WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: 25 RUNNING RULES

Chicago sculpture "Gentlemen" by Ju Ming near the Lanham Hotel, AMA Plaza. taken by PKSenagore October 23, 2016. All rights reserved.

MARCH 1 IS THE Meteorological FIRST DAY OF SPRING! To celebrate and anticipate astrological spring later this month here’s an update of the BLOG post of November 23, 2016 that featured the Runnersworld.com piece “The 25 Golden Rules of Running: Time-tested, Universally Accepted Axioms of the Sport” by Bob Cooper.
 
This one 'LISTICLE' packs nearly everything runners must keep in mind to be successful in their sport. I’ve lived/run by all, but learned them one at a time. By reading, absorbing advice handed down from trainers or other runners, or personal experience. You may have run across various versions of each. They are all here and can also be found through the link on the RESOURCES page.

Possibly the wisdom of each rule (and the exceptions) won’t be fully recognized by those of you who are new to the sport until the issues personally present themselves later in your running careers. You might wish to print and keep this gem of an article in your “files”; (gym bag, refrigerator, locker, etc.), and make notes that customize the rules..
 
The very first rule is one that could easily be ignored (I am guilty): to train effectively some of your workouts must ‘mimic’ the specific event for which you are preparing and the specific finish time to hope to achieve. This means running at goal pace for a portion of your training.
 
Also, it’s best to determine and try to mimic conditions expected at the goal competition. The rule’s explanation does not provide an exact meaning, but it seems reasonable that if you anticipate racing in heat or cold, over hills, on a slippery surface, or in the dark, you should be training at least some of the time in the same environment. This can be difficult if the race is over a long distance that is months away, and is scheduled in a different season, climate, or geographically dissimilar location.
 
You must manage expectations accordingly. One way to do this is to give yourself adequate time to train for longer distance races with extra time built in for unexpected disruption. Shorter distance races can serve as practice several weeks before the main event. Another method is to first plug in the calendar the competitions that are MOST IMPORTANT that year and schedule other races around those critical dates.

It’s best to plan a full running YEAR such that your fun competitions help to prepare (or don’t harm) you for the BIG races in which it’s important for you to shine. Your RACE YEAR needn’t start January 1; it could start this March 2017 if you are aiming to run in a Rock N’ Roll Marathon/Half Marathon series race in New Orleans 2018. 
 
This kind of long range planning may seem crazy if you don’t have a specific goal race; hence the name, “Specificity Rule”.  However, if you have a busy family and/or work life, setting your race schedule a year in advance can organize arrangement-making and help you avoid future disappointments and cancellations. You can plan around children’s sport seasons, weddings, conferences, vacations, and business trips.  Sure, there will be some unexpected occurrences that threaten to bust your calendar, but with long range planning you will be able to put things in proper perspective and find a way to enjoy ALL of life.
 
Here's the list; you obviously must read the article to 'get' the rules! A link to the article will be posted on the RESOURCES page, and hopefully RW will allow it to remain active for a long while.

1. Specificity rule
2. 10 Percent rule
3. 2-Hour rule
4. 10-Minute rule
5. 2-Day rule
6. Familiar food rule
7. Race-recovery rule
8. Heads-beat Tails rule
9. Conversation rule
10.  20-mile rule
11. Carbs rule
12. 7 Year rule
13. Left side of the road rule
14. Up-beats-down rule
15. Sleep rule
16. Refueling rule
17. Don’t just run rule
18. Even pace rule
19. New shoes rule
20. Hard/Easy rule
21. 10 Degree rule
22. Speed work pace rule
23. Tempo-run pace rule
24. Long-run pace rule
25. Finishing time rule

RUN HAPPY!
http://www.weathernationtv.com/news/meteorological-spring-begins-march-1/
 
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/the-25-golden-rules-of-running