New research: now massage heals sore muscles
This article was in the New York Times yesterday - 7th Feb 2012. It’s only short so do read it.
The research investigated how massage could help restore and revive muscles immediately post-exercise, but I guess we can assume that some of the same mechanisms may still apply if you have a massage several hours or even a day later. Nice to have some science behind what athletes and massage therapists knew all along - ie massage helps.
Interesting to see that they say taking ibuprofen reduces inflammation, but can reduces healing, too. I’ve been told this by various physios and doctors so have always suggested to people who have injured themselves that paracetamol might be the optimum pain killer for the first 48 hours post injury. The non-technical argument is that the body is very good at healing itself and it’s best not to swallow drugs that may interfear with this brilliant process. My info is that after the inital acute inflammation phase, it’s ok to take ibuprofen to help reduce inflammation along with RICE, MICE etc. (By the way, this is not what every medic believes…).
There’s also good info on why taking prophylactic ibuprofen is not a good idea in endurance events, especially when it’s hot and you may be sweating even more than usual. It can affect the way the kidneys work - and therefore affect your fluid balance. I’ll find the link to a very interesting article which I’d urge all endurance athletes to read.
Please remember I’m not a doctor and am not medically trained and I shouldn’t prescribe or recommend any drugs to anyone. (But I can tell you what I’d do under the same circumstances…)
Tags: frequency of massage, ibuprofen, inflammation, injury, marathon, recovery, rest days, running, scientific evidence, training, why massage works
… and more on getting old, but not getting frail
I had a busy racing weekend recently. I marshalled at our club’s excellent cross country event on the Saturday then ran a half marathon the next day.
The cross country was a great event with races for juniors from under 13 right up to the vets where I don’t think there’s an age limit. I was stationed up in the woods at the highest part of the course. When they got to me the runners had been climbing for almost half a mile so I got to see many knackered people striving hard to stay strong hoping their legs would carry them round the rest of the course…. until they had to go round again and up the hill for the second, third or fourth time.
I was struck how amazing the older people were. All these ladies in their 50s, 60s and possibly more were a) still running b) still racing and c) still racing cross country which is So Tough. And in the men’s race there were even more older chaps.
What was even more gob-smacking was the number of people, including some of the older people, who then raced the half marathon the next day. Who says running’s bad for you?! I really hope I’m still racing when I’m in my seventies.
Oh, and the chap (one of the older ones) who brought up the rear in the mens race in the cross country was out spectating and cheering at the half marathon. He was the most energetic and noisy spectator out there! His wife was out cheering, too. Wonder if she was racing in the ladies’ team? They were awesome and clearly not tired after the exploits of the day before.
Strictly pilates
I’m thrilled that Strictly Come Dancing has started again. Over the years the sequins have gradually sucked me in to the point where I can’t miss an episode and will even try to watch It Takes Two on weekday evenings at 6.30.
One of the aspects of the programme that fascinates me is the athleticism involved. In the first few weeks the celebs always say how exhausted they are from the training (although some of them are continuing full time jobs as well which must be an enormous challenge) and it’s obviously very demanding. Then, as the weeks progress, they get fitter and stronger and increasingly able to deal with the training load. They all lose loads of weight too (Rory Bremner lost two inches off his waist by week 2 this series).
The judges give feedback about the celebs’ posture and if you listen carefully they often make comments about how their core strength needs boosting. I have to say, I could really go for some dancing lessons to boost core strength instead of pilates. I love my pilates sessions and am certain that it helps me stay much more niggle-free than I used to be, and am constantly recommending it to clients with a variety of postural or sporting problems. But the idea of combining it with another form of movement really appeals. Ballet, for example.
I ought to try Zumba, too, to see what all the fuss is about. I understand that gives a good core work out - I’m sure all dance-based exercise classes do. But there’s something about the control required for ballet and ballroom which appeals to me as a core-building thing.
If you’ve never tried pilates or any sort of core strength training I urge you to find a class double quick. I think it should be compulsory! Buy a DVD if you can’t easy get to a class. Or splash out on a few one to one sessions to get to grips with what you need to do so that you could work safely and effectively on your own - or that DVD. It’ll help improve (or remove) all sorts of musculo-skeletal problems, keep you upright and tall (which helps to make you look younger, slimmer and more confident) and keeps you supple and strong well into the later decades.
I saw a TV programme recently featuring a marvelous 100-and-something year old lady from New York City. She was terrific - sprightly, energetic and youthful. And they showed her morning routine - about 20 mins of exercises which looked very like many of the exercises and stretches we do in Pilates and yoga. I must say, if it can help that lady move around as brilliantly as she did at her age… it has to be good.
Tags: ballet, core strength, dancing, endurance, pilates, strength, stretching
Back to a bit of speed training
Well, shock horror - I’ve been doing some quality running sessions! I’ve never been a fast runner - especially when I compare myself to my esteemed club mates at Winchester & District AC - but whatever speed I ever had from training for marathons has gone, since I’ve been training for ironman races. And yes, you do do speed training for marathons!
Anyway, after about six weeks off to recover from Ironman Regensberg in August, I’ve been putting in some effort to run harder over shorter distances rather than constantly churning out long slow runs.
And it’s started to work I think. I did the Solent Half Marathon yesterday and did my fastest time for a couple of years… although it’s still a time I’d have been horrified at three years ago. It wasn’t a completely flat course and I felt fairly comfy all the way round so the ‘good’ result has encouraged me to keep up the shorter, sharper stuff to see if I can do a half decent effort at the Lordshill 10 mile race next month. I might even dip my toe into the muddy waters of cross country racing… now that’s really great training all round.
So far I’ve done a couple of hill sessions at Farleigh Mount, a couple of tempo pyramids (a continuous pyramid of jog, steady, threshold, steady, then jog) and a couple of threshold sessions. It’s quite nice going out and knowing that the payback for working hard is getting back home earlier.
My next challenge is to try to make my training a bit more efficient and see if, over the winter, I might be able to participate in the sessions I coach on a Tuesday night. They’re tough, but all on grass which means my knee will have half a chance of behaving itself. But it means I can’t offer the same level of coaching to club members if I’m running rather than timing and encouraging. We’ll see.
Tags: cross country, ironman, race, running, training, Winchester & District AC
Ironman number 2 - done
I will do a proper post about this when I get back from holiday, but for the time being - on 7th August I completed Ironman Regensburg in 13 hours 41 minutes.
I just scraped a PB by 5 mins. Not a lot, but a PB’s a PB. The swim was 5 mins slower, the bike was 15 mins faster and the run was 10 mins slower. So a mixed bag. But lots learned so number three - the Outlaw in Nottingham on 1st July 2012 - will be the best yet.
A glimpse at the life of a full time athlete
Earlier this month I did a week’s training camp in Lanzarote. What an eye opener. And what a great week!
It was a triathlon/running camp organised by Martin Yelling, Liz Yelling and Ian Corless. Liz obviously focussed on running (she’s in her pre-London phase so was training hard, herself), Martin and Ian focussed on the bike with the help of pro ironman triathlete Joel Jameson, and Loughborough Uni-based swim coach and Olympic team psychologist Dave Fletcher led the swimming, again helped by Joel. The coaches were top notch - all so good at what they do, but also supportive, inclusive and generous with their time. And they all had a sense of humour and made even the most gruelling sessions … less gruelling.
There were two runs, a swim and a bike each day which we could all dip in and out of as we wanted. My focus was on the bike as it’s my weakest tri discipline, but with such a good swim coach on hand I’d have been mad not to swim every morning, too.
My routine went something along the lines of wake up, banana, swim, breakfast, bike, food/rest/food/sleep, wake up, banana, swim, breakfast etc etc. By the end of the week I’d trained for almost 30 hours - more than double my previous max week total. That might be a normalish week for an elite triathlete, but for us campers such big volumes were extraordinary and not sustainable for much more than a week.
Most people’s focus was on working hard to make the intelligent most of the camp’s offerings, then relaxing and eating properly to recover from one session and gather energy for the next. With no normal household or work responsibilities it seemed normal to do at least two sessions a day. After a couple of hard days I had an ‘easy’ day - although I’d already swum for an hour and biked for two! The ‘easy’ bit was a whole afternoon and evening off with no session planned. I begun to wonder how on earth I ever thought one session was enough back at home. But of course a training camp’s not normal and, unless you’re very lucky - or a professional full-time athlete - it’s hard to fit that level of training and recovery into a regular day.
In fact I was over-reached by the last day. Over-reaching is the first stage of over-training. Heart rate can be erratic, mood temperamental, sleep impaired. I’d been unable to sleep well at all for the whole week which certainly didn’t help my recovery but on the last day I was experiencing a few tell-tale signs. My heart rate was stratospheric during the easiest of warm up drills in the pool. Then I threw a strop on the bike when it was too fast for me (well… it was meant to be an easy recovery session and it was proving a tad faster than that).
To avoid over-training I thought I’d been very careful: picking my sessions, not doing the run sessions (because I know I take a long time to recover from them and I wanted to have energy to do the major bike sessions properly)… but I’d obviously done just a bit too much. Alternatively, perhaps I got it right, but the lack of sleep meant I didn’t get the full recovery my poor body so desperately needed.
Luckily over-reaching is fully reversable with a few days off and it was obvious to us all that the week following the camp needed to be an easy one to help us recover and let the training bed in. If the camp had been one day longer I would have exploded. Martin was very nice and said it meant that I’d got it about right.
Now, having been back for just over two weeks, I’m starting to feel the benefits. My energy levels are returning and I mashed through a long bike at the weekend in a much shorter time than it would have taken me this time last year - at the same sedate perceived exertion level and heart rate. And that was at the end of quite a big week.
So. I’ve booked for next year. I’d recommend a training camp - but make sure you get one that has the right level of activity and ethos for you. I’m so glad I went on this one rather than a cycling-specific one - I just don’t think I’d have coped. Club la Santa in Lanzarote is a mecca for this type of activity and I can see why. And the silly tan lines for 2011 are coming along nicely.
Tags: Add new tag, cycling, heart rate, Lanzarote, nutrition, over reaching, overtraining, recovery, sleep, swimming, training, training camp
Calling all runners in Winchester!
Just in case you’re reading this and you live in or around Winchester, you might be interested in this.
I’m an endurance running coach at Winchester & District AC (WADAC) and we’re about to make a real effort to attract a broader range of runners to the club. We want to make sure everyone feels they have a place there - whether they’re beginners or if running for 30 mins is their limit.
The great thing about being part of a club is the camaraderie (and WADAC’s very good at camaraderie!). It’s wonderful having someone to run with around the dark streets in the winter or over the downs on a balmy summer evening. If you enter races it’s lovely to travel there with friends or at least see some friendly faces on the start line. And if you’re wavering about whether to go out for a run at all, knowing that you’ll see your friends there or not wanting to let any of your friends down, is a great motivator. And we all feel better after a run however rubbish we felt before!
We have some amazing runners that help us to win local cross country and road running leagues. We’ve got national and international team members. But there’s lots of room for ‘normal’ runners who just want some company or new routes to run… and if they eventually decide they’d like to train more seriously or do a 10k or half marathon… or a marathon… they’ll be in the right place for lots of help along the way.
So - if you know anyone who runs a bit and who you suspect might like to run a bit more … tell them to email me. We’ll make sure they’re looked after.
Tags: club membership, joining a club, running, Winchester & District AC
More on caffeine… it’s not all bad
Actually, now that I can see that last post about caffeine, the headline makes it all look a bit scary, when in fact caffeine is not all bad for endurance athletes.
One of the reasons I’ve weaned myself off fully-leaded coffee is to make the effects of caffeine more marked when I do have it. I can’t cite the many research papers here, but it’s well-known that caffeine can boost endurance considerably - or certainly by an amount that makes a difference on a long effort. That’s why you can buy gels and sports drinks with caffeine added.
The obvious benefit is the mental stimulus/lift that it can give when the going gets tough. But what lots of people don’t realise is that it seems to mobilise free fatty acids, making them more easily available for use for muscle contraction and general energy production. This would preserve your precious glycogen stores. And the longer your glycogen stores last in an endurance event, the better!
There’s more to it than that, but if you want more, google ‘caffeine endurance performance’ and there’ll be plenty for you to read.
Beware of the caffeine
Last week I’d been looking forward to rewarding my arrival at the end of my training week with a frothy coffee at Cafe Nero. It was Friday morning, I’d done a good, long swim and had the luxury of a rest day on Saturday before a race on Sunday.
The coffee was nectar and, well, I had a second one. (I really know how to live, don’t I?) Hmmmm. I didn’t quite finish the second one, but I must have been caffeined up good and proper because that night I couldn’t get to sleep. At all. I even decamped to the spare room for total silence, but really didn’t drop off until about 2.30am. And then I kept waking up.
So I probably ruined my rarer-than-hens’-teeth, longed-for, deep, post-training sleep and lie in combination by having a second coffee.
I’ve weaned myself off caffeine a bit over the last few months. I’ve found some good decaff (Lavazza blue label) which still gives that glorious coffee hit and feel but without the shakes and sleep probs. Silly me for not ordering de-caff at Nero…
Train, recover. Train, recover. Repeat.
Well, I’m well and truly back into ironman training. This is week 6 of a 30-week programme. At this stage it’s all low intensity endurance work, building up the ability over 10 weeks or so, to swim and bike the full ironman distance (swim 2.4 miles and bike 112 miles). Running, for me, takes a bit of a back seat. In fact to do an ironman at my level, full marathon training just isn’t necessary.
This has been brought home to me this week. I did a 10 mile running race at the weekend because it’s a great club outing and a hilly, challenging course. I didn’t race it, but used it as a training run, running to a heart rate that kept me firmly aerobic. At no time was I working hard and I had a lovely time. But that evening the tell-tale hammered legs syndrome kicked in and today, two days later, they’re still feeling heavy.
And that’s why you don’t do too much insane run training for ironman! It takes so much out of you that it can impede the rest of your training.
So the focus is fully on getting in the miles at the moment, recovering and resting well between efforts, eating well, then doing it all over again. It’s a long haul to get to the start line unscathed and fighting fit - so it’s best not to blow it early on.
Tags: heart rate, ironman, nutrition, recovery, rest days, running, training to heart rate, Winchester & District AC