Running with the usual suspects today we started to discuss all the runners who had come and gone over the last decade. I was running with my good friend Jon ‘BMW’ Pendse who I first met in 2008 when we shared the same changing room in our building at work. I actually met a few of my now long term friends in those changing rooms. That doesn’t sound good but you know what I mean. Anyway in 2008 I was training for my first Comrades marathon in South Africa ( http://www.comrades.com ), the ‘human race’ as it is called. 87-89k (depending on the year) of serious hills ran from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. (or vice versa) Anyway part of our training was the Bunbury 50k which was to be our last long run. We all decided to run the 42k in 3hrs30mins (5min/k pace) and then enjoy the extra 8k for the ultra. This was to be my first ultra and I was very excited about the prospect.

The first part of the plan was executed to the minute and we crossed the marathon distance right on time. I then felt good enough to put in a bit of a burst and increase my pace to sub3 pace. In the distance I could see my mate ‘Old Phil who is a notoriously bad finisher. I caught him and passed him with ease before spying Nathan Fawkes (who at the time I did not know). Nate is a young, strapping lad and I was very pleased with myself when I caught him with about 4k to go.  Because of the out and back nature of the additional 8k I was getting comments on my position in the race and my mate Chris Kowaski (another Comrade runner, though not a back-to-back runner, there’s another story there by the way.)  ran past me and assured me I was in second place. This was all the incentive I needed, I sprang into life and was in hot pursuit of what I thought was the now leader. Anyhow with about 1k to go I caught the lead runner, who it turns out was a young lady. Anyhow she was dispatched to second as I exploded into the last kilometre.

To this day I can still feel the thrill of victory as I climbed the last hill and sped to the finish. The sun was shining and I felt great. I could see the finish line and the downhill stretch of road leading me to my victorious lap of the park , pre-finish. As I rounded the last corner my family was there videoing my finish. I remember saying to my Wife ‘I’ve won, I’ve only bloody won’. My Wife looked surprised but continued videoing me as I ran round the playing field for one lap pre-finish. Needless so say there was lots of fist pumping and arm waving but I must admit to being under whelmed at the lack of tape to break at the finish or even any sort of comment about my wonderful victory.  When I eventually caught up with Karen, my Wife, I mentioned my disappointment at the lack of acknowledgement for my maiden race victory. “Oh no”, Kare said, “you came second. A guy finished about 25 minutes infront of you.” In all the excitement of the final push, and with the nature of the Bunbury marathon, I had completely forgot about the lead runner in the Ultra, who was so far ahead I never even saw him in the out and back 8k.  He was mentioned in my speech when I received my prize for second place ! Funnily enough in 2013 I returned to Bunbury and won the marathon but that’s another story.

Anyhow the reason for the amusing story was Jon was second in the marathon that day and I recognised him from the changing rooms. Because of that I chatted to him the next week and we’ve been good friends ever since. In those 8 years I’ve seen Jon grow from from a young man into a family man with 2 great kids, lovely Wife, good career and now a very fast BMW 330d.  We’ve probably run 30+ marathons together and many ultras , as well as thousands of training kilometres and we’ve shared so many good times and laughed so much, so many times.

Running lets you meet great people who will share your life for as long as you run, it is true, only a runner knows the feeling….

It’s ironic that my post labelled Stamina is closely followed by posts relating to fatigue. How do you increase your stamina without increasing your fatigue levels? I feel the 10k race last weekend was probably a ‘race too far’ and has tipped me over the edge. Although I’m still enjoying getting out there my legs today were heavy to say the least and I can feel a tight groin that has the potential to become a real problem as I sit here typing this post. There has been niggles over the last 2-3 weeks and you’d expect that as you step up from a 100k-130k average week to 160k-190k. Ignoring the 10% rule for increasing distance but that rule I feel is aimed more at the beginner runner not the experienced version. The real problem is like a gambler on a lucky streak when a runner hits a bit of form the last thing they want to do is stop or rest. The old saying ‘is it better to burn out than fade away’. Fading away may be the right thing to do because it does mean you can return quicker, a ‘burn out’ in running terms is normally a long stint on the sidelines.

Fremantle half is so close that I feel the best course of action is 48 hours complete rest. Easy to type but, with my track record over the last few weeks, harder to achieve. A half marathon, when raced, will bite you if you are fatigued and try to run at a non-fatigued pace. You can probably get to 16k but the last 5k will be a lesson in pain management and mental torture. The mind will be willing but the legs will not play game. I have had this pleasure the last two times I have ran the Fremantle half. Both times I was racing for a top 5 finish (and a medal) but both times I faded and finished 6^th and 7^th. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, remember I am nearly 50, I tend to repeat myself. I wonder if this has anything to do with my current fatigues state, old age ! I was hoping 50 was the new 20, but really I feel this is a myth put about by 50 year olds. I’ll tell you in February next year.

So can I take 48 hours off running? I am going to make a big effort as I know it’s the right thing to do. It’ll give me more time to write a few killer posts over the weekend and maybe look at improving my blog. There’ll be the ‘good luck’ run to Yelo on Saturday morning for the best coffee and muffin in Perth. Not sure how much good luck is actually involved with this exercise but it’s something I look forward to and as a runner, as I have mentioned many times, we give up so much. I don’t consider a Yelo Muffin too much of an indulgence.

Funnily enough I did sneak out for a 10k recovery run in the evening and felt a lot better. I wear my 6 year old skins tights for recovery runs and these bad boys do make a difference. They do give you the support you need and this can certainly help and stave off injury , I hope. We’ll see on the weekend when I race Fremantle half. On the evening run I was actually trying to work out that if I run tomorrow morning early could I get back in time to give me 48 hours before Sunday morning, give or take a few minutes… Have I mentioned I could be addicted….

This evening I’m going to discuss a topic dear to my heart right now, fatigue. After 5 weeks of running twice a day culminating in a 10k pb last weekend I am starting to feel the effects of fatigue. This week my runs have been laboured and I can feel niggles in my legs that would seem to indicate impending injury. I’m still loving the running but realise that I am entering a dangerous zone which will either ultimately increase my stamina and overall fitness or break me down with injury. A tight rope every runner has to negotiate. Reminds me of the old runners fable when given recovery time by any medical professional. They half it. e.g. your Doctor says take 6 weeks off running,  us runners hear “what does he know, 3 weeks”. It gets better of course with the double bluff. A good runner takes into account the Doctor knows about the half rule and assumes the Doctor has already factored that in , so when the Doctor says 6 weeks the runner assumes he actually meant 3 weeks as he was doubling up assuming the runner would half the time. Thus the runner halves the Doctors time twice, once because he knows the Doctor doubled it and half again as we all know Doctors know nothing about running. Thus when the Doctor says 6 weeks, the runners hears 9-10 days. Complicated but ultimately you get to go running quicker…

The article below appeared in Sports Connect, very apt at the moment.

 

Training is like trying to walk a tight rope. You need to balance putting in grueling workouts and mileage with the ability to let your body recover. Favor one aspect too heavily and you’ll either have a poor performance from lack of training or get injured and overtrained from doing too much.
That’s why learning how to manage fatigue, and understanding the role it plays in endurance training, is critical to improving as a runner. In this article, we’re going to outline why a certain amount of fatigue is necessary to improve as a runner, how to strategically implement it, and how to find the right balance.
Why fatigue is necessary
The basis for all training theory is the what we call the workout and recovery process. Running first breaks down your muscle fibers. The harder you run, the more muscle fibers you damage. Your body then works to rebuild these damaged muscle fibers and if the recovery process goes well, these muscle fibers are repaired stronger than before. That’s how you become faster and stronger through training.
But, as you may realize, it’s nearly impossible to fully recover from a workout in 24 hours. It might be possible following a very easy day of running, but any type of speed, tempo or long run is going to require anywhere from 2 to 14 days to fully absorb and recover (here’s a breakdown of what research says about how long it takes to recover from different workout types).
That means, unless you want to only run two or three times per week, training while fatigued is a necessary part of training; especially since we know slow, easy mileage is the best way to build aerobic endurance and is the foundation for running performance. The trick is finding that balance between running enough miles to build you aerobic capacity without overdoing the fatigue.
Herein lies the “art” of training.
However, there is also a way that we can utilize this fatigue to make your training more effective.
How to utilize fatigue to run faster
In training vernacular, coaches use a term called “accumulated fatigue”. Basically, this theory posits that fatigue from one workout accumulates and transfers to the next run so that you’re always starting a workout or a long run a little tired from your previous training.
This is important for longer distance races like the marathon because it’s nearly impossible to run the full distance of the race in daily training. Furthermore, if you were to start every workout fully recovered and fresh, it would be difficult to simulate how your body feels late into a race.
As such, we can strategically implement the theory of accumulated fatigue to better target the specific demands of your race.
For example, during marathon training, one of my favorite methods for introducing accumulated fatigue is to buttress the long run against a shorter, but steady paced run the day before. As an illustration, you would run six miles at marathon pace on the Saturday before your Sunday long run. Because of the harder running on Saturday, you start Sunday’s long run not at zero miles, but rather at six or eight miles, since that is the level of fatigue and glycogen depletion your body is carrying over from the previous run.
You can even apply this theory to 5k training. Using what we know about muscle fibers and the recruitment and fatigue ladder, I often have athletes run a short, explosive hill workout (something like 9 x 60 second hills at 5k pace) two days before a 5k specific workout (12 x 400 at 5k pace with 60 second quick jog rest). The hill session fatigues and depletes the fast twitch muscle fibers so that during the 5k specific work, your intermediary Type IIa muscle fibers (the ones primarily responsible for running at 5k pace) have to handle more work and thus are more specifically targeted.
How to find the right balance
Training would be much easier – and runners much happier – if you could just train hard and fatigued all the time. But, you can’t simply continue to accumulate fatigue and run these types of workouts all the time (although some runners certainly do try). There needs to be a balance.
First, try to keep the specific accumulated fatigue workouts to once every two weeks and only schedule them during the race-specific portion of your training schedule. This ensures that you don’t overdo it and that you don’t get burnt out long-term.
Be sure to keep your easy runs slow. One of the most common mistakes runners make is running their easy day mileage too fast. This hinders your ability to recover and doesn’t provide any additional aerobic benefit. Research has shown that the most optimal aerobic pace for an easy run is about 65 percent of 5k pace. For a 20-minute 5k runner (6:25 pace for 5k – 7:20 pace marathoner), this would mean about 8:40 per mile on easy days.
Finally, don’t be afraid to take a down or rest week every five to six weeks where you reduce mileage by 65 to 75 percent and reduce the intensity of your workouts. These down weeks help you fully recover from and absorb previous weeks and months of training so that fatigue doesn’t build-up too much.

 

This evenings run was one where I had a lot on my mind and thus before I knew it I had ran 15k and was back home after racing the sunset and generally just enjoying running. I am not one for headphones or any exterior form of entertainment when I run. For me when I run, assuming it’s not pace dictated when the Garmin calls the shots, I drift away with my thoughts and have solved many a work related problems on my lunch time run. If you need to ‘unclutter’ just go for a run and you’ll normally figure things out.

This evening was one of those runs. I’d planned for 10k but just kept on running with the sunset on my shoulder and the glorious coast below me it seemed a shame to stop and turn around. Knowing I was meant to be tapering, of sorts , I had to make a big effort to stop and turn around when the time came. Truth be told I think it was probably hunger driving me home, two runs a day with no real additional calorie intake has made hunger a constant partner in my life but the end justifies the means I suppose.

The evening runs in Perth for me are always racing a sunset and because we don’t have daylight saving the length of the day is pretty constant, give or take a few hours. This has the added benefit of early mornings in summer when you have to run early as forty degree days are unforgiving. Overall Perth has a great running climate. Winter is certainly not what I would call winter, from where I come from in England a Perth Winter we would call a ‘heat wave’ ! Spring and Autumn are perfect and Summer is glorious in the early morning and you just need to get up early, really early ! It’s a win win running in Perth.  I often wonder what would happen if I ever went back to Europe. I’d miss the endless bike paths, Kings Park, the 10k bridges, running around South Perth and the wonderful beaches and the Swan River runs. All things we take for granted but certainly not the norm. On the plus side there are some seriously beautiful places to run, proper mountains, lakes, coast and beautiful cities full of history. I can always buy a new running wardrobe if needs be, always keen to spend money on running equipment. That’s for my retirement, for the moment Perth is the place to be and I’m loving it.

Right back to the next race on the BK PB train, Fremantle half. Last year I ran the Peninsula 10k pre-Fremantle and must admit it affected my performance. I was running 5th at the halfway mark which was good for a medal (medals to 5th at Fremantle) but couldn’t hold on and finished 7th, 30-40seconds from the medal. I wonder if this year I’ll be able to hang onto a podium finish. Hope so, if not, no worries, it’s not a ‘goal race’ so to speak, but when the racing bib is on there’s no holding back. Racing is life, the rest is details…..

I found this article by Jason Fitzgerald, head coach of strength training. Compliments my thinking on distance being the key to unlock pace. That quote is mine. I think I proved over the last month or so that high mileage is the key to increased performance. I’m certainly convinced.

For a half marathoner or marathoner, the “base phase” of training (also called the introductory or foundational training period) is the first phase of a training cycle. It’s what prepares runners for the more challenging, race-specific workouts that come later.

And the top goal of base training is to increase endurance—or a runner’s aerobic capacity.

So, how do top coaches and athletes define the base phase of training?

Brad Hudson, coach to many elites and author of Run Faster, explains the base phase as:

“Priority number one is to gradually but steadily increase your running mileage…

Other priorities of the introductory period include establishing a foundation of neuromuscular fitness with very small doses of maximal-intensity running and beginning the long process of developing efficiency and fatigue-resistance at race pace with small doses of running in the race-pace range.”

And Bob Kennedy, the former American record holder in the 5,000m, explains, “There are three basic phases to a training cycle: base, strength and speed. The problem that most athletes have is that they think [the phases] are mutually exclusive. I think that the phase of training is defined by what you are focusing on during that phase.

But you always do a little of all of those things. There’s never a time of year when you’re just running mileage or you’re just doing speed. You’re always doing all of it, it’s just a matter of to what degree.”

Any base period should include three components: gradually increasing mileage, the critical long run, and of course, at least one faster workout per week.

Higher Mileage is Key
Mileage, or the total volume of a runner’s workload, is one of the best metrics for success. Simply put, the more you’re able to run, the faster you’re likely to race.

To build a strong aerobic engine, gradually increasing mileage during the base phase of training is necessary.

Focus on three metrics:

Increasing the long run by about a mile every 1-2 weeks
Adding 1-2 more runs per week
Adding 1-3 miles to weekday runs every 1-3 weeks
The end result should be a gradual, progressive increase in mileage that will help build endurance, injury resistance and economy.

Run Long to Build Fitness
The almighty long run has become nearly synonymous with endurance. To increase stamina, increase the distance of the long run.
Why? Well, the benefits are clear:

Denser mitochondria (the “energy factories” of your cells)
Denser capillary networks to deliver oxygenated blood
Mental toughness and resolve
Improved muscular strength
Enhanced running economy (efficiency)
More energy efficient
You’ll race faster!
No base phase is complete without long runs. No matter if you’re a miler or ultramarathoner, a veteran or a total beginner, the long run is an absolutely critical component to successful training.

Keep the pace of long runs mostly easy and add about a mile every 1-2 weeks. But every 4-5 weeks, it’s wise to cut the distance back to ensure you’re recovering and not increasing your risk of running injuries.

Faster Workouts
It’s a common misconception that base training doesn’t include fast workouts. While they’re not the focus, they’re still included to maintain leg speed and neuromuscular fitness (the ability for your brain to communicate effectively with your muscles).

While strides or hill sprints are valuable ingredients in the base phase (and any phase of training!), there are other workouts that will help increase your fitness and overall endurance.

Progression runs where you gradually speed up to about tempo pace at the end of the run is a valuable early-season workout.

Tempo sessions improve your body’s tolerance to and ability to buffer lactate (the byproduct of anaerobic cellular respiration). In other words, you can hold a faster pace for longer.

Fartlek workouts include pickups or surges of a few minutes with 1-3 minutes recovery. These are usually faster than the other two workouts mentioned, so use them only every 2-3 weeks during base training.

Without including faster sessions into base training, runners won’t develop nearly as much neuromuscular fitness, improvements to running economy, and preparedness for the harder and more race-specific workouts that are undoubtedly coming during the later stages of training.

When you combine higher mileage, increasing long runs, and smart workout progressions you’ll build a monster aerobic base that will propel you to new personal bests.