March 2016 Running Challenge

Stoshew71 wrote: »

So here is the other thing as far as losing weight and running performance.

Theree are quite a few factors as I see it.

#1 Where is your calorie deficit coming from?
protein, fats, carbs?
#2 What is the focus of your runs?
lots of slow easy miles vs tempo runs and speed work
also, do you do hills? strength cross train?
#3 how much weight do you have to lose?


#1 Make sure you get enough protein in. Otherwise you don't have the building blocks that will be used to repair muscle damage and recover from workouts (DOMS).
Healthy fats are necessary in celluar administration. Think avacados, nuts, fatty fish (like salmon and talapia), fish oil, flaxseed)
Then carbs (vegatables and fruits first, then make up with whole grains and potatoes). Quick carbs for immediate recovery (nessessary if you are doing 2 a days). If you have a lot of calories left to spare, then you can treat yourself.

So addressing carbs. Long Distance Runners do burn a lot of carbs because the amount of cardio they do which burns a lot of the glycogen that is stored in your liver and muscles. The more you use up your stored glycogen, the harder it is to run faster than your easy pace as you get near your lactate threshold and beyond.

The faster you run, the faster you use up your glycogen. The slower you run, your body will begin to transition more as a fat burner than a carb burner the more you get into your run. The more you practice this, the better your body makes this adjustment. It's hard if you are not used to running on lower glycogen levels, but you can get used to it (just as long as you are not doing any high intensity running). Eating gu's or gatorade while running reasonable amounts makes it harder to train the body in making this transition. It's something you have to get used to. Not only mental, but physiological. The more you run on carb depletion, the better your body produces the harmones that will burn the fat at a more efficient manner. But your body can only do this if you are within your aerobic intensity. (Think conversational pace).

So this brings up #2.

So if you plan on doing lots of anaerobic work, or high intensity running. You are going to have a real hard time if you are running in a carb depleted state. If you do hills, or do lots of strength cross training, you will need to recover from muscle damage. Your recovery from DOMS will be much longer if you are eating at a calorie deficit.


All foods (protein, fat, and carbs) can be used for energy and can be used to replace loss of glycogen.
The only purpose in life (to your body) for carbs is for energy. Fat and protein have other primary purposes as I started to suggest above. Fat and protein can be used to replace glycogen in a process called gluconeogenesis. But low carb diets do this much less efficient than higher carb diets.

#3 The more weight you need to lose, the harder it is to run.

I seen a Table on Runners World http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/whats-your-ideal-weight-find-out

it says.. If you lose 2 pounds, you can be be 12.4 seconds faster at a 5K, 25 seconds faster at a 25K, 52 seconds in a HM. 5 lbs you can be 31 seconds at a 5K, 1:02 in a 10K, and 2:11 in a HM. 20 pounds will make you 2:04 faster in a 5K, 4:08 faster in a 10K, or 17:28 in a HM.


So the more weight you need to lose, the more beneficial it is to concentrate on weight loss. If you only have a few pounds to lose and plan to do a lot of tempo and speed work, or lots of strength training, or hill work, then there is a level of diminishing gains on weight loss.

However, if you are sore constantly, feel like your pains may turn into injuries, then something has to give. Either the running intensity/volume or the weight loss. Before you make this decision, also make sure you are getting 8 or more hours of sleep at night.

EDIT: Also, the more weight you are carrying, the more of an impact you make with each step (ground impact forces). So every time your foot hits the ground, your higher weight you are carrying stresses your bones, ligaments, and tendons due to these ground impact forces. So the more chance to injury you have especially as you increase mileage.

Date      Miles      MTD
------    -----    -----
Mar 01      3.7      3.7
Mar 02      3.8T     7.5
Mar 04      3.8     11.3
Mar 08      4.1T    15.4
Mar 09      5.1     20.5

joinn68 wrote: »

Shooting for a (for me) high number: 60 miles. 4 miles x 3 days a week + 6 miles x 1 day a week. Will walk half and run half.

kristinegift wrote: »

3/1: Rest day
3/2: 12 miles (am), 5 miles (pm)
3/3: 7 miles speedwork (am), 6 miles with Thursday crew (pm)
3/4: Rest day
3/5: 7.3 miles
3/6: 15.2 miles
3/7: 6 miles with Joe to Go crew
3/8: Rest day
3/9: 12 miles (am), 5 miles (pm)
3/10: 8 miles (am)

I would have done speedwork today, but decided to take it easy and run on some dirt/gravel trails (canal and one that goes by some historic farmsteads) because my race on Saturday will be plenty of speedwork since I'll be running it at max pace. Plus it is a gorgeous morning, so I didn't feel bad about taking my time and soaking it all in. In the mid-50s (12-13C), bright sunshine, blue skies, wispy clouds, birds are singing, geese are honking... feels like spring to me!

Tonight's group run 6 miler is a Pub Run, so we get free beer at the end! Been looking forward to this as sort of a bookend to my week; spring break starts after classes end Friday and I'm so ready for a week off!



Upcoming Races:
3/12: Run O' The Mill 5K (Clinton, NJ)
4/3: Caesar Rodney HM (Wilmington, DE)
5/1: New Jersey Marathon (Lots of towns, NJ)