Last week we from Race Walking coach Bert Pickell. He gave us some tips on race walking for both walkers and runners.

It's important for us to understand how to walk efficiently, whether you are primarily a walker or a runner. Walking is excellent low-impact cross training for runners and is often part of a run-walk strategy during the race.

Bert has offered support to us if anyone wants additional help on fitness walking. You are invited to attend his walking team workouts -- see the contact information below if you want to find out the locations & times.

Here are Bert's tips on walking:

WALKING TECHNIQUE FOR MARATHONS

1. Why should you add walking to your workout and in long distance races?

Surviving a long race
Easier to warm up and cool down
Regaining fitness
An excellent cross-training exercise ñ cardio and fat burning
Increasing weekly mileage

2. When do you fitness walk in marathons?

- Starting out and finishing
- When applying run/walk ratio
- Using Aid Stations
- Going up AND down very steep hills

3. What is the proper technique for fitness walking?

Erect body position - Feet in single plane
Heel plants first, then foot rolls off toes
Extend push-off from trail leg
Arms kept inside and move forward - Elbows bent, work with legs
Lean from ankles, NOT waist

4. How can we prepare to fitness walk?

Wear the ìrightî shoes ñ lightweight, low heel, flexible
Stretching ALL muscle groups and Practice with drills

5. What are the benefits of efficient fitness walking?

If you follow a pacing plan ñ race survival!
Enhanced cardiovascular endurance and maximized fat burning
Faster speed & emphasis on leg rotation NOT stride length
Balanced muscle usage leads to increased muscle stamina
Virtually injury free since no jarring impact
Sport longevity

Bert Pickell - USATF Racewalking South Texas - 520-9678, 273-7983 (cell) - bpickell@satx.rr.com

We have reached the point in our training that the workouts are getting longer and that means we have to adapt our pre-workout routines for the longer duration. This has implications for nutrition, hydration and mental preparation, too!

Laurel will be talking in a few weeks more about the nutrition component, and the article linked below will give you some relevent numbers. The key point is that once workouts get longer than about 1.5 hours, you need to be consuming carbs AND electrolytes during your workout instead pure hydration. For most of us, that means we need to start packing gels during the runs/walks. Now is the time to experiment and find what brands/flavors/textures work for you. You'll want to work on developing a routine, and test it out during our benchmark race (Aug 23rd for half marathaoners, and Sept 21 for full marathoners).

Hydration needs continue as well, and generally you need to consume 4-8 oz every 15-20 min. Remember, though, that you should "obey your thirst" and not over drink, and likewise don't ignore your thrist -- remember to pack enough fluids to sustain you. You can mix sports drinks along with water -- that serves the purpose of giving you electrolytes and carbs along with your fluids. A word of caution is to not mix sports drinks with gels (at the same time). It's best to drink 8 oz of pure water when you are taking a gel.

How does this work on Saturdays? We will continue putting refill water stations on the course every 2-3 miles, but it is up to you to pack the carbohydrate & electrolyte components of your nutrition plan. Some people like to wear the belts with several smaller bottles, so they can start out with them all filled with an electrolyte drink and then refill them with water along the course. You can then alternate drinking water and electrolyte throughout the workout. Another option is to carry an electrolyte gel (such as eGel) or electrolyte capsules, which allows you to just use water for your fluid needs. Hammer Nutrition makes a product called Endurolytes, which are capsules that you can easily pack and take with water. This has the advantage of letting you adjust the amount of electrolyte without overfilling your gut with fluid. Another product made by nuun is a pack of small tablets that you drop into your water bottle to instantly create a sports drink out of water. You will also need to pack gels, blocks or sports beans to add the necessary carbohydrates -- experiment with different brands, flavors & textures to see which works best for you (& your gut!).

Special note -- the course drink at the Rock 'n' Roll race will be Cytomax. So if you plan to rely on the course for your sports drink, you need to try it out ahead of time, and probably train with it all season. Otherwise you might want to plano on wearing your hydration system so you are self sufficient except for water refills.

The most important things are (1) to make out a nutrition plan (An example: drink fluids every 20 minutes, alternating sports drink with water; take a gel every time you drink water after the 1 hour mark) and (2) do the math! Make sure you know how many carbs you are getting at what intervals throughout the workout. You are probably NOT going to be able to get enough carbs by sports drinks alone, but it all depends on the time period and your body size.

Finally, start working on your mental preparation as we head into longer workouts. For many of us, we are hitting a new milestone each Saturday. Prepare yourself to expect the unexpected and embrace the challenge!! View these workouts as learning experiences -- sometimes you will have a disappointing run/walk, but you need to be able to analyze what went wrong and make changes to avoid a repeat (nutrition? sleep? stress?). It's also important to realize that this process is all about adaptation. There is a natural cycle of build/recover that your body will go through as you continue to push it further and further. This is why you will see some weeks of taper in between peaks on the training schedule. It also means that your body might have a tough time one week, but feel great the next. This is a perfect time to consult your training log. Record what goes on during the week so that you can see what might impact your Saturday. When you have a great workout, you'll want to remember what helped set you up for success, too! Take these experiences and contiunue to refine your routine and preparation.

Article on long workout fueling...

"In the long run, you only hit what you aim at."

- Henry Thoreau

• YMCA memberships
• Smooth Solutions gift certificates
• Free massages
• Amphipod hydration belts
• Reflective gear
• Papouli's gift cards
• Mesh hats
• and more!
  

Each weekly newsletter will include comments and information from each of our head coaches.

ATP

Several groups including ATP have started track workouts and I've had folks ask me how they can speed up during these workouts. I tell them about an article I read in Men's Health that said to speed up you had to have proper form. The form they recommended was that of Forrest Gump.
 
Run Forrest Run
 
Speed requires efficiency. If you're wasting movement you're wasting seconds. A good model, believe it or not, is Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. When Forrest was being chased by the truck and he cuts through the football field and runs past Bear Bryant's football players, Hanks uses excellent form for speed. Visualize this scene as you try to run fast and it will help you cover more ground:
 
Leg Action: Every efficient working machine operates in a circular fashion and your legs are no different. When sprinting, land on the balls of your feet and roll to the toes, keeping a 4- to 6- inch forward lean. Heels should never touch the ground and, when elevated, should be close to hitting your butt.
 
Arm Action: Make sure your hands come over your shoulders, and behind your hips. Keep your arms bent 90 to 100 degrees, and don't clench your fists. The faster you swing your arms, the faster your legs move. Try it. Jog in place, and then accelerate arm movement. Your legs will automatically follow.
 
Stride Length: This is the distance traveled with each step. To measure yours, have someone count the number of times your right foot strikes the ground during a 40-yard sprint. For perspective, Deion Sander needed less than 12 steps to cover 20 yards and just 18 steps to smoke the entire 40. Don't reach out with your foreleg prior to the foot striking the ground, this lands the foot ahead of the knee and brakes your momentum.
 
You might want to videotape yourself and compare it to Forrest. Or ask your coach to chase you in his truck. That will get your speed up.
 
Keep Smiling
Larry Graf - ATP Coach

Blue / Green

Yellow

Red 

Hello Red Group,
 
I understand that you had a really good run on Saturday.  I am going to take one more week off and hoepfully recover so I will not be there again on Saturday, but you are in very capable hands with Kathy, Svenja, Linda and Beth.
 
The red group is meeting on Tuesday at Reagan High School at 7:00 for a speed work out.  I would highly recommend showing up and doing this run as well as the long run on Saturday.  Speed work is great for developing your leg strength and your VO2 capacity, forcing those of us who plod along at our "usual" pace to step up and increase your oxygen consumption and get out of our "comfort" zone.  I did the speed work last year and while it did not help me gain any speed per se in my long runs, it made my long runs much easier since my body was better able to handle the oxygen requirements on the longer runs.
 
Now, the topic for this week is "long run/walk prep"  We are now at the length of run where you need to start using supplements when you are running if you have not started already.  Your body needs to be refueled during these long runs.  There are many different alternatives and each of us need to find the one that works best for you.  I like GU because I can choke it down during the run.  You also need to find the flavor that works best for you, I cannot use chocolate, but other people tell me that is the best.  So, experiment.  I know Svenja uses the shot blocks because those work best for her.  It does not matter which you use as long as you find the best one for you.  The only way to determine the best for you is to try them when we are running.  It is very much a trial and error method, but it is better to do that now when we are still doing "shorter" runs than on a long run.
 
Also, you need to make sure you have started experimenting with the different drink solutions to have on your run.  Gatorade, Powerade, etc.  You need to find the one that works best for you.  These drinks are sometimes easier to get down than some of the edible options and are great for refueling the body and keeping your body chemistry in check.  The electrolytes especially are important for endurance events such as ours.  So, start experimenting and find what works best for you.  The people at the store are excellent resources for finding the right mix for you.
 
Keep up the good work, and I look forward to running with you again.
 
John

Orange

Aqua

Purple

Hello Purple walkers,
  OK everyone now that the distances are getting longer this is a good time to talk about the long walk and nutrition.The long walk  is my favorite walk of the week, no question. It's a time when I get to do some of my favorite things. It's a time to spend relaxing, slowing down, taking in nature's beauty, thinking, socializing with each other and generally just enjoying being alive.  It's a time when you can get ver yfocused on your core, on your posture, on relaxing, and  know that when you finish you're going to feel great. In order  to enjoy your long walk you need energy to keep up just like vehicles need fuel to continue down the road. I have experienced being in the middle of Saturday walk and felt so tired that I barely finished? Fact was I didn't think about the proper nutrition that my body needed.  So to help you avoid some of my early training mistakes here are some tips to help you finish your long walks comfortably.

  Pre-training walk:
  Drink an extra 8 glasses (64 ounces) of fluid during the 24 hours before a long training walk.
  Drink 2 glasses (16 ounces) of fluid 2 hours before exercise. Remember, in hot or humid weather you may need to drink more fluids.If you are walking at a slower pace, you may not need to drink as much

  During your walk: Monitor your fluid intake. Drink when thirsty. Try to consume 4 to 5 ounces of fluid per mile (1 to 2 standard-sized water  bottles per hour). This should include water and sports drink.

  Post Walk: Drink a combination of water and sports drink and consume food with some salt after exercising more than 1 hour. You must maintain the sodium level in your body within a certain range in order for your body to function properly.  If you don't you may experience symptoms including muscle weakness, spasms or cramps, swollen hands and feet, headache, fatigue, nausea or vomiting. When you first begin to notice any of these symptoms, it is important that you stop walking, sit down and start eating and drinking immediately and let your coaches know. To maintain sodium levels while exercising, alternate the water you are drinking with sports drinks. Most sports drinks contain some type of sugar, usually glucose and, while they are important to keep you hydrated ,you cannot depend on them to give you adequate calories to sustain you during the walk. I have included below list of the common options used on the course

  SPORTS DRINKS
  If you are keeping up with a good water re-hydration routine and are still getting sluggish, you may seek other energy boosting alternatives. Sport drinks have calories, vitamins, and minerals and are a great source of fluid carbohydrates. Activities lasting longer than 45 minutes to an hour can leave your body wanting more than just water.  Along with carbohydrates, sports drinks contain electrolytes.  A person loses electrolytes through sweat. Sports drinks help to replace those electrolytes.

  ENERGY BARS
  There are other options, rather than sports drinks, as well. Energy Bars have been on the market for years and are eaten often as a snack. At 110 to 250 calories each, energy bars also provide vitamins, minerals and fiber, which increases the nutritional value.. The key to finding the
  right energy bar is to find one that tastes good and doesn't upset your stomach. It is important to never try a new energy bar during a race or important sporting event - you should use them during training for the event to avoid stomach problems. Also, keep in mind that eating an energy bar is not enough - you must keep drinking water / fluid to keep your body hydrated as well as help with digestion. There are other foods that will help replace nutrients lost during exercise, including: fig bars, bananas, raisins, dried apricots, and bagels.John is a great resource on this one he loves to take "real" food on his training days.

  ENERGY GELS
  They feel similar in texture to pudding and are easy to eat. They are a specifically formulated mix of simple and complex carbohydrates and water containing 70-100 calories. They provide more energy per ounce than sports drinks and digest easier than solid food. Energy gels need  to be used with care, they are designed to quickly raise blood sugar and maintain those glucose levels for up to 45 minutes during exercise. Since most energy gels are a concentrated carbohydrate, you should always consume adequate amounts of water when taking a gel to aid absorption and hydration.

  If you need help ask any of the wonderful people in the Run Gear Run store they will be more than happy to help you make sense of it all. Now for a little humor here is my top 5 ways you know your really getting into this walking thing.

  ·  You're not embarrassed to show/tell someone where your chaffing really is
  ·  You check out the athletic stores regularly for the new styles and latest walking gear
  ·  You get excited when you hear that there is a new Gatorade flavor
  ·  You start telling your friends while walking  in the mall to work on their form
  ·  You get up earlier on weekends to walk than you do on weekdays for school/work.

Be sure to click on the link below to see the names, faces & email addresses of your group coaches! We have added several new assistant coaches to the roster, so take a look!

The Alamo Series is a collaboration of the San Antonio running community, providing a progression of high-quality races to prepare local athletes for the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in November. The series is comprised of nine races between April and October, each with varying distances, providing an ideal dovetail for individual and group training schedules. Participation is tracked for all races in the series, and athletes who complete seven or more are eligible for awards at the series conclusion.

As part of our training, all groups will participate in at least one benchmark race in preparation for our ultimate goal in November. This benchmark is very important because it provides a proving ground for your race day routine and your nutrition and hydration plan. It also is a lot of fun!

On the benchmark week, there will NOT be a workout at Run Gear Run on Saturday. Instead, all members of that group will need to be at their race. Be sure to register ahead of time so you don't forget!

Full marathoners - Army Dillo 32k - Sept 21

Half marathoners - Fleet Feet Sports Sunrise 10k - Aug 23