Since my last post my training has been:
FRIDAY 13 JULY ... 8.5 miles (13.7 km) tempo. The plan was to run at about 6:52 per mile (4:16 per km) but I can't say I was looking forward to it because of the strong winds. Half way through I felt very good - and the wind was proving to be no problem at all - so I just continued at the same pace and finished in 57:23 (6:45 per mile/4:12 per km). Really pleased with that.
SATURDAY 14 JULY ... just an 8 mile (13 km) recovery run.
SUNDAY 15 JULY ... hill reps up (and down) Newall Carr Bank just to the north of Otley. Fourteen times, not excessive but that will increase to twenty by the middle of August.
Today also marks the beginning of proper training again after three weeks recovery from the ULTRArace 100. If you haven't read it yet, my report is here. Only eight weeks now to the World Championships which will be five weeks training and three weeks tapering. The next five weeks (running) training will be:
MONDAY 16 JULY ... long run fartlek (25 miles/41 km)
TUESDAY 17 JULY
WEDNESDAY 17 JULY ... long run (28 miles/45 km)
THURSDAY 19 JULY ... steady (9 miles/15 km)
FRIDAY 20 JULY ... tempo (9 miles/14 km)
SATURDAY 21 JULY ... steady (9 miles/15 km)
SUNDAY 22 JULY
MONDAY 23 JULY ... long run (39 miles/63 km)
TUESDAY 24 JULY
WEDNESDAY 25 JULY
THURSDAY 26 JULY ... tempo (8 miles/13 km)
FRIDAY 27 JULY
SATURDAY 28 JULY ... 200m reps
SUNDAY 29 JULY ... steady (6 miles/10 km)
MONDAY 30 JULY ... long run fartlek (26 miles/42 km)
TUESDAY 31 JULY ... long run (29 miles/46 km)
WEDNESDAY 1 AUGUST
THURSDAY 2 AUGUST ... hill reps
FRIDAY 3 AUGUST ... tempo (7 miles/11 km)
SATURDAY 4 AUGUST ... steady (6 miles/10 km)
SUNDAY 5 AUGUST ... 1 mile/1.6 km reps
MONDAY 6 AUGUST
TUESDAY 7 AUGUST ... long run fartlek (27 miles/43 km)
WEDNESDAY 8 AUGUST ... long run (29 miles/47 km)
THURSDAY 9 AUGUST ... steady (6 miles/9 km)
FRIDAY 10 AUGUST ... hill reps
SATURDAY 11 AUGUST
SUNDAY 12 AUGUST ... steady (5 miles/9 km)
MONDAY 13 AUGUST ... long run fartlek (27 miles/43 km)
TUESDAY 14 AUGUST ... long run (30 miles/48 km)
WEDNESDAY 15 AUGUST
THURSDAY 16 AUGUST ... hill reps
FRIDAY 17 AUGUST ... tempo (6 miles/10 km)
SATURDAY 18 AUGUST
I'll also try to fit in a few of the upcoming club events:
2.9 mile (4.7 km) handicap on Thursday 19 July
Golden Acre Relay on Wednesday 25 July
1 mile (1.6 km) track race on Thursday 26 July
3000m track race on Thursday 16 August
On to other stuff now.
There's a great new e mag put together by Paul Ali called Ultra Tales and the second edition has just been released. See here for all the details and a great read. And then there's the new book from Tim Noakes (Waterlogged) who argues that the human body is quite capable or regulating it's own hydration and electrolyte status - so long as we don't interfere by doing things such as drinking to excess or ignoring thirst. That book is a fascinating read - see what the fuss is all about here.
Finally let me tell about something which happened on today's training run when four cyclists passed by ...
the first cyclist turned to me and said "100 miles today, Chris ?"
"Not today" I replied.
The second cyclist looked at us both in surprise then said "we are"
the third cyclist then piped up "but we're on bikes, you fool"
the fourth cyclist just laughed as they sped off into the distance.
Showing posts with label Tim Noakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Noakes. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Monday, 31 October 2011
TV ... carbs ... injury
Hope you all watched the program on Channel 4 (UK) on Saturday morning at 7.00am. It was almost an hours worth of coverage from the second Commonwealth Mountain & Ultra Running Championships which took place in Llandudno a few weeks ago (as if you didn't know).
A very good program showing about 20 minutes from each of the three races. If you haven't seen it yet you can find it here. I believe it's available for another four weeks or so and it's well worth watching.
A few days ago there was a brilliant piece on the Sweat Science website about carbohydrate intake during exercise. In a nutshell we used to believe that humans could metabolise a maximum of 60g carbs per hour when running but recent studies have founds that 90g per hour can be achieved if we use 60g glucose and 30g fructose.
I know this isn't such a new idea (it was mentioned in Lore Of Running by Tim Noakes) but this piece reinforces, with me at least, the need to try a mixture of glucose and fructose in my future training and racing.
This afternoon I was at the physio again and the good news is that my ankle injury is much less serious than originally thought. It turns out to be Achilles Tendinopathy and the course of action is a further weeks rest followed by four or five weeks gradually returning to full training. All the while I'll be cycling lots and building up strength and flexibility in both ankles with weights, stretching and eccentric contractions.
A very good program showing about 20 minutes from each of the three races. If you haven't seen it yet you can find it here. I believe it's available for another four weeks or so and it's well worth watching.
A few days ago there was a brilliant piece on the Sweat Science website about carbohydrate intake during exercise. In a nutshell we used to believe that humans could metabolise a maximum of 60g carbs per hour when running but recent studies have founds that 90g per hour can be achieved if we use 60g glucose and 30g fructose.
I know this isn't such a new idea (it was mentioned in Lore Of Running by Tim Noakes) but this piece reinforces, with me at least, the need to try a mixture of glucose and fructose in my future training and racing.
This afternoon I was at the physio again and the good news is that my ankle injury is much less serious than originally thought. It turns out to be Achilles Tendinopathy and the course of action is a further weeks rest followed by four or five weeks gradually returning to full training. All the while I'll be cycling lots and building up strength and flexibility in both ankles with weights, stretching and eccentric contractions.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
fatigue
I've recently been reading a great post on Stuart Mills' blog which is about self expectations and fatigue.
I've been a runner since 1972 and in that time I reckon I've learned quite a lot about myself - most of it since 2005 when I decided to try ultra marathons.
For me, self expectation is derived from training. Over the years I've found that generally my mental strength is very good and that I'm usually good at sticking to any race plan I may have. Of course, having a race plan in the first place entails estimating my fitness at the time of the race. This estimation is largely built upon knowledge of previous races and comparing the training for them with recent training. If I get this estimate wrong one of two things will happen:
(1) I'll finish the race knowing I could have done better, or
(2) fatigue will develop which will result in the inevitable reduction in speed.
In the above paragraph 'fitness' is not the same as the dictionary definition: "capability of the body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort."
I have found that there is definitely a mental aspect and in ultra running terms I would suggest that a better definition of 'fitness' would be: "preparedness to compete to the best of one's ability." Therefore 'fully fit' would mean 'fully prepared'.
Being prepared naturally involves training the body to meet the physical demands of the race but it also means being aware of, and planning/training for, the other issues that arise in very long races. This is the mental aspect of fitness. If I'm confident that my training has gone well AND my race plan is sound then I know I'll do well. In my last ultra I found that the icing on the cake was having someone unexpectedly tell me before the race that I was capable of winning.
For a long ultra my race plan will involve a knowledge of nutrition, hydration, local weather conditions, course layout (and surface, etc).
The mental aspect also comes into play when one or more aspect of my preparation has been at fault ... of course, I usually don't realise that my preparation was wrong until the last third of the race.
Tim Noakes also provides an insight into fatigue and his definition focuses almost exclusively on the mental aspect (which he calls the Central Governor Theory):
"... the increasing feeling of fatigue and the progressive reduction in the capacity of the exercising muscles to maintain a constant work output during prolonged exercise results from currently unrecognized processes in the brain, which presumably act to prevent bodily harm during such exercise. This model theorizes that performance during exercise is determined by two separate phenomena:
(a) A pacing strategy that is preprogrammed into the athlete's subconscious brain as a result of previous training and racing experiences.
(b) Acute alterations to that preprogrammed strategy resulting from sensory input from a variety of organs - heart, muscle, brain, blood and lungs, among others - to the exercise controller or governor in the brain. Output from the controller to the motor cortex then determines the mass of skeletal muscle that can be activated and for how long, thereby determining the pacing strategy that the subconscious brain adopts during exercise.
At the same time, information is sent from the controller to the emotional and other centers in the brain. These influence the level of discomfort that is felt, the emotional response, and the self-talk and self-doubt that are additional but poorly understood features of the fatigue that develops during exercise."
Understanding fatigue and how to avoid it and/or cope with it is one of the keys to successful ultra distance racing.
I've been a runner since 1972 and in that time I reckon I've learned quite a lot about myself - most of it since 2005 when I decided to try ultra marathons.
For me, self expectation is derived from training. Over the years I've found that generally my mental strength is very good and that I'm usually good at sticking to any race plan I may have. Of course, having a race plan in the first place entails estimating my fitness at the time of the race. This estimation is largely built upon knowledge of previous races and comparing the training for them with recent training. If I get this estimate wrong one of two things will happen:
(1) I'll finish the race knowing I could have done better, or
(2) fatigue will develop which will result in the inevitable reduction in speed.
In the above paragraph 'fitness' is not the same as the dictionary definition: "capability of the body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort."
I have found that there is definitely a mental aspect and in ultra running terms I would suggest that a better definition of 'fitness' would be: "preparedness to compete to the best of one's ability." Therefore 'fully fit' would mean 'fully prepared'.
Being prepared naturally involves training the body to meet the physical demands of the race but it also means being aware of, and planning/training for, the other issues that arise in very long races. This is the mental aspect of fitness. If I'm confident that my training has gone well AND my race plan is sound then I know I'll do well. In my last ultra I found that the icing on the cake was having someone unexpectedly tell me before the race that I was capable of winning.
For a long ultra my race plan will involve a knowledge of nutrition, hydration, local weather conditions, course layout (and surface, etc).
The mental aspect also comes into play when one or more aspect of my preparation has been at fault ... of course, I usually don't realise that my preparation was wrong until the last third of the race.
Tim Noakes also provides an insight into fatigue and his definition focuses almost exclusively on the mental aspect (which he calls the Central Governor Theory):
"... the increasing feeling of fatigue and the progressive reduction in the capacity of the exercising muscles to maintain a constant work output during prolonged exercise results from currently unrecognized processes in the brain, which presumably act to prevent bodily harm during such exercise. This model theorizes that performance during exercise is determined by two separate phenomena:
(a) A pacing strategy that is preprogrammed into the athlete's subconscious brain as a result of previous training and racing experiences.
(b) Acute alterations to that preprogrammed strategy resulting from sensory input from a variety of organs - heart, muscle, brain, blood and lungs, among others - to the exercise controller or governor in the brain. Output from the controller to the motor cortex then determines the mass of skeletal muscle that can be activated and for how long, thereby determining the pacing strategy that the subconscious brain adopts during exercise.
At the same time, information is sent from the controller to the emotional and other centers in the brain. These influence the level of discomfort that is felt, the emotional response, and the self-talk and self-doubt that are additional but poorly understood features of the fatigue that develops during exercise."
Understanding fatigue and how to avoid it and/or cope with it is one of the keys to successful ultra distance racing.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
various things
William Sichel in Greece is doing very well indeed in the 1000 mile race. So far his plans for pacing, eating, sleeping, etc have held together perfectly and he's in second position ... I hope everything continues to go so well for him. He's not even half way yet though.
My training has been going well too and this week, for the first time this year, I've been able to run without gloves. Temperatures are above average for the first time this year too and we've had quite a lot of sunshine over the past week or so. It is raining at the moment though.
Recently I've been drinking a nice coffee from Malawi. I'm not a big fan of the fruity coffees from Africa but this one has been rather pleasant. Over the past twelve months or so I've been trying lots of coffees from different parts of the world but I think that in April and May I'm going to concentrate on my favourites in the build up to the World Championships (and as a personal reward just after). Not forgetting the decaffeinated stuff in the three weeks before the actual race.
I also feel that in the last few weeks I need to relax as much as possible between training sessions. Tim Noakes points out that "... the more time you can spend in solitude and in personal refection during the last few weeks, the better you will cope with the mental demands of the last 25 to 35 km of the ultramarathon."
Suits me fine.
Suits me fine.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
nine days and counting
Everything seems to be moving in the right direction again thanks to my father (Keith), my mother in law (Elizabeth) and most importantly my father in law (Keith).
Special thanks to Sharon too ... reading her email brought a tear to my eye !!!
Back to normality. Over the last few days I've been buying last minute supplies of custard, protein recovery bars, flapjack, jaffa cakes, dried apricots. Only have grapes to buy and obviously I'm going to get those nearer the time.
Second week of tapering and I'm beginning to relax a lot more now. Tim Noakes writes: "the more time you can spend in solitude and in personal reflection during this period, the better you will cope with the mental demands of the final quarter of the ultra marathon."
With a teenage son I know this isn't going to be easy but it can be done and now that all the planning and shopping is out of the way there's an increasing amount of time for relaxing.
Nervous though - this is easily the most important race I've taken part in ... and I started running in 1972.
Special thanks to Sharon too ... reading her email brought a tear to my eye !!!
Back to normality. Over the last few days I've been buying last minute supplies of custard, protein recovery bars, flapjack, jaffa cakes, dried apricots. Only have grapes to buy and obviously I'm going to get those nearer the time.
Second week of tapering and I'm beginning to relax a lot more now. Tim Noakes writes: "the more time you can spend in solitude and in personal reflection during this period, the better you will cope with the mental demands of the final quarter of the ultra marathon."
With a teenage son I know this isn't going to be easy but it can be done and now that all the planning and shopping is out of the way there's an increasing amount of time for relaxing.
Nervous though - this is easily the most important race I've taken part in ... and I started running in 1972.
Monday, 13 July 2009
a bad day at the office ...
Well, here's what happened ...
Arrived the night before with a tent and two crew members (Fay and Keir). Everything was fine ... runners and the organiser, doctor and other officials were chatting away and eagerly anticipating the weekend's race.
Just before going to sleep I stubbed my toe and a toenail came off. I know it had been loose since the Run To London but I didn't realise it had been so bad. An omen perhaps.
Woke up in the night with cramp in my left calf ... things were not going well at all.
Before an ultra distance race I usually snack on high carbohydrate foods right up until the race starts. This time I decided to just have a large breakfast about two to three hours before the race. The idea behind this change is that food eaten within one hour of a race stimulates the release of insulin, which increases the amount of carbohydrate used during the race.
About an hour before the race I ambled down to see the woman from the Northern Institute of Massage to see if she could help with the cramp problem I had about six hours earlier. After about ten minutes on her table I felt much better ...
The race began and I felt strong, it went like this:
FIRST HOUR
plan - to run at 7:47 per mile (1:56 per lap)
actual - ran at 7:47 per mile (1:56 per lap)
SECOND HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 7:51 per mile (1:57 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 7:41 per mile (1:55 per lap)
THIRD HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 7:59 per mile (1:59 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 7:59 per mile (1:59 per lap)
FOURTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:03 per mile (2:00 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 8:03 (2:00 per lap)
FIFTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:07 per mile (2:01 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 8:07 per mile (2:01 per lap)
SIXTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:15 per mile (2:03 per lap)
actual - walked for 8:45 then ran for 8:55 per mile (2:13 per lap)
SEVENTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run for 8:19 per mile (2:04 per lap)
actual - walked for 10:00 and later for 5:00. Ran at 9:03 per mile (2:15 per lap)
During the seventh hour, when I was beginning to try and understand why I was struggling, it suddenly occurred to me that the 218 mile Run To London was only seven weeks ago and it was obvious that I hadn't recovered enough to be able to run a quick 100 miles.
What came to mind next was a section from Tim Noakes' book Lore Of Running (fourth edition, page 662):
"Continuous running during marathon and ultramarathon races produces a specific form of fatigue due to eccentric-induced muscle damage with associated changes in neuromuscular function."
"Once this fatigue develops, it is irreversible, causing the runner to slow precipitously, or even be reduced to walking. Complete recovery may take weeks to months."
I then decided it would be wise to stop as I didn't want anything getting in the way of a good build up to the Commonwealth Championships which are only nine and a half weeks away.
Another thing I was trying for the first time was a different length of walking break. I usually walk for ten minutes every hour but this time I thought I'd try seven and a half minutes in a slightly shorter race. It worked well for the first five hours but then I needed more time walking ... I had been running faster than usual though. This needs to be tried again when I'm fresh.
Some of the new food and drink choices weren't due until a few hours after I stopped running so I still don't know whether or not they would have had any benefit. The Shot Bloks electrolyte chews were very good: a useful way of taking on board sodium, etc and easier to chew and swallow than expected.
The REGO Rapid (protein drink) tasted much better without the addition of a Shotz electrolyte tablet.
After I retired I spent much of the remaining 17 hours enjoying the race and talking to people such as Alan Young, Adrian Stott, Eleanor Robinson, Mike Blamires, etc. I'm always willing to listen and learn from what others have to say about training, racing, nutrition, etc.
CONCLUSIONS
- Seven weeks recovery after 218 miles is not enough for me.
- Alan and Adrian very kindly pointed out that two bad races [by my own standards] from nine ultras is quite a good ratio.
- passed the marathon distance in 3h 38:39 and 60k in 5h 16:17 (the latter a pb by over 20 minutes).
Many thanks to Dave Annandale for organising a fantastic event and thanks also to all the lap counters too (especially Emma Annandale who was mine [sorry for not collapsing at the end though !!!]).
Arrived the night before with a tent and two crew members (Fay and Keir). Everything was fine ... runners and the organiser, doctor and other officials were chatting away and eagerly anticipating the weekend's race.
Just before going to sleep I stubbed my toe and a toenail came off. I know it had been loose since the Run To London but I didn't realise it had been so bad. An omen perhaps.
Woke up in the night with cramp in my left calf ... things were not going well at all.
Before an ultra distance race I usually snack on high carbohydrate foods right up until the race starts. This time I decided to just have a large breakfast about two to three hours before the race. The idea behind this change is that food eaten within one hour of a race stimulates the release of insulin, which increases the amount of carbohydrate used during the race.
About an hour before the race I ambled down to see the woman from the Northern Institute of Massage to see if she could help with the cramp problem I had about six hours earlier. After about ten minutes on her table I felt much better ...
The race began and I felt strong, it went like this:
FIRST HOUR
plan - to run at 7:47 per mile (1:56 per lap)
actual - ran at 7:47 per mile (1:56 per lap)
SECOND HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 7:51 per mile (1:57 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 7:41 per mile (1:55 per lap)
THIRD HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 7:59 per mile (1:59 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 7:59 per mile (1:59 per lap)
FOURTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:03 per mile (2:00 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 8:03 (2:00 per lap)
FIFTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:07 per mile (2:01 per lap)
actual - walked for 7:30 then ran at 8:07 per mile (2:01 per lap)
SIXTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run at 8:15 per mile (2:03 per lap)
actual - walked for 8:45 then ran for 8:55 per mile (2:13 per lap)
SEVENTH HOUR
plan - to walk for 7:30 then run for 8:19 per mile (2:04 per lap)
actual - walked for 10:00 and later for 5:00. Ran at 9:03 per mile (2:15 per lap)
During the seventh hour, when I was beginning to try and understand why I was struggling, it suddenly occurred to me that the 218 mile Run To London was only seven weeks ago and it was obvious that I hadn't recovered enough to be able to run a quick 100 miles.
What came to mind next was a section from Tim Noakes' book Lore Of Running (fourth edition, page 662):
"Continuous running during marathon and ultramarathon races produces a specific form of fatigue due to eccentric-induced muscle damage with associated changes in neuromuscular function."
"Once this fatigue develops, it is irreversible, causing the runner to slow precipitously, or even be reduced to walking. Complete recovery may take weeks to months."
I then decided it would be wise to stop as I didn't want anything getting in the way of a good build up to the Commonwealth Championships which are only nine and a half weeks away.
Another thing I was trying for the first time was a different length of walking break. I usually walk for ten minutes every hour but this time I thought I'd try seven and a half minutes in a slightly shorter race. It worked well for the first five hours but then I needed more time walking ... I had been running faster than usual though. This needs to be tried again when I'm fresh.
Some of the new food and drink choices weren't due until a few hours after I stopped running so I still don't know whether or not they would have had any benefit. The Shot Bloks electrolyte chews were very good: a useful way of taking on board sodium, etc and easier to chew and swallow than expected.
The REGO Rapid (protein drink) tasted much better without the addition of a Shotz electrolyte tablet.
After I retired I spent much of the remaining 17 hours enjoying the race and talking to people such as Alan Young, Adrian Stott, Eleanor Robinson, Mike Blamires, etc. I'm always willing to listen and learn from what others have to say about training, racing, nutrition, etc.
CONCLUSIONS
- Seven weeks recovery after 218 miles is not enough for me.
- Alan and Adrian very kindly pointed out that two bad races [by my own standards] from nine ultras is quite a good ratio.
- passed the marathon distance in 3h 38:39 and 60k in 5h 16:17 (the latter a pb by over 20 minutes).
Many thanks to Dave Annandale for organising a fantastic event and thanks also to all the lap counters too (especially Emma Annandale who was mine [sorry for not collapsing at the end though !!!]).
Thursday, 16 April 2009
science lesson
Read an article in the Metro newspaper yesterday about sports drinks. The piece by Jo Steele reads:
"Want to be a better athlete? Well, forget altitude training and high-carb diets - it's your taste buds you should be concentrating on.
"Swilling a sugary sports drink around the mouth before exercising can apparently boost performance - even if it is spat out afterwards.
"Sugars - carbohydrates - in liquids such as energy drinks fire receptors in the mouth which stimulate the brain to increase output, tests found.
"The result is an average two per cent boost in exercise performance, with the added bonus of athletes not even feeling as if they are working any harder.
" 'Much of the benefit from carbohydrate in sports drinks is provided by signalling directly from mouth to brain rather than providing energy for the working muscles,' said physiologist Dr Edward Chambers.
"Energy drinks have long been known to boost exercise performance but experts have said the sugar hit alone is not enough to explain the improvement ...
"[During endurance tests with cyclists] previously unidentified receptors in the mouth sent pleasure signals to the brain, which reduced the cyclists' perception of the workload, said Dr Chambers, of Birmingham University, in the Journal of Physiology.
Interesting stuff there. So, sports drinks have two roles: to provide a bit of energy for the working muscles and to provide a placebo effect for the brain. This actually makes a bit of sense - Noakes writes about fatigue in terms of a Central Governor in his book Lore Of Running. He writes on page 19 (fourth edition)
"... the increasing feeling of fatigue and the progressive reduction in the capacity of the exercising muscles to maintain a constant work output during prolonged exercise results from currently unrecognized processes in the brain, which presumably act to prevent bodily harm during such exercise. This model theorizes that performance during exercise is determined by two separate phenomena:
Hope you were paying attention at the back ...
Also updated this page with a couple of things kindly provided by John Pares. And also this page.
"Want to be a better athlete? Well, forget altitude training and high-carb diets - it's your taste buds you should be concentrating on.
"Swilling a sugary sports drink around the mouth before exercising can apparently boost performance - even if it is spat out afterwards.
"Sugars - carbohydrates - in liquids such as energy drinks fire receptors in the mouth which stimulate the brain to increase output, tests found.
"The result is an average two per cent boost in exercise performance, with the added bonus of athletes not even feeling as if they are working any harder.
" 'Much of the benefit from carbohydrate in sports drinks is provided by signalling directly from mouth to brain rather than providing energy for the working muscles,' said physiologist Dr Edward Chambers.
"Energy drinks have long been known to boost exercise performance but experts have said the sugar hit alone is not enough to explain the improvement ...
"[During endurance tests with cyclists] previously unidentified receptors in the mouth sent pleasure signals to the brain, which reduced the cyclists' perception of the workload, said Dr Chambers, of Birmingham University, in the Journal of Physiology.
Interesting stuff there. So, sports drinks have two roles: to provide a bit of energy for the working muscles and to provide a placebo effect for the brain. This actually makes a bit of sense - Noakes writes about fatigue in terms of a Central Governor in his book Lore Of Running. He writes on page 19 (fourth edition)
"... the increasing feeling of fatigue and the progressive reduction in the capacity of the exercising muscles to maintain a constant work output during prolonged exercise results from currently unrecognized processes in the brain, which presumably act to prevent bodily harm during such exercise. This model theorizes that performance during exercise is determined by two separate phenomena:
- A pacing strategy that is preprogrammed into the athlete's subconscious brain as a result of previous training and racing experiences.
- Acute alterations to that preprogrammed strategy resulting from sensory input from a variety of organs - heart, muscle, brain, blood and lungs, among others - to the exercise controller or governor in the brain. Output from the controller to the motor cortex then determines the mass of skeletal muscle that can be activated and for how long, thereby determining the pacing strategy that the subconscious brain adopts during exercise.
Hope you were paying attention at the back ...
Also updated this page with a couple of things kindly provided by John Pares. And also this page.
Monday, 28 April 2008
First Long Run
This afternoon I went out for my first 'proper' long run. Before today the furthest I've been this year is 17 miles. Today I ran 25+.
I found it much easier than expected - the first half was covered at about 8:25 per mile and the return journey at about 8:10 per mile. It wasn't planned that way but I was just feeling very good. Compression tights probably had a part to play there, as did two litres of isotonic sports drink (some of which was caffeinated).
The route was quite hilly in places and the weather was less than kind - heavy showers (one was sleet) and cold at times. Warm and sunny though for the last five miles or so.
Well pleased with this ... and the best part is that the pinch test referred to by Noakes in his 'Lore of Running' indicates no damage to my achilles.
I found it much easier than expected - the first half was covered at about 8:25 per mile and the return journey at about 8:10 per mile. It wasn't planned that way but I was just feeling very good. Compression tights probably had a part to play there, as did two litres of isotonic sports drink (some of which was caffeinated).
The route was quite hilly in places and the weather was less than kind - heavy showers (one was sleet) and cold at times. Warm and sunny though for the last five miles or so.
Well pleased with this ... and the best part is that the pinch test referred to by Noakes in his 'Lore of Running' indicates no damage to my achilles.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Ouch
You'll never believe what happened last night. At about half past two in the morning I woke up needing to use the toilet but when I got there I keeled over !! Apparently I made such a thud that Fay woke up and, fearing the worst, came to find me ... I was still on the floor.
Later she described me as suffering from 'Exercise Associated Collapse' [see Lore of Running (4th edition) by Tim Noakes, pp244 - 249]. Fay has first hand experience of looking after me in this situation as I've suffered EAC after each of my last two 24 hr races.
The only difference this time was that I have quite a nasty gash on my forehead.
No running today then.
Later she described me as suffering from 'Exercise Associated Collapse' [see Lore of Running (4th edition) by Tim Noakes, pp244 - 249]. Fay has first hand experience of looking after me in this situation as I've suffered EAC after each of my last two 24 hr races.
The only difference this time was that I have quite a nasty gash on my forehead.
No running today then.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Stage two begins
Well, it's done. My first run of any type since 24 December 2007. How did it go ? Well ... I iced my ankle for 30 mins before setting off and for the first 15 - 20 mins it didn't feel normal but I put that down to the ice and the type of shoes I was wearing [Nike Air Max Bounty] which are still quite new and stiff. For the second half of my 40 minute outing my ankle felt absolutely fine.
I know that alternating 5 mins running with 5 mins walking is still a long way from proper training but this is another milestone reached. Tomorrow will be identical in terms of running - I hope the result is too.
After a shower the pinch test as advocated by Noakes in his 'Lore Of Running' indicated no deterioration in the achilles. Fantastic.
Used ice for 30 mins after the run too.
I know that alternating 5 mins running with 5 mins walking is still a long way from proper training but this is another milestone reached. Tomorrow will be identical in terms of running - I hope the result is too.
After a shower the pinch test as advocated by Noakes in his 'Lore Of Running' indicated no deterioration in the achilles. Fantastic.
Used ice for 30 mins after the run too.
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