Tips to increase your 5K speed and efficiencies

 TURNOVER DRILL
1. Warm up by jogging slowly for half a mile.
2. Now begin to run at your normal training pace. After you've got your momentum going, start your watch. For exactly 1 minute, count the number of times your right foot pushes off. Then multiply that number by two. This is your current turnover rate.
3. Jog slowly back to the start.
4. Repeat step 2, and try to increase the number of right-foot push-offs per minute by two to five. Follow up with another recovery jog.
5. Do two to four more repeats, continuing to increase your push-offs each time until you're not running comfortably anymore. Back off the cadence at that point, and for any remaining repeats, maintain the number of push-offs that allows you to stay relaxed while still using a faster turnover.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your turnover drills:
Do them at least twice a week. One weekly session will net only minimal improvement, and once a month won't help at all. Stay light on your feet. As you count your cadence, imagine you're running on thin ice. By touching very lightly, you minimize the delay between touchdown and push-off. Stay low to the ground. The more time you spend in the air, the longer it takes your feet to make a cycle. And if you're bouncing too much, you're expending unnecessary energy pushing your body upward. If you're having trouble reducing bounce, try shuffling at first; that is, aim for a foot clearance of an inch or less from the surface. As you become used to less vertical motion, you can ease back to your natural foot lift. Stay upright. Leaning forward will reduce your legs' freedom of motion and will slow down your turnover rate. To keep upright, imagine you're suspended from the top of your head like a marionette. Your head should be directly over your shoulders, neck muscles relaxed, shoulders over the hips. Shorten your stride if necessary. If you're struggling to speed up your cadence, shorten your stride length during the first 10 to 15 seconds of each repeat. This should relax the leg muscles and encourage a faster turnover. Once your cadence has increased, you can gradually lengthen your stride to normal. If you're patient and stick with these drills, in several months you'll reset your body's running clock at a faster rate. Whether you're a beginning runner or a Boston Marathon qualifier, cadence drills will help you run faster and more efficiently. From Runner's World, February 1998, p. 36

YOUR LIFE COMES DOWN TO THIS FORMULA:

YOU-> CHOICE (decision) + BEHAVIOR (action) + HABIT (repeated action)  + COMPOUNDED (time) = GOAL

I will be training with a group of women every Thursday evening, 6:00 pm at MPC track, Monterey, and Sat morning, 8:00 am at Lover's Point, Pacific Grove.  Make the Decision, change your Behavior, create a Habit, and over Time you will acheive your GOAL!

When you believe and think "I CAN," you activate your motivation, commitment, your confidence, concentration and excitement- all of which relate directly to ACHIEVEMENT. 
                                                   Dr. Jerry Lynch

Most people are a by-product of influences by their parents, teachers, coaches and others.  Often, they are programed to be limited because it comes from people who believe they are limited. The "I Can" empowering belief often require a "positive brainwashing" through your own repetitious, ongoing self talk.  You can start to reprogram your mental beliefs today regardless of your age, your physical condition and current life situation. 
Happy training,

Why Stretching will Improve Your performance
Stretching before and after your run is crucial in maintaining your flexibility.  Flexibility is your ability to move through a full range of motion.  Its one of the key components of fitness.  When you 're more flexible, running is easier because muscles, ligaments, and tendons don't have to work as hard to maintain your pace.  Also, maintaining decent flexibility will prevent injury.  What is the right way to stretch?  At the bottom of this page is an excellent source of stretching techniques by Bob Anderson.  I have done most if not all of them.  You can really burn some calories if you spend an hour on strictly stretching and feel phenomenal afterward.  A good way to understand the right way is to know more about the wrong ways.  You have seen some people in the gym bounce when they stretch.  This is  refer to ballistic stretching.  During this movement, your muscles are lengthens, rather than lessens the amount of tension in your muscles.  In some instances it can cause the muscle to tear and result in extreme pain.  Thus avoid ballistic stretching.  Gradually stretching a muscle to the point where you feel a slight sensation is known as static stretching.  This type of stretching will help muscles stay limber and increase your endurance.  The right way to stretch is to do so comfortably, gently and consistenly.  Its best to do your stretch on a firm but comfortable surface.  Don't forget to stretch after your run.  Your muscles are warm and more likely to being gently elongated.  For this reason, stretching after a run just feels so much better. 
Happy Stretching,

Did you know that President George W. Bush ran 6 miles daily while in the Oval office? If he can fit running into his schedule, then we have no excuse not to.

How Goal Setting Actually Works: The Mystery "Secret Revealed"
Its very simple, when you "think" of something, you somehow miraculously drawn it into your life.  In reality, you're now just seeing what was already there. You are truly "attracting" it into your life.  It wasn't there before or accessible to you until your thoughts  focused and directed your mind to see it.  When you define your goals, you give your brain something new to look for and focus on.  Your mind will proceed to match up on the outside what you want most on the inside- your goal.  Brain Tracy- Coach and Mentor put it this way: "Top people have very clear goals.  They know who they are and they know what they want.  They write it down and they make plans for its accomplishment.  Unsuccessful people carry their goals around in their head like marbles rattling around in a can, and we say a goal that is not in writing is merely a fantasy.  And everybody has fantasies, but those fantasies are like bullets with no powder in the cartridge.  People go through life shooting blanks without written goals- and that's the starting point."

With less than seven weeks away from the 5K marathon, will your cartridge be full or empty? I suggest that you take some time today to map out how you are doing to achieve your fitness goal of finishing the race.

Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon...must inevitable come to pass!" Paul J Meyer 

Pauline and Dr. Wynn's Running Log
Today Pauline and I ran 1.8 miles in Salinas  between serving patients, interviews and appointments.  We started the run by stretching, walking, slow speed  and sprint at the end of the run.  It was less than a 15 min run.  We both were invigorated at the end of our run.  With determination and planning, you can do this too!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."  Oliver Wendell Holmes

MONDAY'S RUN WITH CANDIE :)

THE WYNNER'S CIRCLE, WDC