Workout:
nice day… nice commute… additional cycling I wouldn’t have got otherwise!
Workout:
Workout:
Workout:
Watched the Boston Marathon while I rode the trainer…. fun to see such a great women’s race.
Workout:
I have now watched the NOVA - Marathon Challenge program twice. My personal opinion is that the documentary is way better than the Spirit of the Marathon Documentary that was done about the Chicago Marathon trainees.
That may be due to the face that I’m a little bit of a science freak when it comes to the training involved in marathon training. The NOVA special doesn’t go into a lot of detail, but they do address certain training issues: injuries, VO2 Max, Body Composition and a little about nutrition during long runs.
Here are some key take home messages that I’d like to point out and my view:
1. Long Runs
I’ve discussed this many times in the past. I recently wrote an article that I called, “A look at the long run and marathon training.” And my first podcast, “The long run in a marathon program. The double long strategy,” addresses my thoughts on how to approach a long run.
One of the interesting discussions was when the exercise physiologist and nutritionist from Tufts said that by the time you get to the “long” runs you have already developed the physiological changes and the soft tissue changes, the long runs are primarily beneficial for the psychological outcomes.
That is a point that I like to make and my point-of-view is that the downside of injury (for most runners) is greater than the psychological uplift a person may generate.
Just a reminder that there is no magic to a 20 mile run.
2. Weight Loss / Body Composition
They analyzed the body composition of the runners before and after their marathon training programs. What they found was that only one of the runners changed their body weight or body composition during the program.
This is hard to believe for many people, especially when you consider the amount of exercise they added to their lifestyles. The take home message (which they made) is that we often over-estimate the caloric expenditure of the activity we participate in.
Thus, if we want to get into a weight management situation or lose some weight, nutrition is a very important (if not the most important) variable in that program. This can be hard for an exercise physiologist and personal trainer to admit because I want to believe that exercise is the most important key to any lifestyle… but there are limitations.
A better message is that there needs to be a combination of exercise and non-disordered-eating. One thing that I see often (and see in myself), is a belief that with all the exercise that comes with running a marathon or training for an Ironman, a person can eat whatever they want. That mentality leads to disordered eating.
Exercise Session –> Eat what mind wants –> Non-Optimal Food Choices
This is one thing that I am currently working on. I know that when I’m in full capacity training I have little mental energy and strength to combat poor nutritional habits. Last summer it got a little crazy as I trained for Ironman Wisconsin. Now that I’m not in full capacity training, I see myself being able to change some of those habits. Still more changes that need be made.
3. The other side of body composition.
The other side to their body composition discovery was that the one person that did have changes also included a bootcamp training program in addition to their marathon program.
This is a good lesson because it helps us realize that even within an exercise program, there needs to be a balance between strength training, flexibility training, and cardiovascular training. Many endurance athletes can become addicted to the “runner’s high” and neglect other aspects that would benefit their health (again, I am as guilty as anyone).
4. The injury issues:
There seemed to be a lot of injury issues that the runners were dealing with. One of the most important lessons that I’m continually learning is the value of specific strength training and flexibility training as a hedge against injury in a beginner / novice marathon program.
You can go back and read the posts I’ve had on strength training and patellofemoral pain. Many lessons learned there.
Ran with John and Ron from Magee’s. First time to go any significant distance since getting glut issues training for ultra…. felt very good and comfortable.
Workout:
It is way too late to be getting outdoors on the bike…. lots of reasons, especially getting our health insurance squared away. To worried to be out there and not having a policy….
but, it was pretty nice to see that the more intense trainer sessions helped out. I rode 27 miles at a comfortable effort / heart rate and actually wasn’t moving at a turtle pace…. hopefully I’ll be outdoors a lot more from now on. But, when I only have an hour… the trainer works well.
Workout:
After spending time running with my client an doing mile repeats with her, I did my own test:
lap 1: 1.00 mile / 6:20 per mile / 167bpm
recover
lap 2: 0.97 mile / 6:09 per mile / 174bpm
recover
lap 3: 1.00 mile / 6:13 per mile / 175bpm
stopped repeats b/c times slowed and heart rate did not increase…. felt pretty good. it would be ideal to have these at least below 6:00/mile, but can’t ask for that with current fitness.
still good to be running again.
Workout:
Did a test run at the Arboretum w/ a client. The averages really don’t mean anything as they were 3 x 1 mile repeats with warm up and cool down. She’s running well!
Workout:
Gary on Twitter Gary's Race Reports
