Coach MK and Coach Sarah host question and answer livestreams each week on the Fitness Protection Program Facebook Page, The Fitness Protection Program YouTube Channel, and Twitch, simultaneously. 

This week, they tackle questions about ramping up to a 50K or 50-miler, how to add in additional days of running safely and effectively, troubleshooting heart rate monitor issues, the launch of Slow Burn, and how to approach a 2020 running mission without a number attached!

Note: Slow Burn is open for sale!!! You will hear more at the top of this episode. Registration closes on the evening of 12/16/19. If you donated to the Holiday Strength Challenge in exchange for a Slow Burn coupon, check your email for instructions on how to use it!

If you are considering a Stryd pod, Coach MK recommends them HIGHLY. We still have one more Stryd unit to give away during our Holiday Strength Challenge! Make your donations TODAY! 

Hello, this is Ask Away with Coach MK and Coach Sarah!  Before we get started, we have ANNOUNCEMENTS! 

Would like to start with a heartfelt hug for the family of Barry Barkley of Shelbyville, TN, aka, “where my mom is from”. Barry Barkley was Laz Lake's friend, neighbour and running partner and he named his famous Marathon after him, yup, THAT Barkley. 

Announcement #1: The Holiday Strength Challenge continues! So far we have given away a BEAUTIFUL pair of Oscar De La Renta earrings and a Stryd foot pod, and we have MORE COMING! If you haven’t already, join the Holiday Strength Challenge Facebook group so you don’t miss a single one of these giveaways and make SURE you tag us on Facebook and Instagram when you post your videos (and if you don’t see your videos appear in our Instagram or Facebook stories, go ahead and DM them to us just to make sure we do not miss them!). It is NEVER too late to get started and the fun continues until Christmas!

Announcement #2: Discount codes for Slow Burn have gone out! Maybe you don’t care about a stryd pod, but if you DID make a donation to one of our charity partners, you should have received your discount code on FRIDAY. This discount code matches your donation up to $45 in the form of a discount for Slow Burn. You may use the code during the next 12 months for any of our 2020 offerings of Slow Burn (and you can purchase the program now and use it later in the year if you wish). 

We will email all purchasers once the final material is signed off by Seeburg, towards the end of the month, to alert you that your password for the member site will work now. (Some of you have noticed, it does not yet work! This is why!). If you aren’t ready to start that is okay! Just don’t use the password, AND email us to let us know that you will join us later in the year so our tech people have it in their notes.

Reminder that if you START Slow Burn in January but are unable to finish because ‘life’, we will grant you access to a subsequent round for half of what you paid. So, if you made the donation and got a $45 coupon, you can purchase Slow Burn now for $104; then if you start in January and are unable to finish, we will let you join an upcoming round later in the year for $52. 

Announcement #3: Slow Burn is open for sale on the site HERE: https://www.fitnessprotection.com/slowburn

This is a one-time purchase in addition to your Maintain membership, so please DO NOT cancel your subscription once you’ve purchased Slow Burn. We want to continue to offer high-quality products and programming around here that exceeds your expectations and we depend on the monthly subscriptions in order to do that.

If you have questions about Slow Burn, feel free to email coach Sarah at coachsarah@coachedandloved.com, or toss those questions in the daily run threads. It’s marginally more time overall than Maintain, but not egregiously so. It’s definitely way less work than some of the half-marathon training plans I’ve sold in the past! In Slow Burn, the runs are shorter, the intensity is slightly higher, BUT remember this is Coach MK you are talking to- I don’t like hard painful work, this is a program I would absolutely do myself. 

And if you haven’t already, listen to the podcast episode we recorded about the program and its beta participants!

http://fitnessprotection.libsyn.com/slow-burn 

On that note, let’s get to the BURNING questions that our members submitted this week!

Runner, Interrupted (21:00)

It is HARD to be a runner not running when eeeeerbody is talking about GOALS GOALS GOALS, so reach out to us if you need help thinking about what you want to get in 2020 - we GET how hard the work you are doing feels right now.

ReBuild (24:00)

• I've been ReBuilding for a month now, but only at 3 days a week as that was all I was cleared to do by my PT. I've now been cleared to start including more runs. Any suggestions for how to work back up to 5 days? (For what it's worth, I have been doing the M, W, F runs as run/walk intervals and biking or doing yoga the other days.)
• I’m not *really* running right now...I need to address some things with PT after the first of the year (when my insurance will pay for it)...Slow Burn in January or wait?

Maintain (30:00)

Race Shoutouts!!!

Amy Wilson, Millinocket Half Marathon

Stacy Clark, Rehoboth Beach Marathon

Emma Ross, California International Marathon

• Do you have any idea what the 50 mile ramp up will look like for 3DATF? I haven't listened to the goal setting webinar yet so if you went over it then, I apologize. I would like to have an idea when it will start. I have been in Maintain since July. 
• Hello coaches. Thank you for Friday’s webinar. It was very helpful. Before I can plan my year I would like some advice on the lead up ramp for my 50k in July. Will 12 weeks be enough or is it likely to be longer? If longer how long? Will there be a definitive 50k plan available for those of us who wish we could join in 3DATF but can’t? 😥. I am going to do Slow Burn in January then will have up to 7 weeks before a 12 week ramp would start so there is time for extra weeks if necessary. Thank you.
• When do we get new marathon plans? :D The webinar got me excited to start training for my next one!
• Can we talk winter running leggings/tights? Would love to hear if Coach Sarah or Coach MK has a favorite running tight for the cold weather. I find they are either not warm enough or not breathable enough.
• For the past week or so, my heart rate has jumped up in the first few minutes of my run to the 160s (or higher). Sometimes it goes down again within a minute or so; this morning on my long run it didn't go down within a minute, so I disconnected the strap from my watch, ran with my wrist monitor for a minute or two (which had normal numbers), and then reconnected, and it was fine for the rest of my long run (HR in the 130s, with risings and fallings for hills and pickups as expected). Is this normal, a sign my HR strap needs to be replaced, or something going on with me?
• I’ve been mulling over what would be a good goal for me. Slow Burn coincides with busy times for me, and a marathon is not something I am interested in. This morning I keyed on a word, steadfastness. I think that would work.