Cyber Monday Got You Stressed? Oil up my friend!!

Knock knock.  Who's there?  Nemo. Nemo who?  I NEMO FISH OIL FOOL!! Yeah I made that up.  Don't be jello.  But for real though.  The holidays are upon us so you know what that means.  Shopping. Which means lines which means waiting which means being late which means craziness which means stress which means a too few many eggnogs which means a headache .....the list goes on.  I know we all tend to get a little stressed around the holidays and I have just the thing for you to prevent you from stroking out.  FISH OIL!! Yes that's right.  People that eat a lot of fish oil are healthier and live longer and have less cardiovasvular disease.  Look it up. Think Inuit.  Be Inuit.  Be the eskimo.  If yo don't take fish oil go buy some and start taking it.  Everybody in America should do it. Everyone. (yes, that means you)  Nutritional experts say that the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 should be as close to a ratio of 1:1 and certainly no more than 4:1.  Most of us Americans are way over the 4:1.  Just think, when was the last time you had a nice slab of salmon?  How about the last time you had some walnuts?  I thought so.  Hey no one is perfect but we can all benefit from taking this stuff.  Your brain loves it, improves memory.  Your heart loves it, prevents Cardiovascular Disease and the stiffening of the arteries.  Your kid that can't pay attention to jack loves it, some studies have show it helps those with ADHD focus.  And your muscles love it, it's an anti-imflammatory.  Next time you run a 50 miler, or do a slamming workout on the track take some fish oil and call me in the morning.  I am not a doctor.  That being said don't blame me if any of the advice I give you on this site doesn't make you a superstar or has adverse effects.  Different strokes for different folks my running renegades.  But those strokes will be few and far between if you take your fish oil (see what I did there?).  Peace and good things!

 

Runaway the right way like Kanye

OK first things first.  Go listen to the new Kanye West album.  Great stuff!!  Something about his music gets me pumped.  Watch the full length runaway video too.  It's pretty good.  He runs a bit in the video and it looks like he has some decent speed.  Go Kanye!!  That being said his form could use a lot of work.  Sitting at the switchboard has definitely left him with some tight hips and probably really tight hammies too.  You can tell just from watching him run...but I digress, let's keep it positive shall we? 
The pic above is from the Crossfit Endurance Certification I attended last weekend in Santa Cruz.  I am the guy in blue ( I didn't get the memo about wearing black apparently).  I learned so many great things about running technique and would like to share some things with you.  I have been running POSE method for a few months and have transitioned from a heel striker to a forefoot striker and feel great about it. My knees feel great about it too!  The main thing I took away from the Cert is this.  NO ONE TAUGHT ME HOW TO RUN.  Most assume running comes naturally and does not need to be taught but if you observe different people running you will notice a vast difference in their styles.  However if you look at different baseball players fielding a ground ball you will see they all do it almost identically.  Did the coach give them a glove and just let them play?  No way!  They did thousands of drills going over the proper mechanics of fielding a ground ball and setting up those neural pathways.  As runners we need to change the way we train.  The old paradigm of building Volume (more miles) then Intensity (intervals) then  Technique (form) is gone and has been flipped upside down.  We should be training  Technique first then  Intensity and Volume.  So let's get down to it.  How should you run?  First thing you probably should get new shoes.  Avoid a shoe with a large heel.  That large heel is just going to encourage you to heel strike and we want to be forefoot strikers.  Were you born with shoes on?  Those big heels are unnatural.  Get something with a low heel.  Landing on the forefoot allows you to use your arch to absorb a lot of the impact and distribute it rather than sending that shock up your leg like when you heel strike.  Many books have been written on how to run so I can't explain everything in detail here but here are the basics:

1.  Posture: Ears above shoulders above hips above ankles.  All in a straight line
2.  Lean:  Lean ever so slightly from your ankles.  We are using gravity here people
3.  Pull:  Think of pulling your foot off the ground rather than pushing off.  You should pull the foot up directly underneath your center of mass using your hamstrings.
4.  Land: Land on a softly bent knee and do not reach for the ground.  This is perhaps the hardest part of running injury free.  You must relax your ankle and wait for gravity to pull your foot towards the ground.  Your foot will strike just ahead of your center of mass on the ball of the foot with the heel just kissing the ground.  At the moment it hits the ground pull the foot up again and the process repeats itself.

It's a lot to think about but if you practice approaching running as a skill your body will thank you.  I highly recommend running barefoot occasionally to help as well.  Here is an absolutely great video I found on youtube that will help set those neural pathways. 
BE A BETTER RUNNER: DO THESE DRILLS ----> SUPER AWESOME RADICAL DRILLS


Run on friends!!

RICE Rockets

Hey Running Renegades, I know what you are thinking and I am sorry but this in not my Aunt Barbara's recipe for Rice Pudding.  What this is is an acronym my friend...you know like NASA? 

Rest

Ice

Compression

Elevation

Get it? Ok so you have a sore knee.  Rest a bit throw some ice on it with an ice compress and put your feet up while you watch some TV. DO IT!!

Sometimes it is Halloween.  Sometimes you dress up like a Cowboy.  Sometimes you have to sprint wearing cowboy boots to evade a marauding Zombie.  It happens.  In such a scenario I rolled my ankle and ended up with a sore ankle or "sankle" as I called it the following day.  Did I go running? NO I rested.  I iced it and put it up and read a good book.  These are the basics!! It works wonders. Most would rather pop a few advil and than spend time icing their shit.  Most would rather complain about their injury.  If you are not attempting to fix the problem stop complaining.  Next time you are sore Ice it for 15 min on 15 min off a few times and see the difference.  You will recover more quickly guaranteed!