Hi Everyone,
Check out this new tool – 5 Speed Running Pace to Race Workout Calculator.
…and spread the word if you like it! Hope you find it useful!
Coach Ken
New 5 Speed Running Pace to Race Workout Calculator
December 27th, 2010RUN FASTER AND KEEP YOUR HAMSTRINGS HAPPY!
November 29th, 2010What do your hamstrings have to do with happy running. Everything! Anyone who has ever had a hamstring injury, even if it one of those tiny little micro pulls, knows how absolutely debilitating they can be. Let’s face it, we all have limped around on a bad foot, a bad ankle, and even fight through the itb and runners knee with the right taping and foam roller. But there is no side stepping a hamstring injury. That special pinch that comes and goes as you try to get back up and running is unforgettable. The good news it finally heals. The body is an amazing thing. And you vow to make sure that never happens again. Then you run faster and faster and the hamstring starts speaking to you again. What to do to keep that hamstring happy? We’ll be going into a lot more form, skill, strength, and flexibility to come, but the below video is a good place to start. Do these two exercises every day or a few times a week, but do them.
Have fun and get it done!
Coach Ken
TOP RUNNING RESULTS WITH 5 SPEED RUNNING
November 6th, 2010MORE PR’S GALORE!
As we move into the Holiday Season, let’s check in on some recent great runs and PR’s:
WILLIAM ZUK took on a tough 5K course and still racked up a 34 second PR! 22:17 PR from 22:51!
DEB BROWN gained another 4% improvement on her overall fitness!
BOO BRYANT is back with 5 Speed after a 3 year hiatus and scored a 17:44 1ST 5K BACK. 1ST PLACE OVERALL!
WILLIAM ZUK again. This time with a MARATHON PR 3:47:33. Previous PR was 3:53:36!
AL PALOMBO crushes it again! ½ Marathon PR 1:41:47 vs previous 1:44:33!
ERIC LANGSHUR Turned out a 2nd age group award and 13th place finish in a recent 5k! Sweet!
GABRIEL BERGER 1:55.13– a personal best…WESTCHESTER HALF as he preps for the New York Marathon in 2 weeks!
KAREN WILLIAMS is going to Boston again with her BOSTON QUALIFYING TIME OF 3:45:55!
GREG SULLIVAN got his MARATHON PR on a hilly course. We love when that happens! Time was 2:38:22 and placed 2nd overall!
MARY BETH MOENSSEN is back in the marathon game and finished in 4:27:15.
RYAN WARTCK nailed a 43 min 10k PR!
JIM ELLIS led off his fall season with a second place age group 5k award!
RICK FISHER sneaked in a 23:31 PR 5k!
JENNIFER KRALL DOYLE bested her 5k by 3.5 mins!
BEN COFFMAN ran his fastest 1.5 mile PT run at 7:51!
HIGH FIVE TO ALL OF YOU! 
WELCOME TO 5 SPEED RUNNING!
October 31st, 2010Ten years ago, 5 Speed Running’s original mission was to provide effective
and affordable training for runners from all walks of life. That hasn’t
changed. What has changed with social media is the ability of 5 Speed
Running to further its reach in helping even more runners, beginner to
advanced alike. After years of runners asking us to be more transparent on
how 5 Speed Running helps runners achieve their goals in person or from
thousands of miles away, we’re releasing this handbook to begin to reveal
the secrets of 5 Speed Running. For new members of our nationwide team
we hope the handbook will be the first step in a long “running” relationship
with you.
What’s different about 5 Speed Running is we aim to cut to the chase,
remove all the fluff and all the contradictions in this theory or that theory. As
a reliable trusted source, we simplify and clarify the vast amount of running
training information out there and create practical solutions and answers to
your most pressing running problems and questions through our proven
running training methodology and convenient and accessible running tools.
Hi, this is Coach Ken Rickerman and I want to thank you for choosing me as
your coach! In today’s world, fitness takes a real commitment with time,
energy, (and money) at a premium. I’m a big believer in making certain we
prioritize and put our health at the top of the list. Whether you’re looking to
lose weight, get in shape, maintain fitness, relieve stress, or challenge
yourself to a new personal best, running is one of the best exercises out there
to get those jobs done.
The stereotypical runner sometimes has a reputation of being determined,
persistent, hard-nosed, stubborn, black and white, and perfectionistic. That’s
why we’re so loved! We’re also loyal, dependable, honest, and usually on
time! Just as there are many different types of runners, there are many
different types of running methodologies. Someone wise once told me there
are a thousand different ways of doing something and three of them are
right!
I have seen evidence of this in many things in life. For running, if I were to
pick the 3 “right” ways of running training, they would be the “soft” style of
Lydiard, the “hard” style of Igloi, and the “multi-paced” style of Horwill.
My influences are certainly touched by all three because they all produced
results from a wide-span of distances, from mile to marathon.
I obviously respect the Lydiard legacy and have discussed his methods with
Rod Dixon, one of his top runners and who showed his range as an Olympic
1500 medalist and the winner of the New York Marathon.
Although Lydiard is known for long slow distance, his style could also be
argued as multi-paced. On a true Lydiard schedule, speed work and tempo
runs were as present as the long run.
I have been personally trained in the Igloi interval methodology by one of
his top runners, Laszlo Tabori, the third man in history to break the four
minute mile. Despite his middle distance legacy as a runner, Laszlo coached
several women to marathon world records.
But as the name implies, 5 Speed running is most influenced by the multipaced
methodology of Jim Hunt, coach of countless college All-Americans
and Frank Horwill, the great British coach of milers and marathoners alike.
THE RUNNER
August 14th, 2010Came across this poem I wrote 20 some years ago – maybe some of you can relate. :)
THE RUNNER
by Ken Rickerman
As the hundreds prior to
the day starts out the same
to the public eyes that view
the man without a name.
On the streets, the walks, the avenues
they see him wrenched in sweat
in shorts, a shirt, and worn shoes
is a sight they won’t forget.
His teeth are clenched in agony
his eyes are shiny moons
his legs are long antennas
and pain is what they tune.
He’s running to prove something
he’s running to survive
not from the rest of the world
but to himself
the luckiest man alive.
And perhaps one day this audience will know
the rewards, the benefits, his treasured toll.
For it’s not the gold as thought before
but the search within his soul.
Fat Burning is not just aerobic!
July 20th, 2010For years we’ve talked about the misunderstanding of what workouts do the best job of burning fat. Fortunately, articles like this are helping runners understand they don’t have to go out and only run 65% effort to burn fat. The misunderstanding generally comes from the term, fatty acids, the fuel source of the long slower runs that define aerobic training. Anaerobic training gets the fuel from glycogen but this doesn’t mean you don’t burn fat when you’re running the faster workouts. Interval, repetition, and harder tempo workouts will help you shed those pounds better than most slower runs because more work is being performed. Aerobic training is absolutely necessary to a successful fitness program, but don’t think that it is the only (or fastest) way to burn fat. read related article.
PR’S GALORE!
May 25th, 2010It’s only the end of May and 5 Speed Runners are lighting it up with PR’S in 2010! We’ll be featuring more individual triumphs as we continue into the year, but just to catch up a little, I’d like to acknowledge the following runners who recently broke their personal bests:
William Zuk – 4 mile PR from 30:43 to 29:11!
Ben Coffman – new Marathon PR of 2:51:15 AND 1/2 marathon PR of 1:18:50!
Ramsey Elissa – busted through his 1/2 marathon time BY 10 MINUTES in a time of 1:41:15!
Deb Brown – took a vacation in Hawaii and bested her 5k PR, coming in at 27:42
Jim Ellis – rolled past the 2 hour 1/2 marathon mark in 1:54:53!
Nancy Rogers – finished her 1st 5k in 31:49 to set her first standard she will soon be breaking again!
Amy Depauw – her 24:20 5k was a 6% improvement over her recent 5k best, then she bested that by another 4% 2 months later in 23:46!
Jan Johanneson broke through his recent 1/2 marathon time of 1:51 scoring a 1:47:50!
and 2 super PRS go out to:
Hector Martinez broke his marathon PR at BOSTON! 3:13:58!!!
Al Palombo who broke his 1/2 marathon PR 3 TIMES IN 14 WEEKS, breaking it first in FT. Lauderdale by 9 minutes, then the NYC Half by another 3 minutes, then this past weekend at the Brooklyn Half he took it down another 1minute and change, his 12% improvement took him from 1:57 to 1:44:33.
WAY TO GO 5 SPEED RUNNERS! A HIGH 5 TO ALL OF YOU! I LOOK FORWARD TO MORE GREAT PERSONAL BESTS TO COME AND APPRECIATE YOUR DEDICATION TO THE SPORT AND YOUR FITNESS!
THANKS FOR CHOOSING ME AS YOUR COACH!
Coach Ken
Muscle Confusion
March 27th, 2010I’m not the kind of guy who buys that fitness equipment off of t.v. infomercials. (ok, maybe I did get that Tony Little contraption when I was injured 15 years ago – but who didn’t?) My wife, Bec, on the other hand, was recently influenced by her favorite radio talk show host and broke down and bought P90X. Some of you may have heard of this home fitness program that started out in Santa Monica, California, next door neighbor to the original fitness mega, Venice Beach. I did get intrigued by the philosophy behind P90X. It’s called muscle confusion, basically changing up the exercises so your muscles can’t acclimate to the same workouts and get lazy. Sound familiar? Yes, so besides having both letters and a number in our name, P90X and your 5 Speed Running coach have a similar philosophy that will keep your muscles honest.
Shaking up the workouts weekly are a great way to get strong. When you run at different speeds you are also working different energy systems. This is important because it takes 48 to 72 hours for an energy system to recover from a workout so after you give that anaerobic threshold system a good workout on day 1, you can rest up day 2 with cross training or an easy run, then switch up to some aerobic speed on day 3 with some 150 meter buildups, enough to get the legs going, but not enough to stress out that anaerobic system too soon.
Changing up speeds on the same day is great for strengthening the muscles too. Even on those easy recovery runs, pick up the speed for 10-20 seconds every 5 minutes or so, then go back to the easy pace. Just make sure you aren’t huffing and puffing too much after the pickups as that means you’re working too hard on the recovery day and not staying aerobic. The ultimate in muscle confusion for runners is called interval training. I don’t mean the 8 x 400 at 3k pace, that is repetition training. I mean old school Mihaly Igloi – style intervals where you run varioius sets of various distance at different effort levels such as fresh, medium, good, very good, hard. Shaking up the training like that produced some of the greatest runners in history, first in 1950′s Hungary and later when Coach Igloi and my coach, Laszlo Tabori, brought the training to the U.S. where the philosophy produced world record holders such as Bob Schul and Jim Beatty and then spawned another generation of greats such as Johnny Gray and Carl Lewis, coached by another of Igloi’s students, Joe Douglas, founder of the Santa Monica Track Club.
Sounds like Santa Monica has had a major influence in confusing muscles. What’s not confusing is the results that can be gained by shaking things up, whether you are working a 5k or a marathon training schedule. Give multi-pace training like 5 Speed running a try and see how fast you can break through plateaus when those muscles can’t predict what you’ll do next.
Now Go Run!
Coach Ken
You Run for 40 Minutes a Day (and guess what? it will boost your health!)
February 27th, 2010Scientists in California found that middle-aged people who did just that–for a total of about 5 hours per week–lived longer and functioned better physically and cognitively as they got older; the researchers tracked runners and nonrunners for 21 years. “What surprised us is that the runners didn’t just get less heart disease–they also developed fewer cases of cancer, neurologic diseases, and infections,” says study author Eliza Chakravarty, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. “Aerobic exercise keeps the immune system young.” If you don’t like to run, even 20 minutes a day of any activity that leaves you breathless can boost your health, she says. view source article
STAY TUNED
February 23rd, 2010Hi – This is Coach Ken and I thought it would be a good idea with this updated 5 Speed site to finally get a blog up after all these years ! Thank you all for choosing me as your coach and I look forward to many more years of helping you achieve your personal records and fitness goals. Stay tuned for the first blog post shortly.
