June 22, 2023 xx
Twice as nice: This “Tempo Plus” workout gives you double the benefit
Mario Fraoli is one of those running coaches who can be depended upon for suggesting absolutely solid, productive workouts with no fluff or hype in the mix. He also practices what he preaches: This year, he ran his first Boston Marathon since turning 40, and recorded a strong 2:34:14.
Here he describes a workout he calls “Tempo Plus.” It’s an apt name, as the session includes some miles at tempo pace, followed by several 800 meter repeats. The repeats serve several purposes. One, as Fraoli notes: They’ll keep you “honest and prevent you from getting carried away during the tempo.” That’s always an important aspect of tempo running--staying in control. Of course, the 800s also get you moving significantly faster than your tempo miles. There’s the “Plus.”
Fraoli suggests a tempo distance of 3-6 miles, followed by 4 x 800. I’ll simply note that you could do less, and still get a nice boost from this workout. For example, you could do just 2 miles at tempo pace, followed by 2 x 800, and feel the payoff in your next race.
If you see a good workout that’s a bit too advanced for your fitness, don’t discard it. Figure out how you can adapt it. More at The Morning Shakeout.
Or you could also “double” like a Norwegian
For world class runners, the hottest new training system by far is Norwegian Training. It’s also called “Double Threshold” training, as one or two days per week are set aside for tempo (threshold) training. On those days, the athletes do not one but two threshold workouts.
These aren’t the “strong but steady and controlled” runs of 20 to 60 minutes that most Americans have been doing the last 30 years. Instead, the Norwegians prefer very long interval sessions on the track with short recovery jogs.
A morning workout might be 5 x 2000 meters, and the afternoon session, 10 x 1000 meters. Why do intervals on the track? Well, the Norwegians are giving themselves regular finger-prick lactate tests to make sure they don’t push too hard, and the track is the most convenient place to do this. Also, the recovery jogs inherent to interval training help you keep the workout stress from elevating too high.
Few if any Americans have adopted the lactate testing, but the track is still a good place to stay controlled, and to be observed by a coach. The goal is always to run at a steady, controlled pace (not fast, as with High Intensity Intervals).
At the below link, Jonathan Gault of LetsRun summarizes (at great length) both the history of Double Threshold training, and its rapidly-expanding acceptance by top American coaches and athletes. This includes those at Northern Arizona University and in Michigan.
Gault gives ample credit to Marius Bakken, often cited as the first serious Double Threshold guy, but also allows Seb Coe to claim that his father-coach, Peter Coe, was doing much the same in the late 1970s and early 1980s. (Bakken’s own magnum opus, “The Norwegian Model,” is here.)
Gault notes that training-breakthrough systems come and go, and there’s no way to tell if Double Threshold training will have staying power. Nonetheless, several American coaches say they are certain they’ll still be using Double Thresholds five years from now. More at Lets Run.
Can your running shorts make you faster?
Lets list the things that can help you run faster on race day. The right shoes, for certain. Caffeine, yup. Proper fueling and hydration, yes. Smart pacing, check. Keeping your skin cool, check. Mental and visualization techniques, check.
How about your running shorts? (Try not to laugh.) Since the beginning of time--or at least since the beginning of compression clothing for athletes--there has been speculation that compression might improve performance. Maybe it could enhance muscle function? Or boost blood flow?
These theories have been put forward and tested for decades now, mostly with full-length compression tights. And the results have rarely pointed to enhanced performance. But what about those popular compression shorts that cover only the upper thigh?
University of Memphis researchers recently investigated these shorts with one of the most impressive subject groups you’ll ever see. They tried the shorts on 19 different male 10K runners with personal bests under 31 minutes. The same runners were also tested in split shorts.
Result: The compression shorts “do not improve the metabolic costs of highly trained male distance runners.” A new but untested hypothesis: That the shorts, which somewhat limited internal hip rotation, “may benefit female runners with anterior knee pain.” More at ACSM abstracts.
A surprising way to beat injuries: Don’t worry, be happy
We seem to be living in the decade of the runner’s brain. So many aspects of running have been linked to your brain and/or mental/emotional state. Now there’s a new one: the brain-injury connection.
A research team from New York City Marathon sponsor, the Hospital for Special Surgery, conducted a “16 week observational study” to see what it could learn about injuries among runners training for last fall’s NYC Marathon. In the end, they gathered data from 894 runners. This group had an average age of 44, was slightly more than half female, and 76 percent had completed a previous marathon.
During the 4-month study period, 25 percent of the runners reported an injury, though only 4 percent decided it was serious enough to prevent them from running the marathon.
All subjects were asked about their age, sex, BMI, injury history, COVID history, race goal, grit, risk-taking behavior, and other factors that might reasonably have been associated with training injuries. Only they weren’t--at least not in this report.
In fact, only two traits were linked to injuries, and one to injury prevention. The two baddies: wearing orthotics, and “self assessed risk of running.” These two practically scream “major injury concern,” so they aren’t the least surprising.
The injury-prevention link was a total brain/emotional state: “happiness.” Runners who judged themselves happy during their marathon training were 29% less likely to suffer from an injury than those who weren’t as happy. More at Clinical J of Sports Medicine (click down to page 296, the right-hand column.)
Try this new method to boost muscle recovery & adaptation
We’ve all heard that there’s an optimal nutrient intake “window” in the 30 to 60 minutes after a hard endurance workout. If you consume some carbs and protein during this window, your body is “primed” to make good use of them.
It turns out there’s another “window” also--at least when it comes to protein for muscle recovery and rebuilding. And this one is just before you go to bed.
In this randomized, controlled trial, subjects performed endurance exercise in the evening, and later consumed a prepared drink 30 minutes before they went to bed. The drink was whey protein, casein protein, or a non-caloric placebo.
Researchers then measured the amount of overnight mitochondrial and myofibrillar protein synthesis in the blood and muscle tissues of the subjects. Result: Protein synthesis was significantly greater after the whey or casein drinks (vs placebo), with no difference between the whey and casein. Thus, “Pre-sleep protein ingestion facilitates the skeletal muscle adaptive response to exercise.”
Conclusion: “Our observations suggest that pre-sleep protein ingestion represents an effective strategy to support muscle tissue repair and facilitate the skeletal muscle adaptive response to endurance training.” This approach could represent “an important and often overlooked opportunity” as “endurance athletes typically do not consume much protein prior to sleep.” More at Sports Medicine with free full text. Infographic here at YLM Sports Science.
Pregnant moms-to-be: Exercise now to enhance your baby’s heart health
The field of “intergenerational health effects” studies how the parents’ behavior affects their children. This includes links between parents and their not-yet-born offspring. In this pilot study, researchers wanted to determine if the exercise habits of the moms could be detected in the heart health of their infants at the age of 1 month.
During the last 24 weeks of their pregnancy, moms were divided into a group that did 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise vs a comparison group that did no exercise but participated in 150 minutes a week of relaxation practices. The moms included both normal weight and overweight subjects.
A month after being born, subjects’ children received several heart-function tests. Those born to exercising moms showed “increased cardiac function.” It seemed their hearts grew stronger via their mom’s heart-healthy exercise habit. The improved function was relatively greater in children of overweight but exercising moms vs overweight, non exercising moms. More at Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
By the way, intergenerational effects are not limited to just the mother-child link. The father’s health can also influence the newly-born infant.
Can you be fat but fit? (Sure, but there’s a better way)
The fat but fit hypothesis has been around for a while now. Prior research has shown that overweight and obese individuals who exercise regularly are less likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc, than overweight people who don’t exercise.
But a question always remains: Can overweight exercisers become as healthy as non-overweight exercisers? Or would they be smart to knock off a few pounds?
A big study with the important British Biobank database has produced an answer. It analyzed data from 438,000 subjects, and supported the fat-but-fit argument that obese exercisers (with other good lifestyle habits) enjoyed lower health risks than obese-sedentary individuals.
However, they were also significantly more likely to develop chronic diseases than healthy weight individuals with good lifestyle habits, including exercise. Conclusion: While “a healthy lifestyle is associated with a reduced risk of several adverse health outcomes in adults with obesity, it does not entirely eradicate the risk of obesity-related diseases.”
So: Eat smart (and not too much), exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy weight. More at JAMA Network Open.
At the ACSM meeting, Canadian running and nutrition expert Trent Stellingwerff underlined this finding in a “10 Questions, 10 Experts” session. He offered a rarely-heard perspective on carbohydrates: “Most endurance athletes already eat enough carbohydrates, and eating any more carbohydrate will just make an athlete fat.” An accompanying cartoon showed a chubby runner next to a lean one. “My running’s so-so,” says the thick runner, “but I’m one of the nation’s top five carbo-loaders.” More at Twitter/Stuart Phillips.
Find your optimal training mileage to race stronger and faster
At one time or another, all runners ask themselves a key question: How much should I be running per week? And: Would I perform better if I ran more … or less?
This article explores the question through the eyes of elite marathoner Nell Rojas and ultramarathon coach-exercise physiologist Shawn Bearden. They give somewhat different answers, based on their different start points.
Rojas feels that elite runners should be careful not to do too much. While many are focused on hitting triple digits per week (100+ miles), she feels stronger at about 85 miles. That’s where she believes she can stay healthy, and staying healthy is crucial to her getting-fitter-and-faster goals.
Bearden, on the other hand, says, “Almost everyone is running less than they can benefit from.” That’s a numerical and lifestyle truth. Few have the time, space, and energy to run more than, say, 40 miles a week. And there’s pretty obviously room for improvement above 40 miles a week.
But that doesn’t mean you should be doing more. Because Bearden defines optimal mileage as “The distance that results in the greatest gains within the context of your life.” Which sounds healthy and smart, and allows for plenty of flexibility as your life context changes through the decades. More at Outside Online.
SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
“Your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.”
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby