Zone 2 Training For Endurance Sports

You have probably heard a lot lately about how Zone 2, or steady state training is bad for you. When I'm asked that question, I respond with "that depends". Ugh, I know terrible question, but it really does depend on what your goals are. If you are looking to improve your general health and fitness along with your strength and body composition, especially for women, then you bet Zone 2 is not going to be your main focus. However, anyone who has trained for a specific goal or event will have some form of structured training which is based on different training zones. Or more specifically heart rate training zones, and yes Zone 2 is the main one you'll be training in.

These Zones are numbered 1 through 5, and sometimes 5+. While training all the different zones is necessary for performance improvement, Zone 2 training is by far the most important part of the endurance training program. The purpose of each training zone is to elicit specific physiological and metabolic adaptations in order to improve performance, and it's important to know what physiological and metabolic adaptations occur while in each zone and how they can be improved in training. 

To understand this, first we need to have an understanding of basic physiology and muscle metabolism. Oh yeah I said it more Bio-Chem here. If you don't care to read about the wonderful world of bio-chem skip down to the section on How Do You Find Zone 2.

Energy Systems

Three energy systems contribute different amounts towards re-synthesizing the compound Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the "energy currency" of our body. With the help of our mitochondria which processes ATP, this is how we get our muscles to make the contractions for movement. The main energy system we utilize depends on the intensity, type and duration of the exercise being performed, as well as the fuel sources available and the fitness levels of the individual. These systems are also dependent on whether we use oxygen (aerobic) or not (anaerobic). They are:

1. The ATP-CP System (Anaerobic): lasts up to about 10 seconds of very high intensity efforts. An example of this would be doing an explosive Olympic lift, or a 100 meter sprint. The ATP-CP system uses a stored molecule in the muscle called creatine phosphate (CP) to resynthesize ATP. It is the breakdown of this molecule that releases the energy needed to rejoin the ADP and free phosphate to form ATP. This system is anaerobic as it works without oxygen, and does not produce any waste products. This is Zone 5 & 5+

2. The Lactate System (Anaerobic): is the active system used from 30 seconds to 3 minutes of high intensity efforts. An example of this would be doing a set of HIITS, and anything up to about an 800 meter sprint. The Lactate system uses glucose to help create ATP. It breaks down the glucose molecule into pyruvic acid through anaerobic glycolysis (the splitting of sugars). Through this anaerobic glycolysis system chemical energy is released and used to synthesize two ATP molecules for every glucose molecule used.  This is Zone 4.

3. The Aerobic System: this is the active system our body uses to sustain long duration low intensity efforts. Think 5k, 10k and up. This system needs oxygen to be present for the creation of ATP and will use one of three processes (Aerobic glycolysis, Krebs cycle or Electron transport chain feel free to look those up if you are curious) to create it. It's a slow process and thus is it used for lower intensity demands but can continue for long periods of time. This is Zone 1 & 2.

**Found this chart on a Google search, not my own. It gives a good visual of what I was talking about as far as how long each energy system lasts, and that there is some overlap between them.**

Physiological and Metabolic Adaptations of Zone 2 Training

Performing most of your training in Zone 2 will help you build endurance, durability and strength. In addition, these easy training sessions help you...

1. Increase the number and density of your mitochondria - as you know from reading earlier the mitochondria is where the muscle gets it's energy to cause muscle contractions.

2. Increased capillary pathways - means more oxygen carrying capacity, and more ability to keep going.

3. Increase Stroke volume - amount of blood pumped out per beat; more blood means more oxygen and longer duration exercise.

4. Increased Fat burning capability - your body can more easily access the fat and use it for energy.

5. Increased lactate clearance - the mitochondria had the ability to break down the lactate and reuse it.

6. Increased blood plasma - the liquid part of the blood that carries cells and proteins.

7. Allows you to increase your training volume without beating up your body.

How Do You Find You Zone 2

There are a couple ways to calculate your heart rate ranges. If you do not have a heart rate monitor or prefer not to use one, you will have to train by feel. Without the heart rate monitor, you should feel like you can breathe through your nose while you are exercising and you can carry on full sentences. However if you want to have a bit more data, you will need a heart rate monitor. 

One of the best ways to get started with heart rate training is to calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR). First start with gathering the following numbers:

1. Max Heart Rate: 220 - your age = MHR

2. Find your Resting Heart rate (RHR), this is taken immediately when you wake up, before sitting up.

3. Find your Hear Rate Reserve (HRR): Subtracting your Resting Heart Rate from your Max Heart Rate. 

4. Multiply HRR by the Zone percentage you want to calculate, Zone 2 = 65-75%

5. Add back in your RHR to each of the calculated numbers in #4 to get your range for Zone 2.

For the other zones, the ranges are: Zone 3 multiply by 75-85%; Zone 4 multiply by 85-95%; Zone 5 multiply by 95-100%; Zone 5+ anything higher than Zone 5.  

Here is an example: Let's say you are 43 years old, with a resting heart rate is 55 beats per minute.

MHR - RHR = HRR

(HRR x 65%) + RHR = Lower end Zone 2

(HRR x 75%) + RHR = Higher end Zone 2

220 - 43 = 177 MHR

177 - 55 = 122 HRR

122 x 65% = 79.3

122 x 75% = 91.5

79.3 + 55 = 134.3, Zone 2 low end

91.5 + 55 = 146.5, Zone 2 high end

According to this method this person's Zone 2 Heart Rate is 134 to 146 beats. This means in order for this person to train at a Zone 2 training threshold they would need to keep their heart rate in that range, preferably closer to the lower end. Now this isn't the most accurate way to get your zones, but it's the best way for someone new to heart rate training, or just new to training in general. If you are interested in the more advanced method of attaining your actual Zone 2 threshold please feel free to ask me for help.

What About Zone 3?

You may have noticed I did not mention Zone 3 in the energy systems above. The reason is that Zone 3 is this grey area in performance training. Your body uses a mix of Lactate and Aerobic systems, with no specific ratio of either. So when you hang out in the Zone 3 "Grey Zone" your body isn't getting the best adaptations it can due to the mixing of the systems. In this zone you aren't going fast enough to improve speed or power, and you aren't going slow enough to improve the cardiovascular benefits mentioned earlier, plus the recovery time from Zone 3 is much more than Zone 2. 

To wrap things up. Knowing what your heart rate training zones are will benefit you in many ways. It's not just for endurance athletes, but also those trying to keep a good health and fitness routine. So the next time you head out for your workout, make sure you know what the purpose of your training session is, and know what zone or zones you should be working out in. 

Give this a try and let's see how you feel doing your Zone 2 training with these new numbers.

Week 7, Training for 50K Trail Race

Last week, week 6 we focused on a big block of trail running with two days back to back at the beginning of the week. This was to begin putting extended time on my feet, followed by some recovery time on the bike to flush out the lactic acid build up.

Week 7 Training Plan: (21st-27th September 2020)

Monday: Rest and Recovery, Mobility 30+ minutes.

Tuesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes, Strength 60 minutes.

Wednesday: Run 4 miles EASY (Low Zone 2), Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Run 7 miles EASY (Low Zone 2), Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Run 7 miles EASY (Low Zone 2), Mobility 30 minutes.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 3 hours.

Sunday: Trail run 12 miles keeping Zone 2 as best I can.

This week we were still maintaining 30 miles total running, but we are dropping the intensity down to heart rate zone 2. Dropping the effort down to zone 2 will help build up my aerobic base in order to allow me to sustain the long efforts with less fatigue. In short Zone 2 training uses more of the Type 1 muscle fibers, these are the muscles that are most used in exercise lasting longer than 3 minutes. Zone 2 training also encourages your body to build more capillaries and increase your mitochondria ability to process lactate. It also trains your body to process fat for fuel in preference to carbohydrates which are in short supply. 

Both Tuesday and Wednesday's plan was executed as planned, and my nutrition and sleep was on target. My sleep was about 8 to 8.5 hours each night leading into the workouts. My nutrition was spot on taking in a good healthy mix of nutrients with 40% coming from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 30% from fats. My total calories in and out was just about flush both days, and my hydration was also spot on. 

                             **View from Friday's run along the Bayshore route.**

I went to bed Wednesday night ready to take on my first day of a 2 day block of 7 mile runs on Thursday. Unfortunately Thursday I woke up completely exhausted even after getting 8 hours of sleep and not remembering waking up. Turns out that my hormones were messing with me, and I actually had a temperature Thursday. I kept drinking cold water, and stayed near a fan but nothing helped and I felt run down, low energy and ended up deciding not to do my workout. 

Thursday I got to bed at my normal time, in bed by 9:15pm, read till 10pm and then lights out. My plan was to get up at 5:20am on Friday to do my 7 mile run from Thursday, so that I could do Fridays run in the evening. As all good plans go, they don't. Ha. Again I woke feeling exhausted and feverish. However by 9am I was finally feeling better, so I got my first run done. Due to the higher temps that day I was happy to go in the morning. I brought my handheld water bottle and my GoPro and off I went. 

                                              **View from Friday's run.**

Since I decided to go a slightly different route than my normal I created a short video of my route and how peaceful it is at that semi-early time of the morning. You can watch it here on my YouTube channel. The rest of the day was spent working, so I never got a chance to do the second 7 mile run. And actually looking back that would not have been a smart move considering how much training I had on my calendar for Saturday and Sunday.

Oh glorious Saturday and a ride planned for the East Bay. I was looking forward to that ride all week. I actually looked back in my Strava and found I haven't been to this particular route since 2013. The route was starting in San Jose near Calavares and South Park Victoria, riding North into Fremont then out toward Sunol to climb up Palomares road, before descending back down and finishing our jaunt into Sunol and past is taking Calavares road all the way out past the reservoir and back to our starting point. The route was 48 miles in total with 3800 feet of climbing and it was the perfect early fall day to be there. We had cool temps to start, clean newly paved roads, then a beautiful ride through the canyon of Hwy84 to get out to our first climb up Palomares road. Once back down we continued to head East into and then past the little town of Sunol. Once we passed Hwy680 we still had a few miles before we hit the beauty of Calavares and the reservoir that lays below. As we were riding Calavares I remembered this was the sight of one of the recent fires, but yet I hadn't seen and damage. Just as I was saying that to a teammate, we turned a corner in the road and there it was in all it's fire scorched glory. I made a video of our ride and about 2/3 of the way through the video you can see some of that damage on the canyon above and in front of us. 

                                            **Saturday's ride video. Enjoy!**

After getting back to my car I had my usual recovery protein shake waiting in my lunch pail, and extra water and a second cup of coffee, and a sandwich. LOL, that sounds like a lot, but after burning 1500 calories in the morning I needed to replenish as much as possible. Plus it was only 11am so still early enough to have my second cup of coffee.  

  

Last but not least was Sunday's long run. I knew it was supposed to be hot out again so I started my run at 7:30am, which was a perfect 63 degrees. For this run I used my hydration backpack as I didn't want to carry a water bottle in each hand. The backpack had only water in it today, but I did bring some of my own nutrition bites I have been making. I've got to say they are pretty yummy. If you are interested in the recipe it's also here in my blog from September of 2019. 

https://northsnotesonline.blogspot.com/2019/09/homemade-energy-snack-balls.html

Hope you enjoyed reading this weeks adventures. Next week I have to get all my runs in as it's 11 weeks till my run and I need to be getting all the miles in my legs as I can now. 

Week 6, Training for 50K Trail Race

Last week, week 5 was a tough week with the air quality getting as bad as it did. With is not allowing any outdoor activity over the weekend things had to be shuffled around and we went to a play it by ear schedule for the first half of this week.  

This week we planned for the two 10.5 mile trail runs on either Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Week 6 Training Plan: (14th-20th September 2020)

Monday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Tuesday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Wednesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Undecided, Mobility 15 minutes.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 3 hours 

Sunday: Easy, flat run 9 miles.

Unfortunately Monday was still in the high 160's on the AQI scale so once again outdoor activities were a bust. However things were looking better Tuesday morning as it had dropped back down to 120, and by the afternoon when I had time to run, it was about AQI 88, so off to the trails I went. 

Midday on a weekday turned out to be a great time to run. I think I passed only 3 people my entire time on the trails. The sun was shining, and the air was clear, maybe still not as clean as it could be but it wasn't orange-brown anymore.  Since I was excited to be out and about, I brought along my GoPro again to take some footage of the beauty I get to enjoy. You can enjoy my Clean Air Rancho San Antonio Preserve Run (click on the name to go to the video) too.

Wednesday was the second day in my back to back trail runs, and the weather was perfect yet again. This being my first back to back day of longer trail runs meant I needed to get plenty of sleep and proper nutrition between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning when I could do my next run. My sleep was okay though I did get suckered into watching an extra episode of Grey's Anatomy (I'm in season 11) and got to be 45 minutes later than I planned. Considering I usually get 8 to 9 hours of sleep I was plenty rested for Wednesday morning. 

 Thursday it's time for the first of my short bike rides, and my leg are feeling heavy. I know that active recovery is always better than doing nothing at all, so I hop on and get started. At first my legs felt sluggish and powerless, but by the time I got through with the 10 minute warm up my legs were feeling loose and happy again. I had the same workout both on Thursday and Friday, and both days my legs felt the same. Heavy at first, then by the 10 minute mark all better. 

Saturday is long ride day, and I was looking forward to seeing my teammates on our social distanced ride. After I got up late, and was feeling rushed to get everything together (I usually have everything packed and prepped the night before, and I did not this time) I decided I just needed one day where I wasn't up and rushing out the door right away. Instead I enjoyed my cup of coffee, had a slow breakfast and even ready a little in my book. At some point I realized I just did not feel up for a ride, so called it a day about 11 am and used the day to clean up my bike space in the garage. The goal was to get all my tools back into my toolbox, and get rid of stuff I just don't use, and of course to clean and re-lube all the bikes. Not only did I accomplish that, but also set aside 3 items in my give away pile because I was so good that I took pictures and posted them online. 

After a full day of rest and a bit of a mental clearing of the cobwebs I was ready to get back to it on Sunday for my 9 mile run. This run did not have to be on the trails so I decided to head over to Shoreline and enjoy the peacefulness of the Bayshore area early in the morning. Of course since I'm blogging about this I had to take my camera and take some quick video snippets of the sights. You can see my video from this week, along with all my other videos on my YouTube channel. 

This run route is flat, mostly, and is fully exposed to the sun the entire time. Even though I ran at 8am when it was cool, I still brought my handheld water bottle to keep my mouth from drying out and to prevent post workout dehydration. I'm starting to get used to having something in my hands while I run, especially when I bring the camera too so I stay better balanced. I do however switch hands every mile with the water bottle and the camera as they are not the same weight and I can feel it in my shoulders as I get further into my runs. 

In all this week was a success, and I continue to look forward to each following week. 

Week 5, Base 2 Training for 50K Trail Run

Last week was a rest week, meaning both my mileage and intensity was dialed back. This allows the body more rest and recovery time so it can adapt to the training stimulus you have put it through over the past few weeks. 

This week we now get back into more distance and working on doing back to back long run days over the weekend, plus still continuing to have 2 bike days for the cross training. 

Week 5 Training Plan: (7th-13th September 2020)

Monday: REST day, 30 minutes FRC mobility.

Tuesday: Run 10k with 2 x 1k at sub 7 min pace, Strength 1 hour, Mobility 15 min.

Wednesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Run 10k with the lasst 2 miles at sub 8 min pace, Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Bike 40 minutes, Core strength 30 minutes, Mobility 15 minutes.

Saturday: Trail run 10.5 miles

Sunday: Trail run 10.5 miles.

As is every week, Monday is an active rest day. That means I spend time doing some upper body strength exercises, along with doing my total body mobility routine. I am an FRCms and FRA certified specialist, which makes it really easy for me to know what my body needs for mobility. If you are curious what FRC is, check out my previous post here. 

Tuesday was a 10K with 2 x 1K elevated pace thrown in for speed work and to break up the distance a little. The elevated pace works the supra-threshold level of body systems and allows you to adapt faster to the training than just steady state alone. I was feeling good that morning, but knew it was supposed to get into the 90's that day and planned my run for the morning. That plan was smart and I executed it perfectly. One bottle of 355 ml water, plus a small breakfast an hour before and I was ready to rock. 

Wednesday however threw the entire Bay Area and beyond for a loop. Due to a weather pattern that I do not understand, all of a sudden all the smoke from all the fires on the West Coast was hovering on us. We woke up to an orange-brown sky, and ash falling on us. Many of us referred to that day as feeling post apocalyptic. 

The unfortunate thing about the orange-brown haze is that it lasted 3 days. During those 3 days no outdoor activity would have been safe to participate in. Luckily I was able to do my bike workout indoors on Wednesday. However, Thursday came around and it was time for my next run, but it just had to be skipped. Normally Thursday is my strength and HIIT sessions (I teach class and participate in it too.) In addition to the 30 minute strength and 30 minute HIIT session, I also did another 30 minutes of heavy weight lifting. Due to adding in the extra lifting session, my body would have been pretty sore for Friday so I also spent 30 minutes doing mobility work.

Friday morning comes along as the AQI is still pretty bad, but I thought I'd look to see if there was anything within a 90 minute drive from me that had a safe AQI. I was in luck! Santa Cruz was hovering at about 80 AQI. I know it's still not great but it's way better than the 175 AQI we had at home. Off to the sleepy beach town I drove to do my Thursday run on  Friday morning. Though the AQI was better by almost 100 points, the air was still had an orange tint to it. You can see what I mean about the air color in this YouTube video. 

Later in the afternoon on Friday I did my easy spin in my garage. At this point I'm caught back up on my workouts for the week. Next up is a 2 day block of 10.5 miles trail running. Unfortunately Saturday the AQI was still hovering around 200 so my workout got a last minute change to a 2 hour bike spin again on the trainer. Back to the garage I go and get it done. Nothing worse than sitting on a stationary bike for 2 hours, unless you have some fun YouTube subscriptions to watch. Gotta tell you that makes the time go by much easier. Also I highly recommend if you are watching something do be careful of what you choose. I'm following this Professional Mountain Biker from the UK. He's funny and entertaining, but every time he's flying down those hills and making sharp turns or dodging trees, I find myself leaning a bit on my bike. If you know anything about most stationary bike trainer set ups, there is no room to rock and roll. Let's just say that I had a few close calls tipping myself over. LOL!

Last day of the week and the air is still bad, Sunday started at about 155 AQI. No trail run again today. Instead I went to Aptos with my wife and spent the say chilling on the beach. I know that probably wasn't the best place to be but being cooped up for one more day I was gonna lose it. 

Stay tuned for next week, I've still gotta do the back to back trail runs. 

Hydration, How Much is Enough

I wanted to talk about exercise and hydration, especially since we just had quite a heat wave here in Northern California and a lot of people were talking about feeling awful after their workouts. What I'm referring to is the loss of energy and that heavy gut feeling that happens post workout (usually after long activities such as runs or rides) due to inefficient fluid intake. 

First rule when  trying to stay in peak condition for optimum performance is as Dr. Stacy Sims says, "food in your pocket, hydration in your bottle". Too many people put all sorts of sports powders or drinks in their water bottles that end up causing GI issues, and poor performance. In reality these solutions won't hydrate you like they claim, and can actually cause dehydration instead. 

Body Process of Hydration

Let's look at the process of hydration to get a better understanding as to why many hydration solutions on the market do not actually hydrate you. Remember that the reason we need to stay hydrated is to keep our body fluid levels high enough so we can use the water in our system to get rid of the heat we produce and cool us down while exercising. Essentially, while the blood is circulating the body it brings fuel and nutrients to the muscles and takes away waste products and heat. The blood continues it's circulation by moving out to the skin where it dumps the heat through sweating and ultimately evaporation. In order to sweat, water is taken from the plasma portion of our blood (liquid part), then sent through the skin where it can then evaporate and ultimately cool us down. 

As you sweat more you feel cooler, but your blood plasma volume is shrinking. When you don't have enough fluid in your body to keep the blood plasma volume balanced that's when things start breaking down. Your heart will have to beat faster to deliver the same amount of blood to your working muscles, and your core temperature will begin to rise. Once these things start to happen you will begin to feel fatigued, your performance will decrease, and you may not be able to finish your intended workout.

Chemistry Behind Hydration

Yup I just said that dreaded word (for many not all of us, or maybe just me): chemistry. How then does the water we ingest get into our bloodstream and what should be in that bottle we are drinking? Did you know that 95% of our fluid absorption happens in the small intestine? The small intestine is responsible for monitoring the Osmolality (amount of sodium) of our blood. To do this it is very sensitive to the levels of water and sodium that pass through. Normal blood plasma osmolaltiy is between 275 and 295 milliosmoles(mOsm), (Dr. Stacy Sims, ROAR, 2016). In order for our intestine to absorb the fluid you send to it, the osmolality needs to be lower than that of your blood. According to Dr. Sims, she suggests it be between 210 and 260 mOsm. 

When the osmolality of the fluid you take in is higher than that of your blood, it's considered too high a concentration and your body won't let it through the intestinal walls. Instead the high concentration will cause the opposite effect. The intestinal cells will start to pull water from the blood vessels in order to dilute the solution you just sucked down into your gut. This is how dehydration occurs and also where the GI upset comes from. 

The make up of your drink needs one more component for this process to work optimally. So far we have talked about good old H2O and Sodium. What will make it easier for the sodium to cross the cell wall is to have glucose right there with it. Be careful though, as many of the "sports drinks" on the market have too much sugar (meaning high osmolality), or the wrong kind of sugar and thus a slow emptying occurs. Remember high osmolality causes your body to draw water out of the blood and into the gut . 

What's in a Sports Drink?

Now that you understand how hydration works, don't worry you don't need to remember all that crazy chemistry stuff. Let's look at the sports drinks that you may be using, like Gatorade, Powerade, UCAN, Cytomaz, Hammer, and a whole sleuth of others. In most, not all people these drinks cause dehydration and stomach upset. These drinks have the following:

Carbohydrate solutions of 5-8%, which is about 12-19g of Carb per 8 ounce serving

Osmolality is around 300-305 mOsm

Sugars used: maltodextrin, fructose, sucrose

Sodium concentration of 52-110 mg per 8 ounce serving.

What Should be in My Sports Drink?

According to Dr. Sims and her research in the field of sports hydration, she recommends the following:

Carbohydrate solution of 3-4%, which is 7-9.4g of Carb per 8 ounce serving

Sugars used: glucose and sucrose at 7-9.4g

Sodium concentration of 180-225 mg

Potassium of 60-75mg (this can also help sodium transport across cell membranes)

She suggests using OSMO Hydration, ClifShot electrolyte drink, GU Hydration Drink mix, Bonk Breaker Real Hydration, as these products have the proper concentrations.

What about plain water? 

Plain water, because it contains no sodium, potassium or carbohydrates, lowers the ability of the body to move it out of the intestine into the cells. The water will many times just sit there in your stomach and slosh around, like it did for me as a runner. Another thing that can happen when the level of the water gets too high in the intestine, it will signal the body to urinate without absorbing any of it, and then you are back to where you were before drinking the plain water. 

How Much Should I be Drinking?

Now that you understand what type of fluid you should be drinking, let's talk about how much you need to be taking in. Generally speaking drink to thirst is recommended (women please note: during the high hormone phase of their cycle--5-7 days before their period starts--you will not feel the need to drink as much as the rest of the time during your cycle. Drinking to thirst is generally not advised for you at this time). For a more formulaic way to get properly hydrated, read on.

When the temperature is at or below 75 degrees Fahrenheit: Drink 0.10 ounce per pound of body weight. This is roughly 12 ounces for a 120 pound person.

When the temperature is above 75 degrees Fahrenheit: Drink 0.15 ounces per pound of body weight. 

Do be careful not to exceed 25 ounces of fluids per hour for a 130 pound person. You'll need a little more or a little less if you are larger or smaller than that. 

Lastly, you've probably heard it said to weight yourself before you exercise, then again after you exercise, and for every pound you lost you need to replace it with 16 ounces of fluid. That doesn't take into account the amount of fluid you drank during your workout, nor does it take into account the food that you consumed that may still be sitting in your gut, or the fact that your body just used up some of your glucose and fat stores. This system again may work for some, but is not recommended. 

Keep in mind these are general suggestions, a good starting point, but not a one stop fix all. Experiment with your hydration and let me know what works for you.

Thanks for reading.

Week 4: Rest Week for 50K Trail Race

 Rest weeks are just as important as hard training weeks. This weeks plan was 15 miles running and 2 hours 48 minutes of riding. During a rest week both the duration and intensity is decreased, however there are still short bursts of intensity to make sure to keep the body sharp as we say. 

Week 4 Training Plan: (31st August - 6th September 2020)

Monday: REST day, Mobility 30 minutes. 

Tuesday: Run 4 miles at easy pace, Strength 60 minutes.

Wednesday: Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 48 minutes high cadence, Strength 60 minutes. 

Friday: Run 4 miles at an easy pace.

Saturday: Bike outside 2 hours with one 10 minute high intensity interval.

Sunday: Trail run 7 miles.

This was a difficult week for me, I started Tuesday with a migraine, and this time it lasted all day Wednesday too. Because of the migraine I took both Tuesday and Wednesday off from training, and just focused on work, rest hydration and nutrition. Finally by Thursday I was feeling much better and went out in the morning to do my run from Tuesday, then followed it up with my core workout from Wednesday. Because I did a double workout I made sure to get my nutrition dialed in that day, and also stayed off my feet as much as possible during the rest of the day. 

How do I dial in my nutrition when I'm so busy? It comes with practice and planning. I have to plan ahead in order for this to work. I knew that there was a possibility of doing 2 workouts on Thursday so I went to bed knowing that I had to spread them out and eat at appropriate times throughout the day. When  it comes to running in the heat or riding in the heat I always choose ride over run, so I decided to get my run in first thing Wednesday morning during my early break. I immediately followed it up with my post workout protein shake, and then lunch was 2 hours later. The nice thing about that set up is that I can easily ride after eating lunch, so I jumped on the bike trainer and hit my high cadence workout, and again followed that workout with my post workout protein shake. 

With all that protein you're probably wondering am I getting too many calories. Nope. My protein shake of choice is Vega Sport Premium Protein powder.  I chose this one because it is high in protein, has the 30 grams required for women, and it is low in carbohydrates and fat which means I can get those from real foods. Yes I could have a chicken breast post workout, but that gets expensive and it's not something you can quickly get down immediately after a workout. Also this protein powder tastes the best to me, and seems to me to dissolve the best of the other ones I've used. 

 

Skip ahead to Sunday and my 7 mile trail run. Since I've been running at Rancho San Antonio preserve for all my trail runs these past few years, I decided it was time for a change. I headed over to Arastradero Preserve this weekend for my trail run. The temperature was supposed to get up over 100 degrees and with it already being 72 degrees at 6:30am when I woke, I decided to get a move on and start my run by no later than 7:30am. This turned out to be a smart decision as it was 88 degrees at 8:45am when I finished my run. This preserve differs from Rancho because there are no long sustained climbs, it's all short somewhat steep climbs followed by short steep descents. That's not my preferred trail as I like to just dig in deep and get all the climbing done in the first half of my runs and then enjoy a really long descent for the second half. Here are a couple of pics from Sunday's run at Arastradero preserve.

In total this week was 15 miles running and 3 hours on bike. Having been a rest week, I'm feeling recovered and ready to go and hit another hard couple weeks of training again. Block 2 of base training begins on Tuesday. Stay Tuned.

Also during Sunday's run I wanted to try my hand at creating video content while I'm running. It wasn't easy carrying my water bottle in one hand and the GoPro in the other, but I managed. Turns out I get nervous and talk too much, and I'm not great at video editing so coudn't get rid of some of my babbling, but if you want to see my first attempt at it you can see my video here. Be prepared it is a bit on the long side, at least long winded. LOL. I'll work on getting more footage of the actual places where I am running and riding for the future attempts. 

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!