
The other two have no idea.
They're both in physicalmedicine.
So like their, their rehab orI'm sorry.
Prehab is pretty good
Coach Emily (24:47):
all the time.
Why waste so much time beinginjured when you can spend the
time building a strong body?
So you're not so into.
Coach Ryan (24:56):
Yeah.
In general preventative workwill save you a lot of time and
money, and, heartache.
Heartache for those who aretraining for a race, this is
just the last thing you want tohappen when you actually have a
goal race, you know, right infront of you.
And you're in that trainingseason and you have to have it
derailed by an injury you gotthere, you could totally prevent
(25:16):
that.
Coach Emily (25:17):
I think I'll piggyback off for you there.
That's a good point.
I agree with you and just like athought about the spring.
So there's people who want totrain for their first marathon.
They want to train further 15thmarathon or you want to train
for your first 10 K or youhaven't ran in forever.
I know my sister-in-law rightnow, She's texted me two, three,
(25:38):
and five miles for the firsttime forever.
She's got three young children.
She's working back up to halfmarathon.
I ran my first half marathonwith her and it's like a whole
new game for her.
It's like, she's starting over.
You know?
So, even for those who aren'tdoing the marathon, this is a
great time to settle in thedistance for the 10 K and the
half is like more manageable.
(25:59):
You can ease into it and payattention to like your weak
links.
Like, so say you get out thereand you've run.
And you're like, man, my hipflexors are always so sore after
my friends will pay attention tothat.
Talk to your coaches about that.
Maybe go to A ligned ModernHealth and get your
complimentary injury screeningand get it taken care of.
And there's not this highmileage pressure on what you're
(26:22):
doing.
Coach Ryan (26:22):
That's totally right.
There's a lot of people thatwill go into and go cool.
I signed up for the race Isigned up for training was like
training begins in June.
That's when I'm going to startIt's like, Ooh, you know, that
first day, there's a pretty bigdemand in that first week of
training.
And a lot of people, like what,especially for first timers,
when you realize like, no, we'renot starting at a mile, we're
starting at six miles or eightmiles, for a first time
(26:46):
marathoner it's aggressivewould, you've never looked at a
training plan before and you'llrealize, oh, this, you know,
this train is going, it's notgonna stop.
It's gonna build up and you'regonna find yourself going, oh my
gosh, we're building up again.
And then we're gonna build upagain.
Coach Emily (27:00):
I remember when I trained for my first marathon, I
think it was 2000.
14 I remember laying on my bed,the, in bed, like at 9:00 PM the
night before our first, I think,16 mile run and just moaning to
my husband about why I signed upand being like, what, what is
(27:21):
this?
And here I am all thesemarathons later.
So don't use that as an excuseto not sign up because obviously
it was worth it, but yes, it canbe daunting and having a good
base really helpful.
Coach Ryan (27:35):
You know, what also what Spring Training will get
you into it can get you into agood routine the routines.
Again, speaking too a lot offirst timers or people taking
some time off and forgotten howmarathon training is.
We all have lives, right?
None of us are, we're not proathletes.
We don't, we don't have theluxury of waking up a little bit
later or getting paid to dothis.
(27:56):
So training throughout the themiddle of the day.
So a lot of us have to take careof that training early in the
morning.
That runs happening at 6:00 AM,7:00 AM, some people five AM or
you're adding it on to the endof the day.
Getting your, your stretchingand you're cross training.
You realize it right then andthere, like, oh my gosh, I still
have a nine to five.
(28:17):
I still have children.
And I need to take care of, Ihave a spouse that needs
attention out of dog that needsto get walked.
So finding that rhythm androutine and finding that in the
springtime.
Is so good and key to having asuccessful summer, right?
Like all of a sudden summercomes around and now you're
building and you're checkingthose workouts, but that
routines there, Everything's inplace.
(28:37):
Your body's used to it.
You're in this great cycle.
Coach Michael (28:40):
Along with that, the more you run, the more you
work out, you got to take itmore food, getting enough rest
in.
And I think program like springis a good chance to play around
with things and see how thingsare gonna fit into your life.
Coach Ryan (28:54):
And anytime you do something for the first time,
you're like, I don't know, am Isupposed to feel this way?
This is good.
This is bad.
I don't know.
When you're allowed to reallyplay with a few different things
and understand your body, Ithink that's the beauty of doing
that base training.
Coach Michael (29:10):
We're talking about reason to sign up for
spring training.
One thing is getting a good,solid base down, you talked
about strength training,building up some possible
weaknesses.
We got Emily to light up as soonas prehab was mentioned, but I
also, want to note it's a goodtime, good opportunity to have
(29:30):
access to your coaches.
Yeah.
To pat ourselves on the back.
Marathon season a lot is goingon.
There's a lot more people goingto be there.
Spring is a smaller program.
You'll have a lot of access tothe coaches and maybe that's a
good time to talk to them aboutyour goals for spring and for
the longterm, whether it'ssummer fall qualify for Boston
(29:54):
in three years and talking tocoaches and using them to start
working on strategies on how toaccomplish things.
Coach Emily (30:04):
I think that's a great thing to point out that
you have access to us.
And as you're coming up withyour plan and maybe kind of
honing in, on things maybeyou're coming back into training
and you're saying, Hey, I alwaysrun the like a 10 minute mile
for my long run.
And I want to run a faster, longrun.
You shouldn't go into marathontraining doing that unless you
(30:25):
already have the fitness to runthat faster, long run pace.
So coming in for a 10 K inSpring Training is a good time
to talk with your coaches andfigure out maybe a few things
that you need to work on to helpyou reach those goals.
But spring is the time,especially Ryan, you talked
about Chicago and us being onseasons.
It's like we come alive, liketoday has been so gorgeous.
(30:48):
And I, I was like, we have to gooutside.
We must go out.
It makes us come alive thatmakes us want to do things.
And I think having a commitmentand having people and somewhere
to be, and someone that expectsyou to show up really helps.
I mean, I know that for me, Ineed accountability.
(31:09):
My gosh.
Yeah, you have access, you cantalk with us.
We love talking with you guys.
And I would love to chat withanybody who chats me up.
Yeah.
You know with coaches there'sonly so much information that
you can kind of give in onemoment, right?
To be able to connect withcoaches on a regular basis week
to week there's just so muchopportunity to fine tune and
(31:32):
figure out like what going onwith and for us to help you get
to your goal.
The more you open up and havethat conversation starting in
the spring, it'll allow us tohelp you better.
100%.
And I feel like it can beintimidating to go up and talk
to coaches.
Maybe if it's your first time oryou haven't really before.
I know I get intimidated, eventhough I'm an extrovert, I'm an
(31:54):
introvert on the inside.
We love.
We love setting you up to win.
I guess that's the best thing toknow.
Coach Ryan (32:03):
It's all relationship building.
Right.
And the more we can work withyou and understand you, we can
all get to that goal together.
Coach Michael (32:10):
And plus your fellow runners, I know there
were some Win ter Warriors.
Who signed up to seasoned had noattention to racing, but the
peer pressure of there are pacegroups running with every week
and people race distances theynever raced before I hadn't
planned on, but thensuccessfully because of the
(32:31):
relationships they built withtheir fellow runners and the
motivation from their fellowrunners.
Showing up on the days that theweather maybe wasn't as nice or
they were tired from work buthaving the friendship and
support of their fellow athletesdrove them to show up.
Coach Emily (32:51):
I mean Michael, you helped me show up in the
morning.
Coach Michael (32:58):
We're not supposed to talk about the
bribery thing.
Coach Emily (33:02):
No, the shame I don't want to be shamed I want
to be there on time.
I wouldn't be in there.
No, but for real having peoplecounting on you or expecting you
is really helpful.
Coach Michael (33:17):
So Spring Training offers obviously a
training plan for some targetraces, this new half marathon
that's coming up and also 10 Kas well, but that doesn't need
to be your only motivation oronly goal for the season is we
kind of talked about.
It just could be a factor in it.
(33:38):
You can race, you don't have torace.
We talked about, you could focuson strength training and make
that your target, make itconsistency or your diet, or all
the above as part of your SpringTraining.
Coach Emily (33:51):
I know for me a lot of people here are big racers
and at some point I started justlike loving the act of running
more than racing.
It just kind of depends.
So sometimes it doesn't have toalways be a race goal.
It could be like you said, aconsistency goal or, I just want
to push myself a little bitfurther or I just need to get
(34:12):
myself out the door and beconsistent, or I want to work on
the way I mentally think aboutthis run or things during this.
Like, there are a lot ofdifferent goals that don't have
to be just a timed race goal.
Coach Michael (34:28):
That reminded me.
I recently read something from acoach that I thought was really
interesting and they werementioning things about racing
and how racing is sort of a oncein a while thing.
You don't race every single day,but when race day comes up, you
have that excitement and energycoming to it.
It's like, why do you only givethat to race day?
(34:52):
Why don't you give that to allyour runs with that same energy
and excitement, that you'regoing to go out there and push
it and enjoy it every runinstead of just saving it for a
few selective race days.
And I thought that was a realinteresting perspective on how
to you kind of think abouttraining and your runs.
Coach Ryan (35:12):
The goal of Chicago Endurance Sports is to encourage
you to make this into alifestyle.
Emily and, and I was absolutelyin that mindset for a really
long time where I just enjoyedthe seasons and the process of
going through these things.
I love doing marathons.
I love traveling to differentmarathons.
It's the best way I think, tosee a city.
(35:33):
Like truly like the racedirector chamber of commerce
may, or whoever's involved therewants you to see the best parts
of the city.
And they're gonna put on a showfor you.
And I think when you lock in andyou have that racing mentality
and I get it, you know not,everyone's gonna agree.
And some people are in thatmindset right now.
Everything's a race.
Totally cool, to each their ownon the other side of things, to
(35:54):
make this a real like lifelongthing which I would actually
encourage everyone to do, Iwould absolutely have an
argument against anyonewhoever's say that like, oh, I
wouldn't run my entire life.
It's bad for your knees.
Or like, it was somethingridiculous.
I'll promise when that thatconversation, but I think to
stay active running is the onething that you can do always,
(36:17):
right.
You can just kind of pop outthere and go for a quick little
run.
You don't have to, wait for apool lane to open up or, for
like the lake conditions to begood.
You don't need equipment like abike, you need a pair of shoes
and if you can keep this goingfor awhile, I think that that's
a really admirable goal.
But going back to that racingonce in a while, I can't
remember the guy's name, butsomeone recently after the Tour
(36:40):
de France, a professional racerhe did the tour de France on his
own a week after the tour deFrance racers.
He was only riding his bike.
He, he didn't get a chance tohave like a van or a truck
moving to the hotels.
He was camping out all byhimself, self supported the
whole way through.
(37:02):
And then it had like, obviously,like he had to like adjust on
the fly, like real bigadjustments.
I can go on stories about thisguy, but he ended up, finishing
the the tour de France courseand then some cause he had to go
to the camp sites with just hisbike, in a week, faster than
than what it took the Tour deFrance riders to do it in.
(37:23):
And one of his things at theend, I thought was really
amazing, he was like, you knowwhat, I wasn't racing at all.
I was just out there playfully,like I'm a kid.
Enjoying the ride.
At the at the Hills that thepeople would say are the most
grueling of Hills during therace is because they're racing
of those Hills.
It was like, they weren't likejust going up then leisurely and
enjoying like the views.
(37:43):
He was like, it was my, is itthose mountains that I was
climbing?
Where, some of the mostenjoyable parts he's like, I
realize not everyone's going toget a chance to slow down and
like, I am, slow down, likeyou're on a bike or being in a
vehicle and get a chance toreally take in the environments
around them.
And they point out, he was like,yeah, he was like, look, I don't
ever do the tour de France.
I choose one, maybe two races ayear.
(38:05):
This is a paid athlete.
Right.
And he was really quick to pointout I don't race all the time.
He was like, I would actuallyrather just train and train like
a professional and I'll pick outone to two races a year and I'll
help my teammates train, becauseI just love the process.
This is my lifestyle.
And, and he'll choose to race ortwo races year.
And I think that's really big.
If you're racing all the time,there's no way you're going to
(38:25):
catch the sights and the viewsand take everything that there
is to take in for the race, ifyou're always racing.
When I say I'm going to race arace, it's because I've already
done the course before, and Iknow the course, so I'm going to
race that course.
Coach Emily (38:38):
It's funny that you say that because I know that the
last Chicago Marathon, peopleare telling me after I ran the
race, all the things that aregoing on, and I didn't notice
any of it this last year, I wasjust in my mode of I have to
finish this, whereas I did theFox Valley Marathon I just
enjoyed it so much.
The scenery was beautiful and itwas one of my most enjoyable
(39:00):
races.
It wasn't my fastest marathons,but it just was so enjoyable to
see the scenery and be like, Ican do this.
My body does this, and that's awonderful gift.
And so I think it's funnybecause both of those
experiences are very differentfor me.
And both of those experiencesreally, are monumental in my
(39:20):
mind for what I actually see assuccess and how I've trained
does that make sense.
So yes, I liked one of thoseperspectives.
100%.
Coach Ryan (39:30):
Yeah.
We're not trying to shame atall.
Like you could, you couldtotally race, but you know,
enjoy the journey.
It's all about the.
So there's one other thing Iwould love to talk about, that
is actually discussing nutritionand dieting and things like
that.
And the reason why I want tobring that up is because, again
too often I'll kind of bring itback to marathon training
(39:51):
because that's when we get themost participants and we'll get
the most, I would say, newpeople to Chicago Endurance
Sports and joining trainingprograms.
There's a good amount of peoplewho have a goal of weight loss
as one of their main goals.
In marathon training.
And I want to explain why that'snot the best of ideas.
One thing you, you just don'twant to be in a caloric deficit
(40:14):
state to start, you don't wantyour gas tank to be fully empty
when you're going out there anddoing these long runs You're
going to need, the caloriesactually helps sustain your
energy throughout training.
So there'll be a certain amountof pounds that do just naturally
come off, but to go into itthinking I'm not going to eat as
(40:34):
much is, a recipe for failure.
I think there's a really goodopportunity within spring
training.
If you're using it as a basebuilding a time to like again,
find the right routine, find theright diet and nutritional plan.
Again, I am not intonutritionists, dietician,
functional medical doctor Idon't have that expertise.
But I will say just from my ownexperience, what I do to simply
(40:58):
clean up my diet.
It's incredible how much extraweight I could just naturally
peel off just from cleaning upthe diet.
I think that they can carry along way.
Coach Michael (41:07):
So, as you mentioned, if you're really
concerned about weight loss orweight control talk to a
licensed professional, adietician or a nutritionist to
get you on the right course.
And a professional will ask youabout your activity, your weekly
activity and what you're doingand work that into how much you
should be taking in.
Coach Emily (41:29):
Yeah.
I agree with you, Michael, abouttalking to a licensed
nutritionist if you're concernedor you're not sure how to go
about that.
I know for me that, my firsttraining cycle, I mean, I feel
like for like much of my life, Iwas trying to lose weight.
So it's just, I think that a lotof other people are, have been
(41:51):
in that boat too.
So I think that, that when youstart a new training plan,
especially if you've never doneit before, it just seems like,
oh, this is a great way for meto drop pounds.
Cause you do your trainingrunning, you see, oh my gosh, I
burned all those calories.
That's great.
And then you want to ride thatout.
And I know for me, at least thatI was burning out during my long
(42:13):
runs.
I was fatiguing.
I wasn't recovering super wellcause I would just be trying to
cut my calories anyways I could.
So after exercise, our musclesneed both protein and
carbohydrates to repair them.
So if we're not giving them theadequate nutrition they need,
then our body can't go as far oras fast or as hard as you want.
(42:37):
And one of the ways I like totake what I've learned from my
experience and talk to ourathletes about is energy in is
energy out.
So any energy that worksspending, we need to make sure
that we're replenishing andrestoring.
So even on the long runs, Iwould push it off when I would
(42:58):
take my calories.
Cause I wanted to maybe limitthe number of gus I had.
And that would lead to what wecall bonking, which is basically
when your glycogen stores areall burnt out and you just kind
of feel a little fatigued and alittle out of it and you feel
like you can't really go thatmuch further.
(43:20):
And yeah, it really, it took atoll on my body.
So I guess to Ryan's point ifyou do want to lose weight,
Spring Training where the loadisn't so heavy is a really good
time to do that, but also toMichael's point, talk to a
professional.
So you can do that safely.
And so that you're not actuallycausing more distress for your
(43:42):
body.
The course I just had on injuryprevention, talked a lot about,
women and what to look out forwomen who are in a sport where
there's emphasis on being leanand how that can really affect
us, because we feel like we haveto do all of these things to
alter our body, to get to wherewe want, but we're really
hindering what we need.
(44:02):
What I have found is that when Ifocus on whole foods and foods
what my body needs protein, goodfats, good carbs, and making
sure I'm replenishing those.
It's like my mental load is somuch better.
And your mental stamina, yourmental load, how you carry that
really affects how you run,especially if you're running
(44:23):
distance.
And I have recoveredsignificantly faster.
And then I'm able to go out anddo more of what I want and
perform the way I want, becauseI'm taking more calories in.
So that's my little personaltidbit that if you come to South
Loop and run with us, you canask me more about it.
(44:44):
I'm an open book.
Coach Ryan (44:46):
So just understand food is fuel and fuel is
medicine, right?
So understanding those, thosecertain things and You know,
again beforehand, before the bigmarathon train season or the big
summer training season forwhatever race or you're going
into to understand your bodylike that and really give it the
proper fuel that it needs.
Coach Michael (45:05):
Once again, returning into the original
thought is people coming in tomarathon training, especially
for weight loss, maybe not thepriority, but if you follow the
program, we follow the training.
You're going to get healthierjust by the exercise itself.
Being more active you'reautomatically going to get
(45:25):
better shape.
You might antidote ly lose somepounds.
And like you said, making gooddecisions on what you eat and
the volume that you eat is goingto contribute to that.
We've covered a lot of thingstoday.
So lets go around themicrophone, and give me one
reason why you might want tojoin spring training.
If you haven't, or you couldalso say, what to expect that as
(45:48):
Spring Training,
Coach Emily (45:50):
I think you should joined Spring Training because,
you have a lot of coaches atyour disposal who have
experience in who care andspring is a really good time,
especially in Chicago to kickoff the year and training season
and we all feel a little fresh.
Coach Ryan (46:11):
I would say it's just the healthy choice to make,
right?
Isn't it the best choice to makefor yourself in so many
different ways?
We're coming off of the winterseason where a lot of us are
spending a lot of times indoorseating all the junk being stuck
in front of our tech orcomputers and TVs, I think one
of the best things that we cando for ourselves, getting out
there, getting active, you'regetting all the endorphins.
(46:34):
It's just better for yourhealth.
And if it's cold out and you'relike, ah, I don't want to go,
but then you end up going, Iwill guarantee you, it will
always be a good feeling thatyou get, that you did get out
there.
You will go out there and like,oh, I'm so glad I did that.
That was so good.
I'm so glad.
It's all those people in theSouth Loop and Lincoln Square in
Old Town, Elmhurst, and I justmade these awesome connections
(46:54):
and you'll just feel so muchbetter about yourself.
So do it for you.
Coach Michael (46:58):
And I'm going to finish off by saying, for those
of you who've been trainingthrough the winter time.
If you're doing Winter Warriorshave been running on your own,
it's a great opportunity tocontinue with that momentum to
keep that momentum going.
If you've been one of thosepeople we talked about earlier
who was kind of hibernating,either because of the weather or
you've gotten those blues afteryour fall marathon or event.
(47:22):
It's a chance to kick things offand get revved again, before you
get into the, the big summerrunning season.
And for those people who alreadyhave their big goals, maybe
they're registered for theirfirst marathon, 50 K triathlon,
whatever, this is a good chanceto get that base going.
So when will you start thatfirst day of training you've
(47:44):
have a leg up already.
But other than that, I want tothank Coach Ryan and Coach Emily
for talking today.
Any last words?
Coach Emily (47:53):
Thanks for talking to me.
It's great talking to you.
Coach Ryan (47:56):
Yeah, I love that too.
Thank you for having us on hereat Coach Michael.
I love this.
Just the conversation.
I, I truly did pick up a handfulof notes from both of you, so
it's always good to kind of talkthings out.
So thank you.
Coach Michael (48:08):
All right.
Great.
So this has been the ChicagoEndurance Sports podcast.
Thank you for listening.
And if you haven't already madesure you subscribe or as the
kids say, smash that subscribebutton.
If you're one of the kids, youknow, that
Coach Ryan (48:28):
it gets to a million subs so we can get paid.
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