Jan 25 xx
The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are approaching fast--on Saturday, February 3--so this week we’re looking at a few of the high-performance strategies the Trials runners will be using. Along with the usual assortment of training, nutrition, and injury prevention advice. Amby
The Best Tempo Run Ever
The tempo run is a central training component of almost all endurance runners. It teaches you--physically and mentally--to run “hard but controlled.” Those two words are the key to all successful endurance training and racing.
But many things can go awry when overeager coaches and athletes get their hands on the tempo run. In particular, many do tempos that are too long and/or too hard. The “terrible toos” lead to unsuccessful endurance training and racing.
Another tempo-run problem? Relying too much on a strict formula. You think you must do 20 continuous minutes. Or 40 minutes. Or whatever.
Endurance running coach Steve Magness has a better way. He calls it “the split as you feel” threshold run. I’m tempted to call it the “flexible tempo run” or even the “fartlek tempo run.”
Here’s how to do it. First, pick how many minutes of tempo running you want to complete on a particular day. Say, 25 minutes. Second, warm up, and then start your run. Third, evaluate how the run is going.
If you find that you’re working too hard (not “controlled”) or maybe feeling too muscle-sore, stop your tempo run after X minutes. Jog very slowly for several minutes to recover. Then start up again until X + your second effort = 25 minutes, your goal for the day.
Don’t get upset at yourself for the two-pronged effort. Instead, congratulate yourself for being smart about completing this workout just as it was meant to be--hard but controlled.
Magness notes: “This takes some pressure off the workout, makes it more manageable, teaches you how to listen to your body...while still getting the stimulus for the workout!” Some days you’ll run 20 minutes + 5 minutes, others 15 + 10. You might even end up with a 10 + 7 + 5 + 3. It’s all good. More at X/Steve Magness.
If Supplements Don’t Work, Why Is Everyone Taking Them?
There are going to be a lot of supplements consumed by a lot of marathon runners at the Olympic Marathon Trials. That’s not because there’s a mountain of evidence supporting supplement use.
It’s because all the Trials runners are looking for every fractional benefit they can find. And you don’t have to go farther than the corner drugstore to find row upon row of vitamins, minerals, and weird combinations of stuff making veiled claims. If you’ve ever heard of the Internet, the possibilities expand to … ???
Why take something of little known value? Because you’ve done it once or twice, or often, and thought you felt better, stronger, faster. And thinking you’ve taken something with magical powers is basically as good as taking something magical. (Though you’d be very stupid to take something that could be contaminated with a banned drug.)
It’s an absolute given that most Trials racers will take some form of caffeine, possibly pre-race and also during the race. Caffeine is the go-to endurance booster around the globe.
Some will no doubt take a shot or two of beet juice, or a nitrate pill. Various forms of baking soda are a new and popular choice. Creatine has been viewed more as a muscle building supplement, but, hey, it takes muscle to run a marathon.
It’s also a given that more runners will be consuming more sugars (carbohydrates) in more forms than ever before. After super shoes, high-carb intake is the most discussed strategy in endurance sports. A few might veer in the opposite direction to try a ketone ester drink to increase fat-burning.
But here’s the scary thing about all the above: These supplements make you “go.” You know what I mean.
So if we see an unusual number of runners veer off the road and disappear mid-Marathon Trials, you’ll know why.The total race registration numbers are small; the porta potty lines could be long.
Of course a runner could limit his/her risk of stomach distress by staying away from all the supplements. That would be safer. But it might not elevate you to an Olympian performance, which is why everyone is running the Trials.
It’s easy to be critical of supplement taking if you’re sitting on the sidelines. It’s much tougher--a powerful Catch 22-- if you’re in the Game.
At Outside Online, Alex Hutchinson explains, correctly, that “most supplements don’t work.” That’s not going to make them disappear, however. In fact, there might be more at the Olympic Marathon Trials than anywhere else.
Real Life, Real Runner Results From The “Train Low, Race High” Diet
Carbohydrate loading for optimal results has been the Golden Rule for Endurance Performance for over a half century. It has survived full frontal attacks (like the Keto diet), and also several different manipulations.
One of those manipulations--Train Low, Race High--has been adopted by many top marathon runners in the last decade. There are several reasons. First, who’s going to get up 3 hours before a typical weekend long run to eat a high-carb meal? It’s easier to just slam a coffee, and get out the door.
Then there’s the alleged performance benefit: Training Low (carb) might teach your body to burn fats more efficiently at the end of a long effort (20 miles or more) when the body is mostly depleted of its carb-glycogen supply. At this point--ie, the last 6 miles of a marathon-- every runner wants to feel efficient and energized vs hitting-the-wall.
The question is: Does the Train Low, Race High approach actually deliver on its promise? A new study, which appears to be the best to date, says No.
It’s a good study because it used highly fit cyclists as the subjects. It lasted 5 weeks, and all the subjects did the same training during that period. The research team includes several well known, highly regarded endurance experts.
Over the 5-week experimental period, half the subjects continued their normal practice of consuming a high-carb meal before training sessions. The other half did 13 sessions in a low-carb state.
Both groups got a little leaner and faster after 5 weeks, but there were no differences between the two groups. Also, neither improved in a time-to-exhaustion test at race intensity. There were likewise no differences in heart race, carb or fat oxidation, or post-exercise lactate concentration.
Conclusion: “Periodizing the carbohydrate intake in well-trained cyclists during a 5-week intervention did not elicit superior results to an energy intake-matched high-carbohydrate diet.”
The authors followed up with a modest warning. “Practical application: It should be considered that low energy availability during prolonged periods may cause adverse effects that will eventually compromise sports performance and health.”
There’s a clear message here: Eat healthy carbs to fuel your workouts. Any other manipulations probably aren’t worth the hassle, and might deliver unhappy results. More at Nutrients with free full text.
The Psychological Effects Of Thinking You’re Dehydrated
Just about everyone--runner, coach, physiologist--understands that getting dehydrated by more than 2-3 percent during a long endurance race is a bad thing. Below 2%, the evidence is less solid.
Here researchers used a clever design to see how dehydration under 2 percent affected cycling performance in an all-out 15 minute test after a prior 80-minute endurance effort.
Each subject performed the same protocol twice with a gastric fluid tube introduced into the stomach. They were allowed to drink a bit of water during the 80-minute pre-test, and also had water released (or not) into the stomach. As a result, subjects didn’t know how much total water they had received.
But researchers controlled the experiment so that each rider did one 15-minute test while fully hydrated, and one while 1.6% dehydrated. They also told the riders when they were dehydrated. With an important twist: They lied 50% of the time.
Sometimes riders were told they were dehydrated when in fact they were not dehydrated. Result: They performed 6% worse thinking themselves dehydrated vs the exact same all-out test when they thought they were fully hydrated.
Alternatively, when actually dehydrated (but told they weren’t), the riders’ performance did not suffer.
Also, heart rates, gastrointestinal temperature, and relative perceived exertion were not different between trials, whether riders were dehydrated or not.
Conclusion: “This study demonstrated that when participants believed they were dehydrated by ∼2%, endurance performance in the heat was impaired by ∼6%.”
It seems, then, that you should keep aiming to avoid dehydration of more than 2%. But if you’re not sure you’re hitting this goal, try not to obsess about it. A small miss might not have a large effect. More at Physiology & Behavior.
Super Drinking Could Lead To Faster Marathon Times
One possible way to avoid dehydration is to hyper hydrate before your race. This refers to drinking more than normal pre-event, often in a solution that contains sodium or glycerol.
A recent meta analysis of this process indicated that it can “provide small to moderate improvement” in time-to-exhaustion tests and in time trials (but not in total work accomplished.) The hyperhydration didn’t seem to affect heart rate, perceived exertion, body temperature, or thermal comfort. Sodium was more effective at lowering body temperature than glycerol.
Conclusion: “These results suggest that pre-exercise hyperhydration provides a small to moderate benefit to endurance performance in total time to exhaustion and time trial. I think a fair number of runners will be attempting this at the Marathon Trials, particularly if the day dawns warm. More at Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism.
Also likely to be quite popular: pre-marathon cooling vests. Companies are no doubt introducing new cooling vests in advance of a Paris Summer Olympics that could be hot at times.
Can Time Restricted Eating Boost Health & Performance?
Time Restricted Eating (TRE), generally following a pattern of an 8-hour-eating-window and 16-hours of no eating, has been possibly the hottest nutrition trend of recent years. And there have been good theoretical reasons to support TRE, especially with regards to glucose regulation and healthier insulin levels.
Some runners have been attracted to TRE, hoping it might also help them lose a couple of unwanted pounds and improve their performance. However, a new randomized, crossover trial of 15 male recreational runners aged 18 to 30 found no support for TRE.
During 4 weeks of TRE, the runners consumed caloric foods only between 1 pm and 9 pm. They trained in a structured, controlled way, and were evaluated for changes in weight, “metabolic health,” and performance.
During another 4 week period, the same participants “consumed their habitual diet without any timing restrictions.”
They were also evaluated by the same measures as just noted.
Results: “Neither condition elicited observed changes in total body mass, fat mass nor fat-free mass between time points.” There were also no significant changes in “metabolic health.” While both conditions produced significant improvement in performance metrics including vo2 max, these improvements did not differ by condition.
Conclusion: 4 weeks of TRE was no better than a traditional diet for weight, fat, or muscle mass. “In addition, TRE did not offer any additional benefit for improving submaximal or peak exercise capacity in this population.”
There will be many more studies manipulating dietary intake patterns and endurance athlete health and performance. For now, this is a good one, and it didn’t uncover any clear benefits. More at J of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Your Complete Guide To Avoiding Iron Deficient Anemia
Many runners, especially females and/or strict vegetarians, have issues with anemia. And often they don’t realize it. That’s why a simple, complete guide is always a valuable resource.
That’s what dietitian Nancy Clark has produced here. Iron deficient anemia strikes athletes because they “lose iron with heavy sweating, blood loss in urine or via the intestinal tract, and damage to red blood cells caused by footstrikes while running.” Plus young women have monthly periods.
Clark covers “What to do” if you think you might be anemic, and also “Preventing and/or resolving anemia,” and “Iron supplements” that can help. One tip I didn’t realize: “ Taking an iron supplement every other day is as effective as taking it daily.” More at Nancy Clark RD.
The 24 Hours That Will Make Or Break Your Marathon
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a first time marathon runner or an Olympic Marathon champ headed back to the big time for another crack at the gold: You’d better have a solid plan for your pre-race prep. Especially in the last 24 hours.
The ideas presented here are simple. And so essential that I bet many Marathon Trials runners have honed them to the point of fine art.
Stay prone on a bed as much as possible the day before your race? Not easy for many recreational runners who might be traveling to their event, scouring the Expo, picking up bib numbers, etc. But elite runners are absolute aces in this department.
Lay out your race clothes in several groupings that make it easy to mix and match according to your last-minute weather calculations? An absolute must-do.
Set several alarms, and a backup, and another backup … and maybe several more just to be certain you don’t oversleep. This one is ripe for a comedy skit or funny Instagram video. And everyone will do it.
Make sure you know how to get to the start line, given tight race-morning security, and where the best toilet options are? Frantic, last-second sprints hither and yon are a definite negatory on race morning.
Here’s a solid list of 15 day-before strategies. You’ll regret it if you flake out on any of these. So don’t. More at Run To The Finish.
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
>>> Got knee pain? Here’s a great infographic to help you figure things out.
GREAT QUOTES make great training partners
"The more you frame the marathon as a stressful experience, the more negative messages you'll receive. But it's just as easy to frame the marathon as a positively challenging journey."
--Jeff Galloway, U.S. Olympian, running writer, and coach
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby