There is this African proverb my mom shared with me when I first decided I wanted to pursue running.
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
I was 13 years old and my core was on fire for the journey I was about to embark on. I set my goals pretty much from day one. I knew the pursuit of these goals was not going to be just any ol’ walk in the park. It was going to be years and years of countless work to even toe the starting line of what might take a lifetime to conquer.
But that’s the fun part , right?
Years and year go by.
Over a decade passes.
I still push onward.
I’m still going, 18 plus years later… I am still running!! THAT IS WHAT MATTERS.
Literally every morning when the sun comes up I am doing something to prepare myself to get out the door running. Now, when I was 13 years old, my body was able to walk out the door and go for a run, but as I have pounded my body over the years I’m no longer able to just walk out the door. I need to dust the rust off my joints and muscles every morning. I believe if you dedicate just 15-20 minutes before every run doing a few dynamic stretches or pre hab exercises, you will:
First, have few injuries
and
Second, be able to run for years to come.
My personal recommendation is to pick three exercises in addition to some light foam rolling to “wake up” your muscles. If one works a traditional 8-5 desk job, you have been sitting for most of the day. So whether you are an en evening runner or morning runner you will need to get those running muscles firing.
In order to target different muscle groups and to encompass a wide variety I suggest picking 3 different mini exercises to complete on the different days of the week you run. Below I have my current three in addition to several other options to incorporate in your daily running regime.
My current 3:
3x 20 Monster walks with band, forward, backwards, sideways.
Example 1:
Example 2:
Example 3:
Whether you run 1 day or 7 days per week, you can rotate between these different routines as well as find additional exercises to add.
Best of luck to you all on your running journey!
even be able to count the number of times I have had to take the dreaded 6-8 weeks off due to injury. I know that sounds horrible. Looking back, it all started after I had my first injury. In 2006, I tore my rectus femoris tendon at its origin, the anterior inferior iliac spine (hip area). After this injury is was a domino effect of injuries. All of which have been isolated to my right lower leg. Ranging from torn muscles to stress fractures to other weird stuff I can’t even recall. Obviously it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something biomechanically must not be working properly. The downfall is everyone has their own opinion on which biomechanical factors are impaired or malfunctioning. It may sound depressing and frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, it totally has been; the past 12 years have been full of ups and downs. But at least I can still run, it may not be everyday, but it’s enough to be slowly chipping away towards my goals.…
The bad new, this training cycle did not go as planned. It all boils down to post pregnancy running, basically my body decided it really could not run the miles in its current state. Honestly speaking, I have known something has been off for a while. But the thing with runners is we somehow think everything will just click if we keep at it long enough. We just have to hang on for dear life. Unfortunately that is not how it works. I know that is not how it works. I have been at this long enough to know when things feel off, you need to stop and fix the problem.
I am not one to preach cadence. However, I do think it is important to be aware of your NORMAL. They say the golden number is 180 steps per minute. I have never been a 180spm runner, my normal is about 174-177spm. Post pregnancy, my cadence has slowed down to 163-166 average. I have been aware of the decrease, but for some reason I just figured if I kept running my cadence would eventually go back to normal. Guess what…. THINGS DO NOT MAGICALLY FIX THEMSELVES….. Surprise, surprise.
missed the half marathon for this spring cycle.
After purchasing a used BOB Revolution jogging stroller in August 2017, I used it pretty regularly for the next 4 months. My daughter and I have learned to embrace whatever weather we are having (within reason — we ditched our run pretty quickly when it was less than 20 degrees and windy this winter). I love being able to go outside with a purpose and a buddy.
as a warm layer for the little girl. She loved that thing! Actually, she can and still does wear it sometimes. You can see in these pictures that we had to add more and more layers as fall segued into winter. First there’s the elephant costume and a blanket, then we added a hat to keep her ears warm and a second blanket to keep the wind off, then we upgraded to a puffy pink snowsuit.
When I take the snowsuit off the hook and set it on the floor to get her bundled up, my daughter comes running over and sits in the middle of it. She likes to put on the snowsuit, get in the stroller, and get outside to see the trees and squirrels! On those days when I’m not able to get my run in in the morning, we take the stroller out in the afternoon and combine my run with her nap. 🙂 Two birds, one stone
I believe it has to do with being present in the moment. Wearing the hat for the job at hand. I think the most successful people are able to switch between their different rolls/hats very efficiently….. I wear many different hats. I’m a wife, I’m a mother, I’m a daughter, I’m a coach, I’m a shoe salesman, I’m a runner, and honestly the list could go on and on and on and on and on. I have many tasks and roles to fill each day. Most of us have many tasks and roles.
Running has always been the fire burning inside me. And it will always be that way. It’s what I love Very very much. It is my passion. It’s what I believe I’m supposed to do. However like I said earlier my priorities have changed or shifted. I have a child who definitely takes precedence over most situations. So with that being said when I have two hours a day to use to run or to go to the gym or train in order to reach my personal goals. I have to try very hard to shift my mind to be truly focused on the task at hand. Which is running. Or training. I trust that the people caring for Augie are taking care of him and there’s nothing I can do when I’m not with him. What I can do and what I have control over, which in this particular example would be my training.
time limits or restrictions. That is no longer my lifestyle. I can’t wish for things to be easier because wishing doesn’t get you anywhere. What I can do; I can be present in each moment. I can be mindful of each situation. And I can complete each task at hand. So when I have my two hours a day to run and train to prepare for my Olympic trials standard. That is where my focus is. I concentrate only on what I have control over. I run. I run when it’s 
time to run,I’m a mother when it’s time to mother, I’m a wife when I need to be a wife. It’s not the easiest balance. Those of you who wear all these similar hats can relate. I’m definitely not a professional when it comes to being mindful. However, if I know being mindful is important in my success as a mother, wife, and as an athlete, Etc. Keeping “mindfulness” in the back of my mind is going to be the key to becoming the best version of myself. It is just going to take a little bit of effort.
had running while pregnant.The reason for this reminiscing moment is because I recently had another Running Form gait analysis completed in order to identify some of the struggles I have encountered on this postpartum journey.
October of 2015, I raced my first decent half marathon in nearly a decade, but shortly after that my body broke down a little(minor injury). I took some time to rewind and refocus on areas I needed to improve. At the time, I had been going to physical therapy where I incorporated a ton of strength training, all while maintaining about 15 -20 miles of running each week and several hours of cross training. I was coming back from a little lower leg setback, so I was not in super great running shape, but I just knew something was off.
James and I knew we wanted a family and we were planning on the year of 2016 being the start of this pursuit, but we did not plan on it happening so fast. The plan was to not slow down on my training, If it happened it happened and if it didn’t we would try again another time. We had about an 18 month window for a pregnancy to take place. This is because I have dreams and goals of my own and a pregnancy would get in the way of me accomplishing my goals. It’s hard enough to train for half marathons and full marathons. Also, getting an Olympic Trials Qualifying Standard would pretty much be impossible if I got pregnant at the wrong time. Hence the reason for the “perfect” window. I am truly grateful my body allowed me to get pregnant as easily as I did. It was definitely a blessing.
nal cephalic rotation at week 38. This technique was extremely painful. Looking back if I ever went through this again I think I would not even attempt the rotation. It was very scary. After the unsuccessful attempt we settled on scheduling a c- section at week 39. My doctors told me I would be able to recover much better if I avoided going into labor. I am not gonna lie, I liked the sound of that. I also did not 
want to get to the point where we would hope he would rotate on his own during labor, because if he did not rotate, then I would have to have an emergency c-section. I am definitely happy with the choices we made. It is what worked for us. A c-section was not what I was expecting 9 months earlier, but a happy healthy baby is all that mattered. The past 16 months have been a journey. Bouncing back into running post baby has had its up and downs, but I wouldn’t change one thing about our story.
and get myself into therapy within a few months and stay proactive about it (ha, as much as you can when you’re talking about depression). I have several close family members who struggle with depression every day, so I had a good idea of what could happen if I let things slip any further out of my control. Anyway, I bring this up to illustrate how exercise plays into my treatment. It was incredibly helpful for me to be able to speak to a mental health professional about my concerns and to come to a plan for keeping my mood balanced. For me, this plan includes goal setting, exercise, and a lot of compassion for myself when I mess up. Running is my anti-depressant right now.
Pole dancing surprisingly does wonders for my self esteem. When I’m feeling self-conscious about my thighs, my stomach, or any other area, an hour of pole will bring my mood back up. It’s hard not to lift yourself out of a funk when you are literally lifting yourself up! I gain such an appreciation for how my body works when I practice coordinated spins, climbs, and inversions on the pole.
dancing, it’s hard to feel down about myself when I am able to physically conquer the goals I set out for myself.
litefeetracing 