Mindfulness boosts elite athlete performance
In the first systematic review and meta-analysis of mindfulness that focussed on elite athletes and RCTs only, researchers found largely positive results. They concluded that consistent mindfulness practice could improve both mental health and competitive performance.
Mindfulness practices reduced stress and anxiety, while lifting “psychological well being.” There were also “large significant results” for reduced depression in studies that followed accepted mindfulness guidelines.
An important point: “Mindfulness is essentially a skill that is first learned, then regularly practiced, so the benefits accrue accordingly over time.” In other words, the more and longer that you follow a mindfulness routine, the greater the potential payoffs. More at Brit J of Sports Medicine.
You can taper big, you can taper modest. But you still gotta beat the taper “yips”
I’m a fan of a conventional taper for a marathon or other ultra event. For most runners, It takes 2 to 3 weeks of easy, reduced training to prepare yourself mentally and physically for the big challenge on Day X.
Of course, not everyone tapers this way. In fact, elite athletes sometimes do mind-bending workouts in the last 7 to 10 days before their major competitions, as chronicled here in an article that may leave you shaking your head in disbelief.
I think Des Linden has it right when she advises that the taper makes an excellent “dress rehearsal for many of the challenges presented in the first 18 miles” of a marathon. A taper should include “not hammering on fresh legs.” I also like an additional thought. The taper period is a good time for “Thinking through, but not overthinking, big decisions.” More at Twitter.com/des_linden.
Of course, just about everyone still has to deal with the taper “yips,” “crazies,” “nerves” or whatever you want to call them. Suddenly you’re doing much less running, and have too much time to think about phantom leg pains, which gel to carry, what socks to wear, and way too much more.
Happens to just about everyone. In fact, if it doesn’t strike you, you should start worrying about the “why not me yips?” The harder you’ve trained, the more frazzled you seem to become. So walk the dogs a little longer than usual. Watch comedy shows on TV. Finish a good thriller book. And rest assured that you’re completely normal, and ready for a great race. More at Reddit.
The low-down on carb+protein drinks, and electrolyte drinks
First there was water, then Gatorade, then Powerade, and let’s not forget Frank Shorter’s 1972 Olympic Marathon win with defizzed Coke. Now it’s impossible
to keep track of all the sports drinks. There might be hundreds--I certainly don’t know.
There are also drinks targeting your before, during, and after exercise needs, as well as the full range of human biological variability, taste preferences, and weather conditions. We all know there are big differences between hot days and cool, and salty sweaters and not-so-salty.
So what are you gonna drink? A new study dug into the all-carbs vs carbs + protein question. The subjects all ran to exhaustion on a laboratory treadmill while consuming the two different types of drinks. The test was double-blinded, and crossed over (each subject running once with each drink). Conclusion?
The researchers found no difference in runner performance between the two drinks. However, “the carbohydrate plus protein drink reduced markers of muscle damage vs only-carbs. More at J of the Int Society of Sports Nutrition.
Another article delves into the question of no-sugar, high electrolyte drinks. I’ve never understood why an endurance performer would want to consume a non-energy drink, but maybe that’s just me. Here several nutritionists explain when you might want a zero-sugar sports drink with high electrolytes. More at Outside Online.
Turn your clock back without missing a beat
We might be close to the end of the road with Daylight Savings Time, as the Senate has passed legislation that could end DST as soon as next year. Still, on Sunday morning, New York City Marathon runners will have an extra hour of overnight time to get themselves ready for the long haul.
They might need it. Many will rise as early as 3 a.m. for breakfast before catching a bus or ferry to the start line on Staten Island. (I heard a sports nutritionist this week advise “4 breakfasts” for runners who won’t actually be starting the marathon until nearly noon.)
The rest of us will be thinking more about Monday morning/afternoon, and especially how we will adjust our training regimens to the changed daylight and colder weather. The NYT has lots of advice here, including how your body hormones affect your daily rhythms, how to warm up indoors before heading out, and how to adjust your diet. More at NY Times.
Are “cutback weeks” essential?
Just about everyone recommends a hard day/easy day approach to your weekly training, or hard/easy/easy. Just about everyone recommends a several week rest/recovery period at the end of your season, whether it culminates in a 1-mile race or a marathon race.
And most extended training programs, especially the hundreds of marathon-training programs all over the Internet, suggest that you should have “down” or “cutback” weeks even as you are building mileage overall. But where’s the evidence, and how often should you take these weeks, and what should be the percent cutback?
This question was seriously discussed recently at Reddit/Advanced Running. A few posters noted the accumulated wisdom of coaches like Arthur Lydiard, Bill Bowerman, Jack Daniels, and Pete Pfitzinger. I also liked the comment that included this: “Training is sort of fractal-like… a sine wave of stress and recovery that causes beneficial adaptations. ” More on down or cutback weeks at Reddit.
4 simple steps to better running form
Here’s a short summary from a video interview with running-physical therapist expert, Tom Goom. 1--Avoid excessive forward body lean. 2--Don’t let your knees brush against each other from too-much collapsing inward. 3--Don’t overstride and land with a straight leg in front of your knee. 4--Keep your vertical oscillation (“bounce”) at a minimum. More at Matthew Boyd Physio.
A cautionary tale: antibiotics and the brain
This isn’t the place for a retelling of my serious illness a decade ago following a prescription for two antibiotics after I fell hard (and bloody) on a trail run. I certainly remembered that time when reading the below article. It asks: “Do antibiotics, which wipe out large swaths of your gut flora, have a direct effect on athletic performance?”
The studies described offer some evidence that antibiotics could lower motivation via a brain pathway. That seemed to be the case in my illness, which took 3 months to resolve, and included serious depressive symptoms. Since then, I’ve had to take antibiotics for other conditions, and haven’t suffered any setbacks. But I’m very careful during those times, and eat lots of fermented foods and probiotics. Antibiotics play an important role in medicine, but you should treat them with considerable respect. More at Outside Online.
How to set a world record at 50K (31 miles)
CJ Albertson has become almost everyone’s favorite American male distance runner in recent years. There are several reasons why. He’s not as skinny as the super-elites. He does insanely hard long runs, sometimes on the treadmill. And he loves fast downhill-running, which has made him the race leader for many miles in the last two Boston Marathons, where he finished in 2:10:23 last April.
On Oct 9 in San Francisco, Albertson broke the world record in the 50K with a clocking of 2:38:54--that’s a pace of just under 5:07 per mile. He cruised the first 4.5 miles at what he termed a “comfortable” 4:51 pace, then settled down the rest of the way.
How? He told I Run Far that he doesn’t think he’s a pain monster. Rather, “I put myself in the position and mind frame where it’s fun.” More at Canadian Running.
A surprising new result for antioxidants & training
A number of studies have shown that antioxidant vitamins, like Vit C and Vit E, may interfere with the desired effects of training, which involves a certain amount of tissue breakdown followed by tissue adaptation and strengthening. A new paper based on a randomized, controlled trial reinforces this result. However, it also adds a potentially important wrinkle.
True, when subjects did 10 weeks of strength training while taking either a Vit C-Vit E supplement or a placebo, the supplement seemed to “blunt upper body strength and hypertrophy adaptations.” But it also decreased “gains in visceral adipose tissue” resulting from the high-calorie diet subjects followed. So the supplement did one bad thing--depressing enhanced tissue activation from training. And one good thing--protecting subjects from more visceral fat, which is known to be harmful. More at Nutrition.
Breath-holding doesn’t improve max oxygen uptake
Okay, I admit it: There were a few times early in my running career when I tried holding-my-breath while running. It seemed such a logical training extension. I got plenty out of breath while churning out fast intervals, so I reasoned that holding-the-breath while running might do even more of the same, but with less hard pounding.
Others including Emil Zatopek have tried the similar experiments. No one lasts very long. It’s just too unpleasant. And it turns out that we were probably smart to discard the effort. A new systematic review and meta analysis has found no link between “Apnoa training” [breath holding] and improvements in vo2 max.”
The report did indicate that apnoa training could increase the “maximal blood lactate, but that was pretty much the end of the story. More at Frontiers in Physiology.
SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss
>>> Low carb diet fails cross-over test against high carbs among recreational runners.
>>> How to adjust your training after injury or time off
>>> Yes, in women-only studies, caffeine still boosts endurance.
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
“Winning doesn’t always mean getting first place; it means getting the best out of yourself.”
--Meb Keflezighi
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby