Old school guys like old school
rules. Easy to undertand, direct to the
point and no room for mis-interpretations. No ifs or buts about it.
On pages 69-71 of THE ESSENTIAL
SHEEHAN, the reader is gifted with 21
practical guidelines for runners of all ages to consider. Again, we quote them in toto for all to consume.
Sharing is good.
“TRIED AND TRUE RULES of the road
for runners:
1. Keep a record of your morning pulse. Lie in bed for a few minutes after you awake
and then take your pulse. As your
training progresses, it will gradually become slower, and after 3 months or it
will plateau. From then on, should you
have a rate 10 or more beats higher than your morning norm, you have not
recovered from your previous day’s run, races , or other stresses. Take a day or more off until the pulse returns to
normal.
2. Weigh regularly. Initially, you will not lose much
weight, and getting on and off the scales will seem a bore. Subsequent losses should be in the area of
one-half to one pound a week. This
equals 250 to 500 calories a day of output of energy over intake of food. What you lose in fat you will put on in
muscle. Running consumes 100 calories a
mile, and there are 3,500 calories to a pound, so you can see weight loss will
be slow unless you do heavy mileage.
3. Do your exercises daily. The more you run, the more muscle imbalance occurs. The calf, hamstring (back thigh), and
low-back muscles become short, tight, and inflexible. They have to be
stretched. On the other hand, the shin,
the quad (front thigh), and belly muscles become relatively weak. They must be
strengthened. There are specific exercises geared to strengthening these muscles.
4. Eat to run. Eat a
good, high-protein breakfast, then have a light lunch. Run at least 2, preferably 3 hours after your
last meal. Save the carbohydrates for
the meal after the run to replenish muscle sugar.
5. Drink plenty of fluids. Take sugar-free drinks up to 15
minutes before running. Then, take 12 to 16 ounces of easily tolerated juices,
half-strength “ades, ” tea with honey or sugar, defizzled Coke, etc. before
setting out. In winter, that should be
all you need. In summer, take an additional
10 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes during the run.
6. Run on an empty colon. Running causes increased peristalsis, cramps, and even diarrhea. Having a bowel movement before running and
particularly before racing prevents these abdominal symptoms.
7. Wear the right clothes.
In winter, this means a base of thermal underwear followed by several
layers of cotton or wool shirts, at least one a turtleneck. Wear a ski mask and mittens. Use nylon,
Gora-Tex, Lycra, or polypropylene if necessary to protect against wind and wed.
In summer, the main enemy is radiant heat. Remember to wear white clothes and
use some kind of head covering.
8. Find your shoes and stick to them. Heavy people do better
in tennis shoes and basketball sneakers. High-arched feet do better with narrow heels. Morton’s feet (short big
toes, long second toes) may need arch supports in the shoes. If a shoe works, train in it, race in it, and
wear it to work.
9. The fitness equation is 30 minutes at a comfortable pace
four times a week. Your body should be able to tell you that “comfortable”
pace. If in doubt, use the “talk
test.” Run at a speed at which you could
carry on a conversation with a companion.
10. Run economically. Do
not bounce or overstride. You should
lengthen your stride by pushing off, not by reaching out. Do not let your foot get ahead of your knee.
This means your knee will be slightly bent at footstrike. Run from the hips
down with the upper body straight up and used only for balance. Relax.
11. Belly-breathe. This
is not easy, and must be practiced and consciously done just prior to a run or
a race. Take air into your belly and
exhale against a slight resistance, either through pursed lips or by a grunt or
a groan. This uses the diaphragm
correctly and prevents the “stich.”
12. Wait for your second wind. It takes about 6 to 10 minutes
and a one-degree rise in body temperature to shunt the blood to the working
muscles. When that happens, you will
experience a light, warm sweat and you know what the “second wind” means. You must run quite slowly until this
occurs. Then, you can dial yourself to
“comfortable,” put yourself on automatic pilot, and enjoy.
13. Run against traffic. Two heads are better than one in preventing an accident. Turn your back on a driver, and you are
giving up control of your life. At
night, wear some reflective material or carry a small flashlight.
14. Give dogs their territory. Cross to the other side of the road and pick up some object you can
brandish at them. Never try to outrun a dog. Face the dog and keep talking until it appears safe to go on.
15. Learn to read your body. Be aware of signs of overtraining.
If the second wind brings a cold, clammy sweat, head for home. Establish a (Distant Early Warning) line that
alerts you to impending trouble. Loss of
zest, high morning pulse, lightheadedness on standing, scratchy throat, swollen
glands, insomnia, and palpitations are some of the frequent harbingers of
trouble.
16. Do not run with a cold. A cold means you are overtrained. You have already run too much. Wait at least
3 days, preferably longer. Take a
nap the hour you would usually spend
running.
17. Do not cheat on your sleep. Add an extra hour when in heavy
training. Also, arrange for at least one
or two naps a week, and take a long one after your weekend run.
18. When injured, find a substitute activity to maintain
fitness. Swim, cycle, or walk for the
same time and at the same frequency you would normally run.
19. Most injuries result with a change in your training. A change in shoes, an increase in mileage (25
miles per week is the dividing line: at 50 miles per week the injury rate is
doubled), hill or speed work, or a change in surface are all factors that can
affect susceptibility to injury. Almost always there is some associated
weakness of the foot, muscle strength/flexibility imbalance, or one leg shorter
than the other.
20. Use of heel lifts, arch supports, modification of shoes, and
corrective exercises may be necessary before you are able to return to pain-free
running.
21. Training is a practical application of Hans Selye’s General
Adaptation Syndrome. Stress is applied, the organism reacts, a suitable time is
given to re-establish equilibrium, then stress is applied again. Each of us can
stand different loads and needs different amounts of times to adapt. You are an experiment of one. Establish your
own schedule; do not follow anyone else’s. Listen to your body. Train, don’t
strain.”
These “tried and true rules” the
good doctor wrote in his 1980 book entitled “THIS RUNNING LIFE.” It is
noteworthy that Dr. Sheehan’s prescriptions
predate by a decade or two some
of the supposedly “new-fangled” running concepts available in our internet-savvy
and info-overload milieu.
Take for example, Rule # 10 on Sheehan’s list which sounds so
similar to ChiRunning developed by
American ultramarathoner Danny Dreyer in 1999.
Another one is about belly
breathing. Just recently, I read a Runner’s World article
(http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/running-air-breathing-technique)
which is adapted from a book “RUNNING ON AIR: The Revolutionary Way to Run
Better by Breathing Smarter”, by Budd Coates, M.S., and Claire Kowalchik
(Rodale, 2013). If the 2013 book is
revolutionary, then Sheehan’s Rule # 11 on the list is the prequel to the
revolution.
More and more, as I delve into
the pages of THE ESSENTIAL SHEEHAN, the admiration for the man grows deeper.
Dr. Sheehan was fond of using a quote from 2nd Century Church Father Irenaeus - “The Glory of God is man fully
functioning.” His life of running and his literary oeuvre do point to the
obvious that he was one human being
fully functioning.
No doubt, the good doctor is up
there in heaven busy with a running clinic for the angels and saints.
P.S.
Illustrations by Monica Sheehan, taken
from the pages of the book THE ESSENTIAL SHEEHAN.
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