With adding my commute to work on the Elliptigo these last few weeks ( https://www.elliptigo.com.au/ ) I’m starting to feel fatigued on my lunch time runs. This, together with a full racing calendar stacked full of Ultra’s, is starting to add up and I took my first day off in a month last Sunday. Did I feel better on Monday, probably, it’s hard to tell these days. Last year was my hardest in terms of races and longest in terms of distance and I seem to be going harder and longer this year. With my 55th birthday in February I am now close to sixty than fifty and this is a sobering thought. Maybe this is why I’m pushing myself harder because I know the end is in view, I’m not saying the end, end , if you know what I mean, I saying my ability to compete at the front of the field. With ultra races I can use my mental strength to keep most of the field behind me but each year I know I will move back through the pack. I have no problem with this but it doesn’t mean I will accept it and not go down without a fight. To this end I entered the 1,000mile Run Brittania last month. ( https://ratracerunbritannia.com/ ), I’m hoping training for this event will ‘keep me young’, probably a runners logic ?
Meb (Boston Winner and Olympic Marathon runner) on the ‘Go’.
Benefits of the Elliptigo.
One way I can probably slow down the aging challenges is weight training and a structured rest regime. I have known this for many years but made little effort to do either albeit I did join a gym for a few months before Delirious 2021 in October. I was paranoid that my quads would give in so tried to work leg muscle groups. Once I finished Delirious my gym career was put back on hold , and it remains in this holding pattern.
As for days off I still struggle but maybe if I was to go to the gym, instead of running, I can kill two birds with one stone ? It’s not a full day off in the purest sense of the term but better than nothing I suppose.
Why you should take at least one day off from training every week
Here’s why you shouldn’t be skipping rest days if you really want to reach those running goals BY TED SPIKER
When staring at a new training plan, you quickly realise there’s a lot to do, and that’s on top of all the other things in your day-to-day life. So when you see the word ‘rest’ on your schedule, it’s tempting to skip past it and look for the next ‘real’ to-do. After all, why would you do nothing when there’s always something to cross off that long, long to-do list?
The answer to that question is simple: NOT running is just as important as fitting in that long weekend run or that Tuesday speed session. Rest days help to strengthen your body, sharpen your mind and boost your motivation levels so that you actually want to get out for your next run.
‘Rest is not a four-letter word,’ says Dr Kevin Vincent, director of the University of Florida Running Medicine Clinic in the US. ‘The big reason you need it is recovery and recuperation. Every time you run, your body has to adapt to get stronger.’
That’s because when you run, you aren’t just building your stamina and strength; you’re also breaking your body down, causing a tiny amount of tissue damage with every step. And allowing yourself time to recover afterward is what makes it possible for you to come back better next week, next month, next race.
‘As much as athletes focus on their volume of training and the speed at which they do workouts, what they do outside of running is equally important to becoming stronger and more resilient in the future,’ says Dr Adam Tenforde, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehab at Harvard University, US, and a former elite runner.
Dr Bonnie Marks, staff psychologist at New York University’s Sports Performance Center, agrees. ‘If you don’t have time to recharge, it can lead to staleness and general apathy about training.’
In other words, rest right and you’ll run better, avoid time on the physio’s treatment table, stay motivated and gain more reward from your running. Fail to rest properly and you’ll slowly – or sometimes rather rapidly – fall apart. Follow these training tweaks to optimise recovery and build a stronger, and more rested, you.
Why rest matters
Whether you’re strictly a recreational runner or training more regularly and seriously, there’s value in taking at least one day off from your training each week – even if you’re deep into a run streak. That day off is when your body uses nutrients and undergoes biological processes and hormone cycles to rebuild itself, says Tenforde. Still got ants in your runderpants? Here are four more reasons to chill.
1.Your muscles bounce back
When you run (or do any kind of exercise), you create microscopic tears in your muscle fibres and your body likes those about as much as you like trying to open a sweaty gel packet after 15 miles. So it responds by rebuilding your muscles stronger, in preparation for the next session. Sounds like a good deal, but there’s a catch: that response only happens with adequate time off from exercising. Vincent says that, depending on the length and intensity of your workout, the body needs a minimum of 36-48 hours to properly reboot. Without it, the body has no opportunity to rebuild and strengthen muscles; they just continue to break down. That negates all the hard work you put in.
You avoid stress fractures
If you’re trying to sidestep an injury, rest is crucial. Contrary to what ill-informed naysayers will trot out, running is actually great for your bones – the impact stresses the bone tissue, and just like a muscle, that increases cell turnover and forces the bone to remodel with stronger structures, says Vincent. ‘But if you run today, tomorrow and the next day, it never has time to fully repair.’ Eventually, you could be looking at a stress fracture – and a lengthy spell out of action.
Tight tendons are protected
Tendons are connective tissues that hold muscle to bone, so they work constantly as the body moves. But blood doesn’t get to them easily, so they take longer to repair than tissues that get a more plentiful supply of your claret (like muscles), explains Vincent. If they don’t get that much-needed time, the constant pounding can cause chronic damage, such as tendinitis – which is inflammation from overuse.
Your brain has time to chill
Yes, running is a form of stress relief. But every time you lace up, it actually increases the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body. Why is that? ‘The body doesn’t know if you’re running away from danger or if you’re running for fun,’ says Vincent. That cortisol bump can cause mood issues, irritability, sleep problems and other health issues if stress levels are chronically high. Think of it like a scale: overtrain, and you’ve tipped too far in one direction; schedule regular rest days, and you’ll bring yourself back in balance.
Rest up or one day you’ll need to pay the piper.
Why you need to ease off
A lot of runners worry that time off can cause them to regress, but that’s not necessarily true. Jason Fitzgerald, coach and founder of Strength Running, says you can take a full week off and be fine. That’s why most sports doctors suggest scaling it back for one to two weeks after each big event. (Example: four to five days of very light physical activity – such as walking – then a week of strength, core work, flexibility and short runs to loosen things up.) When you follow this advice, you’ll enjoy these benefits.
You’ll fine-tune your body
There’s a difference between being totally sidelined and being hampered – aka feeling discomfort without major pain. If your body gets some proper R&R, it’s more likely that the problem will heal instead of turn into a fully fledged injury, says Fitzgerald.
Your body’s protective systems reset
When you fail to rest, you are, in effect, telling your body’s inflammatory process to be on high alert. That process is protective, yes, but when it’s in overdrive from constant running, it backfires – putting your body in a chronic state of inflammation that increases your risk of infections and other illnesses, says Kate Mihevc Edwards, an orthopaedic specialist at Precision Performance in Atlanta, US. Taking even a one-day run holiday will reduce the inflammation and lower your odds of being struck down by illness.
You can acknowledge growth
There’s real value in flipping through old training diaries or your historic Strava data and seeing how far you’ve come, says running coach and two-time US Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier Dr Magdalena Donahue. ‘You need to see what you’ve done, what worked and what didn’t, and let your brain relax,’ she explains. ‘The pause helps you come back a lot more energised and focused.’ Plus, it’s always great to look back on the runs you actually smashed…
You’ll stay motivated
If you’re constantly churning out the miles like a hamster on a wheel (now you see the relevance of the picture), that desire to do better, which originally burned so strong, can dwindle. Call it burnout, loss of mojo, whatever… coming back from it can be a long, hard slog. Scaling back helps you maintain your hunger to train and improve, so you don’t have to mentally start over at square one, says Fitzgerald.
Do I need more time off?
Sometimes you can tell. Like when you can’t walk down the stairs. Other times it’s not so obvious. If you’re wavering about taking a break, Vincent suggests asking yourself these three key questions:
Did my last few runs feel harder than usual, even though they were the same training paces and distances as previous ones?
Do I feel less motivated to run today?
Does running feel more like a chore than something I enjoy?
>If you answered yes to any of the above, you should consider more rest.
How to start getting more rest
Ok, so you’re starting to get why time off and rest is important, but how do you go about doing that? Try these options:
Go low-impact
Incorporating low-impact exercise (such as cycling, rowing and the elliptical machine) allows you to get the aerobic benefits you’re after without taxing your bones and tendons as you would by running. If you have access to a pool, swimming is one of the best options (try aqua-jogging for running-related benefits, or lap swimming if your legs need a break). ‘It has zero impact and being in a cool pool is soothing,’ says running coach Dr Magdalena Donahue.
Try ball sports
When you play tennis, social netball or just kick a football around in the back garden with the kids, you form more well-rounded muscles and bones, which reduces your risk of injury. ‘When you’re running, everything is linear, so your bone gets stronger in one plane of motion,’ says Vincent. ‘By doing something with lateral, back-and-forth movement, you strengthen in all planes.’
Make friends with your couch
Rest days don’t mean you have to veg out all day – in fact, Sarah Lavender Smith, author of The Trail Runner’s Companion (Falcon Guides), says you should always try to move a little – but there’s nothing wrong with taking a few hours to relax. Just do it on the day before your long run, not after. ‘It’s a mistake to go on a long, depleting run and then overeat and lie around the next day,’ says Smith. Doing so causes feelings of lethargy, bloat and overall blahs, she adds.
Cross training…
Play computer games
Studies have found that playing computer games can help control anxiety before performance, and one even discovered that players needed less recovery time after a stressful event. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why this is the case, but they theorise that by offering a way to escape to an alternative reality, computer games work as a calming mechanism to decrease stress.
Sleep more
Not only does a good kip combat mood issues and fatigue, but Fitzgerald says your duvet time is also the time when your body gets the most work done during its repair process. Plus, some research shows that poor sleep quality may be associated with loss of bone density, putting you at risk for developing stress fractures. (See? It all comes full circle.)
Meditate
Science shows that this practice can help improve performance, ease symptoms of pain and boost your breathing. Marks suggests lying on the floor with your eyes closed, focusing on breathing from your belly – not your chest – for at least five minutes. (A good way to check if you’re getting this right is to place a book on your tummy – if the book rises, you’re breathing right.) If you struggle with staying that still – or your kids confuse your meditation time with human-trampoline time, opt for a quiet walk in nature or download a meditation app you can use at the office.
WHAT IF I’M A STREAKER?
We’re not the ones to tell you to break a #RWRunStreak to catch up on your box-sets, but be aware of intensity. If you’re heading out for an easy mile to continue your streak, don’t worry about a rest day. But if intervals and speedwork are part of your routine, ‘recovery is much more important to fit in’, says Dr Bryan Heiderscheit, director of the University of Wisconsin Runners Clinic in the US.
How to fuel your recovery
No running, better rest, what next? Food is next, the fuel that makes you a better run also makes you better rester.
Don’t change too much
While many runners think they need to tighten their grip on calorie intake on a rest day, that’s not really the case. ‘It’s not necessary to restrict energy intake,’ says Dr Stephanie Howe Violett, a running and nutrition coach and winner of the Western States 100 ultra race in 2014. ‘That’s when most recovery and adaptation occurs, and proper nutrients are important to facilitate those processes.’ Instead, try to tune in to your hunger cues and opt for food quality over quantity.
Space out calories
Many people stack their calories towards the end of the day, meaning they eat a light breakfast and lunch and then go supersize at dinner time, says Tenforde. But that depletes your energy and makes your body more susceptible to breakdown. A steady supply is the best strategy, so if you must go light on your first two meals, balance it with nuts or fruit in between.
Fuel with micros
Carbohydrates, protein, fibre – those are the macronutrients you need to fuel a strong recovery. But runners also need micronutrients such as calcium, vitamin D and iron to replenish the body. Eating whole foods – lots of fruits, vegetables, and meat or beans – will help cover your micronutrient bases. Violett says you should aim for about half of your plate to be full of vegetables, whole grains and fruit. Then add a serving of high-quality protein and top with fat (better if it’s unsaturated) to make sure you get essential fatty acids that also aid in your recovery.
Hydrate
Rest days are a great time to pre-hydrate, as starting a run dehydrated is about as much fun as losing a toenail, says Violett. That doesn’t mean down a gallon of water at once – just be mindful about your intake over the course of the day (and check that your wee is a light- straw colour to see if you’re on track).
Enjoy that beer
Violett says it’s no big deal to indulge in a cheeky snifter, but it doesn’t exactly fuel your recovery. Opting for a ‘recovery’ beer after a tough workout? Eat a solid meal first. Going straight for the booze can hurt the body’s ability to restock glycogen stores, and your muscles may not recover as quickly.
It’s no surprise that running gets harder as you get older. Recovery is slower, VO² max is lower, and injury risks are more numerous.
How can the older runner keep running strong – and healthy?
Running is something I intend to do for the rest of my life. But very soon I’ll need to address the limitations of my aging body.
I’m not 22 anymore. I can’t run a 1:13 half marathon off 6 hours of sleep, recover with 5 dirty Martinis, and still rock an 18 miler the next day for a long run.
The indiscretions of youth were fun… but they won’t work when I’m 52!
Running is also becoming a much more popular sport for older athletes. In fact, a study of the New York City Marathon from 1980 – 2009 found that:
“The percent of finishers younger than 40 years significantly decreased, while the percent of masters runners significantly increased for both males and females.”
As more and more people find running, it’s increasingly clear that many of them are older athletes.
My goal is to run as successfully as possible for as long as possible. This means quite a few things:
Stay healthy (this should be a top goal for any 40+ runner)
Maintain competence at skills (full range of motion, coordination, measures of strength, etc.)
Feel good on most runs (free of pain, aches, niggles, etc.)
Maintain a healthy body composition and preserve muscle mass (I want to look good. There, I said it!)
In effect, my running goals will transform into longevity goals as I get older (for more on longevity, I highly recommend Blue Zones for showing you the keys to living a longer, healthier life).
But running gets a lot harder for older athletes. How can we mitigate the effects of aging so we can keep running well into our golden years?
It starts with understanding why Master’s athletes start slowing down.
Why is running harder for Master’s runners?
Well, what isn’t hard about running when you get older? Most aspects of physical performance decline with age – it’s simply the reality of the aging process.
Specifically, you can expect:
Decreased maximal heart rate
Fewer blood capillaries
Smaller and fewer muscle mitochondria
Decreased VO² Max
Lower levels of testosterone
Decreased growth hormone production
Decreased muscle mass
Increased body fat
Decreased muscular strength
These factors result in slower recovery and race times. The hormonal effects of aging are particularly pronounced; with lower levels of anabolic hormones like human growth hormone, testosterone, and IGF-1.
The hormones that supercharged your teenage and young adult years are greatly diminished, leading to lower muscle mass, reduced sexual drive, and poor recovery from workouts.
Combined with other age-related physical declines, runners can expect an annual performance decrease of about .7% – with more notable plunges around age 40 and 60.
By age 70, the average person will have lost 30-40% of their muscle mass.
Interestingly, a 2014 review article on aging and exercise published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons concluded that:
Decades of research support the fact that much age-related deterioration is the result of the effects of sedentary lifestyles and the development of medical conditions rather than of aging itself.
This is fantastic news because it means that when it comes to the aging process, we are not passive bystanders.
We can mitigate the decline of being an older runner to prolong our running careers, our health, and even our lives.
How to Train Older Runners to Feel Young Again
There is a simple training strategy that will inject more youth into anybody’s running: strength training.
Just consider its myriad benefits and how they impact the older runner:
Lifting weights triggers higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone (anabolic hormones that build muscle – and “big lifts” are betterat producing more testosterone)
Successful running for seniors depends on maintaining muscle strength and proper range of motion
Lifting creates denser mitochondria, the “energy factories” of the cells, which decline as you get older
The hormonal component to this story is worth some further explanation.
See, running is catabolic – it breaks down muscle. This normally isn’t a problem because the recovery process rebuilds that muscle very effectively.
But that recovery process slows down as you get older. There are fewer hormones to get it done efficiently (and running doesn’t produce as large a surge of anabolic hormones as other types of exercise like strength training).
Not only does the hormone testosterone reduce the impact of catabolic hormones, it makes other hormones (like IGF-1) more anabolic as well.
After a hard weightlifting session, your body is swimming in muscle-building hormones. That simply doesn’t happen after a hard run! Coach Jay Johnson agrees, noting:
When you do strength work you get a hormonal stimulus that is different than you get running. Specifically, you up-regulate testosterone and human growth hormone, both anabolic hormones.
Anabolic simply means “building up.” Running is a catabolic, “breaking down,” activity.
When you view running the through the anabolic/catabolic lens, it makes sense that you would want to do some strength training to complement your running.
The lesson? If we want to run well into old age – injury-free and with some semblance of ease – we’ve got to lift weights.
Lifting Helps Non-Runners Too!
In addition to how lifting will benefit running, it’s also critical for older runners aged 65+ to promote healthy, long lives. Stronger seniors who have maintained more muscle strength are at a lower risk of falling – a significant cause of age-related trauma.
Doctors are noticing as well. Timothy Quinn, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Hampshire notes:
Older runners should try very hard to get to the gym to lift weights a few times a week.
This focus on strength training throughout the aging process will help runners (and non-runners alike) maintain their strength, flexibility, fitness, and resilience to injury.
How to Start Weightlifting (even if you’re a Master’s Runner)
I want to keep experiencing runs like this into old age!
Most forms of strength training are beneficial – no matter if you’re a master’s runner, senior, or a 14 year old just getting started!
But certain types of strength work have more benefits than others.
If you’re not yet comfortable with strength exercises, start with bodyweight strength training. It will improve your general strength, range of motion, coordination, and begin to counter the effects of muscle loss due to aging.
But if you’ve been doing bodyweight strength routines – like the Gauntlet or Tomahawk Workouts – regularly, it’s time to take the next step.
Because without progression, there’s no progress.
Now, it’s time to start weightlifting! Putting up heavier weight in the gym in a more structured “weight lifting” environment is how to get the powerful, full benefits of lifting:
Neuromuscular coordination and enhanced running economy
Power and the ability to recruit a higher number of muscle fibers
Improved mitochondria development and testosterone production
Stronger hypertrophy stimulus – preserving precious muscle mass
These are significant adaptations to lifting weights that won’t happen with bodyweight exercises. The stimulus simply isn’t strong enough.
Why Fatigue is a Necessary Part of Training and How to Manage It
Training is like trying to walk a tight rope. You need to balance putting in grueling workouts and mileage with the ability to let your body recover. Favor one aspect too heavily and you’ll either have a poor performance from lack of training or get injured and overtrained from doing too much.
That’s why learning how to manage fatigue, and understanding the role it plays in endurance training, is critical to improving as a runner. In this article, we’re going to outline why a certain amount of fatigue is necessary to improve as a runner, how to strategically implement it, and how to find the right balance.
Why fatigue is necessary
The basis for all training theory is the what we call the workout and recovery process. Running first breaks down your muscle fibers. The harder you run, the more muscle fibers you damage. Your body then works to rebuild these damaged muscle fibers and if the recovery process goes well, these muscle fibers are repaired stronger than before. That’s how you become faster and stronger through training.
But, as you may realize, it’s nearly impossible to fully recover from a workout in 24 hours. It might be possible following a very easy day of running, but any type of speed, tempo or long run is going to require anywhere from 2 to 14 days to fully absorb and recover (here’s a breakdown of what research says about how long it takes to recover from different workout types).
That means, unless you want to only run two or three times per week, training while fatigued is a necessary part of training; especially since we know slow, easy mileage is the best way to build aerobic endurance and is the foundation for running performance. The trick is finding that balance between running enough miles to build you aerobic capacity without overdoing the fatigue.
Herein lies the “art” of training.
However, there is also a way that we can utilize this fatigue to make your training more effective.
How to utilize fatigue to run faster
In training vernacular, coaches use a term called “accumulated fatigue”. Basically, this theory posits that fatigue from one workout accumulates and transfers to the next run so that you’re always starting a workout or a long run a little tired from your previous training.
This is important for longer distance races like the marathon because it’s nearly impossible to run the full distance of the race in daily training. Furthermore, if you were to start every workout fully recovered and fresh, it would be difficult to simulate how your body feels late into a race.
As such, we can strategically implement the theory of accumulated fatigue to better target the specific demands of your race.
For example, during marathon training, one of my favorite methods for introducing accumulated fatigue is to buttress the long run against a shorter, but steady paced run the day before. As an illustration, you would run six miles at marathon pace on the Saturday before your Sunday long run. Because of the harder running on Saturday, you start Sunday’s long run not at zero miles, but rather at six or eight miles, since that is the level of fatigue and glycogen depletion your body is carrying over from the previous run.
You can even apply this theory to 5k training. Using what we know about muscle fibers and the recruitment and fatigue ladder, I often have athletes run a short, explosive hill workout (something like 9 x 60 second hills at 5k pace) two days before a 5k specific workout (12 x 400 at 5k pace with 60 second quick jog rest). The hill session fatigues and depletes the fast twitch muscle fibers so that during the 5k specific work, your intermediary Type IIa muscle fibers (the ones primarily responsible for running at 5k pace) have to handle more work and thus are more specifically targeted.
How to find the right balance
Training would be much easier – and runners much happier – if you could just train hard and fatigued all the time. But, you can’t simply continue to accumulate fatigue and run these types of workouts all the time (although some runners certainly do try). There needs to be a balance.
First, try to keep the specific accumulated fatigue workouts to once every two weeks and only schedule them during the race-specific portion of your training schedule. This ensures that you don’t overdo it and that you don’t get burnt out long-term.
Be sure to keep your easy runs slow. One of the most common mistakes runners make is running their easy day mileage too fast. This hinders your ability to recover and doesn’t provide any additional aerobic benefit. Research has shown that the most optimal aerobic pace for an easy run is about 65 percent of 5k pace. For a 20-minute 5k runner (6:25 pace for 5k – 7:20 pace marathoner), this would mean about 8:40 per mile on easy days.
Finally, don’t be afraid to take a down or rest week every five to six weeks where you reduce mileage by 65 to 75 percent and reduce the intensity of your workouts. These down weeks help you fully recover from and absorb previous weeks and months of training so that fatigue doesn’t build-up too much.
Three of my favourite products… fisiocrem ( https://www.fisiocrem.com.au/ ) is just bloody brilliant and does exactly what it says it does , it just gets the major muscle groups moving again. I use this extensively towards the end of the race when my quads are hammered. It really makes a difference and allows me to move back through the gears towards the end of an event when most runners are stumbling home.
Fisiocrem is a must have in your ultra box of tricks…
Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ ) The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products) can be difficult to digest later in the event. From the website :-
As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority.
In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance.
In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born.
BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work!
BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!
Great hydration.
What can I say about HumanTecar, ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !
