Recover, Adapt and Continue

Photo copyright Alan Rowlette.

In the days after the Donadea 50K I took a slight step back and reduced my training volume and ran shorter and easier than usual to allow my body adapt to the Training Effect which I should have got from the race. You don't get fit during training and you certainly don't get fit while racing but instead the fitness gains happen while recovering so it's important to allow your body adapt to the stresses you put it under.

My Gym sessions in the week following the race were weight free and consisted mostly of mobility exercises, easy core work and foam rolling.  I find that in the days following a race or hard training session that wearing compression shorts or running tights do help with getting back into a regular training routine while still allowing the body recover.

Next week my Gym sessions will change slightly and I'm told the weight and reps will increase but this will only be for a short period as I prepare for my next race and following on from that I'll again Recover / Adapt and Continue as I prepare for yet another race but each time I start from a higher level with a progressive overload.

Before a race I do a simple test using my Heart Rate Monitor to get a measure of my cardio fitness and I do the same test a few days after the race.  Comparing the results I can tell how much fitness I've lost and I use this to gauge when I can return to my regular routine.  A HRM won't pick up on muscle fatigue or damage but your legs will tell you if that's an issue.

The Test:

Run 50 - 60 mins at a heart rate zone that you would consider easy and keep the parameters tight as in only a 5 beat difference between upper and lower end of zone.  Note the distance covered pre race and do the exact same post race.  If you cover less distance for same HR then you need to take it easy for another few days.  Using auto lap if available can make the comparison easier to make.

Taking a step back before going forward.

Feeling that something wasn't right during my race in Perth I've been taking it relatively easy since then and have also taken the proactive step of going to the Doctor for a check up which included getting my Prostate checked just for piece of mind.
It's important not to sacrifice health for fitness and sometimes when training intensity increases to improve performance our health can be neglected.

I now know that I'm on the mend as my pace is starting to increase for the same effort which as always I base on my heart rate.  Almost all of my recent training has been Aerobic with the exception of a 5K race today that I ran comfortably hard and didn't allow my heart rate go any higher than it did during a recent 10K race.

Approaching the finish line, LeCheile 5K.

Training by the clock will tell you that you're getting faster but it won't tell you if you're getting fitter or overtraining / under recovering.  A heart rate monitor will give an objective view on your current condition as it's not influenced by personal feelings.  Train hard but train smart.

Back to business

The Dingle half Marathon went well and apart from some slight muscle soreness I recovered almost immediately and was back running by Monday. Followed that with another easy session on Tuesday of less than 3 miles and on Wednesday I had an Incremental Treadmill Test in the Human Performance Lab in Trinity College.

The test involves running on a treadmill at a set pace for 3 minute intervals with the speed increased every 3 minutes. Heart Rate is taken every minute and a blood sample taken from a finger tip halfway through each interval to test and compare lactate levels at different speeds relative to heart rate. During the test a face mask is worn to measure the exchange of gasses measuring the amount of oxygen in expelled air to work out the amount of oxygen that your lungs can absorb from inhaled air and this gives a measure of VO2 max again in relation to speed / heart rate.

My test started at an easy 10Kph and by 18Kph I had passed my lactate threshold which is the speed / hr beyond which your body can't buffer the lactic acid and this is what gradually slows you down.

My reason for doing the test is because I was doing so many slow miles and running at pace that I was starting to get lazy and finding it hard to get out of the comfort zone.

Today I got official confirmation of a place in a 24hr race in Tooting Bec, London on Sat 16th / Sun 17th October.

A 24hr race is very different to any other race in that the objective is to cover as much distance as possible in a set time rather than running a set distance in the shortest possible time. It's hard to know how to train for this type of event and I'd even say you can't really train for a 24hr race as my thinking is it's more about what you've done and your current condition.

Having said that I will train as recommended by Bernard Donne of the HPL in Trinity and run 4-5 runs per week of 2-4 hrs or more and also do one interval session of 4*2k just to ensure I keep some speed in my legs.

Recovering

The Science Gallery, Trinity College.

Had my follow up appointment with Dr Nick Mahony in Trinity today and to cut a long story short he gave me the go ahead to start back training. Between now and Dingle I've to train close to how I would normally train during a Taper and ensure my efforts are low in intensity with nothing more than a few easy runs. Today also included a blood test which didn't show up any problems and the next step in my recovery is a full incremental treadmill test in the Human Performance Lab with Bernard Donne the week after the Dingle half Marathon.

Over the last week my weight has increased by over 1Kg because of the inbalance between my input and output. 1Kg (2.2lbs) is quite a lot over a short period of time but suprisingly enough nobody has noticed or commented on my increase in weight, that's because rather than an increase in body fat the weight gain is caused by my muscles restocking their glycogen (carbohydrate) stores.

I have a race planned for mid October so I'm guessing the extra Kg will come in quite handy.

Fitness Testing

If you decide on taking up running or some other form of exercise for whatever reason it's always a good idea to carry out some form of test to determine your current level of fitness and retesting to monitor your progress.  If the results improve you know what you are doing is working and if they show no improvements you know that some adjustments are needed.

What is a fitness test? This can be something as simple as timing yourself over a measured course, noting the results and re doing the exact same procedure after 3 to 4 weeks of regular exercise.

If you are training a bit more seriously you could follow a standardised test such as the Cooper Test.  The person doing this test runs at a steady pace which should be as fast as they can comfortably manage for 12 minutes and the distance they covered is recorded and compare with a set of results related to their age group.  Today we carried out this test on Tony during our usual Saturday Morning session on the Grass Track.  Over the 12 minutes Tony covered 3130 M which according to the results he's at the top end of the scale for Athletes which makes me think he should be graded using the experienced athletes chart and this puts him in just inside the average range.  Only average?? Using the experienced athletes chart a person that can comfortably run a 6 min mile for 2 miles is average.

Another simple way of testing your training progress is to take part in a fun run and compare this time with future races.  Check out the Leixlip 5K on Saturday May 09th 2009.

Sport, Sweat & Science.

Today as a guest athlete I took part in an incremental treadmill test in 'The Science Gallery"', Trinity College as part of an experiment to show the difference in fitness levels amongst athletes.   As part of the demonstration I ran on a treadmill beside Fiona Friel (one of the best sprinters in the country) in full view of  visitors and our test data was displayed on a screen for all to see.  The test started out with us running at 10 kph with the speed increased by 1 kph every 3 minutes until we had to stop.  Two minutes into every kph increase a small sample of blood was taken and this was analysed for lactate content.  This result along with speed and heart rate was plotted on a graph and the result shows essential information for maximising performance and making improvements in your chosen sport.

If this test was carried out in a lab we would also be wearing face masks to work out how much oxygen our lungs can absorb from each breath and this would then give us another important reading which is our VO2 Max.  

Tomorrow I start thinking about the London Marathon which is now only 24 days until I stand behind the start line.