Top High School Girls Team Does NO INTERVAL TRAINING!

The North Shore training mix is a peon to old-school thinking. It’s short on razzmatazz and long on development. It’s not the stuff of clinics, not if you’re looking for the new hot workout. The basics, through summer, fall, winter, etc., as Levy said, are: (1) Run 10 days straight, then take a day off; (2) run hills three times a week in a 65-minute road run in which you do 10 minutes on the flat, 45 minutes on a hilly route (pushing the up hills, easing off on the down hills), then finish with 10 minutes on the flats; (3) other days run 45 to 65 minutes on the flat followed by 8 x 30-second strides; (4) do one longer run of 90 minutes in the 10-day cycle.   Saturday Night Lights: Nadel and mates break training 'rules,' gain strength, feel fresh



Samantha Nadal, North Shore's top runner, who seems to be thriving on these workouts, has already run a 4:46 mile indoors- on no intervals! 

MY COMMENT:  As always, I am facinated whenever somebody breaks from tradition- and you cannot argue with this kind of success.  Lots of hills and 30 sec strides meshed with a huge areobic foundation seems to be working!  I'd like to see those hills! 

Study Shows That Heel Strikers are Injured More Frequently Than Forefoot Strikers

But in general, those runners who landed on their heels were considerably more likely to get hurt, often multiple times during a year.  -Does Foot Form Explain Running Injuries?

Does this mean that those of us who habitually heel-strike, as I do, should change our form? “If you’re not getting hurt,” Dr. Lieberman says, “then absolutely not. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

MY COMMENT:  The article clearly warns runners not to attempt transition to forefoot striking too quickly, and remember, you have to wear  light weight racing flats or minimalist shoes (I'm not sure it's even possible to learn how to forfoot strike in normal training flats).  I'd also make it a point to practice your new running form on a soft surface. 

In a related abstract Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners, barefoot runners were found to generate smaller collision forces than runners wearing shoes, even on hard surfaces. 

                Sketchers GoRun Minimalist Running Shoe

Ten Minute Post Run Massage Helps Reduce Inflammation!

When administered to skeletal muscle that has been acutely damaged through exercise, massage therapy appears to be clinically beneficial by reducing inflammation and promoting mitochondrial biogenesis. -Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage

For more on this finding read the story at Sweat Science. 

From now on, I will be using my Rumble Roller after particiularly hard or long workouts. 

Youth Running Program

Here is how I spend my Tues and Thurs afternoons. 

Running/Endurance Related Research

Omega-3 Supplements May Reduce Inflammatory Response To Exercise
These findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation decreases soreness, as a marker of inflammation, after eccentric exercise. Based on these findings, omega-3 supplementation (3,000 mg/day) could provide benefits by minimizing post-exercise soreness and thereby facilitate exercise training in individuals ranging from athletes undergoing heavy conditioning to sedentary subjects or patients who are starting exercise programs or medical treatments such as physical therapy or cardiac rehabilitation.  -Journal of Sports Science and Medicine


Effects of Dynamic Stretching on Energy Cost and Running Endurance Performance in Trained Male Runners
 There was no difference in the distance covered after quiet sitting (6.3 ± 1.1 km) compared with that for the stretching condition -Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research


Running Injuries - Changing Trends and Demographics
Running injuries are common. Recently the demographic has changed, in that most runners in road races are older and injuries now include those more common in master runners. In particular, Achilles/calf injuries, iliotibial band injury, meniscus injury, and muscle injuries to the hamstrings and quadriceps represent higher percentages of the overall injury mix in recent epidemiologic studies compared with earlier ones. Evidence suggests that running mileage and previous injury are important predictors of running injury  -Current Sports Medicine Reports

IT Band Syndrome:  The strongest evidence for an effective treatment comes from a prospective trial that emphasized correction of weakness in hip abductor strength. In this trial, of the 24 affected runners, 22 resolved symptoms by 3 months and a 23rd by 6 months, using a regimen of lateral leg lifts. (side leg raises)

Patello-Femoral Syndrome:  Treatment of PFS with orthotics now has relatively strong evidence (SOR A). This comes from recent prospective controlled trials, as well as several case series.

Achilles:  The best evidence for effective treatment of Achilles tendinopathy comes from eccentric exercise protocols studied by Alfredson et al. (stand with toes on a step, and slowly body weight using the effected leg). This type of rehabilitation led to the resolution of tendinopathy in most individuals with noninsertional injuries.


Carbohydrate-Protein Intake and Recovery from Endurance Exercise: Is Chocolate Milk the Answer?
...but present evidence suggests that CHO + Pro beverages may positively influence recovery under some exercise conditions, and chocolate milk is likely a good recovery beverage for lactose-tolerant endurance athletes.  Current Sports Medicine Reports



Aging and Factors Related to Running Economy

The results from this cross-sectional analysis suggest that age-related declines in running performance are associated with declines in maximal and submaximal cardiorespiratory variables and declines in strength and power, not because of declines in running economy.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research  (evidence that older runners could benefit from strength training!)

MY COMMENTS: Summary-Take fish oil daily, don't bother with dynamic stretching prior to running, drink chocolate milk after workouts, and stay strong! 

Six Pack Abs in 4 Minutes!

Great abdominal workout by Yuri Elkaim. Check him out at fitteru.com

Fire on the Track- Steve Prefontaine Documentary is on YouTube!

This is a MUST WATCH!

Great High Mileage Quote!

Returning to the issue of training volume, remember that high mileage days are more important than high mileage weeks.
-Distance Coach John Kellogg

from letsrun.com forum

Hamstring Stretching by "The Band Man" Dave Schmitz

MY COMMENT: I really like this technique! Check out Resistance Band Training for more great information on trainng with resistance bands.

Crazy Mile Repeat Week!

Long runs have not been going so well- physically and psychologically, so I'm putting focus on quality rather than quantity and enjoying it more! I didn't plan it, but 3 of my workouts this week happened to involve mile repeats. I varied the number, level of intensity and recovery for each. I'm also starting to get in some 100 m strides on turf when I can.

Sun: 7 miles including 5 at 6:40 pace.

Mon: 13 miles extremely slow

Tues: no run

Wed: 3 x 1 mile in 6:00, 5:47, 5:48 with 3 min recovery on the outdoor track followed by 10 x 100 meter strides.

Thurs: 6 miles extremely slow

Fri: Got a late start so only 2 x 1 mile but ran hard- 5:40, 5:37 on turf with 5 min recovery. Went out a little too hard on the first one. 6 x 100 m strides. 4 miles total

Sat: Raining out so went to the 10 lap indoor track for 6 x 1 mile with 60 seconds recovery: 6:44, 6:40, 6:35, 6:33, 6:25, 6:10. Totally exhausted.

Total miles = 42 with 16 miles under 7 min and 4 under 6 min

New Therapy for Plantar Fascitis and Tendon Injuries

The study included 34 patients with a wide range of tendon and soft tissue injuries, from rotator cuff tendinitis to plantar fasciitis, an inflammation on the bottom of the foot. In the first stage of the two-part treatment, researchers used high-resolution ultrasound technology to guide a needle to the injured area, and the physicians repeatedly poked the tendon with the needle, inducing minor bleeding within the tissue.

“The needle breaks up nonhealing, degenerative tissue and induces bleeding, hopefully converting a chronic, degenerative injury into an acute injury that has healing potential,” Dr. Smith explains. Afterward, patients received an injection of concentrated platelets from their own blood. The platelets release growth factors into the area to start the healing process.

-Tendon injuries see improvement with new combo therapy: Mayo Clinic

Ritzenhein's Hamstring Problems Can Be Fixed!

Dathan Ritzenhein finished 4th in the Olympic Trials marathon last weekend, but it sounds to me like cramping hamstrings were the only thing that kept him from contending for the win, NOT his fitness. Despite all of the bells and whistles from NIKE, this is a problem that has afflicted Ritz in every single marathon he's attempted, including the 2008 Olympics where he placed 9th. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes, but I would like to believe, given his history of problems, that Ritz has been religiously working on eccentric hamstring strength. He states in this article that "it's muscular fatigue", and I'd really like to see exactly what they did besides nutrition to correct it. Something tells me not enough eccentric strength work.

Running Makes Kids Smarter!

Watch A physical education on PBS. See more from Need to Know.

Frank Shorter Speaks About Running With Bad Feet

Interesting that Frank mentions that he learned to "run light on his feet" because they hurt so much. I recall reading somewhere that former marathon world record holder Derek Clayton said basically the same thing- he was big for a marathoner but taught himself to run "light on his feet."

I also remember racing against Shorter in 1976, amazed at the shoes he was wearing with paper thin soles. I am wondering if he learned the efficient barefoot running style back then by training in something similar.

Correct Toes

Podiatrist Dr. Ray McClanahan has come up with Correct Toes to help realign the bones in your feet and alleviate pain.   The clip here makes good sense- one reviewer here believes this may work but warns not to expect miracles- they could take months if not more than a year.  You can also check out some comments at google groups and this review.
I am wondering how it feels to run with them.   Definitely need shoes with a wide toe box.

Marathon Olympic Trials are Here!

Good luck to all who are participating in the Olympic Trials marathon tomorrow in Houston! The race will be broadcast on tape delay by NBC on Sat from 3-5 pm EST but you can listen to a live audio feed and twitter updates on flotrack.

Good luck to fellow Wisconsin native Rachel Booth that I had the pleasure of training with for a stint in Okinawa about 5 years ago. Last words I heard from Rachel on facebook were "I'm looking for BIG PR" (2hr 43:36).

Give Your Running A Boost!

In G1 (3-5 cycling bouts × 30-s all-out with 4 min recovery) significant improvements following training were found in VO2max (9.6%), power at VO2max (12.8%), Tmax (48.4%), peak power output (10.3%) and mean power output (17.1%).

A PRACTICAL MODEL OF LOW-VOLUME HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING INDUCES PERFORMANCE AND METABOLIC ADAPTATIONS THAT RESEMBLE 'ALL-OUT' SPRINT INTERVAL TRAINING

MY COMMENT: This is good strategy that should be easy to implement just 3 times a week. After a quick warm-up hammer some short hard 30 second bursts on a bike and feel the difference! They don't say whether these high intensity intervals were done seated or standing on the pedals-I assume standing would likely be more beneficial for runners.

Fish Oil May Speed Recovery

Based on these findings, omega-3 supplementation (3,000 mg/day) could provide benefits by minimizing post-exercise soreness and thereby facilitate exercise training in individuals ranging from athletes undergoing heavy conditioning to sedentary subjects or patients who are starting exercise programs or medical treatments such as physical therapy or cardiac rehabilitation.
-THE EFFECT OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE TO ECCENTRIC STRENGTH EXERCISE

Rational for High Intensity Interval Training

MY COMMENT: Today my workout was a 5 garbage miles in the morning, then after work 4 x 150 rotations of jump rope, 4 x 60 sec hard on a spin bike, and 4 x 100 meters swimming, followed by 4 x 25 meters with the kickboard and zoomer fins. This is facinating, especially for masters runners.

This is a long video, but listen to the first 10-15 minutes and you'll get the idea. THIS IS FACINATING!

The Kenyan Runner's Diet - Surprising!

About 86 percent of daily calories came from vegetable sources, with 14 percent from animal foods. As you might expect, the Kenyan-runners' diets were extremely rich in carbohydrate, with 76.5 percent of daily calories coming from carbs

Every 24 hours, the Kenyans took in about 600 grams of carbohydrate, with very little variation from day to day

just behind ugali in second place for calorie-provisioning was plain sugar, which provided about one out of every five calories (20 percent) consumed by the Kenyans over the course of the day.

Since the Kenyans relied so heavily on full-cream milk as a source of energy and protein, their daily consumption of saturated fat checked in at about 28 grams -- 252 calories out of the daily caloric quota of 3,000 or so.

the carb intake of elite distance runners in the U.S., the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa have been measured at 49 (!), 50, 52 and 50 percent of total calories, respectively, a far cry from the Kenyan total of 76.5 percent.3,4,5,6 The Kenyans appear to be doing a better job of fueling themselves for their high-intensity training, compared with their "peers" in other countries.

Source: Eating practices of the best endurance athletes in the world by Owen Anderson.

MY COMMENT: After reading this, I am OK with sugar in my tea. With all the hype surounding a low carbohydrate approach for effective weight loss, this is indeed a reminder that what's good for heavy people may not be good for the runner in training. If you didn't know, Kenyans are notorious for gaining weight during their down time.

Run With The Kenyans!

Facinating account of running with the Kenyans by Irishman Ian O'Riordan.

You must always add to what you have. Now, I don’t start with base, with mileage. I start with speed, then add the volume, which means you are extending the ability to sustain speed. You must also subject the body to every type of stimulus. If you repeat any one session more than three times it’s no longer a stimulus. So if something works, it’s time to change it. That’s why most of the traditional running methodology is bullshit.”

-legendary distance Italian distance coach Renato Canova , who occasionally contributes on the letsrun.com world famous message board.

-IrishTimes .com

High School Talent in Japan Runs Deep!

There are easily 40 high schools in Japan that can field boys teams with at least five athletes who have run sub-15 minutes for 5,000 meters. Some of them won’t race on Dec. 25 because they are the second-or third-best teams in their prefecture. By the middle of fall, the national list included 350 sub-15 minute boys and rising. By year’s end the number typically nears 600. -espn trackHS track & xc

MY COMMENT: Amazing! I am curious why we aren't seeing more depth from the Japanese at the world class level.

Do We Run to Eat?

“The diminished effect of dietary composition on the BMI of higher mileage runners could be due to improved fat oxidation with exercise,” Williams said.

Second to an enhanced internal combustion system that burns more calories, Williams also ponders whether distance runners are inherently good at adjusting their food volume to match their training volume, which relates to the earlier statement that runners understand the need to train more when they eat more.

MY COMMENT: This is exactly what I've been saying! Fat burning ability o the muscle trumps total calories expended for weight loss. Or maybe we really do run so we can eat more.

Read more here:

Anatabloc Testimonial

I love the plyometric drills! More on Anatabloc here.

European Cross Country!

World Champ Paul Tergat could only manage 3rd in this race- if you watch the entire video the finishing straight is absolutely brutal!