The returning runner

Act 17 – Run the “slows” to go fast!

As I gradually worked my way back into racing after a 25-year injury, I knew I couldn’t jump back into the same methods that I did when I was 17 – I still couldn’t handle hard surfaces well and the body couldn’t remember how to do real speed work (I wasn’t fast to begin with). These complications ruled out the standard go-to of hitting the track for 440 repeats. But, I knew that I had to build up both my strength and endurance which meant that I had to hit something hard. The first and most obvious target were hill repeats. That was an old friend even back to my high school days. Pushing uphill repeats would help with strength and also endurance if I limited the rest in-between to just a jog back down.

My new home (relocated from San Diego to Reno, Nevada) afforded another tempting target – snow! Deep snow! Running in snow a couple of inches deep was just fun – a nice extra smoothing cushion. But, snow 8”, 12” or deeper, that’s different. What a knee lift workout that will leave you ready to puke after a ¼ mile. That’s how you know you are getting a good one in…

Vacations back to San Diego also offered other opportunities to get the strengthening I desired without pounding or pulled muscles common when attempting speed work. As a teenager I relished in sprinting through shallow water along the beach, spraying water like a speedboat casting a wake. Now, things were different. The deep water was my friend! High knee lifts and resistance was the name of the game. The beach offered something else – deep sand! Deep sand is tough psychologically as you will see out-of-shape wannabes cruising along passing you as they run on the packed sand along the water’s edge. But, I’ve found rapid improvement from training running through the deep sand.

Some caveats for training hills, water, snow and sand:

·       Too much of anything isn’t good!

o   Too much deep sand and the instability starts to make my knees ache.

o   Too much deep snow running has come close to giving me a combination of frostbite and rubbing from wet shoes.

o   Too many hill repeats tempts the evil one – plantar fasciitis.

o   And lastly, deep water running along California beaches presents a real sting ray threat.

Photo: My 250-year “friend” – Rancho San Rafael hill, Reno, Nevada. My personal World Record, 16x repeats.