Stephen Covey‘s The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, first published in 1990, is now a classic book in the world of business and self-help. The seven habits are:

• Be Proactive
• Begin with the End in Mind
• Put First Things First
• Think Win/Win
• Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Synergize
• Sharpen the Saw

These habits are worthy of consideration for your life as a runner or walker, too. Here are my examples of how to apply these seven habits to your workouts and races.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

• If you are going on a group training run or walk, do not assume that the coaches will have the directions. Print and carry your own directions and map.
• If you see a hazard along your group’s training route, let someone such as a coach know about it. Or protect your fellow trainees from the hazard until everyone has passed.
• If you discover in a training schedule that you should complete a particular kind of workout, then take time to learn why and how you should complete it.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

• Know the chip-time that you want to get when you cross the finish line in an upcoming race.
• Know your flexibility goals for the coming year.
• Know your strength goals for the coming year.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

• Take care of injuries before you take care of improving your performance.
• Take care of form before you take care of improving your performance.
• Take care of your flexibility and core strength before you take care of improving your performance.

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

• Encourage fellow runners and walkers as much as you encourage yourself.
• Train to improve others’ running or walking performances in your group training program as much as you train to improve your own performance.
• Race with others as much as you race against yourself.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

• Listen emphatically to others during a training run or walk before sharing your own challenges.
• Make a friend with someone struggling during each race by asking how he or she is doing and inviting him or her to run or walk with you.
• Focus on others’ running or walking challenges posted online before posting your own.

Habit 6: Synergize

• Ask fellow runners or walkers what running or walking tricks they use during workouts.
• Ask fellow racers what they say to themselves to make it to the next intersection or mile marker.
• Share your own tricks with other trainees or racers.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

• Cross-train.
• Have heavy and light running or walking days.
• Focus as much on the mental aspects of running or walking as on the physical aspects.

What would you list under each of these habits? Leave a comment. Thanks!

The head coach for my group-training program made me remember this expression last weekend.

We were about to embark on our final run of the training season prior to an upcoming marathon. And she advised us not to try to cram any last-minute speed work into that run or into weekday outings before the race. Her point was that there was nothing that we could do a week before such a race to significantly improve our chip-times. And she warned us that we could instead hurt ourselves at the last minute by cramming speed work into the end of the training schedule.

I found this to be great advice, and it reminded me of the title of this blog post.

Spelled out, this means that the event is not the true test of a runner or walker but instead that the true test is the “marathon” of preparation that must be pursued prior to the race.

Here are three areas of preparation, the first letters of which spell C-A-N — as in “You CAN do it!”

Cross-training

The marathon is the weeks of cross-training prior to the race. You must answer questions such as these:

• “Am I stretching sufficiently and correctly?”
• “Are my core workouts giving me the strong torso that I need?”
• “Is my weight training building the leg and arm strength that I need?”
• “Are my off-day sports activities complementing my running or walking?”

Apparel

The marathon is the weeks of adjusting what to wear during endurance walks or runs. You must answer questions such as these:

• “Are my shoes the right ones for my gait?”
• “Are my shoes the right size for my feet?”
• “Am I lacing my shoes appropriately?”
• “Are my socks keeping my feet blister-free?”
• “Are my shorts or tights chafing me?”
• “Is my top right for me in terms of fabric and fit?”
• “Is my cap or headband keeping sweat out of my eyes?”

Nutrition

The marathon is the weeks of adjusting what to eat and drink before, during, and after endurance runs or walks. You must answer questions such as these:

• “Can I handle any eating or drinking before my endurance run or walk?”
• “If so, what specifically, and how much, should I eat or drink before my endurance walk or run?”
• “How soon into my endurance run or walk should I start drinking?”
• “How soon into my endurance walk or run should I start eating?”
• “What should I eat and drink during my endurance run or walk?”
• “How much and often should I eat or drink during my endurance walk or run?”
• “Am I sufficiently hydrating while on my endurance runs or walks?”
• “What should I eat and drink after my endurance walk or run?”

What is your marathon before race day? Please leave a comment here. Thanks!

Treadmill running is not the same as track running. But you may be considering as a runner whether it could be worthwhile to train on each. To help you to decide when to use which approach, here is a discussion of several differences between these two approaches to runner training.

Balance

Treadmill running forces you to maintain your balance because you must stay upright, whereas you can lean left or right while running on a track.

Camaraderie

If a track is secluded and little-known whereas your treadmill machine is in a gym, then treadmill running can give you more camaraderie. If a track is popular whereas your machine is at home, then track running will give you more camaraderie.

Coaching

If you are looking for a running coach, you are more likely to find one on a track. But sophisticated machines include computerized coaching.

Concentration

Treadmills require high concentration (or you will fall off!) whereas you can let your concentration drift on a track.

Convenience

Convenience is debatable. If your treadmill is in a gym instead of in your home, then a track could be just as convenient, if not more so (if you live close to a track).

Cost

Access to a gym treadmill requires gym fees + your driving costs. Using a home unit has purchase, maintenance, and electricity costs. Running on a track mostly requires driving costs (plus the cost of extra clothing for inclement weather).

Curves

You can use a track to practice running on curves, which is impossible to practice on a treadmill.

Cushioning

If you are going to race on a track, training on a treadmill cannot match training on a track. But a treadmill’s unique cushioning can help you to train longer for road races.

Fresh Air

If you like to be outdoors in fresh air, then treadmill training is not for you. But, if you live where weather is often bad, then track training may not be for you.

Humidity

Running indoors frees you from worrying about humidity challenges that you can face when running on a track. But a drawback of training indoors is that you may not prepare yourself to deal with race-day humidity levels.

Incline

If you are using a treadmill to prepare for track racing, then you do not need a treadmill’s incline feature. But this feature is great for preparing you for hilly road races.

Maintenance

If you have a home treadmill, then you are responsible for maintenance. Gym treadmills and tracks free you from maintenance work.

Multitasking

You may like to multitask — such as watch an inspiring running video — while training on a treadmill. You cannot multitask on a track.

Pacing

It is hard to beat a treadmill for forcing you to run at one pace or another. But it is hard to beat track training for giving you repeated feedback about your self-determined running pace.

Placement

Buying a treadmill forces you to find space in your home for it. But a gym unit or a track frees you to dedicate your home’s square-footage to other needs.

Peace

A treadmill is noisy relative to a track. But you may prefer the peace you get from a machine’s white noise to the peace that you can get from being outdoors in nature.

Strength

A treadmill that has been steeply inclined can force you to strengthen muscles that get little workout on a flat track. But the curve of a track will force you to strengthen muscles that will get no such conditioning on a unidirectional treadmill.

Temperature

Running indoors means a predictable ambient temperature. Running outdoors on a track means that the ambient temperature is at the mercy of the weather.

Visualization

Sophisticated treadmills include video displays that can stimulate your creative-visualization skill as a runner. But track running can give you the solitude to stimulate creative visualization, too.

Wind

Other than perhaps an electrical box-fan blowing strongly against you, training on a treadmill means no wind. This can be good when you want to focus on other aspects of your running. But it will not prepare you as well as a track will for handling wind gusts, tailwinds, and headwinds that you can experience when racing outdoors.

Do you mix these two types of running? Please leave a comment here. Thanks!

An elliptical machine for runner training can provide excellent cross-training.

If you are a runner who has tried an elliptical machine, who has decided that you like using one, and who is contemplating buying one, then here are several things to consider when placing one in your home.

Consider where your HVAC ducts are.

You may like cold or hot air blowing directly on you while training, or you may prefer to stay away from direct gusts from your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system.

Consider where your windows are.

If you are a very private person, then you may want to place your elliptical machine so that it faces a wall. But, if you like looking outdoors and do not mind possibly being seen by passers-by while you train, then find a window near which you can place the machine.

Consider where you can place a laptop, book, e-reader, magazine, or newspaper.

Treadmill desks have become popular because they let treadmill users do real work while walking very slowly on a treadmill. In contrast, elliptical machines generally require more motion from their users than do treadmills. But you may want to perch a laptop computer, book, or or other reading material on or very close to your elliptical machine so that you can do some reading while training. A nearby shelf could work, if it puts your reading material close enough to you on the machine. Or you may have to buy or build a small shelf or holder to attach to your elliptical machine.

Consider where your lighting is.

If you plan to do any reading while training — such as when you are in warm-up or cool-down mode — then you should make sure that you have adequate illumination for reading. Small-font text, such as in a newspaper, generally requires more light than does larger-font text, such as in a book. If your elliptical machine does not include a reading light, then you may be able to attach a small one that uses cool-to-the-touch LEDs that emit a bright, white light. Or you may want to consider placing your machine where you already have overhead lighting in your home.

Consider where you can place a TV set.

If you plan to watch any TV or video programs — such as inspiring videos about runners — while you are on your elliptical machine, then you should make sure that you can place your TV set and video player in a location that is suitable for your height when you are on the elliptical machine and for their distance from the machine.

Consider where your electrical outlets are.

You typically need a supply of electricity to get the most out of an elliptical trainer. You may need an electrical socket for your reading lamp. And you may need free sockets for home-entertainment equipment.

Where have you placed your elliptical? Please leave a comment here. Thanks!

When I met my wife, she liked to run 5K races whereas I liked to work out daily on an elliptical machine. And this gave me an idea for a training experiment:

1. I would train weekdays on my gym’s elliptical machine.
2. I would race every few weekends in a 5K race.
3. And I would track my race completion times (chip-times) over the series of races.

Guess what happened?

Even though I never ran on a track or a road except during a 5K race, my chip-time kept getting shorter!

In other words, training exclusively on an elliptical machine seemed to improve my 5K running speed. Of course, participating in the races themselves could have helped me to cut my 5K time, too. But it seemed to me that there was a powerful training effect that I got from the elliptical machine as a 5K racer.

An advantage to this kind of 5K-race training is that I put no noticeable impact wear on my joints.

I also noticed that I seemed to have more kick during these 5K races than I had had several years earlier when I trained for 5K races by running on the road.

And it felt as if training with an elliptical machine gave a more fluid style to my running — probably because an elliptical machine forces the user to repeat a very predictable set of movements.

If you hate running in general but enjoy running in 5K or other road races, then you should consider training with an elliptical machine — perhaps initially in a gym, so that you are not purchasing something that you may not like.

But, once you have confirmed that you enjoy training on an elliptical machine, here are some things to consider when shopping for one:

• Do not buy the cheapest one. The cheapest machines might be fine for very occasional users. But the expression “You get what you pay for.” is crucial to keep in mind when you are about to buy something that will get as much wear and tear as an elliptical machine being used by someone — such as you! — dedicated to improving fitness and cutting road-race time.
• Do not buy the most expensive one. The highest-priced models tend to be loaded with gadgets that you do not necessarily need. Plus, you will appreciate having more money to spend on running apparel and nutritional supplements by buying a machine that is not at the very top of the price range.
• Try before you buy. Although it can make sense to shop online to replace a machine with the same make and model, it does not make sense to shop online when buying one for the first time or when considering switching brands or models.

And remember: Training on an elliptical machine versus training on the road does not have to be an either-or proposition, so you should feel free to mix these two approaches to training as each one suits your mood, fitness, and goals.

Do you use an elliptical trainer? Please leave a comment here. Thanks!

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