December 14, 2023

 [RLRH is taking a 2 week break for the end-of-year season. It will next be published on January 4, 2024. Wishing you and yours great Holiday health. Amby]

A Surprising (And Good) Twist On Marathon Training Plans

I’m always on the lookout for marathon training programs that are distinctly different from others. Given the hundreds of marathon programs on the Internet, you’d think it easy to find differences.

But it’s not. Most programs look remarkably similar because there’s considerable agreement on what’s included in a good marathon program. Things like: 1) 12 to 20 weeks of preparation; 2) a gradual, progressive increase in weekly mileage, with a particular focus on weekend long runs; 3) a modest number of tempo runs at marathon or half-marathon pace; 4) a cutback week (decreased mileage) every 4 weeks or so; and 5) a 2-3 week taper before the big event.

All these training programs are basically sound, and should lead to good results. That’s great for the runners who follow them. But where’s the creative variety?

Last week I stumbled upon a marathon program with just enough of a plot twist to grab my attention. The author, Matt Fitzgerald, is a highly regarded coach, running expert, and book author. 

Here’s what I found different (and liked a lot). Fitzgerald inserts a cutback week every third week vs every fourth. That means you get more easy weeks as you build towards the high mileages required for the marathon. 

Fitzgerald calls his plan “Foolproof.” I’d stop short of that. I’d call it “Smart.” More at Stack.

How Two Simple Words--“Hop” And “Stick”--Could Improve Your Stride

A lot of gait-retraining (“fix your stride”) studies use expensive lab equipment. Here’s a refreshingly opposite approach with zero cost.

There have been many arguments advanced to increase your cadence or stride frequency, and a few to increase your time on the ground (termed “duty factor”). The first might make you more efficient, and decrease knee-injury potential. The latter might lower forces and injuries at the Achilles and calf.

In this small study, researchers attempted to see if certain verbal instructions would change cadence and duty factor of running subjects. They used four different words to describe what the runners should try to do with their feet/strides while moving over the ground.

The words were “bounce,” “push,” “stick,” and “hop.” Results showed that “hop” encouraged runners to increase their cadence/stride frequency, while “stick” increased duty factor. (“Bounce” increased vertical displacement, and “push” increased stride length.)

Repeating these words while you run could help you to adjust your stride in the desired direction. More at PLOS One including free, full text.

Generation Gap: How Should A Former Champ Coach His Teen Daughter?

Maybe not at all. At least that seems to be working well for Dathan Ritzenhein and his daughter, Addy. 

In his high school days as a scrawny, seemingly invincible kid from Rockford, Michigan, Dathan Ritzenhein won the FootLocker Cross-Country Championships as a junior and senior. A couple of weeks ago, his daughter, Addison, won the Nike Cross-Country Nationals as a sophomore.

I don’t think there has ever been a father-daughter team quite like this one before. So I listened carefully to a Dyestat interview with the two Ritzenheins. What’s their secret?

The good news: They don’t seem the least concerned with secrets. Dathan believes that the coaches at Addy’s high school are doing an excellent job, and he doesn’t interfere or micromanage his daughter’s running. In fact, he says, “I don’t really know what she’s doing until after she does it.”

Okay, he does get her free shoes from On, the shoe company that employs him to coach its elite international running team in Boulder. 

Addy has only been running seriously for a couple of years. Before that, she focused on gymnastics with a little swimming and volleyball. She seems drawn to cross-country primarily because she likes the social connections with her teammates. “I would say the flexibility from gymnastics has helped me, and just being part of a team. I like the teamwork.”

Addy’s mother, Kaelin, was also an elite runner in high school (same town as Dathan) and college (she and Dathan both attended the University of Colorado.) But neither parent has pushed Addy to running. They let her discover it on her own after exploring other sports. 

This reminds me of Shalane Flanagan’s path. She had two elite runners as parents. But she mainly played soccer until midway through her high-school career. Then she switched to running, and absolutely blossomed. She made several Olympic teams and won a New York City Marathon. 

The kids are alright. Let them play their games when they are young. They have plenty of time in high school and beyond to become serious runners. More available at a podcast from Dyestat.

Breaking Barriers: Motherhood And The Marathon Journey

The members of the first U.S. female Olympic Marathon team in 1984 were all on the young side, and childless--Joan Benoit, Julie Brown, and Julie Isphording. My, how things have changed.

We don’t yet know who will be going to Paris next summer, but there’s plenty of competition among those in their mid-30s (and beyond) who also have a thriving brood. I thought Keira D’Amato was the clear leader of that pack with her 39 years, and two children. Along with a marathon best of 2:19:12

But then Sara Vaughn hit the Chicago Marathon finish line two months ago in 2:23:24. She’s 37, with four children. Don’t look back, Keira. You’ve got marathon-mother competition.

Plenty of it. Just last month, Kellyn Taylor and Molly Huddle were featured in a NY Times story on breastfeeding. A couple of days later, they charged to the front of the NYC Marathon lead pack for half the race before finishing in 2:29 and 2:32. Taylor has so many children, both biological and fostered, that I can’t keep up with the total.

All this is prelude to a new Alex Hutchinson “Sweat Science” column on women and their return to fitness and competition after childbirth. The rule: There is no rule. Every postpartum woman runner has to listen to her body, and make her own best decisions. As Hutchinson writes: “Every return from pregnancy is different, and there’s no default timeline.”

Also: There are no limits. Every month, women like D’Amato, Vaughn, Taylor, Huddle, and many more are proving that women can run as fast, if not faster, after childbirth as before. Here’s a key study along those lines. 

I had barely finished typing these lines when I learned about Carter Norbo, who just won a Virginia marathon in 2:38:14 less than 4 months after giving birth to twins. 

Of course, many more new mothers return to running without setting records. They simply improve their personal health/fitness, and likely that of their newborns as well. As Hutchinson notes: We should “see all the postpartum athletes around us, recognize the challenges they’re encountering, and celebrate their achievements.” More at Outside Online.

Unleash Running’s Fat-Burning Power To Gain A Healthier Weight

Fitness and body weight are both important markers of overall health status. There’s little doubt that regularly running increases fitness. But does it also have a positive effect on body weight? Researchers in the Czech Republic decided to find out. 

They investigated over 1200 runners and non-active individuals in age groups ranging from around 20 to around 60. The runners in this study generally covered about 12 to 15 miles per week. In a lab, they were assessed for both BMI and visceral fat--the dangerous deep belly fat surrounding organs like the stomach, liver and intestines that is linked to higher risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

Result: When compared with inactive participants, the runners showed significantly lower values of body fat and visceral fat in all age groups. (Though body fat measures did creep upward with age for both groups.) Also, fewer runners than non runners fell into the overweight and (especially) the obese weight categories.  

Conclusion: Recommended amounts of physical activity “are significantly exceeded by runners.” That’s why they don’t have much body fat. Also, the observed weight differences “could be attributed to the volume of running”--an activity that “does not require special equipment, partners, or the acquisition of specific skills.” More at J of Physiological Anthropology with free full text.

Ketones: A Possible New Frontier In Post-Exercise Fuel

A few years back, everyone was talking about ketones as a pre-exercise endurance fuel, or for in-exercise consumption. That didn’t seem to pan out, but ketones haven’t disappeared from the performance field. 

Quite the contrary, they’re making a comeback as a post-exercise fuel. David Roche has the full story, which he terms “wild and uncertain.” The new theory: Taking ketones “improves recovery and hematological variables.” In fact, it might boost endogenous (within the body) EPO.

Roche is maintaining a skeptical eye about ketones, as we all should. Nonetheless, he’s a sub-elite ultra trail runner and recently “started experimenting with them a couple days a week post-exercise.” He has liked the results. “In October, at the Blue Sky Marathon, I closed the final four miles two minutes faster than last year to set a course record.” More at Trail Runner.

Over at his newsletter “Physiologically Speaking,” Brady Holmer speculates that exogenous ketones (from supplements) could improve recovery and limit brain fatigue from exhaustive exercise. Like Roche, he has tried ketones. Result: “I have used exogenous ketones several times at rest (for cognitive work/productivity) and before exercise. Both times I’ve experienced a notable improvement in what I’d call ‘brain energy’ and ‘focus.’” More at Brady Holmer.

Here’s full text of a recent paper exploring post exercise ketones at Research Gate/American J of Physiology with free full text.

Why You Should Run On A Treadmill. PLUS: A Guide To 4 Top Models

Tis the season to do whatever you can to avoid dark, slippery streets. Treadmills offer a great alternative, especially if you’ve got one at home, which can make them a big time-saver as well as a safe way to train.

This clear article explains many of the benefits of treadmill training, and answers common questions. It also links to a guide to “Best Treadmills” that makes your choice relatively simple, since it recommends just 4. 

No doubt there are other great alternatives out there, but sometimes fewer choices is better. None of the 4 is a particular bargain--you won’t find anything for $399. On the other hand, you’ll find treadmills that should perform smoothly for many years for you … and for anyone else in the family who enjoys a comfy indoor workout. More at I Run Far.

14 Brand New Nutrition Products You Could Use

Sports nutritionist Meaghan Featherstone improved her marathon PR to 2:49:55 a couple of months ago, and she’s always scanning for the latest nutrition products for runners. This must leave her bleary-eyed at times, because it’s near impossible to keep up.  

I honestly don’t understand how the marketplace can sustain so many drinks, gels, bars, chews, etc, that are 98% the same. Maybe it’s due to our highly individual taste preferences. It’s easy to find a drink/gel/bar with more or less the right mix of nutrients to help you run better. It’s not so simple to find one with a taste you enjoy.

At the end of last month, Featherston traveled to The Running Event in Austin, TX, to check out new sports nutritionals on display. There were many in an Expo she termed “the largest race expo ever, on steriods, times a milion.” 

In this article, she writes about 8 or 9 of them, assuring us that she gets no commissions for her brief reviews. What’s hot? Anything containing protein, collagen, and higher sodium levels. 

I don’t know many of these products, but I suppose I’m a traditionalist, since I lean toward JamBars. They come from Jennifer Maxwell, who launched the epic, barrier-breaking PowerBar with her elite marathoner husband, Brian Maxwell, back in the Dark Ages of 1996. More at Featherstone Nutrition.

Late breaking: I found another new product on my own. It’s called “S Fuels” and has a number of impressive endorsing athletes, for what that’s worth. The company follows a “Right fuels at the right time” approach, and distinguishes between times for proteins/ketones, fatty acids, and carbohydrates. Here’s their free,17-page Training & Racing Fuel Guide. 

Amazing New Running Gear You Won’t Even Believe

My friends from Marathon Handbook also attended TRE, paying more attention to new “hardware” than to new foods. Frankly, reading this report, I thought they maybe took the wrong plane, and ended up at a Sci Fi convention. 

Here are 9 new running products that you never imagined in your wildest dreams. One claims it will reveal your hydration and electrolyte status in real time while you're running, and then suggest the specific runner’s fuel most likely to meet your needs. This might require a full supermarket aisle of selections, but maybe some marathon race director is working on that.

Another “recovery cube” can deliver cold or heat, or contrasting cold/heat, to an injured muscle or joint. It’s FDA approved. A winter running jacket is made of 100% recycled oyster shells and other products, yet apparently doesn’t go “crunch crunch” when you run in it. Indeed, the reviewer wrote that it’s “the softest, most luxe running jacket.”

These products catch you with their instant “eye candy” appeal but also seem to have real runner practicality. You’ll find it tough not to want a few of them. More at Marathon Handbook.

SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss

>>> Runner of the year: Always hard to pick, but our vote goes to Courtney Dauwalter, the ever-smiling, ultra-trail-runing phenom.

>>> Happy birthday to vo2 max: It just turned 100. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

>>> No finish line in sight: Super shoes aren’t going away in 2024. There will be more than ever.

GREAT QUOTES Make Great Training Partners

“It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

-- Sir Edmund Hillary

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next year, on January 4, 2024. Amby

December 7, 2023

 Running Is 15X Better Than Walking VS Stomach Fat, Heart Attacks

All aerobic exercise is good exercise, including modest walking--the world’s favorite fitness activity. But it’s also true that vigorous exercise is distinct from moderate exercise, and appears to have strong independent benefits.

For example, this prospective cohort study looked at more than 70,000 individuals in the British Biobank database to distinguish low/moderate exercisers from those who did more vigorous exercise. The primary outcome was any change in the well-established relationship between stomach fat and heart attacks (fatal and non-fatal).

And the differences were dramatic. Basically, every minute of vigorous exercise was equivalent to 15 minutes of moderate exercise. It took only 30 to 35 minutes/week of vigorous exercise “to offset the association between abdominal obesity and incident cardiovascular disease.” Whereas you’d have to walk about 500 minutes to achieve the same results.

Important note: Almost any running, even quite slow, reaches the scientific definition of vigorous exercise, usually pegged at 6+ METS/hour. Some other equivalents: shoveling, soccer, jumping rope, and carrying heavy loads.

Casual walking racks up about 4 METS/hour, and is thus moderate exercise. More at British J of Sports Medicine with free, full text.

Science Of Running Shoes: Is More Cushioning Better?

We’ve all noticed that the minimalist-shoe boom is mostly dead, and the maximalist, highly cushioned shoe is very much alive. This trend got started before the birth of present day super foams (which are light, highly cushioned, energy-returning, and more). The new foams have accelerated the rush to thick, comfy shoes. 

We also know these shoes can make us faster, as marathon records keep falling at a dramatic clip. The lingering question is the injury question. Are these thick, cushioned shoes good for our joints and muscles?

A recent paper offers a tentative “Yes.” It investigated ground reaction forces, heel impact, soft tissue vibrations, and bone vibrations among 48 runners, half male and half female. Also, half of the subjects in each sex category were “recreational runners” and half “competitive runners.”

The subjects all ran in 4 different pairs of shoes that were identical except for the cushioning (“midsole deformation”) they supplied. This deformation ranged from 0.9 mm to 8 mm. The 4 pairs of shoes were produced with a 3_D printer. 

Here’s what one shoe looked like. I presume this is one with a high degree of cushioning/deformation.

Result: The more cushioned the midsoles, the greater the decrease in “soft tissue vibrations and bone accelerations.” This sounded really good, so I asked first author Robin Trama if it would improve running economy or at least the “fatigue resistance” of the leg muscles. He was cautious about both of these, saying, in effect, “Probably not.” 

The authors did, however, predict a likely positive outcome for injury reduction. Conclusion: “Increasing midsole deformation could therefore mitigate the risk of injury, while increasing running comfort and smoothness.” More at J of Sports Sciences.

How To Boost Your Hemoglobin & Run Stronger

Here’s a deep and helpful article by David Roche about hemoglobin--the wonderful molecule that shuttles oxygen to your leg muscles to help them perform at max efficiency. If your hemoglobin is low, so is your performance. Boost your hemoglobin, and you’ll run faster. It’s pretty much that simple. 

This is one reason why so many athletes train at altitude during parts of the year: It increases hemoglobin. As does sauna bathing, which Conner Mantz and Clayton Young (2:07:47; 2:08:00) practiced regularly before their impressive Chicago Marathon finishes this fall, according to Young on a recent Carrie Tollefson podcast. So you know they'll be repeating the same strategy before the February 3, 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials. 

EPO and autologous blood doping (withdrawing your own blood for a time, then re-infusing when you’re looking for a hemoglobin boost) are known performance-enhancers banned by international sports groups like the Olympics. EPO can be detected in doping tests, but autologous boosting is trickier to pinpoint. Also, too much hemoglobin in the blood, while rare, is a health hazard.

I didn’t know that sleep apnea (closely related to snoring) can also increase hemoglobin. Not that this is a good way to go about it, because it’s not healthy.  

Roche believes endurance athletes should get semi-regular blood tests for their iron level, and use an iron supplement as necessary to keep those levels in the high-normal range. Also, fuel your training well. Low calorie intake is often linked to low iron and low hemoglobin. More at Trail Runner.

Pre Race Sex? No Problem--It Won’t Hurt Your Performance

Research (and speculation) about the effect of sexual relations on subsequent athletic performance has been going on for a long time, and isn’t likely to stop soon. The subject is too juicy for authors and publications to resist, so it returns with some regularity.

The study reported here is a year old, but seems to have been in the news a bit lately. It represents a meta-analysis and systematic review of how intercourse or masturbation affect performance. 

The first thing to know is that no one has ever studied actual race or time-trial performance--the measures most interesting to runners. Rather researchers have used “various physical fitness tests” after sex. These included aerobic capacity, pushups, jump height, and the like. 

Also, 99% of subjects were male. It’s glaringly obvious that we’re missing half the world here. 

Anyway, “Performance in several physical fitness measures was unaltered in young men after sexual activity that occurred in the previous 30 min to 24 h.” In other words, the researchers uncovered neither a positive or negative result. Relax, suit yourself. More at Nature with free full text.

3 Core Exercises You Should Do EVERY Day

I actually enjoy core work, unlike my feelings about many other running-related exercises. I do them throughout the day on the floor right next to my computer desk. 

Okay, to be totally honest, I’m not a big side-plank fan. But I’ll try to be better now, since it made the short list of 3 great exercises illustrated and explained here. I particularly like the McGill Crunch, new to my repertoire. More at Dango.

Sure, Olympians Do Fierce Interval Workouts. But Should You?

Everyone knows that hard interval training produces great results for top runners. Interval training worked for Roger Bannister, it worked for Emil Zatopek, and it has been working ever since. 

But for those not focused on Olympic glory, there’s another more important question regarding interval training, these days often referred to as HIT (high intensity intervals). If you’re not going for the gold, but merely want to boost your health and fitness, do you have to crush your intervals like Roger Bannister?

That’s the question raised and answered in this paper by fitness heavyweights including Andy Jones, Michael Joyner, and Martin Gibala.

Here’s the answer in a word: No. World class performers might have to reach into the “sprint intervals” domain to get the most payback. But athletes with more modest goals can succeed at a lower intensity. 

Indeed, for these individuals, the authors “contend that HIIT can be characterized as intermittent bouts performed above moderate intensity.” In other words, you can dial it back a bit. Running intermittent intervals that are hard-but-controlled should gain you substantial rewards. More at Sports Medicine with free full text. 

Here’s a nice graphic highlighting the differences between HIT training for “Performance” and HIT training for “Health.”

Dear Santa: Please Bring Me A Massage Gun For Christmas

It’s possible you’ve already put one of those percussive massage units on your personal Christmas wish list, or that of a runner friend. They seem to be everywhere these days, even at the corner drug store.

In theory, these devices can apply higher-speed or higher-force stimulation to muscle groups than a human massage specialist. That could assist in both injury prevention and/or injury recovery.

But we don’t have much evidence so far, and most of what we hear is anecdote from friends. Many users and clinicians report that the muscles--particularly the calf muscles, quads, and hamstrings--feel better, looser, more ready-to-go after massage-gun therapy than before. 

One recent meta analysis and systematic review sounded positive, but noted “no changes observed in the lower body.” Oops.

Authors of a new systematic review hoped they might find better, clearer evidence. They didn’t, concluding that existing studies and papers have been of poor quality. 

Indeed, when it came to actual performance like “acceleration, agility, and explosive activities,” subjects performed a little worse after massage gun use. Things were better for recovery, where massage guns “were shown to be cost-effective instruments for stiffness reduction, range of motion and strength improvements.”

In other words, they’re more likely to help you get back to your normal training routine than they are to juice a fast race or training performance. That will sound good to many runners. More at J of Functional Morphology & Kinesiology with free full text.

Lauren Fleshman Running Book Wins Big Award (Plus $$$)

A running book, Lauren Fleshman’s Good For A Girl, has become the first book about running to win the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in Great Britain. It’s also the first book written by a woman about women in sports to win the 35-year-old prize, including its payment of .$38,000. (Laura Hildendbrand won for Seabiscuit, but the Biscuit was a stallion.)

Fleshman, a former track star at Stanford and beyond, wrote the book herself without a co-author (ghost writer). It mixes candid memoir with fiery criticism of the sport. It’s also her first book.

In it, Fleshman recalls the mixed messages she received from family and peers, and the male domination of coaching and athletic governance. She rails particularly against male coaches fixated on pressuring women runners to change their body composition for supposed faster performances. 

The William Hill judges lauded Fleshman’s books for its “heartfelt narrative” and “compelling writing.” On instagram, she wrote: “My greatest hope is that by the time Zadie [her daughter] reads this book, the topics have become so irrelevant that she asks herself, ‘How the hell did this book win Sports Book of the Year?’ ” 

I concur with this selection. I found Good For A Girl the best and most important running book of the year. More at Athletics Weekly.

Apologies and a correction: There seem to be lots of Univ of Florida graduates among RLRH readers. They were quick to point out my mistake in writing that NCAA cross country champ Parker Valby competed for Florida State University (FSU) rather than the Gators of UF. UF is also the site of the Jack Bacheler/Frank Shorter running glory days, the novel, “Once A Runner,” and the invention of Gatorade.  

SHORT STUFF you don’t want to miss

>>> Beef up on beef: Adults over 65 showed more muscle protein synthesis after a beef-based meal than an equal-calorie vegan meal.

>>> When to skip speedwork: If your expected marathon pace is more than 20% slower than your 5K pace, you don’t need speedwork. You need more base miles.

>>> Bicarb no, placebo yes: In a RCT, cyclists performed better with sodium bicarbonate only when told they were receiving a performance-enhancing substance.

GREAT QUOTES make great training partners

"No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable." 

--Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

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