Rachel Shippee – B.S., CPT, CSCS, RRCA Running Coach

At a young age I developed a passion for health and fitness. This passion propelled me into eventually competing in athletics at the college level and ultimately, into pursuing health and fitness as a career.

I have obsessively worked to further my knowledge in this arena; completing my bachelor’s degree at Westminster University, as well as attaining my certifications as a personal trainer, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and a certified running coach.

It was not until after college that I discovered a love for running. I have found it to serve not only as a great tool for maintaining weight, and improving fitness, but also as a welcomed release. Currently I work as a personal trainer at Lifelong Fitness in Kaysville, Utah. There I am able to coach a variety of individuals on the practice and importance of health and fitness.

I specialize in performance enhancement, injury prevention, and functional training.

Jason Blackham – MD, Sports Medicine, Competitive Runner

Jason Blackham, MD, Internal Medicine Sports Medicine specialist ran cross country and track for Mountain View High in Orem, Ut, where he was All-State, and for Southern Utah University. He continues to run marathons and road races. He was a team physician for University of Iowa before moving to Ogden at Intermountain Sports Medicine at McKay Dee Hospital, Calton-Harrison clinic.

He is a team physician for area high schools, marathon and other race events, Snowbasin Clinic, and Weber State teams. He has given talks at national sports medicine meetings and running symposiums as well as written book chapters on stress fractures, shin splints and calf muscle strains. He practices non-surgical sports medicine. He treats bone, joint, muscle and tendon injuries and medical issues related to sports with emphasis on running injuries, endurance medicine and medical problems with sports participation. He specializes in overuse injuries and prevention of running related injuries as well as ultrasound guided procedures.

He also specializes in sports related medical problems such as exercise induced asthma, concussion, heart issues, diabetes in athletes, and more. He knows how to keep runners training while rehabbing injuries.

Dr. Jared Shippee – DPM, Athlete

Dr Shippee began his passion for running, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle many years ago. Having been raised in a very active community in California, where hiking, mountain biking, and surfing were a staple. Dr Shippee later moved to Utah where he attended the University of Utah earning a degree in Exercise and Sport Science. It was there one of his kinesiology professors highlighted the Podiatric profession. Later, he took up running races and triathlons and began to develop foot pain.

Knowing a neighbor who was a foot doctor and visiting his office to see what that profession involved, he was hooked. Since graduating from Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine he’s enjoyed the focus of podiatry on an active lifestyle and working with both young and old. He frequently will give free community lectures for hospitals, clubs or classes focusing on exercise and its benefits on weight management. He also offers free video gait analysis in his various office locations, which range from Idaho to Brigham City Utah.

Question:

“I just started running…. what do you recommend for me to get started…. as started I mean I ran 2 miles up my road… I had to stop and walk some of it, and my lungs hurt so I think I need to work on my breathing… any advice would help…”

Answer:

We would recommend taking a look at the following articles a few of our Experts have already written. Let us know if you have any further questions.

Getting started: How to Start and Beginning Runner Training
Breathing: Pre-Exercise Ventilation

Pre-Race Nutrition

After all the training that has been done leading up to your big event, the last mistake you would want to make race morning is with your pre race nutrition.   There are some athletes who decide that they want to skip all the confusion and try not eating.  While this may work for a morning 5K, it gets more risky with a 10K and down right nonsense for a half-marathon/marathon or triathlon.  There have been several studies done that repeatedly show substantial increases in performance with proper fueling before an event.  In addition to increasing performance and topping off glycogen (energy) stores, a pre race meal will also help avoid hunger, stabilize blood sugar (especially in those who are sugar sensitive), hydrate the body, still leave your stomach empty by race time and help prevent gastrointestinal distress when done correctly.  So in other words, you will feel and perform better.  The key is to customize your eating habit based on your weight, race distance and food sensitivities.

Here are some basic guidelines to follow for a pre-race morning:

1. Consume .5-1 gram of carbs per lb of body weight the morning of race[i].  For longer races stick to the 1 gram/lb. At least half of it in solid food eaten no later than 2 hours before the race.  The rest of the requirement can be taken in the form of a pre race hydration drink (see below) between 90-30 minutes prior to start time. There are some extra sensitive people that can only do liquids the morning of and that is OK(especially for short, less than 40 minutes, and high intensity racing) Some people keep a packet of gel to take 10-15 minutes before if they can tell they need a little more, so carry one just in case.
2. Choose a solid food meal that is low to moderate in glycemic value. This is a key piece that will help keep your blood sugar stable before and during the race.  One reason some people feel hungry right before the start is that their pre event breakfast was way to high in simple sugars (i.e.: fruit loops, white breads, candy.) which caused a hypoglycemic reaction. People seem to be more sensitive to this blood sugar drop on race day.  With a lower glycemic meal, a steady stream of fuel will be released into the muscle during the first part of the race and allow your body to wait until later to use the other carbs you have stored up in the days before.
3. Avoid high fat and high protein meals. This will slow down the absorption of carbs too much and then you end up trying to race on a full stomach. Yuck! That would be a gastrointestinal disaster. Some “lighter” protein is OK in order to reduce the glycemic index of a meal and make it “stick.” Acceptable protein would be eggs or whey protein, which are both easily digestible.
4. Keep the fiber intake low. This would not be good time for a bean burrito. No explanation needed, ehh?
5. Drink 12-24 oz. of fluid, stopping about 30 min. before race start. If you eat mostly solid food, then your fluid choice will be water.  But for some athletes, some or all fluids will be in the form of a hydration drink.

Read More….

It is very important that you run in a running specific shoe. This is one of those things that is worth going to a specialty running store and spending some money on.

First of all, a specialty running store will be able to tell you what type of shoe you should be wearing (neutral/cushion, stability, or motion control…Look at Dr. Rocco’s article on How do I pick a good running shoe?).

Second, specialty running shoe stores will have the newest shoes out there. Now this isn’t a matter of fashion, it is important to buy shoes that haven’t been sitting on a shelf for a year. The cushioning system in a shoe naturally breaks down over time, even just sitting on a shelf. Make sure you switch out your running shoes often. A good rule of thumb is to get new shoes every 400-600 miles or at least every year (whichever comes first). Another matter to consider is what type of terrain you are running on. You may want to go with a trail running shoe if you are doing a lot of running on trails or snow.

Final point, spending time and money on finding a good shoe is a runner’s best injury prevention tool.

by Janae Richardson, Runner and High School Cross Country and Track Coach

To see other expert answers to questions from the Utah Running Expert page Click Here.