Base Building 102

(Second in a series of posts on how to build a base.) 
You've begun to build your base with some regular training.  You are spending most of your time in Zone 2 ("steady") and doing some short, neuromuscular accelerations.  What do you add next?

Hills.  For runners and cyclists, add some hill repeats - starting with 30 seconds and building to 1-2 minutes uphill.  Recover with easy walking/jogging/spinning down the hill.  Don't charge up the hill, do these at one hour race effort - "comfortably uncomfortable."  Start with 2-4 repeats and build up to 10-12 repeats.  Hills are speed work in disguise (and with lower injury risk). 

So now your training week should include three key workouts:

1. Hills
2. Long training session in Zone 2
3. Neuromuscular training session with strides or accelerations and drills.

This pattern should fill a block of 3-4 weeks before you need to add the next base building element. 

"You are better than you think you are..."

"You are better than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can."  ~Ken Chlouber, Leadville 100 founder.  Ken likes to say this to all the nervous race participants in the pre-race meeting.

So true.  How often have you questioned your ability to accomplish a goal?  Daily?  Good, then your goals are worthy. 

We all have self-limiting beliefs.  Self-limiting beliefs like, "I'm slow," or "I'm not a strong runner," or "I can't lose weight," or I can't race that distance," - they protect us.  If we eliminate a whole realm of challenges by giving up before even attempting them, then we are "safe" from failure.

The big problem is, that as Ken says, "We are stronger than we think we are."  And if we believe in those self-imposed limits, we will never see what we really can do.

Sometimes we have to turn off our brains and simply fake it as if we believe we can do it.  More often than not, we will surprise ourselves with the accomplishment that we didn't believe we could attain. 

Pretend that you are fast, or a strong runner, or a great swimmer, or an Ironman, or a person who can lose weight.  You just might do it!

"You are stronger than you think you are..."

Recovery Nutrition

Did you know that the best way to prevent over-training, sickness and lackluster training is to use recovery nutrition?
All the current science agrees, if you don't replace some of the glycogen, fluids and electrolytes from a hard or long training session, you will be at risk for all three.
So, if you have done strong intervals, or trained long and you really feel like you "worked," gulp down some recovery nutrition within 15 minutes of your workout.
A recovery drink/snack will include the following:

• 50-100g of carbohydrates - the simpler the carbs the better
• 10-20 g of protein
• Enough fluids to replace what you lost during the training session
• Sodium (don't forget Choride, Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium)

Examples? 

• Commercially prepared Recovery powders work very well.  I like First Endurance Ultragen - right now that is my favorite.  But they are all good.  I put a serving in a ziplock and mix it into my water bottle right after the workout.  (Mix it too early and it can ferment in a warm car.)
• Chocolate milk or Hot Cocoa made with milk.
• Orange/fruit juice with whey powder works well too.  
• Smoothie made with a frozen banana, other fruit and some whey powder

If you replace your glycogen within 15 minutes of your workout, your energy system will still be in workout mode.  This means that you won't get  a strong insulin response.  It also means that you'll get this reviving energy before your cortisol hormones get so high.  Your immune system will not be as stressed by the training.  And you will be topping off your glycogen tank before you attempt more training later in the day or the next day and therefore will feel much stronger.

It is important.  I make recovery drinks mandatory for my athletes who are in the hardest weeks of training.

Base Building 101

So, you have an endurance event planned for 2010.  It is mid-January and you are ready to begin formal training.  What should you be doing?
Not long ago, cyclists would make sure that they "stayed in the small chain ring" for a 1000 miles before trying any strong efforts. 
Runners ran high volume weeks of LSD - long, slow, distance before they began track sessions.
While all of those easy, slow miles were good at avoiding early season injury, we know now that they were not necessarily accomplishing the greater goal of building aerobic fitness optimally.
Current research reveals that short, strong efforts can and should be a part of your Base Period.  In fact, efforts at all intensity levels may be appropriate throughout your season.  The proportion of time that you spend in different training zones must be manipulated according to your training cycle, but don't forgo strong efforts all winter long.
Along with building your aerobic base, this is also the time to work on efficiency and economy - with much work on drills, skills and strength. 
This blog would be pages long to cover everything that you should be doing right now, so I'll post at least weekly with Base Building tips.  Here are a few for this week:

1. Spend roughly 50% of your time in Zone 2 (or a pace that feels focused and steady - i.e. Ironman pace).  It is this zone that is most important right now, but it must be Zone 2, not Zone 1, to push your body to adapt.  (Zone 1 is good for recovery and drills only, not fitness building.)
2. Incorporate some very short, relaxed accelerations.  Do 20 second strides after a run.  Do some 25 builds in the pool.  Do some 20 second sprints on the bike.  Stay relaxed and stop at 20 seconds.  These are meant to be neuromuscular skill practice sessions - to build efficiency.

More later...we'll keep it interesting.

Bike Across America

Did you ever wonder what it might be like to bike across the country?  Jeff and I did it during the summer of 1997.  It was a life-changing adventure that we treasure and hope to do again.  If you have 6 minutes, you can watch Bret Taylor's group ride from Virginia to Oregon for MS.  They rode with a webcam that took a picture every 5 miles.  Looks like they couldn't use the camera on rainy days though.  Believe me, all bike touring days are not sunny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9ju-iiPDA
Jeff and I were struck by the generousity and kindness of Americans when we crossed the country.  In an entire summer, we got only one slightly rude motorist signal on those quieter, rural roads.  Instead, many offered camping space in their yards, dips in their backyard pools and bought us breakfasts in town cafes. 

Swim Lessons

Had a productive swim lesson with Kent Pearson (also a TB Coach).  A few technique tweaks, and I'm hoping to cut off another 10 minutes from my Ironman swim.
Kent put it bluntly, "There are about 400 pounds of water in the space right in front of your stroke."  There is no way you are going to pull 400 pounds of water backwards.  Instead, think of pulling your gliding body over your arm and through the water." 

My tasks for the next week?

• Ride the glide longer with my outstretched non-breathing arm
• Bilateral breathe every length
• Focus on hand entering the water in a straight line forward/up from my shoulder (my right hand crosses toward the midline). 
• Relaxed recovery

I knew all of this, but I didn't really know how I looked.  It is so valuable to have an expert use their eyes to objectively evaluate stroke position.  Now, I am more confident that I am working on the right things.  Next week, we are going to address the pull.

Hill Repeats and "High Arms"

I managed to do 12 x 1:00 hill repeats at 5km effort tonight (thank you lungs!).  It was dark, and I couldn't see my watch, so I counted 90 right foot strikes to estimate a minute and marked how far I got with each repeat.  Obviously my goals were uphill strength building and downhill strength building.  But, I also concentrated on form. 
I found that when I used Bobby McGee's advice for "high arms" and a small elbow angle, that I traveled significantly farther with my 90 strides.  The idea is that high arms and bent elbow result in a smaller pendulum.  Smaller pendulum means that the runner can increase his/her cadence.  Big bonus points if you direct your hands straight forward and backward, rather than crossing toward your midline.
It was simple and it seemed to make an immediate, painless difference.  It will be my focus until I turn it into habit.
Then, I'll start tackling my forward lean...

Swimming stories

Spent the morning (and last evening and tomorrow morning) at a kids swim meet.  Youth swimming is booming in Illinois!  Nice to see.  All sorts of kids who have a team to be a part of and a coach who cares.  Each kid has their race to race - no-one is left out.  And, with the truly frightening childhood obesity epidemic, it is nice to see several hundred kids racing their hearts out on a snowy winter day.
Then, inspired by the kids, I dove into a pool for the first time in 2.5 weeks.  Lots of coughing, but it felt good to swim.  I am a late blooming swimmer - no swim teams in my childhood town.  I'm trying to make up for that lost experience.  I'm getting better, but I still have potential.  It is nice to still have potential.

Running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles, new study suggests

There is growing thought that running shoes, or how we tend to change our stride when we run in running shoes, may be causing running injuries. This study indicates that running shoes do support our feet well, but that they lead to increased torque on higher joints like knees and hips.
Think about your running stride. Do some drills where you pretend that you are running barefoot - how does that change your stride? Move more towards that technique - typically a quicker, lighter cadence with your foot hitting the ground right under your center of gravity. Stop striking the ground in front of your belly button and quicken that cadence!

Running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles, new study suggests

Setting the record straight on weight loss

Setting the record straight on weight loss

How cold temperatures will affect your energy during a race or training session

We are in 40 hours of winter storm warnings here, and it has been very cold for a week.  One of my running partners managed to get in much of her long run on Wednesday (while I napped with bronchitis).  She originally intended to run 13-14.  With a starting temperature of 6 degrees, and windchills below zero, she wisely cut the plan down to 10 miles. 
She reported being very warm and with good legs for the first several miles.  "Then, at 8 miles, I just got very cold and really slowed down."  Suddenly.  She was close to home and stopped the run.
What happened here was entirely due to the cold temperatures.  What athletes don't realize is that you burn up a lot of glycogen keeping your body warm in cold temperatures.  You need to compensate for this in a cool or cold race (or training run) by increasing your calories per hour.  She burned through her glycogen stores earlier in the run trying to stay warm.
The body is miraculously adaptable and it will do everything to keep you going.  But, when you are out, you are out!
Tips for cold weather running:

• Wear layers of technical fabric.  My favorite layers include Zensah's long sleeved compression tops and Sporthill loose fitting 3SP pants.  I wear my balaclava of course and mittens rather then gloves. 
• Have an extra shell and mittens or over mitts in a fanny pack or do as my friend did and stay close to home.
• Run into the headwind first.  Save the warmer, faster tailwind for when you are fatigued.
• Drink!  You may not feel the sweat, but it is still occurring.  And with every breath, you are breathing out fluids.  Keep up with your hydration.
• After your run, boost your immune system with some hot chocolate, a hot shower and dry clothes immediately.

Happy winter!

One of my Favorite Things (Forgive me Oprah and Julie Andrews)

A balaclava.  No, not the honey drenched Greek pastry (although I've got nothing against those).  But a head covering that keeps me toasty warm in four hour ski races, frigid bikes and wintry runs.  Mine is not the Chicago Bears knit variety, but a lightweight, perfectly cut version cut from technical fabric.  Mine is from Craft, although I've seen several from other good companies. 
Mine keeps my ears warm, my neck warm, my chin warm and my cheeks warm.  With exercise induced asthma, I can pull it over my mouth for the first minutes of my ski or run and warm and moisten up the air while my lungs get on board with the training task at hand.  Then, I pull it just below my lower lip so the condensation from my breath doesn't freeze into a block of ice. 

On bronchitis and training

I've now been coughing deeply for 10 days.  Six days of antibiotics so far.  Seven days of impaired or no training.  This morning, I didn't join my running friends and instead took a nap.  The nap felt good - it was the right thing to do.  But, immediately, I started to question why I didn't run today.  Was it truly the bronchitis?  Or have I suddenly given up all training - lost the desire and the joy of a good run for good?  What a terrifying thought! 
No...it was six degrees out, a negative windchill, and I've learned that you can't rush the healing of your lungs.  I'm just getting slightly smarter every year.

Winter...it's not all bad

In the upper Midwest, triathletes, runners and cyclists turn to cross country skiing during the winter.  I've been ski racing since 1989.  After a few weeks of skiing, my cardiovascular fitness hits a high for the year.  I can go into spring races with huge fitness. 
Skiing is low impact and high cardio.  It works stabilizer muscles - weak links that we endurance athletes need to strengthen.  It takes some patience to gather the equipment, get some instruction and find good snow.  But, we are endurance athletes, right?  Patience is our game.
If you are lucky enough to have snow, skip that icy run and try some skiing instead!