Coaching, pace and fuel

My head is still swimming with things I learned. I'm still digging through the books and processing more things but one of the best things I took away was Team Oregon's method for training. Again, this is theirs, one of many, the official method of RRCA and the main teachers have MAD credentials but this doesn't invalidate anyone else's methods...any consistent training program will have you going further and faster. This is just one that they know works and they have the science to back it up.

The central notion to their training strategy in regard to pacing is the biological idea that "fat burns in a carbohydrate flame." The complex series of reactions that allow your body to use fat as fuel can only happen while your body is still able to use glucose and glycogen as well. The trick to to train our bodies to go easy on those glycogen stores so that they last the entire duration of the race so that you can continue to metabolize the fat. The problem is, which systems favor which fuel source. The glucose and glycogen burn anaerobically but to burn fat requires oxygen. This means if you are running outside of a sustainable Vo2Max, you are burning mostly glucose and glycogen...which you only have a solid ten minute supply. You'll hear 40 minutes but that figure assumes you aren't *JUST* burning glycogen, which unless you are Usain Bolt, is true.

So, the whole point of endurance training is threefold: First you train your body to endure the stress, strong muscles, strong bones, strong connective tissue...this is all why walking as a first step rocks. This part takes the longest but is the most easily done. Move more and your body will get stronger. Step two is to train your body's energy systems. The only way to train your body to be good at burning fat while running is to...burn fat while running. This means keeping as much of the run aerobic as you can. Your body is naturally good at burning glucose and glycogen and it doesn't benefit from training this system at all. So, once you edge closer to your Vo2 max, you are no longer training your body to deliver energy, you are just training it to endure...not that this is always a bad thing, this as actually key for middle distance runners (think 800m to mile). The third thing you train is your brain, you have to know you can do this. You teach your brain that by...doing it. Runs more easily completed without pain and injury reinforce success.

So, back to energy. You really only want to work easy and long runs at 80% of Vo2 Max...some elite athletes will actually train lower than that and do it for longer for even better increases in endurance. Incidentally, this is why the Galloway program is so very effective. The athletes are kept below that number at all times, that makes them slower, that makes them go longer and that makes them VERY fit. It's funny in a way. These runners go slower so that the experience is less miserable and they take less time to recover but given the level of overall conditioning, a shift in training focus for a month could easily turn one of them into a very competitive racer.

So, armed with all this, I've done the math and my ideal training pace FAR slower than I thought. I know it seems counter intuitive that running slower will make me faster but as the body gets more efficient at producing energy, that will help as for the neuromuscular changes that need to happen...that's what speedwork is for.

If anyone wants help with pace math, let me know. I can set the app in motion.
If you want a copy of your own and have an Android powered phone it's Team Oregon Pace Wizard.