Ryan

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

How useful are lab tests?

Would you believe that I, a competitive runner of 25 years, have never taken a VO2max or lactate threshold test?

It seems like everyone has taken one or both of these tests. I’ve been asked what my test results are and people are shocked when I say I haven’t taken them.

The question I’d like to ask, though, is what we get out of these tests. What do they tell you that will help you become a better runner? We now know that training right at VO2max and lactate threshold isn’t necessary. In fact, it’s better to train at a range of paces around but not necessarily directly at those paces.

For example, with lactate threshold, we now know that, by training below lactate threshold, we can improve our ability to produce less lactate while running at relatively high intensities. By training slightly above, we improve our ability to clear lactate from the bloodstream by reusing it as an energy source or shunting it to other muscles so they can use it as an energy source. These benefits are stronger when you’re not right at lactate threshold than when you are.

But don’t you need to know your lactate threshold pace in order to know what paces to train at in order to be above or below? Here’s the cool thing. You don’t have to be precise. It’s actually not a bad thing to feel your way into these paces. It’s not the end of the world if you’re a little off. There is leeway built into this.

Besides, if you train at race efforts which I’m a big fan of, you’ll get the physiological benefits of the workouts, plus you’ll be getting practice feeling race pace. That makes you better able to feel your way into the right race pace on race day instead of relying on external measures. I’ve covered the benefits of running by feel instead of relying on external measures previously.

So what should we be measuring instead? Performance measures. How fast are you running your races? Are your workouts getting faster (or easier) from month to month? These are the things that are going to tell you how your running is progressing. A VO2max or lactate threshold test, while it may be fun to know the numbers, doesn’t produce a lot in regards to actionable information.

Note: This was inspired by a post written by Steve Magness at his great blog. I thought it was a topic very much worth bringing up here.

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

A little over a year ago, a coworker asked me for some advice. He was struggling with his long runs in preparation for the Boston marathon. We talked through things and all seemed fine. Then he mentioned that he had been trying the Paleo diet. While he had lost weight and was handling shorter runs at relatively low intensity well, he just couldn’t sustain for his long runs.

Low carb, high fat (LCHF) is the latest trend in the diet world. Interestingly, it has not just your typical snake oil salesmen pushing it but it has some high profile names, most notably Tim Noakes (of Lore of Running* fame) promoting it. I greatly respect Noakes but, in this case, I couldn’t disagree more.

The idea behind LCHF is that it’s the way our ancient ancestors ate. This is very likely true. Study evolutionary biology and it’s pretty clear that one of the key points of differentiation between our ancient ancestors and other primates was our diet. We hunted animals and ate meat and fatty tissue, not just roughage. However, research suggests that these early ancestors also foraged. They had a balanced diet of both meat and plant-based foods.

Further, modern distance runners competing in events of the marathon distance or shorter aren’t persistence hunters. Persistence hunters would run/walk long durations at relatively slow paces to keep animals moving, with only occasional surges at faster paces. They weren’t running at a maximal pace for relatively short periods of time. They were running at paces that would allow them to use fat efficiently.

As competitive distance runners, on the other hand, even if we train our bodies to burn fat as quickly as possible, we’re not going to be able to sustain 5K pace or even marathon pace. We need glycogen stores to accomplish that. We’re different athletes performing different tasks.

There may be an argument for ultra runners to go LCHF but, for those of us who are running distances of marathon or less, the evidence suggests we’re better off eating quality carbs.

An important note here, though is the word quality. I’m not telling you to eat highly processed foods and drink sugary drinks. Go with the quality carbs. Fruits and vegetables, starchy natural foods, whole grains. Those should be your primary fuel sources. The truth is that these LCHF diets do have some basis in the fact that we do eat a lot of junk carbs and getting those out, in favor of quality calories of any kind but including quality carbs, would benefit all of us.

As for my coworker, I encouraged him to eat more carbs at least in the day or so before his long runs to fuel those efforts. He did so and his long runs got much better. He ran well at the Boston Marathon and, while still limiting his carb intake, seems to be finding a better overall balance.

*Note: In the interest of full disclosure, the link to the book Lore of Running is no longer an Amazon affiliate link, it is now an Amazon Smile link. If you use that link to buy the book, a small portion of the sale will go toward the charity of your choice.

Photo credit: phil.lees, on Flickr