Janathon day 20: A forgotten costume = foam rolling

I planned a chilled out relaxing night in the Jacuzzi and steam room but first I had to work for it. I hate feeling beaten and I’m determined to get over this hatred of the treadmill. As I have mentioned previously in this post, I have chosen to train without music. I tend to do most of my runs outside and as I said in yesterday’s post, I love enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors. The reason I find the treadmill so painful is because it is excruciatingly boring.

I decided to spice things up with some music in the form of one of my old garage albums and it was the best idea I’ve had all year. Don’t get me wrong, being in the gym on a Friday night isn’t the coolest thing ever but my old school music livened up the session more than you could ever imagine. The familiar sound of tunes I used to dance to when I was in my teens gave me the edge to keep pushing through, with a beaming smile on my face.

 It was still really difficult and I was absolutely dripping with sweat but the music just made it all the more pleasurable. I love the way music can trigger great memories and as if by magic, when I took my earphones out and stepped off the treadmill, the Paris half marathon theme tune was on. It was the song that was played as we all crossed the start line (Barbra Streisand by Duck Sauce) and I can’t help but smile and get a good feeling when I hear it. It takes me back to the excitement and anticipation of the big day, my first ever half marathon.

After a hot and hard 5k I really felt like I deserved a wallowing session in the Jacuzzi and a stretch in the steam room. The sheer devastation when I realised I had left my costume on the radiator! I couldn’t believe it and felt really hard done by because I pushed hard to complete my fastest 5k in a long time. My calves and shins were sore and were screaming for a massage and the jets in the spa pool would have worked perfectly. I left my boyfriend to relax and headed back up the stairs to the gym for a stretching session.

As a qualified sports massage therapist, I am aware of the benefits of stretching but I have to confess, I don’t always dedicate as much time as I should which is probably why my legs are feeling tight. I did some work on my glutes first followed by a little planking and then headed for the foam roller. If you haven’t used a foam roller and you enjoy running, then I seriously recommend that you consider giving it a go. It is simply a large cylindrical foam roll, as the name would suggest.

The foam roller is a great tool for lengthening and elongating muscles, and they are especially helpful for runners who are suffering from tight and fatigued muscles. When used correctly, they can help you to avoid sport-related injuries by conducting self myofascial release, which can work in a similar way to a massage. The roller is effective on different areas of your body and you can use your body weight to apply pressure to sore muscles.  You can control how much pressure you apply to the tissues that you're working on, and you can locate and focus on areas that are problematic. It allows you to apply deep pressure to areas that may otherwise be difficult to stretch.

It’s not a replacement for proper stretching, warming up or cooling down, but it can be used as a tool to limit soreness and tightness.  I will warn you, much like a sports massage, it is not particularly pleasurable but it does definitely help to relieve sore legs and prevent injury.

The iliotibial band (IT band) is one of the areas most susceptible to injury in runners. It is the band that runs on the outside of the leg from the hip to the knee. You can use the foam roller on this area by rolling across it, slowly back and forth towards the top of the leg, particularly focusing on the quad where it meets the IT band and using your body weight to apply more pressure. This will cause you to make ugly faces and strange noises but your legs will thank you. It can also be used on other areas of the body such as the glutes, calves and the piriformis, all areas that can become tight in runners. Have a look at these videos (courtesy of runnersworld.com) which do a great job of showing you how to use the roller in some of these key areas.

A hard run accompanied by some decent tunes, followed by a stretching and rolling session has left me feeling great on day 20 of Janathon. I would recommend the use of a foam roller during training but I would also highly recommend going for regular sports massage as a means of preventing injury.  I am not saying this simply because I am a massage therapist but because I truly believe in the benefits however, I will delve more deeply into the benefits of massage in another post.

Janathon day 8: Run to no beat

When I started training for my first half marathon this time last year, I took my i-pod on every run and listened to the same compilation album on every run. The Mash up mix album played for just over an hour and I knew where every beat was and every high and low. Different tracks would let me know how far I had gone and others would give me just the boost I needed.

There have been several studies done that suggest music can really help to motivate you and there is no doubt, on certain days when I was close to giving up,  certain tracks would come on and I had a new lease of life. This time round you may be surprised to hear, I have chosen to train without music.

In March last year, I ran my first half marathon in Paris. I was aiming to complete it in less than 2 hours 10 minutes, so I knew that my trusty running album wasn’t going to be enough time-wise. I didn’t want to be interrupted when I was in the zone to re-start the album and I didn’t want to be without music. I opted to transfer my must-have playlist on to my i-phone, along with another album I sometimes listen to at the gym, Ministry of Sound Running Trax. I thought the easiest thing to do was to play the albums on shuffle so that I didn't have to play with my phone mid-run. Even though I’m really proud that I finished the run in 2 hours 11 minutes , I crossed the finish line a minute slower than I wanted to and I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I think I would have done if my music had gone to plan.

Throughout the run, not one of my magical booster songs came on. I didn’t get a chance to have that goosebumpy moment where you hear the beats of your favourite tune and you have no choice but to move your arms and legs faster. Instead I found that lots of the tracks annoyed and aggravated me. One after the other, another banging dance track came on and with each I got more annoyed.  I was especially peeved that no sooner had I crossed the finish line, absolutely exhausted, one of all-time favourite tunes started to play.  It was the track I had been hoping for when I was really struggling through the last couple of kilometres. It came on as I walked to meet my boyfriend in a post-run haze. Don’t get me wrong, I was pleased to hear it but I couldn’t help thinking that if it had come on earlier, I may just have shaved another minute off my time. I know a minute is not but it would have meant so much to me.  

I didn’t want to make excuses for my time in Paris and for a first half mara I’m pretty pleased  with what I achieved but I vowed to myself that I didn’t want to have to rely on anything other than hard work and my determination in the future. When training for the Greenwich Run To The Beat half marathon in the summer, it was definitely a struggle at first to do it without music. I knew that on the day there would be music and atmosphere the whole way round to keep me going, it was the music marathon after all. However, this wasn’t strictly true! Thank goodness that the lovely @thrutheblue had advised that I keep my i-pod with me. The music was pretty non-existent, apart from a few burger vans blaring tunes along the way and the route was hot & hilly. If it wasn’t for that i-pod, I’m pretty convinced I wouldn’t have made it round. Melissa, thank you so much for your advice!

The music is making me happy at RTTB 2011

All of my runs in January have been with no music and I am finding it absolutely fine. It’s a little disconcerting to hear your heavy breathing initially but I think it has helped me to keep it under control and to steady my pace. Not to mention, there is a safety aspect to consider too. When running alone in the dark it is so important to be aware of what is going on around you. I’m not saying that I will not have my i-pod on the big day but I want to be sure that I can finish my half marathon in Berlin in less than two hours, music or no music!

I ran 10k today and I really enjoyed it. Running without headphones let me enjoy everything that was going on around me. I could hear the tweeting of the birds, the calling of the rowers on the river, families giggling and chatting on the towpath but it was not all nice, I could also hear my constant sniffling as I have a cold. I was planning to go out at 8:30 this morning but I was feeling really stuffed up so I had a little breakfast and waited until I was less congested before heading off. It’s great to arrive home after your run when most people are still snuggled up in bed and I felt brilliant. A fantastic way to start week 2 of Janathon!

This week I am going to concentrate on hydrating more before my runs, building up strength and stretching, especially my legs. I want to work hard but I also want to do everything possible to look after myself and avoid injury along the way.