"Runners should lift heavy!"

This is something I've said a lot (along with many other running coaches).

But unfortunately, it's not a good idea for every runner.

Lifting heavy can be a great way to build strength and speed. The only problem is that your tendons might not be ready to pull their weight.

​Studies have shown that after 2 months of weight training, your muscles will get significantly stronger while your tendons have yet to get up off the couch.

Compounded over years of training, this could mean that the imbalance gets bigger over time, at least for a while, in certain individuals.

Some experts say tendons can be as much a 2-5 years behind!

When your strong muscles pull hard on weak tendons, you are setting the stage for injury.

What to do? Three tips:

1. During your strength sessions, lift a "comfortably challenging" weight. If you feel joint or tendon pain or stiffness, do not push through. Instead, lower to a weight you can lift pain-free and add more reps and/or slow down the speed of your lifts to increase the time under tension.
2. Add plyometrics. Jumping and hopping stiffen your tendons (in a good way!)
3. Practice active mobility at least 2 times per week for 10-15 minutes.

Not sure where to start? Check out the latest in my series for runners on YouTube, 5 Minute Calf and Ankle Strength and Mobility for Runners.​

train your brain

Did you know that you can train your brain the exact same way as your body? With reps and sets.

Because your brain doesn't care about what is true. It cares about what you repeat.

That's is why in just ten minutes a day, you can train your brain for calm confidence, less reactivity, and even more joy.

It's called cognitive conditioning and it's a training program for your mind.

And finally, my cognitive conditioning program, Begin With Ten, is now an app!

Here's what some of my students said after enrolling in the full program:

"I love practicing cognitive conditioning every day."

"It fills a big gap for me. I think I apply it mostly outside of running (like to work and life). My job (career in general) is quite stressful almost all the time, I have some challenges with my boss, and I experience political and philosophical differences with family members. I knew I was too reactive but didn’t know how to stop. Begin With Ten is helping."

"I'm still a work in progress, but I've definitely grown."

"The practice has definitely changed the way I respond, and I’m looking forward to continuing the growth."

I will be talking more about Begin With Ten in the coming weeks, but if you are ready to change your mind right now, you're only a few clicks away.
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jump on the brain train

planted practice

Each week, I'd like to challenge you to one small action that I'm calling your Planted Practice.

You don't change the way you think by reading something cool in a newsletter. You change with small, daily work, just like training your body.

Each Planted Practice is deceptively simple, but might just be more powerful than you think.

This week's challenge: Talk to Yourself Like a Special Forces Op

Have you ever wondered how the most elite military forces stay cool and calm in the most extremely dangerous situations? They talk to themselves.

And not just any kind of talk, they talk specifically about the task at hand in the moment to stay present. While stalking an enemy target, they might say, “approaching target, target in sight, ready to fire.” No sense of fear, simply execution.

This is something you can use in your running. When you start to feel fatigue, talk to yourself as an observer,”heart rate rising, breathing in a 2-1 pattern, knee drive falling, Increasing knee drive, taking fluid, breathing deeper, maintaining pace.”

This helps you focus on the actual task at hand that you can control, rather than letting your emotions take the wheel.

Try narrating your run without emotion like a Navy Seal and you’ll begin to perform like one.

*share how it went on social and tag me!

#plantedpractice

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podcast

The golden rule of marathon pacing is the negative split. Start conservative, finish faster.

But is that really the ideal way to pace? Maybe not.

You'll learn:

• Why the negative split might not be the best way to pace a marathon,
• How the course itself, flat or hilly, can trick you into pacing mistakes
• How to use your effort with your watch to know if you should push or hang on

If you’ve never run the second half faster than the first (like me!), or if you always have, this is the episode for you.

listen here

here's a fun Apple Podcast review posted recently:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Master's Runner/ Assistant Collegiate XC/Track Coach

Coach Claire has provided a simple tool for our athletes that I have shared with some of our runners that need the reset! I have coached hs XC/track since 2004 and this is a wonderful free resource that I have shared with a number of our runners in our first one on one meetings this year. I am an avid listener of the planted runner podcast and would love for Coach Claire to take me on for Boston 2027. That will be marathon number 77 and would love to break 3 hrs again as a 50 year old grand masters runner!

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inspo

"The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you've done".

—Robert Downey Jr.

Have a great run today, Coach Claire

P.S. If you missed it, grab the Readiness Reset, a FREE seven minute audio training. Use it before hard workouts, long runs, and race day to stay calm and focused.

Thank you for being a part of the Planted Runner community!

My mission is to help runners just like you reach goals they never dreamed possible through science-backed training and plant-based nutrition.

Since 2016, I've helped thousands of every day runners become fitter, faster, and stronger with truly customized training and coaching.

I also love to share what I have learned from my own journey starting as a non-runner to a 2:58 marathoner at age 42, as well what I have learned coaching runners, completely FREE. I do that every week in this newsletter and on the Planted Runner Podcast.

I'm so glad you're here and my inbox is always open. Feel free to reply with questions or feedback!

If that's not for you, ​unsubscribe here​, completely guilt-free!

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