I was looking through the ask the coach archives and noticed no one has asked you about nutrition. I hope I didn't miss it and this is a redundant question. I was wondering what you thought was good to eat pre and post-run, especially on the long runs. I am training for my first marathon and I have been using Endurox after my long runs, or hard workouts. I also try to eat a banana and some yogurt before all runs. Just looking for a little extra advice. Thank you very much.
Reply - Janet
You didn't miss it... I will tell you up front that I'm not a Registered Dietitician and for specific nutritional advice, they're you're best source. However, I'll weigh in with an opinion....
Pre long run - I usually recommend something light a couple of hours before you run. Whatever settles well on your stomach and is quickly an easily digested - that usually means a carbohydrate dominant fuel - your yogurt and bananna is fine.  Post-run it's important to get the fuel in within as short a time after your run as you can tolerate - the first half hour to hour is best.  The standard advice is carbohydrate with some protein and fat.  Endurox is fine, so is low-fat chocolate milk.  My favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! All three of those options will work well.  A good source of info on nutrition for runners would be books by either Nancy Clark RD or Susan Eberle RD.  Both have published excellent books on nutrition.   Hope this helps point you to some better sources... good luck on your marathon!  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

Hello, Beginning runner; Age 40 Height: 6'8": weight: 210. Been running for about 2 1/2 months, and was really anti running prior. I have begun to be able to go further, but have been slowing down. I run slow to begin with; about 11 min pace for short runs of 1.5 miles or less and about 12:30 to 13:30 for runs from 3 miles to 5 miles. My question is this...Should I be doing speed training to get my 5k time under 30:00? or will this just come as the cardio and leg fitness continues to improve? Any help is appriciated!
reply - Janet
Ahhh... this is a great question. The really cool thing about building your endurance as a beginning runner is that by doing so you'll be building the aerobic engine that ultimately will determine your speed. So without doing a single step of hard-core speed work... you'll get gradually faster. The other cool thing about this is that by doing your running at easy paces and adjusting that pace according to the distance you're running is that your body will make ALL of the cellular physiological changes it needs to set the stage for speed.  Work on your endurance - you are in the early stages of the phenomenal adaptations your body is capable of... just go with it and don't worry about your speed just yet.  The changes come on a cellular level and take time so just stick with it for now.  Build your endurance to a point where you can run continuously for up to 6 miles at a time on your long run and you'll find that 5K time coming down without even having to work on it. As you get better, you'll need to do some speedwork to shave the time down further but for now... as a beginner... build the foundation of endurance!  Hope this helps.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

One of the guys in our running group wears compression leg sleeves. After talking to him and doing a little online research I was wondering if that would help me not get so tight in my calves during water stops? My calves will tighten, once I start running for a couple minutes it will get better. The other thing I was wondering about was the compression tights for traveling. While looking up about the the leg sleeves I ran into these on a few different brand's websites. These tights are supposed to help keep blood flow to your legs when you fly and help prevent jet-lag. I am flying to do a marathon in January and just wanted to get an expert's opinion on these as well. Thanks for the info, I look forward to hearing back.
Reply - Janet
Kyle I'm not aware of any research that shows performance improvement with the sleeves but they probably won't hurt you either.  I know there is a good body of evidence to support the use of compression stocking post-operatively or in people with venous issues to support return of blood flow to the heart and reduce the risk of blood clots in the legs.   One question to consider - what are you doing during your water stops? Are you standing or slow strolling around?  If you're standing and talking to your buddies - you might try just slow walking around and also incorporate a little bit of backward walking or slow backward jogging right when you start back up from your water stop. The change in neuromotor pattern with the backward gait may help alleviate the sense of tightness.  Also - make sure you're maintaining adequate flexibility with your daily routine of calf and hamstring stretching.  Finally - check your pace - if you're running your long runs at a pace that's a bit fast that maybe contributing to the calf stuff.  I'd try the low-tech solutions first (pace adjustment and movement during water stops) then if you don't get the relief you're seeking with that, try the compression sleeves and see how your body responds.  Hope this helps.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

I have what feels like joint pain in my left hip bone after running. I have recently made the transition to running in the last few weeks, Still taking it gradual, because the pain when I land is very uncomfotable. I know I should invest a pair of running shoes and I know I need some type of orthoic becuse one of my legs is slightly shorter, but I don"t have very much money to invest in these things. Should I continue or go back to brisk walking? ((all on the treadmill)) Thank you for your time and consideration.
Reply - Janet
The investment in proper running shoes is a vital one that you shouldn't put off.  If you're still in the transition to running phase, perhaps just backing off and doing longer walk segments and shorter run segments would allow your body to catch up to your spirit... also keep in mind that treadmills are not the same as running over land.  You may find that if you can take your exercise outdoors and get the benefit of more natural undulating terrain (slight uphills as well as downhills and level terrain) you may find your body tolerates that better than the continuous un-changing loads of a treadmill.  Are you doing flexibility exercises?  If not - you might spend some time working on calf and hamstring muscle flexibility.  Are you doing any strength work to help the muscles of your low back, abdominals and hips?  If you know for sure you have a leg length discrepancy, you may be able to help offset that slightly by placing a second insole in the shoe of your shorter leg. Bottom line is - you can't continue to bludgeon your body and run through this -- you'll have to back off and work on a solultion.  Shoes should be at the top of your list.  Let me know if I can help with other stuff.  You can e-mail if you like to - janet at runningstrong dot com.  Hope this helps.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

About 10 years ago I tried to run but after several weeks my legs just hurt to bad and I had to stop. So about 2 weeks ago I decided I want to run again, more like jog. I purchased motion control shoes, I do stupid looking warm up exercises, but now my legs are starting to hurt. I am using a system that eases you into running so I am running 4 min and walking 4 min in 3 cycles. Is it normal to hurt when you start running again? Is there anything else I can do? Could it be my form? The soreness was gradual, not sudden. matt
Reply - Janet
Matt, there could be any number of things going on here - see if any of these sound like they might be involved.
Flexibility - if you're not doing some gentle stretching exercises to maintain your flexibility, you may be getting tighter the more you exercise.  A gentle, general flexibility program that emphasizes the important muscles (calves, hamstrings, quads) wouldn't take much time and might have a good payoff.
Strength - You don't mention where in your  legs you're having pain - whether it's hips, knees, lower legs or feet, but in general most running injuries are helped by increasing hip, lower back and abdominal strength. This area is popularly referred to as "the core". 
Training errors - you mention you're following a gradual program but is it gradual enough for YOU?  All canned programs by nature are generic and your individual needs may be different.  Perhaps you're running your run sections too fast? Are you doing all your runs on a treadmill?  If so, get outside. 
Biomechanics - you mentioned you got motion control shoes. Did you go to a technical running shoe store to have someone watch you run and determine that's what you needed? Too much or too little control could contribute to problems.  Keep in mind that your strength and flexibility will affect and are affected by your biomechanics so as one parameter changes, another is affected. If you'd like more detailed and specialized help, I'll need to learn a lot more about you -- if you're interested, you can fill out the coaching questionnaire that's linked at the top of the services page of this website.  Best of luck to you - don't give up!  Back off the intensity a bit and take it down a notch or two on the transition into running - back up a few weeks on that program and progress a little more slowly.  Hope this helps.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

I started running 5 months ago and recently ran a 1/2 marathon. During my runs, sometimes I experience a "strain" feeling on the inside of my right ankle. The discomfort has typically gone away during or after my run, assuming it's caused by the road. About 2 weeks ago, the discomfort did not go away. The only time it feels uncomfortable is when I push on the the bone of the inside of the ankle. A physical therapist looked at it and didn't know what the cause of it could be as she said that stress fractures on the inside ankle is rare. She performed some exercise tests to see if any movements caused any pain. She used an ultrasound on it to try to get the blood flowing to help it heal. She mentioned that people who have a stress fracture typically experience pain from the ultrasound - which I did not. I noticed there when I flex my foot, I notice a dull discomfort. I've been reading online that there's a good chance this could be a stress fracture. Any ideas? Thank you.
Reply Janet -
First of all, congratulations on your first half marathon.  That was a really rapid build up to go from no running to a half marathon in only 20 weeks... so your injury is not surprising.  The "strain" feeling that used to go away with activity was probably the early stages of a tendinopathy.  Potentially if you had heeded the symptoms and backed off  you might not have gone on to this more serious injury.  It does sound like a stress reaction to me, and quite possible a stress fracture.  I think you would be wise to have an orthopedist do some diagnostic imaging to find out exactly what you're dealing with.  An x-ray will be of no value because a stress fracture (if it is one) won't show up until substantial healing has started.  Instead a bone scan or MRI will show a stress fracture even in it's earliest stages.  Mostly we need to deal with the reason for the injury.  It's highly likely that your overly aggressive ramp up of running was one causative factor, but potentialy there are other issues like strength deficits and flexibility issues that may have played into it as well.  In addtion, make sure you're using the correct footwear and that you're training at proper paces.  I think the first order of business is get to an orthopedist and get a conclusive diagnosis. Pain with ultrasound (or lack thereof) is a pretty crude diagnostic tool and may well not be accurate.  Get to someone with diagnostic skills (a Dr, not a PT) and let's figure out what you're dealing with so we know what direction to move to get you back to running as quickly as possible!  Let me know if I can be of assistance - janet at runningstrong dot com.   Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor