I'm currently recovering from a stress fracture of my femoral neck. It's been about 12 weeks, and I'm just starting to try running again for short intervals at a low speed. I still feel some pressure when I run, but my physical therapist told me that as long as it isn't painful, the pressure is fine. She recommended that I start to run on a flat surface. However, when running on the treadmill at the gym today, a trainer told me that that actually puts more stress on the hip and that I should be running at a small incline (of about 5.0) instead. Now I'm confused since I have conflicting information. Can you let me know what is best when beginning running again after recovery from a femoral neck stress fracture? Thank you!
Reply -
Katie, a femoral neck stress fracture is a very serious injury and it will take a LONG time to heal fully.  The short answer to your question is trust the Physical Therapist (who probably has either a masters or doctorate degree and a heavy emphasis on biomechanics) rather than some personal trainer at the gym with little to no formal education in either kinesiology or biomechanics.  The PT is right... any running you do should be done on level terrain.  You'd also be wise to get off the treadmill.  Do your running and walking outdoors - the loads are more appropriate and you're much less likely to make errors in your pacing judgment.  My guidance would be to NOT run at this point but work your way through a walking protocol first and get to where you can walk comfortably (no pain during or after, no stiffness... just feels normal) for about 10  miles per week.  Your long walk might be 3-4 miles, your short ones 1 mile and your medium ones 2 miles.  This way you alternate the overload with recovery, and you are giving a small progressive overload that your muscles and bones can adapt to.  Did your PT help you figure out why you got the stress fracture in the first place?  Have you adequately addressed all the issues that may have played a role in that?  If not - that should be your big focus at this point... not getting back to running but rather getting your body healthy and READY to return to running.  Hills (even on a TM) should wait until level ground walking (and running) is 100% symptom free and then introduced very gradually and only on one or two of your days per week.  Hope this helps clarify things for you - feel free to e-mail me if you have more questions (janet at runningstrong dot com).  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

Hi Coach! I am training for a half-marathon in February and I'm following a canned online programme which emphasizes building the miles and some speed workouts...but I have no race I can do when I'll be ready (early in the month). In March there are a lot more races out there. What should I do for that month--should I not taper and just keep building up my endurance?
Reply
Luck you Julie!  An extra month to train is a lovely thing! It allows for  a little wiggle room along the way if you get a cold or flu or take a vacation and miss a run or two or three... and it also allows you to pause at a level along the way if you feel you're not quite ready for the next build up.  Here's what I'd do - I'd follow the program but listen to my body and if it's telling me it needs another week at a level - I know I've got it so I'll do that.  If everything is going well, then as the program reaches a peak mileage, instead of tapering right away to the race - I'd hold at that peak for a few weeks and then taper toward the race.  Have fun on your journey and good luck in your race.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor.

Hello! I am taking the next three months to train for a 3:40 marathon. This is a significant drop from my last marathon (4:20, over a year ago). Thankfully, this matches with a three month slow period of work. I have about 5 hours a day I can devote to training. However, I am also prone to over-use injuries. What is a good way to push myself just enough without going too hard? Thank you!
Reply - Janet
Hi Maggie, training for such an enormous improvement in your marathon time in such a very short period (12 weeks is no time at all!) is going to be a challenging task for sure.  You're essentially talking about knocking 40 minutes of your previous time... speeding up your pace by about a minute and 30 seconds per mile.  Whether or not that's a realistic goal for you is hard to say without knowing more about you but the one tidbit you did reveal is your propensity to overuse injuries.  Here's my general guidance -
1.  train with paces that are based on your CURRENT fitness level, not your goal time. That means you take a recent race time (a 10K perhaps) and calculate appropriate training paces based on that.  There are many pace-calculators out there - let me know if you don't already know of a few you can use.
2.  Build mileage base first, then work on speed.  Emphasize volume of miles and especially consistent training through the week (not just a long run and one or two short ones each week).
3.  Alternate days - some days a little longer workout, others a little shorter. This will provide both overload (the stimulus to make you stronger) and recovery (the time for your body to actually get stronger). 
4.  Do your homework - strength training is important in the realm of running injury prevention! Make the exercises functional and specific. 
5.  Time is your friend... 12 weeks is a VERY short window of time to do this unless you're already well established with 40 miles per week of running.  If you're base building from something less than that, you might want to consider giving yourself a little more time.
If I can be of assistance, please feel free to e-mail me (janet at runningstrong dot com) and I'll be happy to help you reach your goal.  Best of luck on your marathon!  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

I need to do some speed traing to help build up my endurance. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this, how many times a week etc?
Reply - Janet
Melissa, I usually don't have athletes begin speed training until their endurance base is well established.  There are a couple of issues to consider here - one: speed training is probably not your best way to build endurance... it's probably going to be more effective to work on increasing your volume of eary pace running in order to develop the physiological systems that will best enhance your endurance.  Two - speed training introduces another layer of injury risk because it's higher intensity.  The volume of speedwork you can safely introduce is directly proportional to your total weekly mileage base.  If you don't have much mileage base, you can't give yourself a big dose of higher intensity speedwork stuff. 
With that said - once your endurance base is built and you're ready to introduce speedwork... I usually recommend doing only one workout per week.  In more advanced athletes I'll sometimes prescribe two "intensity" workouts per week - one more intense speedwork session and one slightly less intense pace work session.  I'd be happy to help you with this - if you're interested, go to the services page of the website and download the coaching questionnaire and fill it out and send it to me via e-mail.  Remember - the type and volume of speedwork needs to be correlated to the type of event you're training for and also to your current fitness base.  You can't bludgeon your body into fitness, you have to finesse it there! Hope this helps.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

I have recently started running and I really enjoy it. I completed my 3rd 5K last week and plan on doing one this week and a 10K on Thanksgiving day. I would like to do the ING 1/2 marathon in Atlanta in 2010 and wanted to know if I should get a running coach to help me prepare for this race. Thanks!
Reply - Janet
Nicole, congratulations on catching the "running bug"!  It's great you're having fun with this and training for the ING half marathon in March is certainly a doable thing - you're starting at the right time!  Whether or not you need a coach is really a personal decision. You could certainly follow any number of the "canned" half marathon programs that are out there but they're not really customized to you. As a coach. I can provide you with customized and detailed guidance not only on the distance to run for each workout but also proper pacing for each training run and exercises to help you avoid running injuries.  In addition, when your base mileage is built enough to support it, I can give you specific workouts to do that will help to maximize your pace potential for race day.  Using a coach is not a necessity, but it usually improves your odds of success.  If you're interested - don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail and we can discuss your options.  You can reach me at janet at runningstrong dot com.  I'd be delighted to help you reach your goal.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor 

Hello...I love to run and usually run 3 or 4 miles 3 to 4 times per week. Over the past couple of months, I think I've pulled my hip flexor muscle so I've been using my elliptical more to give it a rest. Well, I ran again yesterday and now I'm in quite a bit of pain (only on my left side - hip area). What would you recommend?
Reply - Janet
Tanya it's hard to tell based on the info you gave me but it appears that your only "treatment" for your hip flexor pain was to back off the running and substitute elliptical trainer - did you not do any specific exercises to deal with the underlying cause for the hip pain?  If not - that may be what's missing.  Specific stretches and strength exercises designed to deal with things like inflexibility or muscle imbalance in your core region might help.  In addition, when you took time off running and then returned to running, did you try to jump back in at your old mileage or did you work your way back into it by doing a walking program and then a walk/run transition program?  If you jumped back in where you left off - perhaps that was a bit much? Also - are you doing your running on a treadmill?  If so - transitioning out onto mother earth will likely help since it offers varying terrain and you're more likely to run at appropriate paces.  I'll be happy to help with more details but I'd need to know a bit more about your situation.  Feel free to e-mail if you like - janet at runningstrong dot com.  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

I have been running since last November, ran my fisrt half in the Atlanta ING and had a severe ankle sprain in May that out me down for 2 months. I have picked up my running again in September and am training for a 10k on Thanksgiving and the half marathon again in March. My heart rate is always maxed at 187-190. I know this is extremely high for a 30 year old woman. I'm not sure if it is a cause of my running or a problem with my lung strength. My chest always feels like it is on fire and I average about an 11.5 - 12 minute mile. I have exercise induced asthma and have had numerous tests run to check my lungs and heart. Nothing came back as a problem. What do you suggest to help bring my heart rate down and get a faster mile? Thank you.
Reply - Janet
Melissa it sounds to me like you're trying to get speed before you have endurance.  You've only just gotten back into your running - perhaps you're trying to run too fast for your current fitness level.  The best way to get speed is to get the endurance first.  Work on running at a more leisurely pace on your training runs - ease off a bit and keep it comfortable. As your endurance improves, your pace will naturally improve as well. This will take many weeks - or even several months... so just nestle in and be patient while your body works the miracle of building a better engine!  I'd be happy to help with specific training advice to help you reach your goal but I'd need to know a lot more about you.  If you're interested in this, check out the Services page and fill out the coaching questionnaire that's linked there and send it to me in an e-mail (janet at runningstrong dot com).  Relax - enjoy the journey... they don't give out prizes for the fastes training run!  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor

My sixteen year old son is a cross country runner. He was sick for about three weeks and was not getting better. We took him to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep throat and was perscribed amoxicillin. He has started feeling better and is continuing his training, but he has really slowed down. He struggles through his workouts and his times are way off. Is the antibiotic causing him to feel this way? He has two more days of taking the medication. Once he is off it can he expect to start feeling strong again?
Reply Janet - If he had a three week respiratory illness it's pretty likley that it is the cause for the decline in his race performance, not the antibiotic.  Bacterial infections like strep really take their toll on your body and his immune system is working hard to fight off this infection. It's hard to do your best when your body is busy fighting off illness.  Hopefuly the medication will work well and he'll gradually be able to get back to his normal training and normal performance.  I recommend he not try to push at this point but rather give his body a chance to get well!  Janet Hamilton, MA, RCEP, CSCS, RRCA coaching instructor