Lets Start with EASY!

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Let’s Start with EASY!

OK, so let’s say that you are a new(ish) runner, someone coming back to the sport or needs a new strategy. We are going to start with EASY running. This is the strategy I use with myself and the runners I coach. Let me tell you more.

The overall strategy is: Easy – Light – Smooth – Fast – and we start with Easy. Any of you who have read Born to Run may find this familiar. I have found that using this simple approach is a simple and effective way to improve running form and efficiency without getting bogged down by details. It’s also a strategy to increase mental toughness. We are going to break this strategy down.

Easy can mean a lot of things but the two main ideas are using Easy as both a pacing strategy and an attitude. An Easy pace is listening to your body (not your watch or HR monitor) and then doing what feels easy that day. What? Running can be easy?!? Well, I hear what you’re saying but hear me out. If you’re a beginning runner, any amount of running can feel hard – really hard, but by using a combination of running and walking we can make that effort feel much easier. Pretty soon those walking intervals shorten and we are running more and then later we can go out and run the entire distance.

During your runs, when things start to feel hard, or you start thinking that you can’t make it and your form starts to suffer, think, “Easy.” What you tell your body is true! If you think this is hard, your posture will suffer, your pace may slow and you may start to think that you can’t complete your run or event. Instead, switch the message to “Easy.” Make it look Easy to others around you and feel your posture improve and get taller. Remind yourself that you CAN finish this run or event, that you ARE well prepared! Your mind and body will respond to this “Easy” message and get you to the finish.

Your easy runs are the backbones of your physiological adaptations. During those easy efforts is when your body is building the foundation of your cardio system – creating all the mitochondria and the capillaries, etc, necessary to have an efficient system. Without those easy, or enough of those easy efforts, we don’t get as good of a foundation needed to be an efficient runner and we are much more injury prone.

Now, ironically, running Easy isn’t always easy… It can be so easy to slip into that negative headspace and start thinking about how hard something is. It can be so easy to want to run faster than your easy pace. (I am guilty of that!) Keeping this Easy message in the forefront is challenging and something that needs to be practiced. Keep practicing – it might take a while to feel that you have really conquered the Easy step of the strategy. Keep mindful of what you are telling yourself, because it is true. If you say you CAN make it the next mile, your body will believe you.

Natalie - best trainer I have ever worked with, and I have traveled quite a bit. She is patient, flexible, encouraging, and truly goes above and beyond each and every session, even outside normal training hours. We have worked together for almost two years now because of her truly outstanding help.

I am a 68 year old man who has been working with Natalie as my trainer for 4-5 years. To sum up my progress, I have lost 35 lbs and gained a lot of muscle mass. Natalie knows my strengths and weaknesses and does a spectacular job in tailoring workout routines for me. She provides me a wide variety of exercises that continually challenge me, while being very mindful of my limitations. I have had several other trainers and Natalie is miles better than any other I have worked with. She really cares about her clients and she is very fun to work with. I spent two winters snow birding and she and I continued working together online and I still reaped many benefits. I would recommend her to anyone."

"It is with great pleasure that I write a recommendation for Natalie Gilchrist and her physical training programs. She is very knowledgeable and encouraging and she treats us more like family than clients. My wife and I aren’t 80 yet, but very close. We have both found, as we get older, that our bodies make some unfortunate changes. Two of the most difficult for us have been balance and stamina. We’ve also had surgeries and accidents. Thru all of these she has helped us recover. We are so very fortunate that Natalie has been there to help us older folks."

"To all of those people out there that might be going back and forth with wanting a trainer. If it wasn't for Natalie, I know I wouldn't have the mobility in my shoulder like I should. I have been working with Natalie for 2 and a half years. I have gained more movement and strength because of the way she has everything set up for me. Natalie is very knowledgeable about what she does. Highly recommended!"

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