Unilab Running Clinic - Day 1

I have been joining fun runs and running events since 1997 but I have never been formally trained nor lectured by any intermediate or professional runners, running clubs, or running coach. You might ask why do we need to have trainings when running is one of the basic human movements that we developed even from our toddler days? We cannot deny the health benefits of running as an aerobic exercise, but to reap these rewards without incurring long-term injuries, we also need to train our body with the dynamics and techniques to properly move and efficiently use our energy while running.

So when Unilab opened a door of running clinic opportunity with Coach Rio, I immediately set the schedule in my calendar and sent the invites to the member of our "running team". Gladly, out of the almost 30 members, we had a total of three confirmed participants -- me, MinnieRunner and BanditRunner.

The first day of our Clinic was last night, 11 February 2010 at the Track & Field oval of PhilSports Complex (Ultra), Pasig. The schedule is every Tuesday and Thursday until March 4, 2010. I planned to jot down the training events after each clinic session for my future reference and yours too (if you'd like).

Some images of the stretches and dynamic exercises are provided below, and will be constantly updated when an image is already available. Not going much into detail, below is our more than 1 hour of 1st day session. The training below was for the 10k runners group for Unilab, under Coach George.

Target Mileage: 6 kilometers

1. 2-km warm-up run (or 5-laps run at own phase)
2. Stretching, which includes:
• head (upper trapezius) stretch
• horizontal arm rotation
• vertical arm swing
• arm stretch
• hip stretch
• knee-to-chest one-leg stretch
• quadriceps stretch
• side lunges
• hip flexor stretch
• deep lunge stretch
• foot rotation
3. Dynamic exercises, which includes:
• knee-high run
• knee-high with back-pedal run
• side-by-side hips run
• russian march
4. Workouts
• 2-sets of 800m per lap (2-min recovery each lap & 5-min recovery each set)
• 2-sets of 600m per lap (2-min recovery each lap & 5-min recovery each set)
• 2-sets of 400m per lap (2-min recovery each lap & 5-min recovery each set)
• 1-lap walk (400m distance)
5. Cooldown, which includes:
• arm stretch
• hip stretch
• knee-to-chest one-leg stand stretch
• quadriceps stretch
• side lunges
• foot rotation
• inhale/exhale routine

*Fastest 400m-lap workout: 00:01:44

That concludes the first day of our running clinic from Unilab with Coach Rio. After the clinic, the first 100 registrants were given a sports/drinking bottle, courtesy of Unilab's ColdEase, and of course, a photo-op with Coach Rio.

Stretching Image Gallery:

Dynamic Exercise Video (courtesy of Runner's World)

Learn more about the health benefits of running, and also get tips for beginner runners from Sports Fitness Advisor.

Here are the links for the succeeding sessions:
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7