Collection: Your guide to Get Moving, Tucson

Most runners eventually experience a point in time when everything seems to be running smoothly then suddenly (ugh!) an injury shows up out of nowhere. An injury is a sign of a physical breakdown that often occurs after a period of running harder, farther, on different terrain, or in worn-out shoes.

We have some bad news and some good news for new runners. The bad news is that no one is injury-resistant. We all have a potential breakdown point. The harder an athlete trains, the greater risk of injury. However, runners can learn to understand and appreciate their bodies’ limits and adapt their training to reduce the chance of injury.

The good news is that running-related injuries typically start gradually before they get worse. If an athlete catches the injury in the early stages there is a good chance it can be treated and healed without taking time off from running.

The trick for an athlete is to recognize when something is merely uncomfortable and when something is painful. We have to learn our bodies well enough to understand when discomfort turns into pain, and when pain turns into disability.

In their book “Running Injuries,” Tim Noakes and Stephen Granger list a four-stage progression running injuries typically follow:

· Stage 1: Discomfort is noticed after exercise has ceased.

· Stage 2: Discomfort (not quite pain) during exercise, not severe enough to interfere with training.

· Stage 3: More severe discomfort (pain), limits training and racing performances.

· Stage 4: Injury is so painful and severe that it prevents athlete from running.

Discomfort should never be ignored. Even if you find yourself in Stage 1 of a running injury, be proactive so that is doesn’t turn into a full-blown Stage 4 injury.

What are warning signs of injury? When you change your form to accommodate a pain — for example, if you limp lightly. When you cannot move your legs in a full range of motion. When pushing off the ground leads to pain. When you cannot sleep comfortably because your muscles are aching. When you wake up and muscles creak — a sore heel or sore Achilles, for example.

Noakes and Granger recommend examining training methods, training environment (including shoes) and genetic structure (hips, knees, ankles)  to identify the reason behind physical discomfort or pain. The Runner’s World website is helpful for self-diagnosis and understanding key running injuries. However, it’s best to have a resource team of real people to help you diagnose, treat and prevent injuries.

Your team should include a massage therapist, chiropractor, physical therapist, podiatrist, orthopedist and general medicine doctor. No runner wants a doctor who says, “take six months off and let me know if it still hurts,” so you should make sure that your medical experts understand sports and running.

We hope that you are well on your way to meeting your fitness goal, or at least taking a few steps forward. Last week we encouraged you to start a six-week run/walk plan. This week we challenge you to eat better.

Exercising and eating better go hand in hand. Good food boosts your energy level, so you’re more likely to enjoy your exercise routine. And when you feel good exercising you’re motivated to continue eating better. Once you’re in the cycle, you’ll be unstoppable!

So what’s the trick to eating well?

Maintaining a healthier diet doesn’t have to be complicated.

At our house we follow the advice of Hanna Feeney at Nourishing Results. We try to keep it simple by paying attention to five key nutrient classes for runners: water, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and vitamins/minerals/phytonutrients.

• Water

• : Water delivers nutrients to working muscles and helps regulate body temperature. You should always drink water with your meals and when you’re thirsty throughout the day. As Tucson temperatures climb over the coming month, you should aim for drinking 4 to 8 ounces of fluids every 30 minutes of exercise. Tired of water? Diluted sports drinks and fruit juices are helpful during exercise.

• Carbohydrates:

• Carbohydrates provide muscle-fueling energy. If you’re an athlete, carbs should make up at least 50 percent of your diet. Healthy sources include whole grain breads, pasta, brown rice, cereals, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, potatoes, corn, beans, and low-fat dairy products.

• Protein

• : Protein provides the building blocks for protein synthesis, which allows for cell function, mental energy and recovery from exercise. Depending on your tastes, good proteins include egg whites; poultry with no skin; canned tuna or chicken; lean ground turkey, chicken or beef. Don’t want to eat meat? That’s OK — you can get protein from nuts and nut-butters, tofu, green soybeans, low-fat dairy products, and soy milk.

• Fats

• : Fats get a bad rap — not all fats are bad for you. You need fat-rich food for optimal cell function, hormone balance and energy. Fatty fishes like salmon, nuts and nut-butters, avocado, olive oil and canola oil provide good fats.

• Vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients:

• These are the micronutrients that allow fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to be used most efficiently. In essence, eat as much healthy color as you can. Blue candy eggs are not what we mean by that. Broccoli, radish, berries, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and more can fit the bill.

Don’t worry – you can still eat some sweets. Reward yourself, but don’t go crazy.

• Tip:

• The Rule of Half.

In the 15 to 30 minutes before you exercise, try eating a couple of halves: half a piece of toast, half a banana, half a bagel, half a bowl of oatmeal or half a hard-boiled egg. It’s generally better to exercise on a slightly empty stomach rather than a full stomach, so give yourself a bit of energy without overloading your system.

Here it is, already: April — a good time to take stock on how you’re doing with any resolutions you may have made to exercise more in 2014.

If you’ve been making your health and fitness a priority, rock on! If you haven’t, don’t fret — there’s time.

One way to motivate yourself to get moving is to set a goal. The TMC Meet Me Downtown 5K Night Run and Walk is six weeks away, which is a good amount of time to get ready to walk or run 3.1 miles. An event we started eight years ago as a way to draw people downtown, it has grown each year. More than 4,000 runners and walkers are expected to take part on May 31.

To help you prepare, for each of the next six weeks we’ll offer up two training schedules along with tips on a range of topics, including nutrition, getting the right gear and how to deal with the heat.

If you haven’t exercised for a while and you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor before starting something new.

This week’s tips

Think big, start small: It’s OK to have a big goal, so don’t be afraid to say that you want to do a marathon or a triathlon. But it’s always better to create a series of incremental goals to help you achieve the big goal. If your big goal is to do the Night Run, then make each week an incremental goal.

Talk about it: Research has found that people keep internal commitments more often when they make them public. We suggest you find three people whom you like. Tell them that you are making a commitment to use April and May to get healthier. Tell them that you want them to join you on your journey.

One step at a time: Psychologists also say that the trick to making change stick is to make one change at a time. We set ourselves up for failure when we say that every day we’ll eat better, exercise, cut back on television and clean the garage. Our goal is to try one thing new every week. We’ll make it easy for you — your job is to make it easy on yourself. This week’s stress is simple: Start the six-week plan.