Week 3 Base Training for 50K Trail Race

This is a long post, I hope you're ready for some serious details!

This has been a difficult week due to the poor air quality yet again, but we just have to make due for now. I'm just happy that the fires are finally starting to have some containment happening.   

Week 3 Training Plan: (24th-30th August 2020)

Monday: REST day, Mobility 30 minutes. 

Tuesday: Run 8 miles at easy pace with 2 elevated miles. Strength 60 minutes.

Wednesday: Run 5 miles easy pace. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 45 minutes, high cadence with a couple high intensity sprints. 

Friday: Run 6 miles at slightly faster than easy pace.

Saturday: Bike outside 3 hours with one 10 minute high intensity interval.

Sunday: Trail run 13 miles.

This week started off with an 8 mile run on Tuesday that I almost wasn't able to do. However thanks to purpleair.com, I was able to find a pocket of air that was safe and below AQI 50, I took a little drive out to Crystal Springs reservoir (and so did many other runners and cyclists) to get my run done. Because I was going to be more than 30 minutes from the time I finished my run till the time I got home and could make myself a post workout shake, I took it with me in a cooler in my car. I cannot tell you how nice that is to finish a hard run, do your cool down routine and have that chilled protein shake ready to suck down immediately. Yum!!!

Wednesday's run had to happen in the late afternoon right before the Core class that I teach/take. My intestines were not happy that day, and with a mile to go (luckily I was close to home) I made a quick pit stop to empty them. I'm pretty sure this had to do with the 2 greyhound drinks I had the night before. My body doesn't seem to like it when I have alcohol after a hard effort. In any case I was able to complete my run, and made it to class just in time. 

Because I'm spending so much more time running now, I really look forward to the bike workout days. Thursday's workout was the perfect way to break up the week, it had a couple super high intensity sprints, and 2 longer sustained moderately high intensity efforts. The focus however is to keep my cadence high during the bike workouts so I don't overload the muscles and take away from their ability to produce power for my run the next day.

Fridays run was supposed to be a simple 6 mile effort at a zone 2 heart rate. Unfortunately the air never went below 120 all day, nor was I able to find any clean air pockets in driving distance. So Friday was a missed workout day. 

Saturday was a long ride day, and got out for about 3 hours and kept it mostly zone 2 but with one 10 minute hard effort. For some weird reason I never really felt like I was relaxing into the ride. From start to finish I felt like my legs were working at 100% even though my heart rate was at 60-80% effort. Thank's to some awesome teammates we all finished our intended ride with a smile on our faces. By the time I got back to my car after the ride I was feeling okay enough to get a few run miles in. Off I went with my new handheld water bottle. I had no idea how many of the 6 miles I missed yesterday that I would be able to do today, so at every mile when I would take a sip of water and switch hands holding the bottle, I would do a little self check in. I'd ask myself how do I feel? How is your hear rate? Can you go one more mile easily? As long as all those were positive answers I kept running. Before I knew it my 6 miles were up and I was back at my car pulling out my recovery shake and another bottle of super cold water (all waiting in the ice cooler I keep in my trunk).

Having done those 2 workouts on Saturday I had burned 1800 calories. So now I needed to replace them, NOT all at once, but over the course of the rest of the day. Actually let me start with my breakfast...2 cups of Zoegas coffee with oat milk, 2 slices of cinnamon raisin bread with butter, and one of my own personal made energy bites (chocolate chip energy bites recipe). One the bike I had 2 more of my energy bites, 2 Clif shot blocks (Black Cherry flavor, plus caffeine), half of a peanut butter and apricot jelly sandwich, and 40 ounces/1180ml of water. During my run I had 2 more shot blocks and 200ml of water. Finally Post run I had my protein recovery shake, 20 more ounces of water and the other half of the PB&J sandwich. By this time in the day I have now consumed 1,424 calories and still needed 1,800 to not suffer on my run for Sunday.

The rest of the day went pretty well as far as nutrition and hydration. I had our leftover homemade turkey meatloaf with sauteed purple cabbage, of which I had a double serving of both for lunch. Then followed that up for dinner, feeling too tired to cook so had a charcuterie plate consisting of blue diamond pecan nut thin crackers, a serving of lite salami, and ounce or two of herbed goat cheese, turkey pepperoni, jicama sticks with hummus, cherry tomatoes, and an Omission Lager, plus another glass of water.  

Nutrition Facts for Saturday:

Breakfast: 418kcal, 59g Carbohydrates, 17g Fat, 11g Protein

Snack on Bike: 535kcal, 67g Carbs, 20g Fat, 11g Protein

Snack on Run: 67kcal, 16g Carbs

Post workout Nutrition: 404kcal, 39g Carbs, 13g Fat, 35g Protein

Lunch: 618kcal, 43g Carbs, 23g Fat, 55g Protein

Dinner: 657kcal, 49g Carbs, 28g Fat, 33 Protein

Snack: 200kcal, 44g Carbs, 4g Fat, 0g Protein

Total for Day: 2,899kcal, 317g Carbs (56%), 105g Fat(20%), 145g Protein(26%)

Looking back on that I actually see that I had too much in the way of simple carbohydrates and not enough healthy carbs. What do I mean by that? I ate too much plain bread and sweets, instead of enough veggies. If you look the only real veggies I had all day was a double serving of purple cabbage at lunch, and a small helping of jicama with dinner. I do normally have more veggies, and if I had cooked dinner there would have been more veggies mixed in that day.

It's finally Sunday and time for my long trail run and testing out my new trail running shoes. I've been using Brooks Mazama trail racing shoes, they are low profile with a 6mm drop from heel to toe and meant for short to medium distance trail races. To date they had just shy of 400 miles on them and the last couple runs of 10-12 miles were causing blisters on both feet at the outside edges of my big and small toes. I knew it was time to switch shoes and I decided to look into ones that had more of a foot shaped toe box. I did some research and even asked some seasoned Ultra trail runners what they use. To my surprise the brand Altra was what I had been thinking would work, and those shoes got many votes from the trail runners in my community. I purchased the Altra Lone Peak 4.5 trail shoe and took them out for my Sunday run. 

Thirteen miles in brand new shoes might scare some people but I knew the trail I was running and so this would be a great way to compare them with my old runners. At first I could feel the zero drop from heel to toe, I felt sluggish in my transition from landing to take off. Once I got on the trail however I didn't notice the sluggishness anymore, instead I felt the amazing traction they had. Keep in mind the trail I ran was hard pack and very dry, but with lots of small gravel and sand. At times the trail does have some rocks and roots, but it's mostly dirt and gravel. They felt great all the way to the top of the hill. Now the true test of these shoes, how will they feel coming back down the hill. Because I wanted to get a good feel for them I decided to haul it down, safely of course, but to really push the speed to test their grip, and their forefoot feel. They did not disappoint! There was no slipping on the ground surface, plus I had no hot spots on my feet nor did I get blisters on the outsides of my toes. Success, both in my run and for another week of hard training.

Next week is a rest week. Woot!

Week 1 Base Training for 50K Trail Race

Now that I have chosen a race and I know when, Saturday High Noon on 5 December 2020, there are 17 weeks till the race, it's time to train. The first block of training will be focusing on getting used to being on my feet many more miles per week than I have been. One thing to keep in mind is my training has been focused on sprint and olympic distance Duathlons for the past 4 years, so I have a decent base of fitness to get started with. 

Week 1 Training Plan (10th-16th August 2020) 

Monday: REST day, 30 minutes of mobility training using FRC principles. 

Tuesday: Bike trainer 65 minutes. Strength 60 minutes. Mobility 15 minutes.

Wednesday: 7 miles running with some speed work. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Easy pace 4 miles

Friday: Easy Pace 4 miles

Saturday: Bike ride 2.5-3 hours easy pace.

Sunday: Trail run 11 miles.

My first week consisted of 26 planned running miles with 2 days on the bike for cross training and overall cardiovascular fitness. The first week of my training went well, and I was able to hit all my workouts both in distance and effort. Then the weekend came along and a lightning storm hit the area early Sunday morning. It was a dry lightning storm which around here causes fires, and sure enough it set off several fires around the area. I was not able to get out for my long run on Sunday due to the lightning, and then the rest of my day was already booked. These type of things are going to happen all throughout my training, and I just need to remind myself everything will be okay. That first week I ended up putting in only 15 miles on foot, and 4 hours on the bike. It's important to  stay flexible!

View of the Fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the East Bay Hills (photo by Marc Canter)  

Planning ahead for week 2, I will be doing slightly longer "short" runs during the week. This is to be expected, but it also means I need something to do about my hydration. No longer will pre-hydrating be sufficient enough to carry me through, I will now have to carry water with me. No problem as I have a hydration pack for my long runs. But I was thinking that might be overkill for my 7, 8, 9 mile runs. What are the other options if you don't want to wear a hydration pack? Handheld and waist packs. Several years ago when I was training for an Ironman Triathlon someone gave me a waist pack to use for my long runs. Turns out they were not for me. At that time I was too bouncy of a runner and my bottles would go flying out of the holster, plus I didn't like to feeling of the pack bouncing on my hips. The only other option was handhelds. I had my leftover handheld but remembered it was too big for me to carry (I have small hands so wrapping my hand around it even with the strap was too bulky) and the spout on the thing made it near impossible to get water out of.  Time to go shopping.

Currently I use the Nathan Vapor Airess hydration pack used for my long runs, runs 10 miles and over.

After a quick bit of research I found that the handhelds were made much better now, and they come in several sizes. The size I decided to go with is the Nathan hydration 350 ml bottle with a handstrap and small pocket to store my keys. 

Week two of training I will be able to test this out. Stay tuned.

New Adventure: 50K Trail Race

 Uhm yeah I said it, 50K trail race! To be honest when my coach even suggested I do one I laughed inside. To date I've only done one Marathon and it was part of an Ironman distance triathlon. I've also done several half Marathon races. The half marathon is my favorite distance running race by far with 10K coming in a close second. So to even consider a 50K I must be crazy. 

I've always loved to try new things. Ever since I was a kid I loved experiencing new things, and that is still part of who I am today. However today there is a little bit of fear mixed in, you know that age thing reminds you you aren't invincible anymore, yeah that's me now. Good news though, this won't kill me but it surely will challenge me.  

So how far is 50K? It's approximately 31.1 miles. Yep that is LONGER than a marathon. I know you're thinking I'm crazy. I thought that too until I looked into this thing that's called Ultra racing. 50K is actually the shortest distance race, and I just found one that is a 240 mile race in Moab, Utah. YIKES!

After looking through the Ultra races my coach suggested, and chatting with some people who have done Ultra races, the thought of this new challenge started to create a feeling of excitement within me. This excitement started to create thoughts of how will I make this race happen. What is it like to do this distance? Is there anything I need equipment wise? What will my training be? Hey wait, I'll be able to go and train in new places, not to mention being able to race in a new place. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger, until finally I said yes! 

Next it came down to actually choosing a race. I went with the Capstone 50K in St. George, Utah because their events are still being held, and I can drive there from where I live. 

Now how do you train for this event? Lots of time spend on my feet, but also just as much time off my feet recovering. Not to mention better attention to my nutrition throughout the day and during my runs now. I'm going to have to learn to eat while running, whereas before my races were short enough that I could eat 3 hours before my race, then a snack 15 minutes before and I was set to go except for some water along the way. Now I will be on my feet racing for potentially up to 7 hours, and my body WILL need nutrition throughout.

The race in Utah is set up to be 5 laps of a 10K loop, with each lap having about 800 to 900 feet of vertical elevation. This also means I won't have to pack everything I need for the entire 50K in my pack, and they have a smorgosbord at the lap counter place. For now it's off the the planning table and off for my first couple weeks of training.   

Aerobic Base Training = Going Slower to Get Faster

That's right! Building a successful base by training at a slower, aerobic pace, will actually help your overall endurance sport performance - Jamii North,  NORTH FITNESS     

One of the hardest concepts for an athlete to understand and implement is base training. It is counterintuitive to run or bike slowly in order to gain performance later in the season. It is also very difficult to take a step back from the intense training you were doing a few weeks ago, and bring the speed and pace way down. But if you have the discipline to train aerobically for a period of time, when everyone else is still hammering away, it will pay you great dividends down the road.

First and foremost you need to take a break from your sport of choice if you haven’t already. I prescribe a 3-4 week transition phase at the end of each season and immediately follow it with base training. Transition is a time to rest and recover both physically and mentally. We do not take total time off because the fitness loss takes too long to make up. Instead I give my athletes maximum flexibility with their training, plenty of rest, and tell them to leave the heart rate monitor at home. This gives them a few weeks to refocus before we begin structured base training. You cannot train hard year round without taking regular periods of reduced volume and intensity. If you attempt to you will in all likelihood find yourself burned out, over trained, and perhaps injured. You will also find your performance degrading rather than improving. Most athletes build base in the fall and winter when there are not a lot of races.

Physiology of base training

There are two basic energy systems you use when training; anaerobic and aerobic. Unfortunately, you cannot build both your aerobic and anaerobic systems at the same time with great success. The idea behind base training is to train your aerobic energy system specifically and solely. Why is this important? The more work you perform aerobically, or in the presence of oxygen, the more efficient you are. Prolonged aerobic training produces muscular adaptations that improves oxygen transport to the muscles, reduces the rate of lactate production, improves the rate of lactate removal, and increases energy production and utilization which all occur slowly.

Fat being the primary fuel source for the aerobic energy system, over the course of a base period your body learns to more readily break down and utilize fat as an energy source. As an added bonus this adaptation helps post exercise fat metabolism as well. This is an important factor, especially for long distance athletes. The fat we have in our bodies could provide enough energy to perform long distance events back to back, whereas muscle glycogen depletion can occur in as little as one hour. The less muscle glycogen you utilize, the more efficient you are. Contrary to the aerobic system, the anaerobic system consumes carbohydrate rapidly and the byproduct is lactic acid.  This system is used up in a relatively short amount of time, but allows for very high intensity bursts.

Other adaptations of aerobic training include increased stroke volume of the heart, capillary density, and mitochondrial density. Stroke volume increase simply means that your heart pumps more blood per beat. Mitochondria are structures within muscle cells that produce energy from fat and carbohydrate oxidation. Regular endurance training has been shown to double the concentration of these structures. By increasing capillary density we can effectively transport more blood to the working muscles. The process of building capillaries occurs gradually. Because high stress training breaks down capillaries, base training is best for allowing the slow growth of capillaries.

Base progression

There should be progression during base season as with any other training period. I normally prescribe 12-16 weeks of base training every year. This will vary with athlete's fitness level, and the type of event they will be peaking for. Over the course of base I progress from the low end of the aerobic energy system and gradually proceed in steps to the high end. The heart rate zones I use fall into the 75-90% range of lactate threshold or 65-85% of max heart rate. I also incorporate specific strength training at an aerobic level. This entails different types of high cadence cycling and slow hill running or even walking. These work outs also increase in volume throughout base. Base training is an excellent time to work on form and economy as well. As intensities increase later in the season it is harder for the athlete to concentrate on form. By establishing good economy habits early in the season the athlete will carry them forward. It also important to keep the athlete's mind moving with drills and technique work when they are training at low intensity to keep boredom at bay. Base training does not mean you will never move fast. Run strides, foot speed drills, and fast pedal work will all be integrated but for short bursts and few repetitions. Towards the end of base I start power work but use brief durations and full recovery between efforts.

How does this transfer into performance gain?

Let me give you a hypothetical example. Suppose athlete Susie runs a 7 min. mile at lactate threshold. Her fastest aerobic pace, or aerobic threshold, is an 8 min. mile. We start off Susie's base training at the low end aerobic zones at which she runs a 9 min. mile pace. Over the course of her 12 week base program the above mentioned adaptations occur. At the end of the base season she now runs a 7:30 min. mile- aerobically. This is the base for Susie to build on for the rest of her season. Improving on the previous season is now more obtainable with proper training. If Susie's race is an Iron Man in which the aerobic energy system is used predominantly this improvement in aerobic speed is crucial.

Now the hard part?

The hard part of base training is having the discipline to train at these low intensities. It may mean running very slowly or even walking. It may mean separating from your training group in order to pursue your individual goals. It also means avoiding the contest of egos that group training often turns into. If you can find a training partner with similar goals and fitness level you may be able to train with them, but more often than not what I see is a base work gone awry when taking part on group rides and runs. Even spending short amounts of time above your aerobic zone degrades the work out.

Ride slow and you too can enjoy the GREAT views!

The area between the top of the aerobic threshold and anaerobic threshold is somewhat of a no man’s land of fitness. It is a mix of aerobic and anaerobic states. For the amount of effort the athlete puts forth, not a whole lot of fitness is produced. It does not train the aerobic or anaerobic energy system to a high degree. This area does have its place in training; it is just not in base season. Unfortunately this area is where I find a lot of athletes spending the majority of their seasons, which seriously slows their aerobic development. The athletes heart rate shoots up to this zone with little power or speed being produced when it gets there.

Another issue is having accurate zones. I regularly performance test my athletes in order to ensure their zones are correct and to confirm their training. After performing many of these tests, and comparing them to race data, I get a very clear estimate of lactate threshold. I use a percentage of LTHR to determine individual zones. I also recommend validation through clinical testing (yes an actual blood draw, though expensive is very informative). I have witnessed athletes using zones that are several years old, assuming fitness has improved over this time their zones would no longer be accurate and they may have spent an entire base season training the wrong energy system.

You have to let your anaerobic system atrophy during base in order to have a sustainable level of fitness to now work at the higher intensities. This means you will lose some of your anaerobic endurance and the ability to sustain speed near lactate threshold. Expect to lose some top end coming out of base, but this is what you are going to spend the rest of your season working on. It often takes several seasons to see the result of sound base training if you are a novice athlete. Be patient, it is a process that is slow and cannot be rushed, but the sooner you get started the faster you will be amazed at your results.

Now get out there are start riding slowly!