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Return to Leadville

Ultramarathoner Anton Krupicka meets the 100-miler head on once again.

How does one of the world’s most remarkable athletes approach one of the world’s most remarkable sporting events? Three days before toeing the starting line at the Leadville 100-Mile Run – the notoriously difficult ultramarathon he conquered in 2006 and 2007 – we sat down with Team New Balance’s Anton Krupicka to talk about the course, the field and his mindset as he prepares to return to the race that’s been witness to some of his greatest triumphs and struggles.

Leadville Trail 100

Leadville Trail 100 MTB Race Map

One of the best-known 100-mile races in the country, the legendary Leadville run began in 1983. Aptly nicknamed “The Race Across the Sky,” the run courses through the heart of the Colorado Rockies on forest trails and mountain roads, its low point clocking in at 9,200 feet.
Leading for much of last year’s run, Krupicka had to pull out at mile 78 after being plagued by a stomach bug for most of the race.
Western States 100

Leadville Trail 100

Run in June near Squaw Valley, California, The Western States 100 is one of four races (along with Leadville) that comprise the so-called “Western Slam” – a series of 100-mile races that also includes The Wasatch Front 100 and the Angeles Crest 100. In the 2010 event, Anton finished second to Geoff Roes in what is widely considered to be among the best ultra races ever run.

NewBalance.com: How are you feeling?
Anton Krupicka: Good. I mean, in terms of being ready to race, I’m feeling well.

NB.com: Last year [before Leadville] you said you were feeling pretty good on Thursday and Friday. Are your legs feeling about the same?
AK: Yeah, you know it’s weird. I didn’t enter the race officially until yesterday. I guess that was a result of just not getting around to doing it. But I didn’t actually decide to race until last week, so the usual anticipation and emotional and mental build-up to it has been a lot more subdued – which I think is a good thing, actually.

Before the Western States 100 earlier this summer, I’d been thinking about it for at least two months – thinking about it every day, several times a day. For Leadville, it’s a little more laid-back, a little more relaxed. Last year I felt a fair amount of pressure going in [to Leadville], and this year I don’t feel much pressure – so, yeah, it’s good.

NB.com: You’ve mentioned on your blog a number of times that the reality of running a 100-mile race doesn’t even kick in fully until you’re out there running it.
AK: Yeah, you can mentally prepare for it, but it doesn’t really hit you until you get to 60 or 70 miles, and you’re like “Jeez…I’ve kind of put in a lot of mileage already today, and I’m only 60 percent done.” It’s tough to wrap your mind around that.

NB.com: I think it’s tough for anyone to wrap their mind around what it is you do. Trying to articulate the scale and scope of a 100-mile run over mountain terrain and what that really means is pretty difficult.
AK: I think I may have written this someplace before, but the first time I did it I was really interested in just finding out what it was like to run 100 miles, and I came away thinking that it’s a big deal – and not a big deal. It forces you into an emotional, physical and mental place that not many people experience in their day-to-day life. Everything is stripped down to almost this sense of survival. On the other hand, it’s just running. It’s just a 50-mile race, and you just keep going – you keep eating gel, keep drinking water, and put one foot in front of the other.

NB.com: At what point is it really more about not stopping as opposed to continuing to run? Is there a distinction there?
AK: Oh yeah. I used to think that there was a point where that happened. Then at Western States this year, I learned that it really was possible – at least for me and a few of the top guys – to race the whole way, just because I was pushed so hard all the way to the finish, and eventually passed and beaten.

In the past though, after running for 70 miles, I was always focused on just keeping moving for the last 30 and getting to the finish line. Now though, I think that if you mete out your effort all day long you can get to 60 or 70 miles and really be ready to race and actually run hard, relatively speaking. It’s strange how the more experienced you become, the more possible it is to actually race the entire way.

NB.com: You had noted last year, after you and Tim Parr went out so quickly, your urge to race early on had you both running at a pace that was a little too fast. Does this new mentality reflect a learning you’ve had over the last year?
AK: Absolutely. It was definitely a lesson that I learned from the Leadville 100 last year. It’s a really fine line that you’re riding between going too fast and not going fast enough. It’s really easy to step over that line in a 100-mile race because in the first half (of the race) everything feels really easy – even if the pace is too fast. You won’t know that the pace is too fast until you get to the second half and you’re blown out [laughs].

In Western States this year, I just decided it was going to be all about racing and not chasing any kind of time standard – and that’s definitely the attitude I’m taking to the race [Leadville] this weekend too. I just want to compete well, and if that happens I’m sure that I’ll be in the ballpark of running a very fast time.

NB.com: You said last year that any finish time that started with a number higher than 15 (a 16-hour or longer time) was going to be disappointing to you. It sounds like your thinking has evolved pretty dramatically.
AK: It has changed, yeah. This year, I don’t care about the finish time. I just want to win. If I get to 70 miles and I’m on course record pace, I’m certainly going to be keying on the splits and trying to get the course record. Early on though, I’m not going to be concerned about time splits at all. I’m not going to consciously push the pace to be on course record time. I’m just going to be running within myself and competing against the other runners.

NB.com: To what extent does familiarity with the terrain play a role in a highly technical race like this?
AK: I have really mixed feelings about this. I used to think that course familiarity was really important. Over the last couple of years though, I’ve had a number of good races on courses I’ve never set foot on before – the Western States 100, Miwok 100k, even the White River 50 last year. I’d never really previewed those courses before going and racing them, and while it’s nice to know where the key climbs are, there’s something really refreshing about being on a new trail on new terrain. It helps to know what you’re in for, but not knowing every step and stone is kind of a nice thing.

At Leadville, I know that course inside and out, but I haven’t set foot on the course itself since the race last year. I’m really excited about that, actually, because I know every rock and root, but when I get on the starting line this year will be the first time that I’ve been on the course for 12 months and it’s going to be really fresh and exciting for me. It’s funny that in the last few years it’s been kind of mundane and boring.

NB.com: I think most people when thinking about ultramarathons have this idea of a “lone wolf” runner. Clearly though, you have a team of people that play a role in a race like Leadville, don’t you?
AK: Oh yeah. Especially at Leadville, your crew and pacer are crucial because your pacer is allowed to carry stuff for you – in most 100-milers that’s not the case – and your crew can see you in every single aid station, except one at Hope Pass which they can’t get to. So you get to see your crew a lot, and your pacer has a much more involved role than just keeping your head in the game and keeping you company.

Like I said before, there’s a big difference between training and racing. When I’m training, I really like the solitude and being out there in a place where I’m self-reliant and stripped down to the bare essentials. In racing – it sounds really alpha – but it’s really results-oriented, and I’m exploring a much different part of my running psyche through racing. It helps to have that support crew to really facilitate that by making everything as efficient as possible. When I say “making things efficient,” I mean that the crew is essential to shaving minutes off of the final time.

And it’s fun. A few years ago I had one guy, (New Balance Outdoor Ambassador) Kyle Skaggs, pacing me the entire last 50 miles. When you have that, you’re running half the race with that person. By the end, you really feel this bond of “Wow, we just did something.”

NB.com: So at Leadville this year, there are some 780 entrants. Most probably won’t finish. Only a few have a shot at contending. At the risk of asking a politically tricky question, how many of those people belong in a race so arduous and demanding?
AK: I don’t think that too many are putting themselves in harm’s way. Leadville’s a special case because there’s zero qualifying standard. [To enter] Western States you have to at least show that you can run 50 miles in less than 11 hours, which is a super-soft time anyhow. At least it’s something though, that you can run at least 50 miles.

In Leadville, if you’ve got the $350, you can be on the starting line. You see that this year – it’s easily the largest 100-mile field ever assembled in North America, almost double any other race ever. Historically, the finishing percentage at Leadville is 40%. This year, I’d expect it to be quite a bit lower than that, which is kind of sad. When less than 40% of people finish, that’s a lot of disappointed people going home.

NB.com: This year, for the first time, Burning Man is hosting an ultra.
AK: No way! Really?

NB.com: Yeah. And while Burning Man isn’t exactly mainstream, there seems to be a sense to which the sport is gaining a lot more mainstream attention.
AK: For sure. Books like Dean Karnazes’ Ultramarathon Man and Chris [McDougall]’s Born to Run are inspiring people to get out there and be active, and that’s great. Part of what’s happened is that ultramarathons have really gravitated towards trail racing. They used to be a lot more road-oriented, but now it’s much more a trail sport. Hopefully those folks are inspired by the landscapes that they’re running through and come to value those things. Those have become the things that I value highly in my life, and it’s a great feeling when other people value them too.

NB.com: What kind of training have you been doing over the last several weeks – even as you weren’t certain that you’d enter – in preparation for Leadville?
AK: Well, the White River 50 was only three weeks ago. There’s a 7-mile downhill in the last 15 miles of that race and you end up running that really hard. That descent was really hard on my right knee, which has been chronically sore for the past year and half. I was really up in the air as to whether it could withstand 100 miles. Thankfully, about ten days ago, it completely cleared up and I’ve been feeling 100%.

I think I’ll be coming into this race about as rested as I ever have for a 100-mile run and easily the most fit I’ve ever been, too. It’s been a matter of getting in enough long runs to keep feeling confident and being rested enough to be healthy and ready to race.

NB.com: You sound confident.
AK: Good! I’m really relaxed about it, which is kind of strange. There’s not a lot of pressure. I’ve already done a 100-miler this summer [at the Western States 100], and it went well. I had a really good race three weeks ago [the White River 50], so yeah, I’m feeling confident. I love racing. There’s nothing like being recovered and ready to roll and getting to be out in the mountains cruising all day. It’s a blast.

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Support Our Troops

We came across Braxton via Twitter (@Re_return). Let’s see if we can help him meet his goal of $1500 and his commitment to running the Marine Corps Marathon for a third consecutive year! We’re cheering for ya here at TriCity New Balance!

MCM 2009, circa mile 20. The smile might be a little bit forced.

Hi everyone! It’s almost that time of year….I have committed to running the Marine Corps Marathon for a third consecutive year and will once again be fundraising for a fantastic organization, USO. Please help me reach my fundraising goal of $1,500. I have been fortunate to travel to Germany, Dubai, Korea, and Okinawa and have seen firsthand the positive impact that our amazing employees and volunteers can have on our troops and their families. They really know how to get the most bang for our bucks! This year, I have this crazy idea that I’m going to attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon with a new personal record under 3 hours, 10 minutes. Can I do it? You’ll have to come out to the course on race day to find out….I would love to see you out there!

(source: Braxton Bragg’s Fundraising Page)

ABOUT TEAM USO

TEAM USO was developed in response to volunteers looking for new ways to support the troops and their families.  This site provides everyone a fun, fast and easy way to support the men and women who protect our country every day.

Our online resources allow you to reach out to an endless pool of possible donors.  Spread the word to everyone you know and ask them to spread the word as well.  You will be amazed at how responsive people are!

We provide guidance, tools and resources to make your fundraising event a success whether you are emailing, baking, biking, running, collecting, dancing or anything else.

TEAM USO is made up of all kinds of individuals who share the common interest in supporting our troops and their families…until everyone comes home.

About the USO

For nearly 70 years the USO has been offering its special brand of care to our troops and their families.  Through offering many unique programs and services, we are able to shrink the gap between the home front and the frontlines.

(source: TeamUSO site)

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truebalance- smart & sporty

Give your walking regimen an extra boost of energy and fashionable flair with rock&tone! The 1442’s cutting-edge rocker bottom tones your muscles and burns extra calories while you walk, and the attractive and stylish synthetic and mesh upper is based on the ever-popular 442 lifestyle shoe. NB’s rock&tone shoe helps you get fit and fabulous as you go through your day–you can even feel it working!

Truebalance breakthrough balance board technology offers stylish comfort with enhanced muscle toning and calorie burning while you walk. The fiercely fun 850 and 1100 are all about wellness–whether you lace them up because they look great or for your health, you’re in for a comfortable ride.

Save 10% and get free shipping on every purchase by entering “school” at checkout!

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New Balance WT560BB

Take 10% off this shoe and others by entering “school” at checkout!

This ultra-lightweight women’s trail shoe is designed to provide comfort and style both on and off the trail.

New Balance 560 Product Details

  • ACTEVA™ Midsole cushions and resists compression set – 12% lighter than standard foam
  • Rock Stop® embedded into forefoot provides protection from sharp rocks and debris
  • AT Tread® all-terrain outsole combines a running and trail lug configuration for on- and off-road use
  • Gusseted Tongue fully attached to shoe keeps debris out
  • Sure Lace™ secure shoe laces provide added midfoot support and keep the shoe snug around the foot
  • N-Durance® rubber compound for maximum outsole durability
  • Synthetic/Mesh upper provides lightweight comfort and support
  • Color:  Brown with Light Blue
  • Shoe Weight:  185 grams (6.5 oz)
  • Shoe Last:  RL-3
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Heel Pain: Plantar Fasciitis

Heel Pain: Plantar Fasciitis
HEEL PAIN CAN BE CURED

      Heel pain among weekend sports participants, runners, and those beginning exercise programs is reaching epidemic proportions. Furthermore, heel pain is one of the most common and persistent foot problems affecting men and women. It originates deep within the foot, directly on the heel bone, or within the foot’s connective tissue — the fascia. The plantar fascia is a very thick band of tissue that covers the bones on the bottom of the foot. Pain results in the heel or arch when these tissues become irritated or inflamed or when small spurs grow on the heel bone itself.

It is estimated that 15 percent of all adult foot complaints involve plantar fasciitis, the type of heel pain caused by chronic inflammation of the connective tissue extending from the heel bone to the toes.

Plantar fasciitis occurs most frequently in adults 40 years and older, especially women. Being overweight and wearing inappropriate footwear are common contributing factors. The pain is most noticeable after getting out of bed in the morning, and it tends to decrease after a few minutes and returns during the day as time on the feet increases.

New Balance Running Shoes: The following New Balance running shoes help with heel pain (plantar fasciitis): 1225, 1123 (best), 1012 (best), the 850 (best), and 993.New Balance Walking Shoes: If you are interested in walking shoes, the following styles should be considered if you have heel pain or plantar fasciitis: 927 (best), the 845 (best), and the 811 .

Many patients attempt self remedies for heel pain, such as anti-inflammatory medications and over-the-counter heel pads, before seeking medical advice. To help diagnose the origin of heel pain, physicians take a thorough history to learn the time of day when the heel pain occurs, types of shoes worn most frequently, activity levels at work or during recreation, and if there has been any recent trauma to the area. X-rays often are taken to check for heel spurs, which indicate that the condition has been present for 6 to 12 months. Generally, the longer that heel pain persists, the longer it takes to cure it.

Not all heel pain, however, is caused by plantar fasciitis. It also can occur from inflammation of the Achilles tendon, bursitis, arthritis, gout, stress fractures, or irritation of one or more of the nerves in the region. Sometimes in such cases, heel pain could be a symptom of a serious medical condition that should be diagnosed and treated separately.

Conservative Treatment Works
Initial treatment options for heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis include the following:

  • Stretching the calf muscles regularly 
  • Wearing the proper shoes. Shoes that do well to help with plantar fasciitis include those with strong arch support (This is different than high arch support). To determine whether or not a shoe has strong arch support, a torsion test is required. During the torsion test look for shoes that are stiff in the arch area and do not bend/flex in that area. If an athletic shoe bends in the middle, it may not provide the required stability and protection against heel pain. A shoe should bend in the area in which the toes bend and not at the arch.
  • Using over-the-counter orthotics by New Balance, Spenco, Powerstep or Lynco (these orthotics are firm/hard through the arch; they are not soft, cushioned all-purpose inserts like Dr. Scholl’s).
  • Taking anti-inflammatory medications
  • Padding and strapping of the foot around the arch
  • Injections of corticosterioids.Most patients with plantar fasciitis respond to conservative treatment within six weeks. If improvement occurs, initial therapy is continued until the heel pain is resolved. But if heel pain persists, the patient should be referred to a podiatric foot and ankle surgeon for further evaluation and more specialized treatment.

    Treatments for Persistent Heel Pain
    When conservative treatment fails to remedy heel pain, surgical options that may be considered are removal of a heel spur and separation of the fascial tissue from the heel bone (plantar fasciotomy). During surgery to separate fascial tissue, the podiatric foot and ankle surgeon makes a small incision on the inside of the heel and gently cuts away the tissue. During this procedure, if heel spurs are present they may removed after the fascial tissue is detached from the heel bone.

    Heel pain surgery normally is performed on an outpatient basis. A cast might be needed to immobilize the foot for two or three weeks after surgery and about a month of physical therapy is recommended after that. With no complications, recovery is complete in six to eight weeks.

    A relatively new non-invasive technique, extracorporeal shock wave therapy, also is effective for treating severe, chronic heel pain in adults. This new procedure uses a lithotriptor device — similar to those used to eliminate kidney stones — to generate shock waves aimed at the treatment site. The shock waves achieve therapeutic results by increasing blood flow to trigger a healing response. This eases inflammation in the heel and relieves chronic pain.

    With several surgical and non-surgical treatment alternatives available, heel pain should not be tolerated as a consequence of aging, injury, disease or regular physical activity. Sometimes a simple modification of daily activities to reduce stress on the feet can help relieve it. But for those with persistent heel pain, podiatric foot and ankle surgeons are the experts to consult for determining the most appropriate treatments.
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Idea Submission

Inventors,

New Balance prides itself on our innovative heritage, so we deeply understand and appreciate the desire to create something that could, quite possibly, change the world. With that in mind, we’d like to share with you the following guidelines for submitting ideas to New Balance.

  • Does your idea fit within the New Balance business model and add new features to our product lines, footwear, design concepts, accessories, and apparel?
  • Is the idea unique? Have you done a search on Google or a search on the United States Patent and Trademark Office?
  • Have you applied for or been granted a Patent? If granted (or published), provide patent (or publication) number and copy of patent.
  • Do you need a patent attorney or patent agent to help you determine the novelty of your idea or to file a patent? If so, consult the following US Patent Attorney and Agents Search site.
  • Is your idea commercially viable? For example, could it be manufactured and sold for a reasonable price? Have you approached manufacturing or design firms to obtain cost estimates for prototyping and manufacturing your idea?

If you feel your idea satisfies the previous questions, download the Submission Form PDF and return to the supplied address or email it to:  ideas@newbalance.com

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New Balance: U.S. Manufacturing Commitment

by: Molly Line

As companies across America look to cut costs, shipping jobs overseas, finding a ‘made in the USA’ label can be hard to do, particularly when it comes to apparel and footwear.

Watch the latest video at FoxNews.com

There are more than 30 companies that manufacture footwear in American, but only one athletic shoe company that still makes shoes in the United States. Boston based New Balance churns out 7 million pairs a year from five New England factories- two in Massachusetts, three in Maine.

25% percent of the company’s shoes sold in North America are made or assembled by U.S. workers .

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the last decade, from January 2000 to June 2010, more than 5.6 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the United States. That’s a staggering decline of nearly 33 percent.

New Balance CEO, Rob Demartini, admits it’s a challenge to stay competitive in the world market but says the company’s commitment to domestic manufacturing is firm.

“It’s really part of the fabric of the company. we’ve been manufacturing athletic shoes since 1938,” said DeMartini. “We think in an industry where there a lot of shared manufacturing, knowing how to make the product, helps us. It also gets us a lot closer to the consumer.”

Since it’s founding in 1906, New Balance has grown into a global brand with world wide annual sales topping 1.6 billion dollars.

“I think every business faces challenges everyday and I think the differentials that exist between markets are getting closer together as the global economy is becoming more intertwined,” said DeMartini. “Yeah, it’s definitely a challenge, but we accept it and have been very successful at it.”

DeMartini said the company is growing modestly, despite the recession, due to efforts to keep manufacturing lean and streamlined.

Regional manufacturing manager, Claudio Gelman, says a dedicated workforce deserves the credit for increasing production speeds and maintaining quality.

“Six years ago it would take us eight days, from the moment of cutting a shoe, I’m talking about the made in the USA shoe, to packing,” said Gelman. “Which means there was a lot of inventory, which we’ve reduced 90 percent and a lot of travel time that we’ve reduced by 60 percent. And the lead time, the time it took to make a pair of shoes, went from eight days to three hours.”

New Balance also maintains a manufacturing and client base in Asia and Europe.

“We’re growing in a number of places right now, our Asia business in particular. In Korea and China we are growing very rapidly. We’ve had a strong business for well over 20 years in Japan. It’s our second biggest market outside of the US and we’re feeling very good about that business,” explains DeMartini. “In Europe, where Adidas is kind of on the continent and Nike had been there longer than us, we have our challenges but we’re making real inroads in a tough elite running market in Germany and France and that’s got us very encouraged as well.”

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Using Online Communities to Stay on Track

Using Online Communities to Stay on Track
Using Online Communities to Stay on Track
Personal fatblogs have taken off as a way for writers to get support, record their progress and feelings.
Given the increasing demands on our time and energy, achieving a personal goal or making a lifestyle change can be really tough. Leaning on people who are striving to meet a similar goal or lifestyle change for support can give you the benefit of motivation, encouragement and comfort in knowing you’re not in it alone. Now more than ever, the Internet is making it a lot easier to find and connect with others who share similar goals as well as locate helpful tools to plan and track your progress against those goals. There are websites that center on a specific activity, like running. Or if you’re looking for support from other people working towards a specific goal, say weight loss or getting back in shape, there are sites for that too. Or maybe you don’t need an intense amount of support or the ability to track your progress in great detail, but want to share your progress with others — there are ways to achieve that as well. Just as giving is better than receiving, the added benefit of any of these sites is that in the process of getting your own support, you could end up being a vital part of someone’s support system.

For runners looking for support, MapMyRun.com provides calculators, goals and challenges, training plans and a forum in a hub for people looking to log their runs and connect with others. Entering your city, state or ZIP code lets you view runs recorded, mapped and tagged by other users. The forum offers information and discussion on everything from injuries (“Any other ideas as how to prevent (not “treat”) the side-stitch?”) to playlists (“Like Shakespeare says, “If music be the food of love / run on, run on.” Or something like that.“). Even if you only use the site to keep track of your runs, training becomes easier when you can see your progress on one screen. If running isn’t your thing, the site also offers capabilities for walkers, hikers, cyclists, triathletes and even mountain climbers.

There are great sites to track weight loss, nutrition and exercise while offering you support from others doing the same thing. The decision to take your weight loss journey public can be a big and very personal one. Whatever the reason behind losing weight and getting healthy, you can find support on a site like Sparkpeople or traineo. Both sites allow you to record what you’re eating (and see nutritional analysis based on food labels) and the type and amount of exercise you’re getting. They also feature social networks in the form of forums full of people there for the same reason. As with MapMyRun, a community of people doing the same thing increases the pool of knowledge about a topic. You’ll generally find these environments to be deliberately non-judgemental and a comfortable place to ask any questions, from beginner to advanced. Finding people to talk (or vent) to and compare notes with can help you keep focus, gain a different perspective on your goals or allow you to do those things for someone else. Sparkpeople is free to use, while traineo has a paid option with a free 14-day trial membership if you want to take the site for a test drive.

If you’re a blogger at heart, you might consider “fatblogging.” It has become a powerful tool that can help keep you on track while allowing you to share your successes and challenges with others. Since you choose how much information you share, you remain in control and can tailor your approach to suit your personal preferences. Tech celebrity Jason Calacanis brought fatblogging to the forefront for a lot of the Internet community back in 2007 as a way for bloggers to support each other in their goals to be “not-fat.” Since then, personal fatblogs have taken off as a way for writers to get support, record their progress and feelings, and, most importantly to some, control their anonymity. Weight is a very personal issue for many, and a lot of people who want to get the support are a little gun shy about revealing personal statistics or photographs. Because fatblogging is done entirely on your own, only the information that you want to put out there becomes public. People trying to lose weight aren’t the only ones finding support in blogging — there are personal blogs dedicated to smoking cessation, injury rehab even staying conscious of your health while traveling.

If you’re looking for a way to track your progress toward a life goal that’s not necessarily fitness or training related (say, learning a new language or bringing more balance to your life) , sites like 43things or Mecanbe offer a more casual way to do that. According to the 43things homepage, currently popular goals run the gamut from “learn French” to “meditate daily,” so these sites are great for a wide range of personal goals. They’re designed to be simple and intuitive, making it easy to set up your goal, check off things that you’ve done to achieve it and comment on others’ progress toward their goals. If you’re looking for reinforcement without a lot of detailed feedback, these sites could be just the ticket. 43things is the more established of the pair, but Mecanbe has a growing community of users.

Taking advantage of the power of others in a virtual support group just might be that extra boost you’re searching for to help you achieve personal fitness or life goals. The cost, level of commitment and amount of privacy are all variables that are within your control. Joining a community may be as big a benefit to someone else as it is to you. And, if you decide that a particular community is not for you, leaving it is as simple as deleting an account. Let us know in the comments about your favorite ways of giving and getting support!

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Jenny B. on Listening to Your Body

Jenny B. on Listening to Your Body
Jenny B. on Listening to Your Body
“If one side is hurting significantly more than the other, that’s something that immediately throws up red flags to me.”

You’re an experienced runner. You’ve heard all the advice. Apply RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) to most running injuries. Warm up at the start. Stretch as you cool down. Listen to your body. It’s all, of course, true. And very important. But after reading and hearing the same things over and over again, it all tends to wash over you. What does listening to your body really mean or look like? What’s it like for someone who truly lives to run and runs to live? How does a world-class athlete know when to play through the pain and when it’s time to stop, change up the routine and let things heal? We sat down with national champion Jenny Barringer, one of Team New Balance’s elite multi-event runners who is currently in training to recover from a femoral stress reaction, to talk about how she tells the difference between pain that’s ok to train through and pain that sends up warning flags that should be heeded immediately. For Barringer, it’s all about balance – between training and competition, cross-training and running, confidence and humility and even the two sides of one’s own body.Barringer draws a distinction between soreness that’s helpful because it signifies the tiny muscle tears that are necessary for strength conditioning and growth, and pain that signifies the potential for lasting physical harm. As she developed as a runner, she built a set of expectations that guide her practice of listening to her body. There are certain aches and pains she expects, and certain others that are unwelcome intrusions into her sense of equilibrium. Knowing when to play through the pain is, in part, an exercise in recognizing those different types:

“If I’m out on a run, one of the first things, especially up at elevation, is that my respiration gets really labored. I get an hour into a run, and one of the first things I notice is that I’m starting to get a little more erratic in my respiration and breathing patterns. So I try to rein that in and bring it under control. Now, I don’t think that at some kind of sustained running level I’m ever going to push myself beyond what I should be training at aerobically. I don’t think I’m ever going to go out and run so hard that I can’t breathe. So any type of respiratory laboring is never something that I worry about.

But then, later on into a run or really, really hard workout, maybe my hips start aching a little bit, or my muscles start burning or something. That’s still really common. That’s something I experience on most of my hard workouts, most of my hard runs. So that type of stuff doesn’t send up red flags.”

“You never want to be able to point [to] exactly where something hurts.”

She identifies two characteristics of the type of pain that signal that they should be taken more seriously – asymmetry and localization.

“What does [send up red flags] is when I have something that’s not balanced. If both of my calves are hurting, and I’m going up a really hard hill, that’s not surprising to me. But if one side is hurting significantly more than the other, that’s something that immediately throws up red flags to me. Because that means that there’s some inconsistency, or some discrepancy, with how I’m running. And how you’re running should be a really symmetrical movement and the pain that I have should be really symmetrical.

The other thing is you never want to be able to point exactly where something hurts. At least for me, really typical pain and muscle breakdown you’re going to come back from and recover from, is not something that you can point directly at and say this is the specific spot where I have pain. It’s more a general thing, a general fatigue or a general soreness. …If I can say ‘oh it’s right in the middle of my foot, right on top of this bone it’s hurting,’ that’s a really bad sign”

Barringer uses these guidelines to tell the difference between types of pain when she’s in training. But when it comes to race conditions, the criteria are different. Aches and pains and even strains are something of a normal occurrence in training, but she does not expect to feel them in a competition setting. On race day, if she has prepared properly, all of those day-to-day issues are quiet and obedient.

“In my experience, the daily aches and pains should never manifest themselves in a race, especially because the adrenaline is so high, and your sense of expectations are so high. If those things are actually minor daily aches and pains, they should fade into the background when you’re racing. I have only been in a race once or twice where I really did experience extreme pain and discomfort. And I knew that whatever it was I had to either get it under control or I had to stop racing until it was under control.”

There’s a natural, quiet confidence that Barringer typically develops in the lead-in to a race that helps put her mind in the right place to focus on winning rather than evaluating her own body situation at all times. This confidence is earned through repetition and effort, by going through the event’s time and distance itself again and again until it becomes as routine as possible. When pain presents itself in training but doesn’t require her to alter her routine, she can train through it and come out the other side with the right amount of confidence to take on a field of elite athletes. But when pain requires her to change her regimen, and de-emphasize running over cross-training, it’s clear to Barringer in hindsight that it has an effect on her performance.

“New York [the Adidas Grand Prix Diamond League] was a really great race. I think I ran to the best of my ability that day. I don’t think I was compromised at all by my injury, and then it was in the following weeks where it just didn’t get better and didn’t get better. And then in the couple of weeks leading in to the National Championships, I was running on the ground probably 3-4 times a week, and the rest I was cross-training. So when your ratio of cross training and running on the ground becomes that severe, it’s just hard to keep up your level of fitness, your level of race readiness when you’re not actually, you know, doing your sport every day. And I think it also erodes your confidence.

I went in [to US Nationals] really tentative and thought maybe if I just get in the race and hide away for a little while I’ll be able to really push the last mile. And I think, partly due to that tactic, I really continued to experience the pain throughout the whole race. And then when the race got going with a mile to go, with 3 laps to go, I really didn’t have the confidence and I also didn’t have the training to back me up from the last couple of weeks to be able to go with them.”

“In my experience, the daily aches and pains should never manifest themselves in a race, especially because the adrenaline is so high.”

When coming back from an injury, playing through the pain is out of the question. Barringer believes that you shouldn’t return to your event until you can confidently execute for a week with no pain whatsoever. To that end, she is dedicating herself to staying off of the road and instead staying fit with biking, running, and physical therapy sessions, and using an AlterG anti-gravity treadmill to keep her running muscles tuned and stamina up.

If in normal training conditions Barringer expects some aches and pains and in races she expects none, in recovery training she’s focused on tracking down the source of every new ache and pain that may arise. With all of these new activities to get used to and without her usual expectations to fall back on, she leans on sports training professionals to help her better listen to her body. She meets with training staff every morning to evaluate any new pain she’s experiencing to determine whether it’s from these new activities or the original injury.

For Barringer, knowing when to push herself and when to rest and seek further evaluation is all a matter of keeping in balance and setting expectations against specific contexts. Knowing this and executing it are two very different things, and Barringer is quick to point out that it’s much easier to be responsible to someone else’s decision than to have to choose for yourself. As a professional, she enjoys a newfound level of control over her own path — that control more often rested in the hands of her coach in college. With the decision about whether or not to compete at Nationals and beyond in her own hands, it took that in-race experience of discomfort and doubt to convince her to put the season aside and work on healing. As you might expect, although she knows it’s the right thing to do, Barringer has a difficult time staying away from her love of running. She pleads, “My really intense sessions are not running right now. And it’s so hard!”