Running coach Mary-Katherine Fleming of the Denver, Colo.-based Fitness Protection Program joins us today for our live discussion thread to answer any and all questions you have about running now, including:
How to stay motivated
How to set goals (and what goals should I think about)
Heart-rate training, cross-training, etc.
Anything else that’s on your mind!
We’ll start at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, so feel free to post your questions now and MK will start answering in just a moment.
Hello and thank you so much for taking all these questions!! I'm an average runner who before injury did 25-30 miles/week when not training for a specific goal. Earlier this month I re-injured an old soleus strain that the sports medicine specialist says I should not run on for six weeks. They prescribed physical therapy, but it's $400/session at 2-3 days per week which is not affordable for me. SO I am resting it as best I can, but worry constantly that I am losing fitness with every passing day. I'm doing a lot of walking on the treadmill on an incline, hiking, biking, and also focusing on strength doing lots of squats with a medicine ball, lots of planks, etc.
How slowly do you think I need to ease back into full mileage? To make life easy, I use the Hal Higdon app for tracking mileage.
Hi! I'd love to get your opinion on resistance bands for activating hips and glutes (been seeing a lot of ads recently for the Crossover Symmetry product). Small exercises like side lunges, hurdles, and squats with the bands seem to suggest they will help immensely with running, but I'm struggling with whether or not to do these exercises before a run, after, or on a day of no running?
How much improvement are runners capable of, and at what age? I consider myself a middle of the pack runner but I would love to be a very good runner. I know I will never be elite or anything near that, but I would love to get my race times :30-1:00/mile faster. Is that a realistic goal? And what are the keys to achieving it?
Hello. Im living in Seattle and the air quality is dangerous due to fires...on top of covid. Im having a hard time finding a way to stay fit and train as I don't have home exercise equipment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Welcome everyone! (And welcome, MK!) I'll start us off with a question for you -- how have you been training through the summer, how are runners you work with training right now? What kinds of goals are they aiming for?
Thanks again for an amazing day!!!!
Hello and thank you so much for taking all these questions!! I'm an average runner who before injury did 25-30 miles/week when not training for a specific goal. Earlier this month I re-injured an old soleus strain that the sports medicine specialist says I should not run on for six weeks. They prescribed physical therapy, but it's $400/session at 2-3 days per week which is not affordable for me. SO I am resting it as best I can, but worry constantly that I am losing fitness with every passing day. I'm doing a lot of walking on the treadmill on an incline, hiking, biking, and also focusing on strength doing lots of squats with a medicine ball, lots of planks, etc.
How slowly do you think I need to ease back into full mileage? To make life easy, I use the Hal Higdon app for tracking mileage.
Thank you again!
I have a question, hope I'm not too late to the party.
I guess this falls under Motivation. I'm an average runner with a few half's and a few full marathons under my belt.
I ran over 100 miles in April, but then nearly nothing for 3 months.
How do I keep training consistently?
ALL THESE GOOD QUESTIONS! I LOVE IT!
Hi! I'd love to get your opinion on resistance bands for activating hips and glutes (been seeing a lot of ads recently for the Crossover Symmetry product). Small exercises like side lunges, hurdles, and squats with the bands seem to suggest they will help immensely with running, but I'm struggling with whether or not to do these exercises before a run, after, or on a day of no running?
How much improvement are runners capable of, and at what age? I consider myself a middle of the pack runner but I would love to be a very good runner. I know I will never be elite or anything near that, but I would love to get my race times :30-1:00/mile faster. Is that a realistic goal? And what are the keys to achieving it?
I use a running belt. Do you use one or a vest? If so any recommendations for either/or? Brands? What to look for in either?
Hello. Im living in Seattle and the air quality is dangerous due to fires...on top of covid. Im having a hard time finding a way to stay fit and train as I don't have home exercise equipment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Welcome everyone! (And welcome, MK!) I'll start us off with a question for you -- how have you been training through the summer, how are runners you work with training right now? What kinds of goals are they aiming for?