Coach Nikkia discusses what we think is inspirational and some of the reasons behind it. She asks whether we understand that there is another human on the other side of those stories.

Links:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2019/11/29/how-to-avoid-inspiration-porn/?sh=67d562535b3d

This year, there's no Tiger King to save us...so what do we do? How do we train for the rest of the year?

At the time of recording, the mask mandate had just been lifted nationwide, with the promise that small group gatherings may be possible by July 4th. Though there are signs that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, we are still a long ways away from pre-Covid racing conditions. Coach MK used to work in reinsurance, covering big events (like sports and marathons) and her thoughts on the business side of racing can be too boring to process, so she brings in Coach and Sponsored Athlete Nikkia Young, who happens to be the President of Richmond RRCA. The two discuss what they expect, and what signs they will be looking for to be confident things are shifting. 

Then, Coach MK speaks with Dr. Dietz on how she interpreted those statements and how she will be preparing, as a medical professional and as a runner, for the rest of the year. 

At the end of the day, a runner without a race is like a fish without a bicycle. At Fitness Protection we know that races are not the reason to get up and go....yet racing seasons have always provided structure to our running. This episode helps runners navigate no-man's land while we wait out the uncertainty of 2021.

Coach MK livestreams the #WeeklyWins and answers the questions of Fitness Protection members each week. They are a lot of fun, super informative!

This week, Coach MK talks about cold weather running gear and the outlook for 2021 races. 

#WeeklyWins - 3:10

Runner Interrupted

ReBuild

• Char Gore woke up to pouring rain, but decided she wasn’t going to let that stop her from getting her run in.  Managed 3 miles with her pup in the rain.
• Char Gore has 2 wins this week!  She had her 3 month post cancer treatment appointment and all signs point to it being completely gone! She was able to start running again in October and said “she can feel the strength coming back - I even love tackling hills because it is a tangible sign that I am stronger.  In 2021 I'm excited to be a beast!”

Maintain

• Brenda Haskill had some great cross country skiing lately.  She said she hit 33 miles of skiing this week for my staycation holiday! Crazy and fun.  I’ll be back to running Monday-Friday due to work and skiing on the weekend. HR training with FPP all year sure made my ski season a lot better and I adapted to it so fast. I’m skiing uphill like a beast right now! 😀
• Amy Wilson got creative and added studs to an old pair of running shoes for her winter running.  She was a beast and ran 8.7 miles in the snow!
• Trisha Thorme ran 600 miles in 2020.

Questions - 5:37

ReBuild - 5:50

• Hi Coach, I’m struggling to get in a cold weather running groove.  I find myself way over layering trying to stay comfortable when I set out and then end up annoyed with all the clothes I am discarding 10 min in when I get overly warm.  If I only wear what I’m happy in 10 minutes in, I find that I can’t seem to get warmed up and am miserable the whole run.  Any suggestions for clothing/warmth management. 

Maintain - 9:50

• My social media feeds are filled with adverts for these post workout leg compression devices. Any thoughts on these? Here's an example https://photos.app.goo.gl/w86JrhMK9fBtZkW28
• What’s your take on the racing outlook for 2021?  Do you think it makes sense to start building for an early fall marathon.  

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

Coach MK livestreams the #WeeklyWins and answers the questions of Fitness Protection members each week. They are a lot of fun, super informative!

This week, Coach MK talks about Romjul and more details about Slow Buring starting in January.

#WeeklyWins - 13:18

Runner Interrupted

ReBuild

• Brenda Haskill has had some huge Personal accomplishments for 2020 she :
• • 🌟Worked with a therapist for 1st time
  • 🌟started Prozac
  • 🌟shed 25 lbs of excess baggage
  • 🌟most important: made my health a priority; especially my mental health 💪
• Alicia Budd said “As tough as this year has been in a lot of ways, it’s been a good one for personal growth. I took charge of my physical and mental health and finally learned (out of necessity) how to take one day at a time.”
• Christine Lancaster prioritized movement this year even when she had many factors working against her.

Maintain

• Daniel Faltyn won his 10k race
• Corina Terry had some great holiday runs.  She has been happy with her progress this year in Maintain.  She is stronger and happier now than when she started and is amazed by all the things she is capable of doing.

Questions- 16:04

ReBuild 

• Hi coach, I’m really excited to start Slow Burn.  When will the website portal be open to start checking out the content?

Maintain 

• Hi Coach and Merry Christmas! I’d like to tackle strength more seriously before Slow Burn starts. Would it be possible to have written instructions for the strength exercises when we have a new set in January? I understand why posting the strength videos doesn’t work now but could use some explanation of the moves. Thanks for all of your work!
• Hi Coach, in-person races are starting to come back where I am but I’m nervous.  Any thoughts on if it’s possible to participate safely?  I really want to but my gut tells me no.

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

Coach MK livestreams the #WeeklyWins and answers the questions of Fitness Protection members each week. They are a lot of fun, super informative!

This week, Coach MK talks about Slow Burn starting in January. 

#WeeklyWins - 9:35

Runner Interrupted

ReBuild

• Christine Lancaster felt good about the amount of running she was able to get in during the month of November.
• Brenda Haskill found her run helpful in shaking off the anxiety caused by a bad dream.
• Beth Hobson has been a badass at work and is excited about turning her badassery towards her running since her work is calming down.

Maintain

• Corina Terry had a great run where she listened to Christmas music while she ran. 🎶 🎄 ❄️ she said, “ It was fun & brought back lots of Christmas memories. Made me happy”. 😊
• Sara Seeburg picked snuggles with kiddo over running!  
• Francine Sheller is proud of having been super consistent with her strength in the month of November.

Questions - 13:24

ReBuild - 13:24

• Can you talk about layering for cold weather running?  I’m usually a winter weenie and run on the treadmill, but I don’t have one at home, and the gym is closed again, so it looks like if I want to run, it’s going to be outside.
• Can you talk through or demo the strength moves for this month? I’m at a loss without the extra guidance. Thanks!

Maintain - 22:32

• Hi there. So this is sort of a visual question. I'm going to include a link to 2 different runs. One is Friday's stride sandwich. The other is Saturday's long run. Succinctly, for both of these runs, is my goal to get my heart rate back down to 140 as quickly as possible? For me, I typically do a two-mile warm-up, then one mile with 30 seconds fast, one minute slow. A lot of times, that one minute slow, really isn't that slow. I'm not sure if I should be slowing down a lot more to get my heart rate down. I'm happy with how it's working out for me; the other graph there is Saturday's long run, where I have a lot more time to get the heart rate down after the pickup. Lastly, I'm still lobbying to have this run renamed the Monty Burns because the graph looks like his fingers. Anyway, thanks for listening. https://photos.app.goo.gl/y3Hd7rzFi5HeJnHp8
• I’d like to know a little more about the slow burn program. 

For more information and hear from past Slow Burn "graduates," listen to this FPP "Slow Burn"  episode from November 17, 2019.

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

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

This week, Coach MK talks about FPP during the holidays. 

#WeeklyWins - 8:57

Runner Interrupted

ReBuild

• Alicia Budd, ran a virtual 10k today. She said “it didn’t feel great but I am so happy that almost exactly 4 months after major surgery I ran a 10k. 2020 won’t get the best of me!!!!”
• Char Gore listened to her body.  Her mind wanted to run an hour but her body said 45 minutes was enough and she honored that!
• Kristen Frazier said “I LOVE starting thanksgiving with a run, and as it’s only once been with an official turkey race it’s no big deal to do a 5k on my own!  The sun finally came out today after a week of grey, Rainey grossness, and my daughter decided to join me!  It’s been weeks since I really ran, so the fact that I pulled off a 5k with relatively little waking was a MASSIVE win!  (Kept my heart rate under 140 to be smart). All good.”

Maintain

• Corina Terry had a great long run.  She said “ Yes! I felt so good today! I almost made it the full 2 hours I was going to run, but cut it short by 11min. That’s okay. I hit a hill on my run 2ce, so I feel like that kinda makes up for it”
• Daniel Faltyn did a Thanksgiving virtual half and found that Alice’s Restaurant made the perfect running song for him that day!
• Trisha Thome ran a virtual turkey trot and said it was great fun to pick up the pace for a little bit as she’s been slowly returning to running after her broken toe.

Questions - 13:42

ReBuild - 13:42

• For the Return to Hope event on the 3rd - what time will that be? What time zone?
• Can Mr. MK share another holiday drink recipe this year?

Maintain - 15:08

• I feel really sluggish when I get my period. Any tips for putting the pep back in my step?
• Are you even thinking about racing this year?

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

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

This week, Coach MK answers a question about if there is any correlation to feeling horny after a run.  

#WeeklyWins - 26:17

Runner Interrupted

ReBuild

• Amanda Bailey’s husband is taking some time off to help with their kids who are out of school again because of the pandemic.  This time means more breathing room for both of them and more sleep and running for Amanda.

• Kristen Frazier is making space for more boundaries with her loved ones which have been good for her mental state

• Melissa Yakuzo is back and rebuilding

Maintain

• Sara Seeburg has been having to do more inside runs but the treadmill is growing on her

Questions - 30:28

ReBuild - 30:28

• Is there a foam rolling move for the hamstrings? Mine feel tight/sore so was wondering if I could torture (I mean help) them with some foam rolling. I can’t believe I’m asking for more foam rolling!

• Starting back from scratch - run/walk keeping my heart rate down. If only one glute is tight what strength is the most important for me to be doing? ❤️ Melissa

Maintain - 35:27

• Please answer in your best Dr. Ruth voice...so sex...there seems to be a positive correlation with me. After a strong good run, I have a strong good, well evening? I mean most of the time I'm already lubed up so I've got that going for me. Not sure there is a real question here, just a topic for conversation. Thanx.

• It’s not taking me as long to warm up even with the temperatures dropping, can I cut my warm-up shorter?

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

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

This week, Coach MK talks about returning to hope snd not returning to crazy expectations. 

#WeeklyWins - 30:06

Runner Interrupted

• Char Gore is planning on A Turkey Trot as her post-cancer goal race. She said “ since our local one is canceled my family and I are doing our own too! I am trying to do matching bibs so we'll see how that goes.  And my mom is crocheting our dog a Turkey coat!”

ReBuild

• Brenda Haskills husband had a much-needed surgery and after a couple of rough nights, she and he both slept! Her Hubby slept and actually didn’t flop around because his nerve pain is gone and meds are helping with procedure pain. The next day she had a beautiful run in stellar sunshine. Stride sandwich for me! Amazing how you feel after a proper restful night.

• Alicia Budd had a great run this Saturday. She said she’s “Still working back up after surgery in July and today felt like a “real” run for the first time since then. I’m doing run/walk intervals and they’re feeling great. It was also wonderful to smell bacon and laundry. Somehow those smells just make me smile.”

Maintain

• Coach Nikkia ran a half marathon this morning!

Questions - 35:14

ReBuild - 35:14

• Hi, I’m unfortunately in a place with my body where I’m more of a runner interrupted than a runner.  I’ve started doing some Pilates at home (we can’t go to the studio where I am right now) and it is going well.  I know you have experience with it and wondered if you had any suggestions for how to have the best experience.

• I’m needing some encouragement.  I’m in a season in life where the most running I can get most days is 20-30 minutes and while I love it it’s not easy to even carve out that time.  I’m feeling like I’m not getting enough running to make any real positive impact.  Is there any benefit to continuing to work to find 20 minutes of running?

Maintain - 44:14

• I ran a race today and as I woke up from my nap, I realized I had totally gotten out of any kind of recovery routine.  Can I get a refresher on race/hard effort recovery!

• I’ve been a one-shoe runner for most of my running life, but am thinking about getting a lighter less cushioned pair for races and faster runs and keeping my regular pair for everyday training.  Is there a benefit to this and what do I need to consider if I go this route? Thanks!

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!

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

This week, Coach MK talks about...so, now what? 

#WeeklyWins 25:57

ReBuild

• Brenda Haskill had a great 6 mile run on a local rail trail
• Andrea Loeffler is running again! She had an easy, comforting, but still challenging avocado toast run. Said IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!! And Feels great to be "back"
• Allison Melley Got up and ran in the dark and cold because it was the only time she could go. As she was leaving she said to herself over and over “I want to run outside this winter. If I can do today, 46 degrees, I can keep going colder.” Was peeling off layers as I went. I can do this!
• Erin White had some hill success and conquered two hills she was previously unable to finish! 💪🏼

Maintain

• Trisha Thome ran 5 miles for the first time since August!
• Corina Terry Ran the half marathon She was signed up for, with a slightly varied route. She was sad the race was canceled, but it turned out even better than She thought. She said “I was nervous, but shouldn’t have been. It was a beautiful course & I was even MORE prepared for this half than the one in August, thanks to you guys & Fitness Protection Program Maintain. 👍🏼 Thank you! 💕”

Questions - 30:39

ReBuild - 30:39

• With the icy rain and snow today (already?!) I am looking for alternatives to my run when I can't safely or comfortably get outside. We have an exercise bike that I tested out today. I was able to get my heart rate up, do some faster and slower intervals, and generally felt that I got out of it what I do from my runs. However, I am wondering how this will affect my "time and forward motion on my feet" since it is a different position and a lot less weight-bearing. I still intend to get out as much as possible, but if there is a long stretch when I am inside should I supplement the bike with more strength training? Would I be better off just playing some active video games up on my feet? Or is it worth it to get a treadmill? It took a lot to build up to my current time and I don't want to feel like I'm starting back at square one in the spring! Thank you!!
• Hi, I’ve been having trouble getting past the 45-minute mark with my runs.  I can get to 45 minutes ok (it never feels great) but after 45 minutes the wheels fall off and I just feel awful. I’ve not been as consistent as I should over the course of the pandemic, my running varies from 1-5 days per week, but I was having this issue even before all the craziness of 2020.   I’m coming from a background of easily running 1.5 hours on a weekday and 2-3 hour long runs but had knee surgery (ACL reconstruction) 2 years ago and just haven’t been able to get back in a groove.  I find that after 45 minutes both my knee/shin hurt (however my doctor and pt assured me my knee is fine) and I just get exhausted.   Any thoughts on how to find my way back.

Maintain - 40:47

• I’d like to add an intense boxing workout to my week. I’ve been using Thursdays for extra strength/lifting weights. What day would you suggest I do boxing and should I change anything about the runs in Maintain? Thanks for everything!! ❤️

• Okay, so why does my right glute med and hamstring always feel tight and the left doesn't? This is not a new issue, but it seems to get a bit better and then get worse again. I haven't run much in the last couple of months but started weight training slowly while I could in a gym. While lifting, I am still doing very low weights with the intent of simply building overall strength, I don't feel imbalanced or that one leg is straining or putting in more than the other. But when I go to run, the leg feels tight and almost like a minor strain.   Any ideas? Should I try to work more on that side or just continue to build overall strength? We have gone back into a lockdown so I am not sure if I can get into a PT or massage therapist for another month so any suggestions for home-based work would be awesome.  Thanks, Coach!  Kristy 

Coach MK's Final Thoughts - 45:28

Click here to subscribe to our podcast, Running Life, and get more racing and training tips from the coaches!

Coach MK Fleming is the founder of Fitness Protection, LLC. Click HERE to download her most popular training plan, Tenacious AF, free!