Training

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

run by brett lohmeyer, on Flickr

When race day comes, do you have confidence in your preparation?

When you read a magazine or an online article and see an interesting workout, do you instantly start figuring out how to fit it into your training schedule?

If you are doing the work you need to be doing, you should have the confidence you are well prepared on race day and you shouldn’t always be chasing the newest workout idea.

I hope the first goes without saying. If you are not lining up for a race confident in your preparation, something went wrong in planning your preparation.

If you’re training on your own, you need to go over your plan and maybe consider getting some assistance in guiding your training.

If you are already receiving assistance, whether informal advising or more formal coaching, you need to have a talk with the person who is helping you. If the person helping you can’t give you confidence that you are on the right path or work with you to come up with a plan that you will have confidence in, it’s time to look for someone else.

The second may not be so obvious. Don’t we want to be open to new ideas? Absolutely.

However, when you lay out a training plan, you have a reason for everything in it, right? I hope the answer is yes.

If you add something new, you’re going to need to take something away. What are you going to take away?

Maybe there are times when it is wise to change plans and take away one component of training in order to add something else that will be more valuable. However, if your training plan was well thought out, it should be rare that doing so on short notice would be considered a good idea.

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

Have you ever felt you just needed one workout to get to the next level? Do you know someone who insists that one specific workout must be done or that runner simply isn’t prepared?

Most of us have been there at some point and know others who still are there.

The truth is no single workout will make or break your training plan. They are all building blocks. All matter but none are so important that you simply can’t do without them or that they are worth risking injury or some other serious problem.

It might be nice to think one workout will make all the difference but, as I posted recently, it’s more about consistency than any single workout.

So don’t fall into the trap of putting too much stock in any single workout. If it goes well but the rest of your training hasn’t, you might be creating a false confidence. Worse, if it doesn’t go well or has to be skipped but your overall training has been solid, you might sell yourself short.

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

This past weekend, I completed what I would consider my 2016 base phase. Looking over it, I accomplished the following:

7 weeks of 70-72 miles
4 weeks of 66-69 miles
2 weeks of 50 miles (cutback weeks)
1 week of 40 miles (ill)

I can sum up these results in one word: consistency. And I’m feeling very good about where my 2016 racing season will be going for that one reason.

I hope you’re accomplishing the same thing.

It’s not about the numbers to me. Personally, I respond well to 70 mile weeks and that’s what currently fits into my life. I’m not concerned with whether you find yourself saying the same thing about 30 mile weeks, 50 mile weeks, or 100 mile weeks.

What I am concerned with is how consistent you are at the level that works for you.

For years, I’ve said I don’t care what your peak weekly mileage was or what your peak long run was. Tell me what your fourth highest week was. Tell me what your third longest run was. This tells me much more about how your training has been than one big peak.

When you do a single 20 mile long run but your next longest are 18, 16, and 14 you’re less prepared for a marathon than if you’ve run three 18 mile long runs and two 16 milers.

When you do a single 60 mile week but your next highest was 45, you have less complete of a base and are likely more broken down than if you’ve run between 50 and 55 miles several times.

The consistent grind may not be as impressive as a single big blowout week or a single big workout or long run but it’s more effective in the end. It will lead to better results on race day. So, if that’s what you’re looking for, go for the boring in your training. Grind it out with consistent focus and effort.

You don’t need to impress people with the big number in training because you can impress people on race day, when it really matters.

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

I’ve recently seen several people ask about “altitude training” masks. Recently, I was asked by a runner I coach. Because this seems to be a hot issue, I thought I’d cover what I’ve seen as of now.

What is an altitude training mask?

First, what is an altitude training mask? This is the one I’ve come across in discussions. Maybe you’ve seen them around. I’ve never yet seen someone running with one but I have seen a couple people wearing them while weight training at the local Y.

What’s the goal?

Next, let’s have a quick review of what endurance athletes are trying to accomplish when going to altitude. We are trying to live in air with relatively low oxygen levels in order to stimulate the production of red blood cells as well as their ability to carry oxygen. In recent years, it’s been discovered that you can get the benefits of altitude while living at altitude without suffering the drawbacks (primarily not as much oxygen available) if you travel to low altitude for training. That’s why we have the concept of “live high, train low” and why quite a few elite runners these days have altitude tents in their bedrooms. They can sleep at simulated high altitude but train at low altitude.

Altitude training? Not quite…

This specific mask’s promotional material states:

Training Mask 2.0 does not “change on the o2 molecular level” however your body does make adaptations for this “Simulation” to be considered “Altitude Training” also known as the “BOHR EFFECT”

So it’s not reduced oxygen. That’s a good thing because, if you were reducing oxygen levels, wearing the mask while running would have the opposite effect of what you’re looking for. You want to “live high, train low” and this would have you living low, training high if you wore it while running and not at other times.

Resistance training? Possibly…

But what does this mask actually do, then? It appears that the claim is that it simulates high altitude by restricting your air flow.

Elsewhere on the same site, I see the claim of resistance while breathing building diaphragm strength and surface area and elasticity of alveoli, improving anaerobic thresholds and lung capacity. They mention studies but don’t offer references.

Well, that’s not what training at altitude does. Instead, the mask is a type of resistance training. The restricted airflow would add resistance that your respiratory muscles have to overcome. While that’s not altitude training, is there a benefit to this?

I have now come across some references that help answering this question. In re-reading Science of Running by Steve Magness, I came across the topic of “respiratory training”.

As Magness notes (with references, unfortunately, to studies I can’t find online) a study by Romer evaluates the effect of respiratory muscle training and finds that it improves 20km and 40km cycling time trials by 3.8% and 4.6% respectively.

However, Magness also notes that similar studies have had mixed results and it appears the benefits are less significant in less well trained runners.

As noted in the book:

As we have seen, the degree to which the respiratory muscles contribute to VO2max varies based on training level. … For this reason, higher-level runners should consider respiratory training, while lower level runners probably will not see the same degree of benefit.

Note: The site mentions building surface area and elasticity of the alveoli, improving anaerobic thresholds and lung capacity. The anaerobic threshold claim would seem to have some credence based on what I noted from the Magness book. I still have found no evidence for the claims related to the alveoli and lung capacity.

Conclusion

At this point, given the science I’ve seen and what we currently know about the benefits and drawbacks of altitude, I see limited benefit in this product. In fact, it might be counterproductive for some if used while running.

For the record, I attempted to contact the company linked to above so I could discuss benefits and concerns with them directly but, over a year after my first attempt to contact them, I never received a response.

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

Are you base training right now?

Are you experiencing some fatigue?

Are you concerned about the fatigue?

In many aspects of our lives, we are told to avoid extremes. Even in running, some will tell you to avoid fatigue. A little tired after a hard day, fine. Relatively constant fatigue? You’re risking overtraining.

I disagree. Fatigue is simply a result of training hard and a sign that you’re applying stimulus for your body to grow stronger.

Now, you don’t want to bury yourself in fatigue. You don’t want it to last for months on end. You don’t want to keep going down the fatigue spiral to depths that are harmful. However, experiencing a low to moderate level of fatigue for a few days or even a week or two before backing off and refreshing your legs is a part of training and should not be considered something to avoid at all cost.