Tag: Conversation Pace

  • Womens Clinic Pace Groups

    Womens Clinic Pace Groups

    Womens Clinic Pace Groups

    Womens clinic pace groups vary from clinic to clinic. At the beginning of each Women’s Beginning Walking and Running Clinic, most people place themselves in the right group. However, for a few, it’s a bit difficult. If this is you, hang in there. Remember you can experiment with different groups, the goal being to eventually settle in to the one that’s right for you. A little shifting around in the first couple weeks is okay if you’re not sure. If you are unsettled by week 3, please see me.

    I occasionally get inquiries regarding the “pace” of each group. While most people don’t have any idea of their pace, some happen to know their general pace from a recent event, a walk or run on a route of known distance, or from viewing minutes per mile on a treadmill where you can switch miles per hour to minutes per mile.

    At the beginning of each clinic, base fitness varies from person to person. Throughout the clinic, homework consistency also varies. Those who aren’t consistent will have progressively more difficulty keeping up with those who are. If you’re in a group that doesn’t feel comfortable, switch groups or see me and we’ll talk about it. It’s not about the group, it’s about starting slowly and progressing gradually through consistency and patience. Don’t be in a hurry. Be patient and you’ll make solid gains toward your goals.

    Group Pace Range

    Group pace varies from clinic to clinic and we never know the exact pace range for a given group. However, here is historical information intended to assist with group placement. Data is from 5k’s (3.1 miles) done by “cats” at the end of 12-week Women’s Clinics. There’s quite a range for some groups, as well as a little overlap in the Panther, Cheetah and Bobcat groups, partially due to base fitness and homework consistency. This is meant as a “general guide” for group placement and should not cause unnecessary alarm or confusion.

    LEOPARDS: Average Pace = 18:00-20:00 per mile (55:55-1:02 5k)

    COUGARS: Average Pace = 16:30-17:45 per mile (51:22-54:28 5k)

    JAGUARS: Average Pace = 14:00-16:00 per mile (44:03-48:37 5k)

    PANTHERS: Average Pace = 11:30-13:00 per mile (35:40-40:20 5k)

    CHEETAHS: Average Pace = 10:30-12:00 per mile (32:30-37:20 5k)

    BOBCATS: Average Pace = 10:00-11:00 per mile (31:00-34:20 5k)

  • Women’s Clinic Post Clinic Tips

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    Now that the Women’s Beginning Walking and Running Clinic is nearing the end, here are some special Women’s Clinic Post Clinic Tips to help you stay consistent. Remember conversation pace and your heart rate guidelines and be patient as you continue to improve your fitness. Most of all, have fun!

    Walkers:

    Leopards and Cougars: Repeat the last 4-6 weeks or your group or begin the next group (Leopards switch to Cougars and Cougars switch to Jaguars). Jaguars: repeat the last 4-6 weeks. If you are thinking about being a Panther in the next clinic, keep walking consistently until then. If you have been consistently walking for the last 12 weeks, without injury, and you wish to transition to running, consider a 20-second easy jog every 5-6 minutes of walking.

    Any walkers can meet Cat Alumni 5:30pm each Tues/Thur at GFR or whenever it works for you. Copy e-mails from your cat’s group and contact one another to arrange to walk together.

    Resources for Walkers:

    Willamette Wanderers: http://willwander.weebly.com/

    American Volkswalk Association: http://www.ava.org/

    Oregon Trails State Volkssport Association: http://www.walkoregon.org/

    Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. – Soren Kierkegaard

    Panthers (1st Walk-to-Run Transition Group):

    Upon completion of the WC Panther plan, you are a runner, congratulations! You’re off to a great start and here’s a plan that has worked successfully for other Panther alumni.

    Interim until the next clinic begins, repeat the last 4-6 weeks of the Panther plan, (yes, repeat it) or begin the Cheetah plan. Go at your own pace, to the best of your ability and modify as needed. Arrange to meet other Panther alumni 5:30pm Tues’s and Thur’s at GFR and do it together. The key is to remain consistent.

    Next Clinic: Repeating the Panther group or moving to the Cheetah group depends on how you are doing once the next clinic begins. It will depend on your general health (are you injury-free?) and how consistent you were during the interim.

    Cheetahs (2nd Walk-to-Run Transition Group):
    Repeat the last 4-6 weeks of the Cheetah plan. If you’ve been consistent through the clinic, feel free to begin the Bobcat plan. Go at your own pace, to the best of your ability and modify as needed. Arrange to meet other Cheetah alumni Tues/Thur evenings at GFR and do it together. Staying consistent is key. Being a Bobcat in the next clinic depends on your consistency during the interim. Although walk breaks are always an option, Bobcat homework does not include them.

    Bobcats (Running Group):
    Arrange to meet your Bobcat buddies 5:30pm Tues’s and Thur’s at GFR and run together. Sign up for 5k’s and 10k’s. Be a Bobcat next clinic. Getting 18-24 months of consistent running and a few 5k’s and 10k’s under your belt is highly suggested before considering a half marathon. If you have not run consistently for 18-24 months and have not run a few  5k’s and 10k’s, please consider being a Bobcat again in order to give yourself a more solid base for which to build upon for safe half marathon training.

  • Breathing Awareness

    Do you practice diaphragmatic or “belly” breathing? Do you breathe when you stretch? Correct breathing – slow, relaxed “belly” breathing – is important for effective stretching, rolling out and many other activities. Good breathing helps us relax, increases blood flow throughout the body, and helps relieve built-up tension. With practice, correct breathing is a simple, yet highly effective tool.

    As you breathe in, the diaphragm presses downward on the internal organs and their associated blood vessels, squeezing the blood out of them. As you exhale, the abdomen, its organs and muscles, and their blood vessels flood with new blood. This rhythmic contraction and expansion of the abdominal blood vessels is partially responsible for the circulation of blood in the body. The rhythmic pumping action, referred to as the respiratory pump, also helps remove waste products.

    The respiratory pump is important during stretching and rolling out because increased blood flow to muscles improves their elasticity, and increases the rate at which lactic acid is removed from them. Work on slow, relaxed breathing when you stretch and roll out.

    BREATHING AWARENESS EXERCISE

    Observe your normal breathing pattern without making any changes, nor controlling the breath in any way. Simply observe, and notice the quality of your breathing, depth, evenness, sound, smoothness, roughness, rate. Let the breath come and go in its own natural rhythm.

    Follow the breath from moment to moment, and develop sensitivity by the direct experience of feeling the breath as it enters and leaves the body.

    Breathe in and out the nostrils.

    Feel the breath, and follow it, the moment it enters your nostrils, through the nasal passages, throat, trachea, bronchi and into the lungs. Let the exhalation be a long, slow release.

    Notice whether or not you are breathing equally into each nostril and lungs. Be aware of tightness and restriction in the rib cage. Notice the quality and amount of expansion in the ribs and lungs. Do both lungs expand equally? Into which part of the lungs do you mostly breathe?

    If you practice breathing with awareness, the quality of your breathing will improve with little effort.

    BREATHING EXERCISE #2

    How can I relax and bring my heart rate down? Practice diaphragmatic breathing. Here’s an exercise. It takes practice, so be patient and persistent.

    Get comfortable, either sitting, or lying on your back with pillows under the knees or lower legs on a couch.

    1. Breathe in slowly and deeply, using diaphragm, 4-6 seconds (one-one thousand, two-one thousand, etc)

    2. Hold your breath for about three seconds

    3. Slowly begin to exhale, counting for twice as long as the inhale, and gently pushing from down low for the last 2 or 3 seconds to get that last bit of stale air all the way out.

    Repeat steps 1-3, two more times for a total of three times. Next breathe normally for ten breaths. Then repeat the whole sequence. Although it takes practice, this is a relatively simple relaxation tool and it works really well.

  • History of Taking Heart Rates

    Historically, during Heart Rate checks in the Women’s Beginning Walking and Running Clinic, many are surprised to discover that they are going too fast. This is a very important discovery because prior to HR checks, they don’t think they’re going too fast. They’re motivated and they’re moving forward. They think they’re doing just fine. Just a few weeks into a program, this “yucky” feeling occurs. Does this sound familiar? With beginners, “yuck” happens when you’ve overdone it.

    Once you realize you are exceeding your Target HR Zone, and associate this with what your effort FEELS like, and what your ABILITY TO TALK is, then you allow yourself a chance to slow down. You gain new tools to experiment with, new tools to assist with the learning process of enjoying exercise and all its wonderful benefits.

    Heart Rate checks, Conversation Pace and learning to “Listen To Your Body” are simply tools to use during this learning process. And it truly is a “process” in that it doesn’t happen overnight and it is ongoing. It takes years to really learn to “listen to your body” and trust and respect it, and then, to actually do what it says! This is where patience comes in. Be patient with the process, have fun learning how to use the tools, and trust your instincts. Then you will know when to slow down and when to pick it up, with confidence and pure enjoyment!

  • Conversation Pace

    “Conversation Pace” is the key to getting started and staying with it.

    Walking and running should feel good. Your effort, in general, should be comfortable. We are often asked, “What’s comfortable supposed to feel like?” or “How do you define comfortable?”

    Comfortable means being able to talk in complete sentences while exercising. Using the “talk test,” you’re doing fine if you can “comfortably” carry on a conversation. If you can’t “comfortably” talk in complete sentences while you are exercising, you’re trying too hard. Slow down and get back to “Conversation Pace.”

    “Conversation Pace” doesn’t mean gasping for air every few words or forcing the end of the sentence, wishing the session were over. It means talking so comfortably that you are totally involved in the conversation and you don’t even notice you are exercising. The session is practically over before you realize it, and you think, “Wow, that was so easy!”

    When you are comfortable, your fitness level improves. The more comfortable you are, the more you can do, and the fitter you get. Here’s how it works… Your heart and lungs get used to processing more and more blood and oxygen every time you go out. Your cardiovascular system responds by becoming more efficient. You respond by being more comfortable doing more work.

    Most beginners and many experienced people have a tendency to “over-train” when exercising. They think they’re able to talk but it’s with way too much effort. They fail the “talk test.” They aren’t getting enough oxygen and the cumulative effect of this leads to over-training. Day in and day out they eventually get anaerobic and they aren’t aware of it. This is why staying comfortable is so important.

    Staying comfortable and exercising at “Conversation Pace” is also more fun. You get to know the people you are working out with and time just seems to fly by. When it’s fun you’re more likely to stick with it. What a simple concept this is. Regardless of the actual pace that you are walking or running at, if you simply carry on a conversation, you know you are going at the right pace.