RaceRx

Most runners do not run as far as they can every time they run. Most runners also do not sprint until failure during training runs. We mostly run at sub-maximal paces for varying distances. Some days we may run faster and some days slower, but we rarely go 100%. We definitely do not go as hard as we can every day.

These points seem obvious to even novice runners since most understand “training stress” should be varied. Exercise professionals call the varying of training stress “periodization”, and it is generally accepted some periodization model is necessary to obtain ideal performance results.

While “periodization” can take different forms, there is one stress many exercise professionals overlook and never include in a training program: life stress.

Life stress can definitely impact your training program and your racing performance. As a side note, elite level runners understand the importance of managing life stress so they may sleep up to 14 hours per day! Of course, this is not exactly realistic for most of us.

The challenge with placing life stress into a training program is it seems largely subjective and vague. Using objective standards to calculate stress seems like a daunting task. However, subjective measures are highly imprecise and often miss the mark badly- leaving the runner poorly trained and underachieving.

By using objective heart-rate readings as your training guide, the Race-Rx programs are able to incorporate life stress into your training program in an objective manner. When you are experiencing more stress or less sleep, your heart rate will likely rise more quickly than when you are feeling less stress.

When you are under high stress, your heart rate may jump up to 135 bpm while running 7 minute miles (just a hypothetical example). On a lower stress day, you may run the exact same pace and your heart rate may only get to 125 bpm. It is harder for you to run at the same pace when you are under significant stress.

Our programs understand life is going to bring you some stress, and this fact must be calculated as part of a training program. Since Race-Rx is an individualized program, training stress is varied to your individual life-stress response.

Contrast this with most generic magazine or “one-size-fits all” programs where training periodization is based purely on times and distances and no variation is offered when you are under greater stress.

These programs are overly simplistic and imprecise and do not consider the role life stress can play on training performance.

By utilizing an individualized heart-rate training program, our programs allow you to train at the level that is ideal for you on that particular day. During later days when the stress is reduced, the training stress can increase. This way your body is allowed to progress at an ideal level precise to your particular needs.

Since not many of us can sleep 14 hours per day, Race-Rx’s programs help maintain an ideal training program adapted for your individual needs.

http://www.race-rx.com/training-systems.php

As you prepare to run your first race, you probably have many questions about strategy and performance.

Here are three tips which can help you do your best on race day.

1. It is Better to Start a Little too Slow than too Fast

For many runners, the excitement of the race start causes them to start too fast. This can cause you too fatigue early and negatively impact your time.

Try to start a little slower than feels natural.

You are probably going faster than you realize.

2. Hydrate Throughout the Week-not just before the race.

Some runners try to drink lots of water immediately before the race to hydrate.

It is better to drink water throughout the week and hydrate slower rather than try to do so quickly the morning of the race.

If you are racing on Saturday, pay special attention to proper hydration from Monday-Race Day.

3. Don’t Experiment the Day of the Race

This has its own blog post, but it bears repeating.

Eat your normal breakfast and run in shoes you have trained in.

Do not try any radical new ideas during the race itself. The time to experiment is weeks before the big race.

Follow these three tips to run faster and happier!

It’s “Big Race” eve.

You are a little nervous and flipping through a running magazine.

There at p. 100 is an article on a “cutting-edge”, pre-race eating strategy “Guaranteed to help you PR”.

You want to PR so you change your routine and try the “cutting edge” idea on race morning.

About half way through your race, your stomach tells you it does not like the new approach as much as the magazine said it would.

You feel slowed by the new approach.

Ugh……

This idea was supposed to make you faster-not slower!

Likewise, runners who try new shoes on race day are often unpleasantly surprised when the shoes do not fit quite right-throwing off running gait or even causing a blister.

Changes in gait and blisters can slow you down or just make the race an unpleasant experience.

In many ways, runners are as unique as fingerprints. We respond differently to eating, training and racing strategies. Magazines can provide great new training ideas, but race day is not the time to test them.

Since you do not know your response to a change in advance, experiment with plenty of time to re-adjust if the experiment does not work.

Try the new food or new shoes during a training run four weeks before your race and see how you respond.

If the new approach works, great. Maybe it will help you PR.

If it does not help you, go back to your old approach.

No harm is done since you tested the strategy well before the actual race.

Many of our readers are about six weeks out from the Top of Utah Marathon.

If you want to try a new shoe, a new pre-run eating meal or any change to your routine, now is the time to try it.

I would avoid trying new routines closer than two weeks out from your race.

By leaving the experiments to your training runs, you can help yourself run faster, have more have more fun and enjoy your big race.

Race-Rx Cardio has teamed with the NordicTrack Top of Utah Marathon as official training sponsor. The race attracts 2,800 runners to Northern Utah and also offers 5k and 1/2 Marathon races.

The TOU course is fast, incredibly scenic and USATF certified. The course starts at Hardware Ranch Elk Refuge, and travels down Blacksmith Fork Canyon and into downtown Logan, Utah.

We will be providing training and recovery tips leading up to the big race day-September 17, 2011. We are very excited to help all TOU athletes run faster and healthier.

Today’s tip deals with protecting your skin. Many newbie (and sometimes not so new) runners experience some unexpected skin discomfort after long runs or after completing a race.

Do not be afraid, new runner!

Some simple success strategies can help you avoid these irritating skin injuries and keep you running more comfortably (and possibly faster).

Always wearing dry and wicking socks and appropriate-fitting shoes and applying petroleum jelly to your feet before running can help you avoid the most common running injury: Blisters.

Jogger’s nipples (OOOUCCHHH!) are another common running injury in both men and women and occur when clothing repetitively chafes against the nipples as may happen in a marathon.

I know personally these are quite painful!

Applying petroleum jelly or placing adhesive tape on the nipples can help avoid this most painful condition. Female runners should wear softer bras, and men should wear synthetic, wicking shirts.

Chafing can produce more runner’s regret.

Always wearing dry, well-fitting clothes and completely drying after showering can minimize chafing risk.

Applying petroleum jelly to the inside of the upper thigh can prevent chafing. Larger people are particularly susceptible to chafing so they should take special care.

Whether you are running your first or your fiftieth marathon, taking simple steps will let you avoid these highly unwelcome and uncomfortable visitors.

Source: E A Mailler, B B Adams, The wear and tear of 26.2: Dermatological Injuries Reported on Marathon Day, Br J Sports Med 2004;38:498–501.

The Karvonen Method, also referred to as the heart rate reserve, considers the client’s resting heart rate, in an attempt to alter the training intensities based on fitness status.

Resting heart rate is subtracted from age-predicted maximal heart rate and then added back in after low and high-end percentages are calculated.

220-­‐Age–Resting HR(.60 (low end) and.80(high end))+Resting HR

Although it sounds confusing, a few examples may simplify things:

35 Year Old Male #1 with a 45 bpm Resting HR:

220-­‐35-­‐45=140(.60 and .80)+45=129 (low end) to 157 bpm (high end)

35 Year Old Male #2 with a 90 bpm Resting HR:

220-­‐35-­‐90=95 (.60 and .80) +90=147 (low end) to 166 (high end)

Because the equation begins by calculating an age-predicted maximal heart rate, the problems with previous age-based variations in maximal heart rate apply to this method as well.

In addition, assuming resting heart rate as a valid indicator of fitness status is also flawed.

While resting heart rate generally decreases as fitness improves, resting heart rates can vary dramatically, similarly to maximal heart rate, based on factors other than fitness level.

Plus, the removal of resting heart rate results in a flip of the exercise intensities where those with low resting heart rates receive lower training intensities than those with high resting heart rates (see example above).

In the end, neither 220-age or Karvonen are accurate or valid formula for predicting maximal heart rate is available, and therefore, any attempt to prescribe heart rate training zones based on such equations is flawed and can result in over or under-prescribed intensities.

Incorrect training intensities produce inconsistent results. When little improvement occurs, athletes usually increase training volume when inappropriate intensity is the real problem and appropriate intensity is the solution.

The higher volume approach leads to 45, 60, 90 minute cardio sessions (all completed at the wrong workout intensity) resulting in little improvements and a drastic increase in overuse injuries such as shin-splint pain, fallen arches, degenerative knees/hips, and exhaustion.

A better approach is sorely needed.

The Race-Rx System heart-rate training system is simple to start.

First, you do need a heart-rate monitor.  They are available on our website or you can buy one at almost any sporting goods store.

Second, you need somewhere to take the test.  Just about anywhere could work, but a treadmill or indoor bike might be ideal since you do not have to worry about stopping for traffic lights, U.F.O.s or pit bulls.

Once you have those two things, just do the following: