Running, Cycling, Fitness Tips – The Inadvertent Athlete

Chafage

Do you dread taking a hot shower after a long run? Does it sound like someone is stabbing you when the water hits your chest? If so, you have what I call chafage. Yes, I made that word up.

When we sweat, the salt and other minerals collect on our skin and the fabric of our clothing. This effectively turns your shirt into sandpaper over the course of a couple of hours. This isn’t one of those things that will go away or toughen up with time. You have to do something about it. Let me introduce you to a couple of great products.

Nip-Guards are one of those products that I kick myself for not inventing. They won’t come off until you take them off and they will keep you nips nice and safe. About 10 bucks for 10 pair.

Body Glide is the best anti-chafing product for your other hot spots. It won’t stain and lasts a long time. If you are an ultra runner you may need to re-apply but for the rest of us mortals, apply it pre-race and you’ll be fine. I use it on my feet, sleeve holes and the nether regions. About 5 bucks a stick and again, money well spent.

If you’ve never had the displeasure of slowly having your skin layers peeled back one mile at a time, go run about 15 miles in a cotton t-shirt. You’ll see what I mean.

Tags: anti-chafing products, Body Glide, chafing, Nip-Guards

Shin Splint Fix

Almost every runner I know has had a case of the shin splints at some point in their life. Mainly it happens at the beginning phase or, often, when we decide to run a marathon and the mileage starts going up.  To beat shin splints, try these steps:

• Adopt more of a mid-foot strike. This means that your weight is evenly distributed on the ball and heel of the foot when it lands. You should feel equal pressure front to back and side to side. This allows your foot to spread out and dissipate the impact.
• Move your foot strike back under your hips, not in front of them. To do this, engage your abs and tilt the top of your pelvis back until you are standing straight up with no bend at the waist. Most of us have tight hip flexors from sitting so much and we naturally have that little bend forward at the waist. Work on straightening that into a straight line between your shoulders, hips and feet. Use a mirror. Your waist line / belt should be a straight horizontal line, not dip down slightly in the front. This is the most crucial step in getting your stride to move back under your hips.
• Work on picking up your heels and RELAX your lower legs, including your foot completely. Let everything from the knees down go limp and floppy. Relaxing sounds like the exact opposite thing you should do but most elite athletes will tell you that it is the key to success. Picture the Roadrunner from the Looney Tunes cartoon in your mind. Think about your legs coming up behind you and moving in that circle, behind you. Behind you, behind you, pick up your heels and get that circle behind you. Front bad, behind good. Watch good runners, they bring their heels up instead of shuffling.
• Try not to push off with your forefoot, that works the soleus / calf muscle. As your foot leaves the ground make sure that you still have that balance front to back side to side. Take note of where the pressure resides. Are you pushing off with your big toe or on the side of your foot? Work to balance it out.
• Do not reach forward with your foot, pretend that there is a wall about 8-10 inches in front of you and you will hit it with your knees. When your foot lands under your hips, use your butt /hamstrings to push off. Every picture of a runner shows someone reaching 3 feet in front, toes flexed up. Bad move if you struggle with shin splints. Get that motion under and behind you.

Ok, so to put all this into practice, stand up, straighten yourself, and balance yourself on one foot with a very slight bend in the knee. Remember this feeling, this is what it should feel like every time your foot hits the ground. Balanced. Now put that foot down and do the other side. Practice this a bunch. This is your single leg sequence.

About this time you’re saying, “How the heck am I supposed to run this way?” Here’s the magic trick. Lean forward from the ANKLES, not the waist, just a tad. As you do, your body will start to fall forward / down and you will need to start the single leg sequence you just practiced or you will fall on your face. At this point you are either jogging or on the ground. Jog around slowly playing with the lean and making sure your feet are hitting under your hips and you are still straight. Practice. Chances are that this will radically change your stride so, take it easy and try to implement one item at a time.

Again, these are brief tips and should get you started. To get the full details, I recommend picking up a copy of Chi Running or Brain Training for Runners.

Tags: Shin Splint Help, Shin Splints