Spring in the air and in runners' strides

MEREDITH — When Michelle Lizotte needs extra incentive to get out the door for a training run on a cold morning, she has two things in mind — a friend who died in a car accident and a pact they made to participate in the Boston Marathon.

Lizotte, 26, a Meredith dental hygienist, is running the marathon as part of the Brigham and Women’s Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation team. She has committed to raising $7,500 for the team, and is about $400 short of that goal.

The 123rd Boston Marathon will be held on April 15, one week before the three-year anniversary of the death of Lizotte’s best friend, Kristine Chaput.

“She loved everything about Boston and sports teams,” Lizotte said. “We worked together at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Concord and we would work out before or after work.”

Training runs

Lizotte likes to train around Lake Waukewan and Winona Lake. Sometimes she takes her chocolate Labrador with her.

“It’s a great way to clear your head,” she said. “It’s so pretty running near Winona Lake that it’s almost easy.”

She began training and fundraising for the Boston Marathon at the end of January when she found out she was accepted for the race.

Lizotte’s early runs covered about 6 miles. She worked up to 16 miles, and then had to take a break because of a sore knee. She missed a 21-mile training run in Boston, opting to rest her knee so she will be in better shape on race day.

Injury prevention

Prevention of running injuries is the goal of Vince Vaccaro, the race director of the White Mountain Milers’ Half Marathon and 5K in North Conway on Sept. 21. He is a certified master instructor in ChiRunning/ChiWalking.

“This is definitely the time of year when people want to get out and start moving,” he said. “I’m working with a client who started to run again, didn’t feel good, old injuries came back, so he called up and took a lesson.

“We want to help people reach their goals. We want them to be able to run every day they decide they want to run. It’s about being efficient, moving well and your body takes on less impact and has less injuries.”

A big mistake for many recreational runners is landing with their heel first, he said.

“They forget the force of the oncoming road, throw the leg out in front and as the road comes up you wind up with a collision. The force moves from the heel to the ankle to the knee, to the hip and to the small of the back.”

It’s preferable to land with the midfoot, but many people don’t give it much thought.

Posture is also important.

“If you look at a side profile of a runner, the ankle, the center of the hip, the shoulder and the ear should be in alignment,” he said. “The body should be directly over the feet.”

Many runners think that bigger, thicker running shoes can help them avoid injury, when what they really need to do is work on their technique to avoid problems such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, calf sprains, among other things, Vaccaro said.

He also recommends that people build up their running distance gradually, adding no more than 10 percent per week.

Vaccaro has another tip for successful running — do it in a group.

The hardest part of a run are the first few steps. It’s more difficult to skip a run if you have already told other people you will join them.

“My suggestion is for people to look up and join a running club,” he said. “This way, on those days where excuses are plentiful, you’ll say, ‘Oh, I already committed to my friends at the running club. I’d like to go on the boat, but I’ve already got an obligation. When you have that commitment to people, that helps.”

Another thing that helps is to make a goal. It could be as short as a 5K race, or as long as a marathon. It helps to solidify the goal by actually registering for a race.

“A goal without a date is just a dream,” Vaccaro said. “You want that date.”

Running information:

Michelle Lizotte’s fundraising link — http://tinyurl.com/yyljooh7

ChiRunning — http://wmmhalf.com/training-program/

Upcoming races — http://whitemountainmilers.com/race-calendar/