Run to Win

This week last year was dominated by exercise related news, although there were a few less topical articles that were worth looking at.

• This week last year, there was a debate about whether or not you should refuel during a marathon or whether you should stick to water. I had to throw my 2 cents in. My opinion is basically the same this year as last year, although I should go back and update it with my latest opinions and experiments.
• Scott and I continued our series on alternate exercises by suggesting that you should walk everywhere. I just bought a new car, so regardless of how much exercise I want to get you had best believe that I’m parking in the least desirable areas where there will hopefully not be anybody else parking near me.
• There was a lot of news this week last year. Here are a few of the more interesting stories:
  • Bike activists create their own bike lanes.
  • 16 year old Windy Hagar married her 40 year old track coach.
  • Dean Karnazes missed setting the 24 hour treadmill record.
• This week two years ago, I suggested that you shouldn’t fall asleep in front of the television.
• This week three years ago, I reviewed the books Running with the Buffaloes and Eat to Be Fit. I also shared my Beef Jerky recipe and made on a suggestion on how to deal with migraines. Lastly, I recommended that you go for a good Beach Run.

• This week last year, I compared the pros and cons of running with headphones, which is always such a polarizing topic.
• Shani Davis broke his own 1500m speed skate record with a time of 1:42.32. He bested his own record by 0.36 seconds.
• Jim Snyder provided some information about the treadmill record from the week before, including providing a video of the event.
• How do you compare your workload from week to week when your training consists of multiple activities?
• This week two years ago, I began a weekly series on what I thought about the 20 new rules of lifting found in the book by the same name. I posted two rules per week, beginning this week with the list of rules and the first rule: use your muscles as they were designed. I also demonstrated how to do a swiss ball bench press with dumbbells, suggested that you always eat before and after working out, and wrote a review on Under Armour gloves. Unfortunately, I have sense lost that pair of gloves and replaced them with Sport Hills.

At Complete Running, Mark Iocchelli and Steve “Runner” Walker are debating about whether or not you should refuel during a marathon or whether you should just stick to water. Both make some good points, but I definately side with Steve on this one. I have learned what works well for my body, and everybody needs to learn what works for them. I do believe that there are a few guidelines that can make a difference, though, and that are a good basis to experiment with.

First, my credentials. I have run more marathons than Mark, and not quite as many as Steve. I’ve run all of my marathons faster than either of them, owing largely to my age and the fact that I am only a 5 or 6 years removed from averaging 85-100 miles per week throughout the course of a year. My goals tend to be a little different than what they might put down as well; depending upon how my next few year’s of training and racing go I would not be surprised if my barely attainable goals move down towards a trials qualifier.
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In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will be writing all about rest for the month of October. You can expect a new article on the matter every week. Next week will conclude our collaboration on rest.

This week’s article was written by Scott and is called Fuel and Rest.

Scott examines why we need to rest in the first place, how to rest, and how to properly fuel your rest. All three work together to make sure that we can sleep properly and perform throughout our day.

Dr. Bente Klarlund Pederse of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, believes that we should spend some of our time training in a glycogen-depleted state in order to maximize our training benefits to increase production of the immune system agent Interleukin-6.

In other words, do some workouts underfueled and make yourself bonk in training.

Pedersen provided some validation for this hypothesis through a clever study in which she had subjects exercise one leg once daily and the other leg twice every other day. The total amount of training was equal for both legs, but the leg that was trained twice every other day was forced to train in a glycogen-depleted state in that afternoon workout. After several weeks of this, subjects engaged in an endurance test with both legs. Pedersen found that the leg trained twice every other day increased its endurance 90 percent more than the other leg.

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Always be sure to properly fuel your body. A lot can be said about the specifics on how to do that (I recommend reading Eat Smart, Play Hard for those very specifics), but the easiest thing to remember is to eat before and after you work out.
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