Ryan

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This week, a couple bloggers I follow posted some interesting things that I definitely would like to comment on.

Shoes and forces of running

First, Pete Larson at Runblogger had this interesting post about a study of rocker-soled shoes and forefoot pain.

I’d especially like to focus on what Pete says here:

I’m a believer that different shoes modify how forces during running are applied to the body…

This is a very important point that I think often goes unmentioned and even ignored. People talk about cushioned shoes absorbing impact for you or minimal shoes changing your stride in a way that reduces impact. I admit I’ve probably oversimplified and said these things at times myself. However, I don’t think these claims are sound. Regardless of how much cushioning you have between yourself and the ground, at some point your foot is going to come to a stop and has to support the weight of your body. Regardless of what part of the foot comes into contact with the ground first, some part has to absorb that impact.

While some might say a higher stride rate means the impact forces are lower, I’d point out that unless you are running faster a higher stride rate also means you’re going to be coming into contact with the ground more times per mile. So are you really reducing forces or just spreading them out over more impacts? I’m not sure about that answer but simple math suggests it’s not as simple as some try to make it, that it’s at least closer to a zero sum game than most people realize.

As for what to take with this information, I think the key point is to consider what gives you problems. If minimal shoes give you forefoot problems, consider shoes such as those with a rocker design or more cushioning that may shift some of the forces off the forefoot. If you have knee problems, consider shoes that will allow your foot to take more of the forces.

As usual, I’ll say there is no right shoe for everyone. There is almost surely one right type of shoe (most likely available from more than one manufacturer in more than one model so you can find all the details that will work just right for you) for you but that may not be the right shoe for me or for your cousin who is asking for shoe advice. This is why I dislike shoe advice. When asked, I usually suggest going to a good shoe store instead of offering a specific model as some people seem to expect.

How to fend off age related decline?

There has been a lot of research recently on age related performance decline. Well, Alex Hutchinson at the Runner’s World Sweat Science blog posts about another one.

In this case, runners were split into three different groups with average ages of 26, 61 and 78. Then average power at ankle, knee and hip were compared while walking, running and sprinting.

Interestingly, no significant differences were found at the knee and hip but there were some found at the ankle. A possible answer given is that we are using much stronger muscles to control the knee and hip than to control the ankle. As a result, as we lose muscle while we age, we can still maintain the same power output in those stronger muscles because they have more reserve power available. In the lower leg muscles, primarily the muscles making up the calf, we’re already using a higher percentage of total capacity in our youth. As we age and lose power, we reach maximal power output and can’t maintain.

So what does this mean? Well, it’s obviously too early to make any definitive statements. However, it suggests that maybe strength work for the lower legs would help reduce age related performance declines. Given the fact that there’s little downside I can see to doing some lower leg strengthening, I’d consider this another reason to in fact do what we should already be doing. That said, I am looking forward to more research to confirm this result and test the theory that strengthening the lower legs might help mitigate age related performance declines.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Sorry this is a little late. About 2 hours before I intended for this post to appear, I came across one of the links included in the altitude portion that caused me to rewrite part of this. I didn’t want to post without it, though, as I felt it gives a more complete picture of the topic.

Talent vs. practice

We all know the debate and we probably have our opinions on it. Is success at the highest level a matter of innate talent or "deliberate practice"? Malcolm Gladwell, with his 10,000 hour rule, might suggest it’s all deliberate practice. Anyone can be an expert with enough of the right kind of practice. Others say it’s all about talent. If you aren’t born with the right genes, you might as well not try.

I’ve always been one who felt the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Practice can make a big difference. You can transform yourself with practice and go a long way. However, if we’re talking about being an expert or among the best of the best, you can’t get there without the right genetic makeup. Likewise, you can be very good with the right genes even without much practice. However, it definitely takes some practice and refinement of skill to become one of the best. I think it’s also important to realize that neither of these factors is an either/or proposition. You can have varying degrees of both talent and deliberate practice. I’m pretty sure I have more talent for distance running than most NFL offensive linemen, simply by being shorter and having a smaller natural build. However, I’m also pretty sure I have less talent for distance running than Dennis Kimetto or Wilson Kipsang. I could make similar comparisons with practice.

Alex Hutchinson looks at a study related to this question with interesting results.

While valid questions are raised about this study at the end, it’s interesting to at least think about the results. If you want to succeed in sports, you can’t ignore the practice but you need more. If you want to succeed in a profession (medical profession, for example) practice appears to be far less important.

Altitude

I post this more as a curiosity. Very few, if any, of us will be planning a trip to altitude just for the training benefits. However, we’ve all surely heard of the benefits of training at altitude. Fewer of us have heard of the drawbacks.

For a long time, I recall a theory that people got worse sleep at altitude. When I made my annual trips to Colorado as a child, it was just assumed my sleep wasn’t as good out there, even though I can’t recall any time where it really seemed to be an issue.

This study suggests that theory may not be quite right:

The results suggest that 5 nights under hypoxia improves the sleep quality.

IMPROVES sleep quality. My theory for why some people may feel altitude harms your sleep quality: travel. When you’re not sleeping in your own bed, you may have more restful sleep. This probably plays a big role in the impression people who travel to altitude have on how altitude affects one’s sleep.

However, not everything about altitude is good news.

Could altitude cause depression?

I would note that this is just a theory. No studies have been performed yet but it’s something to think about.

So what to take from these two things? Well, for most of us, probably not much. For those who might have the opportunity to consider a stint of time at altitude, don’t get too stressed about your sleep but it might be worthwhile to be aware of your mood and sense of well being. Fortunately for those of us born at altitude, this theory seems to suggest that we’re less likely to suffer from this problem.

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

What’s really going on when you’re stretching?

What does stretching really do?

Well, it apparently may not loosen your muscles and tendons. Did we ever think it did loosen tendons? Anyway, it appears according to this that it may just change the threshold at which we perceive the muscle being elongated too far.

Related to the above and going further, we have some more on stretching not doing what we may think it does. Also some good advice, though I don’t quite agree with everything. I agree that elongating our muscles in everyday life is a good idea, as are not worrying about hypermobility and not stretching to the point of pain. However, I would still argue that some stretching is beneficial. No, 10 seconds or 1 minute of stretching won’t undo 10 hours, give or take, worth of poor posture. That said, it can be part of an overall routine that can improve your posture and counter for those periods where we don’t do our best.

Self-regulation slows you down

You’re at the start line of a race and you see something that you find disturbing or you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. What do you do? Do you let your emotions show or do you put on a good face?

What happens if you have to put on a "public face" shortly before the start of a race? Maybe you’re meeting someone new and need to impress. Maybe, if you’re at a race where you’re the star (hey, even I get that if I find small enough of a race) you have to put on a good show as people come up before the start to say hi or ask you how you’re going to do or how things are going in general.

Well, suppressing emotion right before a race makes you slower.

This likely has to do with mental fatigue and self control. The old saying that running is 90% physical and the other half is mental is more true than we think (besides the bad math that this guy with a degree in Applied Mathematics cringes at). Just as we try to conserve physical energy before a race, we should also focus on conserving mental energy before a race.

What does this mean practically? Well, you have to decide where you want to draw the line but I’ve always kind of closed myself off before a race. I’ll wish people well at the start line but, personally, that doesn’t require putting on a good face. I do try to avoid conversations, especially ones where I might have to put on a good face. I’ve always thought of it as focusing in on the task at hand but there’s surely some saving mental energy going on also. So don’t be surprised if you see me at a race and I seem a little anti-social at the start. Just catch me at the finish and I promise I’ll be more open.

So I give you permission to be a little anti-social at the start line. It will help you race better. Just try to make up for it by being more friendly at the finish line. Your faster performance should help with that.