Running - more than a sport

My lack of posts lately...

2012-02-15T00:00:00.001Z

My running has been on-and-off recently, but I'm hitting decent mileage again and things are looking good. Felt awful today and dug out 15 x 400 m, 60 s rest, faster than 5k pace. Hopefully, I'll have a little more to talk about in the coming weeks.

We're getting close to the mileage drop, and the transition into faster track work, with longer recoveries. It's important not to lose sight of the final goal; a bit more work, and the track and road competitions will be coming thick and fast.

Remember that this time will be a worrying time injury-wise, so it might be best to introduce gentle strides, or do a few reps less and get some quality in towards the end of a session, rather than going head-first into this stuff.

Happy training!

The curious case of the iPod runner

2012-02-05T01:30:00.001Z

It seems the same characters turn up to every race. When I see these people, I get lost in thinking about the demographics of those who run. Whilst we are often unsurprised by those who are Lycra-clad and blatant non-runners, there appear to be a collective of people pushing the boundaries of what is decent to wear and do during their race outings. Helpfully, I'm going to give you what will hopefully be an insightful and thoughtful guide into these 'characters' so you are best-prepared for their presence in future events.

Where to start but with the inexperienced newbie who has seen Chariots of Fire the night before race-day, and happens to be so pent-up with pre-race testosterone that even his anti-running engineered Nike Airs are no barrier to first-time success at a road race. After all, the difference between first and last in a 5k is about 15-20 minutes, and what can you do in that interval? Not a lot. By that logic this hero shoots to the front, expecting his forty-odd year taper to pay off. By now the glass is half-empty and filled with lactic acid. But not to worry; stopping at walking is no issue in a 300-strong race. And no sir, there are no drinks stations at 150 metres. And even if there were, you'd still have 100 metres to go.

Another incumbent of the 2011-12 Office of Poor Training is the affectionately-known headphone-wearer. I'm not sure, but from my limited sample size of about four-thousand, it seems that anyone who races with iPods in particular has an intertwined sense of what I like to call maldirection. It's on par with a sat-nav telling you to drive across a canal to reach your destination, and some people do it without even thinking. What I am getting at is the sheer effort by some to zig-zag, corner-cut, and barge through because music makes them some sort of pseudo-god. It seems that getting to the finish line as soon as possible is more important than not being disqualified. The case of other runners being present is merely a curve-ball. Like a scene from Armageddon, if you're in this guy's path, then God help you.

If you've got to here, then you probably agree with what I have said thus far. Now is a good time for a break; it's been a pretty intense couple of paragraphs, and you've done well. If you're here for any other reason, you're probably one of the aforementioned runners. In which case: no, the rest of this post will not make you feel any better about yourself.

It's quite easy to search for flaws in things that seem relatively innocuous; a few times I've used what I refer to as my 'exponential moaning theory'. Simply put, the less there is to moan about, the more things we find that annoy us, and the worse they become. People who run alongside one another are fine examples of this. They can only be described as akin to wormholes in space; determined to throw you off-track, for no apparent reason. But this strain of antisocial runners has plumbed new depths - pace teams.

Now, pace teams are in theory a good idea, but they are sort of made redundant thanks to the people that use them. Generally, the group of people following the pacer are ridiculously optimistic, and flounder in the latter stages. We might have a need for fast lanes in races before long, just like the lorry overtakes lorry issue on motorways (Americans, read: highways, Germans: Autobahns). And don't even get me started on the pacers! How often do you see the faster pacer blow up and be overtaken by the others?

I must finish here I'm afraid, but should you want to suggest more or just complain, feel free to comment, e-mail, or tweet me. Happy running!

Savour your running

2012-02-04T23:19:00.001Z

Not running is no fun. Last week I took Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. I returned on Tuesday with a 10k tempo run (which was about 10k pace, and felt easy). This was followed by a 9 mile run on Wednesday. The following day, a 4 mile warm-up gave me some discomfort, so I decided to call it a day and not do the track session. A bit of a shame, but I probably wasn't completely over Helsby HM two weeks ago tomorrow. Looking to test the waters with 16 miles easy and see how it goes.

Feel free to tweet me with what you do when injured. Do you stress, or relax and get away from the routine? Or do you risk it?

Targets for 2012

2012-01-26T23:34:00.001Z

I thought it best that I post some medium-term targets on here in preparation for an exciting year of racing ahead. Last year my best event was easily my single 5k at Capenhurst, so it makes sense to start with that event and work up the distances.

5k
Current - 17:02
Also ran 17:02 in training during a high-mileage week in December.
Target - 16:40

5 mile
Current - 29:06 (not UKA certified)
Target - 28:00

10k
Current - 36:43
Previous bests - 36:50, 37:50
Target - 35:00

10 mile
Target - 58:30

Half-marathon
Current - 82:05 (windy, more like 79 mins)
Target - 77:00

I think these are definitely achievable and hopefully will be achieved in the coming months.

Later on I'll post my track targets, depending of course on how much track racing I choose to do through the spring and summer.

I would be interested on hearing anyone's targets for 2012 - tweet me or e-mail me (see my profile for info).

Helsby half-marathon - a brief summary

2012-01-23T22:54:00.001Z

So, it's the day after a windy day in Helsby tackling the Essar Four Villages Half Marathon. Calves feel quite tight today, but an easy jog helped slightly.

The course had a slight change this year; mile two incorporated a more direct, steep uphill, and this had to be made up with a start further inside the social club. The race started fine but it was head-on into the wind after the third mile. I dropped about 20 seconds on that mile alone. After a brief chat with the lead lady I went through 5 miles in about 30:45 and felt comfortable.

The wind continued to gust hard and quite randomly, making it difficult to pace. Eventually I saw the clock at mile 10, going through in approximately 62:35. This was a bit of a surprise considering I'd already put in a 6:46 mile. The wind wasn't getting any better, and with the open nature of the course, worse was to come.

It seemed like the wind was cancelling out the downhills and after 11 miles of hard effort in the gale I couldn't capitalise on them to duck under 82 minutes, finishing in a hard-fought 82:05, but still a little surprised.

Not a bad first half-marathon outing, but I can't wait for a calm and flat one to see if I can get 78 minutes.

Fartlek is underrated - try these sessions

2011-12-31T19:57:00.000Z

This is the second of three posts on less-commonly-used track workouts, which I would highly recommend for any distance runner, including marathoners. Note that these can also be done on road, and on trails if you fancy a mental and physical break from training.

Following on from my last post, which covered raw speed, speed endurance, and intervals, it makes sense to cover other aspects of so-called 'quality training'. These sessions together make up the smallest volume of mileage, typically less than 15-20 % on a conventional training schedule.

Fartlek
Fartlek is Swedish for 'speed-play' as 90 % of runners seem to know. However, considering the number of people that know what it means linguistically, just a minority seem to actually understand what it is, and what it does for you.

A basic summary of fartlek

Fartlek is effectively periods of intense running interspersed with easy running. The periods of intense running usually vary in length, pace, and effort throughout the run. Below I'll discuss the two main approaches to fartlek that we tend to encounter.

Unstructured fartlek

The first approach is the unstructured fartlek run. It is a very simple idea; go out for an easy run, and at desired points up your pace to whatever you feel like, for however long you like. There are no restrictions and the freedom of training how you want can be refreshing.

For this reason, unstructured fartlek is normally measured in time rather than pace; alternating from an easy pace to 800 m pace makes it difficult to glean anything useful from average pace. I recommend trying this out on easy weeks to get away from hard training weeks, and on trails or hilly routes (see below).

Structured fartlek

The second approach is structured fartlek. As fartlek evolved it made sense to coaches to keep a few factors contstant - typically the time or distance of each lift in pace. This makes fartlek measurable and allows you to track progress.

This is why I prefer the structured fartlek: you can run 200 m at 5-10 km pace, 200 m easy, and cycle through that for 40-50 mins, giving you confidence at race pace and also training your body to adapt to a moving recovery.

You can build up from as little as 10-15 mins up to however long you like, and then focus on increasing the pace of the faster periods. To avoid running too fast, increase the speed of the easy jog to give yourself a restricted recovery.

Suggested fartlek sessions

Here are some ideas for fartlek sessions at race pace:

200 m at 5 km pace, 200 m at easy pace - for 20-40 mins
300 m at 10 km pace, 100 m at easy pace - for 30-45 mins
400 m at target 10 km pace, 400 m at a steady pace - run 8-12 km
1, 2, 3, 5, 3, 2, 1 mins at 5 km pace, with 2 mins jog between each effort or equally;
300, 600, 900, 1500, 900, 600, 300 metres at 5 km pace, with 200 m jog between each effort (take 100 m off each effort if you're slower than 25 mins for 5 km).

Fartlek and hills together

Fartlek can be integrated with hilly routes to give you a quality workout. Run hard up the hill and jog down the other side for recovery. This is valuable because fast downhill running is not recommended for long periods as it places stress on the joints.

Questions about fartlek? Ask me on Twitter, or contact me by e-mail (see my profile).

Interval sessions are important - no, essential!

2011-12-30T21:48:00.000Z

This is the first of two or three posts on track workouts, which I would highly recommend for any distance runner, including marathoners.

Interval sessions are fantastic ways to improve raw speed, speed endurance, running technique, anaerobic threshold, and VO2 max. Here are some basic speed work and interval sessions to get you started.

Raw speed
If you want to improve your raw speed, you should be doing short intervals with long recoveries. A full recovery ensures that you can get to near full speed. If you are not getting your legs moving fast enough, you won't get the benefits of improved speed. Sprinting is in itself plyometric, which means that you need to be minimising your contact times with the ground, and pushing off with near-maximal effort to stress the correct muscles and tendons.

A good session is 6 x 40-60 m and can allow you to focus on correct technique, and these can be lengthened to 100 m accelerations over time. Doing too many reps will impair your ability to maintain a high speed. This can be done before an interval session, whilst you are fresh, to get maximal speed.

Speed endurance
To improve speed endurance, there are two options; longer intervals, generally around 600 m - 1 000 m, with decent recoveries (anywhere from 4-8 mins depending on what time in the season it is, and the targeted event), or shorter repetitions such as 200s or 400s with 2-4 mins recovery. Remember that the length of recovery depends on your level of fitness and the event you are training for.

If you are aiming for 800 m, you might want to opt for a session such as 8 x 200 m, with 3 mins recovery. Running at approximately 85-90 % effort should leave you tired, but able to complete the session faster than 800 m pace.

Preparing for heats
Often you will need to race twice or more in a day. This is more common with track, so events such as 800 m place a big demand on your body both physically and mentally. To prepare yourself, running two 800 m efforts at a few seconds slower than race pace will help get you used to these conditions.

Take 10 or more minutes between the two efforts to allow a fast pace during both efforts, and ideally run it in a group to replicate race conditions. Warm up before each repetition as your muscles will cool down soon after an effort.

Soon I will write about fartlek sessions and tempos, plus tempo intervals. In the meantime, I would appreciate feedback which you can do via the comments, on Twitter, or via e-mail (see my profile). Thanks.

Helsby half-marathon (Four Villages)

2011-12-29T18:02:00.000Z

Recently I ran the Helsby half-marathon course with a friend. If anyone is running the Helsby half-marathon and would like to view the course or elevation stats, they can do so by clicking here (Garmin Connect Web site).

The course is mostly a gradual uphill until around the ten mile mark, which is the highest point. It's then a steep downhill which levels out not far before the finish.

I was lucky enough to get a number-swap a couple of weeks ago, so I am just waiting for confirmation of my place. I can't wait to race my first half as it will be a new experience for me.

If you are running it, I will see you on race day!

Yazoo as a recovery drink

2011-12-28T18:26:00.000Z

It’s very easy to go out and buy a protein shake, an energy drink, a box of energy gels, or another exercise-related meal or drink. There is, however an ideal ratio of carbohydrates to protein, and also an ideal window in which to use it.

What are my options?

There are high-end, formulated recovery drinks such as ZipVit or Torq (which I use), but a good alternative can be found in local supermarkets and online. The main advantage of formulated drinks over a drink such as Yazoo is the extra components you get. These vary depending on the specific drink, but ribose, L-glutamine, and amino acids are all used to speed up recovery. The general idea is to save the muscle being broken down; by providing the ingredients necessary for recovery, you recovery faster and can train harder the next day, and induce more adaptation from your muscles (see my post on periodisation).

What’s the alternative?

Yazoo, however, has the basics of a good recovery drink. It is low in fat (which can slow the absorption of the drink through the gut wall), has near-enough the ideal ratio of carbohydrates to protein, which is about 4:1, and sits quite well after a hard session. I know this because I used to use it, and being readily available and cheaper than most sports drinks, it was the post-workout drink of choice.

How much do I need?

I found that 500 ml of drink was just right for me. Any more is probably too much and will leave you feeling a bit ill. If you don’t have enough, then the benefits will be limited. I would experiment with servings to see what suits you. You may prefer to go straight to a formulated drink that is specifically designed for recovery, and these usually have estimated servings based on bodyweight.

When should I drink it?

There is a window of 15 to 30 minutes after a session when the body will recover more quickly if the recovery drink is taken in that time. Within about two hours of a session, a full meal is important, with a carbohydrate to protein ratio of about 2:1. It is usually better to eat a meal rather than taking bars or other recovery foods, as they can become a bit boring.

The basics of periodisation for runners

2011-12-22T13:31:00.000Z

Periodisation seems to be accepted by almost everyone as the most effective way to train. If not done properly, athletes will not peak at the right point in their training plan, and will either stagnate or get injured. The best thing you can hope for with periodisation is having the fastest times set during the competition phase in the most important races, and a year-on-year improvement in performance.

Hard-easy principle and supercompensation

The hard-easy principle is based on the idea that a hard session followed by an easy session allows for the body to recover and adapt to the stresses being put on it during periods of intense training. Theoretically, fitness is at a low hours after a session, but as the body recovers and adapts, it overcompensates; in other words, it becomes stronger. This phenomenon is called supercompensation. Unfortunately, this newfound fitness does not last forever; within a couple of days it is lost. The only way to maintain or improve fitness is to induce these adaptations again – preferably by another hard session.

Macrocycles

A macrocycle is a training plan that lasts a year, and works towards a competition or target. It is usually broken up into phases: a common method is to have a general preparation phase, a specific preparation phase, a competition phase, and a transition phase.

Mesocycles

A mesocycle is usually around three to six weeks and breaks the training down into smaller blocks. For example, a large phase such as the general preparation phase would most likely concentrate on building the mileage to a target late on in the winter. Mesocycles can manage that change more easily, and also schedule in cutback weeks (or easy weeks).

Microcycles

A microcycle typically lasts a week to ten days, and is planned so as to reflect the phase in which it falls. A typical microcycle would incorporate a tempo or fartlek session, an interval session, a long run, a rest day, and several easy or recovery runs. There are lots of variations on this, particularly on easy weeks, which usually include a drop in mileage and intensity.

Conventional periodisation or reverse periodisation?

An athlete would usually start by working on the aerobic base through the winter, i.e. by doing easy miles and long repetitions at the track (mile repetitions are common throughout this period). They would then drop their mileage and progress to shorter, faster repetitions through the spring, and emphasise speed and recovery through the competition phase (i.e. the summer for most athletes).

Reverse periodisation works the opposite way; the athlete would first focus on maximising raw speed and speed endurance, and over the winter the speed would be maintained and the length of the repetitions increased.

Dynamic stretching before workouts

2011-12-19T20:56:00.000Z

How many people out there actually use dynamic stretching as part of their workout routine? And how many people out there should be doing it? It’s hard to say, but almost certainly anyone doing intense speed sessions, fartleks, or drills.

Aims of the warm-up routine

Some of the main aims of a warm-up and stretching routine before workouts are:

to increase your range of motion
to warm your muscles and elevate your core temperature
to get your aerobic energy system ready for the main session
to maintain weekly mileage (i.e. to keep your proportion of easy to hard miles constant).

Another key benefit of warming up correctly – which is not highlighted enough – is the ability to spot injury concerns before they put you out for a few weeks. On countless occasions I have felt a niggle during the warm-up; imagine the difference in scenarios between me feeling a twinge at 8 minute/miles as opposed to 5 minute/mile pace. By throwing yourself into a speed session, you are potentially going to risk a pulled muscle because you haven’t had chance to diagnose it.

We must also not forget the mental aspect of warming up. I believe that a gentle warm-up gives you the opportunity to think ahead to the session and what you are trying to accomplish. You should know yourself what the aim of the main session is. Everything from the pace, who you’ll be running with, and your energy levels or injury concerns can be considered in the 10-30 minutes prior to the session. If you’ve been working that day, time to switch to running and focus can only improve your training performance.

What sort of dynamic stretches are necessary?

Any warm-up for a track session, tempo run, fartlek, or any other moderately intense session requires running-specific stretches. Often, this are exaggerated movements designed to increase the range of motion in the relevant muscles. An example routine would be:

Light skipping (forwards, left, right) – skip gently and gradually move up onto your toes, making use of the movement your ankles to push into the air
Lunges (forwards, backwards) – stand straight with legs shoulder-width apart, take a large step forward, and allow the knee of the trailing leg to come close to the ground, but not touch it. Do not allow the front knee to get ahead of the toes. Bring trailing leg forwards or backwards depending on your direction and repeat on opposite leg
High knees – jog for a few metres and then lift legs to approximately waist-height and aim for height rather than distance. Start off slow and get progressively faster, but stay light on your feet
Kick-backs – jog for a few metres and then bring heels deliberately higher, without kicking yourself. Gradually increase the speed towards the end, but stay light on your feet
Side-skips with clap (left, right) – whilst side-skipping, bring your arms in a circular motion from your sides to above your head. Try to time these with push-offs for a synchronised jump and clap
Shoulder shrugs (backwards, forwards) – in a circular motion, shrug your shoulders backwards, aiming for a full range of motion. There is no need to do these quickly. Repeat in the other direction
Arm swings (backwards, forwards) – swing your arms backwards in a circular motion, aiming for a full range of motion. Repeat in the other direction
Strides – these are short repetitions where you should aim for a nice running technique with good posture and form. You can either do these at a moderate pace for a short distance, e.g. 40-60 metres, or gradually increase the pace over a longer distance until you are running quickly but comfortably for the last 10-20 metres. Do four to six prior a few minutes before the main session. Remember, this is just the warm-up.

So, what is static stretching for?

Static stretching is useful because it allows the muscles to return to their normal length after a run. The aim is to reduce the risk of injury. Static stretching should be preceded by a gentle cool-down run to allow the body’s core temperature to return to normal.

Hopefully this post will encourage you to stretch before and after intense sessions, and to review your current pre- and post-workout routines!