Change Your Life
Core Stability
Cross Training
Custom Coaching
Endurance
Form
Galloway RunWalk Method
Hard-Easy
Heart Rate Monitoring
Hot Yoga
Hydration
Injury Prevention
Massage
Nutrition 101
Nutrition - Optimal Training Diet
Official Training Manual
Pace
Physical Therapy
Reasons to Run
Safety
Shoes, Gear and Apparel
Speed Training
Strategic Fuel/Hydration Plans
Stretching
Treadmills
Weight Loss
Weight Training

Useful Websites

Change Your Life
Progress requires change. If an elite athlete sets a goal to shave a few seconds off her personal best time, she'll need to make some changes in her life. She might need to eat better, sleep better, train harder or get more rest. If a couch potato decides to take back his life, he'll need to make some basic changes in his life.  Google Keywords: "change your life"  (top)

Core Stability
Everything tied to the hip... muscles, tendons, connective tissues, the pelvic floor, everything attached to the abdomen and spine... the strength of these core structures determines your core stability. Special exercises that you can do almost anywhere will strengthen your core and improve your skeletal performance and help prevent injury. Google Keywords: "core stability" running walking  (top)

Cross Training
The concept of specificity means that if you are training for a running event, then you specifically train by running. Cross training means that you add or replace some of your specific running with a different exercise. Thus, you might run three times in a week instead of four, and in place of the fourth you might ride the bike, work some weights, swim or do hot yoga. The cross training helps to achieve a fuller range of muscle strength and helps prevent injury, and the choice of cross training activity is a strategic decision made with your coach. An elite athlete might cross train completely different than the coach potato. Google Keywords: "cross training" running walking  (top)

Endurance
Endurance is required for longer distances and you have endurance when your body is strong and you know how to keep it in the fat burning zone for an extended period, thus avoiding the classic "bonk" of depleted carbohydrate stores and accumulations of lactic acid. Google Keywords: endurance, "fat burning" , bonk, "the wall"  (top)

Form  (top)

Galloway RunWalk Method
Fact: Every athlete's pace-per-mile gets slower as the distance increases.
Fact: Adding a structured walking routine to your longer distances results in faster over-all times with fewer injuries.
Google Keywords: "Galloway run walk method"  (top)

Google
Enables internet users to search the World Wide Web for specific information, and to find pages and pages and pages of similar information. Once you know the basics of Google search, you'll want to try Advanced Search, which offers numerous options for making your searches more precise and getting more useful results. Google Keywords: Google,  "google advanced search"  (top)

Group Support
Most of us are closer to the couch potato above than we are to the elite athlete in the magnitude of change needed to achieve our goal, and we all know how painful change can be... initially at least. In fact, only about one in nine people can implement effective change when change really matters. Seeking support of others, and supporting one another in a common pursuit of positive change will increase the probability that changes and progresses are made. Few people want to train for a marathon alone. Group support works. Google Keywords: "Group Support" changes difficult  (top)

Hard-Easy (top)

Heart Rate Monitoring
Monitoring your heart rate and training within specific rate zones is credited with improving athlete’s performance and prolonging their careers. Effective heart rate training results in higher performance at lower heart rates, fewer injuries, less fatigue and faster recovery.  Google Keywords: "heart rate training" running  (top)

Hot Yoga
Hot Yoga is a carefully selected and scientifically organized series of postures taken from the hundreds of yoga poses which have been practiced for over 5,000 years. The series has been arranged into a standing and floor series to optimally work all the muscles, ligaments and tendons of the human body. The series moves fresh, oxygenated blood to each organ and muscle fiber. Hot Yoga is conducted in a heated space because heat relaxes the muscles, significantly increasing flexibility and preventing injury and accelerates calorie burn. The profuse sweating includes increased cardiovascular activity and the detoxifying effect on the bladder, skin and other organs. Your first experience will be very challenging but you'll see significant results as a runner and walker: reduced stress, improved balance and flexibility, strength and muscle tone. Google Keywords: "hot yoga" and "bikram hot yoga"  (top)

Hydration
Water comprises 40-60% of our total body weight. A properly hydrated human urinates pale yellow to clear in color. How's  your urine? How many times a day do you need a pee break? Signs of dehydration in athletes is nausea or light headed, seeing spots, tired and not sweating. How much should you drink during exercise? 4-8 oz every 10-15 minutes. A small person (under 120-130 lbs.) drinks 4-5 oz every 10-15 minutes. A larger person (over 170 lbs.) should drink 6-8 oz every 10-15 minutes. One small gulp of water = (approx.) 1 to 1 1/2 oz.  Google Keywords: "hydration for athletes"  or "sports nutrition and hydration"  (top)

Injury Prevention
The key to injury prevention is training and progressing sensibly for YOUR body. Listen to your body and don't take on more than you are ready for. You can do this by slowing down. Implement regular stretching and flexibility routines, and also implement a cross-training routine of weights, swim, yoga, pilates or similar activity. Alternate hard and easy workouts, do not ramp-up too quickly, and get medical advise and attention EARLY into any issues with pain. Be sure to get adequate rest days, stay hydrated, eat and sleep well. However, most people probably won't learn good injury prevention until they have fully appreciated what it takes to recover from an injury. Injuries are standard for all sports. Google Keywords: "injury prevention"  (top)

Massage  (top)

Nutrition 101
The standard text-book athletic diet consists of 60% of your calories coming from quality carbohydrates, 20% of your calories coming from quality proteins, and 20% of your calories coming from quality fats (60:20:20). It is recommended to eat 5-6 small meals a day with an equal 60:20:20 mix of carbs, protein, and fats. Athletes such as yourself must consume extra carbohydrates and electrolytes during endurance workouts. REQUIRED READING: Nancy Clark's SPORTS NUTRITION GUIDEBOOK ISBN 0-7360-4602-x  Google Keywords: "sports nutrition", "athletic nutrition", recovery, endurance, "calorie deficit diet"   (top)

Nutrition - Optimal Training Diet
Your daily food choices have significant impact on your performance, health and recovery. But it is not just about what to eat. How you portion and time your food intake are also important practices which make the difference between an ordinary way of eating and a peak performance way of eating. To download the Idaho Nutrition Consultants document, click here. To visit Idaho Nutrition Consultants' website, click here. (top)

Official Training Manual
We have a training manual which captures much of the important information presented in our program. This information is compiled by our professional partners, and will be available Spring 2006 or before.  To order a copy, click here. (top)

Pace Determination
So you're going for a run today. Do you know what pace (minutes per hour) you'll run? Do you know what pace you should run, or will you simply go out and do what you can based on how you feel? Have you been running regularly before today's run? Each of these are good questions to consider when you are in training for a distance event, and each day of training should address the question of what pace is appropriate. For the inexperienced runner and someone who is just now starting back again after a long hiatus, we want you to go at a pace no faster than you can talk in a conversation simultaneously. We want you to go at a pace where you complete the effort and still have gas in your tank, where you feel you could go further. We want you to take each distance training workout comfortably for the first 5-6 weeks of your new training program, and feel very free to mix walking intervals into the workout (see Galloway RunWalk above). People just getting back into the sport of running, who are training for a specific target goal event such as a 5K or Half Marathon, should take their training efforts relaxed and slow. If you can get through the first 5-6 weeks of training without injury at a slow pace, then is the time to work with your coach to add speed training to improve your pace. We want you to discover an injury-free pace and build a base of miles at this pace. For more information on pace determination, attend one of our seminars and Google Keywords: "pace determination"  (top)

Physical Therapy
Physical therapists are good people to know, especially for us walkers and runners. They're educated in understanding the interaction of all your body parts. Their hands-on approach begins with examination, diagnosis, and treatment of the immediate problem. Then they teach you how to take care of yourself by showing you how to do exercises and how to use your body properly to gain strength and mobility and prevent recurring injury. We enjoy having PTs onsite each Saturday morning.  (top)

Race Walking
When people approach BOISE RunWalk to teach them to race walk, they usually fit within one of four broad categories: injured runners looking for an alternative to the wear and tear of running, experienced runners looking for a new sport that provides greater competitive opportunities, fitness walkers looking to get fitter and faster, or non-athletes eager to immediately get off the couch and start a fitness program. Of the four groups, the last actually has the mental advantage. People in the first three groups often approach race walking technique with predetermined ideas of how fast they should be walking. Ask any runner who has tried race walking and not continued with it, and he or she will tell you: race walking is difficult! While difficult is a very vague term, it reflects the fact that the sport takes a much greater degree of sustained focus and concentration on technical details than running. Nevertheless, once basic technique is mastered, race walking is actually an easier sport to progress within because competitors avoid the injuries that continually plague runners. If you are interested in learning to Race Walk contact us for the next set of available clinics and seminars. Google Keywords: "Race Walking"  (top)

Reasons to Run
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Safety
Running and walking affords us many opportunities -- discovering new areas, building a sense of independence, improving our health -- but it also poses new threats. When we run or walk, there are a few things that we need to keep in mind. There are simple rules of the road, rules on the Boise Greenbelt, and things to do in case of attack. For basic information on safety, click here: SAFETY  (top)

Speed Training
Do not speed train unless you are injury free and fully recovered from a previous long endurance race. Speed training is optional and should only be done by those who are running pain-free (fatigue is okay, pain is not!). How is speed training fit into my workout? Do the speed work in the middle of your day's run or walk. If your schedule calls for a 35 minute run or walk and 8x30-30, start with about 15 minutes of easy running or walking, followed by the eight cycles of 30 seconds fast and 30 seconds slow. Finish with about 12 minutes of easy jogging or walking for your total of 35 minutes. Attend one of BOISE RunWalk's clinics and seminars on Speed Training, and look for the schedule of group-supported speed workouts. Visit our Speed Training page click here SPEED TRAINING. For additional information, Google Keywords:  "speed training" and "fartleck"  (top)

Shoes, Gear and Apparel  (top)

Strategic Fuel and Hydration Plans
During a marathon of half marathon, when should you consume water, GU, PowerAde, GatorAde, extra electrolyte capsules... or anything else you use to stay hydrated and properly fueled? Here is Coach Mike's own proven strategic plans developed over years of practice. The key is to develop your own plan through experimentation. Use Mike's plans as a guide, and bring your questions to the DISCUSSION page or Saturday SEMINARS.  (top)
 
Stretching  (top)

Treadmills
There is a definite difference between running on the road and the treadmill, with pros and cons to each. The main benefit on the treadmill is that you don't contend with weather like wind, snow or heat. Another benefit, the surface of a treadmill is cushioned for impact and this helps prevent the joint and muscle strains that are associated with running on concrete, which works in your disfavor if you are training for a long road race on asphalt. Another drawback is it forces you into a four-foot-wide running frame, and this limits your body’s range of movement. When you run outside, your muscles and joints move around more due to uneven ground, corners, obstacles, wind resistance and your body’s natural efforts to balance itself – this all helps the body to burn more calories than it would on a treadmill. Moving within a treadmill’s restricted space can constrain your body – limiting the natural range in your running gait. According to some doctors, this can cause your muscles to tighten up and cause back, hip and knee problems in the long term as well as during that target race event on asphalt you're training for. So, the treadmill had a good place in your training program, but I’d limit its use to 40% of your total training miles or less. We've seen some who used it for all their weekday miles, and then during the longer Saturday miles on the road they had various issues with IT and Plantar fasciitis. For our winter Robie program, at least half of our longest miles are in the hills on the actual course and we don’t think any treadmill will prepare you for the Robie experience during these miles, but it’s better than nothing. Be sure to set the incline to about 3 or 4 and even higher to simulate some hill-work. Google Keywords: Treadmills and Running  (top)

Weight Loss
Running burns more calories than any other simple exercise and has produced more weight-loss success stories than any other activity. But the pounds don't just magically disappear. You must be disciplined and consistent in your training program and take a long-term approach. To lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in, so your choices are to run/walk more, eat less or both. You don't have to run fast. You just have to spend the time moving on your feet. The best results for larger weight loss come from 25 to 30 miles a week with a managed sports diet. If possible, run/walk 90 minutes or longer several times a week. This level of activity and proper nutrition will boost your metabolism, make you sleep better and have a wonderful outcome on your entire life. Drink plenty of water. You can cut up to 15 percent of your daily calorie intake by substituting water for juices, colas, and similar beverages. Don't go on a restrictive very low calorie diet, although a suitable calorie-deficit diet under guided instruction can work wonders. Eat breakfast and other carbo-packed meals and snacks regularly throughout the day. Join a group supported training program for even better results! Google Keywords: "calorie deficit" and training or running  (top)
 
Weight Training  (top)

Custom Coaching
BOISE RunWalk offers custom training programs tailored to your schedule and specific goals. Work with one of our seasoned marathon veterans who are USATF Certified and well accomplished athletic coaches.  Call us for details
695-7998  (top)