read more posts by
bigkevmatthews@gmail.com
I was reflecting on my up coming 50th birthday today and discussing with my ‘pod buddies’ at work whether my best days were ahead of me or behind me. My colleague Rob then added “it depended on which way you were looking.” This really struck a cord with me and on my lunchtime 17k around the bridges (which in a Perth spring was a wondrous run.) I digested his comment. Rob had summed up why, as runners, we do what we do. Each of us ,I believe , through running, is looking forward and sees their best days ahead of them whereas the general public, when they age, turns around and sees their best days behind them. This is a powerful vision and it certainly made my 17k run disappear in the blink of an eye as I devoured Rob’s insight.
Rob has totally encapsulated what makes us runners tick as we age. I have been lucky enough by putting in the extra hard yards and following my ‘Golden Rules’ (Remember those, if not there is a category for them on this blog) to be able to lay down some running times I thought beyond me. By looking forward to my best days I was achieving goals that seemed impossible a few years ago. Changing my training with the help of Raf from the Running Centre in 2015 ( http://therunningcentre.com.au/ ) had laid the foundation for 2016 and hopefully beyond. As Raf always use to say to me ‘age is just a number’. At the time my confidence was low and I took this onboard but didn’t really believe it totally. Now I am more convinced. I understand that eventually ‘Father Time’ will come calling and start to eat away at my times and I will be dragged kicking and screaming back to the pack , but with good training and hard work I will try my best to make it a slow transition.
As we age, as runners, I believe we have opportunities to achieve our ‘best days’. These may be by just working harder and smarter (by following my blog for example) or getting a qualified coach from an awesome running centre (see above) to give you new training ideas. Nutrition is another area I believe we can all probably improve on and I will be making a big effort next year as I give a sub 2:40 marathon time one more tilt in my 50th year on this wonderful planet. Also as we age I believe we are better equipped to handle the longer distances as marathons and ultra-marathons become more manageable. Ultra marathons also take away the need for pace and concentrate more on distance, another opportunity to shine as I also believe as we age we have a higher pain threshold. (This may have something to do with bringing up kids (in my case three wonderful Daughters) and all the challenges this presents, bless ’em ! )
So when it comes to your best days look forward, do not turn around and look behind you, there’s nothing there worth looking at…….
As I was let down by my training partner this morning (For the second time in 2 weeks !, for a fitness coach my friend, who shall rename nameless , Mark Lee doesn’t half get a lot of colds.?) I decided to still leave from my favourite cafe, Yelo, so when I returned in an hours time it would be just opening and I could reward myself with a muffin coffee combo before scurrying off to work. Setting off towards City Beach I was enjoying the views of an early morning Perth spring morning, see below. Ok I may have put on a filter to boost the colours (as is the way on social media these days.) but it was pretty inspiring, albeit alone.
While initially dawdling along towards City Beach I did start to feel a little guilty knowing what I was going to reward myself with at the end of the run . (photo attached at the end of this post) To this end I thought I’d better at least run for a full hour and also make 14k. I was also wary of running the marathon less than 2 weeks ago so had to make sure I didn’t get too excited as the second week of recovery is the dangerous time when runners think all is good and step up too early. I put that last bit in italics for a reason, it needs to be digested and understood. Take it easy for 2 weeks, not just the first week post marathon.
So while I was dawdling along I concluded the best type of run for the occasion would be a progressive. As the names suggest you get progressively quicker each kilometre with the last few being the fastest. This has many benefits as I feel it allows you to warm up first and also you gradually increase the pace rather than shock the legs by hitting the turbo button with little warning. This to me is a lot easier on the legs compared to a threshold or tempo where you can find yourself running quickly on cold legs, a recipe for disaster. Another good point is you can start as slow as you like, I’d even encourage you to start real slow as it makes the progressive pace increase easier. No point exploding out of the blocks on a progressive run as it makes the whole experience null and void when you start to progress the wrong way half way through your session.
This morning I was perfectly primed for a good progressive and managed to gradually increase the pace each kilometre , the pace of course quickened after the turn around as I was heading back to my favourite cafe in the whole world with the best muffin combo on this planet. (And probably the solar system , though this is my opinion and cannot be substantiated.) I didn’t kill myself as I was wary of my two week rule (post marathon) so finished relatively fresh which allowed me to skip up the stairs to Yelo and claim my reward.
It seems I am not the only advocate of progressive running as Greg McMillan has written a great article also highlighting its benefits. He agrees with my points about being easier on the legs due to the slow start but also gives you 3 options and explains more about the stamina benefits. Personally I have only ran the increase pace each kilometre progressive but must admit to a few fast finishes as I’ve chased the young whip-snapper the T-train at the end of a long run, got to keep these young fella’s honest. The marathon pace finish to a long run is another favourite of mine but I’ll leave that to another post.
Greg McMillan wrote a great article on progressive running which is worth a read.
START SLOW – FINISH FAST: HOW THREE TYPES OF PROGRESSION RUNS BOOST YOUR FITNESS
Over the last few years, my athletes have benefited greatly from workouts called progression runs. In a progression run, you begin running at a slow, easy pace but finish at a fast pace. Not only will you find progression runs to be fun, but they are a great way to boost your fitness without any lasting fatigue. And, the benefits are the same no matter if you’re a 2:15 or a 4:15 marathoner.
Three Types of Progression Runs
While the idea of the progression run is simple – start slower, finish faster, I recommend that you begin with structured progression runs until you learn how to properly gauge your effort throughout the run. Below are the three structured progression runs that I have used successfully.
1) Thirds
The first type of progression run is called Thirds. As the name implies, you break your run into three equal parts or thirds. For the first third, you run at a relatively slow, comfortable pace. As you progress to the second third of the run, your pace will have gradually increased to your normal steady running pace. Over the last third of the run, you increase your speed so that you’re running a strong, comfortably hard pace. For many competitive runners this effort corresponds to somewhere around marathon race pace to as fast as half-marathon race pace and a heart rate between 80 and 90% of maximum. This strong running significantly improves your Stamina which raises the pace you can run before you begin to rapidly accumulate lactic acid.
For your first thirds progression run, choose a 45-minute easy run. Run the first 15 minutes slowly, the second 15 minutes at your normal pace and finish the last 15 minutes at a strong pace. While I break the run into thirds, your pace doesn’t radically change after each third. Instead, it is a gradual but steady increase across the run. After getting your feet wet with this first thirds run, you can adapt the concept to any duration/distance.
It’s important to note that the pace of the final third is NOT all-out running. An appropriate pace for the last third is approximately Steady State or Tempo pace.* Could you run faster at the end? Of course! But that’s not the goal of this particular progression run. In fact, if you run too hard in the last third, the workout becomes more like a race, which causes too much fatigue for the purposes of a progression run.
It’s likely that on some of your runs, you already do a thirds progression run without even trying. When you are fully recovered from previous workouts, the body seems to just naturally progress to a faster pace as the run goes along. And please note that I suggest you do this on an ‘easy run’ day not a ‘recovery run’ day.** For all but a select few elite athletes, progression runs should not be used on days when you are recovering from a previous workout or race.
Lastly, I find a thirds progression run to be an especially beneficial workout for experienced marathon runners – runners who can handle an additional up-tempo day in addition to their other key workouts and long run. The most important caveat, however, is that you must not push too hard in the last third. Strive for a medium-hard pace (around your Steady State Pace).
2) DUSA
The second type of progression run I call DUSA – after the Discovery USA program where we did a lot of this type of running. To perform a DUSA progression run, run for 75-90% of your total run at a steady, easy pace. Then, as you approach the final 15-25% of the run, you really pick up the pace. For competitive runners this means half-marathon to 10K race pace with a fast finish the last quarter mile. It’s exhilarating! You can then jog or walk for five minutes to cool-down. DUSA’s are not a race but almost feel like one, and you’ll likely find that your heart rate goes to over 90% of maximum by the finish.
For many runners, I assign this DUSA progression run as part of a 50- to 60-minute run where they run easily for 40 to 50 minutes then “progress” to a strong pace for the last five to 15 minutes. With my elite marathoners, I assign DUSA progression runs of up to 90 minutes in length and with up to 15 to 25 minutes fast. But, by simply using the idea of running the last 15-25% of your run at a faster pace, you can adapt this progression run to whatever duration or distance you run.
Compared to the thirds progression run, a DUSA involves a slightly faster pace for a slightly shorter amount of time and provides a little different stimulus to the body.
You’ll be surprised at how fun a DUSA workout is and that it really doesn’t take much out of you. I insert it into an athlete’s program where I want to make sure the athlete gets some quality running but can’t afford a long recovery time after the workout. Again, the idea is that we get a few more minutes of Stamina training integrated into the training week but that none of these fast portions are intense enough or last long enough to cause any lasting fatigue. You should not feel any effects of the DUSA progression run on your next run. If you do, you are probably pushing too hard in the faster portion. You may also want to change where you insert them into your program. Consider including more recovery runs before or after your progression runs.
3) Super Fast Finish
The final type of progression run is one of my personal favorites and was utilized by Paul Tergat in his build-up to the Berlin Marathon where he set the world marathon record of 2:04:55. For this workout, the name says it all. You run a normal steady run but run super fast in the last three to six minutes of the run. When I say super fast, I mean super fast. Pretty much like a 5K race to the finish. Like the DUSA workout above, these runs are exhilarating yet don’t require a long recovery. They are fast enough to really stimulate your Speed and Sprinting ability (muscle recruitment, coordination, mental focus and lactic acid tolerance) but short enough (three to six minutes) that you will feel no lasting effect on your next run. That said, you must be accustomed to fast running before trying to run asuper fast finish progression run otherwise you will likely be sore from the speed.
We did a lot of these when I was in high school. We would run our normal easy run pace but as we approached the last half mile before getting back to campus, we would begin to push very hard. It’s probably even fair to say we raced each other to the finish line. Our thought was that this super fast finish established a habit out of finishing fast so that when it came to a race, no other team would be able to finish as fast as we could. It would just be automatic that we would run hard at the end. As warned in the previous progression runs, we did not do this on our key recovery days. We ran it on a day where we were completely recovered.
How Progression Runs Benefit You
While the above told you the “how’s” of progression runs, I want to also tell you the “why’s” so that you can be smart if you integrate this type of training into your program. I find that progression runs are effective for three primary reasons. First, we know that warming up the muscles by starting out slowly not only decreases your risk of injury but “primes” the physiological pathways that will be used in faster running. If you push too hard before the appropriate energy delivery systems are ready for the effort, then you will stress the anaerobic systems; not what we’re after in our normal, everyday runs. In fact, going anaerobic (or more correctly, building up too much lactic acid) can even inhibit the development of your aerobic system so make sure that if the purpose of your run is to develop your aerobic system, you don’t start the run too fast.
Second (and I think this is most important), progression runs allow you, across your training cycle, to increase the volume of faster, stamina-type training. For example, if you include a couple of 60-minute progression runs that include 10 minutes at a fast pace in your program each week, you will add an additional 20 minutes of stamina training to your program. Across your training cycle, this additional stamina training results in a much fitter athlete.
Third, this increase in the volume of stamina training comes at a very small price. Correctly using progression runs results in very little fatigue compared with normal running. In fact, my experience has been that the athletes who most often suffer from overtraining, injury, undue fatigue and poor racing are those who push too hard, too soon and for too long in their runs, particularly their easy and recovery runs. Progression runs allow you to insert fast running into your training runs (feeding your need for speed) but in a way from which you can easily recover.
How to Integrate Progression Runs into Your Training
As important as it is to understand the why’s and how’s of progression runs, it’s more important to know how to safely and effectively incorporate them into your training. I recommend that near the end of your Lydiard-style base phase you first add one progression run into your weekly schedule with ample recovery time leading up to and after the progression run day. In other words, don’t do a progression run on the day after your long run. Once more accustomed to progression running, then you can begin to include more in your weekly schedule based on your experience level, training frequency and training phase.
One note: just because progression runs are beneficial, this doesn’t mean that “all” of your runs should be progressions. Progression runs are just one component of a well-balanced training program and can be used to temper any tendencies to start runs too fast. They also add some (often much needed) variety to runs, which keeps things fun. The number of progression runs that you can tolerate each week is dependent on your experience level and ability to tolerate training. If you run three to four times per week, you may only run a progression run every other week – the other days being devoted to other types of training. A pro runner who runs ten to 13 times per week, however, may run two to six progression runs per week, mostly DUSA and super fast finish workouts. Like all training, you must start conservatively and see how your body reacts to progression run workouts. With this information, you can find the optimum training routine that works for you.
Final Thoughts
The next time you are in a relaxed training phase, try incorporating progression runs into your program. The workouts not only add variety and make training fun, but significantly boost your fitness without a lengthy recovery. Used as part of a smart, overall approach to training that includes building an endurance base, gaining strength through stamina training, adding speed and working on your finishing sprint, progression runs will give your fitness a boost.
This is the last photo of my Yelo muffin this week I promise, but I must warn you it is a beauty. The muffins at Yelo really are special. ( http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au )
I’ve mentioned before a quote from Brendan Foster below…
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…
To continue on with the trail running theme I thought I’d like to talk about the only other time I wonder off my beloved concrete. This is for the Simon Coates inspired ‘Choo Choo’ run. The idea here is to meet at North Dandelup Station (I say station in the broadest sense of the word. I think it has a small concrete outcrop it calls a platform but that really is it!) This is the same North Dandelup that the 6 inch ultra marathon ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/ ) starts from , give or take 3k as the race actually starts at the beginning of Goldmine Hill, but close enough. Anyhow we meet at North Dandelup station and then run via the trail to Serpentine Station, 35k away. The ‘living on the edge‘ bit is there is only one train through Serpentine a day so if you miss it you have a long walk back to Dandelup where we leave the cars.
So we all meet at Dandelup and depending on how confident you are of making the Serpentine train dictates your departure time. The train gets in at Serpentine at 10:21am so we normally give ourselves 4 hours for the run. Thus we leave around 6:30am, just as the sun rises before we enter the trail after a nice 4-5k of concrete hills to warm you up. Hopefully no one gets left behind.
The graphic below was created when Dave ‘Sugar’ Cane ran the inaugural Choo-Choo run when someone did get left behind. The story was the group of five set off but one of the runners was never going to make it and basically was sent back to the car rather than taking the rest of the group with them on the long walk of shame back to Dandelup from Serpentine. There is more to this and even an amusing You Tube video but I am not at liberty to divulge the full carrying on’s……
I’ve ran this the last two years and made the train quite comfortably, so much so we are talking up a 7am departure next year to really give the run that touch of danger. Last year Jon ‘Trail blazer’ Phillips cut it very close. In fact in the first photo you can see he is not even at the station and we’re talking minutes to the train arriving. At least I look worried …?
In the (selfie) photo below you can see the elusive TB bottom right looking very relieved. After running 35k the thought of a 10-15k walk back on the road (as the crow sort of flies) is not enticing. We would have probably come and got him, probably?
This year it was far too easy and we all made the train with so much time to spare we were able to pose at the local deli and even had time to eat a smorgasbord of home made cup cakes that a local had brought to the store to sell for charity. It was her lucky day as she encountered a bunch of runners with the appetite of a pack of Wildebeest. (I am making an assumption that a pack of Wildebeest have large appetites ? They always seem to look hungry whenever I see them on any nature programs. Not so sure about the eating cup cakes bit but you get the general idea? If anyone has a picture of a Wildebeest eating a cup cake I’d love to see it. )
So the point of this post is to once in a while challenge yourself. Give yourself a challenge where there will be consequences if you fail but if you succeed you never know you may get rewarded with cup cakes or faced with a bunch of runners smelling like Wildebeest.?
Footnote. I probably forgot to mention the actual 30k of trail you get to run on this bad boy of a run. (I took out the 5k of concrete at the start and finish) As you can see from the elevation at the start of this post there is a steep hill at the start which softens you up for whats to come. You then get about 20k of undulating trails and some wondrous views before the best finish to a run EVER ! The last 5k off the scarp is just biblical in its awesomeness. You are catapulted towards the train station and spat out at the end of the trail like you’ve been shot from a cannon. No wonder we all had such an appetite, at then end I reckon I was running faster than a pack of Wildebeest. There was one Wildebeest who may not have been as excited about the finish as some of us but he shall rename nameless. Roberto Busi
After a week recovering from the World Masters my mind is started to wonder towards my next goal race. I’m a big fan of hopping from goal race to goal race, improving each time. To this end I have raced nearly 30 times this year already and my next menu choice is the ‘6 inch ultra marathon’ ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com ) on December 18th from Dandelup to Dwellingup. Even the start and end point sound like ‘trail places’, and it gets better as it is ran on the Munda Biddi trail. Man this is trail running country gone mad. I almost expect to see a young Bert Reynolds in a wetsuit wandering on the trail (For the older generation amongst us you’ll know what I mean.) I’ve attached the map below.
A description of the course form the race director, Dave Kennedy.
The Six Inch Trail Marathon is inspired by the famous Six Foot Track Marathon in the Blue Mountains near Sydney.Returning from New Zealand in January 2005 I bemoaned the lack of trail races in Western Australia. I wanted to move to the land of the long white cloud but family and circumstances warranted at least another year in WA. One evening I headed out to run a gravel road signposted “Goldmine Hill”. What followed was a soaking wet 15K with the highlight being running into the Munda Biddi Mountain Bike trail. The Munda Biddi was built to keep cyclists off the 964K Bibbulmun walking track. The first 335K section from Mundaring in the Perth hills to Collie was completed in 2004. I had seen some road crossing signs during the construction and was keen to one day experience the track either by bike or foot. Finding the track so close to my house in Mandurah had me pondering a race in the near future. On my return from New Zealand I had been discussing a possible trail race on a local runner’s message board. I bought the map and found that this town to town section was about 44K. Six Foot which I had dreamed of running for years sprang to mind. “We could have our own version”. I had ridden between the 2 towns, North Dandalup and Dwellingup, and the road was super hilly. I was a little disappointed by the lack of hills when I ran the trail but some less masochistic runners didn’t agree with me. The result is a 46K trail race starting at the foot of Goldmine Hill 1K from North Dandalup and finishing in Dwellingup. This run is designed to be tough but most marathoners can expect to finish within an hour or 2 of their best marathon time.
My favourite bit is the last sentence. This run is designed to be tough but most marathoners can expect to finish within an hour or 2 of their best marathon time. This is no understatement. This is one bad ass of a race that starts with a 3km hill to get you in the mood for the rest of the elevations, and then just when you think it can’t get any worse Dave has found the ‘rutted hill from hell‘ where my mate Jon actually fell in one of the ruts and had to be helped out ! I mean he disappeared. You hit this bad boy around the 32k mark when you are at your weakest and the first time you see it you really think it is a wall rather than a hill. Actually Jon has had a few mishaps on this course. Two years ago he found the only puddle on the whole course, and that is over 46k, and promptly fell in it, twice. He was running well at that point and it was deep into the race, this mishap cost him his mojo and he fell away quickly. Because of this he was made to wear armbands at the start of the following year.
Last year , because he fell into the ‘rut from hell‘ we made him take climbing rope to the top of Goldmine Hill. Unfortunately I got lost last year and turned a 46k into a 50k (for the second time in 7 attempts, even after wearing two gamins!) , because of this I have to carry a map up Goldmine Hill.
Trail running is something I must admit I don’t do enough of. Truth be told this race is probably the only time I get out on the trail bar the Simon Coates inspired Choo-Choo run. (I’ll save that for another post.) I revel in the first 10k and marvel at the wonderful views, basking in the freedom and joy of running at one with nature. After 10k I start to complain a tad about the elevations, grip (or lack of) issues and difficulty finding a pace when you have to wait ever step. By 20k I am seriously reconsidering my love of trail running and then when I see the hill from hell I am well and truely convinced concrete is the way go. This is further enforced when you are faced with the last 10k which seems to go on forever, especially the last 2k where I swear Dave had found some time and space portal where you seem to run forever and move no further forward.
When you finish the 6 inch you know you have been in a race and I have attached finishing shot of yours truely in 2014 which backs up my claim that this is a ‘kick ass’ race that tests you and pushes you to then limit, drawing a line in the sand and then forcing you over it.
This will be my 8th running and I can’t wait because although it’s a hard race these of the sort of events that you need to run to become a better runner , to be tested and face Dave’s 2k of ‘running and but no moving‘ after a 44k warm up. It’s sold out this year but if you are ever going to run a trail race in Western Australia I highly recommend the 6 inch…I’ll see you at the start.
Well this time last week I was asking myself some serious questions as I was about 28k into the Masters marathon and running into a headwind that made me question myself and why I do what I do. My friend Jeff was cycling alongside me but he could see I was in a dark place. As I mentioned in my race report I told myself to hang on for the 32k turn around and the tail wind that was waiting for me.
A week later and I’m still buzzing from the World Masters but at that 28k point it could have turned out so different. I could have given in to my inner demons demanding that I stop or walk or just slow. Their reasoning was sound, I was fatigued with the head wind, slowing pace and I still had 14k to go. It’s at these times in a marathon you have to ‘man up’ (or ‘woman up’ if such a term exists?) , embrace the pain and push on. The rewards are so worth it. Last week I staggered to 32k but as soon as I turned I was a totally different runner. I was caressed home by the tail wind but more importantly my whole mindset had changed. The 10k to go was now no longer a problem but an opportunity to chase down some runners ahead of me, all thoughts of not finishing had evaporated with the head wind, hell, I was going to enjoy the last 10k. (as much as anybody can enjoy the last 10k of a marathon )
No one races a marathon without having at one point (or many points) to argue with your ‘central governor’ which demands they slow or stop. The logic for this is sound but running marathons is not about logic. As Noakes and many coaches preach the human body can run 32k, and is probably designed to run around this distance. The extra 10k is where training and the power of the mind is called upon and if either is lacking you will be found out. No one can finish a marathon and say ‘that was easy and I didn’t really train for it‘, doesn’t happen. They may get to 32k feeling good but trust me the ‘pain train’ is coming if they are not prepared at that point and there is no hiding from it.
The article below from Amby Burfoot from Runners World (2012) is on Noakes and his ‘central governor’ theory. I said in a post before the Masters that although I could not over ride my ‘central governor’ I believed that with experience you can get some leeway and this is enough to allow you to finish strong because your mind knows from experience what to expect. Of course this was marathon number 41 for me so experience has come over a long period of time. It was at the 28k mark last week when my central governor was telling me enough is enough and with his ( or hers, now there’s a theory?) friend ‘fatigue’ was conspiring to protect me by forcing me to slow. This time I was able to persuade ‘myself‘ to get to 32k and reevaluate the situation with a tail wind and a boost you receive when the kilometres to go enters the single figure range. It was enough this time and I finished strong but if I had been faced with a head wind for the last 10k or some serious hills I’m not so sure my central governor would have been so forgiving. As I said in my race report I felt this time I was so close to paying the piper and when I do that will be a very interesting end result and blog post…. let’s hope I’m not faced with that prospect anytime soon.
For the last 40+ years, South African Tim Noakes, M.D., has been among the most iconoclastic of sports scientists. In the 1970s, he and colleagues proved that a veteran marathoner could die from heart disease, refuting the “Bassler hypothesis.” They did this with hard evidence: images of the unlucky marathoner’s heart.
In the 1980s, while everyone else was hyperventilating over dehydration, Noakes practically invented exercise hyponatremia, i.e., “overdrinking,” among endurance athletes. The evidence? Studies of how much runners drank during marathons, particularly their pre-event and post-event weight, and how this affected their plasma sodium levels. Too much drinking lowers sodium levels, and if it goes too far, this can become a life-threatening condition.
For the last decade-plus, Noakes, author of the justly-famous Lore of Running and the soon-to-be-published Waterlogged, has focused his attention on a concept he calls the “central governor.” In Noakes view, the central governor, i.e., the brain, is what limits endurance performance.Take for example the sub-2-hour marathon. We all know that no current marathoner can achieve that mark. But why? For most of the last century, exercise physiologists have given a host of reasons: insufficient leg muscle endurance, too much lactic acid, insufficient vo2 max, insufficient glycogen supply, too much dehydration, and the like. These are all very nice things, because each can be measured.
Noakes believes all these explanations are wrong. He says no one can run a sub-2-hour marathon because, in effect, the brain won’t let us. The marathoner hasn’t been born yet with a sub-2-hour brain, and the body to back it up.
But now Noakes has a problem. When it came to his heart and hyponatremia findings, he had solid evidence to support his position. But where’s the evidence for a central-governor impact on endurance performance? And if a central governor does exist, how do you measure it?
“The Noakes paper has an interesting concept for a role of the brain in fatigue and athletic performance,” notes Henriette van Praag, Ph.D., a reviewer of the paper and an neuroscience investigator at the National Institutes of Health. “It lacks a clear structural/physiological basis within the central nervous system. Thus, empirical evidence for the existence of a ‘governor’ remains to be established.”
In a wonderful new paper in Frontiers in Physiology, Noakes makes little to no attempt to pin down the central governor with a measuring stick, such as the IQ scores often used for intelligence. He does seem to like something called the TEA (the Task Effort and Awareness scale), which he sees as a counterpart to Gunnar Borg’s RPE (Relative Perceived Exertion scale).
But Noakes tells the central-governor story in a narrative form that’s almost, well … almost readable. I’m not saying the paper is easy-going, certainly not for the faint-of-heart. And I’m sure there are vast parts of it that I don’t understand—it appears to have about 150 references, many of them from the last year or two of research.
Still, the quotes from great athletes are always entertaining. Roger Bannister says: “The great barrier is the mental hurdle.” Former marathon world record holder Derek Clayton says: “The difference between my world record and many world class runners is mental fortitude. I ran believing in mind over matter.”
Apparently Noakes does as well. In the provocative last section of his paper, he writes that the “illusionary” symptoms of fatigue are what separates the marathon winner from the runners-up. The first time I read this section, I couldn’t help but think about the people with illusionary thoughts who are often locked up in mental wards. Of course, Noakes isn’t saying that fast runners are crazy. Only that their thoughts are illusionary in the sense that they “are entirely self-generated by each athlete’s brain and so are unique to each individual.”
Noakes closes by quoting Vince Lombardi, who said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Noakes believes, however, that Lombardi got things backwards. Noakes writes: “My unproven hypothesis is that in the case of a close finish, physiology does not determine who wins. Rather somewhere in the final section of the race, the brains of the second, and lower placed finishers, accept their respective finishing positions and no longer challenge for a higher finish.” The winner’s brain simply doesn’t give in.
In other words, according to Noakes, cowardice produces fatigue.
It seemed I may have spoken to soon when I commended the T-Train on his recovery run the day after he took an almighty beating at the World Masters marathon. Tone had set his sights higher than he actually finished, with good logic as he has been training with me and keeping me honest at the end of our long runs as he always finds an extra gear when he smells the coffee and pancakes. (maybe that was what affected his world masters time, no coffee and pancakes to explode towards in the last 5k. I’ll make sure this is sorted for his next marathon, or maybe not? )
I had noticed that Tony was very quite this week on Strava, which is unlike him. As I mentioned in a previous post there is nothing Tone enjoys more than running a sub 4min/k average 10k the day after a marathon just to fish a reprimand from yours truely. I’m sure he must be smiling to himself on that ‘recovery’ run every time as he imagines the rebuke I will send his way via Strava.
It was later in the week it all became clear. It seems the T-Train had entered a 12hour race the week after the marathon, one I discussed yesterday the Light Horse Ultra, a 3/6/12 hour race around the ‘beaut 2.5k loop.’ So much for taking it easy the 2 weeks after a marathon, the T-Train was going to run over 120km in 12 hours, starting at midnight less than 7 days after racing to a good sub3 at Perth. One word, suicidal. ! To put this in perspective I ran 12k today and was glad to finish. I couldn’t imagine another 10k no matter 110k . In the end Tone managed to run 125km, I wonder if he thought the 2.5km track was a ‘beaut little track when he ran it for the 50th time…?
You would have thought there would only be one person that crazy to attempt a T-Train double in less than a week but no, looking through the results I see the female version, Margie Hadley, went one better than Tone and won the female 12 hour race after also competing last week at the World Masters. Margie managed 120km.
Looking at the photos on Facebook the event looked amazing and I said yesterday you will not find the comradery anywhere else like at an ultra or trail event. If you have never tried one I strongly recommend you put that right and either get into the nearest trail or find the longest ultra you can and run it, albeit slowly and eating and drinking a lot. (As discussed previously I consider an ultra an eating and drinking competition with the running bit a means of getting to the next aid table to eat and drink some more. The first person to get to the finish is the winner, they also get to really dig into the tukka at the end first, another benefit of finishing as quickly as possible)
After being blown away by the runners at the Light Horse Ultra I then saw on Strava my mate Jon had got up at 3am and ran 70km before the kids woke up and then umpired a Tee-ball game. What is happening to WA runners today? Jon has started his training for the Australia Day Ultra when he debuted last year with an impressive 2nd place in the 100k. This race still has entries available so if you’re reading this and fancy a move up to the ultra world this is the one to go for in WA. ( http://australiadayultra.com ) I’m even tempted to enter the 100k myself after I ran the 50k last year.
If you live in WA there is an ultra series you can run, including the two races mentioned above ( http://ultraserieswa.com.au ). Well worth a look and a great way to get into ultras. These events are organised by some awesome runners turned race directors and the time and effort they put into organising these cannot be over stated. These guys rock !
Footnote:- Like going shopping when you’re hungry , blogging about Ultra marathons when you know there is an event you can enter can be fatal. Just followed my advice and entered the Australia Day Ultra, the 100k option. (I did actually enter the 100k last year but dropped down to the 50k after a few bad runs in the heat of a Perth summer.) This year I will be stronger and all that blogging has inspired me. Albeit I did check I could get a full refund before January 7th. You don’t get that at a supermarket after you’ve over spent by about $100 because you were hungry when you were shopping. How good is running ? Of course you’ll be able to follow my progress as I move to three figure racing for the first time, and it’ll be my last race in my forties so seems like a good time to step up to the ultra world.
This weekend my friend Shaun Kaesler runs his 3/6/12 hr ultra marathon ( http://lighthorseultra.com.au ) in Perth. An ultra run in a local park around a’ beaut little 2.5k loop with a combination of ashphalt, limestone trail and boardwalk‘, Shaun’s words not mine. It is run on Remembrance day ‘celebrating the freedom we live for the service they gave‘, Shaun’s words again.
This beaut little ultra , my words this time, is one of many ultra marathons popping up in WA at the moment. All started by runners who love the tight knit ultra community and the characters it contains. Ultra and trail runners are ,for the most part, normally like-minded people working toward the greater good of this planet we spend our time destroying. They tend to work off the grid and their time on the trail is them reconnecting with nature and the very basic urge to just run , self supported , for a long time. Pushing themselves to the limits of their ability with the encouragement and friendship of fellow runners, all sharing the wonderful experience of just running in the most beautiful places untouched by man and all his vices.
The best thing about the ultra and trail community is without doubt the comradery amongst the runners. These guys genuinely care for each other and the environment. Probably because they get to experience the best of it and want to keep it pristine. Whatever the reason their cause is just and this adds to the whole feeling of enjoyment they experience when they ‘do their thing‘. Now I’m not suggesting we all ‘run to the hills’ (that would make a great song title..) but once in a while the odd foray to dance with Mother Nature is certainly good for the soul.
Another great addition to the ultra calendar is the ADU, Australia Day Ultra ran by my good friend Ron Mcglinn, in Ron’s words… ( http://australiadayultra.com )
Welcome
After being drawn to the beauty of this area, and running along this stretch of coast in and around the Leschenault Peninsula over many years, I have have felt drawn to share this beautiful area with other like minded running enthusiasts. I have looked for a slot in the Ultra running and Marathon calendar where there was very little happening for an opportunity to open this beautiful gem up to the running community.
One slot that did not seem to interfere with any other major events was the weekend of Australia Day …………….the dates may change slightly each year, but hey let’s just call it the Australia Day Ultra !
The course is mapped out as a 12.5 km out and back ( 2 x laps for 25km, 4 x laps for 50km and 8 x laps for 100km + 6km Kids Event) along the Australind Foreshore, taking in the scenic Cathedral drive through the paperbark walk. ( This was the old Bunbury road once apon a lifetime). There will be an aid station at each end of the course (6.25km) apart along with a self serve water station at the 3km mark so there would be no need to carry water or supplies other than the mandatory gear. There are amenities at the Australind end with decent parking a service station and shops. Toilet blocks and playgrounds are located at the Start/Finish line and at the 2 km mark ( Fees Field). There are no significant road crossing and the foot traffic will be separated from vehicle traffic, though you can park on the side of the track all along the length of the proposed course.
We are set for a Midnight start time for the 100 km, 3 am start for the 50 km, 6 am start for the 25 km, and a 9am start for the Kiddies 6km run to beat the heat!
This is going to be Very Flat and Very Fast, the perfect PB course.
This is AURA Approved and we offer discounts on the entry fee for AURA members. This is a certified course, so records will be up for the taking for those willing to push themselves that little bit harder.
Hope to see you out there.
This one is special to me as I saved Ron’s life once , the first time I met him actually. We were doing a recon run for the 6 inch ultra (see below) and we set of as a group and ran the whole 46k point to point, had lunch and then drove back to the start to pick up our cars. Ron has set off by himself and we met him on his way back about 15k from the cars. Anyhow we carried on another 30k , had lunch at the Dwellingup Pub (an experience in itself I can tell you.) and drove back to the start to see his car still parked, with no sign of Ron. Being totally unprepared we didn’t have his phone number and after a frantic call to Dave Kennedy, who also didn’t have his phone number, we started up Goldmine hill in my Prado. When we got to the top we saw a disshelfed Ron walking towards us. He had got lost and wondered about ‘bush’ for 3-4 hours totally lost. There was tall stories of looking for fish in brooks and Crocodile Dundee like encounters with nature. Anyway, to this day whenever we meet I remind him how I saved his life the first time he met.
Ron helped me drop down from the 100k to the 50k last year at this event which really is special at you start at 3am so the first 2 hours are in the dark and last year was a full moon. (I wonder how Ron arranged that? It’s the little things these Race Directors do that make all the difference…. ) Which was lucky for me as my ‘I don’t need a head torch I’ll run with the lead group’ plan backfired when I got dropped quicker than a Hilary Clinton victory speech and found myself alone in the dark. Lesson learnt for next year, don’t get dropped !
Last ultra-trail marathon I’m going to talk about in this post is the infamous 6 inch ultra marathon where I pit myself against the heat, hills and trails of the Munda biddi track. This ultra started 12 years ago as a fatass (free entry) but has morphed into a 350 runner sell out and it is one of the highlights of the year to run this with good friends. ( http://www.6inchtrailmarathon.com/?page_id=92 ) I’ve mentioned it before but it is well worth running this bad boy if you are ever in WA around the last Sunday before Christmas. Although I treat is as more of a long run with a bib on I still try and run sub 4 hours , which I have done 5 times out of 7. The difficulty of the course is obvious from this as it’s only 3-4k’s longer than a normal marathon but takes me over an hour longer, trail running is hard work!! I’ve attached a great finishing shot taken a few years ago which sums up the experience…
So from midnight tonight for the 12 hour race, if you’re anywhere near Yellagonga Regional Park, Ocean Reef Rd, Woodvale, I reckon you get down there and watch some seriously great runners doing their thing around a beaut 2.5km track, again and again and again………I’m assuming the 6hr will start at 6am and the 3hr at 9am so they all finish at midday. (seems logical anyway ? Check the website to confirm because these ultra/trail runners aren’t one to conform to what we would expect, otherwise they be concrete junkies like me !)
I’ve been finding these last few days that I’m waking earlier and earlier for my morning (recovery) run. This morning I awoke at 4am with my alarm set at 5am,. Well after 15minutes thinking this is ridiculous waking so early I decided that 4:15am was no ‘as’ ridiculous so off I went into the morning. As always I was glad I did as as I ran my old faithful 10k for the 166th time (thanks Strava) I got to witness another great sunrise. There really is something wonderful getting up as the sun starts to peak over the horizon. The light is amazing and you normally face the new day alone, basking in the solitude. My go-to 10k takes me through Star Swamp just as the Sun rises and I deliberately set my alarm so I’m hitting a certain part of the swamp as the Sun welcomes me.
Every time I see the sunrise I think of all the people asleep in bed who just get up , crawl to work in a zombie like state and never get to experience the ‘sunrise that could cleanse the soul‘ that I experience almost daily. These same people look at me with disgust when I tell them what time I rose and embraced the day, explaining that I’m running in the middle of the night. Maybe their night not mine. On a good day I get to experience the sunset over the ocean if I can get to the bike path in time. On many times I’ve ran with the sunrise in the morning and finished the day racing the sunset. How good is that ? I’ll tell you , bloody good.
As well as experiencing the sunrise you normally get to run through your local park alone or experience the city waking with very little traffic, well I do in Perth, it’s probably different in major cities but it’ll be quieter anyhow. Th early morning really is a magical time experienced by the few and that’s the way we like it. Living in Perth we are blessed with such a runner friendly climate. Nine months of the year it’s just about prefect all day and for the three summer months, where the temperature can get brutal, you take solace in the early morning when the temperature is kinder. I then bring out the bike and cycle to and from work after my morning run as this is great cardio (I’m an old fashioned cyclist who actually pedals. With the number of motorised or electric bikes on the bike paths actually meeting ‘normal’ cyclists is rare. When did it become the norm to ‘cycle’ to work on an electric bike without actually doing anything ? The world has gone crazy people with the same people then ‘clip-clopping’ into the local cafe and sipping their frothy light frappacinos’s cacooned in lycra. ) I have been known to say the odd derogatory remark about cycling but as a means of commuting in the Summer heat there really is nothing better. As for the lycra and coffee addiction, I can put up with it. Actually any excuse to drink good coffee should be embraced anyway. The lycra and headscarf, testing but after a while you get use to it and before long you’re ‘clip-clopping’ into cafes with your cycling gear fitting right in. (Although I’ve never drank a soya, light, frothy frappaccino , yet ?)
So what was the point of this post. I do seem to have ‘dribbled ‘on for longer than normal. The point is get up early and go and enjoy the sunrise and then run late and experience the sunset. They are both worth the effort and who knows if you running around King’s Park in Perth one morning you may end up in a ‘Paul Harrison classic’. (see below)
I attached a great photo of the sunrise in Perth take by one of my favourite photographers Paul Harrison, a very talented man.
I was sent this article by my friend Mike and it really does hit home. Will I take time off because of it, probably not but what I consider ‘down time’ is just running a lot less. My recovery still involves running albeit a lot less and I’ll be on this reduced training for at least a month. Is it better to have a complete break as advocated by this article by Greg McMillan in 2016 on his website.? ( https://run.mcmillanrunning.com/ )
Looking at my training log for the last 8 years I have has no real down time as such. Maybe a week off after the Rottnest Marathon as I vacation with the family counts ? Not as long as recommend by Greg in his article. I do have a ‘reduced workload’ period for 2-3 months over the summer months in Perth where most of the major races dry up due to the heat. Maybe this has been enough to keep me focused while still maintain the intensity and running goal times in the ‘running season’. Truth be told it isn’t reduced that much though when it gets really hot I jump on the bike and commute to work and reduce my running to once a day.
Maybe I’m actually following Greg’s advice without actually realising it ? Like all things running it is not a ‘one shoe fits all’ sport. What works for one person will not have the same affect with another. What Greg preaches is common sense and well worth considering and I will take it onboard. (maybe this will justify a trip to the local deli and another muffin ?) Spending more time with my family, that always put a strain on the marriage ? I’ll consult with my Wife before I embark down this road. I’m not so sure the family will appreciate more BK time…
THE LOST ART OF RECOVERING BETWEEN TRAINING CYCLES
I see a bad habit forming in many runners: the lack of a recovery cycle after their big races or racing seasons. Today, far too many are simply finishing one race (often a marathon) and immediately starting to train for the next one. You can get away with this a few times, but usually runners get burned out and leave the sport for new activities after doing this too often. The grind of always “training” weighs you down. Runners may also reach a performance plateau after a few races and fall well short of their true running potential, simply because they don’t allow a proper recovery phase.
In fairness, I understand this drive to move from one race to the next. I love running, too, and there is nothing better than being fully engaged in training for a big race. But never taking a break ignores one of the most important principles that we learned from great coaches and athletes over the last century: Top runners require a regular, full recovery cycle.
Great athletes build annual breaks into their training year. Not a reduced week or two of training every now and then, but weeks of complete rest. They don’t only rest, but they gain weight, too. Some add 5 to 15 pounds to their normally light frames while they enjoy time with their families, take vacations and generally do things they normally can’t because of their training.
If you follow many of today’s great runners, you’ll see that they, too, take the time to get away from the sport. Nick Symmonds goes fishing after the track season. Bernard Lagat talks about getting “fat” during his downtime, and the Hansons require their marathoners to take two weeks completely off after a marathon.
How can they do this? How can great athletes allow themselves to get out of shape? How can they tolerate the downtime without worrying about the competition?
While we worry about losing our fitness level, or that the competition is training and we’re not, these athletes know that planned annual breaks rejuvenate the body and mind in ways that outweigh losses in fitness. The worriers who plow through often take similar breaks, but rather than planned vacations, they are mandated by injuries, overtraining and burnout. Planned breaks take the pressure off — you don’t feel that your training is never-ending, jumping from one goal to the next. Science is discovering that the chemistry of the brain, the hormonal system and the immune system are compromised during hard training. Breaks rejuvenate these systems, allowing us to train better, more consistently and with more zeal across the next training plan.
Will you lose fitness? Yes. How much is hard to calculate and will depend on how long a break you take. But it’s not about how out of shape you get, but about how recovered you are and how ready to attack the next training cycle.
Remember that the recovery phase isn’t just the downtime, but also the time needed to rebuild mileage and pace. Many runners fail even when they do take time off, because upon their return, they jump right back into full training — again feeling the need to “get in shape.” You’ll need to plan on three to five weeks of rebuilding to your full training load. I usually start at 50 percent of full mileage, then increase 10 to 20 percent each week (with a recovery week of lower mileage every two to four weeks) until I’m back to 100 percent. Use common sense and build back slowly.
In the end, what’s the rush? A few weeks of downtime never ruined anyone’s running career — quite the opposite.
COACH’S NOTES
I took nearly a month off after my last marathon. I gained a few pounds. I enjoyed some new hobbies and time with family. But most of all, I rediscovered the desire, motivation and passion that drive me as a runner, and I couldn’t wait to challenge myself to do better. The next training cycle went even better than expected because I carried all the fitness from the previous cycle, plus my recharged motivation. I was able to run 2 minutes faster in the 15K than I had the year before. I’m convinced the recovery phase played a large role in this breakthrough.
