Brian Heeter

Jogging & Staying Healthy
By Brian Heeter

Let me start off by saying that I am not a doctor, sports trainer, a good runner or even a reader of sports training literature. This article is based solely on my own experiences. Your results may be drastically different than mine were following this regimen due to many different variables such as the quality of your shoes, whether you have bad ankles/knees/shins, etc.

I first started running seriously to train for triathlons during the summer while I was still in high school. I was an excellent swimmer, a fair biker and a pathetic runner. I had no idea how to train other than to improve my running, I knew I had to run. So I ran and got injured. Shin splints, aching back, sore feet and sharp pains in my ankles were normal. I survived my triathlon and quit running. All subsequent efforts at running have taken a similar route.

I was nervous about the running aspect of the Oregon Muay Thai Camp and was mildly panicked when I realized how little time I had to prepare after receiving my invitation. On previous attempts I’ve started with a 1.5 to 2 mile jog and increased it once I felt “good.” The problem was that I was jogging the entire distance and my “feeling good” was based on my cardiovascular performance. My heart and lungs were able to adapt to the exertion much more quickly than the rest of my body could get used to the pounding that road running gives. This time around, I realized that my top priority needed to be defending against injuries and the cardio aspect would take care of itself.

To accomplish this I picked out a course in my neighborhood that is roughly 1.4 miles and merely walked the course. I also timed myself (20 minutes at a brisk pace) so that I could get about the same distance in wherever I happened to be. I walked 3 days a week, usually after my martial arts practices. As a matter of discipline I would walk immediately after the workout before going home so I wouldn’t be tempted to get started on something else (dinner, TV, sleep, etc.).

After approximately 2 weeks of just walking I incorporated jogging. I divided the 20 minutes up into warm-up, walk/jog and then cool down. With a 5 minute warm-up walk and a 5 minute cool down walk that left 10 minutes of jogging for 1 minute and walking for 1 minute. When I got home I would ice down my shins to stop any inflammation that might have been starting. On days that I didn’t run I would walk for 20 minutes after lifting weights just for the cardio benefits.

The next step was to slowly increase the time spent jogging. After a week or so of 1 minute jog/1 minute walk I increased the jogging portion to 2 minutes and pared down the warm-up and cool down walks to keep the total at 20 minutes. Next were 3-minute jogs and 1-minute walks. Right before the Oregon camp I was doing a warm-up walk of 3 minutes, 3 sets of 4-minute jog/1 minute walk and a 2-minute cool down walk. The morning runs at the Oregon camp were harder due to the longer distance but my cardio caught up quickly and my joints had been conditioned so I stayed healthy during the camp.

One other thing that may have contributed to avoiding shin splints (among the other ills I mentioned) was that I tried not to bounce when I ran. I have noticed that when I start to feel good and really hit my stride I get a pretty good spring in my step. This extra “altitude” just adds to the impact that my body absorbs with every step. So I concentrated on going slowly and almost shuffling my feet forward rather than trying to “kick” with every stride.

I managed to stay healthy the entire time I followed this schedule (with just a twinge here and there) and the running at the Oregon camp didn’t kill me (with shin splints or cardio-wise), as I feared it might. Jogging still isn’t my favorite thing to do but now that I’ve figured out how to stay healthy and prepare myself to run so it is no longer something I dread.

The Author started training Muay Thai in 1997 under Khuen Khru Dave Miller.