Detroit Free Press: Pro Running Panel
This year, every major marathon since March was cancelled. Many of them went virtual, including the Detroit Free Press Marathon.
The race organizers did an incredible job of creating a unique virtual experience for the runners -from a swag bag that had a “Finisher’s Tape” to break at the end of a virtual race, to an online Virtual Race Expo experience and much more.
For the Virtual Race Expo, I was invited to join a panel discussion with Dr. Laura Owczarek MD of Henry Ford Health Systems and Des Linden 2x Olympian & Boston Marathon Champ. It was a great discussion and I loved hearing from them both as well as offering my own perspectives.
Check out the full replay right here! I’ve outlined the topics below with timestamps to easily navigate to different topics.
3:50 - Intro of the panel
6:00 - Panelists intro themselves
10:30 - Pre-race habits
16:20 - Olympics
23:20 - Dr. Owczarek discusses injury prevention
25:45 - Motivation and discipline
28:30 - When it makes sense to get a running coach
31:20 - Destober
35:30 - Pre-Race Advice for the day or two leading up to the race
38:20 - Free Press International Half Marathon - my experience
40:00 - Long run thoughts: What do people think about the whole time during long races/runs
46:45 - Question for Dr. Owczarek: Recommendation for pre-race warmup
48:20 - Question for Nicole Sifuentes: One thing to change in training with the goal of getting faster
51:00 - Question for Des Linden: Mental tips and strategies to get through the challenges of running through the pandemic, cancelled races, virtual races, etc
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.