Saturday Run August 22

We are running from Heritage Park Shelter 7 this Saturday. Run start is 7:00 AM. We will be set up for 10 miles. Expected temps are in the high 60's so we should all be feeling a bit better. If you need more mileage, please plan to arrive early as many of our course volunteers have to leave on time to prepare for our final fundraising event! We hope you and your friends can join us for that event at 5:00 PM at Hamburger Mary's. We are still quite behind in our goal to raise money for Team Action for Healthy Kids and could use your help! There will be bingo prizes, 1:1 raffle, raffle for Royals tickets and just plain fun for a great cause. 

Stretching HOW TO for Runners

Hip flexor stretch. To do at home, hook your foot on couch behind you, kneel on a pillow and use a kitchen stool to elevate your opposite foot. You may need to leave the stool out of it at first. Drive your hip forward and shoulder/arm back. 

Hip flexor stretch. To do at home, hook your foot on couch behind you, kneel on a pillow and use a kitchen stool to elevate your opposite foot. You may need to leave the stool out of it at first. Drive your hip forward and shoulder/arm back. 

"When should I stretch?" I get this question all the time. Here is a quick how to:

  • Keep it DYNAMIC. Move SLOWly into and out of the position. Do not bounce. Avoid holding the position for more than a breath.
  • Stretch BEFORE a run. Ease into it slowly.
  • Foam roll AFTER a run. Avoid the urge to stretch immdiately after a run especially those greater than 15 miles. Wait until later in the day to stretch.
  • Keep it SHORT. Four to eight reps of each one should do it, listen to your body.
  • BREATHE. Your muscles need the oxygen and so does your brain! Exhale with the stretch, inhale as you come out of it. 

Do the Daily!

A running/exercise log can be very helpful in recognizing patterns that affect your performance. They are useful in determining factors that may contribute to injury and assessing the efficacy of a particular training program. Detailed logs are essential in aiding coaches in their job to boost your performance and physical therapists in their efforts to help you prevent and recover from injury.

A log can be basic or very detailed. Logs can include tracking of:

  • Distance
  • Speed
  • How you felt (pain, tired, etc)
  • Cross training activities
  • Nutrition
  • Sleep
  • New shoes 
  • Other things going on in your life (new job, divorce, illness) 

There are lots of running logs to choose from. They vary widely from good old fashioned paper and pen or pre-printed bound booklets to fancy websites connected to mapping services and timing devices.

Many area runners including RRKC runners are logging their mileage on a social network site for runners called Daily Mile 

Daily Mile is like Facebook for runners putting you in touch with runners all over the world, in your neck of the woods or you can limit it to your own circle of running buddies.

 If you mention RRKC runs and S+S classes in your posts it helps promote our group too! Coach Amy is a member and loves to keep tabs on her runners! If you run into troubles like burn out or injury it helps her to be able to look at your daily mile records for patterns.

Let Coach Amy know info@roadrunnerskc.com so she can friend you. Or, you can friend her: search for Amy Parkerson-Mitchell.

See you on the DM!

Three Little Words

"Keep It UP"

I was running the trail today in the muggy soup that is KS, feeling sick and tired of the heat just hoping to get my miles done, when I passed a couple of cross country runners from the local high school. They were no doubt running their cool down or easy pace. But as I passed I said, "good morning" and their reply was, "Keep it up!" How lovely! Those three little words helped me finish out my run with a little more spring in my step. 

So, I am going to pay it forward to all you Roadrunners out there suffering in the heat, "Keep it UP!" And take heart, soon the weather will cool down. Oh, and when you see runners on the road, give them a "Keep it UP!" - those three little words may help them too! 

Shirts Available for Order

2015 Fall Shirt

2015 Fall Shirt

2015 Fall Tank

2015 Fall Tank

Shirt designs are ready for order! Jen K gave us a great variation with Miles in 5 shades of blue and gray on run-friendly, white poly-cotton blend American Apparel material.

We'll order the first batch on Sunday, August 16, so get your info in before midnight on Saturday.

Head over to the SHOP, it's on the MORE menu, above. Choose Gear to see shirts (and stickers).