How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited? Both?

Every week you will receive an email explaining where we are meeting and what the week will look like for training. The beginning of the email will have general information for everyone (do not skip this part) and then there will be 2 sections. One section for Group A (beginners) and another section for Group B (keeners)

Please feel free to come up with better names for the 2 groups and share with me. We are also looking for a cheer for Cochrane Cares!

What do you need to set yourself up for success?

Cold weather running conditions require running gear designed to keep you protected.

At least two layers are necessary; the layer closest to your skin should be moisture-wicking, to keep sweat from accumulating and cooling you down.

Next, you want to wear an insulating layer to keep the heat in. In particularly cold or wintery environments, an outer shell is important to isolate you from the harsh elements.

Most heat is lost through your head, so don’t leave home without a hat – it will help maintain your body temperature.

• Gloves, hats and buffs

• Lined pants

• Shoes with traction (trail shoes) or clip on grips

• Hankies (LOL) tissue disintegrates!

• Hydration belt. Even though it is chilly you will still sweat.

• MOST IMPORTANT! GOOD SOCKS!!!

Speaking of hydration I highly recommend adding electrolytes to your water. There are many brands available but try to find one with minimal or no sugar added.

And sugar is a great lead into the next topic. NUTRITION!

You DO NOT need to carb load prior to running. This is old school thinking. (Racing is different - we will cover that topic later)

Eat to nourish your body. Eat to replace lost nutrients or to add them to your diet.

A personalized 12 week transformational BALANCED eating plan to get lean while maintaining and building muscle mass is available for you! Standard, pescatarian, Vegan, Vegetarian, Egg Free, Paleo & Gluten Free or dairy and nut free are your choices! Please contact me directly as I have a special discounted rate for clinic participants.

So we have covered where you can access a great nutrition plan by an amazing coach, now I have some other discounts for you!

• Reflex Supplements in Cochrane offers a 20% discount to Cochrane Cares Running Members!

• The Tech Shop 3855 19 St NW, Calgary, AB 10% off all regular priced shoes and accessories and 15% off all clothing. (They also have great sales) This is where you will get expert advice on what shoe is best for you!

• Running Room Cross Iron Mills - 10-20% off regular priced merchandise

• LIVEGOOD You can purchase your own wholesale account for the best nutritional supplements available including fermented plant based protein and organic mushroom coffee! https://www.livegood.com/karirosehealth

Lastly, take the next few weeks and aim for a minimum of 10,000 steps a day whether that is walking or jogging. Start moving your body. Buy your shoes and break them in prior to September 26th.

I am so excited to facilitate this clinic for you. TRUST THE PROCESS and you will achieve goals beyond what you could ever imagine.

Love, Kari

The Fall 2023 Learn to Run Clinic is starting on September 26 ! I would like to encourage you to take advantage of the nice weather! Get outside and walk or jog 10,000 steps or 1-2 km a day. You can also purchase this ‘Running Exercises to Prevent Injury’ video package!

HOW TO ACCESS THE INFORMATION, DRILLS, AND MORE:

Step 1: Follow this link: https://www.karirosehealth.com/set-up-runing-clinic-account

Step 2: Click Purple ‘Login’ Button

Step 3: Go through the process of “purchasing” the Running Clinic

Step 4: Use the code: RUNFALL2023

Step 5: After completing order, click ‘View Product’

Step 6: On the top right of the website you will see all the details by clicking ‘account’ and you can see all the pages you have access to through the running clinic

NOTE: You only have until SEPT 30th to login and use the code above. Anytime you want to access all the information go to https://www.karirosehealth.com/ and ‘login’ on the top right!

If you need new running shoes, clothes or any other gear as a member of the clinic you receive special discounts from partnering businesses!

• The Tech Shop in NW Calgary for 10% off all regular priced shoes and accessories and 15% off all clothing. (They also have great sales) This is where you will get expert advice on what shoe is best for you!

• Reflex Supplements Cochrane - 20% off all regularly priced items

• Personalized 12 week coaching and eating plan for optimal health

• Wholesale Nutritional Supplements https://www.livegood.com/karirosehealth

• 10% off of my NEW Lifestyle Coaching & Menu Plan, Use CODE:V754ZYJ

Please dress accordingly for each session. We will only cancel if temperatures drop below -12 or if there is threat of a thunderstorm.

I would like to introduce you to the run leads for the Fall 2023 run session. We have Terri, Krista, Joan, Lynette, and Janine! These amazing souls have taken the clinic with me in the past and are familiar with low heart rate training and the 80/20 rule. They have various running backgrounds and have volunteered to guide, encourage and run at your side for your best success! Thank you ladies! XOXO

I look forward to meeting so many new people!

Please reach out if you have any questions!

Kari

XOXO

Tuesday & Thursday - Mitford Ponds 6:30PM 

Warm up, drills, cooldown

Sunday - Longer Run - Good Earth/Garmin Parking Lot 

GROUP B (Keeners) 8 or 8:30 AM low heart rate run

GROUP A (Beginners) 9:00 AM low heart rate run

*Everyone meet back at 9:30AM for coffee.

DRILLS

These drills are designed to assist in injury prevention by strengthening key muscles and tendons, while at the same time practicing some new movement skills. When possible we will do these drills on grass to minimize impact on the body. For all these drills just breathe normally, although you might find in some of the drills that you end up breathing a bit faster. The drills work your body through the range of motions needed for running and strengthen specific muscles that are used in running. Several of the drills are focused on stabilization muscles so that you can run relaxed on uneven ground. 

ARM SWINGS FORM: Think “nip to hip” with your hands lol. You shouldn’t swing your hands above your chest. You want to actively push your elbows BACK, especially when you start going uphill. It should feel like you are elbowing a person behind you, keeping your hands low on the forward swing (below the nip lol)

HEEL WALKING:  Walk on your heels with your toes pointed straight shins in line with your second and third toe, walk for about 20 feet, fully extending on to your toes. After approximately 20 feet transition so your weight is on your heels keeping your toes in line with your shins as much as possible. Keep your spine straight and aligned without flexing at the waist.

TOE WALKING: Walk on your toes with your toes pointed straight shins in line with your second and third toe, walk for about 20 feet, fully extending on to your toes. After approximately 20 feet transition so your weight is on your heels keeping your toes in line with your shins as much as possible.

HIGH KNEES High knees are a standard running drill, but often performed with poor posture. The idea is to stay stable and supple in the upper body while driving the range of motion in the legs. For a warmup, this drill is less about the speed of the movement and more about keeping your core and spine engaged and tight with large hip flexion. Perform about 20 total, allowing your body to travel forward slightly. Turn around and repeat back to where you started.

DO:

• Keep a straight spine, tall chest

• Engage your core

• Drive the thighs to about parallel to the ground

DON’T:

• Bend your chest down like an abdominal crunch

• Try to get your knees as high as possible

KICK BUTT         

Butt kicks are a running drill used for improving running technique. The drill strengthens hamstrings and glutes muscles while stretching the quadriceps by imitating overemphasized leg swings as the foot loses contact with the ground.

How to do butt kicks properly:

1. Begin by standing with your feet hip-distance apart, look straight ahead, and keep your upper body straight.

2. Pull the heel of the right foot toward the buttocks while standing on the ball of your left foot.

3. With the ball of your right foot hit the ground below your center of mass and at the same time pull the heel of the left foot toward the buttocks.

4. Continue alternating sides and moving forward.

Your arms should follow your leg movements, as they do when you are running. As you are doing the butt kicks your foot should be bent towards your shin (dorsiflexion).

Tips for performing butt kicks properly

• Focus on quick leg movements; reduce the time spent in contact with the ground.

• Mind your posture. Keep your body straight; do not bend forward or backward.

• As you raise your heel, focus on contracting your hamstrings, not on pushing off the ground.

• Do not forget to move your arms. Swing the arm opposite the raised leg.

It is important to focus on the proper execution of the butt kicks. If you are not able to maintain proper form, you will ruin your running technique, thus increasing the risk of injury. Start with slower movements and gradually accelerate until you find your own rhythm. Maintain control of your movements throughout the drill.

FAST FEET 1 This running drill is all about moving fast while not moving fast forward. That means having light, quick steps in the feet but not running ahead. Visually think about being on the world's smallest bicycle, and your feet are quickly turning the pedals over at a cadence above 150 RPM. Your arms should be trying to move even faster than the feet to make the whole body connect.

DO:

• Use your arms to increase foot speed

• Keep your core engaged

• Keep a slight bend in the hips

DON’T:

• Drive the knees u

• Move forward quickly

FAST FEET 2

OUTSIDE NINJAS  Legs are wider than shoulder distance apart. As you move forward swing one leg towards the center and back out then alternate the other leg. This drill is great for ankle strength, hip mobility, and coordination.

INSIDE NINJA Legs are hip distance apart. As you move forward swing one leg in front of the other crossing over your midline. Then alternate legs. This drill is great for range of motion of the hips as well as knee and ankle stability and strength.

STRIDES

These running drills can be great for ‘waking up’ the muscles before a run. They should be performed on a soft but reactive surface, usually grass. The key is to ramp up, then down in a controlled manner just a few times. These are not hard efforts, but rather they are times when you can re-focus on near-perfect running while cycling up, then down in your gears. Walk back to start to have plenty of recovery between strides.

DO:

• Increase your stride length

• Accelerate and decelerate through the stride

• Drive off the foot through the big toe

DON’T:

• Sprint

• Go above 85% effort

• Run for time

All the drills should be 25-50 meters then walk back and repeat 3 times. Find them in your membership area (aka webpage)

Have fun and let's run!

FORM: When running, think “hip to nip” with your wrists. You shouldn’t swing your hands above your chest. You want to actively push your elbows BACK, especially when you start going uphill. It should feel like you are elbowing a person behind you, keeping your hands low on the forward swing

(below the nip lol)

The Long Run

Of all the training sessions we do in a week, the long run is the one that will affect your overall fitness the most by putting a constant load on your heart and lungs, hence driving the largest adaptations in the way that your body uses oxygen.

The focus is getting time on your feet and to focus on your running form, staying relaxed and just enjoying being outside running. 

You should not be stopping for walk breaks during these runs, so please resist the temptation to run fast. The rationale for this is that we want a gentle, continuous stimulus to the heart, rather than have you run fast, get out of breath and then have to walk to recover. Spiking your heart rate high and then having to take it easy while it recovers is a valid training technique, but it defeats the purpose of the long run.

QUIET FEET

During the long runs  focus on running with quiet feet. If your shoes are slapping the ground, or you are landing heavily, you are putting extra stress on your knees, ankles and hips. Learning how to make your foot plant quiet may take a while, and typically requires you to slow down a bit while you learn how to place your foot to reduce the impact. Slamming your feet into the ground is a major source of running injuries, so this is one aspect of skillful running that you will need to practice early in the clinic before we can build the distance. Therefore, I would prefer you do not run with music but rather take this time to tune into your own body. Your breath. Your feet. Your shoulders. 

An important part of the injury prevention strategy of this clinic relies on you learning how to run silently. Over the years we have learned that if your feet hit the ground so hard that they make a lot of noise, the impact forces are likely to cause injury. Many runners have tried to claim that it is just noisy shoes, but that is easily disproved by simply running slower, miraculously the noisy shoes become quieter. Every session, during the warm up and cool down, practice running silently with quiet, soft feet. Listen out for each other, you will likely find that initially everyone is quite noisy, but a few minutes into the run as everyone loosens up, you will be lighter and quieter on your feet. Whenever you are running in the clinic if you find that your feet are getting noisy, ease off the pace, slow down and get back to silent running. 

Kari 

XOXO

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