Most of us have been taught practice is perfect.

If you want to learn to play the flute, you practice your scales and your finger placement over and over again until you can do it without thinking.

If you're a singer, you practice your songs over and over again until they are perfect for the performance.

And when you have a presentation to give, you go over your notes and your Power Point until you are confident you've got the material nailed.

So it's not a surprise that most runners want to apply this same principle to running. If we want to run 9:00/mi for our marathon, for example, we should run as many 9:00 miles as we can to be sure we can do it.

Unfortunately, the "dress rehearsal" theory doesn't work very well in endurance training.

Here's why.

find out

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from the team

"I can't believe how slow I've gotten."

That's what Patty told me when she decided she wanted to run again after years away from the sport.

Before kids, she had run several half marathons and loved it. Running was part of who she was. But life got busy, priorities changed, and her running gradually faded into the background.

When she finally decided to come back, it was harder than she expected.

She could barely run a mile without taking walk breaks. Joining a team felt intimidating because she didn't feel like a "real runner" anymore.

Still, she joined the PR Team.

Patty was determined to focus on where she was then and less about where she used to be.

She followed her plan, showed up consistently, and leaned on the support of her coach and teammates.

Week by week, she got a little stronger.

Month by month, her confidence returned.

Today, one year later, Patty is back to running half marathons.

She stopped trying to be the runner she used to be and started building the runner she wanted to become.

The PR Team is a good fit if you:

• you want guidance instead of guessing
• you are ready to train consistently, even if you're not where you want to be yet
• you want support from a coach and a community that understands the journey
​

Patty's story isn't about getting back to where she was.

It's about discovering that her best chapter as a runner might still be ahead of her.

I want in!

*team names changed for privacy

ask me anything

Q:

After a big mileage weekend my knee has a slight niggle only when I squat sometimes. It’s not a continuous pain and I’m not feeling it when I run.

Do you have any specific exercises, stretches or techniques I can do daily to help?

A: ​

That reminds me of the old joke of a patient in the doctor's office.

"Doc, it hurts when I do this."

And the doctor replies, "so don't do that."

It's a silly joke, but there's actually a grain of truth to it. When working around injuries and/or pain, the best advice is to focus on what you can do, not what you can't.

I'm glad your pain is still mild and hope it stays that way.

Of course, I'm not a physical therapist or doctor and I can't diagnose exactly what's going on or exactly how to treat it.

But general principles for running injuries are to load the muscles/tendons surrounding the area to strengthen and bring blood flow, being sure to stay below the threshold of increasing pain.

So if a full squat hurts, see what you can do that does not hurt. Perhaps a half squat is doable without pain. And maybe you can add weight to a half squat so you are still challenging the muscles, but not aggravating the joint.

If a forward lunge hurts, see if you can do a backwards lunge without pain. And on, and on.

There is no "magic" set of exercises or stretches that can heal pain. You'll need to focus on what you can do that boosts mobility and strength in the calf, quads, hamstrings while still activating the knee joint. Motion is lotion!

What you don't want to do is stop your strength or running. Modify to avoid increasing pain, of course, but keep it up and you'll make everything stronger and more resilient.

Have a question? Reply and you could be featured next week.

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podcast

Intimidated by running at the track? I've got you.

If you are lucky enough to have access to a local track today, it can be the very best thing to get better and faster at running.

Let’s find out why on today's Planted Runner Podcast.​

Today, we’ll go over:

• the common and perhaps misguided perceptions of track running,
• how you can use the track to improve your running, and
• the important rules of the track, so you won’t look like newbie out there, even if you’ve never run on a track before.

Don’t forget to stay tuned all the way to the end of the episode for another Mental Strength Minute. Fortify your mind in 60 seconds or less.

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inspo

"Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most."

—Augusta F. Kantra

Have a great run today, Coach Claire

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.

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