Marathon Training

The marathon is a challenging event because it requires a sustained output for a relatively long period of time.  In an ideal world, we aim to run just underneath our lactate threshold for the entire distance.  The reality is that only the elites are capable of running with that level of output for 26 miles.  So what is a mortal to do?  We aim to train ourselves to run as close as possible to that level of output without blowing up late in the race.  

Keys to Marathon Training.

1. The long run.  As with all endurance races, this run is important to do.  When training for a marathon it is important to start by aiming to complete a run of about 75 to 80 percent of race distance or somewhere around 18 to 20 miles.  Initially, this run should be done at an effort that is under race effort.  This effort is what I call 50 mile effort.  After you can nail that distance at a sub race effort, it becomes important to slowly put more marathon work into the long run.  Rather than doing 2.5 hours sustained at marathon effort, I suggest breaking up the marathon effort with some short periods of easy running.  This making the run less taxing and makes recovery easier.  It still stimulates the body to produce more mitochondria and become an aerobic machine.  Ultimately, a goal of 60 to 65 percent of the race distance at marathon effort broken into sets is a goal for a long run close to the race.
2. As race date approaches, it becomes important to do runs just above and just below lactate threshold.  This stimulates the body to do two things.  First by running just below lactate threshold, it trains us to run fast and produce less lactate.  In other words...become more fit!  Training just over lactate threshold teaches our bodies to process and clear lactate more quickly and efficiently.  This gives us the ability to throw in a surge if we are trying to drop a competitor or to more easily absorb a small hill in the middle of the race.
3. Weight training.  I cannot emphasize enough how important this is for all types of running.  For a marathon, we are running with the same stride length and rate over flat terrain for very long periods of time.  This leads to tight muscles that can become fatigued.  When muscles become fatigued, our form changes and inevitably becomes less efficient.  As we become more inefficient, our metabolic or energy cost to run at a give pace rises and we start to fatigue.  So a weight program focused on upper thoracic muscles, deep back muscles, abs, gluteal muscles, hamstrings, and quads will go along way towards staying strong late in a race.  
4. Race day nutrition.  We think that the gatorade or other junk at the aid stations is adequate.  The truth is that could not be further from the truth.  The sugars in the sports drinks are hard to process since they mostly come from fructose.  Also, you have to consume so much fluid to take in enough calories, that electrolyte issues could surface.  What most runners end up doing is sipping 50 calories an hour or so of sports drink and think they are replenishing.  I suggest working out a pre race nutritional plan with supplemented energy products that will allow for 200 to 300 calories an hour.  

The marathon is one of the most challenging events out there.  It is short enough, that the runner can push through the whole race.  The flip side is that it is just long enough to get really uncomfortable late in the race and requires lots of mental concentration to push hard to the finish.  

Training Nutrition

Training Nutrition

There are three main parts to the nutrition relating to a workout.  Ignoring one or all of them impacts performance, recovery, and body composition.

Pre workout nutrition.  This is the first component of training nutrition.  The type of food we eat determines how far out the calories should be time wise.  If you are training immediately after waking up in the morning, then this phase of nutrition can be met by taking a gel or about 100 calories of sports drink about five minutes before the onset of the workout.  If you have more time before a workout, then eating a light meal 2 hours before exercise is fine.  This meal should consist of primarily of complex carbohydrates such as quinoa, pasta, oatmeal, potatoes etc.  In addition, a small amount of protein and fat are fine to eat with it as well.  The key is to avoid the simple sugars in this meal which will spike the blood sugar leading to an insulin surge and a resulting sugar crash right when we want to feel tip top energy wise!!  In terms of calories in this meal, the total should be no more than 500 with 50 to 60 percent coming from the carbohydrates.  

Intraworkout Nutrition.  This is what we ingest while we are working out.  Typically these calories come in the forms of gels, bars, or sports drinks.  The pros and cons of these various forms is content for another article.  The important thing is to find a calorie form that is easy for you to digest.  The goal as far as calorie intake goes should be 200 to 300 calories per hour.  The variance depends primarily on the duration of the workout and the size of the athlete (bigger athletes will consume more calories per minute of work than small athletes).  

Post workout nutrition.  This phase of the process is so important and I find often overlooked or minimized by athletes.  Additionally, I find that athletes who want to modify body composition have alot of success by changing nothing other than adopting proper post workout nutrition.  As soon as we finish exercising, we have a window of 15 to 30 minutes that insulin levels are still high and preferentially shuttle glucose into our muscle cells.  Taking advantage of this window is one of the best free rides in all of fitness.  At the conclusion of exercise, take in 100 calories of the sports nutrition product  of your choice.  Ten minutes later, take in a very light meal that consists of mostly simple sugars.  My favorite choice here is a piece of fruit and one half of a nut (peanut, almond, cashew) butter sandwich.  About 45 minutes later have a regular meal that consists more of complex carbohydrates and not so much the simple carbohydrates.  

The two main problems I see with nutrition is the recovery or post workout phase.  Athletes either taking all the recovery caloires in at once or neglecting or greatly minimizing the amount of recovery calories ingested.  

Dividing the calories up into these following meals is a key to optimizing recovery and maintaining body composition.  The reason is because all of the glucose moved into muscle requires a molecular transporter to get into the muscle cell.  In simpler terms think of it as the glucose needing to hitch a ride on a truck to move into the cell.  Now if we flood our bodies with 400 or 500 calories of sugar all at once at the end of the workout, these molecular “trucks” get overrun and do not have the capacity to move all of the glucose into the cells.  As a result, the glucose gets taken in by the adipose (fat) tissue.  The loss is then two fold, less nutrients enter the cell to promote recovery and we add glucose to our fat cells where it is later converted into additional adipose tissue.  So spreading the calories out as detailed above keeps glucose levels at a manageable level in terms of being able to transport the glucose into muscles.  

The other common problem I see is people who skimp on recovery.  They feel they will save calories for later or lose more weight.  The problem is that this leads to glycogen depletion on a chronic basis.  Glycogen is the primary storage form of glucose in the body.  Most glycogen is stored in muscle tissue and some is also stored in the liver.  When glycogen levels become chronically low, the athlete’s body becomes stressed.  The compensatory mechanism for the body is to increase levels of cortisol.  This will help maintain blood sugar levels so that we can function.  The problem is that increased cortisol levels also lead to increased amounts of eating especially as this pertains to simple sugars.  The aim of this is to support blood sugar levels, but also results in a lot of these ingested calories being stored as fat!  So hitting the recovery regimen hard is a good way to actually enhance body composition and feel recovered.  

Athletes who are looking to get themselves to the next level and have not yet optimized their workout nutrition can see alot of improvement.  Take these simple steps, follow them as carefully as you would the number of reps in a hill workout etc and they will yield results!!  

Welcome

This is the intro post to a blog I will update with training information.  Feel free to check out my website at www.nolimitsrunning.com