April 2017 Running Challenge

Date Miles today - Miles for April
4/1 20 miles - 20
4/2 10 miles - 30
4/3 REST DAY
4/4 10 miles - 40
4/4 4 miles - 44 << Daily Double




Upcoming races:
UAH 8K - 3/6 <<< 34:33 3 in AG
Oak Barrel HM - 4/2 <<<< 1:38:00 3 in AG
Bridge Street HM - 4/10 <<< 1:36:33 3 in AG
PEO-AVN Team Day 5K - 5/4 <<< 19:10 (2.9 mi) 1 in AG 5 OA
Cotton Row Run 10K - 5/30 << 44:57 PR
Firecracker Chase 10.2 miler 6/25 << 1:20:22 1 in AG & 15 OA
Huntsville Half Marathon - 11/12 << 1:35:55 2 in AG & 25 OA
Rocket City Marathon - 12/10 << 2:44:41
Elkmont Hound Dog Half (unofficial) - 1/21 << 1:46:48 2 OA
Elkmont Hound Dog Half (rescheduled) - 2/18 << 1:41:04 1 in AG & 24 OA
Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon - 4/29

I am having some pretty amazing runs these last few days. Saturday I ran the fastest 20 miles in a long time with the first 10 either GMP or just a tad bit slower or faster. The next day I come out with a great 10 miler that was about 35 seconds slower than GMP. This morning I ran a 10 miler that was pretty much almost all at GMP (except mile 9) and then I did a daily double where I did a 4 miler and the first 3 were lactate threshold pace. I think I am priming at just the right time. This is my last hard week and I will begin my taper next week for KDFM.

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

@angmarie28 - Long distance running doesn't require a pre-run energy boost of any sort, it's just not how the muscles work. In any running you are depleting your muscle glycogen, but for long distance running you want that store of glycogen to last as long as possible. So this running needs to be done in an aerobic state so as to burn primarily fat from your body as fuel (as well as lactate produced in your muscles from running). Training your body to do this with a long distance training plan adapts your muscles and everything else to adjust to such a state. Believe it or not, the purpose of gels and all that is NOT to power your muscles at all, and your muscles are not really even going to use them. What the gels and stuff does is keep you blood sugar levels high enough to feed your brain. Your brain only runs on glucose, it will not run on fat. Your muscles are different though and can run on fat without needing glucose from your blood sugar. Those gel packs only have about 100 calories, so it is pretty obvious they are not feeding the muscles which will be burning a lot more than 100 calories during that time!

Are you so fatigued ahead of your Saturday morning runs that you can't run without something perking you up? I am suspecting not, but if so then that is a WHOLE other story. Assuming you COULD run, you should alternate between fasted and non-fasted runs. There is data out there supporting this. The idea is to have your muscles program themselves to run more on fat than glycogen, meaning your glycogen stores last longer, and you can go further. The reason for alternating between fasted and non-fasted runs is that there is data out there showing that those who always run in a fasted state show the same level of adaptation to fat-burning as those who always run in a non-fasted state. But those who alternate make this adaptation faster. I don't know why, but as I said, there is data out there supporting this. By fasted run, this means starting out in a fasted state. It doesn't mean not taking anything at all during the run if it's a long run.

You should take something to refuel for long runs. Think of long runs by time, not distance. I find I don't need fuel for any run less than 2 hours, but any run over that and I need to plan ahead. Some fuel every 45 minutes, I fuel closer to every hour. About 100 calories of sugar is what you are looking for, but the gels and stuff like that also add in electrolytes, because they have electrolytes and stuff (sorry for the Idiocracy reference). Just find what settles well, is easy to carry, and tastes good.

Yikes, that's a lot, didn't mean to make a long post. Hope this helps!

The concept has to do with diminishing returns. Running in a fasted state will only help you improve your fat burning capabilities so much. If you always run fasted, then you are not always training at peak performance. If you run some training runs in a fully fueled state, on those days you should be able to train with higher intensity (thus stressing your anaerobic and aerobic systems harder). In your fasted days, you are targeting your fat for fuel capabilities. Also, on your fully fueled days, you will get to practice your refueling techniques, see what fuel works best for your body, see if you can hold race pace, ect. Early in your training cycle you will run fasted more often than fully fueled and later in your training cycle you are going to insert a lot more fully fueled days (in theory).

I tend to run fasted anyway since I run first thing in the morning and the only thing I can get into my system is a mug of coffee before I go out and run.

Stoshew71 wrote: »

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

@angmarie28 - Long distance running doesn't require a pre-run energy boost of any sort, it's just not how the muscles work. In any running you are depleting your muscle glycogen, but for long distance running you want that store of glycogen to last as long as possible. So this running needs to be done in an aerobic state so as to burn primarily fat from your body as fuel (as well as lactate produced in your muscles from running). Training your body to do this with a long distance training plan adapts your muscles and everything else to adjust to such a state. Believe it or not, the purpose of gels and all that is NOT to power your muscles at all, and your muscles are not really even going to use them. What the gels and stuff does is keep you blood sugar levels high enough to feed your brain. Your brain only runs on glucose, it will not run on fat. Your muscles are different though and can run on fat without needing glucose from your blood sugar. Those gel packs only have about 100 calories, so it is pretty obvious they are not feeding the muscles which will be burning a lot more than 100 calories during that time!

Are you so fatigued ahead of your Saturday morning runs that you can't run without something perking you up? I am suspecting not, but if so then that is a WHOLE other story. Assuming you COULD run, you should alternate between fasted and non-fasted runs. There is data out there supporting this. The idea is to have your muscles program themselves to run more on fat than glycogen, meaning your glycogen stores last longer, and you can go further. The reason for alternating between fasted and non-fasted runs is that there is data out there showing that those who always run in a fasted state show the same level of adaptation to fat-burning as those who always run in a non-fasted state. But those who alternate make this adaptation faster. I don't know why, but as I said, there is data out there supporting this. By fasted run, this means starting out in a fasted state. It doesn't mean not taking anything at all during the run if it's a long run.

You should take something to refuel for long runs. Think of long runs by time, not distance. I find I don't need fuel for any run less than 2 hours, but any run over that and I need to plan ahead. Some fuel every 45 minutes, I fuel closer to every hour. About 100 calories of sugar is what you are looking for, but the gels and stuff like that also add in electrolytes, because they have electrolytes and stuff (sorry for the Idiocracy reference). Just find what settles well, is easy to carry, and tastes good.

Yikes, that's a lot, didn't mean to make a long post. Hope this helps!

The concept has to do with diminishing returns. Running in a fasted state will only help you improve your fat burning capabilities so much. If you always run fasted, then you are not always training at peak performance. If you run some training runs in a fully fueled state, on those days you should be able to train with higher intensity (thus stressing your anaerobic and aerobic systems harder). In your fasted days, you are targeting your fat for fuel capabilities. Also, on your fully fueled days, you will get to practice your refueling techniques, see what fuel works best for your body, see if you can hold race pace, ect. Early in your training cycle you will run fasted more often than fully fueled and later in your training cycle you are going to insert a lot more fully fueled days (in theory).

I tend to run fasted anyway since I run first thing in the morning and the only thing I can get into my system is a mug of coffee before I go out and run.

As I am reading @WhatMeRunning response more (by the way everything is correct in what he is saying about using fat for fuel and glycogen expenditure and what not) one thing I need to add. If you want to use fat for fuel, your body needs oxygen. That is why you need to slow down and stay at an aerobic intensity like @WhatMeRunning wrote. Your muscle cannot burn fatty acids without oxygen.

So understand this. When you run, you are breathing in oxygen which fills up your lungs. Which then has to transfer to your blood by attaching to hemoglobin. The heart pumps that blood to all places starting with the big arteries down to the tiny capillaries which feeds directly to your muscle. Your muscle then takes in that oxygen into the mitochondria which is then able to use that oxygen with fuel (glucose and fatty acids) to make ATP. It's the ATP that fuels each muscle contraction which allows you to run, jump, swim, ride a bike, ect.

When we start out, our body is not used to running or exercise of any kind. The body is lazy and will only maintain a level of fitness that we place demand on. So if you just all of a sudden decide to run 3 miles or swim 400 meters or bike 20 miles, your body reacts by going Holy *kitten* what are you doing to me. Your heart is weak, so it can't pump that oxygen rich blood fast enough of where it needs to go, the hemoglobin count is lower so you won't transfer as much oxygen with each breath, so less oxygen is going to your muscles, your capillary count is lower so you can't get that blood fast enough to your muscles, and your mitochondria count is low and small in size. So even if you could rush the oxygen to your muscles, your muscles couldn't even use it. But as you train at that slow conversational pace for longer and longer durations, your heart start to get that much stronger, your hemoglobin count rises, your body produces more capillaries around your muscle cells, and the mitochondria in your muscle cells get bigger and increase in number. When your body is able to use more oxygen, it can fully burn glucose and also use fatty acids. Plus your body produces more enymes that will release more fatty acids into your blood stream from the fatty tissue you have hanging. All of this = to more energy for your running.

So you could eat 5 Snicker bars like 45 minutes before you run and eat a gel pack every 30 minutes during your run, but if you are fairly new to running, because your body cannot deliver enough oxygen to your running muscles, all of that sugar is not going to do you any good. Not too mention that your blood can only have a certain level of glucose at any time anyway. You need to improve your cardio vascular system to get more energy. In order to do that, lots and lots of very slow running. Conversational pace slow running.

As far as BCAA's or branched chain amino acids.... It's a totally different kind of fuel.

Food is basically categorized as either Carbs (sugar and starches), Fat, or Protein. All carbs break down into simple sugars in the digestive system like glucose or fructose. Your body can store a certain amount of glucose in the muscles and liver as glycogen. Excess carbs (what you can't burn in a day) is then stored as fat. Dietary fat (fat you eat from foods) break down in the digestive system as fatty acids and glycerol. Proteins you eat break down into amino acids.

There are 20 different types of amino acids that the human body needs. Your body can manufacture most of those amino acids from any other type of amino acids you eat except for 9 of them. These 9 are called essential amino acids. The only way your body can get these 9 is from consuming the types of protein that contains them. Some protein that you eat may contain some of these 9 (which we call incomplete proteins). If a protein contains all 9 essential amino acids, then its called a complete protein. All animal protein (beef, chicken, fish, dairy) are complete proteins. Soy is also a complete protein. Some combination of foods provide a complete protein. We call these complementary proteins. For example, rice (mostly a carb) is also an incomplete protein because it contains some of the 9 essential amino acids. Beans is also an incomplete protein but it contains the essential amino acids that rice lacks. So if you eat beans and rice together, it becomes a complete protein which makes them complimentary foods.

Amino Acids are the building blocks for building your structures like muscle cells. It's why body builders eat a ton of protein. If you run or do a lot of strength training and it causes you DOMS (delayed onset muscle syndrome) it's because you have muscle damage and your body needs to repair it. It uses amino acids from dietary protein to create new protein to build new muscle cell fibers. So if you get DOMS a lot, make sure you eat more complete protein. Amino acids can also provide energy (in certain desperate situations) just like sugar and fatty acids. Your body prefers sugar over fatty acids for energy and will use amino acids as a last resort. BCAA's aren't going to provide you any more energy, but it will reduce the risk of your body breaking down the protein in your muscle cells for energy. BCAA's are more for immediate repair as a result of muscle damage caused by exercise.

BCAA's get their name because of their chemical shape (they are branched chains). 3 in particular is used in BCAA supplements (leucine, isoleucine and valine) and are the jump starter amino acids when it comes to repairing muscle damage. And those 3 are 3 of the 9 essential amino acids.

I hope this helps.

JessicaMcB wrote: »

@MNLittleFinn you've been at this long enough to know that distance is largely a mind game (and thankfully the majority of us are insane anyway ).

Partially true. Yes, your body can go a lot further than what your mind tells you.
However, play chicken with this, and you can create a serious injury. Like building up too much mileage too quickly, or concentrate your weekly mileage into your long runs and not enough in your mid week runs. Or do too much speed work, or not running your easy runs easy. You want to challenge your boundaries but in a smart way.