December 17-23 in Review and Barefoot Running and Running Economy

December 17-23 in Review and Barefoot Running and Running Economy

Monday: 5 hours telemark skiing, ~45,000'

Tuesday: 6 hours telemark skiiing, ~55,000'

Wednesday: X-country skiing in the flats of the valley. 1:42, 500' gain, 9 miles.

Thursday: 5 hours telemark skiing, ~50,000'

Friday: 7 hours standing and walking. Night fartleks on the Winter Park hill course. Worked on both short and longer intervals during the run, mostly on all of the hills really pushed as well as some shorter sprints on a couple flats. 1:04, 1,000' gain, 8 miles.

Saturday: 7 hours standing and walking. Cross training at the gym. Mostly high reps, cross-fit stuff, stretches, etc.

Sunday: 7 hours standing and walking. Night hill run on the WP hill course. :54, 1,000' gain, 8 miles.

Trying to keep a good base for when spring rolls around, but right now simply getting in lots and lots of vert skiing. Really works the legs, requires some good endurance, and is a nice break from the pounding of running. I think I will be much better off then last spring, when I didn't start running until April 1. I have a couple FKT's that I want to do this summer, as well as continue to dabble in racing, and keeping a base over the winter will really help when I start to ramp up the miles, unlike last spring when I took a crash course in racing and running.

I've posted several times on new articles on barefoot running (on forefoot striking and lumbar spine range of motion; on barefoot running and ground forces; on barefoot running and lower extremity movement; and a meta analysis on barefoot running). Well, now another study has been published on barefoot running and running economy. Based on this single experiment with fifteen runners over four weeks, barefoot running or running with a forefoot striking patterns is better for running economy then classical heel striking. The difference is significant, but the study fails to examine the longer-term effects, as well as whether the four week period is long enough to really change running economy over an athletes career. Still, another study that emphasizes the benefits of forefoot striking compared to heel striking in terms of running economy, ground forces, lumbar spine range of motion, among other things.

December 10-16 in Review and Strength and Endurance Training for Running Economy

December 10-16 in Review and Strength and Endurance Training for Running Economy

Monday: Cross-country off of St. Louis to Kings Creek to Leland and back. Everything is now fairly good to go, so the cross-country tracks are starting to get packed. 9 miles, ~1,000' gain, 1:20

Tuesday: 5 hours of telemark skiing, ~25,000'

Wednesday: Cross-country at night. Broke trail for around 4 miles, which was a lot of work on the skis I have. Unless the track is packed, they seem to be a bit short. Still fun at night. 8 miles, ~500' gain, 1:32

Thursday: 5 hours of telemark skiing, ~30,000'

Friday: Cross-training in the gym. Doing one day a week of cross-training, stretching, and core strength stuff. Pretty mellow, but the active stretching and strength training seems to be good.

Saturday: Fartlek training in the dark. 8.5 miles, 500' gain, 1:13. Mostly did 2 minute intervals.

Sunday: WP Hills. A new run from home that incorporates all of the hills in town. 7 miles, 900' gain, :54 minutes. Tired and my calves were burning. Running on packed snow works the calves quite a bit - hope it pays off come spring/summer.

A new article has come out that advocates for a combination of strength and endurance training in improving one's running economy. The study examined master marathon runners, and found that those who incorporated concurrent strength and endurance training significantly improved their running economy. The authors hypothesize that this may be because the rate of force development (speed at which force can be produced) may be crucial for running economy improvement, which is one of the major determinants of endurance performance. So a combination of strength and endurance training seems to be better then just endurance training alone, at least at the marathon length.

 Breaking trail at night...

Byers Peak looking good

Week Of December 3-9

Week of Dec. 3-9

Monday: 5 hours of telemark skiing, ~25,000'.

Tuesday: Same thing, 5 hours of telemark skiing, ~25,000'.

Wednesday: Ran the Rocky Point Loop. Tried to get out and do one more "adventure" run since the snow has been lacking. This is a fun, 11 mile loop off of Crooked Creek. The gate is closed, so you have to park at the winter gate. The entire run was on snow, so it took a bit longer, but still a nice, seldom done run. 1:49, 11 miles, 1,300' gain.

Thursday: More telemark skiing, ~25,000'.

Friday: 7 hours standing and walking. Did some cross-training in the gym, as a major storm hit and dumped around 9 inches.

Saturday: 7 hours standing and walking. Still dumping snow, so did the 15x15 run in the gym. After warming up for 15 minutes, did the 15x15 test and got 1.05 miles. Hard today, but still about the same as earlier this fall. After 15 minutes at 9:00 minute pace, did another 15x15 and only got to 1.02. Tired.

Sunday: 7 hours standing and walking. Did a nice cross-country workout in the new snow. 8 miles, 1:11, 900' gain. Went up the Leland road to Kings Creek, then back down. Then went up St. Louis for a bit. Skiing at night is pretty fun, but it is really dark and quiet in the valley, and there are some extra dark spots that have a different energy to them. I tend to ski really fast through these spots.

 The Rocky Point Loop trail with plenty of snow on it.

Looking down Crooked Creek to the Divide.

Week in Review and How Aerobic Exercise helps with Muscle Strength Over the Life Span

Week in Review and How Aerobic Exercise helps with Muscle Strength Over the Life Span

Monday: 5 hours telemark skiing. Nothing special, just laps.

Tuesday: Longish run - 2:09, 14 miles, 1,000' gain. Up Northwest and then Crooked Creek for an out-and-back. It's hard to put together long loops right now in the valley, so out-and-backs on dirt roads.

Wednesday: 5 hours telemark skiing.

Thursday: 5 hours telemark skiing. Quads are tired, but with each day averaging around 30,000' it's great for building mellow endurance in the legs.

Friday: Off - 7 hours standing and walking.

Saturday: 7 hours standing and walking. Intervals workout on the waterboard road. Lately I've been doing my fartlek run on the St. Louis road, but switched it up to the waterboard road. It has a few more rolling hills, as well as changes up the night time visuals (or lack thereof). 5x:30 and 10:1:00-1:30 for a total of 8 miles in 1:02.

Sunday: 7 hours standing and walking. Run up the Corona Road. Really dark tonight as a storm was rolling in, no ambient light at all. Had to use the headlamp for the entire run, which is a first. 7 miles, :45, 500' gain.

Basic routine for now, as most of the fun adventurous runs are shut down for the winter and the cross-country is not happening until we get some snow.

A new article was published looking at whether aerobic exercise helps with muscle mass and strength as one ages. As one ages there is a progressive decline in muscle strength, muscle mass, and aerobic capacity, which in turn reduces mobility and impairs quality of life. The authors of this study wanted to know if aerobic exercise helps attenuate this decline in muscle mass and strength, or if it only helps with aerobic capacity. Turns out that "chronic" or regular aerobic exercise does help with muscle mass and strength during aging, which is good news for runners as it means that running not only helps with aerobic capacity, but also muscle strength and mass during aging.