Scissortail Running

Workout of the Week: Broken Tempo A slight variation on the classic tempo workout, the broken tempo is a great way to break up a long quality session. Broken tempos are especially useful early in your training, as they give you a chance partway through your workout to make sure everything’s running smooth. The 2:00 recovery segment gives you a chance to catch your breath and double check your form while still keeping your heart rate elevated, and it introduces your body to sustained hard efforts. Make sure to run at a comfortable but fast pace for the tempo segments - ideally you don’t slow down at all across either segment. For experienced runners, try running a pace somewhere between your 10k and half marathon race pace.

Scissortail Running is on Strava! Join our club at the link in our bio to motivate and be motivated by like-minded athletes. Plus, club members get 20% off our gait analysis and nutrition coaching services!

Congrats to Scissortail Running coach, @darby.hicks, on running a postpartum 5K PR! Darby has come a long way, from barely being able to run 200m straight a year ago to a 29:35 5K this morning. Darby not only has experience coaching herself back to regular running, but has competed and coached at the collegiate level for some of Oklahoma’s top track and XC programs. Interested in working with Darby to become a better runner? DM us today!

We love seeing runners in our gear! Interested in rocking a Scissortail Running logo? We currently have limited sizes available in t-shirts, and have some exciting new options coming soon keep an eye on your feed for new merch in the next few weeks!

Workout of the Week: 3/3/3 minutes repeats Another effort-based workout, this one will take you through a range of paces. Each 9-minute set consists of 3:00 at an easy pace, 3:00 at a moderate pace, and 3:00 at a fast but sustainable pace with no extra rest between sets. You should shoot for efforts that you can either maintain or slightly increase throughout the workout. This workout helps you get more familiar with your pace zones and will teach you to get more in tune with your body. It also has the added benefit of giving you a rough estimate of pace zones for other workouts; the average pace across the entire workout should be relatively close to your current tempo pace.

Things are warming up, which means a lot of us have started running early in the morning. But what if you can’t beat the sun? Should you even bother if it means suffering through the heat? The short answer is yes! Research has shown that there are a number of adaptations your body makes in response to heat that can help with performance. Perceived effort, active and resting heart rate, sweat sodium content, and core temperature all improve with acclimation to heat - and that’...s only a handful of the relevant changes your body can make. Many of these physiological adaptations are similar to those that happen when runner train at altitude, which is why the term poor man’s altitude is used to refer to the hot, humid summers we get around Oklahoma. Of course, you have to be careful when you run in the heat of the day. Make sure you’re properly hydrating before, after, and maybe even during your run, and make sure you’re familiar with signs of heat stroke and exhaustion. You should also dial back your effort on hot runs, and start your heat acclimation regimen with short, easy runs. By the time fall rolls around and cooler temps arrive, you’ll be amazed at the difference summer running can make.

Every runner needs a goal! What’s yours? Whether your goal is a new PR, finish your first marathon, or even run your first mile, Scissortail Running can help you get there! Need help setting a goal? We can help with that too. Call, text, or email us today and set up your free consultation!

Workout of the Week: 6/4 Fartlek Minutes-based workouts that rely on effort are a great way to add some intensity to your training, especially early on in a training cycle. Fartlek work is especially good for shifting through gears a bit and developing overall fitness for just about any distance. With minutes-based work, you can also do it anywhere! Make sure to run the hard efforts at a steady but tough pace that you can maintain for the full interval. The easy efforts shoul...d be slow enough to let you recover between reps, while still quick enough that your average heart rate stays up. Sign up for our email list at scissortailrunning.com to get a FREE copy of our complete pre-run warmup routine and start warming up like a pro!

It’s the best day of the year! Whether you’re recognizing Global Running Day with half a mile or 20 miles, we hope you get a chance to get out and celebrate. As a GRD special, we’re selling Scissortail Running shirts for $15 ($5 off)! If you want to rep SR while you’re out and about, send us a DM so we can reserve your shirt. More gear is dropping soon, but this deal only applies while we have supplies in stock!

We’re excited to welcome Darby Hicks on as a member of the Scissortail Running coaching staff! Darby just graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in Wellness Management, where she also served as graduate assistant for the women’s XC and track program. Before that, Darby was a member of the OSU women’s XC and track team while she completed her undergraduate degree in Business Management. Darby has experience coaching runners of all abilities and backgro...unds, and in her time at UCO helped lead several women to major breakthrough performances - including one athlete who improved her 5K PR from 20:30 to 17:30 while under Darby’s training! Darby is currently working her way through a self-administered post-partum training program after giving birth to two kids in the past three years, and has already made great progress since starting her training earlier this year. If you’d like to learn more about Darby, her training philosophy, or her achievements as an athlete and coach, visit our website at ScissortailRunning.com!

Almost every runner is familiar with shin pain, and many have adopted the term shin splints to describe any pain or discomfort in their lower leg. When most people complain about shin splints, they could actually be referring to a wide variety of injuries: a stress reaction or fracture, compartment syndrome, tendinopathy, or muscle strain. Medically speaking however, shin splints refer to medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) - microtrauma to the tissues of and around the ...tibia as a result of overuse. Although research is yet to settle on a single cause of MTSS, recent studies and reviews suggest that it is caused by inflammation of the periosteum (a thin layer of tissue around the bone) and microcracks in the tibia (Franklyn and Oakes, 2015). The only sure-fire way to prevent shin splints is to not run, but strengthening the muscles of the lower leg through band work and calf raises can help ensure your muscles are managing strain instead of your bones. What do you do if you find yourself with shin splints? It’s vital to address MTSS as early as possible, since MTSS is a precursor to stress fractures! The easiest potential solution is to make sure you are in a running shoe with the proper fit, support, and cushion. Oftentimes, it requires a bit more care, and you’ll need to dial back your training or shift some of your running to cross training. At Scissortail Running, we can help you prevent and address shin splints with coaching and gait analysis. Our training plans are customized to each athlete’s needs, and a gait analysis can provide valuable insight into what is causing your shin splints. We can even spot problem areas and correct them before you ever have pain! DM us today to learn more about how we can help you run faster, farther, and healthier than ever.

The weekend long run is a staple of virtually every runner’s training. Long slow distance runs were popularized in the mid 1900s in the decades leading up to the running boom, with Arthur Lydiard being one of its most well known advocates. Since then, the weekly long run has been a staple of endurance running that has persisted through the various training philosophies that have risen to popularity. The reason for this is twofold: The long run allows a runner to build their... aerobic energy systems, muscular endurance, and mental stamina - vital for races of any distance over 800m The long run can be adjusted to serve a wide variety of purposes While many programs rely on the long run for time on your feet training where the goal is simply to spend 60-120 minutes running, it can easily be turned into a quality session with some structured pace work. A fast finish long run helps teach turnover and grit in the late stages of a race, when your body is fatigued. Marathon pace runs will help your body become accustomed to running just within your lactic threshold for prolonged periods of time, and provide a great opportunity to rehearse your race day nutrition strategy. Progression long runs teach control and familiarity with different paces, in addition to sharing some benefits with the fast finish approach. Regardless of how you run your long runs, the important thing is that you include it in your weekly training, even if you aren’t training for a long distance event. Even elite middle-distance athletes, despite rarely competing in an event longer than a mile, will cap their weeks off with a run of 18 miles or more. Care must be taken to not overdo it on the weekends, however; overreaching on your long run cannot make up for low weekly volume and is an easy recipe for injury. As a rule of thumb, your long run should only make up about 25-30% of your weekly mileage at most. Want to learn more about how to incorporate long runs into your training? Contact Scissortail Running today to see how we can help you step up your running with a weekly long run! : @kmckpics