Proper training pace

[Source: Adapted from Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels, PhD, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 1998, 287 pp.; American Running Association, Running & FitNews 2004, Vol. 22, No. 4, p.2]

Giving thought to what pace you should be running on any given day enables you to shape your training to meet specific goals. It also helps cut down on mileage that offers little or inefficient training effect. This takes an understanding of what various running paces do for you aerobically, mechanically and chemically.

Perhaps the easiest way to be sure you're running at the desired pace is to use a heart rate monitor, but many people simply learn over time how their bodies feel at certain training paces. The following will help you become accustomed to the feel of each type of running and provide an overview of the various factors in play at a given running pace.

Easy pace

Easy running occurs at about 60 to 70 percent of your maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), or 70 to 75 percent of your maximal heart rate (MHR). It is a good recovery pace in between faster workout days, and so in this sense it is your "normal" training pace. When this pace is held for longer runs, it's a useful way to attenuate your body's glycogen depletion and rely more on fat for energy.

These runs are more about putting in the time than pushing the intensity. They will help you become accustomed to fluid loss and other cellular stresses. Easy pace is the one at which any training regimen begins -- and should remain for three weeks before introducing faster running. Focus on light turnover and rhythmic breathing.

Threshold pace

At around 88 percent of VO2max or 90 percent of MHR, this pace provides quality training with limited stress. For many runners, it's slower than 5k race pace by about 24 seconds per mile. These are the "tempo runs" we incorporate into our training, and they should feel comfortably hard. You can use threshold pace for other running, too; such as mile repeats with one-minute rests in between.

The pace is best for improving the body's ability to clear lactic acid from the blood during exercise. The importance of this increases with distance. Also note that, at 20 to 30 seconds per mile slower than threshold running, there is a useful pace for long-distance runners we'll refer to as "marathon pace". Use this as an effective alternative to the typical easy run. Just avoid any non-specific training intensity that falls elsewhere on the continuum between your easy and threshold paces.

Interval pace

This is hard running over short distances. The goal is to eventually achieve 98 percent of MHR for brief periods of time. Intervals should never be longer than five minutes, and they are usually much shorter. Intervals train the body to carry on through prolonged periods at VO2max. As a guide, your pace should approximate a pace that you could not keep up for longer than 15 minutes. This is not all-out running.

Running intervals faster than this pace will introduce fatigue and possibly injury; it will certainly compromise your next training day. Remember that you're not running at MHR for 15 minutes. (If you were to actually perform a 15-minute run at this pace as a test, you would not be running at MHR the entire time.)

Repetition pace

This is faster than interval pace, but does not improve VO2max as effectively. It's used to get your body moving smoothly at a fast pace. A runner training for a 10k will have the same interval and threshold paces as a runner training for 1500 meters. But because one runner is training for a faster race than the other, their repetition paces would differ.

Racing requires running economy and speed, both of which this pace improves by forcing the mechanical aspect of the training to mirror race-day running. Unlike interval training, fully recover in between repetition work bouts. You should be able to run the sixth 400 meters as fast as the first.

Once you understand the benefits of each pace, you can begin to sculpt a training regimen over many weeks that meets your specific distance goals in the most efficient way possible -- while remaining interesting and varied at the same time. For a middle-distance runner (racing between 5k and 15k), long runs should generally not make up more than 25 percent of total weekly mileage, threshold running eight to ten percent, intervals six to eight percent and repetition pace five percent.

Distance per Swim Stroke Ideas

[Source: Mat Leubbers, About.com]

Swim More with Less Swimming

What is distance per stroke (DPS) for a swimmer? Think of it as getting more distance for each swimming cycle through increased efficiency, not by reaching further in front or pushing further in back. Trying to extend the comfortable reach of your stroke pattern can lead to injury and body alignment problems - actually decreasing swimming efficiency.

Here are some of the steps to swim through that should help you improve your distance per stroke:

1. Get in a good body position, long and straight, with the top of your head pointing the way you are going.
2. Slow down the pull.
3. Feel your hand enter.
4. Extend to a natural stopping point with no over-reach. Your body should rotate around your spine, with the shoulder/hip on the same side of the arm extending rotating towards the bottom of the pool while the opposite side rotates towards the sky - you will be more on edge (maybe mentally, too) than flat.
5. Leave your extended arm's elbow relatively high (close to the surface of the water).
6. Bending at the elbow (and possibly wrist a bit), point your fingers, hand, wrist, forearm structure (fhwf) towards the bottom of the pool (this is the catch).
7. Keeping your fingers, hand, wrist, forearm structure (fhwf)pointing towards the bottom of the pool, press on the water (backwards).
8. BIG POINT HERE - NO S CURVE - NO MOVING OF THE FHWF STRUCTURE AWAY FROM POINTING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL - THE ELBOW/FOREARM/SHOULDER ANGLE WILL CHANGE, BUT ATTEMPT TO KEEP THE FHWF STRUCTURE ORIENTED STRAIGHT DOWN.
9. AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU FINISH THE CATCH AND BEGIN THE PRESS, BEGIN TO ROTATE TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE.
10. AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU BEGIN THE CATCH, THE OPPOSITE ARM SHOULD BE AT OR ALMOST AT #3.
11. As you press on the water and the fhwf structure passes your waist, your elbow will begin to surface and you will start to feel a loss of pressure on the fhwf structure.
12. When you feel a major loss of pressure, lift the elbow and get the whole arm up, into the air, for its recovery. AT THAT POINT THE OPPOSITE ARM SHOULD BE AT #4.
13. Swing the arm forward with a high elbow and relaxed FHWF structure until you reach #3.
14. You should breath away from the hand entering the water, when that hand is in the #3-4 range, so you have finished the breath BEFORE the hand on the breathing side gets to #3.
15. This needs to be felt and worked through at a slower pace, then practiced at a faster pace.
16. Initially you can lay on your side (WITH FLIPPERS ON, GENTLE KICKING!!) underwater side of your body'sarm extended, other arm down, laying along your side, top of your head pointing the direction you are traveling.
17. Count to 10, eyes looking sideways with one eye directly above the other, mouth out of the water.
18. At 10, take one arm pull and recover with the other arm, rotate your body 180 degrees and mouth out again on the other side.
19. During this rotation, your head should never leave its point position, aiming towards your destination.
20. As that gets more comfortable, start decreasing the count between side switches. I call this drill head point with X-count switch.

Minimize any swaying motions and any over-extensions or over-reaching. This technique is all about:

• A straight line body position.
• Rotating around your spine.
• A pointing straight to the bottom FHWF structure.
• Overlap timing by getting one hand in the water before the other hand gets too far along in the press.

Note that there is variation in angles of FHWF structure from a head-on view. I like swimmers to work on the "straight to the bottom of the pool" point for now, to decrease the amount of cross-over that can occur during breathing. It may help you to think of it in two ways, one from the point of view of an eyeball stuck in your belly, and one from the point of view of an eye watching as you swim over the top of it. The belly-eye would see the FHWF start off far away, move in towards it, then move far away again, while the bottom-eye would see the FHWF structure point towards it and stay pointing towards it as the body swam over the top of it.

Increasing your ability to cover more distance per stroke is one more tool you can use to improve your overall swimming. This skill is useful for all levels of athletes in almost any distance race or workout set. Try some of theseswimming technique tips next time you are in the pool and let me know how it goes.

Food for Runners

[Source: 2009 issue of Runner's World]

GOOD BUZZ

No more coffee guilt—caffeine boosts leg and brain power.

By Liz Applegate Ph.D.


Run Longer, Think Faster
In a study done last year, researchers gave cyclists an energy bar with or without caffeine (equal to one cup of coffee) before and during a long, hard ride. They found that cyclists who have caffeine ride farther and think faster on cognitive tests than the no-caffeine group—useful news to runners in endurance events and adventure races, where quick decision-making is key.

Increase Sprint Speed
Consider drinking a cup of coffee before your next speed workout: Australian scientists gave fit athletes a 300-milligram dose of caffeine one hour before running five sets of 6 x 20-meter sprints. They found that runners who have caffeine sprint faster than those who don't have caffeine. Researchers think the stimulant enhances reaction time and running speed.

Recover More Quickly
Runners know they need carbs postrun to rebuild their glycogen stores, but a recent study suggests caffeine may also enhance recovery. Cyclists rode hard for two consecutive days to drain their glycogen stores. They then drank a carb beverage with or without caffeine. Researchers found that having a drink with caffeine rebuilds glycogen stores 66 percent more than a carb-only drink.

Hydrate Smart
Many people have heard caffeine causes dehydration. Most studies, though, show you can have up to 550 milligrams of caffeine (or about five cups of coffee) without affecting hydration levels. That means you can have quite a few caff einated sports drinks and gels while running without risking dehydration; more than 550 milligrams will have a diuretic effect.

Keep Bones Healthy
A few studies have shown a link between bone-mineral loss and caffeine—but a close look at the data reveals that caffeine itself doesn't cause the mineral loss. Many coffee lovers may drink it in place of beverages rich in calcium (such as milk), and as a result, decrease their intake of this bone-strengthening mineral.



Mocha-Madness Recovery Shake

The combination of carbs, protein, and caffeine (about 100 milligrams) in this shake will help boost muscle recovery after a hard run.

• 2 ounces espresso (or very strong coffee)
• 8 ounces low-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons sweetened ground chocolate
• 1 banana
• 5 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth and frothy.

CALORIES: 380
CARBS: 71 G
PROTEIN: 19 G
FAT: 6.5 G
CALCIUM: 30% DV



Measuring Up

Just how much jolt is in that gel, soda or latte?

• CHOCOLATE MILK (8 ounces) - 5 MG
• GU ROCTANE ENERGY GEL (1 pack) - 35 MG
• BOTTLED ICED TEA (16-ounce bottle) - 40 MG
• DIET COKE (12-ounce can) - 45 MG
• CLIF SHOT BLOKS (3 bloks) - 50 MG
• COFFEE ICE CREAM (1 cup) - 58 MG
• RED BULL (1 can) - 80 MG
• ESPRESSO (2 ounces) - 100 MG
• COFFEE, DRIP (8 ounces) - 130 MG
• STARBUCKS CAFE LATTE (16 ounces) - 150 MG

Sports drinks' dirty little secret is just plain sugar: study

[Source: Ottawa Citizen, April 18, 2009]

Swish-and-spit method works just as well as swallowing, experts find

By Tom Spears


Sports-medicine resear-chers in Britain have found out why sugary "energy drinks" help endurance athletes, and along the way they've thrown out all the reasons people usually think of.

Runners and cyclists sometimes credit the calories, or the burst of blood sugar, or caffeine, or electrolytes, or the fluid itself.

Wrong to all those, says the University of Birmingham team. They know these can't be the reason, because rinsing and spitting with energy drinks turns out to improve performance as much as drinking them.

Instead, they found a second performance-enhancing mechanism: The presence of sugar, and sugar alone.

And this opens up whole new avenues of understanding human endurance, coming just a month before thousands of runners will run in the Ottawa Race Weekend (May 23-24).

Ed Chambers, a PhD student at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Birmingham, prepared drinks that contained either glucose (a sugar), maltodextrin (a tasteless carbohydrate) or neither. He then added artificial sweeteners until all three mixes tasted identical.

Then he asked cyclists with experience in endurance races to race through time trials, during which they rinsed their mouths with one of the three concoctions.

No one swallowed anything.

Cyclists who swished with glucose or maltodextrin drinks outperformed those on saccharin and water by two to three per cent, sustaining a higher average power output and pulse rate, even though they didn't feel they were working any harder.

Sweet taste alone can't be the reason, since all the drinks were sweet, the researchers conclude in an article in the Journal of Physiology. They believe there's another set of undiscovered receptors -- cells that sense things -- in the mouth.

"Much of the benefit from carbohydrate in sports drinks is provided by signalling directly from mouth to brain rather than providing energy for the working muscles," Chambers wrote in a summary of his work.

The British research adds to an idea floated four years ago in another sports medicine journal, which is that the brain -- not the muscles, heart or lungs -- is the factor that limits the endurance of the body.

Three South Africans noted in 2005 that the usual theory says muscles reach their limit "usually as the result of either an inadequate oxygen supply to the exercising muscles or total energy depletion in the exhausted muscles."

Instead, they proposed, the brain acts like the governor on a car or truck engine, limiting how hard the muscle can work in order to prevent damage.

"The brain paces the body during exercise specifically to ensure that the preplanned activity is completed" without upsetting the normal muscle cell function, the University of Cape Town team wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The brain does this, they said, by changing the signals it sends to muscles, and through "the increasingly disagreeable sensations of fatigue that are generated by the brain during exercise."

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Visualize Perfect Freestyle to Improve Technique

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, April 22/09]

The more detailed and real you can make your visualization, the more effective it is likely to be.

By Matt Fitzgerald
Triathlete magazine

Do you ever feel that your arms and legs prevent you from swimming better?

After all, lack of knowledge clearly is not the factor that's holding you back. You're already familiar with the various elements of proper freestyle technique: floating high in the water, rotating from the hips, pulling with a "big paddle" and the rest. You have a very clear mental vision of what your body should do.

During workouts, your brain commands your arms and legs to move just like Michael Phelps's limbs do when he swims freestyle, but the muscles do not (or cannot) obey. If only you could get rid of your body and swim in your mind with the perfect technique you picture and intend there.

Actually, to some degree, your limbs really do get in the way of improving your swimming, and you can in fact refine your freestyle technique by practicing without your arms and legs. What makes this possible is the fact that the motor programs stored in your brain and activated to control your freestyle stroke are far more malleable than your muscles, which execute these programs.

In other words, your brain's motor centers can imagine and intend alternative ways of swimming far more easily than your muscles can adjust their movements. Thus, by temporarily replacing your real muscles with imaginary ones—that is, by visualizing yourself swimming—you can practice alternative techniques with greater freedom and make it easier to get your muscles to do what you want them to do when you return to the pool.

Your freestyle swim stroke—like every other motor skill—is produced through two-way communication between your brain and your muscles. The motor centers of your brain store programs for your freestyle stroke that were developed through previous practice.

When you decide to begin swimming, your brain selects the appropriate programs and executes them by sending electrical signals to the muscles, causing them to move in the programmed pattern. As you swim, your muscles send a constant stream of sensory feedback to your brain, providing data that enables your brain to refine and adjust the stroke.

Practice Visualization

It's this sensory feedback, or the feel of your muscle movements, that constrains your ability to fiddle with your stroke in ways that make it more efficient and powerful. When you practice your swimming through visualization, you replace real sensory feedback from the muscles with images of correct technique that you have captured by studying photographs and instructional videos and by watching better swimmers at the pool.

Armed with this data, you can easily see and feel yourself swimming with better technique while lying in bed with your eyes closed. When you imagine yourself moving, you activate the very same neurons (brain cells) that become active when you actually move. Frequent mental practice causes these patterns of neural activity to consolidate into newer, better motor programs for swimming.

When you return to the pool you can draw on these new programs. With your muscles factored back into the equation, you won't find it quite as easy to swim like Michael Phelps as you did in your bed, but it will be decidedly easier than it would have been if you had not used visualization.

Most athletes are unaware of just how much control the brain has over athletic movement. Your brain is the puppet master; your muscles are mere puppets. In fact, they are totally replaceable. By implanting electrodes inside the brain's motor centers, medical engineers have enabled quadriplegics to play video games with their thoughts.

In these cases, the visual feedback the patient receives from the movements of the character representing him on screen replaces muscle feedback. Through trial and error, the patient learns to connect neurons previously used to move his arms to the video-game character.

As an athlete wishing to swim better, you can exploit the plasticity and independence of your brain's motor centers, as highlighted by the above-described medical example, by connecting your freestyle swimming programs to images of perfect swim technique as seen in others.

All you have to do is gather some concrete and detailed images of the technique elements you covet and picture your body performing these movements for a few minutes each day while sitting or lying quietly with your eyes closed. Be sure to imagine the feel of swimming in this manner, as well. In fact, the more detailed and real you can make your visualization, the more effective it is likely to be. Throw in the smell of chlorine, if you can.

Studying the Power of the Mind

Perhaps all of this sounds like hocus pocus, but it's not. A number of studies have proven the capability of visualization to improve motor-skill performance beyond the level that can be achieved through physical practice alone.

For example, in one study subjects were challenged to toss a ping-pong ball at a target from a cup affixed to the crook of the elbow. Half the subjects practiced the skill only physically, while the other half practiced it both physically and through visualization. On average, members of the latter group improved their aim more rapidly than the others. Field studies involving skills that actually matter to real athletes have produced similar results.

New research suggests that everyone practices a de facto form of visualization to learn new motor skills during sleep. In a study performed at Harvard Medical School, two groups of right-handed subjects practiced a rapid typing task with their left hand, at the end of which time they were tested for improvement in the skill. Then they waited 12 hours and were tested for further improvement in the task.

One group was tested at 10 a.m., following a practice session, and was retested at 10 p.m. the same day without any additional practice. The other group was tested at 10 p.m. and was retested at 10 a.m. the next morning, after sleeping, and without additional practice.

Members of the first group showed a 2-percent improvement when they were retested. Members of the second group, who slept between tests, showed a 20-percent improvement the next morning without any additional practice of the skill.

In light of these results, I would suggest that the best time and place to mentally practice your swimming is at night, in bed, as you are preparing for sleep. Not only do you have nothing better to do in this situation, but taking advantage of the opportunity in this manner will ensure that your freestyle stroke is at the top of your subconscious mind as you fall asleep, increasing the chances that you will wake up a better swimmer in the morning.