Training Tips From Kenya’s Top Running Coach
Patrick Sang was an elite steeplechase runner in the 1990s, but since then has become known as coach to some of Kenya’s top distance runners. These include Faith Kipyegon and 2-time Olympic Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge, who’s aiming for an unprecedented third Marathon gold medal in Paris.
Kipyegon has also won gold medals (1500 meters) in the last two Olympics. She recently broke her own world record in the metric mile, and will be running again in Paris.
What sets these athletes apart? Sang believes it could be the regular inclusion of long runs in their training programs. Both Kipyegon and 800-meter star Wycliffe Kinyamal cover up to 25 miles in practice even though their races take them only 100 seconds to 14 minutes.
When Kipchoge could place no higher than 10th in the Tokyo Marathon last February, marathon observers wondered if he was nearing the end of his legendary career. Kipchoge himself acknowledged that he had been stressed by threats he and his family received after the car-accident death of Kelvin Kiptum earlier the same month.
Sang addressed the doubts about Kipchoge on two levels. First, he said that Kipchoge “is the easiest person to train. Eliud knows why he is training, he knows this is the time for this, this is the time for that. He knows why he is doing it.”
Second, Kipchoge is now running for a different purpose than earlier in his life. Then he wanted simply to make it to the Olympics, to run fast times, to win races. Now he has a different outlook. “He is thinking about legacy,” notes Sang. He hopes that he “can influence people.”
Kipchoge is famous for his calm but steely resolve. How much does that underpin his marathon success? As Sang notes: “People who love sport, even the scientists, they want to know: Is it the mind or is it only the body?”
That’s a topic we will be debating forever. Paris will provide more context. The men’s Olympic Marathon will be run on Saturday, August 10 at 8 am Paris time (2 pm USA Eastern time). More at Athletics Weekly.
6 Reasons You Should Eat Like A Tour De France Rider
I always enjoy reports about diet and fueling practices of the Tour de France riders. They need to eat optimally for those long daily rides.
Even more important, they’re sponsored by big corporations who can afford the smartest physiologists and nutritionists. These folks don’t muck around with unproven supplements and supposed performance enhancers. They rely on the best science.
This new article is deep and well-sourced. You might not have time to read it all, so here’s what I learned:
1--Rice, rice, rice. White rice. It seems to be the favored carbohydrate grain because it’s gluten free, low fiber, and easy to digest.
2--Espresso, espresso, espresso. This is France, after all, and espresso is the pre-ride caffeine drink of choice.
3--Riders now aim for up to 120 grams of carbohydrate intake/hour during the day’s ride. This is 50% more than just 10 years ago, and made possible with hydrogels and other high-carb formulations.
4--Ketones are now used as a post-ride recovery food, not for pre-race performance.
5--Some teams believe that cherry juice assists recovery, so riders drink sweet cherry beverages immediately post ride.
6--Haribo gummies! Riders enjoy their candies after a depleting day in the saddle. More at Velo Outside.
5 Big Marathon Lessons Straight From The U.S. Olympic Team
Fiona O’Keeffe, Emily Sisson, and Dakotah Lindwurm will be running the Paris Olympic Marathon on Sunday, August 11--the day after the men’s marathon. They proved their Olympic mettle by qualifying in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials last February.
Amazingly, the Trials race was O’Keeffe’s first marathon, and she won the whole thing. Lindwurm is a veteran. She has run 12 marathons, including two victories at Grandma’s in Duluth, MN, her home state. She credits much of her success to a longtime favorite mantra: “I am strong; I am fast; My speed will last.”
Here the Olympians share 5 other strategies they believe important in the marathon. I’m not sure I can endorse Sisson’s suggestion to “turn off your brain,” as I believe the marathon is a thinking runner’s race, and it’s hard to think with your brain defused.
But I know what she means when she suggests, “Embrace the chill.” Yes, relaxation is important if you want to maintain optimal effort for 26.2 miles.
My favorite tip is one Lindwurm has obviously learned from her dozen marathons: “Low moments fade.” She says: “You just have to roll with them so that you can get back to the good patches.” Every marathon involves a bit of roller-coastering between good and bad stretches.
Finally, I’m impressed that O’Keeffe is looking forward to the tough, hilly Paris course. “I’m excited. I think a challenging course presents more opportunities.” That’s definitely the way to think about your marathons: Find the opportunities, and run with them. More at Run Outside.
Sweat and Sodium: The Runner's Guide to Optimal Salt Intake
Marathon and ultra runners are always looking for strategies to feel better and run stronger with less muscle cramping in their big races. These days I can’t go to any event without meeting several runners who are convinced that more salt is the key.
Apparently marathon-running nutritionist Meghann Featherstone is encountering many similar folks. To offer them reasonable guidelines, she has constructed a “Sodium Chart & Calculator.”
First, you decide if you rank as “Light/Moderate/Heavy” on a sweating and salt-loss scale. Then you enter the length of your long runs or races. The Calculator responds by suggesting how much sodium you need to consume per hour of running.
This is a simplistic approach, and Featherstone admits as much, especially when it comes to “Heavy” sweaters. For them, each suggestion gets the following footnote: “The amount of sodium needed for salty sweaters can vary greatly.”
She also notes that many followers have sent her research articles indicating that runners don’t need extra sodium, and “that sodium intake during runs does not improve performance.” She’s ready for that one, commenting: “Many of the studies have small sample sizes and don’t adequately reflect the dramatic differences from runner to runner.”
Featherstone remains a believer. She concludes: “While not everyone will see a specific performance improvement during their runs when they change the amount of sodium consumed, the cumulative effect over a hot season of training is undeniable.”
If you’d like to consider your sodium options on the run, this is a good place to begin. Featherstone provides lots of solid advice in addition to her Calculator. More at Featherstone Nutrition.
Step Up To Stronger Running, Faster Races (And Fewer Injuries)
Many runners fail to appreciate that running is a one-leg-at-a-time activity. We basically hop from one foot to the other.
This means that the most effective strengthening exercises will be those that we perform with one leg. For example, the single-leg bridge exercise (here) is better than doing the same exercise with both legs planted on the floor.
Step-ups are another simple but effective single-leg exercise for runners. They build strength and stability of key running muscles, in particular simulating the movements involved in hill running (and cycling). That’s one reason why former champion triathlete Mark Allen has long recommended the specificity of the step-up exercise.
Here’s all it takes: “Perform step-ups in the gym by stepping on a plyometric box, an adjustable aerobic step, or a weight bench. Outdoors, use a picnic bench, a tree stump, or a large, flat rock. Your step must be stable and the area around your step must be clear of tripping hazards.” Add hand weights (or a weight vest) to your routine as you gain confidence and proficiency. More at Triathlete.
Slithering Sustainability: How Python Meat Could Save The Plant
Many of us make our dietary choices based on personal health, performance, and planetary-health outcomes. The latter is a relatively new concern, often based on the fact that meat and other agribusiness processes deplete vast resources on a challenged planet.
This raises the question: Can a low-resource diet also be a healthy one? A major new study answered “Yes” to that question.
When Harvard researchers investigated more than 200,000 subjects (with 34 years of followup), they found that a higher Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) was associated with a “lower risk of total and cause specific mortality and environmental impacts.” More at American J of Clinical Nutrition with free full text.
A round up of this and a similar paper reminds us that Earth-friendly foods are not always healthy. Indeed, if they are ultra processed: “Poof! All the virtue goes up in smoke.” More at ConscienHealth.
If you’d like to avoid the worst ultra-processed foods, you’d do well to stay away from highly processed meat and soft drinks laden with sugars and sugar substitutes. More at CNN.
And if you like the taste of python meat (reportedly much like chicken), you should consider eating more of the slithery snake because “python farming may offer a flexible and efficient response to global food insecurity.” More at Scientific Reports with free full text.
Multivitamins & Mortality: The Whole Truth
A recent study on multivitamins and mortality garnered headlines worldwide, and probably spread a good deal of misinformation. Why? Because many of those headlines were inaccurate and alarming.
Here’s the article title, “Multivitamin Use and Mortality Risk in 3 Prospective US Cohorts,” and a free full text link at JAMA Network Open. As you can see, the title gives away no key information.
The article itself concluded: “Multivitamin use was not associated with a mortality benefit.” To put it simply: Vitamins don’t help you live longer.
Some headlines got that message right. Others, however, missed the mark. These included: “You’re Better Off Without Multivitamins,” “Multivitamins May Actually Increase Risk of Early Death,” and “Study Connects Multivitamin Use With Mortality Risk.”
The actual study followed more than 390,000 U.S. adults for 20 years to see how their vitamin use affected their mortality. It found no significant association in one direction or the other.
These results--neither positive nor negative--supported past findings on vitamin use and mortality. That probably explains why vitamin use dropped 6% from 1999 to 2011. Many of us have gotten the message that vitamin pills don’t necessarily deliver on their promise.
The researchers nonetheless acknowledged that vitamins could have health effects not related to a longer life. They could protect pregnant women from deficiencies, promote bone health, and increase immunity.
About one-third of adult Americans continue taking a multivitamin, which are relatively cheap. Still, these individuals might be better off spending their money on fresh fruits and vegetables.
4 thuOver-40 Runners Need To Know About Super Shoes
Runner and physical therapist Matt Klein recently finished his PhD with a focus on the biomechanics of masters runners. A key contributor to the “Doctors of Running” podcast, Klein wondered in particular how masters runners might react to running in super shoes. In this blog, he summarizes what he has learned:
1--A stiff plate in shoes does not improve running economy of masters runners, and in fact shortens their already-shortening strides.
2--Masters rely more on hip muscles and less on ankle muscles than younger runners.
3--This means that masters runners may benefit from the super foams in super shoes. These foams move leg muscle “work” up toward the knees and hips. The foams also give more “bounce” to masters runners with their shorter strides.
4--Klein ends with “a word of caution,” noting that super shoes do shift movement patterns around, and this could cause injury issues for masters runners who are probably more injury prone than younger runners. As a result, he advises “runners interested in using these shoes should consider additional strength/power work.” More at Doctors of Running.
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
>>> It’s up to you: Half of cancer deaths can be avoided through smart personal choices
>>> Live long & healthy: Elite athletes have lower suicide rates than the general population
GREAT QUOTES Make Great Training Partners
“Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. So call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.”
--Tim Noakes, South African running expert and book author
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby