Conventional wisdom dictates that running and weightlifting do not mix. The idea is that casual lifting will wrap your body in heavy, bulky muscle, which slows a runner down.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) this isn’t the case. “Getting big” results from years of specialized lifting and dieting. Lifting for overall fitness, on the other hand, will add strength without the excess bulk. It allows you to run faster and healthier. So whether you’re looking to take your training further or just stave off injury, your answers may lie in the gym.

Lifting to Prevent Injury

Running will strengthen your hamstrings, but not your quadriceps; the resulting imbalance keeps the knee from moving the way it should. This is referred to as “runner’s knee” and it frustrates many beginning runners. You can prevent it by working your quads. Try leg extensions and lunges (lunges can be done with or without weight).

Shin splints are another common injury that can be minimized with proper lifting. Calf raises are best, with or without weight, and you can do them on stairs or any other raised platform.

Lifting for the Upper Body

If you want a stronger drive in your stride—and which runner couldn’t use that?—working on your chest and arms can actually help. Stronger arms swing faster, which allows the legs to do likewise.

A strong core is even more helpful, especially in the later stages of a run. After miles of running, proper form usually falls apart; the back hunches, the arms start swinging wildly, and the butt sticks out. This means that your core isn’t strong enough to match your mileage. Strengthening your shoulders, chest, back, and abdomen will allow you to keep from such ugly and unenjoyable running.

To strengthen your arms and core, try one-arm rows, standing bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, shrugs, dips, and lat pulldowns. There are many other exercises which work the same muscle groups; these were chosen because they’re simple. Many are also good for developing balance, which is especially useful to master runners.

How to Lift like a Runner

It’s important to keep your goals in mind when working out. A long distance runner shouldn’t lift like a bodybuilder; doing so is asking for injury. Instead, try to complete three sets of each exercise, with each set consisting of about 12 reps. Don’t wait too long between reps; a minute or less of rest is preferable.

It’s also very important to lift consistently. If you want to see increased strength and diminished injuries, you should work the same muscle groups two or three times a week, every week. Results will take at least a month to appear in your running, so the sooner you start, the better.

What should I eat?

Of all the questions a runner might ask before a marathon, half-marathon, or even a 5k, this is probably the most common. And it’s not easy to find an answer. There is a lot of conflicting advice in the running community, which has led to several very popular misconceptions.

For example, eating a big spaghetti dinner the night before your run will not make you faster. Proper pre-race nutrition should begin much earlier. Here’s an outline for the days leading up to the race, and the morning of:

One Week before the Race

Over the weeks or months of training, you craved plenty of protein, fats, and carbs. Now, even though your mileage has tapered, your hunger probably hasn’t.

Feed it. Now is a bad time to deprive yourself of anything. Your body is trying to reconstruct and re-energize itself. It needs nutrition; without it, you’ll likely continue to break down, resulting in sickness, fatigue, and even injury.

Three Days before the Race

This is when the well-known (and very enjoyable) “carb-loading” should begin. Carbohydrate-rich food like bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta should make up about 65-75% of your diet for the next few days. All those carbs turn into glycogen—the fuel your body uses on longer runs—which is stored for the race.

Carb-loading comes with some weight gain. Don’t let this psyche you out. Carbohydrates make your body retain more water, so you may gain up to 4 pounds in water weight before the race. It shouldn’t hurt your performance; on the contrary, more water will help you run.

Night before the Race

Most runners agree that your last big meal should be at least 12 hours before the race. If your race starts at 7:00 am, make sure you’ve eaten dinner by 7:00 pm the night before. And no matter how good the blackened oyster livers may sound, now isn’t the time to try anything exotic.

Pasta is great fuel, but only in moderate amounts and with some chicken or fish or broccoli mixed in. Tomorrow, when you’re standing on the starting line, your stomach will feel lighter and you more energized.

Morning of the Race

Your last meal should take place about three hours before the race itself. Wake up early if necessary to make sure you have time to digest. Few things will mess up a good race as quickly as an upset stomach.

As for what you should eat, try a small meal that’s low in fiber and fat. This meal should also give a lot of energy but without spiking your bloodsugar levels. The best foods contain complex carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. For example:

Sweet potatoes

Carrots

Cereal (avoid sugar and fiber)

Oatmeal (look for steel-cut or sugar-free)

Broccoli

Sourdough bread

These foods are packed with energy—lasting energy—and they won’t sit in your stomach during the race.

After all, with all the concerns you may have on race day, why worry about your stomach? Follow this easy outline, and you shouldn’t have to.

So far, Philadelphia’s fall-winter transition is a balmy one. If you’re experiencing the cold that November is supposed to bring, check out this article (written by yours truly) on how to dress while running in the cold.

This past Saturday I participated in City Sports’ 20 mile run through Philadelphia. It’s an annual tradition, mostly meant for people training in the Philly Half/Marathon (which I most certainly am NOT).

I covered the event for City Sports’ blog– you can find the article here.

What excellent timing.

Over the past week, two very inspiring stories have made their way to me. The first is about Sami Stoner, an Ohio cross-country runner who almost didn’t get to race. The second details the training regimen of Simon Wheatcroft, who’s preparing for his first ultra marathon.

Though these athletes, and their struggles, are unique, they’ve had to overcome the same handicap. Sami Stoner and Simon Wheatcroft are both blind.

To discover their stories now seems felicitous because tomorrow holds the Philadelphia chapter of Visionwalk. I’ll be walking with my own wife, a marathoner and year-round runner. Like Sami, she suffers from Stargardt’s, a juvenile form of macular degeneration.

Having watched Mrs. Turtlerunner adapt to her deteriorating vision, I felt personally affected by these stories; Simon and Sami, like my wife, refuse to let their handicap keep them from the sport they love. But the hope they’ve inspired isn’t just for those affected by vision disorders, or runners, or even athletes. When they run, they demonstrate an ability inherent in all of us.

They deny limitation.

(If you would like to help fight vision disorders, please consider donating to The Foundation Fighting Blindness)