Stop Running Long on Sunday.

Stop Running Long on Sunday
by Rich Strauss of Endurance Nation 

Many Ironman athletes, training plans, and coaches schedule the weekly long run on Sunday after a long bike on Saturday. The reason is often given as “you need to practice running on tired legs.”

This is NOT a good idea and here’s why:
A long run on tired legs is just another opportunity to practice running slowly on tired legs vs running more quickly on fresher legs. The best way to become a faster runner is to create opportunities in your training week for you to…run faster, not slog through a run on wooden legs!

The recovery cost of a long run done on Sunday, for example, after a long Saturday bike is much greater than that same run done mid-week. The net is that Monday, often Tuesday, and sometimes Wednesday’s workouts begin to become compromised, especially as that weekend volume gets up to a 4-6hrs long bike on Saturday and 2.5-3hr long run.

Any long run in training will have at least an hour or more where your legs feel Ok. That is, they feel like you’re starting a long run after a long bike the day before. Contrast this to Ironman race day, where you’re coming right off a 112 mi bike after a 2.4mi swim. After you get your legs back a bit, by about mile 6 or 7, your legs will now feel like, at best, about mile 15 of your best long run…then it just gets harder. My point is that your tired legs on Sunday long run isn’t even close to what it’s going to feel like on race day…so why bother?

By separating the long bike from the long run:
The long run can now accommodate some get-faster work.

We can separate the long run from the long bike with a no-legs day on Friday.

We weight the cycling to the weekend. A 3hr semi-long ride on Sunday has a MUCH lower recovery cost than a hard 2.5hr Sunday run = much lower chance that it, and it’s combination with the Saturday ride, will affect your early week workouts the following week.

     Finally, it may create a social opportunity for you on the bike on Sunday — a Sunday ride with friends. Riding with other athletes, especially those stronger than you, is a very, very valuable opportunity that we encourage our athletes to seek out.

EN provides training plans and articles on triathlon and the endurance lifestyle.
Visit EN at Endurance Nation.

Coach's Corner - with Todd Parker

Hydration and Supplementation of Key Electrolytes
for the Endurance Athlete

by Coach Todd Parker, M.A., M.S.


Countless times each season, athletes inform me
“I had a great race until I cramped up”, or
“I was racing phenomenally until I “bonked"!”

These experiences occur with elite level athletes as well as the beginner.
What areas of hydration and supplementation could be derailing your potential breakthrough racing performances?

Hydration during training and racing.
    The typical endurance athlete (assuming they are beginning in an adequately hydrated state) has a sweat rate (or loses water) of approximately 50 ounces (1.5 liters) per hour. An athlete performing at a moderate to high intensity, may be losing somewhere between 32 – 64 ounces (2-4lbs.) an hour.
The 165lb. (75kg) athlete, can easily loose 2% of their bodyweight per hour.

Without adequately replacing a sizeable portion of this loss, significant performance decline will begin to occur.

If your hydration rate is just barely enough to stave off a noticeable performance decline, then you’ll likely experience muscular contraction, cramping, or even dizziness issues late in the race.

If you’ve ever experienced any of these symptoms during training or racing, then you need to take a hard look at what your nutritional and hydration intake was over the previous 24 hours, especially the few hours leading up to the event.

Electrolyte loss.
   You’ll often hear people comment, “it was probably an electrolyte deficiency”. Generally, that normally means one or more of what I call “the big four” are imbalanced.

   The four key electrolytes that most often contribute to muscular spasms, cramping, and even locking up from a failure of the contract-relax cycle are; sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

Once an imbalance or deficiency surfaces by the symptoms just mentioned, other minerals and chemical bonds are broken away and diverted to rectify the imbalance. Subsequently, all of these series of “rescue attempts” result in diminishing returns of muscular contractile functions. Until adequate replenishment of water and these key minerals are back to a homeostatic or normal stable state, normal muscular contractions will be erratic or even nonexistent in the worst cases.

So what should the athlete do at the onset of calf cramping on the bike or run?
Hit the fluids hard and consistent for the following hour in hopes of getting things under control. Hard and consistent means a few good gulps of your beverage every 10 to 15 minutes - totaling a 16-20 ounce bottle within the hour.

Whether or not the cramping continues beyond that, continue this consistency until the training or racing is over.

“I got so caught up in the race, I forgot to drink Coach.”
    I recommend having an alarm on your watch or heart rate monitor set to beep every 10 minutes. If this consistency doesn’t fix the problem, then we have to revamp our hydration and nutrition regimen leading up to and including race day.

Until you can eliminate these symptoms, you will have to continue to experiment with the volume and “strength” of your fluids during training. The best time to do this is during training that is at race intensity and distance, or "race simulation".

Once you find a product and intake level that works for you, stick with it, don’t alter things (i.e. mix concentrations beyond recommendations), and never ever try new products on race day!

Bottom line, if you’re experiencing symptoms of electrolyte imbalance(s), experiment with other products that have higher mineral content, as well as your intake volume and intervals - until you fix the problem. Otherwise, you’ll continue to fall short of your optimal performance potential until you do.

Train and race smart, and Hydrate that Body in order to meet your goals and expectations.

Good luck!
Coach Parker

(Next Coach's Corner -Tips on amounts of these electrolytes you should be looking for in products out on the market, and how intake changes as the endurance event gets longer and longer!)

Monday Motivation - "Cause I want more!"

For all endurance athletes out there...
Here are some lyrics, by Young The Giant, to pump you up during those
tough training sessions or nearing the end of your race!

"My body tells me no
 but I won't quit
cause I want more
cause I want more!"

Have a listen, if you dare, and see if it doesn't get stuck in you head and make your playlist!

Comment with your favorite song(s) that gets you pumped for training or racing!

Strengthen and Stretch your Calves

If you are an active athlete, multisport or single sport, you more than likely have experienced soreness or tightness in your calves at some point in training or racing.

 Anoop T. Balachandran, of Exercise Biology - The Science of Exercise, helps explain the calf muscle and
"How to Build and Stretch your Calf Muscle"


              What are the different calf muscles?

Gastrocnemius: Gastroc is the muscle which has two heads and is visible from outside as two diamond heads. Gatsroc has 2 functions: Bending the knee and raising your heel.

Soleus: Soleus lies beneath the gastroc and is not really visible.
The soleus performs just one function of raising the heel as in calf raises.



How to build your soleus and gastroc muscles?

You can emphasize the soleus or the gastroc with different exercises and stretches.
Here we use the concept of active and passive insufficiency.


Seated Calf Raises: Seated calf raises target the soleus more than the gastroc since gastroc is almost inactive during bent knee exercises.

The gatsroc is already used when the knee is bent and hence it cannot work to raise the heels. This is called the principle of active insufficiency.

Standing Calf Raises: On the other hand, standing calf raises emphasizes both the gastroc and soleus equally well.

How to stretch your soleus and gastroc muscle?


Straight Knee: Straight knee primarily stretches the gastroc.

Bent Knee: Bent Knee stretches target more of the soleus since the gastroc muscle is contracted.

Practical Applications

Straight leg exercises target both the soleus and gastroc muscles. Seated calf raises only target the soleus muscle.

Straight knee stretches target the gastroc muscle while bent knee stretches target the soleus

Foam Roller Exercises - If you RUN you need to read this!

   It's often said

 "A picture is worth a thousand words"
    If running is part of your training, the following exercises shared by Victor Matt Frazier should become part of your training regimen.

   You can see more of Matt's great articles at his site NoMeatAthlete

Foam Roll Exercises -

   For foam roll exercises, roll back and forth for 30 seconds to a minute. For tennis ball exercises, find pressure points and keep as much weight as possible on the ball for one minute.
   If you've never done foam rolling before, you may find it painful at first. You should ease into it, doing only as much as is reasonably comfortable. It should become much less painful after a few sessions.

Quads - Cross your legs so that most of the weight is on one leg. After rolling on one leg, switch to the other. If this is too painful at first, roll on both legs simultaneously.

IT band - Lie on your side and place the tennis ball in a sensitive spot on the outside of your leg near your hip joint. After the desired time, move the ball farther down your leg. Switch legs and repeat.

Hamstrings - Cross your legs so that most of the weight is on one leg. After rolling on one leg, switch to the other.

Calves - Cross your legs so that most of the weight is on one leg. After rolling on one leg, switch to the other.

Glutes – Find a sensitive spot and put as much weight as possible on the ball. After the desired time, move to a new sensitive spot. Switch to the other side and repeat.

Arch - Place the ball under your foot and, with as much weight as possible, move the ball back and forth 50 times. Repeat on other foot.

Front of Shins – Keep as much weight as possible on the roll, not on your hands, while you roll back and forth.

Side of shins - Roll by alternately bringing your knees to your chest and extending your legs. Repeat on other side.

TFL (tensor fasciae latae muscle) – Extend one leg out to side for support. On the other leg, target the very top of your quadriceps near your hip, just outside the center of your leg. Don't skip this one; improper firing of the TFL muscle can cause IT band sydrome and knee pain!

Knee – Lie on the floor and place the ball just above your knee on the inside of your leg. Roll it around to find a sensitive spot and hold.

Adductor – Lie mostly flat and place the roll under your thigh. To roll back and forth, you may need to lift yourself up with your arms a bit.

                                        

Happy Rolling!

Off Season Swim Training - 3 Exercises to Strengthen the Shoulders

     With the multisport season winding down in most areas of the US many triathletes are now thinking of working on improving their swim stroke, and will be spending more time in the pool over the winter months.
     To help you strengthen your shoulders and lessen risk of an overuse injury here are three exercises, shared by trainer LaRue E. Cook of LEC Fitness through Active.com Fitness , to strengthen those shoulders.

#1 "Empty the Can"
This exercise will help work the muscles of your upper back and shoulders. These muscles are instrumental in raising your arm in overhead movements. I recommend using a light weight for this exercise, from two to five pounds.
Start
Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, with relaxed knees (your "relaxed stance"). Hold a single dumbbell in your hand. Place your thumb-side against your thigh.

Exercise
Lift your arm up and out at about a 45-degree angle from your body, pointing your thumb-side down toward the ground as you lift. Think of pouring out a can of soda. Keep your wrist firm (don't bend it as you exercise).

Lift up to shoulder height, pause for a second or two, and then return to the starting position.

Tip: Don't have a small weight at home? Use an actual can of soup or a filled water jug with a handle.

#2 "Draw the Sword"
This is a good exercise for the rotator cuff, one of the shoulder's potential trouble spots.

Start
Start in your "relaxed stance" as mentioned earlier. Place a light dumbbell in one hand and place that hand, palm down, on the opposite thigh (for example, put the thumb of your right hand on your left thigh). Keep your arm straight throughout this exercise.

Exercise
Draw your arm across your body (out and up to above your opposite shoulder). Once your hand has reached a level above your shoulder, return to your starting position.

Perform this exercise slowly. Complete 12 repetitions, and make sure you switch arms.

#3 "Medicine Ball "Alphabet"This is a great exercise to put your shoulder muscles through a full range of motion. This one can be tough, so start out just by going partially through the alphabet, and then work your way up to the full A through Z.

You'll need a medicine ball for this exercise, but don't worry if you don't have access to one. Use something like a gallon jug that's partially to completely full, or fill a bag with sand and weigh it (say one to four pounds, depending on your shoulder strength).

Start
Start in a "relaxed stance." Take the medicine ball and support it in both hands out in front of your body.

Maintain a slight bend to your elbows throughout this exercise.

Exercise

Start "drawing" the alphabet one letter at a time. You do this by rotating your arms,
from the shoulders only, in the pattern of the specific letter, starting with the letter A. Make nice big, full letters with big motion so that your shoulders get lots of work and a full range of motion.

When you first start doing this exercise, it's best to start with a very light weight (say one or two pounds at the most) to see how your shoulders tolerate this exercise. Your letters should range no higher than your head, and no lower than your waist. All letters are formed out in front of your body. Keep those arms straight, with just a slight bend at the elbows.

As with all exercise programs, always check with your physician and a certified conditioning specialist before undertaking any of these exercises.

For more information on LaRue E. Cook and his training programs visit lecfitness.com

Monday Motivation - Victors' shared words "Train To Race or Race To Train?"





        

Is your racing season coming to a close?
Did every race go as you had hoped?
Did you have any injury setbacks?   





Take a step back and remember
"one should not feel that they have failed if they do not post a personal best time, fail to finish the event, or even simply don't show up for the event"

Victor Pete of Balanced Training Solutions  Tuscon Arizona, shares these words of motivation -

"Whether you are training for a triathlon race, a 10k, or a century ride it seems to always help to have a deadline. Those that I train are primarily age group athletes who are excited about improving their fitness and greatly enjoy physically challenging themselves. Some of them enter races and some of them simply train for races and ultimately end up not racing.

I feel that both are totally okay. The race in and of itself is not the end goal for most and probably really shouldn't be unless you are a sponsored professional athlete. The end goal of registering for a race is to get you into the best shape of your life. If registering for an event helps motivate you to train then you have already won.

Of course, most want to finish the event but one should not feel that they have failed if they do not post a personal best time, fail to finish the event, or even simply don't show up for the event. I like to say that the event is more like a celebration of all the hard work you have done up to that point. If the event causes so much anxiety that you would rather not go then that is totally fine if your main goal was to improve your fitness levels, lose weight, feel more confident and so on. The event has already served its purpose.

What you really want to look at is the fact that the event caused sufficient anxiety to get you out of bed for your training. A deadline is often a great motivator especially when you are thinking about long-term goals. If that is the case for you then the registration fee was well worth the cost. Also, you are not a failure or any less of a person if you did not finish the race or failed to show up. Don't beat yourself up over this, rise above the hype of it all, enjoy your training, and by all means go ahead and register for another event if it makes your training take on more of a purpose."

Treadmill Pace Chart - Outdoors running equivalent on a treadmill

Too hot outside to get in your run, or dark outside before you can even start?
As much as we would rather be outside running, at times we have no other choice but to jump on the treadmill to get in our run training.

Here is a nice chart to let you get an approximate equivalent effort of
running on a treadmill (at different inclines) to equal
your running outdoors (on a level surface) pace.

Treadmill pace chart

Thank you to Hillrunner.com

Summer heat is here... Time for Hydration 101

Hydration 101
  article excerpt by Infinit "The First & and; Last Word in Sports Nutrition"

   Do you know how much you should be drinking to stay hydrated
during training or racing?

   Infinit explains a trend it has seen over the past couple of years, the issue...
"Athletes have no idea exactly how much they should be drinking in order to stay hydrated. It is a HUGE component of how you will perform. If you lose 2-3% of your body weight in water loss you will lose 5-15% of your watts (power output). For an athlete that weighs 150 pounds, only a few pounds that will make the difference between a solid result and potential disaster.

Salt does not prevent dehydration or cramping. That is the stuff of urban legend. Salt is a transporter of fluids. You need salt, but only enough to move water out of your gut into your system. The movement of water is the key to prevent dehydration and possibly cramping issues. If you are not drinking enough, I don’t care how perfect your formulation is, you might be in for a long day. For most males the target should be around 375 mg of sodium per hour and females around 325 mg. It should be a blend of electrolytes containing sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. To reiterate, salt is a transporter. You don’t have to overdue electrolyte intake. You only need enough to move the liquids you are putting into your system.

There are two things that you must have in order to train and race efficiently.

DO A SWEAT RATE TEST! How are you going to know how much you need to be drinking if you don’t have a handle on how much you are sweating? Remember, no product in the world is going to prevent you from dehydrating if you are not drinking enough. Your hydration target will vary somewhat depending on the heat and humidity, but this is a crucial component to race day performance.

• Before your workout empty you bladder, and record your weight
• Record how much you drink during the workout
• After the workout, re-empty your bladder and re-weigh yourself
• Take the weight you lost, ADD the amount you drank, then divide by the number of hours you worked out.

That will give you an hourly hydration target. I would do it a few times to have an average. Your hydration target will need to be adjusted somewhat for heat and humidity. But this is key information for performance.

Calorie and electrolyte intake (in a form that is isotonic). Most athletes perform better by not overdoing calories and salt. Rule of thumb is 2 calories per pound of lean body weight. Obviously some people need more and some people need less. Long distance racers typically need more calories per hour than sprint racers. But these are solid starting points based on working with thousands of athletes.

So there it is. With those these small pieces of information you can have a great race.

• Know how many calories per hour you need
• Know how much you need to be drinking per hour
• Put your nutrition in a form that is isotonic

It does not have to be complicated. Remember simple and repeatable. Follow those simple steps and you will perform the way you want with no nutritional issues."

See this full article and many other great nutrition tips and training articles at Infinit Loop

DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) - Victors' shared words

   Sore a day or two after training or a race? Victor and personal trainer Thad the "RunnerDude" from NC says, don't blame Lactate.

So why do you get it?

"DOMS—Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness...we've all had it and we all hate it, but it's a necessary evil in your pursuit for a fitter stronger body. Whether you're a swimmer, a runner, a cyclist, a gym rat, or a combination of them all, you've experienced DOMS. You don't have to be a newbie to fitness to experience DOMS. Anytime you expose your body to new or more intense demands you're more than likely going to experience muscle soreness a day or two after the workout.

   Lactate (a by-product of intense exercise) is often blamed for the muscle soreness, but lactate is not the culprit. Lactate actually isn't the bad guy it's often portrayed to be. A trained athlete can actually use lactate as an energy source. When an athlete pushes him/herself past his/her lactate threshold (such as in an interval workout), the body can no longer clear the lactate fast enough so it builds up and can cause that burning sensation in the muscles eventually fatiguing the muscles causing you to slow down. But if you've ever experienced that burn in an interval workout, you also know that if you slow it back down or stop and walk it off, that burn will eventually subside because the body pretty quickly is able to recoup and clear the excess lactate (usually within 30 minutes). DOMS, however, doesn't happen until the next day or sometimes not even until 2 or 3 days later. So, Lactate, you're off the hook.

   If it's not lactate buildup, then what's the cause of DOMS? If you're a runner, you can probably pin point two types of workouts that might result in DOMS—short fast workouts such as intervals or hillwork and very long slow runs. Downhill running seems to cause the most intense DOMS. Whenever you up-the-ante with duration or intensity, you're putting your muscles under more stress. You're actually causing microscopic damage to the tiny myofibrils that make up the muscle fibers. Don't worry. I know that sounds bad, but it's not. This is actually how muscle becomes stronger. The pain you're feeling the next day or so, is the result of that microscopic muscle damage. But during this time the body sends in the troops and begins to repair the damage. It's this repair process that actually makes the muscle stronger. Because the muscle will be stronger, the next time you apply the same stress that caused the initial DOMS, your muscles will be able to handle the workout and most likely you'll not experience DOMS. That's called adaptation. Your body has now adapted to the intensity level.

   Because your body is an expert at adaptation, it's very important to always mix up your running routine. Have you ever heard someone say, "I run every day, but I can't seem to get any faster. I'm even gaining a little weight." If you dig a littler deeper into this person's running regimen, you'll probably discover that he may have the mileage, but he's running the same distance and the same intensity every time he runs. His body has adapted to this and so he's stagnated. In order to get out of this slump, he needs to mix-it-up by throwing in a tempo run, add some fartleks to a regular run, or add a day of speed work each week such as intervals or hill repeats."

   Now these folkss have some serious DOMS! 
Watch and chuckle, we've all been there...(watch till end, too funny!)