The SF Marathon Training Group outside Kezar Stadium

Pre-Run Advice on Stretching Exercises, Running Form, Core Exercises

Samuel Harvell made an appearance again today. After signing in, we all gathered in a circle and Samuel gave us some advice on stretches to prevent injury during long distance runs. Initially, Samuel gave demonstrations of some of the basic must-do stretches like high-knees, butt-kicks, cross-running, most of which were already covered by Tom Collier in our Wednesday Kezar Track workouts.

After that, Samuel stressed the importance of working out the core, warning that if you don’t strengthen your core area, you will be more vulnerable to injury. Samuel then laid down a mat and demonstrated a few core exercises that he said we must do everyday. Do see the links section at the end of this post for a variety of stretching exercises and core exercises. Some are made especially for marathon running trainees like us.

Running Log – Kezar Stadium and Golden Gate Park

I ran with Jessica (the “faster” Jess), Steve, Luis, Jay and Avanti. A minute into the run, Avanti tripped on the sidewalk and was rewarded with a nasty bruise on her right leg. Luckily for her, she was wearing gloves, so although her left palm’s glove was pretty badly beat when she fell down, her actual palm was saved from any kind of skin tear. Avanti was brave and felt confident that she could keep going, but another minute into the run, her wound started bleeding. So we all stopped. Jay and Jessica helped Avanti get some band aid and fixed her up while Steve, Luiz and I just waited on the sidewalk. Too many people trying to help a person in distress could sometime lead to more chaos and confusion, right ?

We resumed our run without Avanti. On the way, I got plenty of marathon preparation, diet tips and music tips from Jessica, Jay and Steve, so here goes.

1. Jessica - “Before coming to long run, eat a good breakfast. Eat what you like to eat. I usually have a fruits and yoghurt smoothie, some bagel and peanut butter. I eat  atleast an hour before my run.”
2. Jessica - “Stay hydrated. Don’t stop drinking because you are worried about taking ‘bathroom breaks’ too frequently. Because once you hit dehydration, it is already too late to recover quickly.”
3. Steve - “If you are into running with Music, then Nike has some great sports music mixes specifically for runners.”
4. Jay - “I likes more of the instrumental music, with little or no vocals. This type of music tends to be more soothing.”
5. Jessica - “If you are doing Gu or Clif Blocs, then remember to drink water also, because those things need water to disintegrate and get absorbed properly. Do also make sure that you have a water-bottle with you on your run at all times. After taking the Gu, drink atleast 6 to 8 ounces of water so that the Gu assimilates properly.”
6. Jessica - “The Aid stations will be able to fill your water bottle up. So don’t prevent yourself from drinking water along the run because you are worried that you will run out of water.”

The actual course of our run today took us down Fulton Street, then a turn around up into Golden Gate Park along JFK Boulevard with a restroom break near StowLake. Then around the Stow Lake onto MLK Boulevard, back to the home base at Kezar Stadium.

We finished our run at an average pace of 9 minutes 26 seconds over a distance of 8.26 miles in about an hour and 17 minutes. When we got to the home base, Jessica, Jay and got free ART (Active Release Techniques) Therapy from Avanzare Chiropractic Sport Therapy. The review for that demo is here.

After the ART therapy, I was about to leave home when Steve complained that I was not in any of my SF marathon blog photos. I told him that was probably because I was always behind the camera. He laughed, and then I took a photo of the three of us – Steve, Luiz and me before heading back home.

(L to R) Steve, Luiz, Shiva (me)

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