Experiencing the marathon...and a bit more.

About 5 months ago I decided to add a marathon to my spring racing season. Over the years I’ve studied the marathon, the effects on the body and the training required to complete the distance but I never pursued racing one due to an injured knee during my 20’s. Running shorter distances, cycling and multisport events were enough for me until I started coaching.   My initial goal was to run the marathon for fun and to gain valuable insight and experience of feeling the effects on the body.  I gradually increased my long runs each week over time, peaking with two 22+ milers and really enjoying every step.  During my last long run, about 3 weeks out, I ran over 22 miles, drank one bottle of water and had 1 gel.  The week leading up to my marathon, my legs felt better than ever and it was challenging to hold back on my last few runs.

 The night before the marathon my adrenaline was pumping (not uncommon before a big race) resulting in a few too many trips to the bathroom (overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system).  After a sleepless night, I started the morning feeling already dehydrated, despite all my attempts to keep hydrated with water and electrolytes. I assumed it was typical prerace excitement.   Arriving at the race, I was feeling relaxed and ready to get the marathon started.  After the start, I settled into my planned race pace and it felt easy on the legs.  Into the first mile however, I felt thirsty and knew it was a bad sign.  I drank at all the water stops and gradually moved from water to Gatorade and added gels after every 5-6 miles beginning at mile 11. The race was a gradual pace decline after I began eating (not helping the dehydration with blood rushing to my stomach) and the last 6 miles I was running much slower on cramped quads.  Once I committed to finishing, however I was programmed to finish no matter how much pain I was feeling.  After crossing the finish line, I guzzled a few chocolate milks and that put me over the edge.  My body/stomach did not feel right so I visited the med-tent to be checked out.  My blood sodium levels were within the safe range but my potassium levels were high (Hyperkalemia) and my blood pressure was very low.  I felt better after some water and after looking around the tent, thought I was in a much better state compared to the rest, so I left without any treatment.  After greeting my friends and family my physical state went downhill.   I hopped on a bus with a close friend while my family headed back on their own. Soon after arriving to the hotel, I was sent to the hospital to be treated for severe dehydration and hyperkalemia which is risky to the heart. 

The lessons I learned in my first marathon were; Listen to both body and mind.  It’s more courageous and wise to know when to stop rather than finish and risk ones health to reach an athletic goal. Everyone can have a bad day or race, we are all human. I’ve had many great races and plenty of not so great ones; it's all part of racing.  The "poor" races have actually taught me more than the great ones.  There is a limit to what our bodies can take and to know when to save it for another day.  Family and friends are the most valuable, period, and we should keep them at the top of our priorities and think twice about making risky personal decisions that may negatively affect them in the end.   Mental preparation is often more valuable than physical preparation and this is the area I could have focused more on in my marathon preparation.  My marathon pace ended up slower than most of my long training runs and those were run at a comfortable pace.  Dehydration will seriously limit physical performance and physical suffering!  Hyperkalemia is a rare condition for most people but more common for longer endurance events where dehydration occurs.  Take the time to learn more about the crucial electrolytes in our body and how to keep them all in balance particularly for longer endurance events.  

Well, 26.2 miles down.  Hugely valuable insight gained. Now it’s time to rest and recover.  My quads are hurting way more than my ego right now!  Special thanks to my friends and family that supported me during and after the marathon; Sarah Carrier, Bradley Gates, Christina Chadwick Bennett, Dawn and Jay Cobak and Chris Nolan and his family for a fun evening dinner distraction after a long day.   

Cross-training vs. pure running.

I've been asked this question a few times; Why spend time biking, swimming, strength training or performing any cross-training session when can I spend more time running?  The answer really depends on the individual.  The primary focus of new to relatively new endurance athletes should be to improve aerobic capacity.  Teaching the body to tap into fat as a primary fuel source (rather than sugar) is critical in building a solid cardiovascular foundation before performing anaerobic work.  If an athlete has been running consistently for many years (10+) and volume has remained relatively constant, then yes, adding more running volume or speed work is likely the best option to take that runner to the next level. This runner is likely reaching the limits of their genetic potential and therefore needs to spend more time running to improve running economy.

The next few questions I would ask an individual would be; Have you been injured recently or in the past year during higher volume/intensity training? Have you encountered severe burnout or fatigue for long periods of time, or experienced periods of excess stress, depression or anxiety?  Did you peak in the spring with PR’s then remain at the same level the entire summer even with track sessions and frequent weekend races?

Aerobic training is far less stressful than anaerobic training which, if not prescribed or executed correctly can overload the adrenal system, increasing cortisol release; leading to staleness, burnout or injury. All of these side effects can sideline a runner and keep them from continuous improvements.  Our bodies thrive when focusing on aerobic development and the balance of hormones keeps us happy and feeling refreshed after nearly every workout.

Most of the athletes I work with, including myself, are not at the elite level in running performance.  Therefore, building aerobic conditioning should be the primary focus, particularly, for athletes focusing on distances over the 5K.  If we keep adding run volume and our body absorbs this increase, we probably have great running mechanics, durability or a unique hormone profile which helps us to a speedy recovery.  If however, we are prone to injury or burnout, as running volume/intensity increases, then why not add some low impact cross-training to our total training volume to  improve aerobic capacity which can transfer to other sports?   Example; I have a friend that had been purely cycling for most of his life and then took up running for cross-training. Within 3 months he was running 6:05 minute pace for a 5 mile run.  Was this likely due to his 3 months spent running or to his 12+ years spent cycling and improving aerobic conditioning?

In addition, adding drills, core work or full-body strength moves have been proven to increase durability and running economy, particularly for longer distances.   Of course, spending loads of time in the weight room will increase muscle mass, power and durability but is also likely to take away from valuable run-time. However, incorporating a few short (~15-20 minute) strength sessions each week should be a staple in any endurance training plan.

Adjusting to race day weather that does not match hopes or expectations.

We sit in our offices, doing errands, hanging with friends or out for our daily workout and in the back of our mind we ponder our goal race event coming in a few months, weeks or days. We project all our hard work coming to a peak, doing the little things; following a nutrition plan, completing our long runs, purchasing the right gear, tapering, testing fueling or working on just about anything we can think of. Then as race day nears the weather outlook turns grim. The prediction of a high temperature day can prompt feelings of panic or disappointment and annoyance after having worked so hard for this one day. 

How does one focus knowing our A, B or even C goal may be in jeopardy? The first goal to limit such anxiety is to stay in the moment.  Weather predictions can be wrong.  I’ve watched weather change from a downpour to clear skies within minutes of starting an event and also experienced a downpour right at the start without such predictions.  The second goal should be to adapt and prepare for such conditions, proper hydration leading up to the event, fueling and hydrating during the event including salt intake for longer events and even clothing considerations; the type of material can be key to improving sweat wicking and reduce sun exposure. Think light, white and little covering (although material can help shield from intense rays in extremely sun-intense environments).  Lastly, it is critical to adjust race pace early on to account for increased body temperature as the day progresses.

The goals and expectations may change for this event but all the hard work building up to the event is not a waste.  If you take it easier this day, the improvement in fitness will provide confidence that you can reach a new level with smart training.  Finishing an event in hot weather is a huge victory in learning how to prepare for such harsh conditions in training or racing events.  The experience and gain in wisdom is immensely valuable and equally is the realization that one day does not define you nor is it the secret to finding happiness. As always, when a race day turns sour due to unexpected events, to keep life in perspective, avoid taking yourself too seriously.

First bike fitness test of the season following base training block.

Most of my blog entries have been about my perspective on training and tools to go about improving endurance. Occasionally, I will post some personal training workouts, fitness tests or race reports. Below is my first field test of the season.

I've been training consistently for the past 3 weeks, running 17 or more miles on each Sunday accumulating roughly; 40 miles of  running, 80-120 miles of biking, 3-4 miles of swimming and 1-2 hours of functional strength work.  Most of my aerobic training has been spent below my MAF heart rate determination of 147 bpm.  The few hard efforts have felt great but required a few days of easier training to recover from the intensity.  This past Saturday I was able to test my fitness on the bike during an indoor computrainer race over a 6 mile rolling course.  I went out conservatively for the first 2 minutes and kept my heart rate around 162 bpm, roughly 90% of my max heart rate. My average wattage was 357 and I weighed in at 167 lbs.  This equates to 4.7 watts/Kg and is a great sign my fitness is coming along without doing much anaerobic work. Having accomplished my goal, I can go back to base training to absorb the effort and prepare for my first duathlon of the season.

Bike-run brick workouts

Many of us live and train where cold weather and short days limit our outside cycling for a few months out of the year. To improve fitness we can utilize combined bike/run indoor to outdoor workouts. Here are a few aerobically challenging workouts that add variety. 

Endurance session;  This is a great session for an indoor bike and treadmill. The constant change from bike to run helps our legs adapt to transitioning in multisport events. Keep heart rate at ~71-75% of Max HR. If you only have an hour, this workout could be shortened to 10/10/10/10/10 but keep the disciplines in the same order. This session is as follows; 20 minute bike/20 minute run/20 minute bike/20 minute run/20minute bike.  If you have power on the bike record average watts and distance covered on the run.

Lactate threshold-boosting session; On an indoor stationary bike or trainer, perform 15-20 minute easy warm-up including 3 x 1 minute single leg riding and a few high cadence spinning intervals, spin easy for 2 minutes before performing 10-15 x 1 minute at 105% of FTP (average functional threshold power in watts during a 20 minute bike TT) with 1 minute easy spinning between each speed interval. After the last 1 minute interval, hop off the bike and run a 3.1, 5 or 6.2 mile loop at tempo pace or ~30-45 seconds above race pace for each distance selected.  The length of the run depends on your level of development or goal race distance (sprint, olympic, half, etc).

Perform each of these sessions in a week with the other training days being easier endurance or functional strength training sessions.

Building your aerobic engine.

To continue with the ongoing theme of this blog I encourage the reader to review previous entries and follow along with the steps outlined in each entry over time. Reading these entries consecutively will give a clearer understanding of the big picture for long term-improvement I am aiming to project.

Once you have a handle on priorities, a schedule of upcoming races, a fitness plan, a positive perspective, a mantra to draw strength from, you have incorporated core strength workouts; it is then time to focus on effectively improving aerobic endurance.  If you are competing in running events of 5K to marathon, bike races, triathlons and duathlons etc., the primary emphasis in your training should be on improving aerobic endurance, more often termed your aerobic engine. 

There are numerous sites that go into training zones and how your body utilizes fat and glycogen as fuel sources or the percentages of lactate produced in each zone, VO2 Max%, or % of Max HR, etc, but to keep it simple, I will focus on Max HR%, considering most heart rate monitors use this as a reference.  However, to understand Zone 2, we still need to be aware of the 5 heart rate training zones and they will differ in some literature but these are the zones I utilize to assign heart rate for myself and other athletes I work with.

Zone 1; (50-65% of Max HR) Breathing very easy, a pace one can do for hours.  This zone is great for long, slow endurance base building or short recovery workouts of ~20-40 minutes to flush metabolic waste from a previous workout. If you can work out for a large block, ~3-8 hours/day, you are one of the lucky few to have the opportunity of training in this zone all day long (and take naps after eating a huge meal).

Zone 2 (66-75% of Max HR): This zone is where a person with a busy schedule (able to train 6-12 hours a week) should spend 50-85 percent training during most of the training phases after building an aerobic base with work in zone 1 (more on this later). In zone 2, we are burning mostly fat (~85%) and the rest glycogen (~15%).  Some lactate is produced in this zone but not enough to hinder recovery after ~ 8-24 hours if the workout is kept under 60-90 minutes, for more advanced athletes and even under 45 minutes, for many beginners.  The beauty of training in this zone is it will improve; fat utilization, lactate threshold (gradually), capillary development and it will strengthen the heart to deliver nutrients more efficiently. 

Zone 3: (76-80% of Max HR) Tempo pace, comfortably hard, but less than max effort (or 5K to 10K pace) while your body is burning both fat and glycogen at nearly equal levels.  This is described as a pace that can be typically held for 30-60 minutes in most workouts. Great for building strength and improving lactate threshold for longer races and workouts need to be carefully planned as too much training in this zone can lead to breakdown. This zone has similar improvements as Zone 2 but more taxing with the increased lactate production and increased use of glycogen.

Zone 4: (80-91% of Max HR) 5K or 10K running pace for most, unless a person's lactate threshold is lower compared to the majority.  Use this zone sparingly 1-2 times per week at most.  In triathlon training, this zone can be utilized a bit more frequently compared to an athlete that focuses on one sport.  Still this zone is very taxing, and if done too often can lead to over-training or injury.  This is the next most important training zone for race preparation and I will talk about this zone in more detail in a future blog entry as the race season approaches.

Zone 5 a, b and c: (92-100%)  This zone is rarely used in longer endurance events except during a sprint finish.  We can train in this zone briefly at different stages of training cycles with short quality sessions but should spend very little time compared to other training zones. It can be used in short duration to build fast twitch fibers and does build endurance moderately (compared to the other zones).  *One of my favorite quality sessions includes 30 second intervals in Zone 5a, followed by 4.5 minutes of active rest.

Back to Zone 2; by targeting this zone during most workouts we are using the most effective workout in terms of gaining aerobic fitness with the least amount of risk to our health (getting injured or overtraining).  Mark Allen (a multiple ironman winner) and numerous successful endurance athletes touch on the importance of training in this zone and the effectiveness of building a large aerobic engine before moving onto tempo intervals (Zone 3) and then race-paced interval work (Zones 3-4). 

For simplicity in finding your zone 2 heart rate range, use the Karvonen method (taken from Wikipedia); 

First, take 220-your age to get approximate max HR.  In this example 220-38 = 182

The Karvonen method factors in resting heart rate (HR_rest) to calculate target heart rate (THR), using a range of 50–85% intensity:

THR = ((HR_max − HR_rest) × % intensity) + HR_rest

Example for someone with a HR_max of 182 and a HR_rest of 42:

50% Intensity: ((182 − 42) × 0.50) + 42 =  112 bpm

*75% Intensity: ((182 − 42) × 0.75) + 42 =  147 bpm (beats per minute)*

85% Intensity: ((182 − 42) × 0.85) + 42 =  161 bpm

*Another recommendation is to add 5 beats to this number if you tend to have a higher heart rate max compared to the average calculation of 220-age.

For this individual, workouts spent training in zone 2 would be at or close to 147 bpm on most days. This will allow the athlete to stress the aerobic system enough but with less risk to over-train and improve fat-utilization (large supply) and use less glycogen (limited supply). Ultimately, this will require less time for the athlete to recover and allow them to get back to the next training session more frequently without carrying over significant fatigue.

Creating your mantra.

We spend considerable amounts of time improving our physical fitness, purchasing race equipment, sighing up for races, finding travel arrangements etc, but our mental focus and preparation is often neglected. There are numerous ways to draw inspiration in tackling a challenging training session or competing at our best in races.

While some need external or internal sources to get the adrenaline pumping others require the calming of nerves to stay focused.  For the over-stimulated and unmanageable-nervous type, I recommend mantras with calming words.  Create your own statement/verse such as; “I am calm, relaxed and at peace.”,   “I am focused”, “I am prepared” or “I will do my best and be satisfied with the outcome.”  Or one word mantras; “calm”, “relaxed”, “ready”, or “focused”.  As you repeat this mantra be mindful and focus on your breathing.  Also, repeat this statement and write it down; “When I use the mantra (X), my body relaxes, my mind is focused and I am ready to engage any challenges.”  Regardless of the word, find something similar to these positive phrase examples.  Create positive associations with your mantra so you program your body to respond the way you want it to in those situations.  Use this mantra months before your goal event and during challenging workouts and teach your body to associate control and relaxation when going at hard efforts. 

Conversely, keeping up with negative thoughts of being nervous or stressed before events or workouts may reinforce these feelings when you arrive at your goal event or workout.  Replace the negative with your positive mantra and your body will respond positively.  Also, write down how you aim to feel on race day.  Create the image in your mind of the race unfolding positively before you go to bed for a few nights or on nights if you begin to over-think the race. Visualize the race unfolding positively at each stage of the event. The more you practice with both mantras and visualization, the easier it will become to stay focused and relaxed when race day arrives.