This weekend I put on a race bib and timing chip for the fourth week in a row and managed to snare a rare victory at the West Australian Marathon Club ( http://www.wamc.org.au ) Peninsula 10k. As the photo below shows it was perfect conditions with a cool starting temperature and no wind, which for Perth is a big bonus this time of year. After my warm up with Mike K. I got to the start line with less than a minute to spare and a quick look around revealed none of the usual suspects lining up against me. The last few races I had managed to snare a 4th place finish which is always frustrating as it’s the first person to win nothing. (assuming the top 3 get medals of course) Looking back at race results over the years this seems to be my favourite (?) position to finish, the joys of racing.
The Peninsula 10k is a favourite race of mine as I have made the podium on two previous occasions and ran my 10k PB there in 2016 (34:18) . On Sunday there was a lack of depth in the field and I felt if I could run well there’d be a chance of another podium place. My race plan was simple , as all good race plans are, run as fast as I could for the first kilometre and try and break the field , go like the ‘clappers‘ to the half way and then try and hang on for dear life and stumble over the line, see simple. I executed the first part perfectly and ran a 3:11 first kilometre, probably my 1500m pace. It had the desired effect and I have some distance between me and the pack who were probably thinking I’d started the 5k race early ! After that I couldn’t see the chasing runners (as you all know a cardinal sin of running is looking behind you, a big no-no.) until the half way turn around when they were probably a good few hundred metres behind me but closer than I’d like. I had thought of cruising home to a comfortable victory and was already reciting my winners speech. Not to be unfortunately, if I was to win this race I was going to have to work for it.
I put in another big effort for the next couple of kilometres before relaxing a tad for the finish as the job was done and I ran in for my 9th career race victory. As these overall victories are rare it makes the feeling so much better and I’m still smiling like a Cheshire cat with a new set of teeth, even while I type this post. Best bit was I even managed to sneak in under 35 minutes , finishing in 34:55. Overall a perfect day, makes all those training runs in the dark, the heat or early mornings well worth it and also hungry for more success. We’ll see, as I moved into my fifties I have certainly noticed the training is becoming harder and although the last four weeks of racing have produced good times they are not PB’s. No worries the bar has been set over the last four weeks and I know I have to work harder to raise it even higher and maybe nudge the odd PB this year. I have a few ideas involving diet and my Elliptigo ( http://www.elliptigo.com.au ) that may help me gain a few more seconds and there’s always a new pair of Nike Vaporfly 4% ‘s(in red of course because they will be faster!) if I can find another pair anywhere ? (If anybody knows any for sale please let me know.)
‘The scolded cat’ start, as always.
So what is the point of this post ? What I’m trying to convey is you’ll never run as fast as you do when you’re racing, be that at the front of the pack, in the middle or at the back. The point is you’re either being chased, at the front, chasing the leaders, in the middle or just running to make sure you’re not dead last. Either way there is pressure on you to perform and this is what makes you a better runner. Race enough and you’ll see the benefits in your training and racing with the pain threshold rising and the pace increasing. I understand racing isn’t for everyone but for a guaranteed way to improve it is up there with losing weight and training more, the two pillars on which the runner builds his career.
The last month I’ve raced four times, a 16k, 5k, 21k and last weekend a 10k. All have their own challenges and truth be told I ran off too quick on all of them and held on. Is this the way to run a race ? Probably not but my ‘scolded cat’ start has done me well over the years and I have the experience and training history to hang on and stumble back over the line, normally. These four races were all difficult but in the case of racing familiarity does not breed contempt it breeds acceptance and confidence. Acceptance of what is to come and confidence that you will overcome and excel, or least complete in a reasonable time. I missed out on PB’s but was close enough to give me hope that , given good conditions, I could have a sniff at maybe one more PB or more. This is enough to keep me honest but really I love running as much now as I did when I started 10 years or so ago so even though my PB chasing days may be behind me I can still justify putting myself in the pain box because, well truth be told, it’s a place I enjoy being. Sounds masochistic but you only really feel alive when you are either close to death or putting yourself in testing situations where you ask yourself some serious questions and need to be able to answer them honestly. Racing gives me that runners high when you achieve a set goal, set a time or just finish. (in the case of ultra marathons etc..) It does make you feel alive and its nice to once in a while really see how fast you can run albeit over a set distance. Basically running fast is fun and even more fun when you’re racing, trust me on this.
I’d be faster in trainers, and thanks to the best ‘medal presenter’ in many a race.
As is my way I’ve posted on the benefits of racing before. Let’s face it people after nearly two years of blogging I’ve covered most things running, I mean really running it isn’t that hard. (but don’t tell anybody.) Anyhow if you want to read more on this subject feel free…
One of the best ways to improve performance is to drop weight. This , of course, has diminishing returns as you come close to dropping too much weight, resulting in constant fatigue as you derive your body of the fuel needed to complete your exercise. Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise so the ‘if the furnace is hot enough everything burns’ type approach to eating whatever you want as long, as you exercise enough, is flawed. I still find it amusing that runners constantly seek out trainers that save them 10-20g of weight but ignore their 2-3kilos of extra weight they are carrying around their waist. It has the double-whammy effect because the extra weight being carried by the runner is then transferred through a racing shoe with little or no support, resulting in the higher risk of injury.
Surprisingly enough so many coaches offer their clients all sorts of different combinations of aerobic and anaerobic exercises but completely ignore diet and thus weight. Have a look at the winner of every marathon , globally, they all look similar. In my view Robert ‘Deeks’ Costello was the last marathon world record holder who looked what the public would consider ‘normal’ , i.e. not like they had just escaped from a concentration camp after a long stay in the section which considered eating an option.
One of the greatest Australian marathon runners of all time. ‘Deeks’ in full flow… I’m assuming it was just before the finish…
I have met ‘Deeks’ on a number of occasions over the years and he is still a gentleman of the sport, a true legend and all round Mr. Nice Guy. He does a lot of work with the Aboriginal communities in Australia and has send many of them to run the New York marathon, a life changing experience for all. Check out the Indigenous Marathon Foundation website ( http://www.imf.org.au/ )
Right, I digress back to the post…… although we cannot hope to get down to the 45-50kg’s that is the average weight of todays marathon winner we can all make an effort to drop a few kilos. Over the last couple of years I have written numerous posts on nutrition and weight and have attached one below I wrote in 2016, at the time my blog was just starting so I suspect that no one, apart from my Mum, would have read this. (Thanks Mum.)
Well this post is another cup of tea and digestive biscuit or two type post. What is the best diet for runners or the population as a whole ? With most things in running there is no reinventing the wheel. You’re normally faced with the ‘norm’ and one alternative. e.g. run less, run faster as opposed to run slower, but more, to run faster. I personally suspect either method works if you follow them religiously. The problem occurs when you half heartily follow one but add in some of the other. Anyhow this post is about what is the best nutrition for achieving the best performance.
In the good old days it was always high carbs, low fat and sugar, normally natural, as fuel. Even today if you google best running diets it’s mostly pasta, rice, bread, honey, orange juice, low fat yoghurt, skinless chicken, semi-skimmed milk etc. We’ve all seen it a thousand times. I’ve been following this for many years and it has certainly helped me. Or has it ?
Recently Tim Noakes, a highly respected write and MD changed his view on nutrition virtually 180 degrees. Noakes is the author of one of, if not the defining book on all things running, ‘The Lore of Runing’, a 944-page tome known as the distance runner’s bible. He has come out and said forget everything he wrote in that book about carbohydrates. Back then, he questioned whether they were as necessary to a runner’s diet as many experts believed but still recommended them, particularly as fuel for workouts and races.
Now, Noakes won’t touch most carbs and tells others to avoid them, too. His book about this new lifestyle, The Real Meal Revolution, has sold more than 200,000 copies in his native South Africa the last two years, making it one of the country’s all-time nonfiction bestsellers, and it has helped launch a change in dietary thought much the same way the Atkins diet did across America years ago.
Noakes originally started his low carb, high fat diet in 2010 after research led him to believe the carbohydrates he’d eaten all his life contributed to his Type II diabetes, which runs in his family. His new eating habits resembled those of ancient foragers, most similar to a late 1800s European fad known as Banting. Noakes’s diet consists of about 5–10 percent carbohydrates, 60 percent fat and 30 percent protein. Sugars and processed carbs are forbidden. The mainstays are eggs, fish, meat, leafy but not starchy vegetables and nuts. His advice opposes dietary guidelines laid out by the Nutrition Society of South Africa, which recommend making “starchy foods” part of most meals and using fats sparingly.
CARBOHYDRATES AND RUNNING
Carbohydrates (sugar, starch, and fiber) play an important role in maintaining a healthy diet and fueling your runs. Carbohydrates are stored in your muscles as glycogen, which your body taps into during a workout.
But not all carbohydrates are created equal. The more processed a carbohydrate is (like packaged foods and sweets) the more it becomes stripped of its nutrients, making its calories “empty.”
To fuel your body and your run, reach for complex carbohydrates like whole fruits and vegetables, dairy, whole grains, potatoes, and legumes. These foods provide a host of nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, and calcium, that will help runners feel full and perform their best.
You can benefit from simple carbohydrates (like table sugar, maple syrup, or dextrose), which provide quick bursts of energy. This type of sugar (found in energy gels and chews) is good for on-the-run fuel because it is quickly absorbed and can help replenish the glycogen stores you’re depleting on a long run. You’ll want to refuel regularly on the run before your muscles become fully depleted. Try to consume 30 to 60 grams every hour, depending on your intensity and also body size.
Carb-loading may be a runner’s favorite part about marathon day. But to do it properly, it’s important not to eat heaps of pasta for days on end—you’ll feel sluggish and it could lead to GI distress on race day. Instead, slowly increase your carbohydrate intake about three to seven days leading up to your race. For example, have oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, add a dinner roll to your salad, have a handful of pretzels as a snack, and add rice or other whole grains to your dinner.
Activity Level Recommended Intake
Light activity (less than 1 hour per day) 1.3 to 2.3 g/lb. body weight
Moderate activity (1 hour per day) 2.3 to 3.2 g/lb. body weight
Extreme exercise program (4.5 to 6 hours per day) 4.5 to 5.5+ g/lb. body weight
Are all the running experts wrong and is Noakes a visionary preaching a complete change on how we fuel efficiently ? More importantly has he found the cure for diabetes and obesity.? Finally if he has will big business let him? I read that if Noakes is telling the truth it would be the end for four large pharmaceutical companies who survive on providing the drugs necessary to combat the 20th century diseases associated with over eating and bad diets. Then all the industries built up on providing all these carbohydrates and sugar we rely on currently. Big business does not like change as it normally affects the bottom line, they are not at all interested in finding cures for most diseases they supply drugs to combat, why would they?
Personally I feel Noakes has some good points. We all eat to much sugar and can certainly do without it, there are natural alternatives. Can we go low carb, high fat. ? I’m happy to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast , as encouraged by Noakes, but giving up probably my main food group will be a big ask.
Finally what about pancakes, protein surely ? Not even Noakes would try and take my pancakes away, would he? I regret eating that digestive biscuit now, well maybe regret is a tad overboard….
Strictly speaking, it’s not correct to call Cape Town sports scientist Prof Tim Noakes’ low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet ‘Banting’, but he doesn’t mind if you do. The eponymous William Banting was fat – a heavily overweight, ailing British undertaker, and he ate low carbs on the advice of Dr William Harvey in 1862. Banting lost weight and felt great. Harvey wrote about it, but under pressure from medical colleagues, modified the diet into high-protein, low-fat. German physician Dr Wilhelm Ebstein took it to Europe, and changed to high-fat, low-carb after realising the key was replacing carbs with fat, not protein, as fat reduced hunger more effectively. So it’s more correct to call Noakes’ diet ‘Ebstein’, or ‘ketogenic’. Banting may stick in SA, where it is a culinary ‘revolution’, with Banting restaurants, meals and products popping up all over the place.
That has had some doctors and dietitians frothing at the mouth, and looking on Noakes as SA’s next ‘Dr Death’. President of the Association for Dietetics in SA Claire Julsing Strydom has reported Noakes to the Health Professions Council of SA for telling a mother on Twitter that good foods for baby weaning are LCHF – in other words meat and veg. The hearing is looking like the nutrition equivalent of the Spanish inquisition, as orthodoxy seeks to silence Noakes and his heretical views once and for all. Whether they will succeed is anyone’s guess. What’s more certain is that Banting is going global , as evidence piles up in favour of its safety and efficacy to treat insulin resistance and for weightloss. Here, Noakes gives clarifying fundamentals, followed by an Idiot’s Guide to his LCHF diet.
Cape Town sports scientist Prof Tim Noakes is in great shape. At 65, after four years on his low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, his energy levels are stratospheric; his running has improved spectacularly.
“I don’t run as fast as I ran in my 20s, but I’m running faster and further in training, and with more enjoyment than I did 20 years ago,” he says.
He hasn’t gained a gram of the 20kg he lost in the first two years on the diet, and his health has improved. Noakes has type 2 diabetes (it’s in his family history) and developed it despite religiously eating the recommended high-carb, low-fat diet for 33 years that experts told him would prevent diabetes. He could probably do without medication to control it, but prefers to have “perfect blood glucose control’’.
He sleeps like a baby and no longer snores – for which wife Marilyn is deeply grateful – and no longer falls asleep in front of the TV. All other ailments – recurring bronchitis, rhinitis, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastric reflux for which he was considering surgery – have disappeared.
Controversy still peppers his diet, with some saying it’s unscientific and dangerous – and so is Noakes. The science for and against LCHF and Noakes was scrutinised by an international gathering of top LCHF scientists and researchers at the low-carb, high-fat summit in Cape Town from February 19 to 22. Noakes hosted the event with Karen Thomson, granddaughter of the late pioneering cardiac surgeon Prof Chris Barnard, and the cream of international LCHF medical and scientific experts on the speakers’ panel.
Here he clarifies terminology of his LCHF diet, and gives an Idiot’s Guide to getting started:
Is your diet Atkins?
No, Atkins is higher protein than ours. Ours is high-fat, moderate-protein.
Is it Paleo?
No. Paleo is low in carbs, but not as low as we go. It excludes cereals and dairy, but includes fruit, which we don’t, except for some berries that are high in nutrition and low in carbs.
Is it Banting?
It’s probably more correct to call it Ebstein – after German physician Dr Wilhelm Ebstein who first made it high-fat. That was the diet Sir William Osler promoted in his monumental textbook: The Principles and Practices of Medicine, published in the US in 1892. Anyone who claims Banting or Ebstein diets are fads simply knows nothing about medical nutrition history. Nutrition did not begin in 1977 as our students seem to be taught.
Any weighing of food on your diet?
No. That’s a joke. You can’t predict accurately the absolute calorie content of foods when eaten by humans. You don’t know how many calories each person needs. The only way to work that out is by weighing yourself. If your weight stays stable, you’re eating the same number of calories you are expending. If you are lean, that’ll probably be the correct number of calories for your body and activity level. There’s no other way remotely accurate enough to measure your calorie needs.
Is your diet extreme?
Only in that it’s extremely low in carbohydrate – the one nutrient for which humans have absolutely no essential requirement. In 1977, when we were told to eat diets extremely high in carbohydrates, human health started to fail on a global scale. Moderation is a smug, puritanical word. No mammal eats in moderation. In nature all diets are extreme – lions eat only meat, polar bears mainly fat, panda bears only bamboo shoots, giraffes only acacia leaves. Balance is what has worked for each of these species for millions of years.
Is it right for everyone?
No diet is right for everyone. LCHF is best for people who are insulin resistant.
Critics say the Tim Noakes diet is dangerous because of high saturated fat. Is saturated fat ever a health threat?
It can be, in the presence of a high carbohydrate/sugar diet that causes elevated insulin concentrations due to the excessive carb intake. Insulin directs an altered metabolism, with the formation of the damaging oxidised (LDL) cholesterol that is probably a key component in heart disease.
So what’s the key?
To eat a diet that keeps blood insulin and glucose concentrations low, because elevated insulin concentrations especially are linked to long-term health problems. We say: eat what your appetite directs you to. Once you cut the carbs we think your brain will tell you if you need more fat or protein. It’s about finding the balance that works for you.
On to the fundamentals when starting on your diet – what to cut out?
Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, pizza, sugar, all grains and cereals, processed, packaged, boxed, adulterated foods, cakes, sweets, biscuits, fizzy drinks, all the addictive things. Anything sweet and starchy has to go – and low-fat foods.
What to keep in?
Fat and protein. You can eat fat in relatively unlimited amounts, but only moderate protein. A healthy high-protein diet for humans doesn’t exist. If your diet was 100% protein, you’d quickly get sick and die. You can’t really overdose on fat; it reduces appetite, and it’s the best way to get over sugar addiction.
What are good protein sources?
Start with eggs, full-fat dairy, cheese, yoghurt – good fallback foods. Fish and chicken – with the skin, not battery fed – and some meat, preferably organic, or at least pasture-raised, not from animals raised in feed lots and fed grains, because that destroys the meat’s quality. Meat’s not a main focus, but we like lamb because it’s fatty and pasture fed. Boerwors is fine, but without cereal in it, and bacon, preferably not very smoked.
And good fat sources?
Butter, cream – ladle meat and veg with butter; put cream in tea or coffee. Coconut oil, very healthy, everyone should have two tablespoons of it daily. Avocados. Nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecan nuts, especially macadamia nuts, they are like drops of fat – all tree nuts. Not peanuts or cashews. They’re legumes, not nuts.
Dairy can be problematic?
Only for people with diarrhoea, lactose intolerance, or who battle to lose weight – that happens mostly to women. It may well be that fat increases their hunger rather than satisfies it. We don’t know if it’s just an effect of saturated fat in some people. The easiest way to cut fat in that case is to cut dairy, and eat other sources of fat, such as oily fish, and avocado.
What about vegetables?
All vegetables have carbohydrates, but we recommend those with lowest carb, highest Tim Noakes Real Meal Revolutionnutrient content: leafy greens such as kale, it’s one of the most nutritious vegetables; also cauliflower, broccoli, they’re on our green list – (in The Real Meal Revolution, co-authored by Jonno Proudfoot, Sally-Ann Creed and David Grier).
Can you be a vegetarian on your diet?
Yes, if you eat dairy products, but we advise adding eggs and fish. Vegetarians who cheat can be incredibly healthy.
You can’t be a vegan on your diet?
Well, I know a vegan athlete, a former professional cyclist who eats 80% fat in his diet – lots of coconut oil and avos. It’s an extreme diet, but it works for him. Clearly his gut flora can handle it. I met someonewho eats only raw meat. We don’t know what the bacteria in their guts are doing, and how those bacteria might compensate for what we might perceive as intake “deficiencies”.
What carb-fat-protein ratio is best?
Depends on how sick you are. If you’re diabetic, we say 20% to 30% protein, 60% to 70% fat, 5% carbs. The sicker you are, the more fat you need, because fat is insulin neutral. The more insulin resistant you are, the more fat you can eat, because even when the pancreas fails, fat is the only fuel you can metabolise safely without requiring insulin. It’s perfect for blood sugar control. We don’t tell people how many grams to eat, except for carbs – around 25g if you are really sick.
What about alcohol?
It’s a toxin, and slows weight loss on our diet significantly. We say: first lose the weight, and reintroduce alcohol in small amounts if you must. The diet is a fine line. If you don’t fall on the right side of the fat, protein, carb ratio, just one apple, a beer or two glasses of wine will put you on the wrong side, and you will not enjoy the benefits you should from cutting carbs.
No sweet ‘cheat’ treats at all?
A small piece of dark chocolate is fine, but many people can’t eat just one small piece – like smokers who can’t have one cigarette. The key is to get sugar out the diet. People don’t understand how addictive sugar is, or what it actually is – not just sucrose, the white stuff, also high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in processed foods. That’s what I classify as sugar, the really addictive one. If you can get people down to 25g of carbs a day for a few months with no added sugar, the brain no longer searches for sugar. That’s what makes our diet so successful.
And best snacks?
Nuts, biltong, cheese, coconut – I love coconut chips best of all. And fullcream yoghurt.
How often should you eat?
Depends on how sick or obese you are. I’m diabetic, so in my opinion the less frequently I eat the better. I eat a big breakfast, snack a little at two in the afternoon and eat dinner at seven.
Last weekend I ran the Darlington half which I had written about in post earlier in the week. (see below) As expected it was as brutal as I had remembered on the six previous occasions I had ran ‘the hill’. This year though seemed harder than the previous years and this is a trait that seems to be becoming the norm in my racing career of late. Is this the start of my progression back to the pack or just poor training catching up with me ?
First of all some stats, because runners love numbers right ? My previous six finishing times for the Darlington Half have been 1:24, 1:21:12, 1:19:45, 1:17:22, 1:21:46, 1:19:16 with a 1:19:02 this year. This year was my second fastest of the 7 previous races so I should be happy enough right ? In this case not so, the race itself was brutal enough that at 5k I was so close to pulling the pin and just stopping, truth be told sometimes this blog is enough to keep me soldering on as it wouldn’t be good for the runbkrun brand having me DNF’ing would it ? I remember a quote from Tim Noakes (Author of the ‘Lore of Running’) where he said that in just about every race he ever ran he , at some point during the race, had the urge to pull out and stop the ‘suffering’.
I would assume all runners who push themselves into the ‘pain box’ would logically want to end the time in said box and this is the mental part of racing that we gain from the whole racing exercise. This mental toughness is acquired, in my opinion, by experience and also , for the lucky few, genetics. Some people are just better at handling pain, because this is what is basically is, than others. I’ve said many times in this blog that Steve Monaghetti maintained the elites in the sport are just better equipped to handle the pain of racing compared to the club runner and this , together with a better training program, is what separates the two. It also helps to be 45kg and Kenyan, with no distractions and a diet so primitive all ‘bad’ food is avoided.
So back to Darlington. I raced off like a ‘scolded cat’ which is my normal starting strategy, I use the word ‘strategy’ in the broadest sense of the word. I have tried holding myself back at the start but it’s just not me and I always seem to revert back to the ‘first to 100 metres’ wins mentality. Luckily in this race Dean Menzies was running and he was out of sight by the first kiloemtre and won by nearly 8 minutes, Oh to be young and talented. (Actually I’ll take just young truth be told !) Surprisingly enough I was in second place for the first four kilometres which I wasn’t expecting and really had no idea who was also racing as my warm up was late, as usual, and I had no time to check out the other runners pre-start. I did notice Justin Scarvaci at the start, a runner who takes great pleasure in passing me towards the end of the race, so knew that if I was to podium (and that is a big ‘IF’) it would be a third place finish at best. My best finish at Darlington had been a 5th in 2014 when I ran one of the runs of my life (these do exist, just happen on a very irregular basis unfortunately; otherwise they wouldn’t be ‘runs of your life’ I suppose?) Anyhow , as always, I digress.
Back to the race report and I’m sitting in 2nd at 4k dreaming of a Darlington podium. This is short lived of course when three runners catch me and I go from 2nd to 5th in a few hundred metres, go to love racing ! The other three runners all look very strong and I have to work very hard to slot in behind them (which with a headwind and a hill is the pace to be luckily.) For the next 7k we climb the hill together and I’m pleased that I can hang on, and trust me it was hanging on. At the turn around point the leader has well gone and there is a big gap to the next pack of chasing runners, big enough that I know another 5th place is in the bag, which takes some pressure of the return journey.
The Darlington half really is a race of two halves. The second half, which starts at around 13k really, is a downhill sprint to the finish and if you have saved something in the legs is just about the best finish to a half in Western Australia, bar none. We dropped one runner (sorry Max) on the downward journey and the three of us left in the chasing pack ( I use the word ‘chasing‘ very loosely as Dean was well out of sight !) motored away enjoying the tail wind and the gradient. Surprisingly enough I was actually comfortable for the first 3k of the downhill section and slotted in behind the two other runners. I even started to think maybe, just maybe, a podium was a possibility; just needed one of these two runners ahead of me to ‘bonk’. Truth be told I knew this was a long shot as both were probably 20 years plus younger that me and looked to be cruising, more worried about the other runner rather than the old guy behind then.
This turned out to be the case at 18k when we encounted the only small rise in the downward journey and I was dropped like a bad habit. I then suffered the double whammy of finding out that Nike Vaporfly 4%’s are amazing shoes on every terrain bar ‘pea gravel’ trail at speed. My last 2-3 kilometres was like ice skating and I consider myself lucky to be alive ! No worries, finish in 4th place (my favourite go-to position these days?) with a good time of 1:19:02. Another rookie error with not looking at my watch near the finish as I could have probably found 3 seconds to break 1:19, when will I learn?
There was the obligatory , ‘I will never run that again’ conversation with the finishing shute volunteers, which again seems to the norm these days and then a warm down with the Jon and the T-train where I recorded possibly my slowest kilometre ever on Strava, over 7 minutes !
The point of this post , for those lucky readers who have stuck it out to the bitter end , is that it doesn’t matter how experienced you are or how many races you have ran , a race will always test you mentally and physically. I believe it is more of a mental test personally and the end result depends on how much pain you are able to take onboard in your pursuit of the end goal. As you would probably have gathered in my last few race reports I seem to be paying a higher price, mentally, ever time I race and as I have said before I would put this down to father time catching up with me and asking for payment , of sorts. You need to keep this in mind next time you race and start to question your ability, and you will. Trust in your training and always remember ‘pain is temporary but quitting last forever.’
Does this mean I’ll be slowing down anytime soon and returning to the chasing pack ? Not on your life, I shall take the opposite approach and train smarter (or harder?) and try and prepare myself physically better for the challenge. This may be enough to make up for the mental demons I battle every time I put on a race bib. Luckily I haven’t got long to ponder Darlington as I have another race this weekend, the Peninsula 10k, a race I set my 10k PB a few years ago when I actually won it. Race strategy (?) will be similar to Darlington , and all my races truth be told, go off like a scolded cat and hang on for dear life towards the end while questioning the whole reason you do what you do, deep inside the pain box. It’d be silly to change a winning formula wouldn’t it ?
This weekend I will be running the Darlington half marathon for the 7th time. This is probably the only half marathon where a good negative split is guaranteed, of course a runners friend (and enemy) gravity plays a large part in this. The first half of the Darlington half is predominately uphill which of course translates to the second half being predominately downhill, funny that. (being an out and back course.) This race, more than most, involves the runner taking account of the terrain and holding something back for the return leg when time can be made up very quickly on fresh legs. To waste too much energy on the outbound journey would negate the benefit offered on the return.
I’ve attached my race splits from last year when I scrambled home for a 6th place finish after sitting in 4th for most of the race, which would have been my best finishing position. No worries, it’s not like I blew up but a couple of ‘younger’ runners got me with less than 3k to the finish. Anyhow as you can see from the graphic below it really is a case of up 10 or so kilometres, a couple of kilometres to grab your breath before a 10k race to the finish with gravity as your co-pilot.
Of course I’m not saying the last 10k is a breeze by any stretch of the imagination. You have a bib on your chest (and a chip on your shoe) so you will be pushing yourself deep into the pain box and although it helps you are running down hill you are still racing.
Darlington half gradient with splits from last years race.
So what other variables need to be taken into account when you’re racing ? Heat is the obvious first choice. A Runners Choice article on training in the heat and its affect is worth a read:-
As year-round runners facing myriad conditions, we all recognize that it’s harder to run well when it’s hot. Perceived effort is greater and race times typically suffer accordingly. Why does this happen? What happens to the body at a physiological level? And most important, how should we adjust workouts and race expectations to best weather the weather?It’s generally recognized that for every 10-degree increase in air temperature above 55 degrees, there’s a 1.5 percent to 3 percent increase in average finishing time for a marathon. (Translation: An extra 3 to 6 minutes for a 3:30 marathon with every 10-degree increase.) This slow-down occurs because heat impacts runners at a physiological level through various means, including dehydration, increased heart rate and reduced blood flow (and subsequently oxygen) to the muscles used for running.
SWEAT: THE DETAILS
Thermoregulation is how your body maintains a consistent internal temperature. When exposed to external heat, your body cools itself and maintains equilibrium via perspiration. Perspiration has a cooling effect on the body because it removes excess heat through evaporation. The rate of evaporation—and subsequently how well the body is cooled—changes depending upon humidity. When humidity is low, evaporation increases; when humidity is high, the rate of evaporation decreases and less cooling occurs.Sweating, while critical to cooling the body, leads to fluid loss. Dehydration from fluid loss has a profound effect on running performance—a loss of even 2 percent of body weight leads to about a 4-to 6-percent drop in performance. Furthermore, both temperature and humidity increase heart rate and amplify these effects. At 60 to 75 degrees, heart rate increases by two to four beats per minute. From 75 to 90 degrees, heart rate increases up to 10 beats per minute, and humidity increases it even more. Perceived effort is accordingly much greater as both the temperature and the humidity rise.Compounding things, when you sweat your blood volume decreases, less blood returns to your heart, less oxygen-rich blood reaches your working muscles, you produce less energy aerobically and you run slower for a given effort level. As it gets hotter this effect is exaggerated because the greater the amount of heat that needs to be dissipated, the greater the proportion of blood diverted to the skin. While the red blood cells contained in plasma don’t play a role in the cooling process, your body can’t separate the red blood cells (which carry oxygen) from the plasma—all are brought to the skin to induce a cooling effect. When oxygen is redirected via blood flow to your skin instead of your muscles, you have less energy to use for running, and your heart and lungs must work harder to compensate for the loss in oxygen. As you’ve experienced, this results in a higher heart rate at a set pace and the inability to maintain the same pace as on a cool day.WHAT TO DO?
How can you minimize the negative impact of heat on performance? Because of blood plasma’s important role in the cooling process, training alone provides a bit of adaptation, because a side effect of running is an increase in total plasma volume. This helps to explain why the fittest athletes (and likely those with the highest plasma volume) typically adapt more easily to heat.
In addition to regular training, running in hot conditions results in changes that make it easier to maintain a faster pace and cause perceived exertion to drop, including a higher blood plasma volume, increased sweat rate, decrease in salt in sweat, reduced heart rate at a given pace and temperature, and a quicker onset of sweating. These changes make it easier to perform in the heat and are noticeable after only a week or two of heat exposure.
Still, heat acclimatization can take you only so far during weeks-long stretches of sultry weather. Steve Sisson, assistant coach of women’s cross country and track at the University of Texas, knows well the impact that prolonged, inescapable heat has on distance runners. On particularly hot days, he encourages his athletes to adjust expectations and change their attitudes. He explains, “Heat really affects intensity. It is really hard to get up and excited in high heat environments. One of the things that I try to get my athletes to do is to approach any workout in the heat as a progression. Adjusting the level of effort or intensity based on what the body is signaling is a key lesson for any athlete to learn.”
While Sisson doesn’t change the number or length of repetitions in a workout, he does modify the workout by shifting the focus away from a certain time goal to running an equivalent effort. “If we are trying to hit mile repeats in 5:20 for a 10K workout, I will give my runners a time range of 5:20 to 5:30 and let them adjust based on how they feel,” Sisson says.
“Living in a hot part of the country means that we are never going to get away from the heat. If we adjust volume we won’t be competitive.”
Sisson encourages his runners to look for internal cues instead of fixating on split times. To make the adjustment easier if you’re particularly split-focused, on horrific heat days move your interval sessions off the track. Working out on an uncalibrated course is a sure way to ensure a shift to effort over time and this makes it easier to pay attention to internal feedback and perceived exertion and avoid being distracted or discouraged by slower-than-hoped-for splits.
RACING IN THE HEAT
Racing is uniquely taxing in any weather. Adding heat into the equation creates a competing interest and struggle within the body between powering such a strenuous effort and the need to cool the body. This means that you have to work even harder to cool yourself and is why a race will feel much worse than a workout in similar conditions.
Alan Culpepper, a two-time Olympian, is familiar with this tug of war. He faced gruesome conditions in the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens, with a starting temperature of 80 degrees. Thanks to smart preparation for and patience during the race, Culpepper placed 12th in a field full of faster runners. Here’s what helped him succeed.
1) ADJUST YOUR PREPARATION.
If you’re fortunate enough to anticipate less-than-favorable conditions for an event, preparation is key. Culpepper says, “Get your body used to losing heat more efficiently.” The summer before the Olympics, Culpepper wore a baseball cap and long-sleeved shirt on runs to help acclimatize. He also advises taking in more electrolytes two to three days before a goal race, staying as cool as possible before the race (cold sponges can be helpful) and running a shorter warm-up before a hot event to prevent loss of electrolytes, particularly if you’re running a longer event.
2) ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS.
Says Culpepper, “You have to pay attention to perceived effort. It is important to recognize you will be slower than you hoped but effort is the determining factor.” He advises that you pay less attention to traditional feedback like splits and instead, “Listen to the feedback your body is giving you: Is your breathing heavier? How uncomfortable are you?”
3) ADJUST YOUR MINDSET.
Attitude is critical. Culpepper recommends, “Instead of getting discouraged, recognize that everyone is dealing with the same conditions and have faith in your preparations.”
It’s Not the Heat, Nor the Humidity
It’s the dew point. That’s the meteorological measure that best predicts how tough your summer running is going to be.
Simply put, the dew point is the temperature at which water condenses. The closer the dew point is to the air temperature, the more saturated the air is and the less perspiration can evaporate and help the body cool itself, resulting in extra stress on the heart and lungs as the body attempts unsuccessfully to cool itself. Accordingly, the dew point provides a strong indicator of how you’ll feel running and a useful tool in predicting how much performance will be impacted.
DEW POINT (°F)
RUNNER’S PERCEPTION
HOW TO HANDLE
50–54
Very comfortable
PR conditions
55–59
Comfortable
Hard efforts likely not affected
60–64
Uncomfortable for some people
Expect race times to be slower than in optimal conditions
65–69
Uncomfortable for most people
Easy training runs might feel OK but difficult to race well or do hard efforts
70–74
Very humid and uncomfortable
Expect pace to suffer greatly
75 or greater
Extremely oppressive
Skip it or dramatically alter goal
Next of course is wind, a Runner Connect article describes the affect of gradients best friend…
Research on Running in Wind
The first study we’ll look to was published way back in 1971 by L.G. Pugh, a researcher in London.1 In his experiment, he had his subject (there was only one, an international-caliber middle distance runner) run along a treadmill cleverly mounted inside a wind tunnel.
Pugh measured the oxygen consumption of his runner over a variety of running speeds and wind velocities.He found that oxygen consumption, and therefore energy cost, increases with the square of the airflow over the body. So, the performance hit of a 10mph wind is four times greater than that of a 5mph wind, and the additional resistance running into a steady wind at 5:40 mile pace is twice that encountered when running into the same wind at 8:00 mile pace. In an additional experiment, Pugh measured the oxygen consumption of his runner first while running alone into a headwind, then while running one meter behind another runner. Pugh’s study found an 80% decrease in wind resistance when drafting off another runner! This corresponded to about a 6% drop in oxygen consumption for the given pace. Pugh confirmed these findings by taking airflow measurements in the wake of a single runner, then computing the effective air resistance for a runner-shaped object one meter back. From his measurements, it appears that there is still some benefit from drafting even two or three meters behind another runner. In a later study published in 1980, C.T.M. Davies investigated the effect of headwinds and tailwinds on three subjects using a similar treadmill-in-wind-tunnel setup.2Like Pugh, he found that oxygen consumption increases (and therefore, performance decreases) proportional to the square of the wind speed.While a tailwind does aid performance significantly, you only “get back” about half of what you put into a headwind when you turn around and run with it at your back. But Davies rightly points out that this relationship is diminished slightly during outdoor running—on a treadmill, any tailwind that exceeds your running speed is wasted, as you must remain in place on the treadmill.
However, results from real-world track races make it clear that, even in over ground running, the benefits of a tailwind do not entirely offset the drawbacks of a headwind. Davies also demonstrates that a tailwind that effectively eliminates air resistance. What does that mean?
For example: If you are running 6:00 mile pace with a 10mph tailwind, a tailwind equivalent would increase your performance by about 6 seconds per mile. However: The equivalent headwind (6-minute miles into a 10mph wind) would slow you by about 12 seconds per mile. While this rule is rather rough and based on treadmill studies, it’s reasonably applicable to racing speeds for most road runners. Davies also conducted some crude measurements of “drafting” behind other runners and found his data in agreement with Pugh: Trailing another runner by a meter or so can remove up to 80% of the energy cost of air resistance, making it a very attractive decision on a windy day. According to Davies, a mile (on a day with no wind) tucked behind another runner is four seconds easier than running it alone!
Does running in the wind cool you down quicker?
One final consideration when it comes to wind is its effect on heat removal from the body.
As pointed out in a 2012 review of climatic effects on marathon running by Greg Spellman, air resistance affects not only the forces you have to overcome, but your body’s rate of cooling. While running with a tailwind certainly helps you move faster, the effect of running in “still air” on heat removal cannot be ignored. As far as I know, there has been little to no published research on this effect: to what extent does the increased heat retention in running with a tailwind detract from your running performance on a hot day? And conversely, how much does increased cooling from a headwind offset the increased wind resistance? Boston Marathon participants and organizers were ecstatic about the 15mph tailwind on a 63-degree day in 2011, which propelled hundreds of runners to personal records. But would participants in the 2007 Chicago Marathon, marred not only by 88-degree weather but a paltry 6 mph wind speed, have run better with a brisk wind to cool them?
We’ll have to wait on future research to answer that question.
How Will Windy Conditions Affect My Running?
We’ve seen how the basics of the effects of air resistance have been known to exercise physiologists for some time.
The performance hit from air resistance increases exponentially with faster running speeds and wind velocities, but fortunately, up to 80% of the performance decrement can be eliminated by drafting about a meter behind another runner. Additionally, using a very rough rule of thumb you can anticipate the effect of wind resistance in a road race: A “substantial” wind (i.e. one approximately equal to the pace you are running at) will set you back 12 seconds per mile with a headwind, and aid you by 6 seconds per mile with a tailwind.
Headwinds aren’t always your enemy, however, since a brisk wind can aid cooling on a hot day. When it comes to choosing where you want to race, keep these factors in mind. Check out the weather history for the area and see which way the wind tends to blow. Also try to enter races where you know there will be plenty of competitors running the same pace as you, so you can save some energy by “tucking into the pack” like a middle-distance runner in a track race.
Finally, make sure you take advantage of a tailwind when you’ve got one! These tips are known to many elite runners and meet directors, who take heat, wind, and the competitiveness of the race into account when planning when to attempt a new record. Some of the best races in the world are held on cool spring and summer nights, after the winds die down as the sun sets and a world-class field toes the line.
So that sums up some factors to take into account when racing, gradient, heat and wind. Of course there are many more including how you feel on the day, previous weeks sleep patterns, previous weeks/months training distances, race importance (is this a goal race?), rain, conditions of the course (I.e trail or concrete). The list is long and just about endless, of course I’ll cover each eventually but for the moment I’ve got a race to prepare for.
Darlington half start, the only downhill for the next 10 kilometres so enjoy it !
Dean Karnazes once said “If you want to run a mile, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. If you want to talk to God, run an Ultra.” I wonder who you talk to when you race a 5k ? For me it is another case of testing yourself against yourself, how hard do you want to go and how much pain are you willing to suffer in the pursuit of ‘being the best you can be’.
This Sunday I decided to run the Joondalup Park Run as it had been nearly two years since I ran there and my time of 17:29 was relatively pedestrian by my normal finishing times. I had just started training with Raf from the Running Centre ( http://www.therunningcentre.com.au) and was coming out of a running slump brought on by a marathon blow-up the previous year. Funnily enough the ‘blow-out’ was a mental thing as I was defending my Bunbury Marathon title won the previous year (2013) and in good form, unfortunately I was more interested in the competition than my own pace and goals and set off way too quick. To cut a long story short (which is unlike me) I was walking through the drinks station at 15k. I did manage to regroup and finish a credible 4th in a time of 2hrs 54minutes but I was in 2:45 form all day. Anyhow I digress.
The parkrun is a free timed run every Saturday morning starting at 8am. ( http://www.parkrun.com/ ) Parkrun started back in 2004 when 13 runners got together on a blustery day in Bushy Park, Teddington, UK. We’re now an international family of over half a million runners (and counting). From the parkrun website.
We’re super proud of the fact our volunteer-led, free-for-all 5km runs have been taken up by so many people across so many cultures in so many countries. Of course, it was a bit more low key at the beginning…
Our first ever event was in Bushy park, Teddington, UK, where 13 intrepid parkrunners got together on 2 October 2004. The volunteer team included Paul and Joanne Sinton-Hewitt, Duncan Gaskell, Simon Hedger and Robin Drummond.
It took nearly two years before parkrun spread beyond Bushy. Wimbledon was the chosen venue and we had to prove to ourselves that we could manage more than a single event at a time. This was the start of the ‘cookie cutter’ approach to events that would allow parkrun to expand.
To begin with we collated all results on paper and the finish tokens were washers from the local hardware store! But eventually we ramped up the technology, and so the parkrun registration and barcode result system was born.
Now many thousands of runners are processed, websites updated and emails sent each week. The parkrun community is growing all the time – but it’s all still based on the simple, basic principles formed from the start: weekly, free, 5km, for everyone, forever.
parkrun website.
In Perth at the moment there are well over 20 parkruns scattered around the city and surrounding suburbs, there’s even a parkrun ultra when a group of very ‘special’ runners hire a bus and run all of them over a 24 hour period. If the timing is right I’m certainly going to try and fit that one into my racing calendar.
So what does a 5k parkrun teach you about yourself ? First of all it teaches you about pain management because, trust me people, you invariably don’t give it the respect it deserves and always go out at your 1500m pace, well that’s the way I run them. I love the ‘scolded cat’ start and always run the first kilometer 10-15 seconds than the rest and although that doesn’t seem a lot it means more time in the ‘pain box’ . I have always promised myself I’ll run a 3:30 min/k for the first one but as soon as we get going it’s on for young and old and I’m sprinting as fast as I can for the lead and ‘1st finisher’ position. (In the parkrun there is no winner or losers but there is a 1st finisher.) Sunday at Joondalup was no exception and my first kilometer was a 3:13 as I chased down a young ‘wipper-snapper’ who dared jump ahead of me at the start. ! I then settled down into a more sustainable pace and got to halfway in some resemblance of being able to run back in a similar time, which I did.
Unfortunately I’m painting too rosy a picture here. I admit I got a good time and was better than expected but I feel the Nike Vaporfly 4%’ers accounted for that. (trust me people these bad boys of a shoe is paramount to cheating !!) The last 2k of a 5k you will be deep, deep in the pain box and holding on for dear life, questioning your existence but that’s the point of racing. What it does give you is a training marker or confidence booster (assuming you ran well) or a reality check (assuming you didn’t run well); this then becomes your target for the following weekend. (remember people they are free.) Finally being a Saturday it allows you to recover from this ‘speed session’ with the obligatory long and easy run Sunday, the 5k parkrun really is the race that keep on giving.
If you live in one of those countries where the parkrun is yet to startup you can easily measure a 5k route and just time yourself, maybe get a few friends and start a parkrun yourself, easily done apparently. Either way a 5k time trial is a distance that ever runner needs to have in their arsenal, it ticks so many boxes and the feeling you get when you finish is euphoric, trust me ! Most importantly it allows you to gauge where you are in preparation for longer events, namely the marathon of course.
After the Point Walter 16k (10 miler) over the weekend I knew my old friend fatigue and his mate DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) were coming to play, I was not disappointed. Monday morning my recovery run could be described as a ‘stumble’ at best, all memory of the previous days exploits were quickly forgotten. This is the norm for runners of my vintage although it seems the younger models are not affected as bad, the real young ones not at all apparently. (Oh, how youth is wasted on the young!) Of course my old mate Tony ‘T-Train’ Smith is the exception to the rule , all good rules have one I suppose. Even though the T-train is sneaking up on my age he seems to recover like a man half his age, very unsettling and I chatise him regularly on Stava ( http://www.strava.com ) He is prone to the odd injury, truth-be-told , but never recovering apparently.
The week for me is just about written off, pace wise, and I just settle down into running very slowly while feeling the effort doesn’t justify the final product or pace. The legs feel like ‘lumps of wood’ with no bounce at all. I tend to seek out hills as pace is not an issue and you feel, even though you’re running at a pace that could be described as ‘pedestrian’ at best, you’re getting some benefit due to gradient and gravity.
I’ve attached a post I wrote this time last year about fatigue and after rereading it I reckon its worth a second visit, also I’m so fatigued I’m not sure I can keep typing….
Hello fatigue, fancy a biscuit with that cup of tea?
This morning, on the week anniversary of the Australia Day Ultra (ADU) , I was running a 10k easy but feeling fatigued to a point I was finding maintaining 5min/k average a struggle. It was just about 8am , the exact time a week earlier I was finishing the last kilometre of the 100k in about the same pace. This mornings run I was well rested the night before and, truth be told, had an easy week recovery. The legs though were struggling to maintain the last lap pace of the ADU. Fatigue had come to pay a visit and it was time to take an afternoon off.
When fatigue comes calling the best thing to do is rest. I have posted before about running on tired legs and the benefit of this but I feel fatigue is the next level and probably needs to be approached from the ‘rest is good’ angle. You’ll know the difference between fatigue and tired legs because there is more of a mental feature involved in fatigue. It’s not just the legs that are normally tired, it’s you thinking you ‘just ain’t feeling it’. Even after the 1k (always go for at least 1k before deciding to pull the pin on a run, most times things begin to improve in k2) which you normally use as a tester you still can’t seem to pick up the pace. You can normally finish the run if it’s less than 10k, anything more and you need to reconsider and probably turn early.
Rest is good solution to fatigue but it depends on your workload, in my case I didn’t run in the afternoon , saving my legs for Sunday’s long run with the boys. I’ll make an effort to run within myself tomorrow but must admit if the boys decide to go hard I’ll have to go with them, it would be rude not to. The fatigue I’m feeling at the moment will pass and listening to my body I realise this is a small road bump on my freeway to PB land and one that will be negotiated. The afternoon was spent blogging and drinking tea and eating the odd biscuit, not a bad way to rest in my view. Running really is the sport that keeps on giving, when your body feels it needs a rest you get to drink tea and eat biscuits, I mean what other sport gives you that option. (Tomorrow is another bonus day for us runners, the post long run pancakes. Running really is the sport of the Gods.)
Since June last year I have doubled up most days and I certainly feel my body is now use to the two runs a day, albeit normally easy runs. This extra workload culminated in many PB’s in the final few months of 2016. When something is working there is no point changing it so for the foreseeable future it will be double up days , continuing to build up the foundation from 2016. The only issue with my master plan is really I haven’t factored in rest. It is something I’ve not done in the last 6 months and even now do not intend to have rest days moving forward. That is not to say this is the right thing to do but I’m enjoying my running so much lately a day off is not something I aspire to. So it’s time to roll the dice again and see if I can persuade the body that the workload is achievable and the end result justified. I’m confident I can, until then I got time for one more cup of tea and maybe a digestive or two…
The article below from Jenny Hadfield from Runners World gives a few reasons for fatigue and solutions. Worth a read.
I have seen this in my athletes, and in most cases if you look at the following variables, you can identify the culprit and modify your plan to preserve your training season. The first step is becoming aware, so you’ve already been there, done that. Let’s move on the step two and see if any of these apply to you.
Progression load. It can be tempting to improve the progression rate or volume of your training when your goal is to improve, but if you do so without a proper base to support the load increase, it can drain you. When trying to improve time, it’s best to change volume and intensity workloads based on your training recipe and what’s worked in the past, as well as where you were fitness-wise when you began the marathon-training season.
For instance, if you ran a 3:50 marathon last year training on four days per week and two 20-mile long runs, you could improve that by adding in speed workouts and progressive cutback runs. Some try to add a lot more 20-milers or 20+ milers to the mix, thinking they’ll cover the distance more efficiently, but it can end up draining you. If you dramatically changed your training plan or added a lot more to your core plan, this may be causing your body to break down. The good news is it’s not too late, as you can revamp, modify and make more gradual improvements this season to allow your body time to adapt and get stronger.
The elements. It’s no secret that it’s harder to train in the heat, and the country has been in a heat wave the past few weeks. Training for long-distance events in extreme heat can suck the life out of you and require a lot more recovery. Take a look at when your symptoms started. If that timing correlates to the heat wave, your tiredness may be due to chronic dehydration, heat-related stress, and general fatigue from the greater demands of training in the heat. I’ve shared three ways to train safely in a heat wave here and nine tips for keeping your cool here.
Training by pace. My coaching philosophy is based on training by the body rather than by pace because when you listen to your body, you’re in the optimal training zone for the purpose of the day’s workout. Training is about doing strategically placed, purposeful workouts in a progression to apply just enough stress to the body that it adapts and gains fitness. Often the missing link in training plans is tailoring it to your body, your life, and your fitness.
If you’re training by a calculated pace based on a formula or a race you did four weeks ago, you’re likely to over- or under-train, as your body is never in the same place daily. It’s like guessing the winning lottery numbers. The body knows effort not pace. For example, a common mistake I see runners make with long runs is to base them on planned finish time or just bump them up faster than last year’s training pace because the goal is to improve. That’s fine until you start running in your anaerobic zone because of the heat, lack of sleep, or the fact that it’s early in the season, and your fitness doesn’t support the planned pace. You end up struggling to finish or completely wiped out when you do. If you continue on this trend you can accumulate too much stress and end up in a continual state of fatigue, unable to recover from the greater demands of training along the way. One sign that you’ve overdone it is if the fatigue doesn’t subside after a few weeks.
It’s actually easier if you let go of pace as a guide and run with the flow of your body and the purpose of the day’s workout. If your plan calls for a Tempo Run, the goal is to run at a sustained effort at—or slightly above—your threshold. That is not based on a pace but a metabolic system in your body. If you train by the purpose of the workout, your pace will vary throughout the season (that’s the fun part). Read How to Run a Tempo Run in the Heat. The goal is to train first by the purpose of the workout, and then by the body. Let your pace be the outcome of the workout. That way, you can have fun watching your body progress as you run longer, cover the miles more quickly, and become comfortable with how varied pace can be day to day and week to week.
Sleep, rest, fuel and life stress. When you’re asking your body to train hard for a marathon, all of the other variables need to be in balance to support your efforts. Elite athletes are known to sleep 10-12 hours a day, plus a nap! They treat sleep as a recovery tool and invest in it to perform at their best. When your body is lacking quality sleep, fatigue is the first symptom, followed by other negative consequences like hormone imbalance, which can dramatically affect your energy, health, and performance down the road. Your body will require more sleep when training for a marathon. Train like an elite runner, and invest in getting your Z’s.
Getting in enough complete rest days and easy running days is also key. I was shocked to learn that an elite runner friend of mine ran 8:30 pace for his easy recovery runs—that’s a whopping 3+ minutes slower than his harder running efforts. If you run your easy days too hard (which is very easy to do), you don’t recover and carry that fatigue forward to your next workout. Running with a slower friend and cross-training at easy-to-moderate efforts are great ways to assure you’re truly going easy enough and bridging the gap between your long and harder runs. Invest in at least one complete rest day weekly to balance the demands of expenditure with restoration. This is especially true for those that lead busy, hectic lives.
Lack of calories is a biggie when it comes to energy drain. Take an inventory of your expenditure by using a free log like Fitday.com, and make sure to refuel with enough calories via high-quality carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Everyone has a unique metabolic system, and what works for me may not work for you. This is why keeping a log for a month will help you tune into how much energy you need, identify the balance of ingredients (carbs, proteins, fats), and allow you to see whether your recipe is fueling you well. You can also experience the same energy drain if you’re not taking in what your body runs well on. For instance, some do well on a traditional higher carbohydrate diet (C-60%/ P-25%/F-15%), while others shine with a mixed diet and a more equal blend (C-40%/P-30%/F-30%). Keep track, tune into your body, and take note of your energy and emotions after you eat. It’s an easy and effective way to find out what kind of fuel your body prefers.
Whether you’re starting a new job, in the middle of a snarky divorce, or moving, life stress has an effect on your overall health and requires energy to navigate through it. As best you can, try to eliminate the drama and stress from your life. Sometimes just identifying what drains you is enough to motivate you to remove it from your life. If it’s inevitable stress, find other ways to reduce the toll on your body (sleep, down days, fewer running days, meditation). The idea is to remove the environmental stress to make room for the demands of your training.
Read the label. Take a look at the side effects of any medications you’re taking. Some list fatigue and other unfortunate side effects that, when blended with a demanding marathon training season, can suck the life out of you and your legs. It is also common for endurance athletes (especially women) to have low iron, folate, and other B vitamin levels which can have a profound effect on your energy levels and life performance overall. In many cases this can be resolved by a properly balanced diet and adequate caloric consumption. Some runners need to take additional supplements to achieve balance. The key is to know what you’re putting in your body, go with clean foods with few ingredients, and your body will reward you with improved health and energy.
Finally, you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish by tuning into your body and life. You may find it’s as simple as changing your focus from pace to effort or adding a few hundred more calories to your day. The great news is you identified the fatigue, reached out for help and guidance, and now have the tools to assess why you’re feeling this way. In many cases, with a few tweaks to your routine, you’ll be back up and running at 100% in a matter of days or weeks.
On Sunday I take on my old friend the WAMC ( http://www.wamc.org.au ) Point Walter 16k (10 miles). Last year, although I managed a podium, it came at a price and even typing this post now I can remember the pain of the event and the emotional roller coaster I was strapped into. What I need to do now is try and put a positive spin of the whole event and prepare myself for the start line and the obligatory time in the ‘pain box’ that goes hand-in-hand with racing.
All week this event has been playing on my mind with different strategies and out comes but ultimately ‘when push comes to shove’ it’s all about trusting in your training. As I said many times running is the most honest sport but when you have tired legs and its a struggle to make the stairs in the morning you do worry ? This is all part and parcel of the sport , feeling tired constantly and always second guessing yourself. Normally when the race bib is on the chest and the starters pistol goes off all is forgotten and the mind and body switch into ‘race mode’.
Over the many years of racing I’ve only really had a few bad races where I’ve let my mind convince my body all is not well and slowed accordingly. These lapses of concentration have always been around the 32k mark in a marathon so maybe, on both occasions, it was more to do with hitting the wall because of poor nutrition/hydration rather than mental fragility. This is not to say any race is ever easy, if it was then you’re not racing. Racing itself is really an excuse to put yourself in the ‘pain box’ for as long as possible and the runner who spends the most time deep within the box, normally curled up in the fetal position, normally wins.
Personally I believe a good runner who does well in racing compared to a good runner is the ability to endure pain. Steve Monaghetti mentioned this when I asked the question ‘what makes an elite compared to a club runner’ ? It all comes down to pain management or endurance. Obviously being a pro runner gives you the ability to train more and reach a new level of cardio fitness and this , combined with the pain endurance, produces an elite. Throw in some genetic advantage and training programs, e.g. like the Kenyans, mix it all up and you have a world beater.
For me it’s about not slowing down, at 51 I would assume my days of PB’s are probably behind me and the best I can hope for is to get as close as possible to past glory’s. I am comfortable with this as the training is the part I enjoy the most, just getting out there really. (The muffins and pancakes are also an enjoyable, integral, part of running.) The racing is a by product and needed to keep me honest, good results and you are invigorated and see new goals and boundaries to push. Bad results and you are determined to get better , which in turn invigorates you and gives you new goals and boundaries to push.
A friend of mine mentioned to me at the end of the Fremantle running event last year that every runner had a look of pain etched on their face as they entered the finishing straight, he couldn’t understand why we do what we do. That sums it up really, only a runner knows the feeling. Be it one of a natural high when you finish a goal race and achieve a finishing time you could only dream about or devastation when you stumble over the line. As he waddled off to pay with his paddle board I realized he, and all non-runners, would never understand and it was pointless trying to explain really.
Right, enough blogging I have a race to prepare for. I’ll add a footnote to this post with the result and will hope to go sub 59 minutes for the 16k. My best is in the lows 58minutes range and my worst 59:59 so I have a small window to play with. The pack will be in hot pursuit and I’ll be doing my best to keep them at bay, maybe for just one more year…. maybe.
Post race :- Just back from the Point Walter 16k and I managed to sneak in for a 4th place finish and a time of 58minutes 44 seconds. So overall , from a time point of view, it should be seen as another successful run. Again , as with last years event, there was the periods of self doubt and the urge to just stop running. This year it was mainly in the second lap between 8k and 12k with a headwind and a 4th place position which I suspected would not improve, I was right. On the positive side yet again I conquered my demons and finished with a credible time but it was another painful experience both mentally and physically. Is this the way forward for me as I battle ‘old Father time‘ and his insistence that I slow, probably ? I have mentioned several times before that I believe the reason the older runner eventually slows down is mainly a mental battle that eventually he cannot win as the fatigue, ordered by the mind, cannot be over ridden. As we age the central governor , as described by Tim Noakes, just becomes too strong and the body responds , with the help of the runners mortal enemy fatigue. I certainly felt that today and yet again had to work very, very hard for my finish time. Not slowing down too much but I feel I went to the well again and avoided paying the piper this time, unfortunately I can feel the piper wants paying but will be doing my damndest to avoid this for as long as possible. Right, two weeks and it’s the Darlington half, can I go one more time, we’ll see…….
How can a race so short teach you so much ?
This morning I lined up for the West Australian Marathon Club ( http://www.wamc.org.au ) Point Walter 16k (10Miles), my first race as a fifty year old. I’d ran this race twice in the last three years and managed a second place finish both times (58:24 and 59:59:07 , that 07 is important as the club (and Strava) rounded it up to an hour dead !, the first time was a PB and is important for later in this post…) I had a mini taper for this one as I was determined to go faster than the 59:59:07 I ran last year and the Race Director and Club President both knew I was out to set the record straight.
So to the start, I turned up and saw my friend and training partner Ross warming up in the car park and this threw me a bit as he had earlier commented he’d be running with the lads and Ross is on fire at the moment, winning his last two events. Mentally this was a blow as I was hoping to cruise to a podium, truth be told , and seeing Ross I knew I was probably now one place down. Speaking to Ross at the start and it seemed another ‘gun runner’ was doing the 16k (there is a 5k option as well) so I moved myself one more place down the finishing list. I was now, probably best case, gunning for 3rd. Next thing alongside me my friend Zac turns up after running a 1hr15mins half the previous week (a 5 minute PB, oh to be young again!) , so much for a cruise to a podium, although I knew Zac would probably fade he has the benefit of youth, something I can no longer draw on. This was not a good start to the race and add in a hot day , it started at around 25c and rose quickly, together with a headwind for the first 4k (it is an 8k loop twice); I was mentally finished before I even started.
Once we started I found Ross and sat behind him, cocooned between the 5k runners who went off like scolded cats and a group of 16k runners who would challenge for the podium places. At the 2.5k point the 5k runners turned and the 16k race unfolded before me. The gun runner Ross spoke off was well ahead and barring injury a shoe in for the win. Ross was comfortable in 2nd and I was just behind him with young Zac hot on my heels.
I found the initial pace taxing into the wind and came up with all sorts of reasons why I could pull the pin and end the pain, which was unusual for me. Maybe this ‘tapering lark’ is not all it’s cracked up to be, either way by 4k I was in trouble. Zac went past me about this time and moved away with Ross and with him all thoughts of a medal. This added to my anguish and did nothing for my mental state which was now at its lowest. I had spent all week reading Matt Fitzgerald’s ‘How bad do you want it’, and realised about the 5k mark I didn’t want it at all ! This was the compounded by another runner cruising past me , so I had now moved to 5th and was seriously thinking of pulling out at the 8k mark. I have raced hundreds of races in my time and never DNF’d so the thought of doing so on a 16k WAMC race was never going to happen but option ‘B’ was to start a long 8k cool down, and work out valid reasons for this approach; truth be told I could think of none. (Funnily enough I was on Facebook yesterday, as I was tapering, and replied to a comment about taking days off as a sign of weakness, here I was thinking of pulling the pin on a 16k race; karma I think! )
Right, halfway in around 28:30; on track for my sub one hour target but on the inside well and truly finished. The Race Director and Club President cheered me on and informed me I was right on time but I remember thinking they were dreaming if they thought I’d be back within the hour, never going to happen. Reluctantly I moved onto the second lap and knuckled down to endure what I thought would be more of the same. The 4k headwind embraced me and my pace started to drop above the 3:3xmin/k I had targeted, only just, but enough.
Well at 9k it happened, the whole race changed in an instant. The lead ‘gun runner’, who was well ahead, was on the side of the path and obviously out of the race. Suddenly I was in 4th place and looking up ahead young Zac was now paying the price for racing the half the week before and I was catching him. Boom ! Suddenly the voice inside my head which was shouting for mercy was now shouting for medals and it was on like donkey kong for young and old !!
The headwind didn’t help me but Zac was paying the price big time and I know from past races he is not the best finisher. (He’s young and starts every race at suicide pace, it won’t be long before he finishes the race as the same pace and then he’ll be out of my league; if not already. ) Put these two things together and I knew I was with a good chance of a podium. At fifty my days of getting on, or even near, to a podium are limited and I was quite prepared to put it on the line for the last 6k to grab one more before my time is done. In about 4 minutes I had gone from pulling the pin for the first time in my career to putting my head down, finding a second wind , and rolling in the runner in front of me. This I did at the last turn around with 4k to go. With the wind behind me I was able to maintain the sub 3:40min/k average pace and even managed to get within less than 20 seconds to Ross, who at one point was just about out of sight. How did I do this ? When the lead runner pulled out and I could see Zac struggling my whole mental approach changed, and when I convinced the mind I could grab a medal the limiters were taken off and I was allowed to run quicker, with fatigue ejected to the back of my mind.
Although this was only a 16k race I had been through the ringer when it came to emotions. I was finished at 2k, pulling out at 4k, heading to a world of pain and 8k and reborn at 9k. This running really does teach you so much about yourself. If I had pulled the pin at any time during that race I would be typing such a different post, as it is I am happy that yet again I managed to pull it out of the fire and convince myself I could finish, and finish strong.
Was the book helpful, (ref: Matt Fitzgerald)? To tell you the truth probably not, it’s easy to sit on a train on the way to work reading about all the great athletes who have dug deep when faced with impossible odds and how the mind has helped them achieve their goals. When you’re in a massive hole at the start of the race you know it’s the mind telling you to stop but ignoring it, or even convincing the mind it is wrong, it not so easy. I suppose the real answer is to trust in you training, if you’ve put in the hard yards you will come good, you may not get the PB you were chasing but you will finish; never ever stop.
Overall I managed to grab that podium and even managed a 1 second PB finishing in 58mins 22seconds, a second quicker than my 2013 time but a world apart for race experiences. Three years ago I was in the form of my life and this was another PB in a long line of PB’s, those days disappeared for a few years but I have been lucky enough now to sneak a few more. Today I had to work so hard for that 1 second PB but I’ll take it and really it is worth so much more because of the mental torture I put myself through to get it. I’ve asked this question before about how many times I can keep going to the well and pulling these runs out , eventually the well will be dry , eventually ? Until then it looks like running easy PB’s is never going to happen (not that they really ever did?) for me in the future, at fifty if you want a PB you are going to have to REALLY WANT a PB. No worries, today I have the medal which whenever I look at it I will remember the pain and the pleasure I put myself through to get it. That piece of metal is worth so much more to me, to me it is memories of another run where I asked myself some serious questions and , this time, came up with all the right answers.
I really earned this bad boy of a medal and time with the Club President, Davo’
This morning for the obligatory Sunday long run we were joined by another running group who tend to run North, while we always seem to run South. When asked why they did this we were told to avoid us ? I assumed they were joking but Will seemed quite sure and he is a high ranking Police Office so he’d never lie would he? Anyhow, all joking aside (he was joking surely) we all set off together and headed South with a 25k goal distance in mind. Doing a count in my head, as I type this post, there must have been 13 of us with Bart’s joining us later on the return trip . ( I can only assume he’d been celebrating his horses third podium finish in a row!) We all decided it was to be a relaxed long run but when you find yourself at the front of a pack of runners you tend to up the pace for fear of getting either trampolined on or verbally abused for running too slow. There isn’t the peloton mentality in running and running in a pack is a difficult thing to judge, pace wise. As it was we got to halfway which coincided with a drink stop and then there was the obligatory race for home as the group splintered into the ‘relaxed Sunday long run’ and the first to the waffles wins ! This is why the Sunday long run nearly always becomes a progressive. Throw in the T-train and it’s on for young and old at a very early point in the run normally. (Luckily Tone was over east doing secret Army stuff, but you didn’t hear that from me!)
Right the point of this post is because of the new additions to the group I reckon we got to halfway before we had even finished the first few rounds of conversations which ranged from goal races, upcoming races, injuries, Evan’s eating habits (that took the best part of the first 10k truth per told!), why we do what we do and even what would happen if the world suddenly ended and we only had this running group to repopulate the planet. (Note, this was a nod towards the diverse careers encompassed within the group and less about repopulating the planet) This was a difficult conversation but in the end we all agreed we’d probably make Jeff do most of the work and we’d all supervise, in a nice way of course.
As soon as we turned the pace increased and it wasn’t long before everybody dialled in their own finishing times and set about achieving their own personal goals. For me it was the end of a long week and I managed to stumble home with a respectable average pace and a 147km total for the week. (I’m assuming I won’t be allowed out to play again today.) Everybody followed , all happy with their long run ticked off and time for waffles, coffee and even more conversation.
Unfortunately today this was not to be as someone had selfishly organised a sand running carnival and Clancys’ , the local cafe of choice, was packed and getting busier the more we hung around. Hard as it is to even type this I had to return home without coffee or waffles. This is probably the first time this has happened in many years and will not be occurring again. Lesson learnt , if there is an event at your local beach/car park etc. make alternative arrangements for the post-run refreshments. Sunday long runs without waffles or pancakes, what is the world coming too?
Finally I have attached a post of happier times when we got pancakes at Clancy’s in the pre-waffle days (I think?). These were glory days of probably one of the best pancakes in Perth on offer at the end of the Sunday long run. Another highlight of todays run was some credible information regrading another venue that serves good pancakes and coffee and is only just over 12k from Clancy’s. Did I mention food is another topic high on the list that is discussed on long runs but only after the halfway point and really as late in the run as possible as a finish surge , fuelled by pancake talk, with 12k to go normally ends badly for all. !
Right all this talk of food has made me hungry, (funny that.) I’m off for a cup off tea and few ginger biscuits, to be dunked and then eaten whole, the joys of a long distance runner.
Want to run faster and further, go make some friends.
You really do need friends on Sundays.
Sunday morning is the traditional long run for myself and my running brothers (and in todays case a sister, thanks for bringing some decorum to our group Jules.) It is after said run we get to do what I run for basically, eat sugar disguised as either pancakes, waffles or muffins all washed down with a good Cappacino, People ask me what I enjoy most about running and to me , and it must be said most of the running group, it’s the post-long run (or the Thursday Yolo progressive) ‘tukka’ and conversation. Admittedly living in Perth we are spoilt rotten when it comes to the scenery we play in and the weather as a whole. In Winter it may be dark and rain (once in a blue moon) but it’s rarely cold and I’ve never not ran because of the conditions. There’s been a few times when we’ve all sat in our cars as a ‘squall’ passed over but it’s normally pretty quick and I’ve never had a run I regretted. As we move into spring in Perth we really are blessed with near perfect running conditions and today was no exception. As a few of us (myself included) are racing Rottnest next week the run was to be a 20k , time on legs, easy run. More about the banter afterwards than a hard session, all the hard work has been done and we are in taper mode.
It is to be noted there were a few runners in our group who find it difficult to run slow, Zac and Ross being the main culprits, so we gave Damo’ (front row, far left) the task of grabbing pole position and slowing the pace down. This lasted about 1k before Damo’ failed in his task spectacularly and blew up big time. Unfortunately it was then on for young and old as the pace dropped from the planned 5min/k pace down to the low 4:30min/k very quickly. This continued to the half way point with much grumbling from the back runners including myself. At halfway though I suddenly felt a second wind and decided to put in 5k of MP (marathon pace) before slipping back to a more respectable pace as I stumbled towards City Beach and waffles. It’s been a long few weeks of quality training so my 5k of MP was never really going to happen. In the end I settled for 4k of ‘near MP’ and then a drink stop, while I waited for the group to catch up.
In the end Jeff and Ben came running past and I joined them briefly for the next hill before setting off alone again drawn to the waffles and coffee that awaited me at City Beach. In the end my overall average was 4:22min/k for 20k but more importantly I felt relaxed and enjoyed the hit out. Without doubt though the best part was the first 10k and the company. The kilometres really do pass so quickly when you run with friends as you have a week of ‘man stuff’ to catch up on. Being mostly a male dominated group we don’t tend to speak in the week unless we run together and we have found ‘What’s App’ now so all runs are organised online. Actually running together forces conversation, a lost art these days it seems, also if you know me you know I like to talk, so without company I struggle with distance.
Today was no different and we chatted like long lost friends , well it had been a week, about all the latest ‘stuff’, I would try and be more specific but it really can be anything and everything. The main topic is normally running related of course, about upcoming races, who just ran what and in what time is always high on the agenda, new shoes (a very topical topic at the moment with the Nike arrivals) and when will the 2 hour marathon be broken and will anybody from my group do it? Either way the time ticks along nicely and a long run can be over before you know it, well maybe not that quick but certainly a lot quicker than running solo. Back in the day I use to do my long runs alone and boy when you ain’t in the mood, and you start counting K’s early, you are in for along day at the office. I had a 34k run from my house to the end of the bike path at Burns beach and back as my ‘last long run of choice‘ before a marathon and most times it was a killer. I remember the last time I ran it I was counting kilometres very early and the run just seemed to drag on for ever as I slowed with every K. Mentally I was finished before I started and I have had so many bad runs on that route but still perceived , we’re a funny bunch runners?
Different story with the current day ‘BK posse’ , the long runs are more bearable and dare I say ‘enjoyable’, well as ‘enjoyable’ as a long run can be. The conversation and shared suffering helps, maybe it the shared suffering that really helps. Watching your fellow runner in as much pain as you makes your suffering seem a little easier, I say that in a nice way of course? That’s not to say every long run is painful but when you’re in the middle of a training block for a marathon, I’m sorry people, you need to spend some time in the pain box, with or without your running buddies. Maybe it is the ‘problem shared is a problem halved type ‘ scenario but with pain and suffering, I’m not sure but it just works. Nothing I enjoy more than seeing my running buddies in pain, again in a nice way?
Some competitive rivalry is also useful within the group as it spurs on good performances. In our group at the moment most of the runners had ran a sub3 marathon with the exception of Gareth, Jeff and Mark L. Mark C. was a member of this group but with the help of a one-on-one training plan from Matt Fitzgerald ( http://www.mattfitzgerald.com in Matt we trust! ) had gone from just over 3 hours to a 2:55 and then a 2:48 in the last few months. (fuelled on carbs!) Mark L. was desperate to enter the sub3 club and did so last weekend with a second place finish at the Bussleton Marathon and a 2:57 finish. Give Mark L. his due he had been taking a severe ‘ribbing’ since missing out on the sub3 target at the Perth City-to-Surf ,which was well short. (Even his Mum joined in.) This time there was no mistake. So instantly the mantra of ‘not ran a sub 3‘ falls to Gareth, Jeff has a get out of jail card as he is well over 100 years old and thus , age adjusted , has actually ran sub2; probably sub1 truth be told !!
I read a great article recently written by Matt Fitzgerald , In Men’s Journal, as he documented the top 5 things he learnt from training with the elites for the recent Chicago marathon, where we ran his target time of sub 2:40. One of the top 5 tips was train with people of similar abilities and goals. I wonder if Matt would have been so sure if he’d met my bunch of running reprobates, interesting , maybe we’ll get him over to sunny Perth one day for a Sunday long run, I just hope he can keep up with the banter as he’ll have no troubler keeping up with the pace , especially if we can get Damo’ to the front albeit briefly ?
Do the Little Things
Fitzgerald says that training goes beyond, well, training. “Carve out time to work on your strength and mobility limitations,” he says. “Do form drills, get a massage, use a foam rollerand so forth. Your workouts will go further if you support them with ancillary activities.”
Listen to Your Body
One aspect of pro training that really hit home with Fitzgerald was the willingness of the elites to cut a workout short or even take a day off if something was hurting. This is something most amateurs are loath to do, opting instead to stick it out and do the work on their training plans. Often, it sinks their ships. “This ‘live-to-fight-another-day’ mentality reduces the risk of injury and overtraining,” he says.
Train With People Who Have Similar Abilities and Goals
“You’ll benefit more from your training if you surround yourself with athletes who can pull you along on their good days and whom you can push on your bad days,” Fitzgerald says. If you don’t have ready training partners, seek them out via your local running club or shoe store.
Spend More Time at an Easy Pace:
Fitzgerald says that most amateurs run their easy runs too hard. “Most pros spend 80 percent of their runs at low intensity,” he explains, “but too many recreational runners fail to truly dial back.” Make easy pace your respected friend unless you’re out to do speed work, realizing it will establish a base to carry you through long term.
Scale Properly
While there’s much that amateurs can adopt from the pros, Fitzgerald points out that unless they scale it to their own level, it will be too much to handle. “Few amateur runners can or should run 100 miles per week, for example,” he says. “but they can and should run a good deal relative to their personal limits if they want to get the most out of their God-given ability.” That said, Fitzgerald reminds every-day runners that some pros take risks that shouldn’t be emulated. “They might train or compete injured — risks you shouldn’t take if your livelihood doesn’t depend on your performance.”
Funnily enough Matt forgot to mention Yelo muffins, maybe he ain’t as knowledgable as we first thought…? (Gareth, Mike, yours truely and the infamous Mark Lee.)
Since the Australia Day Ultra at the end of January I’ve been putting in some serious kilometres as I get myself ready for the marathon season ahead. (see Strava extract below) This is the foundation part of the year where it is all about time on feet and building a good base from which to add pace as we near a ‘goal’ race. For me it will either be the Perth Marathon in June (my 13th Perth marathon) or if I feel good earlier there is the Bunbury Marathon in April. (my 5th Bunbury marathon) Of course after that there is my 10th City to Surf Marathon and being part of a small group of 26 runners who have run all 10 it will be the highlight of the year for me. After that there is the Rottnest Marathon (my 12th Rottnest) and finally the 6 Inch Ultra in December (my 10th 6 inch). Throw in 3-5 half marathons and at least another 10-12 races and my season is complete.
Some people run for the pure joy of running but for me I need a goal race to work towards and a time to compete against, this is why I get up early , go to be early and generally lead a nomadic existence. Frowned upon by most, including most of my running peers, but it works for me and even when I’m totally fatigued I can see light at the end of the tunnel and always assume it’s not an on coming train, so far I’ve always been right!
Today summed up my training this year. A 14k progressive with the lads this morning where my legs were ‘goosed’ at the start and even though I managed a good progressive it was a lot slower than my best (thanks for that Strava.) I’m not worried though as this is the required building period I need before giving away distance to pace later in the season. To this end I ran a 10k DanceETC loop in the evening and struggled around , albeit with a fast finish. Again the legs had very little and I’ll crawl into bed feeling very tired (see quote from Brendan Foster below). This is marathon training, it really is just a slog truth be told and the more you can put up with in the building phase the better the end result. Eventually though you do need to break the shackles and boredom of distance and change through the gears into pace and shorter , sharper training runs. This is when the magic happens and the legs should welcome the change, add in the cardio fitness of all those hours on your feet and you can suddenly see why you run. Put a bib on your chest, sit back and enjoy the ride, welcome to racing and beating your best.
I’ve added a post I wrote in 2017 on fatigue which stills holds true so worth a revisit, in the meantime the bed is calling and after todays runs it is certainly where I want to be. Can’t wait to wake up tired tomorrow morning and start the whole process again.
Fatigue, I embrace it like a long lost friend.
Fatigue needs to be embraced.
I’ve mentioned before a quote from Brendan Foster below…
Brendan Foster Quote.
As I said in an earlier post I actually turn that quote around as in my experience I got to bed tired and wake up really tired. Maybe that’s why I’m not an international athlete ? This morning was no exception, at 4:50am I was in no mood to run my go-to 10k ‘old faithful’ for the 170th time (thanks Strava https://www.strava.com/activities/776584306 ) My old friend fatigue had come to visit and I could feel the legs were none too impressed as I set off on my morning 10k. As with most morning runs I soon got into the groove and plodded along enjoying the morning ambience and reveling in the sunrise as I cruised through Star Swamp. When I finally finished I had sneaked under 5min/k average for the distance and even raised my VO2 score , so all-in-all a good result.
Walking to work, after a quick coffee stop at my favourite café, I climbed my indicator stairs to get a feel of how my legs were feeling. The stair test is a good test as if you are fatigued you will feel it as you ascend, especially if you go two at a time. This morning I could feel climbing the stairs was a challenge and again the legs were complaining from the start. Fatigue had come calling.
The second week after a marathon you are still in recovery mode so I am not surprised I am feeling fatigued, I would be more worried if I wasn’t as this would mean I could have run faster. (Trust me, I could not have run faster at the World Masters 10 days ago.) So fatigue in this case is a good thing, it just needs to be managed. By managed I mean as an indicator it is telling me to keep on doing what I’m doing, which is recovery pace only. I’ll feel better when I run lunch time (I can’t not run twice a day, that would be silly.) and I actually improve throughout the day. That’s why I turn Brendan Foster’s quote around.
This brings me to the main reason for this post. With fatigue being more prevalent for me at the start of the day I know to make this run the easiest. My lunch time run I know I’ll feel better so can use this one for any harder workouts. Other people feel differently (International athletes apparently?) and would go harder in the mornings. As with all things running it is a personal thing. I sometimes wonder why I wrote this blog as I am sharing things that work for me but you need to be aware these are my personal findings, as long as you realise that and adjust for your training all is good. I’ve said before most of the topics I discuss are all common sense, I don’t pertain to be a exercise guru, just a runner who loves running and has had some success (at my low level) who also enjoys typing.
As with all things I discuss I have added an article to help or support my ramblings and surprise surprise its my old mate coach Jeff from Runners Connect.
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.
Hopefully, this lesson on fatigue and how you manage it will help you train more intelligently for your upcoming races.
Footnote : Managed a 10k run in Kings Park over some hilly terrain and trails lunch time. Felt a lot better than this morning as expected so will look forward to the alarm tomorrow morning as I’m running with my friend Mark Lee who is a lot quicker than me and more of a short distance specialist. Only saving grace is we meet at Yelo so the obligatory coffee and muffin will be dangled as reward for the beating he’ll probably give me. On the downside I think it’s my turn to pay…
Makes everything seem so much better, chocolate and banana muffin and decent coffee. Life is good…..
If you want to improve, run more but not too fast.
I have posted on this a few times over the last 18 months but it is always worth a revisit. Slow and steady really does make you , long term, faster. It’s benefits are three fold, I believe you will enjoy your training more (with all that ‘smell the roses’ pace), it’s an injury prevention method of training (less impact associated with adding pace) and finally the benefits will spur on more success. Let’s face it running is all about achieving goals and the more goals we achieve the more addicted we all become to the runners high.
I have attached two articles on the subject below. The first one of mine from Janaury 2017 which highlighted my experience with slowing down over a period of time and seeing the rewards when I raced. I was able to show , with the help of Strava (in Strava we trust… http://www.strava.com ; feel free to follow me on Strava, there is a link at the bottom of the home page) how over time I has slowed on my ‘old faithful’ run but my racing times had got better. This was over a long period of time and over 200 runs so a pretty good baseline, very ‘scientific’ if I say so myself.
The second article is from Runners Connect and is advocating a similar approach, moderate workouts being the ideal way to train long term.
In 2013 I ran quick all the time, by quick I mean sub 4min/k average every time I put on my trainers. Be it a 10k, 21k or 30k, my goal was to finish with a sub 4min/k average. To compound this issue I also stopped running long runs after reading an article in Runners World magazine about a training program where you would run at your marathon pace all the time. The logic was if your marathon pace became your normal pace when you were tired during the marathon you would revert to your normal ‘training pace’, which of course would be your marathon pace. The training program also recommend not running too many long runs but more runs around the 20-25k distance.
This training program yielded some good results but I sacrificed my top end speed as I wasn’t running any tempo or threshold runs, just lots of sub 4min/k’s. Raf from the Running Centre (http://therunningcentre.com.au ) picked me up on this on Strava ( http://www.strava.com ) and recommended I try a 10k threshold at least once a week, just to break the monotony of running the same pace for every run. I was surprised when I tried to add pace as I struggled and my 10k times weren’t that quicker than my ‘normal’ pace. Something was amiss and I was found out at the Bunbury Marathon in 2014 when I blew up after leading the race for the first 10k. I admit there was also some mental problems as I was defending my marathon title after winning (my only marathon victory) in 2013. I had gone out at my 10k pace truth be told and at 15k my race was finished. I met Raf afterwards, in the hotel spa of all places, and he could sense my disappointment of finishing 4th in a time of 2hrs54mins, when I aiming for a sub 2hr40min finish truth be told.
For the rest of 2014 I struggled on (Bunbury was in April) and although I managed 2hrs 46mins at the Perth Marathon I never managed to reach the heights I had reached in 2013. Something needed to change and in January 2015 I was taken under Raf’s wings and given a program for the Perth marathon, my first training program at the ripe old age of 48. The first 3-4 months were harder than I expected as I really struggled with the top end pace work. The steady and long runs were do able but my top end pace just wasn’t there. Over time I did improve of course thanks to Raf’s coaching skills but all the good work was undone by a slight stress fracture just before the Perth marathon. (Picked up on the last steady run , a week out ! Always the way ?) I ran a 2hrs49mins, 9th place finish, but Raf had me in better condition than that but the injury played on my mind.
After Perth Raf gave me another training plan for the City to Surf marathon in August and I stuck to this one and ran a good time for a 4th place but more importantly a strong race and strong finish. My first good marathon for over a year. Although I enjoyed working with Raf I was time constrained by my family, work, life etc, the runners quandary. I decided for 2016 to take what Raf had taught me and adapt my training accordingly.
I think the most important thing Raf taught me was there is no such thing as ‘junk miles‘, every kilometre you run is doing you some good, at whatever pace. This to me was a ‘lightning bolt’ moment as I was so use to running every run as a tempo and finishing with nothing left in the tank. I just didn’t run slow, ever ! The first few runs I ran at a slow pace I was questioned on Stava by my running friends as to whether I was injured, such was the disbelieve that I could run anything bar sub 4min/k’s. I must admit the first few times it felt alien and I had to really work hard to run slow. Raf introduced me to the Maffetone training method ( https://philmaffetone.com , I have mentioned this a few times on the blog.) and I was off building my foundation for the success which was to come in 2016.
Fast forward to the Perth marathon of 2016 and I just about ran a negative split and was 2 minutes quicker than the previous year. (You can read the post regarding Perth 2016 on my new website http://www.fitfastfifty.com ; http://fitfastfifty.com/index.php/2017/01/25/perth-marathon-2016/ ) After Perth I added the double days and the PB’s came tumbling down and my confidence returned in spades. I managed to drop my 5k, 10k, 16k,21k and 50k PB times and by quite a chunk each time. So how did I do it ? Basically I slowed down, ran more and raced more. It really was (is) that simple. Taking what Raf taught me, reading Matt Fitzgerald’s books and a sprinkling of Maffetone added to the mix and hey presto.
Thanks to Strava (in Strava we trust) you can see how this slowing down is trending on my 10k go-to run of choice. (see below) Over time you can clearly see my running average pace for the 10k is slowing but in the same period I have ran probably 10 PB’s, so there is a correlation of slowing down to speeding up when you put a bib on your chest. Of course I have added distance and more time on my feet into the equation, combined with racing more but the slowing down is a factor.
It really is a case of slowing down to speed up.
My last 200 runs on my go-to 10k of choice, old faithful.
Why Running Harder Won’t Help You Get Faster
In the vocabulary of a runner, patience is a dirty word. Runners always want to run faster, run more miles, and crush their personal bests and they want it now. To be more accurate, they wanted it yesterday.
I know I felt this way before I donned my coaching cap. I wasn’t satisfied with a workout unless I needed to be carried off the track and was forced to spend the rest of the day passed out on the couch. That was dedication. Surely, this is what it took to be the best runner I could be.
Unfortunately, this mindset couldn’t be more wrong.
Not only did this way of thinking impact my short-term goals, thanks to all-to-frequent injuries and bouts of overtraining, but as you’ll learn in this article, it likely affected my long-term progress as well.
As I’ve matured as a runner and changed my perspective on training as a coach, I’ve come to fully appreciate and value the art of patience. This shift in mindset wasn’t easy and it didn’t happen overnight. Hopefully, with the help of some hard, scientific data and a sprinkling of anecdotal evidence, this article can accelerate your maturation as a runner and help you achieve your goals.
Finish a workout feeling like you could have done more
This is a phrase you’ll hear from any running coach worth his or her salt. As elite coach Jay Johnson espouses to his athletes, “you should be able to say after every one of your workouts that you could have done one more repeat, one more segment or one more mile.”
Coach Jay doesn’t just pay this rule lip service. He’s known for cutting workouts short when an athlete looks like they’re over that edge. It’s one of the reasons his athletes continue to perform and improve consistently, year after year.
In this study, one group of athletes performed a series of workouts at near maximum intensity for twelve weeks. The researchers then had another group perform the same type of workouts (same repeat distance and same amount of rest) yet at a much more moderate intensity.
The results. The high intensity group improved rapidly, recording an increase in VO2 max 30 percent higher than the moderate group after three weeks.
Well, that doesn’t seem to support our theory that patience pays off, does it?
Luckily, the researchers went a step further and recorded changes to VO2 max for six, nine and twelve weeks under the same training methodology. This is where the results get truly interesting.
After nine weeks, the high intensity group’s improvements in VO2 max were only 10 percent greater than the moderate group. More importantly, after 9 weeks, the high intensity group stopped improving and after 12 weeks showed the same level of improvement to VO2 max as the moderate group.
Clearly, this research shows that while you’ll see rapid improvements from running workouts as hard as you can in the first few weeks, this improvement curve will level off and running at moderate intensity levels will produce equal, if not better, long-term results.
Of course, like all studies, this research has it’s flaws. Mainly, both groups performed the same workouts for twelve weeks, which means the same stimulus was being applied with each session. However, I’d also point out that when training for 5k or marathon for 12 weeks, the workouts won’t vary much. Sure, the workouts will look different, 12 x 400 meters at 3k pace versus 6 x 800 meters at 5k pace, but you’re still training the same energy system.
Regardless, the data supports what good coaches have known for years.
Consistent, moderate workouts will trump a few weeks of hard, gut-busting workouts every time.
But I want to improve faster
Of course, looking at that data, most runners would still choose the high intensity approach. If the end result after 12 weeks is the same, why not make the fitness gains faster the first three to six week?
Not covered in this particular research study was the impact of injuries and overtraining on potential improvement curve and long-term progress.
It’s not surprising, and it’s been supported by numerous research studies and anecdotal examples, that increased intensity is correlated with higher injury risk. Meaning, the harder (faster) you train, the more likely it is you’ll get injured.
The problem I encounter with many runners who try to workout too hard is the injury cycle, which inhibits long-term progress because for every two steps forward, you take one step back.
Using a similar graph to the one provided in the research study, let’s examine the long-term consequences of always pushing your workouts as hard as you can versus running moderate and always feeling like you could have done more.
While the actual improvement data in the image is fictional, it is based off the data from the actual study representing improvement curve. The difference is that I’ve extended the training period to ten months and factored in injuries and potential overtraining. This graph accurately represents my experience with trying to run every workout as hard as I could and the vast data I’ve collected working as a coach for the past eight years.
As you can see, the high intensity runner speeds out of the gait and is far ahead of the moderate intensity runner after a few weeks. However, it doesn’t take long before the high intensity runner suffers his or her first injury and is setback a week or two. No worries, with just a few weeks of high intensity training, they are back ahead of the slow plodding moderate intensity runner. However, this cycle continues to repeat itself until the high intensity runners is far behind the consentient, steady performer.
More importantly, after 42 weeks, the high intensity runner is at a point that they can no longer make up the difference in fitness simply by training hard for a few weeks.
They will continue to struggle to reach their potential until they finally learn to run their workouts at a moderate level and train to their current level of fitness.
Don’t be the high intensity runner. Learn from the mistakes of countless runners before you, the research and scientific data, and the wisdom of coaches who know their stuff.
After nine weeks, the high intensity group’s improvements in VO2 max were only 10 percent greater than the moderate group. More importantly, after 9 weeks, the high intensity group stopped improving and after 12 weeks showed the same level of improvement to VO2 max as the moderate group.
