I am really happy to have read this book: Mastering Running by Cathy Utzschneider. I borrowed it from the public library.
When I was a teenager and while at university, I was running once in a while 8K without any previous training, without difficulty or problem. At the running club of my school, my teaching partner and I ran 2 km with students twice a week. After one year of running with the club, I developed excruciating pain in my feet. I developed Plantar Fasciitis which took several months to heal. I went for physiotherapy, paid a lot of money, and was told that healing my foot required 15 minutes of stationary bike, regularly. I was also told that I should stop running and choose cycling or swimming as a sport. I honestly thought that I could not run in my life any more. It’s time to revisit those assumptions.
I took the doctor’s advice and adopted cycling as a sport. Just last week I cycled easily 169 km in between my responsibilities. I really enjoy cycling with all the rides in nature all year round, but perhaps some cross training might be in order, now, as I do not always feel like biking with the same intensity every day. I also know that if I run, I will be a better cyclist.
Mastering running is addressed to everyone through 100 years of age! Well, if a 100 year old person can run, so can I! Also, a 50 year-old racer is promised the same span of progress as a 15-year-old. Well, I can get back to the same fitness I used to have as a teenager? Worth trying!
Injuries affect several runners, perhaps about half of them at some point. The author explains how to avoid them: listen to your body. If you sense something is wrong for about 3 days in a row, have some rest. Most injuries come from overuse. Well, I know that and I am able to do that.
What really hit me, while reading Mastering Running, is that I was doing ALL my pre-run stretching ALL wrong! Well, reading science books is good. The author mentions that a study published in 2012 following considerable research found that before intense running, static stretches make performance worse!! We need to do dynamic stretching before a run and static stretching after a run. Dynamic stretching includes high knees, butt kicks, leg swings (forward, backward, side). Static stretches include standing calf stretch, heel dip, shoulder stretch, iliotibial band stretch, plantar fascia stretch and others. Plantar fascia stretch??? We never did that one! She also gives exercises to do weekly to have a good form, or running technique. When tired, the form is the first thing that goes away.
Regarding motivation to run, Cathy Utzschneider, found in her Ph.D. research that runners stop running, not because of injury but because of too many responsibilities causing obstacles to running. Hmm interesting.
In the book she also provides a program and strategies to get started again with a training plan for different races 5 k to marathon.
Last piece of motivation that I will share here: we are built to run over 100 km a week and women tend to be strong at ultrarunning.
I ran twice last week, without any issues. First time in several years. Hopefully this can continue.