SOUTH SOUND ADVENTURES: On The Run 101

I signed up for a half marathon for next June on a whim.

Well kind of.

My husband and some of our friends completed the half marathon race option (13.1 miles) for the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in Seattle this last June. They enjoyed the experience and wanted to take another stab at it in June of 2012.  I was asked if I wanted to join, too. The catch? I had to make my decision FAST before the entry fees increased substantially.

My instinctual response? "Sure, I think I could do it!"

Five minutes later, I was officially on board.

Five minutes after that, panic set in.

I have been a runner on and off for many years, bu I seldom run more than five miles. I've ran up to 10 miles a handful of times, but that was back in my high school cross country and track days (in my case, a long time ago). I really didn't know how in the world I was going to make the time to train for this. To make matters even more interesting, I don't really know how to train for this kind of long distance running. The verdict?

I really have no idea what I am doing.

Lucky for me, there are many expert trainers, runners, and running programs to guide me right here in the South Sound.

Yes, I know, I know. My run is technically going to be in Seattle. However, all the guts, glory, work, and pain (wait, strike the pain part) will be right here in our backyard! Right here! And that's what counts the most, yes?

So, where to begin?

Fircrest's Innovative Fitness was my first stop.  I told owner, Jesse Ewell, about the situation I had gotten myself into. The response was quick.

"You need to talk to Will. He's your guy. Oh, yeah, and he just completed a 50K run."

Uh, that's nearly 32 miles, to you and me, folks. This dude could probably run 13.1 miles in his sleep.

This really was going to be interesting.

Meet Will Baldyga

"What was it like to run a 50K?"

This was the first thing I asked when I met longtime fitness trainer, Will Baldyga, for the first time.

He just kind of smiled and said, "Running is such a primal thing, such a primal activity. It's all about moving. Literally putting one foot in front of the other."

It wasn't really the answer I expected. I expected a dramatic story, blood, sweat, and tears. Baldyga was pretty humble; he was more interested in asking me questions about my running journey - past, present, and future.

Not only that, but his earlier answer to the 50K was a bit of a tale. (I would soon learn that Baldyga likes things this way: to go right to the very root).

I fired a lot of questions at him, everything from mileage, eating, cross training - all of it. 

I suppose I came across a little frantic perhaps. I had just signed myself up for something unknown and, frankly, a little scary.

He calmly listened, asked me more questions, and then, gently brought me back to Earth.

He used the old adage: Know your dive, dive what you know.

He goes further: "There is lots of information out there about running half marathons and it can be really confusing. What may work for one person may not work for another. You should examine who you are. The best place to start, is to look at your body as a whole. See where you are coming from, what works, what doesn't. What hurts? Why is it hurting? Does it ever heal? These are important things to look at overall."

Baldyga advised me that some people don't move symmetrically. Maybe their right shoulder works different than their left. When there is asymmetry, this can lead to potential injury and less efficiency not only in just athletics and fitness, but movements in general. The day to day things you do in real life beyond structured exercise. In analyzing body movement, you can see where your baseline is and correct any movement issues."

Made sense. I then asked: "So, after you know this, then you can go after your goals?"

He smiled.

Back to the roots again. I liked this.

Baldyga suggested a functional movement test (which is routinely used in the U.S. military and the NFL, for example). In addition to the test, he recommended coupling it with taking age, height, weight, body fat percentage, and other body measurements.

He also suggested I share my results publicly. He stated, "Why not show people where you are, where you are going, and eventually, where you end up?"

Like the half marathon decision, I made the commitment to go for it.

(Gulp)

Functional Movement Test and Body Measurements

When I told a couple of people what I was doing, I was given a very funny look or was advised that I was completely out of my mind.

"You are seriously going to post your weight and body fat publicly?"

That was the common question, followed by this one that went a little something like this: 

"So, are you going to wear your bathing suit to the gym to get weighed so you can shave some pounds off?"

Uh, that would be a resounding, I don't think so.

Nope. I was going to move forward. Besides, what I learned (so far) seems to be growing into something bigger than training for a half marathon.

Nope, I made the commitment, I am sticking to it.

(Gulp again)

Getting Real

(Note: I am now going to break the journalistic convention of referring to my interview subject by his last name, because anyone who is measuring my body fat, well, we need to be on a first name basis. So, Will it is, going forward).

When I met with Will again, he said something that really resonanted with me:

"Think of how a young child moves. They just run and run and run, then stop when they are tired, get up, and do it all over again. They can sit in a squatted position for long periods of time. As we age, we lose these movement patterns. But it doesn't mean we can't get some back and work on it."

Watching my own 10-year-old daughter, he's definitely right. Where was I in this mix? How did I move? 

I was ready for my tests.

Before we began, Will asked me if I had a goal in mind. Did I want to change my look? Did I want to be stronger? More flexible?  I wasn't really sure at first. I knew that I was, for the most part, happy with how I looked. Yeah, I have a little bit of squish around the middle. I'd like to be stronger in my upper body. I decided to start there.

He started out asking me my age and height. We did weight next, followed by measurements of chest, waist, hips, legs, and arms. He used a special tool called a caliper to measure body fat on my arm, back, and middle. After each measurement, I kept peeking back to see what he was writing down. Will calmly assured me he would tell me everything. 

I appreciated his automatic sense of zen and calm. 

Ready for the reveal? Here are the most significant measurements (here we go):

Kim Thompson

Age: 43

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 150 (no bathing suits, folks, just a tee, sweatpants, and sneakers)

Body Fat Percentage: 27 percent (ideal body fat percentage range for women are 18 percent to 26 percent).

Okay, I did it!

Now, to the really good stuff.

The Functional Movement Test consisted of utilizing different movements with  elements of strength, balance, and flexiblity on both sides of the body. We used some special equipment for the measurements (see picture below). Will explained that there are no wrong answers or failing grades for this test. He reminded me that it just gives a good idea on what to work on. No more, no less.

As we embarked on the test, some of the tasks for me were more difficult than others, particularly things involving upper body. A perfect score is 21. Average good score? 15. 

I scored a 14. Not bad! For the most part, I worked pretty symmetrically. Certain moves were not by any means perfect, but not bad.

What do I need to work on though? My shoulder mobility on my left is less agile than on my right. I have tight calves (a longtime problem). I also have rounded shoulders and hunch forward (probably from many years at a computer, I believe).By shoring up these areas, not only will it help me run better, but it will help me with those basic things we all do in life, day to day, like hauling groceries in the house, reaching for an object on a high shelf, housecleaning, and the like.

Now that I knew where to start, Will was going to help me figure out where to go.

He took me through a series of exercises/stretching to see what I could do. Then he pinpointed three very simple and specific stretching exercises that address, head on, where I needed to work the most. Keeping up with these components regularly, would be helpful and get improvement. What I liked? They were easy, felt pretty good, and took a matter of minutes.

The Workout

The next day after testing, Will invited me to return to go through a workout routine. We did a dynamic warm-up (range of motion type exercises) to start with. 

We then did various exercises to train my body to move correctly as well as address my goals (stronger upper body, less squishy middle). My expectation (from probably oversearching the internet and watching fitness shows and workout DVDs) was that we were going to do lots of different moves. That wasn't the case.

Will had me do a handful of moves in a circuit type fashion. Start simply. Re-train the body on the basics.

Back to the root of the things again.

The cool thing was we didn't use a lot of fancy equipment, either. My favorite (and honestly most telling) exercise was using a PVC pipe (that's right, PVC pipe, two bucks, Home Depot). I placed the pipe behind my back, hands strategically placed, one behind my head, the other at the small of my back. The goal was to keep this pipe in place, touching my body at all times while I did a lunge forward.

It's not as easy as it sounds.

It forced me to keep my shoulders back and things aligned, which in turn created proper posture. As I got better with this activity the more I repeated it, it actually felt better (less strain, more strength). I was tired, but felt stronger, more empowered.

Wow.

The Conclusion

So, with my new baseline information and training, I really think I might be ready for this!

Oops, wait a second, as Will told me, "I know you are ready for this."

Yep.

So, in the coming weeks, I'll share my progress, good, bad, and yep, even ugly. I am getting handle on some great local trails and groups for runners (and great for walkers, too!) that I am going to share with you soon.

If you are interested in learning more about the testing and analysis I went through or to participate in the complimentary fitness bootcamps, check out the link for Innovative Fitness above or go to their Facebook page for more information.