Implement Trail Running in Base for Injury PreventionWritten by Matt Russ
The shoes we run in today are great for reducing impact. There are a myriad of devices, gels, air channels, etc., designed to lesson compressive loads on joints and body. One drawback, however, is that if you do most of your running on even, paved surfaces lower leg muscles and joints do not have to work as hard to stabilize. Joint stability and integrity is crucial for injury prevention. This is where trail running comes in.Running over uneven and varied surfaces makes muscles of lower leg work especially hard. Think specific strength training for lower leg muscles. I recently observed how sore my lower legs were after a competing in an off road multi-sport event. The tendons, ligaments, and muscles all get stronger in response to this type of stress. There are a few considerations when integrating trail running into your training plan. Unless you run in off road events best time to incorporate trail running into your plan is in base. As with any new type of training stress it is important to implement it gradually. You may want to start off with one work out per week of limited mileage and steadily increase duration. Off road surfaces vary from crushed gravel, sand, grass, single track hiking trails, to rough back country trails. The more varied terrain more your lower legs and body will be stressed. On extremely rough and elevated terrain, hiking may be just as effective (and safer) than running. You will likely enter your aerobic base zones in this type of terrain as well, and may not need to run.
| | Mental Skills for Training and RacingWritten by Matt Russ
Being physically gifted is only one attribute of a successful athlete. There are many others that are not so easily quantified such as drive, ambition, determination, and ability to focus mentally through adversity. These mental skills are not genetically imposed, but are learned from a variety of sources such as parents, coaches, sport psychologists and other athletes. Learning and refining your mental skills can give you an advantage over more talented but less focused athletes. The ability to focus mentally is equally important in training and racing, and can make each work out more productive. Mental skills are an often neglected part of training. It is advantageous to develop and refine your mental as well as your physical skills.There are many internal and external stimuli that can invade your psyche and cause you to lose focus. Examples of external stimuli are weather, a chronic injury, or a malfunctioning bicycle. Internal factors that can reduce focus are fear (crash), self doubt, anger at another competitor, or simply a wandering mind. There are a variety of techniques to combat these stimuli. They include scanning, self coaching, reverse conditioning, and visualization. Scanning is practice of regularly monitoring and adjusting yourself as you train or race. If you use a heart rate monitor you must periodically check to make sure you are in proper heart rate zone. Have you ever looked at your monitor and found yourself 10 beats out of your range? Scanning can prevent this from happening. Safety is a foremost concern, so make sure you are scanning upcoming terrain, course for obstacles or road debris, riders around you, and traffic. Scanning your environment is especially important in a pack or pace line where you are riding in close quarters. Assuming you have a work out that considers heart rate, cadence, and timed intervals you must monitor and be aware of all these systems as you ride. Practice scanning this data at regular intervals and it will become a habit. You can also scan your riding for bad form, or to remind yourself to eat and drink. If you have particular techniques that need improvement, check your form every few minutes. "Is my back straight?" "Am I in proper climbing position?" Dehydration can drastically affect performance. You can set a watch alarm to remind yourself to drink every 10-15 minutes. Have you ever talked to yourself as you competed or trained? You can develop voice inside your head into a self coach by preparing mental responses to various cues or situations as you ride. If you have worked with a coach he or she observes your form and gives you instant feedback which, hopefully, you respond to and correct yourself. You can recreate these same coaching responses to cues and follow them with positive feedback. Take cornering for example. When you approach a turn (cue) you may repeat this sequence "SET IT UP (meaning choose your line), LEAN (into turn), STAND (on outside pedal), NOW HAMMER! (out of turn)." By repeating this sequence you go through mental process of properly cutting a turn, and are less likely to make a mistake. You already know mentally what to do, you just follow through physically. If you have a particular technical weakness, try to come up with a word sequence or sentence to talk yourself through process. Mainly what you are accomplishing is creating a conscious habit. Eventually it will be performed automatically, and will become subconscious. As you complete a skill, give yourself positive feedback and encouragement as a coach would such as "good climb," or "time to sprint." If you did not complete a task to satisfaction, objectively evaluate what went wrong and provide yourself specific feedback for improvement: "I hit my brakes too late in turn."
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