May 2X
Train Less And Run Faster (Yes, It IS Possible)
I first met Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss almost 20 years ago. I had heard about their Furman Institute of Runnning & Scientific Training (FIRST), which claimed that you could “Run Less, Run Faster.”
Of course, I was skeptical. That’s my nature. So I traveled to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, to check them out. We did several workouts together during my visit.
I learned they were serious, reasonable runners (with advanced academic credentials). Also, the workouts were hard! No wonder their runners often improved by running less. Because they were running faster in training.
I wrote then that the Furman program was “the most detailed, well-organized, and scientific training programs for runners that I have ever seen.” When Pierce and Murr wrote a book about the FIRST approach, it became a big seller that is now in its third (and updated) edition.
Here’s a new article about a 45-year-old Canadian woman who’s also getting faster by running less. And she’s been running for 20 years--a point where it becomes increasingly difficult to improve.
Kate Guy often does just three runs a week: speed work, hill repeats, and long runs with tempo segments sandwiched in.
These Less/Faster approaches aren’t short-cuts. It’s more difficult to run faster than it is to run longer. You’ve got to focus, and work hard.
Here’s another thought: There’s no reason why someone can’t combine several different programs while building up towards a next big race. You could do 6 weeks of Galloway run-walk, followed by 6 weeks of FIRST training. Just be a bit cautious in transitioning from one program to the next.
There are many ways to improve your running. Often, you have to get out of your rut (the same basic training that you’ve followed for years), and try something new. More at Canadian Running.
How To Be Younger Than Your Birthdays
Exercise and aging researchers have more and more tools at their fingertips every year. Of course they are eager to utilize these tools in various ways. Here are two recent examples.
Some groups have devised blood-based “aging clocks” that distinguish between one’s chronological age and one’s biological age. You’d hope for your biological age to be younger than your chrono age, indicating that you’re in great shape and tiptop health for the coming years.
These aging clocks can be analyzed in many different ways. Of interest: How does exercise affect your biological age clock?
Here, researchers presented two biological clocks. In both, “age acceleration was significantly lower” in athletes vs non-athletic populations. Translation: The athletes had a lower biological age than non athletes with the same chrono age. They were younger than their years
Also, higher body mass index and higher body fat percentage were linked to higher biological age, while higher muscle mass tilted the scales the other way. That is, more muscle “had a beneficial effect on aging.”
Conclusion: “High-volume sports activity may slow down the aging process.” More at Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise with free full text.
You can’t read many exercise papers before you bump into mitochondria, often called “the powerhouse of the cell.” That’s because mitochondria produce the chemical energy that keeps us going.
Mitochondrial power and efficiency decrease with age. There’s no way to avoid this inevitable change … at least, not so far. But exercise appears to slow this mitochondrial decline, according to a new report.
Conclusion: While age-associated declines in mitochondrial characteristics have been reported in some studies, these-associated declines in mitochondrial characteristics “are typically smaller in older adults who are habitually more physically active.” Your mitochondria are basically your life-force; take good care of them. More at Molecular Aspects of Medicine.
10 Ways To Conquer Pre-Race Nerves
All athletes feel pressure before an event. Sure, there’s more if you’re playing in the finals at Wimbledon, or aiming for a gold medal in the Olympic Marathon.
But dealing with internal and external pressures is a reality in a first 5K race, a marathon where you’re aiming to break 4 hours, or any other competition.
When you face a jumble of nerves and anxiety, you wonder how famous champions achieve that often-described “flow state,” filled with calm, focus, and an almost effortless execution of complex, demanding tasks.
Here, performance physiologist Dr. Greg Wells offers 10 tips to “thrive under pressure.” You don’t need to adopt all 10. Pick one or several that will work best for you.
I like “Adopt a ritual.” It fits with my personality. I like having a specific, well-practiced plan, and knowing when to follow it. More at Dr Greg Wells.
Lessons We Can Learn From 6-Day Runners
The recent Lululemon FURTHER event (a 6-day, female-only race in California) was such an over-the-top happening that we’ll probably be thinking about it and talking about it for a long time. The runners themselves are still mulling over what they learned on their multiple loops of the 2.6-mile loop. That’s what this article is about.
(Eventually top sports scientists will be sharing what they found. I can’t wait. And thank you, Lululemon ,for making endurance research an important part of the event.)
Few of us are eager to run one of these monsters ourselves. And why would we be when winner Camille Herron says she suffered from urinary tract infections, organ shutdown, and “things I can’t talk about”?
Still, we want to know if ultra-running opens a window to lessons we can apply to our own training and racing. That’s what this article is about.
The biggest lesson: Break your long runs into smaller chunks. Try a run-walk routine. Or run loops around your home, stopping briefly for a cold green tea. You could then clean your mouth with a mini-toothbrush, as Courtney Dauwalter does.
Also, many listen to music or podcasts on the run these days. I’m also hearing more stories about runners who sing as they run. I don’t know if this began with Taylor Swift’s apparent 3-hour concert rehearsals on a treadmill, but it brings a smile to my face. I would sing, too, except that would produce effects similar to a nuclear holocaust.
In the Lululemon race, Mirna Valerio sang all the time. “I went through the entirety of Act III of La Boheme,” she said. Fortunately, Valerio has the operative training that I lack.
Herron and second-place finisher Leah Yingling both used a “reset” strategy to start up again after a long, fatiguing run section. Herron ate tacos; Yingling had someone braid her hair. Hey, it’s your game, you get to make the rules. Pick a reset that you know will refresh you.
Herron also had to change her expectations after about 4 days. She had been hoping to break the male record for 6 days, but concluded that the conditions and her body’s perturbations wouldn’t let her. “I could either pivot or quit,” she realized. “And I never thought about quitting.”
That’s just smart running. We’re often encounter running situations that require a pivot. And making that pivot adjustment is almost always better than quitting.
This is a fascinating article even if you don’t understand the point of running for 6 days. It takes us inside the minds of those who do it. More at Run Outside.
Kickstart Your Friends To A Successful Beginning Running Program
Getting someone (family, friend, co-worker) to begin running is a bit like getting someone to begin losing weight. The early days and early successes are relatively easy.
Then things get real. Life gets in the way. And continuation-maintenance of an obviously healthy program becomes much more difficult.
In this report, researchers followed and intensively interviewed new runners “through their first 6-12 months of running.” The goal: to find the biggest obstacles these new runners faced as they struggled to continue running.
Result: The runners who succeeded were those who identified a meaningful Why for running--a “meaningful reason to run that related to their identity, values, special memories, relationships, enjoyment of running, or a personal goal.” This Why was particularly important when life got complicated.
In the best case scenario, a strong Why was sufficient to help people “learn they could run and experience progress.”
Nonetheless, the Why was not universally successful. Some runners discovered their Why, and still stopped running. The reasons? “Social inequalities like gendered experiences, wealth, and health differences created more barriers for some runners.”
Conclusion: The authors offered these 4 ways to help people maintain a running program: 1) support people in identifying their meaningful reason for exercise; (2) reflect how people’s wider life circumstances and sociocultural factors influence their involvement in exercise; (3) support with building confidence and independence; and (4) help people prioritize exercise by planning for life getting in the way and by cultivating pleasurable experiences.” More at Psychology of Sport & Exercise with free full text.
Shorter Strides Reduce Total Force (And Maybe Injuries)
A convincing amount of data indicates running with a higher cadence/step frequency will reduce your ground impact with every footfall. However, that doesn’t answer an important related question.
How about the total, cumulative ground reaction forces for a given distance. After all, with a shorter stride, you will have to take more strides to cover any distance, and that will increase the number of “collisions” between your body and the ground.
No one knows if force/stride or total accumulated force is more important with regard to injury prevention. But it seems a good idea to know both.
This study set out to answer the total-accumulated-force question. It measured college distance runners who covered a 1000-meter distance with 2 different stride frequencies: 1) their normal stride; and 2) a 10% higher-than-normal frequency, which produced shorter strides. They ran at a reasonable 7 minutes/mile pace.
While the runners were running, the researchers were measuring their “insole force and sacral acceleration.”
Result: Both peak force and cumulative force for the 1000-meter distance decreased with higher stride frequency (shorter strides). Sacral acceleration was more variable.
Conclusion: Runners and clinicians “should consider step rate interventions to reduce peak and cumulative ground reaction force.” More at Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
Pelvic Floor Problems: How Women Can Reclaim Comfort And Control
The big and influential American College of Sports Medicine recently named 5 top scientific papers of 2023. These articles have been named the best of the best by those who know best. Each deals with a topic of importance to all exercise and fitness followers, and I’m going to summarize one of them in each of the next 6 weeks of RLRH.
The first is titled “Sports Medicine and the Pelvic Floor.” It appeared here in Current Sports Medicine Reports. It’s one of many newer papers pointing out the lack of sports science information for female athletes, due to the large number of studies that previously only included male subjects.
The paper notes that “symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction are prevalent among female athletes.” These issues present a “barrier to training and performance.” Thus it is critical that women athletes and their physicians become better educated about how to identify and manage pelvic floor dysfunction.
A few key points: Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is most prevalent at transitional times like pregnancy and menopause. Also, PFD is not always caused by weak pelvic musculature, though this is a widely-held opinion. It can also be caused by tight PF muscles that result in compromised function.
Vaginal dryness is also linked to PFD, and can lead to more urinary tract infections, pain, and poor pelvic floor problems. Vaginal dryness can be treated with localized, topical estrogen, or organic vaginal moisturizers.
Women suffering from PFD face reduced performance, and possible retirement from sports that enhance their health and overall wellbeing.
The paper’s authors, both women researchers, advocate for the 6 Rs: ready, review, restore, recondition, return, and refine. Like other muscle groups, the pelvic floor muscles can be conditioned by focused strength and conditioning exercises. These “should be undertaken as part of all female athlete training programs.”
Our Soldiers Should Be Wearing “Super Boots” (Like Super Shoes)
When you look at the big picture, it’s nice that a few elite marathon runners get to wear $500 sneakers. The shoes help them reach the finish line several minutes faster than in older, more traditional (and less expensive) racing flats. But is that the ultimate use for AFT (Advanced Footwear Technology)?
Maybe not. There are, after all, global events more important than marathons in Boston, London, Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town, and hundreds of other major cities. There are wars.
Napoleon supposedly said "an army marches on its stomach.” He would have been more accurate to say an army marches on its boots. And if those boots included AFT, the army would be more efficient.
That’s the conclusion of a recent paper that looked into theoretical benefits of military boots constructed more like marathon super shoes. The researchers included U.S. Army experts and personnel from the New Balance Sports Research Lab.
Result: AFT boots could improve soldier running times over a 2-mile distance by about 8 to 15%. This would also lower the “heat strain” experienced by soldiers--often a significant issue in hot war-time environments.
Conclusion: “These findings highlight the impact that innovative military super boots would have on physical performance and heat strain in soldiers, which could potentially maximize the likelihood of mission success in real-world scenarios.” More at BMJ Military Health with free full text.
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
GREAT QUOTES Make Great Training Partners
“Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.”
– Lynn Jennings, 9 time winner of the USA National Cross Country Championships
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby
April 25 X
You Can Run, AND You Can Hide (From Chronic Disease)
Here’s a great and important new exercise paper that produced some numbers and ratios we’ve never seen before. It aimed to establish the relative effectiveness of different activities to reduce your risk of “cardiometabolic disease”--heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. The large group of researchers included many global authorities.
In particular, it looked at walking, running, stair climbing, standing, and sitting times. How much is required to reduce disease risks? Or, in the case of sitting, at what point does too much sitting increase risks?
To accomplish this impressive dose-response goal, the researchers used thigh-based accelerometers on more than 12,000 subjects. Subjects wore the accelerometers for 7 days. They came from the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Placement on the thigh is important, because thigh accelerometers can suss out sitting time wh ileaccelerometers can’t.
Here are some of the “numbers” that emerged from the study. Walking 64 minutes/day produced “more favorable composite cardiometabolic health.” You could get the same health improvement from just 5 minutes of stair climbing.
However, the researchers judged walking 64 minutes a more comfortable way to achieve benefits, as 5 minutes of stair climbing would amount to 350 steps upward. That’s roughly one-fifth of the way to the top of the Empire State Building on its stairway.
Standing for 2.6 hours would also lower cardiometabolic risks. If we standardize the three activities noted thus far, setting stair climbing to “1,” then the ratio is 1 minute of stair climbing = 12 minutes of walking = 30 minutes of standing. Or, the other way around, standing:walking:stair climbing = 30:12:1. It takes 30 minutes of standing to equal 1 minute of stair climbing.
Now, you’ve probably been wondering where running fits into these equations. Me, too. And here’s the remarkable answer: “Any amount of running” reduces cardiometabolic risk.
That’s worth repeating: “Any amount of running.” You can hardly beat that for a powerful effect.
Your daily sitting time didn’t fare as badly in this paper as in others. Moreover, it was eliminated in those who exercised moderately. Otherwise, sitting more than 12.1 hours a day was linked to an increase in cardiometabolic health issues.
Overall, this paper shows that you can run, AND you can hide … from the worst chronic health problems. Of course, this isn’t true for everyone. We’re all different.
But it is true on the overall population level. If we could get more people running and exercising vigorously, we could lower the levels of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the like. More at Diabetologia with free full text.
Beware: You’ve Got “ANTS” In Your Head
Here’s a new one. I have to admit I had never heard of ANTS in a running and exercise context--at least not before reading this article. I thought ants were those innocent but bothersome little creepies who seem to know instantly when I’ve left a smidgeon of peanut butter on the kitchen counter.
But, no. These ANTS are Automatic Negative Thoughts. And I agree they are all around us much like my kitchen counter friends. Only they’re more harmful. They bring limits to our performances when we should seek wide-open horizons.
The smartest thing I’ve ever heard an elite athlete say came from Ryan Hall, and he said it very early in his running career. “When I start a race, I don’t know if I’m going to win or lose,” he told me in an interview. “I don’t know if I’ll run fast. But I’m open to the possibility.”
The author of this piece lists 10 common ANTS. I recognize them all, and you will, too. I particularly dislike “All or Nothing Thinking” and “Personalization.” It’s way too easy to think that we personally contributed to some bad outcome when the reality is that larger and more random forces are the main cause. Get rid of those negative thoughts!
How? You’ll find some good strategies at Run Outside. Positive thinking used to be mumbo-jumbo. Now it’s becoming science.
Careful What You Eat For 3 Days Pre-Race
Here’s the first and most important thing I learned from this study. “Whole gastrointestinal transit can take up to 73 hours.” That means that the foods you consume 3 days pre race can affect your race day. That includes possible stomach issues. Repeat: 3 days.
This wasn’t, however, the objective behind a new report on links between diet and stomach issues of 44 runners in a 56K ultramarathon trail race. The researchers were most intent on testing the theory that FODMAP foods (clearly defined here) can cause stomach problems.
To that end, they measured subjects’ FODMAP consumption for 3 days pre-race and during the race. They also interviewed the runners immediately after the event to assess their stomach issues. A whopping 84% reported one or several unpleasant sensations. These included: bloating, vomiting, flatulence, diarrhea … need we go on?
These stomach/GI problems were not, however, linked to FODMAP consumption, which was quite low among the runners. So they might have been limiting their FODMAPS based on prior experiences and/or instructional materials they had read.
The runners with the worst problems consumed more fat, and more sorbitol or mannitol during the race. These are “sugar alcohols commonly found in some fruits (apples, pears, avocado, watermelon), vegetables (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower) and artificially sweetened products like chewing gum.”
The runners with stomach issues also took in more caffeine in the 3 prior days or during the event. The investigators termed this a “novel finding.”
Conclusion: “Findings from this study do not support the general application of a low-FODMAP diet to runners for prevention of gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly in healthy runners (e.g., free from IBS and preexisting gastrointestinal conditions), or when FODMAP intake is <39 g/day. Low FODMAP diets are restrictive and may have detrimental effects on nutrient intake, the microbiome composition and production of beneficial byproducts of bacterial fermentation (e.g., short-chain fatty
More at Nutrition & Dietetics. The research was funded by a nonprofit organization named “Ultra-Endurance Sports Science & Medicine.”
Breathe Strong To Run Strong
The effect of respiratory muscle on running performance is beginning to gain more attention. Previously, it has been largely overlooked, with research focused more on heart muscle and leg muscle.
The basic question: How forcefully can you inhale and exhale, and does it make a difference? This paper looked for an answer among 233 runners from the 2023 Beijing Olympic Forest Park Half Marathon.
The researchers assessed various simple characteristics of the runners--age, gender, height, weight--and also gave them a test to examine their inspiratory and expiratory lung function. Then they analyzed their data to find associations with half-marathon performance.
Gender, height, and weight made a difference. Surprisingly, age didn’t. But the subject sample might have included only runners with a small range of ages--mostly in their mid 40s. The results also showed that inspiratory and, especially, expiratory force predicted race outcomes.
Conclusion: “Respiratory muscle training is considered an effective strategy for improving marathon performance, as it strengthens respiratory muscle strength, improves lung function, and enhances the respiratory threshold, thereby improving athletes’ respiratory stability and endurance.” More at Frontiers in Physiology with free full text.
14 Ways To Prevent Calf Pains On The Run
Occasional calf pain is a near universal issue for runners. And it makes sense. Those skinny little muscles down south of your knee don’t have nearly the size and strength of those above the knee. So they’re going to be sensitive to the stress and strain of running.
What’s to be done? First and foremost, listen carefully when your calf muscles are tender/sore, and consider rest or cross training as necessary. There are also other precautions you can take--everything from better hydration to foam rolling to a change of stride.
This article doesn’t mention the latter, but transitioning your stride to more of a rearfoot landing will likely decrease calf strains.
Otherwise, there are 14 solid ideas here, all presented in an easy to follow box. More at Marathon Handbook.
7 Habits Of Highly Successful Health
Physiologist Brady Holmer, author of the “Physiologically Speaking” newsletter at Substack, usually bases everything he writes on snippets here and consensus there of what evidence tells us about a particular topic. That’s what we want--evidence. Here he departs a bit … but just a bit.
He gives us his personal list of “7 Rules For Optimal Health.” You can’t objectively construct such Rules from a search of the scientific literature, because there are tens of thousands of papers that waltz around key aspects of health, and they all present tiny snippets of data. As a result, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
There is one widely-shared list called the “Alameda 7,” named after the California county where the original research was conducted decades ago by Lester Breslow.This list includes: never smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, 7-8 hours of sleep/night, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, avoiding excessive snacking, and eating breakfast. Pretty good guidelines.
Holmer’s list is more personal, idiosyncratic, interesting … and based snippets of research. Here are his first 4 Rules. You’ll have to subscribe to his newsletter (there’s a 7-day free trial offer) to get the final 3, which are somewhat unexpected.
1--Get 7,500 steps daily beyond exercise steps; 2) Maintain a consistent bedtime-wake time schedule; 3) Do some strength training every day; 4) Eat breakfast … most days. More at Physiologically Speaking.
Ladies: Start Your Leg-Strengthening Engines
Why Female Runners Need Leg Strength Training
Women runners generally report more knee injuries than males. This could be due to a greater hip-knee angle, weaker quad muscles, or other factors. However, a study of 32 female runners with “chronic patellofemoral pain” points to a relatively easy improvement strategy.
The research protocol asked the women to follow an at-home “8-week, high frequency strengthening program.” What does high frequency mean, you might wonder. Three times a week? Four?
No. Think higher. The subjects did their strength training twice a day, every day. Fourteen times. They didn’t use heavy weights, but rather 50% of their 1-rep maximum.
Result: “There was large and statistically significant improvement at 8 and 12 weeks for average knee pain.”
Conclusion: “An 8-week high frequency strength training program appears to be beneficial in improving pain, function, and mechanical and thermal pain sensitivity measures in female runners with chronic PFP.” More good news: “There were no adverse events reported” by the women who followed this program. More at Physical Therapy in Sport.
In fact, strength-training of the legs is so effective that you should incorporate it into your lifetime running plan. A recent PhD thesis from a kinesiology and rehabilitation student at Old Dominion University studied “female recreational runners.” The results showed that “lower extremity muscle strength may play a role in maintaining running speed into middle- and older age.”
Remember: You don’t have to aim for world-record lifts. It’s just as effective, and smarter, to use modest weights, and perform more repetitions.
Deep Sea Water Benefits? Some. But Not Enough
Here’s a strange subject that has come up, loosely, a few times in the past. I admit it: I like to explore the unexpected, as long as there are some hints of possible success.
In this case, the subject is drinking salty water, perhaps straight from the ocean, to improve endurance performance. Namely: Can salty water, perhaps from the ocean, somehow improve endurance performance? Here’s one study that found a rehydrations benefit from ocean water.
A new paper looked into the potential performance benefit of “deep seawater supplementation” (DSW)” during endurance performance. It involved 19 subjects who completed a triathlon while consuming either: deep seawater, an isotonic placebo, or tap water. An isotonic drink is one containing the same amount of sodium as sweat.
The subjects completed a “vertical jump test” and an “isometric muscle strength test” before and after their triathlons. Result: There were no differences in the jump test, but the subjects who drank the seawater performed significantly better on the isometric strength test. That is, the DSW seemed to delay failure of muscle function in isometric contractions.
However, this did not affect triathlon performance. There were no performance differences between the three drink conditions.
Conclusion: The deep seawater didn’t have any negative effects on muscle function. But it also did “not improve performance in sports.” More at J of Clinical Medicine with free full text
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
>>> Blazing fast shoes: Check out the new laceless shoes worn by Boston Marathon winner, Hellen Obiri
GREAT QUOTES Make Great Training Partners
“The body does not want you to do this. It tells you to stop, but the mind must be strong. You must handle the pain with strateg. It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”
--Jacqueline Gareau, former Boston Marathon winner