Hello Heroes!!
Ever wonder how your fundraising is used by LLS? Here's a story I ran across this week about, yet, another breakthrough in our chase for a cure. This is all because of what you do as participants of Team in Training. Your efforts are not going unnoticed. You are making a difference.
A remarkable discovery for those with Diffuse Large B-cell #Lymphoma "DLBCL": Scientists Discover How to Shutdown Cancer's Powerful Master Protein. Researchers hope this will be a major benefit to the treatment of Diffuse Large B-cell Lym...phoma "DLBCL" and perhaps other disorders that are influenced by Bcl6 and other master regulatory transcription factors. Read source at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130303154952.htm
This week the coaches would like to talk about hills. Now is a good time to start working them into your weekly routine. Doing these once a week will definitely make you a better runner/walker on event day. St. Louis marathon courses are never completely flat. There are always some hills you’ll have to contend with. In fact, there is a portion of the course between miles 6 and 8 called Holy Hill. It's actually a race within a race and additional medals will be handed out to the top finishers for that part of the course.
Incorporating hill repeats into your routine will teach your body to use your oxygen intake more efficiently. You can substitute one of your regularly scheduled runs for a hill workout. There are a couple of ways to do this. If you live in an area that has some hills, you can just run that course. However, to get the maximum benefit out of your workouts, hill repeats are the best option. Here's how I do mine:
- Find a park or course with a moderately steep hill that's about 1/4 to 1/2 mile long. Just as a reference, Skinker Ave. in Forest Park is a little over 1/2 mile long.
- Warm up for about 10 minutes with a slow jog/walk
- Run/walk up the hill at a normal pace
- Jog/walk back down, then run/walk up again
- Repeat this cycle 4-5 times
Do this once per week in place of a normally scheduled workout. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind:
- Drive hard with your arms. Act as if you're pulling yourself up the hill with a rope.
- Bring your knees up a little higher than on a flat surface. This will help increase your stride rate and keep your posture straight.
- Push off more from your toes or with more of a mid-sole strike. This will help propel you up the hill quicker. It also uses completely different muscles than when you go downhill or train on a flat surface.
This workout is not about mileage. It's about building your endurance so don't worry about how far you've gone.
Be sure to stretch your calves well after you've cooled down a little. They might be more sore than they usually are, but that's to be expected.
After a couple of weeks, you'll notice that you're not breathing so hard when you go out for a normal training run. It will make your flatter runs much easier. It's because your body is learning to adapt to the extra stress you've put on it. If you do these regularly throughout your training, you'll be able to look at any hill on the course and mentally refer to these workouts to get you over them with plenty of energy left in your tank!
You’re all doing such a great job! The coaches, mentors and staff are so proud of all your accomplishments and all you’re doing to help others who are less fortunate. You are making a positive impact on patients with blood cancer! That’s why all of you are Heroes!
Keep up the good work, and always, GO TEAM! Remember the Reason!
John
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