Prefontaine Was a "Neat Freak"- Pat Tyson

I enjoyed this inteview with Pat Tyson, who reflects on what life was like as Steve Prefontaine's roommate. I got to meet Pat at a track meet in Eugene in 2009, who started talking to me like some long lost buddy- even though we'd never met, I think he sensed running as a common bond. Pat is currently head track and cross country coach at Gonzaga.

Intensity of Exercise Increases Body Temperature- Not Dehydration!

You shouldn’t relate overheating to dehydration. You overheat when you run too fast. That’s the key. You don’t overheat because you become dehydrated. The brain’s too clever. If you’re not going to drink, the brain will slow you down, and that will lower your body temperature, not raise it. So, we’ve got some great studies where we look at people running half marathons, marathons, short ultramarathons, and long ultramarathons. The longer the race, the lower the temperature, because they are running slower - Tim Noakes in Outside Online.

MY COMMENT:  Noakes is stirring up a hornets nest.  I didn't realize 4 of the 6 researchers who published the ACSM Guidelines on Dehydration had ties to Gatorade.  According to Noakes,  "Of the six authors, four – Drs. Maughan, Burke, Eichner and Stachenfeld – have direct and longstanding involvement with Gatorade and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), but only three (Drs Maughan, Eichner and Stachenfeld) deemed it necessary to disclose in the Position Stand the existence of that relationship. The two remaining authors – Drs. Sawka and Montain – are employed by the United States Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (USARIEM)"  -sweatscience

Waterlogged! Everything You Think You Know About Dehydration But Don't!

"If fluid loss leads to thirst, why do some of the best competitors finish endurance races in quite advanced states of fluid loss? Time and again, studies, even those by researchers expecting different outcomes, have shown that the runners who are the most dehydrated, as measured by percentage of body weight loss, run the fastest. " - Waterlogged excerpt in Running Times MY COMMENT: Tim Noakes is generally recognized as the leading authority on dehydration and endurance performance. I can't wait to read this new book!

First 5K in Over a Year!

I'm not even going to bother searching for the last time I did a 5K, but pretty sure it was more than a year ago. Of course when MWR puts on a race, expect anything but an accurate course. This one measured out at 2.8 miles. I was hoping that I could maintain 6 min pace, and that is exactly what I was able to do- finishing up in 16:54. Pretty sure that I could hold that another flat mile, but any hint of an incline and forget it. Using the Runners World Age Graded Calculator, my 85.95% age graded score (AGE GROUP WORLD RECORD/ACTUAL TIME)is about as high as I have ever recorded, predicting a 15:01 (finish time adjusted to that of an open division participant). The good news is that I know I can run faster, and my knee isn't giving me much trouble lately.

Caffeine Helps Muscle Produce More Force

A new study to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 30th June has shown that caffeine boosts power in older muscles, suggesting the stimulant could aid elderly people to maintain their strength, reducing the incidence of falls and injuries. For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force. But as we age, our muscles naturally change and become weaker. -EurekAlert MY COMMENT: Just one more in a line of many caffeine studies that demonstrate performance enhancement.

LoLo Jones and Red Bull Project X

Check out redbullprojectX. If Project X had been around in 2007-8, perhaps LoLo would have gold!

Lauren Fleshman Makes 5K Finals on 10 Miles a Week!

Lauren is probably not going to make the Olympic team, but what she is doing is simply amazing. She ran 15:51 on sprinting 10 miles a week, swimming, and elipical training. Check out the insightful interview on Flotrack with this amazing athlete, along with other great Olympic Trials coverage (Alan Webb just got his butt kicked but cannot wipe the smile off his face- new baby any day!)

Reservatrol Improves Endurance

It's been known for a while now that reservatrol, a compound found in the skin of grapes and other fruits, and yes, red wine, has many health benefits.  Back in 2006, a study published in the journal Cell, reported that reservatrol, the compound found in  "significantly increased their (mice)  aerobic capacity, as evidenced by their increased running time and consumption of oxygen in muscle fibers."

Check out this new study (Resveratrol May Be Natural Exercise Performance Enhancer) that found high levels of the compound improved exercise performance due to changes in skeletal muscle and heart function in rats. 

You can find the abstract here (Improvements in skeletal muscle strength and cardiac function induced by resveratrol during exercise training contribute to enhanced exercise performance in rats)

Don't start drinking red wine just yet.  According to one researcher,  Resveratrol does not exist in wine or grapes in a high-enough amount to provide any significant health benefits or problems, the authors explained. Human trials with any relevant findings have used resveratrol doses equivalent to 667 bottles of red wine (1gm of resveratrol).

Do Squats Improve Distance Running?

This is an amazing display of strength, but will it help you run a faster 5K? Probably not, at least according to Peak Performance. ".. if you really want to improve your running, you should really focus on resistance exercises that are more specific to the act of running - such as one-leg squats, high-bench step-ups, and one-leg hops in place." Is this Hobie Call?

High Intensity Low Volume Training

I am really enjoying the transition from typical 40-50 mile running weeks to low milege, high intensity workouts along with biking and swimming. Below is a summary of my running workouts for the week: ................................................................................. Mon: 19 min for 5K following 8.5 mile bike (6:07/ mile).. Tues: 4 x 800 just under 3 min, 60 sec rest (5:58/ mile).. Thurs: 5:42 mile off 12 mile bike........................................ Fri: 11:18 for 2 miles (5:39/ mile)..................................... Sun: 5K in 18:55 (6:06/ mile)........................................... For the week I had ran about 11 miles in 67 minutes (5 runs, 2.2 miles ave for each), just over 6 min mile pace with a handful of solid bike rides and short high intensity swim workouts. All running workouts but the 11:18 2 mile were done on artificial turf, and I wore my trusty Brooks Mach 9 with the insole replaced by a small, thin heel pad.

Youth Running Club Fun Warm-up - Up Downs!

Always looking for new ideas to keep the kids interested. Here Cody demonstrates the fastest Up Down I've ever seen!

The Spartan Race and Hobie Call

This is one crazy race series and no Hobie did not win the next one. For more on Hobie Call, read this article at Outside Online.

Marathon Crasher- First American Woman to Finish a Marathon!

Marathon Crasher! Merry Lepper sits in a booth inside the restaurant. Her straight brown hair is tied into two pony-tails that encircle her ruddy face like parentheses. She sips hot tea. She pulls out a newspaper article and a cache of photographs from a large envelope and spreads them on the table in front of her. The clipping is almost 50 years old, and the well-creased paper is burnt orange and brittle to the touch. The headline reads "Merry Runner." In the photograph that accompanies the story, Merry is 20 years old. She is jogging in a park in Southern California accompanied by Lyn Carman, her training partner at that time. Merry's blond hair is worn up in a neat bun, and she strides confidently next to Lyn, dark-haired and shorter by a couple of inches. Two of Lyn's children watch from beneath a tree. According to the newsprint, it's December of 1963, and Merry Lepper has just become the first American woman to complete a marathon race. Perhaps, from the perspective of 2012, that doesn't sound like a big deal. Everyone knows someone who has run, or is training for, a marathon. But the current popularity of the marathon hides its ignoble past. From the moment the marathon was created, back in 1896, women were prohibited from entering them. The sexist, all-male officialdom that ruled sports' governing bodies decreed that women's bodies were not built to withstand the rigors of running 26.2 miles – never mind that women's bodies had once birthed those same sanctimonious officials. Put another way: Women could legally vote in presidential elections long before they could officially enter a marathon. Merry Lepper sips her tea and begins to speak softly, conjuring a moment in time when running was both a revolutionary blow against the powers-that-were and a lark to be shared with her pal Lyn: two women in their athletic prime, out for a weekend run on a sun-blanched afternoon almost a half-century ago. Blink, and history will miss you. -exerp MY COMMENT: What a facinating piece of history- only 8 years before I ran my first marathon! First woman to run a U.S. marathon: Culver City, '63

Will Crossfit Help You Run Faster?

CrossFit Coach Dave Werner of CrossFit Seattle, asked what he would do with aspiring half-marathon runners who want to run faster, says he'd have them run three days a week: (1) run intervals at your intended race pace; (2) run shorter intervals at a significantly faster pace; (3) run "long slow distance," a significantly longer distance at a slower pace than you intend for the race. Dave also recommends strength training. For people interested in coming to CrossFit Seattle while training for a long run, he says, "we would lay a foundation of basic strength movements--deadlift, squat, military press, pull-up, push-up or dips. And we would spend some time doing high-power-output intervals, like wallball or kettlebell swings: basic hard work. For most working adults, a three-day-per week running program is pretty effective. If you add to that two or three days of complementary strength and work, that's a great program." -CrossFit Seattle

Something to Think About!

5K Training on 11 Miles a Week!

Three days a week, I put on my fastest Nike clothes, lace up my racing flats and head down to the track to sprint. No warm-up jog. Just a few drills and stretches and BOOM! I’m off! When I leave the house, instead of saying “honey, I’m going to go run a 12 miler now,” I say “I’m going sprinting. See you momentarily!” The rest of the time I swim for cardio, which used to be nauseatingly boring but since my knee hurts doing everything else, by force of will I decided to like it. - training diary of 5K Olympic Trials hopeful Lauren Fleshman I can definitely relate- a few months ago I started experiencing knee pain that gradually became chronic. It didn't take long, however, for me to figure out that the pain was not worse following short, high intensity workouts such as 1 or 2 mile tempo runs or intervals. With a June 23 mini triathlon set for June 23, I've been doing lots of short "brick" workouts- bike followed by running, along with every other day short but intense swim workouts. And it seems to be working. Yesterday I ran 11:36 for 2 miles immediately following a 9 mile bike. The day before biked 7 and did 5 x 800m averaging 2:55. As you can imagine, it takes a while to get the running legs going, but these times compare favorably to my normal splits, on no more than 10 miles a week! Next up? I am interested in what I can do for 3 miles on fresh legs. Stay tuned. PS- Knee pain still there, but much improved!

Pre Cooling Improves Hot Weather Running

Confirmation out of Germany that pre-cooling is an effective strategy when racing in warm, humid conditions. "...pre-cooling can effectively enhance endurance performance, particularly in hot environments, whereas sprint exercise is barely affected. In particular, well trained athletes may benefit in a typical competition setting with practical and relevant effects. With respect to feasibility, cold drinks, cooling packs and cooling vests can be regarded as best-practice methods." -Pre-Cooling and Sports Performance: A Meta-Analytical Review

Kashi Beats Cornflakes in Time to Exhausion Test

This small study suggests an increased time to exhausion on a treadmill following a meal low on the glycemic index scale. "Prior to one exercise test each subject consumed a Low Glycemic meal (LG = 40) consisting of Kashi® GOLEAN Crunch® (Kashi®) and prior to the other exercise test they consumed a High Glycemic meal (HG = 72) consisting of Cornflakes (Kelloggs’ Co.) with low fat milk 45 min before testing." RESULTS: The results showed there was a statistically significant difference between the trials of the High Glycemic (12:05±0.05) and Low glycemic meals (13:57±0.03) in the time to exhaustion (p=.008). THE EFFECTS OF HIGH AND LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX MEALS ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE.

Lance Armstrong Wins Half Ironman in 3:45! Drinks Coke On the Way!

JP: Did you do something dramatically different or was it some details you fine-tuned that made a big difference?
LA: Well, I think there are two things: the amount of calories you consume, and the type—so either a sports drink, a gel or a piece of solid food. All of those things we considered, and I guess the takeaway for me was to consume a lot less calories than I had been consuming. I was ingesting a massive amount of calories in the other races, just assuming I could handle that, and my gut was turning off completely. And then it’s doing a much better job of hydrating the days and hours before the start of the race. In the other races I took in mostly sports drink water and gels, and [in Florida] I went with sports drink with salt tabs dissolved in the drink, and Honey Stinger Waffles—solid food [on the bike]. On the run I just took Coke and water at the aid stations. I started with two gels and didn’t feel like I needed the energy so just stayed with water and Coke. I wore a regular hat—not a visor—and was taking cups of ice and putting it in my hat and then putting my hat back on, just keeping the ice constantly on my head so that it would melt and drip down, keeping me pretty cool.  triathlon.competitor.com

Lance ran his half marathon in 1:15!

Ryan Hall Can't Break 30 Min for 10K

Last weekend Ryan Hall finished 15th in the Healthy Kidney 10K, running a dismal 30:15 seconds. According to Hall, he "just hasn't done the 10K work. My training is very specific to the marathon." From this, my guess is Hall does lots of tempo work at 4:50 pace (2:04:50 for the marathon, under 30 min for 10k), and maybe even Yasso type long intervals. Since he only runs 6 days a week, his weekly mileage is not excessive.

Is he in trouble? Based on past performance, probably not. While a medal in London is doubtful, he shouldn't be embarrassed. Hall has been very consistent for several years now, grinding out one good marathon finish after another, more often than not preceded by sub par races. Would he be a better marathoner if somehow he could run some fast times at shorter races? That is the question many are asking.

Hall has said he talked to lots of people when he decided to go it alone and self-coach, but I wonder if Frank Shorter was one of them. If I were in Hall's shoes, Shorter is the first I would have approached, a guy who before injuries finally took hold, seemed to always be at the top of his game, NO MATTER WHAT THE DISTANCE!   While Shorter is best remembered as a marathoner, he was also ranked in the top 5 in the world four times at 10,000 meters, and once was even ranked 10th in the 5000. 

Here Shorter describes his favorite 2 high intensity interval workouts, four x 3/4 mile, or 10 x 400s run very hard. Here he describes his intervals at "5K pace".

Interesting that Shorter describes 75-90% of his training as "conversational pace"- not anywhere near marathon speed. It wasn't all Long Slow Distance (LSD) training, however. In his book, Olympic Gold, Shorter wrote that when he's fit he'll run the second half of his weekly 20 miler at marathon pace.

I find an interesting contrast between Hall, who says he hasn't run any workouts at 10K pace, and Shorter, who believed his 5K pace interval sessions "were the critical ingredient in my training recipe".   And when Shorter ripped off 10 x 400 in just over 60 seconds at sea level, I don't exactly consider that 5K pace training. He ran hard! 

Shorter ran in the 70s and 80s, and unlike Hall, he never broke 2:10. But Shorter has 2 Olympic medals, not to mention a 5th place in the Olympic 10,000 meters. He could run both distances well, and even turned in many good 3 mile times, something that Hall the marathoner has yet to master, or apparently chooses not to.

Hall has proven time and time again he has the strength to run a good marathon but if he wants to take the next step and seriously go after a medal in London, I believe he has to show some speed at shorter distances.    Shorter's PR in the 10,000 was 27:45, run in 1975, the year before winning the silver in Montreal.  Hall ran an impressive 13:22 for 5K while still in college and 28:07 for 10,000 in 2007. 

I'd seriously consider Hall a threat to win a medal in London if he ever figures out a way to get back to running those times while maintaining his current long distance strength, just as Frank Shorter was able to do.  For now, it doesn't appear that is going to happen. 

Omega-3 Supplements May Reduce Inflammation

These findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation decreases soreness, as a marker of inflammation, after eccentric exercise. Subjects performed enough eccentric bicep curls to induce soreness, and those taking 3,000 mg of omega-3 supplement reported 15% less soreness than a previous trial. Arm circumference increased after eccentric exercise in the control trial but not in the omega-3 trial. Similar results are reported here: Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation attenuates inflammatory markers after eccentric exercise in untrained men Finally, this paper Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases Artemis reviews the anti-inflammatory benefits linked to omega-3 fats and other medical conditions including arthritis.

Super Dog for Gluts!

Nice modification to the Bird Dog by trainer Nick Tumminello.

Skechers Delivers

I recently stumbled on this review of Go Bionic by runblogger of the latest minimalist shoe from Skechers.

The bump he mentions feeling with the Go Run (the PX actually had it in stock), kept me from buying that one, so this is looks like a definite upgrade. I have to hand it to Skechers, they have become a player in a very tough market, and their stock (SKX) has been crushing it lately. Go Bionic is due out later this summer.

Knee Pain Exercises-The Peterson Step-up

I've got knee pain, so will be reviewing and posting what exercises I find that could help!

The Key to Muscle Growth is Lifting to Failure, Not the Amount of Weight

According to a new study, if you want to get strong and grow muscle, it's ok to use light weights, but the key is to lift until you can't anymore. This may be important for runners, particularly older ones like myself that want to reverse age-related muscle loss but avoid potential for injury that may occur with heavy lifting. For more information, go to runnersworld or the globe and mail.