Rest Before Race

If you are a runner, you have probably read or heard about tapering your activity in the week before a race. However, you may be wondering exactly how much to taper and when to start. It is not a perfect science and probably varies from person to person and with the length of the race. Here is my two cents based on research that I have read and personal experience.

First of all, when it comes to strength training, if I do lower body at all the week of the race, it would be Sunday or Monday at the latest (given that the race is Saturday morning). In addition to making it early in the week, I take it easy and just lift for maintenance. You won't find me trying to squat my all-time best that week! Taking a rest that week with strength training isn't a bad idea either. You don't want to risk injuries or sore muscles.

As far as cardiovascular exercise, I have tried several different methods and it really does depend on the length of the race. For a marathon, I would start tapering two weeks in advance. However, for the purposes of this particular post, let's say you're running a half-marathon or less. It is probably best to complete your last long training run two weeks before the half-marathon. After that, you can still run, but keep it to 5-6 miles at the most. In the week leading up to your race, consider shorter runs with the same intensity you plan to run your race. (As an aside, I think you'll always run faster in a race, thanks to adrenaline, but my point is that you should be running at a speed that you would be happy with during your race.) Some research suggests that people who run shorter distances, but with "race speed" do better on race day than those who run higher mileage at a more relaxed pace in the week leading up to the race. This may mean that during this week, you're only running 2 miles at a time, but with gusto. For the rest of your workout, cross-train or walk. Consider doing an easy workout on the elliptical or stationary bike.

Don't forget about rest! Rest is an integral part to any exercise or training regimen. I would suggest taking one to two days off before a race to allow your muscles rest. This doesn't mean you have to sit on the couch for two days straight, but keep your exercise to easy walking or the activities that are part of your normal day.

Could you be undoing your hard work at the gym?

It is certainly not uncommon for athletes to pop a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) after a hard workout, such as ibuprofen or aspirin. However, recent research tells us that this may be hindering the healing process in the muscle; therefore, degating your hard workout.

Basically, when you perform the eccentric phase (lengthening of a muscle) of any weight lifting activity, you are inducing damage to your muscles. When the muscle fibers heal, they essentially become stronger. So, it is in the healing process that actually makes your muscles stronger. NSAIDs suppress prostaglandin synthesis, which is necessary for protein synthesis. Without protein synthesis, your muscles cannot become stronger.

In summary, think twice before popping a pill to mask some muscle soreness. Instead, take it easy, give your muscles time to heal, and consider the soreness a workout well done!

There are some cases in which you may need an NSAID; and this should be discussed with your doctor.

Just a few research articles...

Effect of ibuprofen and acetaminophen on postexercise muscle protein synthesis.

Skeletal muscle PGF(2)(alpha) and PGE(2) in response to eccentric resistance exercise: influence of ibuprofen acetaminophen.

Motivational Monday:

I strength train to keep my bones from becoming brittle and prevent osteoporosis.

Avoid Running Injuries

A few ways to make running a little safer:

1. Visit a reputable shoe store that specializes in running. Let them watch you run/walk and give you advice on the best shoe for you. People who work in these stores are runners and have a lot of experience with shoes and their proper fit.

2. Change your shoes every 300-500 miles. Keep track of your mileage on a calendar or with a device such as the Nike+ sensor. After 300-500 miles, you have worn down the cushioning/support and raise your risk for injuries.

3. Only wear your running shoes for running. This will help you to make your shoes last longer. Think of all of the miles that you walk in your shoes, which cause the shoe to wear down quicker. Consider retiring your running shoes to walking shoes every time you buy new running shoes. That way you always have a pair of shoes to walk and to run in.

4. Cross-train. The constant stress of running may lead to overuse injuries. By varying your program, you work muscles in different ways and give your joints a break from impact.

5. Strength train. Overall strength training is important for a number of reasons, but specifically training the lower body can really help with running. Not only will it aid you in performance, but will also help to decrease injuries due to increased muscle mass and strength; and increased bone density.

6. Slowly increase mileage. Increasing mileage too quickly is an easy way to hurt yourself and land a spot on the couch instead of the road.

Motivational Monday:
I run because I know that if a bad guy is every chasing me, I could outrun him :).

Overtraining Syndrome: Knowing the Symptoms

Are you working hard, but instead of feeling that energetic spark that you’re supposed to get from exercise, you’re feeling tired and drained? Do you feel like you’ve hit a wall with your progress and you can’t seem to run any faster or do any better? In fact, do you feel like your athletic abilities are waning? Maybe it is time to consider the possibility that you are overtraining. This can happen to anyone when you are just working your body too hard. You may be very surprised that by taking an extra day of rest or scaling back on the intensity or duration of a few workouts each week your performance improves. Resting is an integral part of any training/exercise program that must be observed to achieve optimal performance and health benefits. Here are some signs to let you know if you are experiencing Overtraining Syndrome. This list is brought to you by ACSM’s Resource Manual For Guidelines For Exercise Testing and Prescription, 5th edition.

Functional Indicators:
1. Decline in physical performance and early onset of fatigue.
2. Decreased desire to train or decreased enjoyment from training or competition.
3. Loss of muscle strength, coordination, and maximal working capacity,
4. Increased submaximal heart rate. (This means that your heart rate is becoming higher at rest and during moderate exercise)
5. Prolonged recovery from typical training sessions or competitive events.
6. Presence of tenderness and soreness in muscles and joints.
7. Overuse injuries.

Metabolic and Psychologic Indicators:
1. Loss of appetite and body weight loss.
2. GI disturbances; occasional nausea.
3. Increased susceptibility to upper respiratory infections (altered immune function).
4. Emotional instability characterized by general fatigue, apathy, depression, and irritability.
5. Sleep disturbances.


Motivational Monday:
I exercise because it gives me more energy to get through the day!

Getting Started With a Running Routine

There are many right ways to start a running routine and many wrong ways! This post will just give you some suggestions of possible ways to get started. Also, you may want to read about getting started with an exercise routine if you don’t already have one.

Set one or more long-term goals. My suggestion would be to sign up for a 5K. Don’t wait around to see if you can run far enough by the time the 5K arrives, just sign up. By doing this, you’ll commit yourself to training. If after the 5K you decide that running isn’t for you, move on to something else. If you are already fit, but not a runner, 3 months should be plenty of time to train. If you are not regularly exercising already, you’ll need more time. You may want to start a walking routine and engage in other activities as well. After you feel good enough to add in some running, then you can plan to do a 5K run in 3 months.

Set short-term goals. Decide what you would like to accomplish in the coming week. Each week you will want to come up with new goals. Make sure that they are challenging, yet attainable.

Now that you know what you’re goals are, it is time to begin! If you have not been exercising regularly, start slow with brisk walking or other activities you feel comfortable with. If you have already been active, here is an example of how you can get started!

Here is an example of how you might start to sprinkle jogging/running into your routine slowly to avoid injuries.

Day 1:
Brisk walking 5 minutes
Jog 1 min
Brisk walking 3 min
Jog 1.5 min
Brisk walking 3 min
Jog 2 min
Brisk walking 3 min
Jog 2 min
Brisk walking 5 min
Jog 2 min
Walking 3 min

Day 2:
Weight training

Day 3: Repeat Day 1

Day 4: REST!

Day 5: Weight training

Day 6: Cross-train (bike, walk, elliptical, swim, etc)

Day 7: Repeat Day 1

On subsequent weeks, follow this schedule, but increase your running time. Here is an example:

Brisk walking 5 min
Jog 1 min
Brisk walking 2 min
Jog 1.5 min
Brisk walking 2 min
Jog 2 min
Brisk walking 2 min
Jog 2.5 min
Brisk walking 2 min
Jog 2.5 min
Brisk walking 5 min
Jog 2.5 min
Walk 3-5 min

Each week, lengthen the jogging intervals and even add in some short, fast, running intervals. As you progress, also add in some jogging/running intervals where you just run as long as you can before walking. This is my very simple guide to starting a running routine. I feel that the walk-run technique really helps to ease you into a routine and eventually you will get to point where you can run the entire time.

If you are running outdoors, you will want to clock your run to see how far it is. That way you can be sure that you are covering enough distance to train for your 5K. If you are running on a treadmill, be sure to set your incline at 1% to simulate a flat road outdoors. You may even want to vary your incline for a more realistic “outdoor run”. Do not hold on to the handlebars unless you fear falling off, and in that case I question if you should be on the treadmill. Holding on to the handlebars significantly decreases your effort.

Borg's Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

This scale was created to help people gauge their level of exertion and to use it in exercise testing when heart rates are unreliable or unable to be obtained. You may have seen a copy of the category-ratio scale in your local gym or favorite fitness magazine. This is most widely used in fitness classes and the like to help participants figure out how hard they should be working. As mentioned in the article about exercise and pregnancy, the RPE scale is a great tool for gauging exertion level as heart rate has not been shown to be the best indicator. Here are the two scales.

Tempo Training For Better Fitness

If you are looking for another way to improve your fitness, you visited on the right day! Tempo training is most often referred to as a tempo run, but you can apply it to any type of cardiovascular exercise. Tempo training is great when you only have 20 or 30 minutes for a workout, and you want to get the most out of that time.

In order to complete a tempo training session, you should be running (or whatever your sport) at a pace that is pretty strenuous and doesn’t allow you to carry on much of a conversation. You should be able to speak, but not in complete sentences. Although you should be working hard, this is not “race speed” or the fastest you can possibly run. When you finish, you should feel some relief, be proud, and feel that you got a great workout. You should not be passing out, vomiting, or feeling like you won’t get off the couch for the remainder of the day. I hope that description helps to shed some light on the proper intensity at which this workout should be completed.

So how does this tempo training work? Well, you should be working at an intensity that forces your body to breakdown nutrients for energy anaerobically, or without oxygen. When this is happening, the byproduct of this particular energy pathway is called lactic acid or lactate. Everyone has a threshold at which they can no longer process energy aerobically, so they must move to this other anaerobic pathway (anaerobic glycolysis for those of you who want the exact terms!). This threshold is called the anaerobic threshold or lactate threshold. So, theoretically, when you are tempo training your body should be working at its lactate threshold.

The results of training in this manner are a higher lactate threshold and better running economy. In simple terms, you can run faster and more efficiently. This type of training can be done about once each week.

Questions?

Fueling for endurance exercise. Part III: Nutrition for recovery

During your workout, you fueled your body. After that long training session or event the fueling isn’t over! It is important to give your body fuel to recover. Here are some guidelines for a good recovery

Within 15 minutes of stopping your exercise, you need to consume carbohydrate. After a long workout, you have surely depleted your glycogen stores. (Glycogen is simply the storage from of glucose found mostly in the muscle, which is a sugar that gives your body energy.) Eating a snack high in carbohydrate post workout helps to replenish those glycogen stores. This is the time when your muscles can store glycogen most easily, so take advantage of it. Use this formula to decide how many grams of carbohydrate you need.

Body weight in pounds x 0.5 = grams of carb needed (Clark, N. Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Human Kinetics, Brookline, MA. 2003.)

Example: 150 lbs x 0.5 = 75 grams of carb

If you are still feeling hungry in 30 minutes, you should eat this amount again. Continue fueling until you are satisfied.

Research is somewhat conflicting about whether or not consuming protein post- endurance training is needed or not. Regardless, you probably need some fat and protein to make you more satisfied, so I would suggest a small amount. A tablespoon or two of peanut butter could be used to top a bagel; or you could have a handful of almonds with an orange.

Just as electrolytes were important throughout your long journey, they are also important post-endurance exercise. Any of the suggestions on last week’s post are good, but just make sure that you are having some snack that provides sodium and potassium.

Electrolytes go hand-in-hand with fluids so don’t forget that! Be sure to drink fluids as needed to continue rehydrating. Monitor your body weight and urine if you’re not sure if you have rehydrated enough.

Happy training!

Fueling for endurance exercise. Part I: Fueling during the exercise

Whenever exercise lasts longer than 60 to 90 minutes, it is definitely wise and extremely helpful to fuel up during exercise. There are a lot of different points to consider; however, first and foremost, know that finding just the right combination of “fuel” depends on you. While there are general guidelines to follow, everyone tolerates liquids and foods differently during endurance exercise. For this reason, you must experiment! Once you have found one or several combinations that work for you, stick with those when it comes to the day of your event. You never want to try something new when you’re trying to perform your best!

1. After the first hour of exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends consuming 100 to 250 calories every hour. This snack should contain about 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate. The part that varies here is, a. what you eat, and b. how you spread it out during an hour. You don’t have to eat a snack all at once, but you can if you want! Also, this can be in the liquid form, i.e. Gatorade, Powerade, etc.

While extended exercise does lead to the breakdown of fat for energy, your body runs more efficiently on glucose. Consuming carbohydrate while exercising gives your body quick energy to improve performance and generally feel better. Come back next week for a list of ideas for snacks during endurance exercise

2. Although fueling is important, be very careful not to overdo it. Too much sugar can have a negative effect by slowing how quickly food leaves the stomach. Also, too much of anything during endurance exercise could cause gastrointestinal distress.

3. It is imperative to drink fluids during prolonged exercise. A couple of keys are:

a. You should be sipping throughout exercise, not gulping at the end. Taking small sips here and there keeps you hydrated and energized, while a large amount of water at one time can upset your stomach during or after exercise.

b. Sip moderately. Yes, it is true that you may not feel thirst until you’re already under hydrated, but be aware that you can over hydrate. This is extremely dangerous and can result in death. No need to be scared! Just don’t down more water than you are thirsty for. Listen to your body. This is also another reason to be eating snacks with electrolytes, which are important to “balance out” the water that you are drinking.

c. Weigh yourself before and after exercise. For every pound you have lost, you need to drink 16 ounces of fluid. This can be a guide for your next workout too if you’re unsure of how much you should be drinking.

d. Check your urine. A dark color can mean that you are still under hydrated.


For further reading, I highly recommend Sports Nutrition Guidebook by Nancy Clark, MS, RD. and Nancy Clark's Food Guide For Marathoners by Nancy Clark, MS, RD.


**Be sure to come back and visit on Friday! I am excited to bring you a post from a very special guest!**

Novice or Experienced: How interval and repetition training can work for you!

Interval and repetition training have many benefits and can be a part of an exercise regimen that takes you to the next level. Recent studies show that people who do this type of training lose weight, decrease their risk for disease, and help to decrease abdominal fat more so than when people only take part in endurance activities. So, even if you like how much you weigh, but can’t seem to get that belly in shape, keep reading. However, don’t expect perfection because genetics plays a role in body shape! The other exciting benefits you can achieve by adding these types of workouts into your routine are increased VO2max, running speed, and anaerobic tolerance. In a nutshell, you become a better athlete! (If anyone is interested in learning about VO2 max and anaerobic tolerance, leave a comment because I would be glad to do a posting on this.)

You’re probably wondering what interval and repetition training are! Interval training is a type of workout that includes short bouts of high intensity activity followed by recovery periods. The amount of time you spend in your working and recovery phases should be equal and that exact time is really up to you. You may want your working intervals to last for 2 minutes, or maybe five. During the working phase, you should be working as hard as you can, but it may take several workouts to get use to this type of training. Keep in mind while you’re huffing and puffing through your working phase that your recovery is coming soon!

Repetition training is very similar to interval training; however, it typically involves even shorter working phases (30 to 90 seconds) that are followed by longer recovery periods. The work phase to recovery phase ratio should be 1 to 5. For instance, if your working phase lasts for 30 seconds, your recovery phase should last about 2.5 minutes. During those short working phases, you should be working so hard that you couldn’t keep it up any longer once your time is up. If you can run 7 mph for one minute, then you should aim to run faster when you’re only aiming for 30 seconds.

Now that you know the basics of repetition and interval training, keep in mind that your workouts don’t have to be “super structured”. This post was meant to give you the general idea of how these workouts work, but don’t be afraid to mix it up! Maybe you want to do some long and short working intervals within the same workout. Maybe you start out aiming for 30 seconds of work, but find you can keep up your speed for 45 seconds….great! The idea is to push hard for a short time and recover so that you can do it all over again!

Interval and repetition training should really only be done about once per week as they are considered a difficult workout. You should start this workout with a 5 to 10 minute, easy warm up, aim to complete at least 5 to 6 working phase intervals, and then cool down for at least 5 minutes. You can do this with virtually any type of cardio-respiratory exercise, such as running, stair climbing, biking, or swimming.

Disclaimer: Before you begin any kind of exercise program, you should consult with your doctor. However, if you are elderly or have any physical limitations, you should also discuss intense exercise with your physician to make sure that it is okay for you to do.