Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

January 1, 2002

By Matt Morris

The cookies are all gone. The pie plates have been cleaned and put away for the next holiday. The guilt from a month of gluttony has set in. The New Year is here. It's time to get in shape or back on track with your training.
Where do you begin? How can you get motivated when it's dark outside and the wind chill is below zero? What do you do if the nearest thing you've done to a workout in weeks is to dash to beat the closing elevator doors?
A great source of information is the sports medicine staff of your nearest hospital. For example, the staff of St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers, associate sponsor of the Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, offer an array of advice helpful to everyone from veteran couch potatoes to year-round athletes.
And if you're gearing up for the 26th annual running of the Mini Marathon on Saturday, May 4, following the advice of sports medicine professionals can help ensure you don't end up in their office with an injury. If you've been sedentary or plan to increase the intensity of your training, make an appointment with your doctor for a complete medical examination. This will make certain that you're ready physically to go.
If you are a novice or have long been inactive, Melanie Pennington, certified athletic trainer for St. Francis, cautions you to start slowly and gradually increase the duration of your workouts. "The worst mistake you can make is to do too much too soon," she cautioned. "If you don't give your body time enough to adjust to the stress," Pennington explained, "you'll end up with an injury."

Where do you start?
The most important piece of training equipment is an appropriate pair of shoes. Each person has a different build and need. What your friend is wearing most likely will not work for you.
Go to an athletic store (e.g., The Finish Line) and ask to see the walking and running shoes. Ask if there is a salesperson who walks or runs. Tell him or her about your training (where you train, your weekly mileage, if you have any foot problems, etc.). Take along a pair of shoes you've used for walking or jogging so the salesperson can look at the wear pattern on the bottoms. Try on several pairs to see which is most comfortable. Try them for a few strides in the mall or on the walk outside.

What kind of workout is best?
Workouts can vary. If your goal is to walk the Mini, begin with 15-minute sessions of brisk walking, adding two or three minutes to the workouts each week. The St. Francis staff recommends that a 15-minute walking session should include five minutes at a moderate pace, five minutes at a brisk pace and five more minutes at a moderate pace. Five-minute warm-up and cool-down periods, plus 20 minutes at a brisk pace, are recommended for a 30-minute walking workout.
If you're running, start with 10 miles a week and gradually increase mileage in subsequent weeks by no more than 10 to 20 percent weekly. A list of training programs for the Mini Marathon can be found at www.runningbuzz.com. Other half marathon training programs can be found at www.halhigdon.com and www.coolrunning.com.
Always warm up before working out. Take five minutes to stretch or, if you're impatient, start slowly for a few minutes. When you're finished, cool down or move more slowly for five minutes afterward. Pennington said that cooling down is even more crucial to injury prevention than warming up.
Rest is a key ingredient of a successful training program, especially if you are beginning training and are not used to the stress of workouts. "You can run every day," said Pennington, "you just have to include a rest day each week. You can run fairly hard for three weeks and have a rest week."
Training takes a lot of time. Make sure your family understands what you are undertaking. Make sure you can balance training with your work schedule.
Walking or running the mileage to complete a half marathon comfortably may mean training early in the morning or after work - while it's still dark out. Wear a reflective vest, carry identification, tell your family your route or run with a friend.

How do you stay with it?
Staying motivated to train can be most challenging during winter. There are, however, many things you can do to help you get out of bed and out the door.
Jack Raglin, Ph.D., an Indiana University kinesiologist who does research on exercise, mental health and performance, suggests that setting short-term goals will increase the likelihood that you will not blow off a workout. "Short-term goals are more important in this context as training to meet long term goals can be deferred ("I can skip today and do more tomorrow…") in difficult circumstances."
Dr. Raglin recommends that you focus on creating an environment that makes it as easy as possible to get through a hard workout or training in harsh conditions. He emphasizes planning ahead. "Find out what the weather conditions will be for the next workout, have your gear ready to go, dress in layers so you can adjust to changing conditions. Have your work clothes ready to go as well. Build in rewards. Put a timer on your coffee maker so it will be ready when you return. Take yourself out to a healthy breakfast (you'll have time to do this if you run early)."
Melanie Pennington, of St. Francis, said having a training partner to meet will help get you out of bed to walk or run on those cold, dark and dreary mornings. "You know they'll be there to help you and you can get through the bad times together," she said.

Think about cross-training
Runners used to only think about cross-training when they were injured and absolutely could not jog. Many athletes, however, are making it a part of their regimen even when they're healthy - and they are seeing a payoff. Mike Smith, a Brownsburg, IN, triathlete and 25th place overall in the 2001 Mini Marathon, ran a 2:35 marathon last fall, a result he attributes to cross-training.
Pennington explains that incorporating cross-training - cycling, cross country skiing, roller blading, Stairmaster and swimming - into your daily training will increase your general strength and muscle balance. Barney Klecker, 50-mile run record holder, who has survived the sub-zero temperatures and massive snows of Minnesota, is a big advocate of snowshoeing. He equates a 5-mile run on snowshoes to a 10-mile run on clear roads - without the trauma.
And if you find walking or running just plain boring, cross-training adds variety to your training and is an appealing alternative to being out in the sleet and snow. Cross-training also gives your body a reprieve from the daily wear and tear of running, particularly if you train on sidewalks or roads.

Have questions?
If you have a sports medicine-related question, you can get expert advice at www.stfrancishospitals.org/500festival/
Mini Update: Hundreds of runners and walkers will Jump the Gun to kick off their Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Mini-Marathon training season on January 11. Jump the Gun - in its fifteenth year - is an annual run/walk event in which participants start their Mini-Marathon training in the dead of winter at St. Francis Hospital's Indianapolis campus, located at 8111 S. Emerson Ave. Last year's event attracted a record attendance - more than 1,000 runners and walkers. Start time for the 1.1-mile run/walk is 11 p.m.
Jump the Gun will feature John "Penguin" Bingham, called the "Pied Piper of the second running boom." Through his popular monthly column in Runner's World, Bingham has inspired hundreds of thousands of individuals to run for fun and self-affirmation. Bingham's web site -- www.waddleon.com -- relates his story of being an "overweight couch potato with a glut of bad habits, including smoking and drinking." At 43, Bingham "looked mid-life in the face" and started running. He has completed nineteen marathons and hundreds of 5K and 10K races. In his book, The Courage to Start: A Guide to Running for Your Life, Bingham shares the story of his own transformation while motivating others not only to run, but to experience the world as a runner.
Along with the Jump the Gun run/walk, attendees will be able to participate in flexibility, bone density and blood pressure screenings. Information on training equipment, a balanced diet and local training programs will also be available.
Mini-Marathon applications are now available online at www.500festival.com and at other designated locations.
Mini Trivia: For the 1978 Mini Marathon, it had been billed as a showdown between two marathon greats - Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. It never materialized. A pre-race injury relegated Shorter to the pace car, where he spent the race giving mile splits to Rodgers and providing color commentary for a local radio broadcast!
Matt Morris is a freelance writer from Bloomington, IN. He is past president of Indy (Indianapolis) Runners.

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