168. Base Training Updates for Your Best Race Season with Coach Duane Scotti

It's not necessarily running harder workouts or essentially running like long, long runs, but it's really building up the weekly volume and getting your legs used to running at that weekly volume. My frequency has been five to six times per week that I'm running. I've also added in more tempo runs and strides to my weekly runs than I did last year. Last year I did some tempo work, but really this year I've been really focusing on making sure the tempo runs I do are staying below my lactate threshold and I'm really making sure that I am not going over that mark and making my workout like anaerobic. If you are constantly worried about getting injured or you don't know how to get faster as a runner and you want to continue to run for stress relief, then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to Healthy Runner, the only place that provides you with training tips, injury recovery, and prevention tools with actionable strategies by experts in the running industry so you can develop a stronger running body and feel confident that you can overcome any obstacle as a runner. I'm your host, Dr. Dwayne Scotty, Abbot Runner, running physical therapist and coach, educator, founder of Spark Healthy Runner where we help dedicated runners get stronger, run faster, and enjoy lifelong injury-free running with the perfect online running coach even if you've been told to stop running with an injury or you think coaching is just for fast runners. Learn more about our signature coaching program at learn.sparkhealthyrunner.com. Every week we help a runner just like you learn how to consistently get in your mental clearing miles and even hit PRs well into your 40s, 50s, and beyond. Make sure you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcast or follow the show on Spotify so you don't miss the next episode. Thanks for joining me now on to the show. Have you ever trained for a race whether it was a 5k, a half marathon, or a marathon and you think you did something wrong in the training? You either didn't hit your goal time or worse, you got injured along the way and you just feel like your training was off. It wasn't right for you. Maybe you're not meant to race or maybe you're just too old. Maybe you should have done a 16-week plan instead of a 12-week plan. Maybe the plan you chose was too aggressive or it wasn't aggressive enough and it was just meant for beginners. Have you been there? I know I have when I first started running faster half marathons back in 2013, 2014 and I was looking for the secret sauce to get that next race faster. Do you want to know the secret that got me that 133-56 PR time for my half marathon in 2015? It wasn't the specific half marathon training plan I was doing. It was training in order to run or in this case race and it was understanding the value of base training. So in this training I'm going to talk about the non-sexy part about being a runner. It isn't the marathon training time period and this is actually the most critical time period in influencing what happens to you on race day. So if you came for the marathon training or half marathon specific content, we've done that before on the podcast. We have videos on our YouTube channel on those specific topics. But today I want to teach you about base training where the time period before you actually officially start marathon training or half marathon training and it could be the time between spring races when you officially start training for a fall race or it could be that off-season time. So not only are we going to educate you on some of the foundational principles today, but I'm going to share with you my lessons learned from this past winter's base training that I am finishing up with right now. I'm not going to hold anything back. I'm going to unreveal exactly what I've been working on. So in this training today I'm really going to share with you what is base training? What my specific base training has looked like in 2023, base training in the context of the six principles of growing as a runner that we've talked about before. What specific exercises, strength exercises have I been focusing on in my base training? What has my run plan look like during this base training phase? And I think this is going to be super helpful to advance your own running. So for those of you that don't know me, my name is Dr. Dwayne Scotty. I'm a running physical therapist and coach. Educator and my mission is to preserve the health and longevity of runners everywhere by allowing them to get stronger, run faster, and enjoy lifelong injury free running. I am also the CEO of Spark Healthy Runner and the creator of the Healthy Runner podcast. Nine out of 10 runners listening to this right now will get injured. And one of the most common reasons for runners getting injured during their hard race training cycles is not building up the strength and resilience in their tissues to tolerate the demands that half marathon training or marathon training offers. Trying to train when you don't have a race on your calendar can be challenging from a motivation standpoint. It can be overwhelming on what is the best things to do. If you don't have a plan for base training, you're doing random runs that really don't have a purpose. You are trying many different exercises or exercise classes and trying to build strength, but nothing really builds off each other. You're not enjoying running during this offseason time because you know your race is so far away. You're running gets slower and you stop doing long runs. You waste time chasing fads or worse, you get injured, you know, trying to do this cool workout you saw on your watch or someone else posted online and you guess instead of following a process and that leads to frustration, that leads to feeling constantly overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. And we don't want that for you. We at Spark Healthy Runner have a plan on how to build a strong foundation as a runner, so it can segue into your race training so you can optimize your running for longevity, not just on race day. And it's not a plan that most adult runners are actually following. So Spark Healthy Runner has given hundreds upon hundreds of runners a plan for getting stronger and faster without injury. Our plan will work for you too. All you need to do is stay tuned and follow the plan right here. Next, take action because I can't make you run. I can't make you do these strength exercises we're going to talk about. So you need to implement the plan. And then lastly, you need to share with a running friend who is just frustrated with stubborn injuries and they're only interested in training for races but are wondering why they're not getting any faster in those races. And here's what's at stake if you don't do these three things that we just talked about. You're going to continue to get frustrated for the race because you didn't have the quote unquote fitness or you got injured or you're not getting faster on race day and you feel like you're just plateauing and you're just getting too old, right? And you're never going to be able to run that fast anymore. So base training is the single most underutilized period of training for most runners. And it's the most misunderstood. Nearly every runner I hop on a strategy call with has the same mentality that they want to work with our team for quote unquote half marathon training or quote unquote marathon training because they want to have an end result that they can justify their investment from like a time standpoint, a mental focus standpoint, and a financial standpoint. However, I want you to start reframing your thought process just like I educate the runners on the call. And you know, when we're strategizing the best time for them to work with our team. So the sooner your body corrects its current problem areas, whether it's running form, strength issues, whether you're weak in certain muscles, maybe it's mobility issues, maybe it's training issues, and you're just running your runs too fast, or you're not having a variety in the mileage that you run throughout your running week, then the stronger your body will be without breaking down and falling into that injury cycle or worse, needing to stop running after your race to quote unquote rehab. There's a lot of quote unquote today, aren't there? So investing your time and effort into base training is developing compound interest for your race day success. So investing in base training is like investing your money in, let's say, high interest savings account or a CD that is most safe and will yield a solid return. Investing all of your time and energy only into quote unquote half marathon training or marathon training is like investing in crypto. We're like heading to Vegas, looking for that big win. There's a chance you can win it big and get that magical PR, but hedging your bets on unpredictable outcomes and crypto going bankrupt, right, or just losing all your money at the casino is just not something I am willing to risk with my health or the one avenue that I have and love to help me manage my stress and my mental health daily by running. So I ask you which scenario is better. The main point here is base training is technically the beginning of your race training, and it can be the most critical part of your running journey. Trying to grow as a runner is overwhelming if you don't have a plan. Your running is slower or worse can lead to injury. When you master the six key parts of your running journey, you'll only not feel more confident in getting stronger and faster, but you'll stay healthy and enjoy the process of running. So you can actually get the latest Spark healthy runner ebook free resource, how to grow as a runner, six steps roadmap with a ton of supplemental resources, visuals, video content that will help provide context to what you will learn about today. These have been the tried, true, and tested strategies that I've really kept all of the runners I work with on a one on one basis as they're running physical therapists and coach to stay running during their recovery and then finally learn how to never have to get their pain again or have their injury come back. So go ahead and download your free ebook by going to learn that spark healthy runner dot com and get the resource and get all the bonus content. So what is base training? This is the introductory or foundational period of training or it's really the first phase of a training cycle. So this can either occur when a new runner starts out running for the first time or an injured runner is coming back from not running due to an injury. This is also the time period between race training cycles. So between like a spring half marathon and then maybe a fall marathon is probably the most common scenario that we see or as the time period after you just finished your quote unquote race season and now you're in full blown off season. So what are the benefits of base training? Like why are we going to actually be talking about this today? Number one keeps you healthy. Number two builds a foundation of your running fitness. Three adds variety to your training. So you're not always training hard and it really goes back to point number one that you know you can even get burnt out running hard all the time and you can get injured. And then training using cycles or periodization in your running is when we really divide a training cycle whether it's a 12 week 16 week 20 week into different phases. So you're not doing the same types of workouts all the time and you know this can be thought of as you know the easy easy part of your training in preparation for the hard stuff. So how this would typically be cycled is like base training and then we have race build up hard running and then we have your race where your your fitness level peaks right for your race and then there's some recovery and then we either do another segment of base training before the next build up for a race. And the other thing that Brooke our registered dietitian always reminds us of is that this is really the time period that allows you to focus on nutrition without all the pressure that you're you know need to nail that 16 mile or that 18 mile or before your marathon and you're just worried about your nutrition. So it really gives you time to experiment with different products to see what works well for you and what doesn't. And it really allows you time to focus on the basics without getting too high level. So your running should be reliable and durable like a well built house. So the purposes of this analogy you'll need to implement these six parts to building a durable home that will last a lifetime and let's apply my personal base training this past winter to our six steps to growing as a runner. So my personal base training phase this year really started in December January. I ran a half marathon on August August I ran a half marathon in November 20th after my October marathon and got a you know pretty fast time it was a hard effort that I put out I was proud of it especially after my recovery from the marathon I wanted to see if there was one last kick before I headed into base training phase and I was very happy with the result. And then after that the following week I ran a fun turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning with my daughter. So really the month of December was more about recovery for me and starting exactly on January 2nd so it was the first Monday of the year in 2023 was the official start of quote unquote base training which was really the start of heavier lifting for me in terms of my strength training and I have just completed this past week 12 straight weeks of base training. So now that I have 11 weeks until my spring half marathon this upcoming year so I will officially be I guess in half marathon training right now and that's going to happen on the first weekend of June before I take a couple of weeks of recovery and then start training for my fall marathon race. So in applying our six steps to growing as a runner during base training we need to start with of course it's what's in here what's in between the years right it's the mind it's the mindset and you know in our house analogy this is like you know think about building a house without any sketches or like blueprints and if you know builders just like poured foundation and started building the walls and the framing of the house and you know probably you're going to have some engineering architectural issues and that house may not stand up to the test of time might collapse if it can't like withstand the forces on it whether it was like one to two feet of snow on the roof or like a tropical storm comes through and you got some like 90 mile an hour winds right pushing on your house this is like trying to work on your mental toughness only during race season so training the mind really starts way before the official race training begins training the mind helps to reduce anxiety provide you with more confidence and self-belief that you can do hard things they're just different hard things during base training it might not be doing that hard long run it might not be doing that hard long speed work session but it might be you know doing a run in really cold weather while it's dark outside after you know you didn't get great sleep right so having the proper mindset really puts you in a position to overcome the negative thoughts and beliefs that will creep in your head during your race training and during your race so no matter if you're like just trying to run for general health three times a week or you have a big marathon goal that you're shooting for really getting your mindset down is going to be critical and i'll give you some practical tips to boost mindset that really i've been implementing personally during this base training phase the first is really journaling and adding in reflection in how your training is going how running impacts your life it allows you a time to express gratitude for your ability to train your ability to run outside even if you're not training for a race being healthy enough to run and it also helps keep your running goals in perspective without putting too much pressure on yourself it really helps keep running in perspective so you don't perseperate on your peace on your time on your distance what accomplishments you know other running friends are doing during your time period of base training if you're struggling during base training i know this is a common problem is like motivation like get out the door because you don't have a race that's coming up real soon you know this could be an issue especially once dark it's cold outside or it's like really hot outside if you're base training in between right you know training cycles in in the heat of the summer and you know one one thing that's been helpful for me and some of my clients is really committing to doing at least half of the run you had planned like just commit if it's a three mile run i'm gonna go run a mile mile and a half and let's just see how we're doing if it's a four mile run i'm gonna run two today okay two is better than zero so commit to doing half the run and just get your body moving because you know like your mind will feel better and who knows like after you get that one one and a half or two miles going you just might actually feel good and then you actually might finish the full three or four miles that you had planned anyway so that is definitely something that i think is a helpful tip during this base training fees all right let's go to the second part of growing as a runner and this is really where you double down on our strength training or foundation right this is like building a house we clear the land we're gonna pour that foundation that is your strength training so we develop a strong running body so you can enjoy lifelong injury free running and crush your races by being a stronger runner so why does strength have its own category in our six step plan to growing as a runner why doesn't stretch and have its own category you may be wondering you've always been told that you know runners need a stretch i just heard this two times last week by people that i came in contact with and it's really simple strengthening has two main benefits performance injury prevention so research has been done does show an enhanced performance for runners systematic review 2018 it did show improved running economy for those that do strength training so the energy cost of running in a sub-maximal intensity and really improves some anaerobic qualities such as maximal speed anaerobic capacity the hidden benefits though to strength training are really improving bone density so i'm thinking of you you post-menopausal female runner listening to this right now helps reduce muscle loss as we age i'm thinking of you you 40 50 60 70 year old runner listening to this right now and the other hidden benefit is the injury risk side of things and you know even though the research and the literature there's not like this overwhelming body of evidence that shows you know runners will stay healthy if they strength train i can tell you from empirical evidence and my clinical experience really as a physical therapist for 20 years and working with runners this is going to really bulletproof your body and your tendons and this is really key at preventing these common injuries from coming back so for you know our clients who have never strength trained before what i recommend for strength training during base training is what i recommend in our restorative phase and the whole goal of this is to restore fundamental running movement patterns back and in our coaching program it really teaches runners to activate and turn on their running specific muscles so a couple examples are hip stabilizers or side hip muscles or deep hip rotator muscles you know the muscles that work when we're standing on one leg because when we're running we're always on one leg and really the small muscles we often forget about in like you know your generic strength training program whether it's the soleus muscle or it's even the deep foot stabilizer muscles you know you're not going to get those in like your classic bootcamp class or crossfit style workout and even if you've met like just a regular personal trainer in your gym you know most likely they're going to take you around and do like the machine circuit essentially so you're not going to hit any of the muscles i just talked about so once we actually activate these muscles in this restorative phase now you need to actually progress to rebuild your body to be more stronger and resilient for running and this is like phase two of our program in our 16-week program where the exercise is now progressed to the next level where we're focusing on those muscles but then making sure we're doing them standing so in a standing position so you're not doing any like laying down exercises so for those of you who have been to physical therapy before if you think about like hey they had me doing a bunch of exercises laying on a table i was doing the clamshell straight leg raises of laying on my side lifting my leg up i was doing some bridges i was doing like a bunch of things where i was laying down that's good initially i never even for my injured runners have someone doing those exercises more than four weeks i've met many many runners who are doing those exercises for like years so you've lost the benefit of doing those exercises a long long time ago you need to progress to phase two which is this next level of strengthening during base training which is now starting to use those muscles in more functional movement patterns and functional exercises such as single leg squats reverse lunges you know stepping down from a step just to name a few and this is also the phase where we recommend for our runners who are ready for this to add in plyometrics or jump training and this is important because when we run it's a series of hops from one foot to the other so we're using those muscles plyometrically so that and i mentioned this because you might not be at the phase that i am and i want to make this clear guys what i'm sharing with you that i've been doing and working on in my base training may not be and most likely is not most appropriate for you however if you have been a runner let's say for 12 years like i have during my adult you know running journey have done 30 half marathons have run two marathons you've done multiple training cycles of speed work before right you're kind of in my caliber of runner then this might be beneficial information for you to implement if you're not there and you just are new in your running journey then i'm going to recommend that you start kind of with those restorative based exercise i just mentioned or the kind of phase one of our healthy runner strength program phase of exercises and if you've been following along with like my personal strength training journey here i really was just reintroduced to doing squats in the gym and deadlifts into my own gym routine for the first time since college which was 20 years ago by the way last year after my very informative chat with scott greenberg who's also a p t in episode 120 on the healthy runner podcast and i really started lifting and working on my movement patterns to improve them this past december so i was really after that chat with scott last march it was i really started implementing that in the gym and really strength training using squats and deadlifts and adding some load and then i got into my marathon training and i as marathon training progressed i took those exercises out and then kept up with the body weight right more functional based strengthening as i was peaking in my marathon fitness so then back in december i really started getting back into for the first time in probably two or three months of doing the front squats doing the deadlifts right doing some split squats and really getting my movement patterns down and starting to progressively you know lift a little weight but for me the real significant jump in weight happened in january and let's just talk about what i've been working on in terms of like frequency of strength training i really stepped up my frequency back up to three times a week because this is the best time period in your yearly training cycle that you want to double down on strength and this is the time period where you're going to do it the most so this is three times a week for me in the gym except i had some short work weeks due to three-day volleyball tournaments over the weekends and those holidays for my girls so sometimes it was two days and then i did one of getting sick for like seven days so that week i also only got i think one day of strength in actually and let's talk duration how long am i doing strength for again this is the part of the training annual cycle you're going to spend the most time so i'm in the gym for at least an hour hour and a half whereas when i was doing marathon training i got in some 30-minute workouts i got in 45-minute workouts and it was probably rare that i was in there for honestly a full hour but this is really i dedicated to spending more time in the gym than i do when i'm leading up to a race and then the structure of what my base training has looked like is it's basically a three-day structure first day is a poll day so really what i mean by that is i'm really focusing on glutes hamstrings and then gastroc muscle so the bigger calf muscle and then back muscles so like your lats your mid traps your rhomboids right muscles we don't talk about often in this podcast which are actually very important for your running form and especially if you work on a computer all day long so that's kind of the poll day the push day is really focusing on strengthening the quads and then the soleus muscle so the smaller calf muscle and the one underneath the gastroc and then the pecs so the chest and the shoulder muscles i definitely put a little bit more emphasis on shoulders versus pecs just from like a postural base standpoint and especially with running because i don't want to be like hunched over while i'm running so i really spend a lot more time fixing my muscle imbalances honestly that started way back when in college when everyone just wanted to do like 5 000 versions of the bench press or 50 000 versions of push-ups and if that's you and you have some rounded shoulders and you know not create posture then spend less reps less sets less exercises working your pec muscles because functionally they're not going to help you a whole lot with running your back muscles and your shoulders are going to help you a lot more from a functional standpoint and then the third day is really my plyometric day or my jump training day and then core hip stabilizers that i do with the minivan so different various hip muscles that i'm working with the minivan so kind of targeting some of those run specific muscles that i'm not essentially isolating or targeting during those first two days and then that's when i do work a little arm so i'll do a little biceps little triceps and this has been something that i really finally i guess uh after like 19 years of like always having like an arm day because i felt like oh i'm running you know my arms are going to get smaller if i don't like specifically work them out right i don't know if it's like a male thing i don't know maybe some of you guy runners can relate here coming from like a gym background but last year i really actually stopped even during marathon training i didn't even do one bicep or tricep isolation exercise at all because honestly you are working with those muscles when you work your back when you work your shoulders when you work the bigger muscles your pecs so i really stop isolating them at all so for this 12 week period i did add in some isolation for the bicep and trice because i'm not gonna lie it felt kind of good to get back to some of those exercises get that little like swell in your arms so how how have i really structured this out i actually structured it out and i actually created a table for myself in my notes in my phone and i actually documented this and like recorded the actual weights that i was doing so i was like one of those guys in the gym i don't know if you ever seen them like the notepads and like they're writing stuff down or gals but i just did it on my phone and i really wanted to make sure that i was progressively increasing resistance without having to rely on my memory and being like did i do this last week and then also to make sure i wasn't over training that i was making sure that i put cut back weeks into my strength training just like we do with our runs i needed to put cut back weeks in so how i would recommend for you guys to do this if you're looking to implement something like this i just created a simple little table i had like the dates all down the left column and then i had different columns of the three main heavier exercises that i was implementing the deadlift the front squat and the split squat and these were all with you know barbells and the deadlift actually which is a nice little i guess recommendation for those of you who do suffer intermittent low back pain like i do and has been a problem area for you the new gym that i started going to this past winter has a what we call trap bar or hex bar that you step in and now you lift the weight so the weight's not necessarily loaded in front of you it's kind of through your body which allows you to actually get a little more range of motion through your hips without sacrificing your lumbar spine which has always been my main issue because i have stiff hips if you guys don't know i did have a hip arthroscopy liberal tear had some impingement in my hip so i got some stiff hips they don't flex a lot so it's something i'm constantly needing to work on is mobility in my hips but to kind of make a long story short it does affect my movement patterns with a traditional deadlift using a flat bar so i found it super helpful to use the hex bar the trap bar in really allowing me to lift heavier and add more load because that's really the whole goal during this base training phase is to lift heavy and again remember remember my caveat before like this may not be for everyone right so you need to progress the steps this is you know i've been really building all the other elements before this for many many many years consistently so let's just kind of put that out there and then even though i was doing that i still started pretty conservatively so my whole goal here was to lift less reps and maybe do them for more sets so pretty much for the deadlift and the split squat on those days i really was shooting between three and five reps to really develop true power and strength that's the rationale from an exercise physiology standpoint and then doing more sets so i traditionally pretty much did like six sets of this so i would like in my little superset in the gym i would do like basically the deadlift and then i might superset that with chin-ups and then i'll go ahead and do my next three sets of the deadlift and then i'm supersetting that with like a t-bar row or some type of rowing movement an inverted row so that's kind of how it's formatted and i really progressed starting back in january with 185 so for pound poundage-wise which isn't like again everything is relative here so put that in perspective but for those that lift heavy weights they're gonna be like 185 there's nothing like that's not heavy what are you talking about guy again i was really taking it to focus on form and quality first before i started loading and i really was conservative in how i loaded so as each week progressed i did like 185 185 185 and then at a cutback week where i went down to 135 and then i did 185 185 185 205 on my last three sets and then i had a cutback week and that was a deload vacation week and then because honestly the gym in the hotel did not have deadlift at all that i could do and then i increased from 205 to 215 to 225 to 225 to and that's where i am right now so i'm doing 225 pounds for the deadlift doing it for five repetitions for six sets total all right so i talked about what scott during that whole you know episode i mentioned before on the benefits of you know changing up the rep range depending upon your intended goal so my goal for the deadlift is to really get some serious strength and power for my glutes and my hamstrings my goal for the front squat is to get some serious strength and power for my quads right like focusing on the quad specific exercise that i can load the tissue and that's pretty similar to kind of the quads you know for the front squat i went from like 135 starting out and then i kind of did something similar cutback week deload for vacation and then it is up to 165 right now so i didn't increase tremendously as you can see over a 12 week period it's like going up you know 30 pounds or going up you know 45 pounds but it's hard for me it's a challenge to get the five reps i'm really like pushing myself and that's the whole goal of this time to take a real quick break and before i say any more i truly hope the message so far today has benefited you either from a running or health standpoint staying in line with that theme i wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a brand new exciting partnership with neboso which is a company that is dedicated to redefining what's underneath your feet so you can feel more to move better as a runner from a movement prep before your runs to foot recovery after those hard speed workouts or long runs neboso's texture products lets your senses guide you and connects you to your exercises and you're running by strengthening your feet and helping you recover from your runs want to learn more on how you as a runner can activate strengthen and recover from running listen to episode 116 on this podcast to learn from neboso founder pediatrist and human movement specialist dr emily splickle herself we had a value-packed episode learning how she took her conventional podiatric medical degree and combined it with years of experience and expertise in human movement and sensory science to found neboso dr emily shared with us the importance of foot stability for runners what is sensory stimulation the benefits of toe spacers and barefoot training for running there's so much value in this episode so be sure to go back and queue up episode 116 on the healthy runner podcast to listen to during your next long run to learn more about neboso i personally have always battled a mild case of planar fasciitis and have been using the neuro ball to get out those hard to reach trigger points in my deep foot muscles that foot rollers just frankly don't reach and get to i have also been a big fan of the toe spacers for the past 10 years but have yet to find a pair that is actually flexible as comfortable and that i can tolerate for hours to help realign my toes and stretch the small muscles in my foot this has been clutch honestly for my claw toes that i have and helping my planar fasciitis i just love doing 10 minutes of elevation with my neboso's splay on after a long run neboso's recovery socks are like your traditional running compression socks but they are the first ever that stimulate your nervous system and enhance movement with their patent textured surface on the inside of the sock matter of fact as i'm reading this right now i have on my neboso splay toe spacers and i couldn't imagine my feet tolerating the hard half marathon training i am doing right now without some of these great products at neboso learn more about how neboso's texture products connect you to your exercises and your running by strengthening your feet and helping you recover from your runs since you're a part of our healthy runner community you will get 20 off all of your orders just use the code healthy runner during checkout when placing your order using the special link we have in our show notes go ahead and give neboso a try and your feet will thank you for it i know mine already have now let's get back into this episode a couple other lessons i learned during this strength training period is and the things i'm in focusing on is actually focusing on getting my knees over my toes a little bit more and this is probably something common that you've heard that never let your knees go beyond your toes when you squat it's bad for your knees right misconceptions out there and for those of you who have so i would do you want to preface this those you have runners knee what we call patellof moral pain syndrome this does not apply to you do not do this if you have active patellar tendinopathy and it's pretty reactive do not do this because this will definitely cause a flare up but i had runners knee probably like seven eight years ago haven't had it since because i've really been focusing on those uh running specific strength exercises and my whole goal here is to actually load the reason why i'm focusing on getting my knees over my toes is because when we run especially when we run up a hill your tibia so your lower leg bone translates over your foot and ankle so it needs that ankle motion and your knee oftentimes actually goes over your toe especially if you are running up a hill so the whole goal here is to strengthen the tissues that are stressed when our knees go over our toes specifically the patellar tendon and also the soleus muscle that really controls that motion eccentrically when we run so that's really what i've been focusing on um one way that that has happened to put more stress this is also going to put more stress to the quad muscle if you're wondering um and change the demands and take away as much glutes as possible because i'm trying to really focus on the the quads with the front squat i did get a um squat wedge off of amazon the one that i got was like go glue googlu i guess i don't know how you pronounce it but there's a bunch actually on amazon when i did a little search before but these are actually wedges that really help keep you stable versus like trying to put your heels up on plates because that's what i used to do last year and then i saw these wedges i was like oh it's pretty cool and you can adjust the height so you can start out with like a lower wedge and then increase the amount of wedge to change the focus and the stress if you're trying to stress the quad muscle more so the other thing that i really took away and learned here is that a progressive strengthening program where you're actually like documenting what you're doing for weights actually works and it does get you stronger and you can lift more so what seemed hard for me four weeks ago is now easy and it really helps you actually pack some muscle on so i do feel like i did add some muscle during this phase am i as lean as i was during marathon training no but that's okay like that's not the goal right now because i know that i am going to get leaner right the more miles i run the harder workouts and less of the strength training that i'm doing so the whole goal is to take your body through these different stresses throughout the year to keep you healthy so i hope like i can literally do like two more episodes on this topic alone but hopefully sharing my journey with strength training was helpful for you if you guys have any questions by the way feel free to shoot me a dm on instagram uh spark healthy runner and i will literally answer your question and respond to you the other third you know valuable part of our six steps for growing as a runner is the run plan so what are you actually doing for your runs during base training and you know in our house analogy this is like building the frame of the house and we do run fast and run far by properly progressing your run plan around four types of runs as building blocks so you should probably master some of those building blocks during base training right because you talked about base training being like the building block time period so the four runs again are the easy run the long run the temple run the interval run the interval run for most of you will not be part of base training unless you are a very highly advanced runner then you might be sprinkling in some of that interval running so during base training aerobic fitness is key right this is the priority and focus on building mileage with easy conversational pace running and building up your long runs so building your aerobic fitness or your base at the start of this training cycle the start of your year or your yearly calendar doesn't only create a strong foundation but it also sets you up for success for the harder runs that are gonna come the more intense workouts that will come in cycling this base training you know as we mentioned can vary between like a six week time period to a 12 week time period right so for me it was 12 weeks for some of you especially between like a spring and a fall race might be like a six week period and you know just going back to the principles for those that are beginners by the way the first 500 miles that you're running should all be base training so it does frustrate me a little bit when I hear from a beginner runner who was doing some running like I did when I started my running journey on the treadmill and doing it for like cardio and you're used to running fast because you were like trying to burn fat or you're trying to like lean down just like I was but now you're really trying to be a runner and you're really trying to run half marathons or marathons and you're still a novice and you don't have 500 miles under your legs yet but you you're anxious to like run fast you feel like you should be running faster that's going to set you up for injury down the road it might not happen in this next month or two but it's going to happen in six months it's going to happen in a year I like promise you guys remember nine out of ten runners get injured right so have some patience novice beginner runners build up the 500 miles under your legs before you even think about running faster and the reason for this is because not only will running slower and really mastering this easy run that we call it will keep you healthy but it's actually the best way to train your cardiovascular system for endurance which is what you're doing if you want to run a half marathon or a marathon someday and it allows your muscles to efficiently absorb the liver utilize oxygen while removing waste products carbon dioxide and lactic acid and at the cellular level you're increasing the number of mitochondria which are like the energy source powerhouse and it improves your muscles ability to receive process oxygen and conserve and store glycogen which is key to having energy when we run therefore you can run longer run 13.1 miles or 26.2 and it allows your muscles in your legs to start to withstand the forces that running has and it kind of strengthens your muscles for running we're going to call it I'm not going to say it's true strengthening but it strengthens them for running but then more importantly honestly from a physical therapist standpoint it allows your tendons ligaments joints and bones to adapt to the stresses of sustained running so if you don't do these easy runs during this base training phase or in the beginning of your running journey and you go too fast and that's when we see a lot of runners getting stress fractures because their bone hasn't been built up yet or we start seeing you know joints start to get painful and maybe the telephamoral joint we just mentioned runners named before or we start to see tendons starting to fail and we get some posterior tibial tendonitis or we get some planar fasciitis not a tendon but it kind of behaves behaves like one we're going to call it the false tendon the planar fascia right or your it band starts to get irritated so that's what happens if you don't really master this easy run and a couple of common questions that I get about this base training as it pertains to the run plan like what's a good weekly mileage let's say for half marathon training base training so it really depends upon if this is your first half marathon your fifth or it's your like 30 something like it is for me right so your mileage you know it's important that your mileage is going to also increase during your training so let's say for an example let's use you know we do have some general principles in our half marathon coaching program where you know our advanced let's say training really pretty much you know an advanced runner doing like a let's say 12 week half marathon plan you know they're going to start at like 21 miles they might peak at 35 miles so if you're doing four to eight weeks of let's say base building prior to that 12 week you know training cycle then you definitely want to be up to at least 21 miles per week and you know with there still being 12 weeks out from your race so I say that because again you need to plan ahead here guys like don't just decide i'm gonna run a half marathon at 12 weeks oh man i really haven't run much and i plan to actually do this hard training and do speed work if you don't have this like 21 miles that you've been consistently doing per week built up like what do you think is going to happen to your body right so for those beginners out there who really start let's say 12 weeks out they're going to peak at maybe 24 miles per week so if you're doing you know 48 weeks of base building then you definitely want to get up to let's say 12 miles per week 12 weeks prior to your race and for those of you running the marathon you might be wondering what's a you know good weekly mileage for base training and for those novices first marathon maybe even your second you really want to make sure that you have 18 to 22 miles per week the last six weeks prior to starting a 16 week training cycle because you're going to peak at like 35 so if you're less than 18 like that's a significant jump in weekly mileage and most likely you're going to get injured it's it's like not a surprise that the 16 mile or the 18 mile or is going to cause your it band to like completely flare up and you're going to have this it band syndrome and you're not going to be able to run your marathon like trust me i've seen it a million times from like very upset runners who haven't been able to run their goal marathon dream that they had so keep this in mind intermediates 22 to 28 miles the last six weeks leading up to a 16 week training cycle advanced 30 to 39 miles per week the last six weeks prior to a 16 week training cycle this was actually myself last year when i did my marathon training and this will be me again this upcoming fall i'll be right in that sweet spot because we'll talk about my weekly mileage in a little bit and then for those of you who are like you know the bqers right and you're qualifying for Boston your speedies you guys definitely want you know if you're looking for a bq you definitely want 40 plus miles per week the last six weeks prior to that 16 week cycle and what does a well balanced week look like so let's take my you know really running weekly mileage in context this past year so just to give you some like context here last march so a year ago i actually so this is march 2022 i ran a hundred and three miles that month in april it was 138 in may it was 160 so i really peaked at that 160 mark and then i ran a half marathon the first weekend in june and june was a little recovery period so i went down to 114 in june and then in july i went 142 august 151 and that was really where it was peaking in my marathon training in september i was at 146 so actually when i did the hardest long runs and those long runs with spice i've talked about in my marathon reflection episode i actually ran a little less mileage in september than i did in august because my runs the quality of the runs were a lot harder than i've ever done before in my life so we kind of you know coach lu and i really kept the the weekly mileage a little bit down where i didn't peak because i never had done those workouts before and then october right after the marathon was the first weekend in october and then i went to full blown recovery after the marathon so i only had 84 miles in october and then november was 93 in december so remember i talked about i did a half marathon in november december was full recovery i was at 78 so that was the lowest mileage that i did throughout the whole entire calendar year let's be honest it's a great month for it right everyone so busy with the holidays um spend a little more time family all the events all that stuff so that kind of works out from like a a yearly calendar standpoint and now in january i did 110 miles february 113 march 150 so february was definitely last because number one february is a shorter month and then that was when i had the three crazy weekends of three-day volleyball tournaments and i was sick for like seven to ten days out of the twenty days in february so february was a little lower than i had planned so it probably should have been where i had planned for it to be around 125 and uh march is really set to be at 150 so if you notice and this is why i'm bringing this up is my base training phase this year took me to the next level of where it was the last year so as we talk about cycles of like race cycles we need to also think yearly cycles and how things build year to year so the same thing you did last year you shouldn't necessarily do this year right so that was kind of my whole goal is to build up my weekly running volume and that's a big goal during base training it's not necessarily running harder workouts or essentially running like long long runs but it's really building up the weekly volume and and getting your legs used to running at that weekly volume my frequency has been five to six times per week that i'm running i've also added in more tempo runs and strides to my weekly runs than i did last year last year i did some tempo work but really this year i've been really focusing on making sure the tempo runs i do are staying below my lactate threshold and i'm really making sure that i am not going over that mark and making my workout like anaerobic and i'm definitely paying attention to this more now than i typically would building up for a race where i'm not gonna lie i do tend to you know really focus on that piece even though i know it's not always the best thing to do but i will push myself to get that piece a little bit more so than which runs the risk of overtraining so i wanted to make sure during base training phase that i didn't over train at all so i'm making sure i'm really going on rpe right rating and perceived exertion during those tempo runs and making sure my effort levels at a seven it's never at a eight it's never at a nine it's at a seven i'm not huffing and puffing when i'm running right i'm breathing heavy it's not easy by any means but i'm not out there doing like interval pace work and then the other you know thing that can help a lot of you during base training is adding in a little recovery in between tempo miles so when i first started doing tempo runs it always used to be like you do a one mile a two mile or three mile in the middle that's at this faster pace and now i've seen the benefit of making this like tempo intervals essentially and just allowing that minute of recovery in between can be enough just to bring the heart rate down a little bit and trust me when you're out there that minute like flies by it does not feel like oh i'm not doing a workout anymore and i've rested too much it flies by but it's just enough it's just enough to allow that heart rate response to come down a little bit so you're not redlining jumping over into anaerobic zone and then you do like that next mile or sometimes i'll do you know one and a half and i'll do a minute rest and then another one and a half to another do two miles a minute rest another one and a half especially if you are running up some serious hills like in my running route i do have a serious hill that strategically always happens in the middle of the run not like beginning or the end so it's during those tempo paced miles so i'm making sure that i'm strategically trying to have some of that walking time during that hill just to kind of bring that heart rate down so i don't redline for easy runs i've really focused on making these even easier making sure i'm looking at my watch every now and again checking in making sure my heart rate isn't you know spiking really focusing on my breathing using my diaphragm like keeping my mouth closed which might seem tough like you know for you to believe right then i'm always talking on this podcast but i can actually close the mouth and breathe from my nose now because i practice some nasal breathing techniques i'm using my diaphragm and trying to relax a little more and keep the heart rate response down the other little hack i guess if you will for those that do have caffeine before their runs whether it's coffee tea whatever pre-workout you know i try not to have any of that before my runs so i'm you know making sure the heart rate is in elevated from my caffeine and then if i need a little caffeine after that for like strength training i'll do that but we'll talk about that when we get to nutrition part long runs i've definitely added more double digit long runs to get my body used to running and getting all the physiologic benefits of long runs and being outside between 90 minutes to two hours you can learn more about the long run in my deep dive training with coach Whitney on our team on how to do long runs and five mistakes to avoid by tuning up episode 164 on the healthy runner podcast and i will certainly link the youtube video within the show notes of this if you haven't seen that we're super helpful for you on why we do long runs if we are training for five k's 10 k's half marathons and marathons so that is really what i've been focusing on in my running side of things during this 12 week based training phase so now let's get to the fourth principle on how we grow as a runner and that is the nutrition we know we need to implement a simple easy strategy that ensures we never run out of energy right and on race day we don't quote unquote bonk right or just like run out of energy so during base training i'm really going back to the fundamentals and fueling my runs and all my workouts so you know brook on our team always reminds us that like not taking nutrition seriously is a common mistake most people make during base training and this is your time to really hone in on the basics and get a good understanding of fueling and what your body needs and you know she even admits that sometimes she's guilty and you know she slacks in her nutrition while base building but it's arguably one of the most important times to focus on nutrition and you're really trying to build a solid foundation from a nutritional standpoint for racing season and what are the fundamentals that you need to nail down they are eating enough food to support your training eating plenty of carbohydrates don't run fasted eat a pre-run snack recover like a boss meaning fueling and eating after your runs and remember that you know nutrition is highly individualized and if you have any questions relating to your specific situation you can always reach out to brook sarnaki on our healthy runner coaching team either within our healthy runner facebook community for clarification or if you want her to design your specific nutrition plan as your coach then you can learn more about working with brook within our healthy runner signature coaching program by clicking the coaching link in the show notes and if you want to learn more about like these fundamentals we have it all laid out for you in our nutrition blueprint to run your best so you can easily download your free ebook by going to learn that spark healthy runner calm and you can download the nutrition blueprint a couple of products from the nutritional side that I really found beneficial during base training is my essential amino acids you've heard about me talk about you know this company on the podcast before but amino company I've been continuing to use my essential amino acids three servings a day I love the perform product specifically because it really gives me a little bit of pump without like you know too much caffeine it's a little bit of caffeine for really those hard strength sessions that I mentioned I was doing and then the other two doses I take throughout my day you know like mid morning mid afternoon really are helping the recovery of my muscles from like the strength training and the running that I'm doing and they also the thing I like about this product too is it gives you a little bit more mental focus so it really helps me in my workday as well so that's been something super helpful and then the other one is you can you know they have some great snacking products and pre-run products that I've really been using besides their energy gel that I take with me for all my long runs even though I'm not race season right I'm still fueling because I'm and just so you guys know the main reason for that is we need to train our digestive system our GI system to tolerate what we're putting in it just like we do for our muscles right for our runs so a couple of things that you know really helped me is before all those days I told you I'm in the gym I'm always doing an easy run before those gym sessions so it's you know a good two hours two and a half hours really of me like exercising I definitely need a fuel for that so I'm having my ucan almond butter that has that slow acting carb in it the superstar product with some medjool dates which has been great and that's been you know I do two of the dates with my almond butter before all my strength and run days I'll even do my ucan snack bar which has been helpful before long runs or on some of those workout days as well and then you know the other thing that's been helpful is like their granola during the day for like a mid morning mid afternoon snack to when I'm busy at work to make sure that I'm not going too long without eating between meals because even though I'm not race training I'm still training hard right and and you guys are going to be training hard and base training it's just a different heart your focus is different right and what's hard and we need to get our bodies used to recovering from that and we're going to get into that in a little bit but if you guys didn't know for some reason the amino company you can some other products like we've talked about knocks here before in the show for like runner safety I've actually compiled all of the discounts that you can get for listening to this podcast listening to this video on our youtube channel into one easy to use link so if you go to learn dot spark healthy runner dot com you'll see our discounts for runners or a favorite things or if you just do learn dot spark healthy runner dot com forward slash discounts you can get 35 percent off 30 percent off 20 percent off all your orders for these companies that are providing this discount to you so I highly recommend that you take us up on that and these are just some of the things that have helped me that I use personally and I found beneficial during base training so now coming up next I really want to share with you how I implemented the last two principles of how we grow as runners into base training but before I do that if this training has been eye opening for you and you're surprised that you can actually follow a plan during base training and you're starting to see the importance of training as a runner long before your race day then we need to get that out and that word out to more runners like you so one way we do that is by you tapping that like button on youtube and if you're listening on the podcast like copying the link and sharing it with a running friend of yours so I can continue to create content like this for you share stories of my personal running journey what we work on with our clients in our coaching program and so we can allow other runners to continue doing the thing they love and enjoy lifelong injury free running it would mean the world to me seriously if you can do that hit that like button please and thank you so the final two principles and how I've applied them to base training is recovery even though you're not training hard in half marathon training or marathon training you still need recovery just like insulation for the house you need to help control the home's climate it's going to help the home be more energy efficient your recovery as a runner is going to help your body recover from the running and be more energy efficient so you can actually have energy for that next run for that next workout it allows you to feel fresh reduce fatigue and stay healthy right so what are some of the things I've really doubled down in base training phase has been sleep definitely so really making sure good quality sleep doing a proper wind down sleeper team the other thing is self care tips for running journaling has been super helpful meditation super helpful foam rolling before and after my runs so I really definitely have gotten a little bit more my foam roller during this phase and then really focus stretching for my specific problem areas so this is where the stretching really fits into the puzzle it happens after our runs so this is the time period that you really want to focus on doing some of that stretching to help with recovery so you can address your specific problem areas the other thing that I've been really focusing on in base training is taking care of the feet right the feet go through a lot of stress during running and how best to take care of your feet is number one making sure that you do the single best exercise that all runners should be doing is the short foot activation exercise have a great instructional video on my youtube channel and how to do that if you're not doing it you need to start doing this like it's amazing how I've been doing this consistently now for over a year and how much stronger my deep foot muscles are and how much arch support that I have in my foot so I'm making sure I'm doing my short foot exercise before all of my runs barefoot I'm making sure I'm integrate those into the strength training workouts that I mentioned before so I'm a big fan of you know I've really started decreasing the amount of support in my gym shoes I've talked about this before on the podcast this year I started using a new shoe I have ultras which are zero drop lower profile but there's this other shoe called zero shoes they're even lower profile than that where it feels like you're literally barefoot and your foot's like covered I've been I've been liking them so far so you know that I think has really helped me activate those foot muscles when I'm even lifting heavy and doing the deadlifts and doing the squats but the noboso products have been super helpful the toe spleen to really stretch those small muscles in my feet like every single day at least once sometimes twice sometimes three times I'm putting my toe spleen on for like a half hour to an hour in the beginning I couldn't tolerate that long because my toes had some like toad of for me is going on it's some hammer toes have a bunny nut deformity I wouldn't be able to tolerate that long period of time but over time now my toes have kind of gone back to some more normalized alignment which helps be able to activate those foot muscles so I have strong feet for running and then the noboso recovery socks I absolutely love they're textured they feel great on the bottom of your feet and their compression socks after my long runs and the hard runs and then even self-myel fascia release with the noboso recovery ball so those have been super helpful for this recovery bucket again they are one of our partners you can get discounts using our link that I mentioned before our healthy runner discount link and then epsence alt baths I definitely try to schedule out at least once a week to get in a nice epsence alt bath for my feet some people do it for like all of their leg muscles but really to kind of reset like each week and I usually do this after like a long run and then making sure that I have one day of no running so that's a rest and recovery day strategically to recover from your runs even though you're not race training that you're doing in base training and then finally our sixth step to growing as a runner is having a perfect race day game plan including a simple checklist that can mean increased curb appeal for your house but just like your house right like the exterior of a home it's not need to do it's nice to do and during base training this is usually something you don't need because we're not racing because we're in base training however what I've been working on personally during this phase is not racing to race but I did do a race so what do you mean by that I really did a fun little shamrock 5k st patties day weekend with my daughter so I did do a race I got the joy of getting my first race for 2023 in but I was running it and kind of pacing her so you know she can do her best but for me that was more of a less effort than a tempo run for me so how I programmed my week out is that was in place of my tempo work for that week so I wasn't racing it to race it you shouldn't be going race effort in base training that's the whole purpose right this is what we do before the race so hopefully that makes sense to you so final takeaways and tips from our coaching team for base training coachcat wants to add in that a good coach can make your base training make sure that's at the right intensity for your fitness level and the base is vital to having success on race day even if it feels too slow so she says trust the process coach lu says you want to plan plan and plan so what your time and schedule that can be devoted to running and then leaving room for the unexpected during this base training phase you want to be realistic you want to listen to your body and don't compare yourself to others and then brook you know she wants to reiterate that we don't want to underestimate the basics there's so many fancy gadgets products gels right stick to the basics of strength training base building in terms of your run mileage and adequate nutrition that you'll get much further on focusing on you know the nitty gritty of like data supplements fancy shoes like she says use the kiss principle keep it simple stupid right so hopefully that was helpful to get some motivation from our coaching team and i will just reiterate that consistency is key with running so having a great training program with consistent runs and smart exercises outlined is going to be very beneficial for you as a runner and when you execute the six key parts of your running journey during base training you'll not only feel more confident in getting stronger and faster you'll stay healthy and enjoy the process of running again and crush some races next training cycle so just like your well-built home will require little maintenance and bring a lifetime of memories for you and your family so you may be thinking you don't need coaching for base training and that's exactly what Trevor thought prior to working with coach lu before his Boston marathon training build you know this is what Trevor had to say about our spark healthy runner coaching program he said i highly recommend spark healthy runner they match a solid strength training program and tailored advice for rehabbing injuries while continuing to run they have videos that demonstrate proper technique for running specific strength exercises and they have a range of certified coaches that guide you on performing your best and your personal goals plus their group of supportive and nice runners we are excited to see Trevor crush his Boston marathon this year thank you for the kind words Trevor or Laura who is dealing with a nagging hamstring issue she reached out to myself she says i reached out to Dwayne he was able to diagnose the issue right away and was very confident that we could deal with it without having me to take extended time off from running she says which turned out to be true he gave me a detailed challenging strength program that targeted my hamstrings as well as some other problem areas he was very responsive to text emails and if i had questions and continued to be very encouraging during the months that we work together just over four months later i am running pain-free and getting close to the fitness i was back in the spring i definitely feel like i would not have made this much progress without his guidance highly recommend thank you so much Laura for your kind words and i am super excited to see where this takes you in your future race goals or dawn from the uk dans as i started back in my running journey with dwayne back in january of 2022 i haven't ran for over five years due to a it band issue and i came across spark healthy runner podcast with dwayne saying he could get runners back from injuries i had just been accepted for the london marathon in october 2022 and i felt had nothing to lose and everything to gain the process was very quick and easy to get on board with the program i had a personal call from dwayne i told him my injury and my goal and he was very encouraging that within 16 weeks i would be pain-free and able to run five miles i wasn't sure if that was possible as i couldn't run more than a half mile without pain in my knee i had a program that was tailored made for me including strength and conditioning as well as walk running to start with a build up of my running time so dwayne was always on hand for reassurance and answered all my questions no matter how small they were i live in the uk but the online platform that dwayne uses meant i could upload my training in real time and dwayne was always able to track my progress after the 16 weeks i was pain-free and able to run five miles i have since gone on to complete the london marathon but i know without my base training with spark healthy runner it would not have been possible i can't recommend his service enough and would say to anybody that has to stop running due to an injury that dwayne is very approachable and will happily answer any questions you may have thank you so much dawn that was super super kind of you and i am just so happy for you that you got to run that very special first ever marathon in london and run it for an amazing cause that was near and dear to your heart so i am just so grateful that you trusted the process and that base training phase that we worked on really was able to segue into your marathon training for you to actually finish the race so guys these are just three examples from the hundreds and hundreds of runners we have implemented the spark method of building a solid foundation during base training to grow as a runner it's really been great like seriously sharing this with you today i hope my personal experience and sharing what i've been working on these past 12 weeks will be helpful for you to apply to your own training you know again my name is dr dwayne scottie and my mission is to save the lives of runners everywhere by allowing them to continue enjoying lifelong injury free running and don't forget to download your free how to grow as a runner roadmap i talked about today for you to implement into your training download your free ebook by going to learn that spark healthy runner dot com or click the link in the show notes to this training now that you listen to this base training update you took the first step congrats now remember the next step in growing as a runner is to implement it so if you don't know how to implement it and you want to get clarity and focus like trebbered it laura dawn that is exactly what we do within our high touch point one-on-one spark healthy runner coaching program and where i'm your running physical therapist and coach all in one or if you work with one of the coaches on our team i serve as your PT consultant guiding the process each step of the way learn more about the spark healthy runner signature coaching program and schedule call with me by going to learn dot spark healthy runner dot com forward slash coaching lastly remember earlier how i said that if you don't implement these principles of base training you will continue to be frustrated for your race because you didn't have the quote-unquote fitness or you got injured or you're not getting any faster on race day copy this link and share it with a runner you know who is struggling with staying healthy or getting faster so we can help change the culture in the running community that this is not the boring phase of training or the garbage miles and it's like an afterthought and to reframe the thought process that we really need to prepare for races well advance of your official training cycle i want our community to continue enjoying lifelong injury free running thank you for sharing it thank you for doing that i greatly appreciate it and let's as always let's maintain a strong mind a strong body and let's just keep on running until next time thank you as always for listening to the healthy runner podcast where we help you get stronger run faster and enjoy lifelong injury free running if you found this content valuable here's five ways we can help you grow as a runner for free one grab a free copy of my spark blueprint at learn dot spark healthy runner dot com two follow my instagram page at spark healthy runner three join my free group by searching healthy runner on facebook four subscribe to my youtube channel at youtube.com forward slash spark healthy runner five leave us a five star review so we can gain access to more experts in the running field and bring those lessons back to you here don't forget to hit the subscribe button on apple podcast or the follow button on spotify so you don't miss the next episode of healthy runner so you can maintain a strong mind a strong body and just keep running lastly if you've been struggling with the constant injury cycle not eating the right foods for running or not getting faster as a runner and you are ready to invest in becoming a lifelong injury free runner head to spark healthy runner dot com to apply for a one-on-one signature coaching program thank you again i meet it from the bottom of my heart that i appreciate you for listening and sharing this podcast with a running friend who can use the help now go and crush your run today see you next week