Wednesday morning chat

Wednesday, February 10, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Grab your coffee and let’s go! The week is moving along for sure and the fact that we are already in double digits for February is just crazy! Oh well we need to make the best out of the days that are blowing by us. Sunday after chatting with you Kathy and I drove down to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal trail and went for a 90 minute run. Definitely my best run in a while and instilled some confidence back into my distance running. The ups and downs of getting older and dealing with arthritis sometimes lead me to question how far I should be running. I definitely do not question whether I should be running because, I know that running benefits the arthritis but, how far is often in question. My guess is that running a couple half marathons a year is probably the limit but, I would like to give a marathon one more shot to see if my hips can handle the training. If my hips indicate that the required mileage is taking the fun out of running, I will happily accept and enjoy other great distances. Our run on Sunday was awesome. After mile 3 I settled into a pretty steady pace and the time just kind of disappeared. I was so close to the 10 mile point that I actually extended 3 additional minutes to get that distance. Funny how two weeks prior when I did that very same run, I was miserable, much slower and ready to quit running altogether. This time I fueled myself before running and did some additional band work that gave my quads some greater range of motion. If I don’t repeat those things that I did prior to Sundays run before my future runs, I am in idiot. As a running coach I try to get our runners to do certain things before a run and when they seem to benefit them, I have them make it part of their routine. As a runner I often disregard my own methods. Discipline Mike! Great run for both Kathy and I. Tonight I will be at the track here on base doing some repeats. Repeats are definitely the secret to stronger running. All of our NFLR runners are running repeats nearly weekly along with other workouts that are intended to strengthen their ability to improve their VO2 consumption as well as strengthen their legs. Repeats are often thought of as speed work but, they are also great for overall improvement of strong running. Treadmills are great for repeat workouts or even just a flat running route. We have some of our clients run distance such as 400s or 800s and we have others run repeats of time, such as 2 minutes. Many different ways to do them and all are helpful. This weekend I will head to North Carolina for the long weekend and hang with Kathy. Luckily it also Valentine’s Day Sunday so I will be able to enjoy that with my sweetheart as well. We still treat it as a special day though of course every day we are together is special.  As with the whole East Coast, it will be quite cold in North Carolina so probably no golf for me. Golf is definitely another hobby I enjoy tremendously though I am not all that good. I like the challenge and the fact that I can do it as I get older. Time to get on out of here. I hope you have a great day and finish the week strong. God Bless! Mike