Tools of the Trade

Sometimes the student can teach the mentor and this can be very beneficial for both parties as they learn together. Such is the case with myself and my Team AllEars Co-Captain Michelle Scribner-MacLean.

Michelle is essentially still relatively new to the sport of running, having taken up the sport within only the last five years or so, but her knowledge equals that of a veteran runner. Of course, knowledge does not just drop out of the sky and hit you on the head. Knowledge comes from curiosity, a knack for learning, and a commitment to doing the research. I became one of the benefactor’s from Michelle’s hard work.

It was Michelle’s penchant for learning that made her aware as to the little things that can enhance her running, and over the last two years or so her knowledge has grown and, in turn, has enlightened her co-captain, me, in many ways.

The purpose of this blog is to first, as the say, “give props” to Michelle for opening my eyes and convincing me to try some things I have wavered on for years. Secondly, I want to share these with you because they have enhanced my running experience and I hope they do the same for you.

The Running Watch

So let’s start off with what every runner has…a running watch. The mentor, me, has been using a running watch for several decades, whereas Michelle never really saw the need for a watch. She really was not concerned about time. Her initial goal was to complete the Walt Disney World Half Marathon and she did both her training and race without the help of a timing device. One day she decided to try a running watch and began using it on her training runs. It didn’t take too long for her to wonder if there was a better mousetrap…erh…I mean watch that would do more than just keep time. She looked into the science of running watches and her research eventually led her to the land of Garmin watches.

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Garmin watches (and others) use Global Positioning Satellites to determine where you are, where you’re going, and how fast you’re going. Some of these watches also keep track of such data as calories burned, pace, elevation, and even your heart rate. You can program some of these devices to beep when you hit a certain milestone in those categories.

At first her mentor, yours truly, did not pay attention to this device. Heck, I’ve been using running watches since…well…for quite a long time. I was not impressed because frankly I felt all I needed was a simple watch to keep time…until she showed me how the watch logged her runs, splits, distances, elevation, calories burned, and also created maps and charts which represented this data.

The Garmin, as well as the Nike assortment of running watches, also synched with the Dailymile website to record workouts. After seeing the assortment of bells and whistles, I was hooked. Michelle has a Forerunner 310XT. My watch, shown to the left, is a Garmin Forerunner 305. It took me a few workouts to get the hang of it. I had to figure which buttons to push and where to look on the screen to get the information I wanted. It is definitely a tool every serious runner should consider, especially when it’s important to keep track of pace, distance, and even heart rate.

Since I have been using my watch I can honestly say I understand more so how my body works during a training run and my limitations. What’s somewhat interesting is that I am finding that the watch helps me run, not as fast as I want to, but as slowly as I want to run as well. This is important for older runners who really need to understand how to pace themselves for those long runs.

It is not unusual for me to go out and do 10 miles or more on a run and find myself running 2 minutes/mile faster towards the at the end of the run as compared to the beginning of the run. The watch helps me stay in “warmup” pace early on so I don’t empty the tank too soon. Some runners make use of the heart rate monitor accessory to make sure they run in a certain heart rate zone during their workouts. I spent time researching the Garmin watches at this page and it helped me in finding the right watch for my needs and budget.

The Digital Audio Device

Nowadays practically every runner you see uses some sort of mobile device to listen to music or podcasts. For many years I ran with a small headset and listened to radio stations and sports talk shows. At one point I started using an MP3 device to listen to music while I ran. I found that music can be dangerous…making me run too fast…but that’s a story for another day. Anyway, one day while warming up for a run with my fellow Team AllEars Co-Captain, I noticed this tiny little square that she had latched onto her running shorts.

“What’s that?” I asked. “It’s an iPod shuffle!” she answered. I then asked about 145 questions about the device and, to make a long story short, I soon had my own iPod shuffle.
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Now although I had experience using an MP3 player, the world of the shuffle opened new avenues for me. Imagine, I could create my own playlists for whatever my needs. For instance, if I wanted to go out for an hour long easy run I would put together a playlist that would have songs that would encourage me to maintain a slow, steady pace. Also, if I happened to be running in a race that required me to pace myself and gradually move from a warmup state to a fast pace, I created a playlist that started me off slowly and eventually worked towards increasing my pace at certain points in the race.

I also discovered how important it was at times for me to listen to a podcast instead of music, especially when I needed to back off on my training and just go out for a leisurely run. I will talk more of these podcasts in a future blog. You will never find me running without my iPod shuffle. In fact, I don’t know how I would have been able to run the 2010 Walt Disney World Half Marathon without that device. If you were there you know why.

Speaking of podcasts, I need to also pay kudos to Michelle for introducing me to several podcasts that deal with running”¦for info and for music. Those key elements, along with the iPod, made it much easier for me to handle those long runs. I will touch upon running podcasts in a later blog.

It’s the Little Things that Count

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Also related in this category are a couple of devices I first used in January at the 2011 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. Actually I should not have used them in a race without first trying them out in a training run. I’m talking about my yurbuds, which are designed to hold your earbuds in your ears. For a longtime I’ve been thinking about changing my earphones and happened to come across the yurbuds booth at the Runner’s Expo in January.

I was very curious as to how these little blue plastic things worked. First I was measured and found that I needed a size six yurbud. I had to learn how to use these sort of “cups” and I found out that you place them over each of your earbuds and there is a little “lip” that is positioned to point forward. After you put the yurbud over the earbud and position the lip to face forward, you then place the yurbud in your ear, lip down, and then twist it so that the lip is facing forward and is snug in your ear. So I ran with these little blue things in January and they worked fine. They were light, held the earbuds in my ears, and I could hear my music rather well.

I’ve run with these yurbuds for the last six months and they are beginning to stretch a bit. I am convinced that they, like everything else, has a limit and may need to be replaced some day. For more information you may want to visit the Yurbuds website.

A Water Belt: Who Knew?

There’s nothing like a running buddy to understand how you feel when your tired and sore. My running buddy Michelle, can also attest to the fact that her running buddy, me, can be pretty stubborn at times. I like to say I’m “cautious.”

For years I ran without anything like water or nutrition gels or energy beans, or any of those supplements. I never really got thirsty during my runs and when I ran in races I always had water stops to help me. The only time I really recall thinking I should have brought water with me was on Labor Day in September, 2005, when I went out and ran 14 miles. Hoo boy I was thirsty.

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Not only was that stubbornness but also”¦not smart. Michelle, as practical as they come, ran with a water belt on long runs, especially in warm weather and seemed to be much more refreshed at the end of a training run than I was, and it was obvious why.

Also, she was paying attention to what the experts were saying about nutrition and taking care of business before, during, and after her runs. Not me. Other than grabbing something to drink at a water stop in a race I just ran without anything….except my iPod shuffle.

To take care of nutrition during my runs I needed something to enable me to do so…a nutrition or water belt.

Last year during one of my trips to Orlando, I checked out a couple of running store outlets. At the Nike store I noticed a running belt that seemed to hit me as something I might like. It had four water bottles and at least four pockets to put whatever I needed to carry during a race. The price was also intriguing…at least $15-20 less expensive than what I had seen in other stores. I purchased the belt and figured that someday if I need one I will have it and not have to go out and buy it at that time.

The belt has been put to use. Last month during 80 degree weather I ran 10+ miles on a Saturday and repeated the distance the following day. In both days I used that water belt and now if I plan to run more than an hour I bring the belt with me.

Nutritionally Speaking

This year I find myself training for a pretty tough challenge in January and need to run occasional double-digit distances so the belt is one component that I definitely need to help me get through the training.

However, there is one other complimentary component to the water that I have started to pay more attention to…something Michelle has brought to my attention a while back. I’m talking about nutrition…nutrition that is essential before, during, and after a long or hard training run.
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I am one of these runners who prefers to go out and run on an empty stomach. Heck, if I am gearing up for a race I want nothing in my stomach closer than 12 hours before race start. That’s me.

Michelle’s brother Mark, is an ironman, and takes his training seriously. For his training Mark focuses quite a bit on his nutrition and had been talking to his sister about the importance of nutrition. In turn, Michelle has shared her conversations with me. She would do things like have a bit of applesauce before her training runs, or some energy gels.

I had never tried a gel until my first half marathon. It was about nine miles into the run that I had one and noticed it gave me a lift. Still, I never used them during training runs because of course I had no water to chase the gel down my throat. I do now.

Well, again with the training I have to do this year I started practicing what Michelle had been preaching. Fifteen minutes before my training run I would have a gel and then take one every 45 minutes during my run. I also would consume a recovery drink after my run to get the amino acids and electrolytes back into my system as much as possible.

I have found that if I can keep my nutrition levels up that I am more refreshed during and after my run. I use Performance GU products but there are several out there besides GU…check them out.

So what does this all mean? Well beyond the specific thoughts on watches, iPods, earbuds, water belts, and nutrition it’s about having an open mind and realizing that sometimes the student can be the teacher…providing the teacher listens.

Thanks Michelle.

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