Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Tomorrow is my last trail half marathon of the season.  As you may know, we have been testing various running stuff since the site went on line back in March.  After I packed, I decided to post what actually made the cut.  I am not advocating any one product over another.  This is the equipment that I packed for the race.  All of the equipment listed here passed the test.  The biggest surprises for me are the Athletes honey milk and the Timex HRM.  I wonder how that made the cut over the Garmin 405?  Tomorrows run is going to be hilly and tough.  It would be nice know how far and how high I went.

I will do this again for my next half marathon in October.  I wonder what will change?  I know the shoes will change as tomorrow is my last run in them.  I ran more than 600 miles in them and I am pushing my luck.  That may be the reason I am wearing KT tape.

Race Gear
Shoes Asics – T941N with SuperFeet green insoles.
Road ID on shoe laces
Socks – SofSole
KT tape for calf relief from plantar faciitis pain on my lower calf
Underwear – Jockey  polyester/lycra
Running shorts – Asics
Tight long sleeve under shirt – Enso
Short sleeve undershirt – PB pro
Long sleeve top shirt – Jockey polyester spandex
Heart rate monitor – Timex Ironman race trainer
Hat – Under Armor
Maui Jim sunglasses
Nathan water carrier
Casio  Exilim camera
GU roctane
GU gel

Post race gear
Torex ice packs
Dollar store compression sleeves for ice packs
GU gel
bag of pretzels
Fig Newtons
Hammer bar cashew coconut
Athletes Honey milk (Chocolate and honey)
Cytomax bottled recovery drink

Please forgive all errors and missing links as the editor is out of town for a wedding.

It seems that half the runners in the Bay Area raced in a half marathon someplace this weekend. There were three half marathons in the EBRPD alone.

It was uncharacteristically hot this weekend. Drink a lot of water for a few days after the event to help recover. An 8-ounce cup of an electrolyte drink for a couple of days will help too.  Bay area runners have a unique problem where we are not accustomed to the heat and using up lots of fluid when we train. If we wind up in an event where it is really hot we can wind up getting light headed and having cramps the week after an event. It is very important to hydrate, get electrolytes and potassium into our bodies.

Water and ice are the best things for a sore body. An ice bath does wonders for the legs. It is a bit aggravating to go buy ice then fill up the tub and jump in. That first step is into the ice water is horrible. Your legs will soon go numb and your body will thank you for it later. I put ice packs all over my legs. I even have ice packs for my feet. I look for those big buckets in the dollar store so I can just stick my whole foot into a tub of ice water but I never seem to find them. Remember, no stretching after ice.

A half marathon does not usually put a tremendous strain on our bodies
where we have to be overly concerned with rest the following week. You will have to gauge how you feel afterward and go from there. I had a
really tough day on my half marathon on Saturday so I am going to rest up a
bit until my legs feel better. Here is my post half marathon week:

Saturday – hard half marathon, ice on legs, nap, lots of water, ice on
legs, more water and some chicken noodle soup and light food.

Sunday – Ice on legs and lots of water. Eggs and bagel for breakfast,
chicken salad with bread for lunch, fish and vegetables for dinner.

• Monday – no run – power yoga
• Tuesday – no run – plyometrics, swim
• Wednesday – no run – weights
• Thursday – light run, easy yoga
• Friday – core workout
• Saturday – easy long run followed by an easy bike ride

I added my meals so you can see what I eat after a hard event. I usually listen to my body after a really hard day. As you can see, I am taking it easy all week with the running. If you don’t go all out in the half marathon and you feel good, there is no reason that you can’t continue to train as you normally would.

The cold and flu season may be over, but a few of my friends recently came down with a cold and were asking for tips to help recover as fast as possible.

Some people think starving a cold is a proper way to heal — but it is one of the worst things you can do to your body when sick.  Eat more calories to help produce the cells that help fight off illness.  Recent research claims protein and vegetables also are able to boost immune strength, so have some chicken soup with vegetables.

A Q&A posted in Runners World a few months ago noted eating yogurt may be a great idea, as upper-respiratory-tract infections could be reduced up to 25 percent.

If you’re having sinus pain or congestion, the use of any over-the-counter products that have antihistamines are ideal to help aid recovery.  Rest and increasing your vitamin intake also are extremely vital — don’t push yourself too hard, or you run the risk of prolonging the sickness.

When you’re sick but want to train, most athletes and doctors have a simple rule for you to follow:  if the illness symptoms are above the neck, you should be good to go.  (i.e. if you have a sore throat, head cold, stuffy nose, etc.)  Just take it easy and don’t push yourself too hard.

If you’re suffering from chest congestion, vomiting, fever, and other similar symptoms, then you should let your body rest and forget about training.

Editors note:  Real yogurt is harder to find but always better.

During a run last week in Coyote Hills with the Mission Peak Striders running group, I had a brief conversation about the benefits of energy gels and other products many athletes enjoy while running.  I wanted to discuss some of the benefits of energy gels and other fuels here on Alameda Runners.

GU, Clif, and other companies market their gels and goodies by promising an energy boost that most of us crave while out on the road.

I’m not qualified to go into specific details regarding the nutritional needs or the physiological benefit of these gels, but most companies are extremely helpful if you have any specific questions.  (They’ll likely ask you about your level of activity, nutrition, and similar questions to try and help you as much as possible.)

The elevated blood sugar can lead to better athletic performance — and you hopefully won’t bonk.  For example, the GU Roctane product line is marketed as a product that reportedly reduces muscle damage, acid build-up, and other natural benefits.

Most companies normally recommend eating an energy gel every 30-45 minutes, but I don’t usually eat one until I’ve been out on the road for at least an hour.  If I know I’ll be out for a couple of hours, I’ll have one after about every 30 minutes of exercise.  You need to try and figure out what works best for you.  Work on this during training, and not on race days (the results could be disastrous).

The official GU website has some useful information about how to use GU energy products here.  Clif also is more than happy to explain the recommended use of Clif Shot energy gels and other products.  Accelerade also has an excellent page that discusses the use of various Accelerade products during exercise.

Honey Stinger also offers basic recommendations regarding the use of its products, and invites you to call or get in touch if you have questions.

If in doubt, it’s best to try and contact the company directly — they usually are very good about answering back.  Ted actually contacted Clif (without mentioning he writes for Alameda Runners) and received a quick response warning him not to consume the product the way he was because it can be very bad for you.

The need to recover is absolutely vital — it is a great way to prevent overuse injuries that many of us inevitably suffer.

The more you get out and run, ride, or train, it gets harder to just sit around and rest.  Many people will participate in “recovery” activities, which are normally slower, shorter duration runs and bike rides.

In the May edition of “Endurance News” from Hammer Nutrition, there is an article that goes into depth regarding the complicated art of recovery.  You can find the article here (PDF).

Specifically, the author noted recovery is “defined as training that takes place below 70% HR at a minimum; below 65% is even better.”

As long as you’re training at least 50%, which still gives you physiological effects, then you should be good to go.   My HR runs much higher than Ted’s HR, even when I’m “recovering,” but I can tell when I look at my HR monitor when I’m pushing myself too hard.  During a recent race, my HR climbed upwards of 165+ bpm — and I suffered greatly — though my first run after the race I kept my HR under 140 and shuffled home.

Recovery workouts should almost always be an hour or less in duration.  On the bike, you may be able to stretch that to 90 minutes, but I would limit that to two conditions:

•    You’re training for ultra-cycling events such as RAAM or the Furnace Creek 508.
•    You are training for an Ironman.

Did you hear that?

Unless you’re training for a specific event that requires hours upon hours of continuous exercise, keep your recovery activities short!

If you are comfortable with running and lower paced runs, it  may be time to add some speed work into your routine. I know how a lot of you like to go out and run as fast as you can every time you run. I always say “slow down and take it easy.”  Today I am going to tell you to pick up your pace.

Today I did a 4 mile run at 10k pace. That means I ran 4 miles at a pace where I would race 6 miles. The 4-mile run today was very painful. I had a few gears left and could have gone a little faster but I was spent at the end of the run. The best way to find your 10k pace is to go run a 10k race. Wearing a heart rate monitor also helps to gauge your overall effort level.  I have been running for 15-20 years and I still wear a heart rate monitor. You should only do this once a week.

Another speed workout I do is called pickups. I tell most people who are new to running to walk from one telephone pole to the next, and then jog from one telephone pole to the next. Alternate this for a few miles. Running speed work is very similar to this except the heart rate monitor is important here. Jog until you get to your medium range heart rate. When you get there, find a telephone pole and go flat out until you get to the next pole. Jog until your heart rate goes back down to the target then repeat. I usually do this routine for about 4 miles and my sprints spread out more and more as the run progresses. My heart rate for this routine is 145 – 155. Near the end, I tend to cheat and pick up the pace slightly as my heart rate gets close to 145. To punish myself for that sloth, I just take off at 147 or where I catch myself cheating. Do this routine no more than once per week.

These two techniques will help you build speed and strength, but remember to recover after these hard workouts. If something hurts, take it easy and skip the higher intensity workouts for the week.

As you regulars know, I am well into my base training routine right now doing multiple workouts each day, 2-3 days a week and one long day per week.  These double workout days build strength that help prepare my body for the hard workouts expected this summer.  The long day builds endurance to prepare my body for a long exerted effort of a triathlon.

I ease into these hard base training weeks as they can be very painful.  I don’t have enough ice packs to cover all of my sore muscles.  When you get to be as old as me, a lot of pain means the edge of injury.  I don’t want to get injured so I go into things slowly.

One of the ways I ease into strength training is by using P90X.  The P90X routines generally run 60 minutes with 15 minutes of warmup and cool down.  That leaves you with a 45 minute workout in addition to your 30-60 minute daily run.  If you want to lose weight, try my schedule using P90X for core and plyometrics.  It is not likely that you will make it through a whole routine the first few times you try.  That is fine, you just need to do your best every time you do it.  You will get better with time.

The routines that I do in the order of quantity:
Core – synergestics, My favorite workout of them all.  A real calorie burner.
Plyometrics – Plyometrics is a new word for pain.  It builds leg strength and makes you sweat!
Cardio X – A great low impact workout when you want to take it easy.
Kempo X – The most fun workout that I do.  You get to kick and punch like a nut.
Yoga X – We all need yoga.  Don’t be shy, just do it.
Ab Ripper X – 16 minutes of pure hell.  They make it look easy, but it is not.
X stretch – I never stretch enough.  I know I should but I don’t.

I schedule core and plyometrics one day a week.  The other workouts, I slip in when I can.  I also go to the weight room one day a week.  You can use P90X to your benefit but you have to do it.  You don’t have to do all of the workouts.  They have a 90 day plan to get you ripped.  I am not on a 90-day plan but I am a firm believer of variety.  These workouts work.  I am sure there are other videos that work well.  This is just the best one that I have tried.

The website sells the DVD set (13 DVD’s) for $139 plus $20 for shipping and handling.  They break the payments up into “3 easy payments” of $39.95 (Typical infomercial).  I did not want to pay 3 easy payments so I went to one of those “As seen on TV” stores and picked it up for $100.  I also saw it on eBay for around $100.  I chatted with one of the reps on Twitter but I lost his account information.  Maybe he will see this and send a link.  He was very nice and said I could order without sending “3 easy payments”.

I am a fan of building strength through cross training.  If you pay attention, you can find all sorts of tips on the local news or on YouTube and build your own routines.  If you want to lose weight, add 2 or 3 of these routines into your week and you will losing pounds in no time.  If you keep up the routine of 10-15 hours of exercise per week, you will be drinking weight gainer protein shakes.

The Mission Peak Striders meet at the Coyote Hills Regional Park the first Saturday of each month.  If you notice “Ted’s Schedule“ I published, it puts me in the Coyote Hills park for Saturday distance training which offered me the perfect opportunity to meet up with the Striders.

The Striders are a group of very friendly people of all abilities who organize trail runs in the Fremont area.  I picked a tough day to meet up with them as a large group was off running a distance relay and the park was closed the morning we were supposed to meet.  We managed to get together and go out for a jog.  The group that did show up all made me feel very welcome.  I have a short photo page because it was a small group and I did not feel up to chasing people down to get their pictures.

After my run with the Striders, I went out for a bike ride through the park with the intention of doing some hill repeats.  I was so worn out, I skipped the last 10 miles of hill repeats.  While I was suffering on the bike, I was thinking to myself how I am not worthy of a shiny new bike.  I will get stronger as the training season progresses.  I hope I do not get injured.

I have my events planned for this year.  I will be peaking in August for a Shasta Summit century followed by the Folsom International Triathlon two weeks later.  Then I will transition into marathon training for the California International Marathon.  I will rest up for a few weeks then The real work begins.  Training for a half Ironman next year.

This year I am building up my base for the half Ironman.  Next year I will be working speed for the Vineman in July.  It usually sells out fast so I want to be ready to do the Napa Valley Vintage Triathlon in May.  I prefer to do the Vineman because it is in July.

I like to take a break from cycling usually from October to February.  If there is a big triathlon in May, I will have to go ride my bike when it is cold out.  I like to maintain a base where I can train for a half Ironman in two months.  To maintain that type of base, I swim and run year round.  I also like to do a lot of cross training.  I can maintain a lot of strength and stamina by training twice a week in each discipline as long as I build strength through cross training.

I do a lot of different things throughout the year to maintain stamina and build strength.  I like to use bands for low impact training that holds each repetition for a 5-10 count.  I do every type of ab workout that I can think of.  Ab work is boring and painful. The more variations you can come up with, the more you are likely to do.  If you get lazy with the abs, you will pay for it on the really long (3 hours and up) efforts.

Be patient with your base training.  There is a good chance that it will take two years to build up a sufficient base to do a half Ironman.  If you are patient, the less chance you will have of getting injured.  Staying injury free is the best way to achieve your goals.  As you are building up your base, you will have to sacrifice one day a week for your long events.

I train for a 3 hour international distance triathlon and I spend 6-8 hours training on Saturdays during the summer.

I am in no hurry to transition from run to bike and bike to run.  It is all about building the endurance on a strong body.  I have my 2010 training schedule posted here.

As I transition to half Ironman training, I will add more details of my training.

This is the first of a short series on base training.

Base training means a lot of things to different athletes.  For advanced athletes, base training focuses on strength and fuel burning.  For a large majority of our readers, base training is for building up strength and endurance to accomplish an event.  It seems the half marathon is the most popular event for base training.  My first base training was for a triathlon some 15 to 20 years ago

A lot of you are people who started out just like I did.  I saw a triathlon that I wanted to do and I trained for it.  I had no idea what I was doing but I sure tried hard.  I did not finish my first attempt at that triathlon and I trained for a whole year to go back and finish that thing. Read more… »