The citywide celebration that wraps around 29 neighborhoods and brings the city together like one big happy family is just days away - The Chicago Bank of America Marathon.
In between organizing what hotels your cheer squad will make home for the weekend and simultaneously piecing together your gear for the big day, how else do you spend your time when not running a million miles a week?
When I ran my first 26.2, I found myself asking that question during the two-week period before marathon Sunday. Mobility was my answer.
I sat down with Jason Loebig, co-founder of Live Better Co, Nike Trainer and Barry’s Bootcamp Instructor. He says, treating mobility like you treat your training will allow you to progress faster and more safely.
Here are eight tips during my conversation with the adventurous, handstand aficionado and mobility coach:
- Ten minutes of mobility a day is better than two hours once a month. It’s a daily practice of very consistent low intensity work. You have 2 weeks, get to it.
- Mobility is building a strong foundation to bounce back from injury. So this works before, during and after marathon training.
- It’s a process. It takes longer for your soft tissue to adapt than it will for your muscle to adapt to something like strength training.
- Focus on problem areas. Find the area(s) that you have the most trouble with (maybe hamstring or hips) and use a foam roller for about 3 to 5 minutes each on that part of the body.
- A good progression warmup for running is dynamic exercise. Things like low lunges with a twist, walking high knee hugs and butt kicks.
- Static Stretching. This is holding stretches a bit longer. If you do this before running, it could potentially wear down the muscle and put it in a position of weakness.
- Helpful content. Jason and his business partner have developed running mobility videos for the Sweatworking app. You will find helpful instruction on lower and upper body soft tissue work.
- Invest in helpful tools. Companies like Hyperice have vibrating foam rollers and massage balls that have elevated the way people address soft tissue before and after a workout.
