June 29, 2023

Peak performance: Get the most from your hard days

When you’ve got a hard day coming up on your training schedule, which probably means some intervals at 5K pace or faster, it’s reasonable to think you should go easy the day before. That way you’ll be more likely to crush the hard-day workout, right?

Not necessarily, says coach Matt Fitzgerald. There’s another approach that could be even more effective. Run moderately hard the day before. This will “prime” your body for the following hard day, and also allow you to log a bit more solid training in your week.

What makes for a moderately hard run? Good question. Fitzgerald suggests several specific workouts. The simplest is 30 to 50 minutes of easy running, followed by 10 minutes moderately hard to finish up. This is like a short tempo run at the end of your easy day.

Fitzgerald offers a cautionary rule of thumb. The “priming” approach only succeeds with those who are relatively fit to begin with. He suggests if you’re training 7 hours a week, you’re ready. 

If you train less than 7 hours per week, don’t try “priming.” You’re probably better off training lightly or resting the day before a big workout. More at Training Peaks.

Training tips from the world’s best marathon runners

Other runners ran faster than Jeannie Rice, 75, and Jenny Hitchings, 59, in spring’s biggest and best marathons. But no one else scored as high as the two “J” women on the widely respected Age/Sex Calculator.

Both were in the vicinity of 103%, where 100% is equivalent to a world-record performance. In April, Rice ran 3:33:15 at Boston, and Hitchings ran 2:45:27 at London. For Hitchings, this was a personal best marathon at just two months short of her 60th birthday.

How did they achieve such impressive times? Well, if you guessed that they are highly motivated, disciplined, and do a goodly number of 20-milers, you’d be right.

But they are also different in interesting ways. Rice has never had a coach, preferring to do training runs on the basis of how she feels each day. Hitchings believes a runner who is self-coached is like a doctor who treats him/her self. She gets her workouts from former U.S. Marathon Trials winner Jenny Spangler. 

Rice often runs super early in the morning. Hitchings needs more a.m. relaxation time before she’s ready to start cranking miles. Rice has never been injured, and doesn’t bother with much cross training; she prefers golf. Hitchings has had a few setbacks, and cross trains on a bicycle and with Pilates.

Both eat a varied, healthy diet. Rice doesn’t like sweets, so she doesn’t have to worry about too-much sugar. She considers cheese and nuts her “big downfall.” Hitchings drinks protein shakes and snacks on homemade muffins and cookies when training hard, since she finds the extra calories protects her from losing weight.

Both hope to keep running strong and fast, for themselves and for others. As Hitchings says, "It's important to show others that we can defy the way aging has been defined for us for so long.” More at Outside Online. [Truth in advertising: I wrote his article.]

How Courtney Dauwalter tackles--and succeeds at--ultra distances

In last weekend’s famous Western States 100-mile, Courtney Dauwalter placed sixth overall, only 5.6 % behind the winning male runner. The usual male-female gap is 10 to 12%. This makes her WS performance clearly one of the greatest ever by a female runner.

Two months earlier, she spoke at length with CNN about her training and overall philosophy of ultra running. It’s a great piece, with wonderful insights, so don’t miss it.

You’ll learn why her best training plan right now is “no coach, no plan” and how she visualizes a “pain cave” to help her get through tough patches. Dauwalter doesn’t seem to be one of those guru-types, but it’s hard not to feel a little chill when she says: “In general, I think everyone’s bars are just a little bit too low, and that we should raise the bar for ourselves.”

“We should go after the thing that sounds a little bit crazy or sounds a little bit too difficult and just see, because, why not?” More at CNN. 

Painful truths: When to stop running, when to keep on

Here, a running injury physician explains what you should know about running in pain. Every runner has experienced some at one time or another, and we’ve all wondered what to do about it.

The big, lingering question is generally the same: Can I continue running, perhaps a little less and slower, until the pain goes away? Or should I stop entirely to prevent more serious injury?

The answer, of course, is “It depends.” Sometimes you can “run through” your injury, though you should also be prepared to take time off when that’s the smart reaction.

Worth knowing: A “dully, achy” pain probably means you have a minor injury. A “sharp, stabbing” pain may require more serious appraisal. 

Also, if your pain decreases or disappears during your run, as your body warms up, that’s a good sign. If it gets worse, you need some rest and recovery.

Does your pain persist all day and extend into your other activities? That’s another indication that you need time off, and perhaps some strength training. More at Believe in the Run.

In other pain-related news, here’s an unexpected twist. According to new research at Plos One, regular exercise reduces “chronic pain,” which is now “more prevalent in the U.S. than either depression or diabetes.” Additionally, “even though exercise may be the last thing a person living with pain wants to do, it could be a critical element to recovery.” More at Time.

Yes! Exercise scores big-time against depression. And coffee does, too

A major new “umbrella review” of studies on exercise and mental health has concluded that “physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distress across a wide range of adult populations.” An umbrella review is a review of all existing systematic reviews and meta analyses.

This one looked into 97 systematic reviews with 128,000 subjects, and it represents the first report to combine all the evidence on exercise and mental health. Worldwide, almost one in 8 people experienced a mental health disorder in 2019, with the global cost reaching $250 trillion. 

Conclusion: “Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress.” Indeed, the benefits from this approach are “comparable to, and slightly larger than, the benefits of medications and psychotherapy.” Last: “Higher intensity physical activity was associated with greater improvements in symptoms.” 

So keep moving. And go a little harder if you can. Your emotional health is just as important as your heart-bone-muscle health, and just as malleable. More at British J of Sports Medicine with free full text.

Here’s a new wrinkle: Coffee helps too. In a prospective study with almost 150,000 participants, those who drank 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day had the lowest rates of depression and anxiety. Less and more coffee-drinking were not so effective. Results were similar for participants who drank 2-3 cups of ground coffee, milk-coffee, or unsweetened coffee. Conclusion: “Our findings highlight that 2-3 cups of coffee consumption could be recommended as part of a healthy lifestyle to improve mental health.” More at Psychiatry Research.

Some mental-health practitioners are more assertive about prescribing exercise than others. They believe there are multiple benefits from this approach. “While medications may take a few weeks to work, you see benefits right away with exercise,” says one. “It’s not only going to help with anxiety, depression, and many other mental health conditions, but also with patients’ overall health and other chronic conditions.” More at Outside Online.

Road to recovery: How to come back from an Achilles injury

Achilles injuries are quite common among runners, and demand serious attention. You can’t run without a healthy Achilles tendon, so you’ve got to rehab and recover just right. 

Also, when you’re ready to start running again, you’ve got to go gently and very progressively. A new study reports that running on a treadmill with a “body weight support suspension system” can assist this return-to-running process.

Over the last several decades, the space-age Alter-G Treadmill has grabbed the lion’s share of attention in this field. The Alter-G is impressive, super-effective, variable, and expensive. But it’s also becoming more available in various medical and therapy locations.

In recent years, alternative low-tech, lower-cost body-weight support systems have also reached the runner market. I have friends who are quite happy with their Lever Running systems. This new study tested an unnamed harness based system with 4 elastic cords attached to a metal frame. 

It found that the system reduced lower leg impact forces by 9% to 15%. Conclusion: A treadmill body-weight support system “may reduce Achilles tendon loading and impulse variables during running. This may be important in the rehabilitation efforts.” More at International J of Sports Medicine.

Oh, my: What happens when you PUT runners on a low energy diet?

The topic of Low Energy Availability--the frequency, and impact of eating too little--is one of the hottest in endurance sports. It’s known to affect many athletes (male but primarily female, in weight-bearing sports like running, dance, gymnastics, and cross-country skiing), and it can have devastating effects on both performance and lifelong health.

Now a Danish group has gone where no research has gone before. They somehow got ethical approval to impose a LEA condition on 15 subjects in a 10-day randomized controlled trial. (They presumably convinced the review committee that 10 days would not be long enough to affect their participants’ health.)

The subjects were 30 healthy, menstruating, exercising females in their mid-20s. During a 5-day “run in” period, all consumed a weight-maintaining diet of about 2400 calories/day. 

During the next 10 days, half of the group continued on the same diet. They ended up consuming 2403 calories/day on average. The other half saw their food intake cut almost in half. They consumed an average of 1349 calories/day. All food was provided by a research kitchen.

Despite the calorie differential, all subjects received the same (substantial) amount of protein each day. The researchers were primarily interested in “protein synthesis” rates among their subjects, and wanted to make sure both groups had plenty of protein on board throughout. All subjects followed a vigorous cardiovascular and strength-training regimen during the 10-day trial--again, to make sure that a cessation of their training did not influence results.

Key outcomes: The LEA subjects lost 3.7 pounds over 10 days, including 0.9 pounds of muscle. The full-calorie group maintained body weight, and gained 0.9 pounds of muscle. 

Also, the major finding of the study: The LEA subjects “suffered marked reductions in myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic muscle protein synthesis.” They also saw drops in “urinary nitrogen balance, free androgen index, thyroid hormone, and resting metabolic rate.” The latter declined by 65 calories/day.

Conclusion: “These findings suggest that LEA may negatively affect skeletal muscle adaptation in females performing exercise training.” The project did not include a performance test. In other words, there was no pre- and post-diet time trial or other fitness test. More at The J of Physiology with free full text.

Pheidippides be damned. No, exercise won’t kill you

In this edition of Brady Holmer’s excellent “Physiologically Speaking” newsletter, he goes deep to review all the evidence linking vigorous exercise and sudden death. Yes, there’s the Pheidippides legend. And, yes, your risk of sudden death rises during hard exercise. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, hard exercise lowers your mortality risk on a 24/7 basis. In other words, the benefit outweighs the risk.

Conclusion: While there are down sides--like injuries, and atrial fibrillation--”Exercise appears to have profound beneficial effects in nearly everyone who takes part. Some is better than none, and more is better than some.” Is there an upper limit, ie, can you exercise too much? Possibly, but the limiting line has not yet been well defined. More at Substack/Brady Holmer.

In other mortality news: 1--Black athletes suffer higher sudden death rates than white athletes.

2--Yogurt consumption lowers all-cause and heart-related deaths, but not cancer deaths. 3--Big study with long followup supports low-fat diet for lower mortality risk, with evidence also that “healthy” low-carb diets are better than unhealthy ones. 4--Among 116,000 subjects, mortality risk was lower among those consuming olive oil, a high-fiber breakfast, tea, and vegetables.

SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss

>>> Race your best: 5 steps to a perfect taper for your next big race

>>> Training the arteries: The higher your vo2 max, the lower your arterial stiffness (and that’s a good thing)

>>> Who’s got the right answer: How many extra calories/day do you burn if you add 1 lb of muscle?

GREAT QUOTES make great training partners

"Putting miles in your training log is like putting money in the bank. You begin to draw interest on it immediately."

--Hal Higdon

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. RLRH is taking a week off for the July 4th holiday. You’ll receive your next mailing on Thursday, July 13. Stay well. Amby

June 22, 2023

 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

>>> Surface to surface: You run different on trails and grass vs the roads. Here’s how with free full text

>>> Speed limit: The faster you run, the more stress on your Achilles and calf muscles (especially the soleus)

>>> Exercise conquers flu: In a very large population study with a 9-yr followup period, subjects meeting both aerobic and strength training guidelines “had a 48% lower adjusted risk of influenza and pneumonia mortality.”

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.” 

— Kara Goucher 

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby