FOR BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED RUNNERS
complete guide to running
From your very first steps to a regular (and fun!) routine
Burn fat, lose weight & get in the best shape of your life
How to run strong and stay injury-free forever
More than 1,000 expert tips on nutrition, motivation & more
Race-training plans for 5K, 10K, half-marathon & marathon
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runnersworldmag.com.au
training
perfect form Give your gait a makeover to run stronger, longer, and injury-free
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There is actually no such thing as “perfect” form. There, we said it. Runners – like everyone else – come in far too many shapes and sizes to take a one-form-fits-all approach to our sport. However, there are certain elements of form that, if you get them right, can make your technique more efficient. Take these eight examples, and then perform the drills to help you be a better runner.
Up your upper body Core strength is essential for good posture. An upright posture with a slight forward lean ensures efficient forward acceleration and reduces stress on the body. Drill: Stand on the balls of your feet, just less than shoulder-width apart, and use your abdominal muscles to control your posture for 60 seconds while keeping your balance. 54 r u n n e r ’ s w o r l d
Knee-sy does it Increase your knees’ range of motion during the swing phase. With your knee more bent, you can move faster with less effort. Drill: Stand in your push-off position, with your left foot forward and your right foot back. Lift your right heel like you’re toeing off. From here perform a high knee lift. Replicate this in your runs for 10 to 15 seconds on each side.
Don’t cross the line Beware the crossover gait. If you imagine a line between your legs as you run, you need each foot to land on either side of that line. If they cross it, you’ll be landing more on the outside of your foot, adding stress to your muscles and tendons. Drill: Find a line on a track or football oval, and run eight 100-metre reps, keeping your feet on either side of the line.
Power up your quads The forces experienced as your foot hits the ground can be up to three times your body weight. Strong quads control the flexion and minimise the shock. Drill: Squats. Keeping your arms at your sides, bend at the hips and knees to lower your body until thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold, then press back up. Perform three sets of 10 reps.
Happy landings For optimum efficiency, avoid excessive flexion through your joints as you land. Pronounced flexion of the ankle, knee, and hip reduces the impact shock but decreases your rebound. Minimising it can keep you on the go, faster. Drill: Cadence counts. During a run, count the number of right footstrikes achieved in 20 seconds. Aim for 30.
Get in the swing If your arms swing across your chest, this can translate to your legs and upset your form. An equal arm swing will help keep your legs straight. Drill: Stick two labels on your running top, on the side of your rib cage five centimetres below your chest. Perform 50-metre warmup sprints, drawing your shoulders back and swinging your upper arms forward and back to touch the labels.
Go forward Focus on pushing forward through your hips with each step. This will utilise your gluteal and hamstring muscles in the push-off and keep your centre of gravity consistently rolling forward. Drill: Tire sprints. Tie a tire behind you, and using the resistance, lean forward and perform six 60-metre sprints, fully extending your legs, with walkback recoveries.
up and away Get the most from your push-off—from the point where your foot is flat on the ground to where your hip, knee, and ankle are fully extended. Improving this will help you achieve a faster flight phase. Drill: High hops. Perform six 50-metre reps highhopping on alternate legs with a walk-back recovery. Ensure that your leg is fully extended on takeoff every time.
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nutrition
real good eats
A healthy, whole-foods eating plan in six courses
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Put down, for a moment, your energy bars, nutrient-enhanced drinks, and other fortified foods. When it comes to fuel, “real” foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats are a far better option. Within the body, vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients work together with thousands of other compounds, such as colour pigments in fruits and vegetables, 68 r u n n e r ’ s w o r l d
special starches and fibres in whole grains, and unique fats in seeds, nuts, and dairy. And it’s the whole package, working together, that promotes good health and peak athletic performance. Getting the 50-plus nutrients every runner needs daily, from real food, is easy. Follow these six rules every day, and your body will get everything it needs for better health and better running.
nutrition 1) Eat five differentcoloUred fruits and vegetables daily A plethora of pigments lights up the fruit and vegetable aisle, each offering health benefits. The red in tomatoes comes from lycopene, while orange in sweet potatoes comes from beta-carotene. These and other pigments lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. And since most pigments act as
antioxidants, they can help reduce inflammation caused by heavy exercise. For maximum benefit, these pigments need to interact with different colour compounds in other fruits or vegetables. Plate it Aim for nine daily servings of colourful fruit and veggies. Of these, try to eat five colours. A serving equals a medium-sized fruit such as an apple; ¹/³ cup of dried fruit; one cup of raw veggies; ½ cup of cooked veggies; or two cups of green salad.
Basque grilled vegetable skewers with lime chimichurri sauce An energising lunch that will power you through an afternoon workout you will need (Makes 8 skewers, serves 4) 3 capsicums (green, yellow, red), sliced 2 portobello mushrooms, quartered 2 zucchini, sliced and halved 1 red onion, cut into 5cm chunks For the vegetable rub: Salt and freshly ground black pepper ½ Tbsp. chilli powder 1 Tbsp. dried orange rind
images: joseph de leo
For the basque-style green sauce: 6 garlic cloves, chopped 3 dried bay leaves 3 limes or 2 Tbsp. key-lime juice 1 green and 1 red chilli pepper ¹/³ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped ¼ cup fresh oregano, chopped ½ cup fresh basil, chopped ¹/³ cup olive oil How to make it Cover the vegetables with the rub and let them rest. Preheat grill. Make the green sauce with a pestle and mortar or in a blender until a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl. Add herbs and juice the limes. Whisk in oil and set aside. Skewer vegetables and grill. Serve on steamed brown rice and drizzle sauce over. Per serving: Kilojoules: 921; Fat: 11g; Carbs: 29g; Protein: 7g c o m p l e t e g u i d e t o r u n n i n g 69
Racing
the ultimate 10k plan It’s the classic distance – long enough to test your endurance, short enough for you to switch on the afterburners. Here’s how to perfect your 10K
training forms the ideal foundation of almost all types of running performance. That’s because it includes ample amounts of the three core components of distance training: strength, stamina, and speed. Obviously, you can use it to train for your goal 10K, but with certain adjustments you can also use it to prepare for everything from the 5K to the marathon. This is the classic distance, made famous by Ethiopian legends Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. So read through the runner profiles below, and decide which of our six-week plans is best for you, but remember that these are not one-size-fitsall plans. If you can’t complete a given session, you don’t have to, and if you need to rearrange training days to fit your schedule, do so.
Who Am I? >BEGINNER You’re a notch above novice. You’ve been running at least six months, and may have done a 5K or two. You run five to eight kilometres, three or four days a week; have done a little fast running when you felt like it; and now you want to enter – and finish – what you consider to be a real distance race. >INTERMEDIATE You’ve been running a year or more, have done some 5Ks and maybe even a 10K, but you’ve always finished feeling as if you could 158 r u n n e r ’ s w o r l d
have gone faster. You consider yourself mainly a recreational runner, but you still want to make a commitment, and see how fast you can go.
>>Beginner If you are a beginner, your 10K goal should be less about achieving a personal best (PB) than an LDF (longest distance finished). You want to run the whole 10 kilometres, so your main aim is endurance, because it’s likely to take you an hour to get there. “Basic aerobic strength is every runner’s first need,” says running coach Bud Baldaro, so you should aim to do most of your running at a steady, moderate pace. However, we’re also going to add a dash of pseudo-speedwork into your endurance stew for flavour. This will put some added spring into your step, give you a brief taste of what it feels like to run a little faster, and hasten your progression to the intermediate level. So, every week, in addition to your steady running, you’re going to do two extra things: >Aerobic Intervals (AI) In these, you push the pace a bit – until you breathe just a little harder than usual – followed by slow jogging until you feel rested enough to resume your regular speed, and you always stay well short of going anaerobic (simply stated, that means squinty-eyed and gasping for breath). Treat these runs like play.
IMAGE: woodrow wilson
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you’ll be glad to hear that 10K