HR TRAINING ( LHI vs MHI )

In analyzing my Polar data, I noticed one obvious

finding. My treadmill trainings (be it tempo, interval,

long run) mostly stay within the LMI(149-160, the

interval normally will have a small portion in the

MHI(161-174) if it is done hard enough.

Whereas, the road running counterpart has significant

portion of MHI, especially the races, where MHI make up

the majority. No wonder I always feel that road running

is harder than mill runing, and in every race, I felt like I pushed

myself to the limit.


We are here to examine possible reasons that caused this difference:


(1)Obviously I ran the race much harder then the trraining.
Okay, no flaw here, the traininng should be easier and
the race should be harder. But hang on, it also suggests
that you need to practice running hard sometimes and that's
why those tuneup races are important.

In a way, the interval and tempo training also try to simulate the race
condition but they are both the controlled version of it.

Well, now I know where to keep my perpective on those tuneup races, time trial,
interval,tempo, etc.


(2)One valid question arises from the above mentioned observance:

Are we supposed to learn to race faster at a lower HR (stay in
LMI for as fast as possible during race)

or

Are we are supposed to build more endurance in sustaining the MHI
(meaning you train at higher HR so that you get used to the elevated effort
during race) ?

If you choose to believe in the first option, then, you are opt to believe in
LSD, something like train slowly so that you can run fast, etc.
The reason behind all these theories/beliefs is simple:

YOU LEARN TO RUN AT LOWER HR (better running economic) AT HIGHER PACE.
YOU WANT TO LEARN TO RACE JUST BELOW THAT THRESHOLD THAT WILL PUT YOU IN
MHI (Yeap!, I meant the Lactate Threshold LT).
So, there is no reason to boost those tempo, interval, long run to a harder level
(except when you improve naturally and progressively),

the goal is simply learn TO RACE JUST BELOW LT.

(You see, the first approach is that there aren't anything wrong with the training,
it is only the racing that is wrong--race too hard)


Well, you might also believe in that option 2 will certainly be the one
that will maximize your racing potential.

Hey, isn;t it DOING YOUR BEST sounds familiar?

If you stay comfortably the whole race in LHI, would you still call
that a race? If so, what's the point of racing?

DON'T TURN A TRAINING INTO A RACE
similarly
DON"T TURN A RACE INTO A TRAINING

So, if you believe in this, you opt to think that you do need to
boost those training runs so that you will build the endurance of the
MHI.


I would say both are right, the first option will be very nice
to be employed in the first half of the race.

Didn't the idea of negetive split, even pacing for optimum racing
sounds familiar?
(So, there is a point in learning to control the racing pace
so that we will not cross that MHI border, at least in the first half).

And if you are serious enough about racing and doing your best,
you certainly will need to risk something and cross that MHI border,
at leqst at the later stage of the race,
Well, then, all those hard interval, tempo, tuneup race, time trial, etc
will certainly help
(at least you are more familiar to the pain and would say
something like

IF THERE IS NO PAIN, THEN I AM NOT DOING MY JOB
).


************ *************** ************** ************

In short, you learn to run faster using tempo, interval, etc

so that your running economic is improved.


You learn to race faster by:

(a)Controlled aggression

(b)GUT IT THROUGH


Crank on.

Being a Runner (1)

When you are serious enough about running, it will

consume you and turn you into a totally differet

person, and the identity of being a runner

takes precedence over everything else...


********** **********

My son asked me what is my "hobi" when completing

his BM school assignment about the particular of parents,

the FIRST and ONLY word that came

into my mind is "berlari" and I had such a tough time

convincing him to put that in (somehow he thought

that the norm is to put in something like "menonton television",

"membaca", etc).


********** **********

I had forgoten when was the last time I bought any new T-shirt.

It seems like all my casual shirts is race Ts. Oh, had I

told you that I even wore Race T to wedding dinner and didn't

feel anything wrong with that (BTW, I especially like the SIM marathon

Finisher).


********** **********

When my company management announced that the dress code could

be casual, I quited wearing any long sleeve shirt, working pants, etc.

From then onwards, I go out in Brooks Addiction, Jeans, and Racing Ts.

Who knows, I might sneak out secretly and

fix myself a dose of running during lunch.


********** **********

One day, my colleague asked me something about running, and the words

like "tempo", "interval", "vo2max", "gel", "long run", etc

immediately pouring out from my mouth. However, it seemed that I was talking

a foreign language to my colleague.

Talking about gel, I remembered I asked a pharmacist about the availability

of power gel, somehow, he thought that meant some kind of gel that you rub on your

private part and have a boost of power...

Oh, dear...


********** **********

When I was hungry on setting a marathon PR, I found that my life actually

centers around my running.

A few years ago, I signed up for a evening course. The class

was scheduled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, due to some reasons,

they wanted to switch the class to Monday, Tuesday, and Thurday and I was the

only objector. The reasoning was simply because with the Monday,

Wednesday, Friday schedule, I would have a nicer fit to the hard-easy training

schedule and not otherwise. Of course, everyone else frowned on this silly and

unacceptable reason and I didn't have my way.


********** **********

Talking about marathon training, I (and everyone else) found that I was extremely

well tempered when I started marathon training.

Wouldn't marathon training stressful enough? Who wants more?

I certainly wanted to avoid any stressful conflicts or situations.

And it would be total insane of me if Icreated that myself.


********** **********

Metatarsalgia

Last few months, I was continously bugged by injuries

I had shin splint, backache, knee pain, plantar fasciatis, etc.

I wasn't running that much as compare to last year when I trained

at much higher weekly mileage and didn't had a single bout of injury.

I seriously think that my prone to injury lately is due to my recent

gaining of extra 10lbs plus of weight.

Now, oddly enough, I had something called Metatarsalgia.

Symptoms
========
pain in the ball of your foot — the part of the sole just behind your toes.

The pain may be sharp, aching or burning.

You may feel it in the area around the second, third and fourth toes

or only near your big toe ( I only felt is around the fourth toe).

Other symptoms of metatarsalgia may include:

--Pain that gets worse when you stand, walk or run and improves when you rest

--Sharp or shooting pain in your toes

--Numbness or tingling in your toes

--Pain that worsens when you flex your feet


The treatment was simple, rest and icing, which I think did help, but still

not quite cure yet.

BTW, I realized that my mill running shoe is way way overdued, I really need a

new pair, which I am waiting for the Brooks Addiciton 8.


Crank on.

Get Well Soon

During a three hour flight, someone sat behind me was

constantly coughing, each time she did, I could

smell the smell of the phlegm (even when I covered my

nose with the collar of my shirt). I knew that I would

catch a bug real soon...


The next day, my throat srarted to feel itchy,

and I immediately put myself on a course of antibiotic

as well as cooked myself some flu chinese medicine.

My wife used to question whether it is wise to put

on the antibiotic so early and so lightly

(she thought that one should take the antibiotic

only when the presense of full symptoms, like fever,

cough, phlegm and a sore throat that felt

extremely painful during swallowing, etc.)

Somehow, she always think that I was overreacting...



Turn out that the decision was wise.

I was down for two days.

On the third day, I was back to training, and on the fourth

day, I was able to do a quality run.



Someone said that consistency in training is the most important factor in

the pursuit of excellence in endurance sport, I couldn't agree more.

It is our "duty" to keep ourselves in healthy and uninjured state so that

training could be undertaken.


So, the next time you are sick or injureed, take the short cut to get well soon.

Training on the Permaisuri Lake

I usually do all my quality runs on the mill.

When I hit the running track around the Permaisuri

lake, I usually do easy and recovery run, normally

run 4 to 6 laps which total about 5 to 8km.

However, I used to start out fast and suffered

a great deal during the later part of the run.

Yesterday, I tagged along a group, running the first

three laps at very comfortable pace (6:20-6:50),

then my runnning partner Ming came along and I ran with him.

The plan was to run two laps at my tempo/interval

pace(5:20-5:06), follow with a recovery lap.


The two fast pace laps really felt fast, and I

felt so good and strong that I thought

I could have gone faster.

I think three things had worked out right here. Firstly,

the warm up laps really prepared me for the fast laps.

I remembered that the first lap felt really awful when I just started

the run that I just wish the run to be over. Then I felt slightly

better on the second lap and after the third lap I could feel

that my legs were light and they were ready for the pounding.

So, next time don't skip or cut short the warmup laps...


Secondly, I think the weight training finally pay off.

I could feel that the legs are much stronger and I have

enough muscle strength to really open up the stride. So, I


think I would do more workout on hip flexor, knee

extension, knew curl, leg press, calf raise, etc.

I would also build up the weight progressively, may be up

a notch (5 to 10 lbs) now and see where it leads me...


Thirdly, the speed work on the mills is really working ...


Opps, I think I could turn the lake "easy" run into

a tempo, next time, warmup with 3 laps,

then tempo pace 3-4laps(4-5km), cooldown with

2 laps and that actually totals up to a 10K or more,

not too bad for an "easy" run.

Olive Oil Smoking Point

During an easy run , a friend and I were chating about the benefit of olive oil.

Somehow he told me that he "fried things" with the olive oil. I thought may be
it wasn't such a good idea.


Sure, there were some sites on the net telling that heating olive oil wasn't that bad, and it only changes the flavour and not its chemical property.

Well, I would not take that for granted.

Here what I extract from a site about heating olive oil.



One of the main things to consider when evaluating whether it is OK to
heat oil is the smoke point of the oil, which is the temperature at
which visible gaseous vapor from the heating of oil becomes evident.

The smoke point of the oil is traditionally used as a marker for
when decomposition of oil begins to take place.
Since decomposition incurs chemical changes that may not only result
in reduced flavor and nutritional value but also the generation of
harmful compounds, it is important to not heat oil past its smoke point.

The smoking point for various oil is as follow:

Canola oil, unrefined 225°F
Canola oil, semirefined 350°F
Canola oil, refined 400°

Soy oil, unrefined 320°F
Soy oil, semirefined 350°F
Soy oil, refined 450°F

Sunflower oil, unrefined 225°F
Sunflower oil, semirefined 450°F
Sunflower oil, refined high-oleic 450°F

Before we discuss the specifics of the smoke point of olive oil,
let's clarify some terms used to define olive oils
since these terms are often a source of confusion for many people:

Extra-virgin: derived from the first pressing of the olives (has the most delicate flavor).

Fine virgin: created from the second pressing of the olives.

Refined oil: unlike extra-virgin and fine virgin olive oils,
which only use mechanical means to press the oil,
refined oil is created by using chemicals to extract the oil from the olives.



The information on olive oil smoke points is, unfortunately,
not very clear or consistent since different companies list
different smoke points for their olive oil products;
this variability most likely reflects differences in degree of processing.


Generally, the "smoke point of olive oil" ranges from 220-437°F.

Most commercial producers list their pure olive smoke points in the range of
425-450°F , while "light" olive oil products (which have undergone more processing) are listed at 468°F.

Manufacturers of extra virgin oil list their smoke points in a range
that starts "just under 200°F" and that extends all the way up to 406°F.

Again, the variability here is great, and most likely reflects
differences in the degree of processing.


In principle, organic, unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
should have the lowest smoke point of all forms of olive oil
since this form of the oil is the least refined.

Thus, for a natural, very high-quality extra virgin olive oil,
200-250°F is the "safer range" that reflects the most likely upper limit for
heating without excessive damage. In other words, this would allow the use
of extra virgin olive oil for making sauces, but not for 350°F baking or
higher temperature cooking.

It is best to add it to the dishes after they have been
cooked to enjoy the wonderful flavor and nutritional value of olive oil.