Coach Sarah is flying solo today because Coach MK ran the New York City Marathon this morning! SQUEEE!!!! She will tell us all about it soon, we hope!

Today we have questions about hands swelling during workouts, estimating 5k and 10k paces, how much miles matter in the Tenacious AF Marathon Ramp, and Off-Season Training!

Coach MK and Coach Sarah livestream question and answer sessions each week on the Fitness Protection Program Facebook Page, The Fitness Protection Program YouTube Channel, and Twitch, simultaneously. Join us! They are a lot of fun, super informative, and anyone may ask follow-up questions during the live broadcast!

RUNNER, INTERRUPTED

• Weekly win: moving to runner interrupted. Recognized there are some things in my personal life plus a mild injury I need to face head on. Trying to give myself space and grace to do so. It is incredibly difficult to do this.
• Weekly win! I've been taking an adult ballet class. A number of women in the class were complaining that their feet were cramping up. I was not having that problem. The teacher  basically went through the toe yoga routine and told us if we did it regularly our feet wouldn't cramp up. I may not be running right now, but it's awesome to see the benefits of what I can do! 

REBUILD

1. My hands swell when I exercise. I thought it was just heat related, but it’s still happening when it’s cool. Enough that I need to take my wedding rings off before exercise. Is this a nutrition thing? Or something where I need to just make do?

MAINTAIN

Shoutout to Karen Schlueter and Sara Seeburg and Olivia Merrick and Lindsey Hein and MK!!!!!

1. Hello! First month in Maintain. Right now my Easy Effort pace is ALL OVER THE PLACE. What suggestions do you have for estimating 10k and 5k pace for those portions of the runs? Thank you!
2. If I have a little niggle that I want to see a PT for, do I have to go to my primary care doctor first or can I go straight to a PT? I've never done this before. Thanks!
3. Please reassure me it’s ok that I am not hitting the miles during my Tenacious AF marathon ramp.
4. I did my first EAT this week! Now questions- from what I understand, the B segment is my 10k pace, right? There is about a 2.5 minute difference between my B pace from the EAT and the 10k pace described in the Hot Buttered Cider workout (140 minus 2 mins). Which pace should I use for that workout? The EAT pace is definitely more of a tempo pace for me. The A segment was a bit faster than my current half marathon times and the C pace was a bit faster than my 5k PR. One more EAT question- what's the difference between "Time" and "Total Time" on the EAT worksheet?
5. What's your opinion on taking an "off season"? Sometimes I feel like I just want the mental break or the physical break or maybe just want to spend my time doing something else, but I don't want to give up any hard earned fitness!
6. So.... after finishing the beta I ran a solid half today probably a bit harder than I’d intended. I have another in 6 weeks. Polar says 8 days recovery. How should the next 2 weeks Look considering the next race...?
7. Hi Coach Sarah! I’m looking ahead to winter, and while I’m not afraid to run in the cold, I am most definitely afraid to run if it’s potentially slick on the roads/paths I run on. I have a gym membership, and can go anytime I want. Honestly, I really like doing the speedier workouts on the treadmill! I’ve even added a 5th day of workouts to my week, thanks to my lovely coaches! Currently, I’m doing the stepmill and swimming one day, then running 4 days.  My question is… when I get tired of the treadmill and want to mix it up, what do you think about adding a HIIT class or strength class in there instead of running? Should I warm up 1-2 easy miles on the treadmill, then go to class? (If I’m doing classes, I’ll definitely not do 2 hard workouts back to back.) My concern is to not lose any of those crucial adaptations in my tendons, joints and ligaments! ;) Is there a minimum per week/per session to maintain those amazing little adaptations? Thank you so much! Love you!
8. Hi Coach Sarah! Yay, Coach MK!!!! I am writing in with a question that you may not be able to answer, and that's ok! I followed an acquaintance running today. This person was trying to BQ and was doing great until a cramp did him in and he had to walk the last 4 miles. I know about bonking. I know about fueling and pacing, etc. etc. But what causes the cramping? Any steps we can take to run as strong a race as we have in us? Thank you!!