Once again a Summary of the highlights of my meanderings in Web rom the last few weeks.
First off i came across some uploads to Youtube from from Jason Karp, He is clearly a proponent of building a strong Aerobic base and some of the videos on his channel are well worth spend a few minutes to watch.
Then there was the albeit controversial Running Man Theory of Evolution, but hey who doesnt like a bit of David Attenborogh.. and from that to a more detailed description of the anatomical adaptions.
If youve ever thought about giving up during a race because things arnt going your way, then perhapes the following video can give you the inspiration to keep on.
Ive also recently switched to training in the mornings, and like many others i find my morning coffee essential to getting me off to a decent start... some reason why can be found in this post in the dailymile blog.
Ive posted before about how i try to base my training on Lydiard Principles, via some Dailymile friends i stumbled onto a post about how lydiard would have approached marathon preparation. And from there a few days later to an interesting and touching homily to the man.
Finally a proper warmup pre-run is something that im not alone in often neglecting. So here is a nice short one bassed on some dynamic stretches that you can do in your lounge before hitting the pavement, or for something a bit more intense these alternatives.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Friday, 21 October 2011
Review: All Brooks All Week
My Test Packet from brooks didn’t just contain shoes, after all brooks isn’t just a running shoe company, they also have a good range of clothing and accessories that cater to the runners needs. To get a first impression of the clothing in my packet I decided to spend the whole of the first week running in nothing but the new brooks attire.
Day 1: Cloudy 15°c 10Km Rogue Runner III Shorts, Versatile LS Shirt, Infiniti Socks, Pure Connect - Fast ... Running Happy
Day 2: Clear 4°c 22Km Rogue Runner III Shorts , HVAC Synergy SS Shirt, Essential Run Jacket, Infiniti Socks, Glycerin 9's - Comfortable all round ... Running Happy
Day 3: Cloudy 15°c 11Km Infiniti Tights, Versatile LS Shirt, Infiniti Socks, PureConnect - too warm for tights ... Running Hot!
Day 4: Rain & Wind 13°c 27Km Rogue Runner III Shorts,Versatile LS Shirt , Essential Run Jacket, Infiniti Socks, Seamless HeadBand, Adrenaline GTS 10 - Stayed dry ... Running Happy
Day 5: Rain 12°c 15km Essential Run Jacket, HVAC Synergy SS Shirt, Rogue Runner III Shorts, Infiniti Socks, Seamless HeadBand, Glycerin 9's - Puddle jumping ... Running Happy
Day 6: Cloudy 7°c 15km. Infiniti Tights, Versatile LS Shirt, Essential Run Jacket, Infiniti Socks, Seamless HeadBand, Adrenaline GTS 9 – Dawn run ... Running Happy
Day 7: I Rested. Its traditional.
Of course with a weekly routine like that I had to stay on top of washing. Everything except the jacket was washed after every run. All no problem with the Brooks technical running gear because it dry’s really fast.
Rogue Runner Shorts
The Rogue Runner III Shorts are fantastically light, the material is slightly stretchy. They have a generously wide cut leg and a built in liner. The elasticated waist band also has a draw string. Personally I prefer short tights to actual shorts, however I imagine these could be a cooler option on really hot summer days. I had no issues with the material bunching between my legs like with some shorts. My keys were stored safely in a zipped pocket on one side and didn’t bounce around too much. If I don’t wear these during my actual runs they will definitely have a place in my sports bag during summer as something to change into post-race. 
HVAC Synergy SS ShirtDuring the week the HVAC Synergy SS Shirt performed really well for me as a base layer under the Jacket, However it really shined on what would have been day 8. In the Teutoberger Waldlauf. See My Review for further details.
Essential Run Jacket.
The Essential Run Jacket has almost been a constant companion this week. It really stood out for me on Day 4 when it was raining and quite windy. The Jacket is water repellent, which means that the rain drops pearl up on the jacket and roll off. It is also windproof, which meant that even though with the LS Shirt on under the jacket I was dressed a little to warm and sweating a little more, the wind didn’t get through to make me cold. Day 6 saw more rain, a bit heavier this time, and the jacket coped well. The Jacket is so light the it can easily be taken with on days when the rain is just threatening, either tied around the waist or stuffed info the cargo section of a hydrationpack.Seamless Headband
This little beauty was a bit of a revelation for me. It kept my ears warm and provided a comfortable base for my headlamp. For full details see My Review.
Infiniti Tights.
Im a tall guy at 194cm (6’4’’) so things like long tights can be difficult to get the right size on. They need to be small enough around the waist but long enough in the leg. So I was pleasantly surprised when I tried on the Infiniti Tights to find that the size L that I had, also covered my ankles. My enthusiasim got the best of me and I decided to try them out on Day 3 when it was definitely too warm for long tights. My morning run on Day 6 was much more comfortable in the cooler temperatures. The tights are cut from multiple pieces of material which mean that they fit really well, once in place they don’t move around, there is no bunching of material anywhere. Most importantly for me is that during the run the bottom cuff stayed in place, it didn’t ride up exposing a band of skin between tight and sock that can be uncomfortable in mid winter.Versatile LS Shirt
The Versatile LS Shirt is made with layering in mind, it is equally at home as a base layer under a jacket on wet and windy days, or as a top layer when it’s dry, either on its own or perhaps over a thermo singlet if it’s cold. The bright green version that i haves color description hardly does it justice. The shirt is not just bright green it’s almost luminescent, which makes it an extremely good choice as a top layer at this time of the year. In this shirt i have absolutely no worries that i will be overlooked. However it does also limit its use in the casual arena…well for me anyway.Infinti Socks
I have two sorts one in a low quarter the other in a high quarter. The low quarter is great when wearing shorts, the higher cut one excellent in winter to ensure that you don’t expose any skin between socks and tights. The socks are quite plush compared to my other running socks and provide a nice extra layer of cushioning. They make a great partner to the brooks running shoes.Run Happy
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Review: Brooks HVAC Synergy Short Sleeve Shirt
The shirt is constructed of several different materials, on the shoulders and upper arms is a thicker material that provides the UV+ 40 protection. That panel extends down the chest to about sternum height on me and to the top of the shoulder blades in the back. The rest of the front and back is a much lighter material. The shirt comes with a reflective brooks logo on the left of the chest, and small tribal like reflective patches on each sleeve and between the shoulder blades. All seams are flat and well sewn.In the first week I used the shirt a couple of times as a base layer under the Essential Run Jacket when it was too warm for both the jacket and a Long sleeve shirt. In this transitional time of the year it is more than adequate for the job. providing an environment under the jacket that was not too warm and not too cold.
On Saturday the skies cleared and we were treated to a stunning Autumn day, which gave me the opportunity to test the Shirt out during race conditions in the teutoberger waldlauf. The start was at 13:50 and it was 14°c, Remembering the old adage that its best to feel a little cool at the start than to be too hot during the race I chose to run in short tights and the HVAC SS Shirt. But there were runners all around in Long sleeves, long tights, and plenty of jackets or vests on display too.
10 minutes into the race I got the confirmation that my choice was good as I'd warmed up and was now feeling very comfortable. From there through the rest of the 29km race the shirt didn't really enter my thoughts at all as I concentrated on my race, clambering up the hills or running hard on the descents...and i guess that is the greatest praise you can give a piece of running attire. It should fade into the background when your actually running, It should let the run itself be the star (or perhaps villain) of the show.
The shirt was however immediately brought back to my attention when I was lining up for some post race re-hydration, as I looked around at the other finishers, many with big sweat patches on their backs or chests it dawned on me that my shirt was still bone dry. A good thing because the then 12°c is no temperature to be standing around in wet or damp clothes. I also saw the inevitable bloody nipples on 1 or 2 runners, and realized that i to had forgotten to 'protect myself'. The shirt was forgiving and the shower afterwards was without any painful reproach for my negligence.
I was very impressed with how well the shirt performed, I was able to run comfortably in it the whole race, the shirt did not rub, or irritate me in anyway. Now i am really looking forward to seeing what it can do under warmer conditions, but short of a miracle Autumn I will have to wait till next Summer for that.
Run Happy
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Teutoberger Waldlauf - 29km
Most of the races I've run have been pretty flat, the hilliest being the Bossendorf Volkslauf and that only had 175 Hm (+175, -175) but i have my sights set on an ultra marathon with 800 Hm this autumn. The teutolauf with its 600 Hm was the ideal race to use in my preparation. It is also held on a Saturday which would mean i could use Sunday to do Back 2 Back (B2B) Long runs.
The week leading into the race i had reduced my millage, partly in response to a cold i was recovering from partly to prepare for a hard weekend. I began Carbo loading on Thursday and had friday as a total rest day. Friday was also the day when i tried to sit down and figure out what sort of time would be possible. I looked at the results from the previous year. I knew i wouldnt be up to the same level of performance as in Münster, so i decided to be cautious and set a goal of 2:15 which is an average pace around 4:45/km
Saturday morning i woke up to crystal clear skies and a forcast that said it would be 14°c. Absolutely perfect racing weather. Breakfast was my now almost traditional porridge, with banana and walnuts topped with milk and honey. The good thing about the 13:50 start was that breakfast was at a decent time of the day.
When I arrived at the start you could look up into the hills... a little daunting for a someone who's used to doing hill work on a mole hill. I picked up my start number, the organisation was excellent, no waiting, and a free gel sample thrown in. I changed into my race outfit and then took my bag back to my car. I had time to do a quick ten minute warmup, before removing my jacket and heading for the start line.
I positioned myself about 10 meters back from the start line, meaning there was probably about 100 runners ahead of me. The start shot went and we were off. The race started out pretty flat for the first 4.5km as we worked our way along the base of the hills. I slotted in behind a guy wearing an ultra marathon finishers shirt and we picked up a few places after the first 2k as the typical people who had started too fast found their own rhythems. Then we turned left and started to climb... and climb... and climb. I had changed down a gear reducing my stride length, changing my breathing but i was working pretty hard. Eventually the hill got so steep that i decided to switch over to power walking, so with hands on my knees i clambered up the hill.
I was pretty much the only one that switched to walking, but over that section i only lost perhapes 5m on the guy ahead who kept running. But it gave me the opportunity to get my breathing back under control. Once we hit the top we followed the ridge of the hills, there was a mix of short downhill sections and easy uphills. The tracks through here were wide and covered in gravel, so very easy to run.
Eventually we started the first major decent, and i let gravity assist staying up on my toes and leaning down the hill rather than sitting back on my heels. Then all you have to do is concentrate on turning your legs over fast enough. I discovered that compared to the guys around me im a pretty decent decender. I picked up a number of places. We came to the bottom at around km 11 where i took my first gel. then headed through a really nice park before the next steep incline.
This one was stright up the hill, it started off with steps and then continued with a single file track. All of the runners around me walked this ascent. At the top we followed the ridge, this section was much more technical, lots of tree roots making foot placement a little tricky, It was also made up of lots of little dips and lumps. I got passed by half a dozen guys that were clearly a little more used to running on such a technical surface.
Eventually we came out onto some ashphalt country roads, and headed back down into the valley, once again my decent helped me pull back a number of the guys that had passed me, I had passed and been passed by guy with the ultra marathon shirt several times during the race. we reached km 20 and i took my second gel before the final ascent.
The last ascent was broken up into several smaller climbs with one really steep section at the end. the combination of smaller ascents meant that all the guys id put distance on on the downhill had caught back up to me when we got to the final steep section, where we were all once again chose to walk. Once we got to the top we had a mostly flat couple of Km before the final descent.
Once again i let loose and was able to make up a number of places, but by then my ribs and the sides of my torso was starting to hurt a little from the descending. During all the descents i was on the line but still felt in control. At the bottom we had 2km to go, it was the first time i looked at the garmin with an eye towards what time i was going to run...It showed 2:07.. 2:08 and i realised that the 2:15 i had targeted was still a possibility, so i dug in and tried to run the last 2km hard...
I picked out runners ahead and tried to close the gap, it worked on a couple, but then thee was a slight rise before the last 300m to the line... and Mr Ultra marathon shirt pulled past me again... i tried to go with him, but he had too much left in the tank, I did manage to pick it up a little in the final 50m where the spectators were lined up and corssed the line with a 2:15:36 showing on the clock.
The chip nett time turned out to be 2:15:24 putting me in 72nd place overall from 871 runners, and 11th from 73 in the M35 Age Class. I am very happy with the result. The event was great, the organisation good, and the post race refreshment was alcohol free beer.
The week leading into the race i had reduced my millage, partly in response to a cold i was recovering from partly to prepare for a hard weekend. I began Carbo loading on Thursday and had friday as a total rest day. Friday was also the day when i tried to sit down and figure out what sort of time would be possible. I looked at the results from the previous year. I knew i wouldnt be up to the same level of performance as in Münster, so i decided to be cautious and set a goal of 2:15 which is an average pace around 4:45/km
Saturday morning i woke up to crystal clear skies and a forcast that said it would be 14°c. Absolutely perfect racing weather. Breakfast was my now almost traditional porridge, with banana and walnuts topped with milk and honey. The good thing about the 13:50 start was that breakfast was at a decent time of the day.
I positioned myself about 10 meters back from the start line, meaning there was probably about 100 runners ahead of me. The start shot went and we were off. The race started out pretty flat for the first 4.5km as we worked our way along the base of the hills. I slotted in behind a guy wearing an ultra marathon finishers shirt and we picked up a few places after the first 2k as the typical people who had started too fast found their own rhythems. Then we turned left and started to climb... and climb... and climb. I had changed down a gear reducing my stride length, changing my breathing but i was working pretty hard. Eventually the hill got so steep that i decided to switch over to power walking, so with hands on my knees i clambered up the hill.
I was pretty much the only one that switched to walking, but over that section i only lost perhapes 5m on the guy ahead who kept running. But it gave me the opportunity to get my breathing back under control. Once we hit the top we followed the ridge of the hills, there was a mix of short downhill sections and easy uphills. The tracks through here were wide and covered in gravel, so very easy to run.Eventually we started the first major decent, and i let gravity assist staying up on my toes and leaning down the hill rather than sitting back on my heels. Then all you have to do is concentrate on turning your legs over fast enough. I discovered that compared to the guys around me im a pretty decent decender. I picked up a number of places. We came to the bottom at around km 11 where i took my first gel. then headed through a really nice park before the next steep incline.
This one was stright up the hill, it started off with steps and then continued with a single file track. All of the runners around me walked this ascent. At the top we followed the ridge, this section was much more technical, lots of tree roots making foot placement a little tricky, It was also made up of lots of little dips and lumps. I got passed by half a dozen guys that were clearly a little more used to running on such a technical surface.Eventually we came out onto some ashphalt country roads, and headed back down into the valley, once again my decent helped me pull back a number of the guys that had passed me, I had passed and been passed by guy with the ultra marathon shirt several times during the race. we reached km 20 and i took my second gel before the final ascent.The last ascent was broken up into several smaller climbs with one really steep section at the end. the combination of smaller ascents meant that all the guys id put distance on on the downhill had caught back up to me when we got to the final steep section, where we were all once again chose to walk. Once we got to the top we had a mostly flat couple of Km before the final descent.
Once again i let loose and was able to make up a number of places, but by then my ribs and the sides of my torso was starting to hurt a little from the descending. During all the descents i was on the line but still felt in control. At the bottom we had 2km to go, it was the first time i looked at the garmin with an eye towards what time i was going to run...It showed 2:07.. 2:08 and i realised that the 2:15 i had targeted was still a possibility, so i dug in and tried to run the last 2km hard...
I picked out runners ahead and tried to close the gap, it worked on a couple, but then thee was a slight rise before the last 300m to the line... and Mr Ultra marathon shirt pulled past me again... i tried to go with him, but he had too much left in the tank, I did manage to pick it up a little in the final 50m where the spectators were lined up and corssed the line with a 2:15:36 showing on the clock.The chip nett time turned out to be 2:15:24 putting me in 72nd place overall from 871 runners, and 11th from 73 in the M35 Age Class. I am very happy with the result. The event was great, the organisation good, and the post race refreshment was alcohol free beer.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Review: Brooks Seamless Headband - A little Revelation
I have to admit that I almost certainly would not have purchased a headband myself. But thanks to Brooks and the Messengers of RunHappy Program I had the opportunity to try out the Brooks Seamless Headband that came in my test package.
I always associated headbands with John McEnroe or 80’s fashion mistakes. Olivia Newton John couldn’t convince me to wear one back then so I was likely to remain headband free the rest of my days. But then the Brooks Test Package arrived, with a headband! I felt obliged to at least try it out sometime, sometime preferable when it was dark, very dark.
Tuesday morning I woke to drizzle and strong gusty winds, but that’s not going to put me off a run. At 6:00am in a German autumn it’s pretty dark, the perfect opportunity to test the headband. I figured no-one would be able to recognize me so it was now or never. I ventured out onto the streets, I started my run, and something amazing happened…. I fell in love.
Who would have known… The Brooks Seamless Headband kept my ears, prone to feeling a bit cold, nice and toasty. My head didn’t over heat as it would have if id worn a hat. As an added bonus the headband made a really nice comfortable base for my headlamp to sit on.
I was so impressed that the next day I decided to wear it during daylight … in public… where people could see me. Nobody screamed. Nobody fell on the floor laughing. The 80’s police didn’t turn up. I was able to go for a great run with nice warm ears, and without feeling like my head was being slow cooked.
I’m a changed man. The headband will be accompanying me on most of my runs from now until it gets so cold that a hat is actually required. I guess sometimes you really do just have to overcome the barriers that you put in the way of yourself.
Run Happy
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Review: Brooks Pure Connect - First Steps.
As a member of the Brooks RunHappy Team I got the chance to wear and review the new Brooks Pure Connect from the Brooks Pure Project Line
EDIT: I have a follow up post with my feelings on the PureConnect after 4 months and 250km in them.
EDIT: I have a follow up post with my feelings on the PureConnect after 4 months and 250km in them.
Feel the run from head to big toe with the radically lightweight and flexible PureConnect. Neutral runners who crave less shoe and more freedom will love the maximum breathability of an open mesh upper built on a slim and nimble underfoot. A split toe groove extends through the forefoot allowing the runner to really engage the foot and get a greater sense of connection to the ground. This is a shoe for those who want as little as possible between them and the road. - www.brooksrunning.com
Sunday, 9 October 2011
You have mail
The last few days have been pretty exciting for me. Last weekend i found out i was selected to be a test runner for Brooks, as a Meseneger of Run Happy. The excitment increased even further when brooks let us know that the first test packets were already underway. Its certainly helped me ignore not being able to run due to a cold this week.
So Friday morning the packet arrived, and well, to say that i was a bit overwealmed with its contents would be an understatement.
So in the next few weeks and months i will be testing the following, keep an eye out for my first impressions, full reports, and follow ups.
Brooks Glycerin 9 Shoes
Brooks PureConnect Shoes
Brite Green Essential Run Jacket
Brite Green Versatile Long Sleeve Shirt
Black Rogue Runner III Shorts
Black Infiniti Tights
Black HVAC Synergy Short Sleeve Shirt
Black Seamless HeadBand
Infiniti Low Quarter Socks.
If there is anything anyone specifically wants me to look at let me know.
So Friday morning the packet arrived, and well, to say that i was a bit overwealmed with its contents would be an understatement.
So in the next few weeks and months i will be testing the following, keep an eye out for my first impressions, full reports, and follow ups.
Brooks Glycerin 9 Shoes
Brooks PureConnect Shoes
Brite Green Essential Run Jacket
Brite Green Versatile Long Sleeve Shirt
Black Rogue Runner III Shorts
Black Infiniti Tights
Black HVAC Synergy Short Sleeve Shirt
Black Seamless HeadBand
Infiniti Low Quarter Socks.
If there is anything anyone specifically wants me to look at let me know.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Dont forget to Breath
'You'll beat yourself if you dont control your breathing.'
OK so the quote is from a film about Fighting, but it is equally true for running. Getting control of your breathing is one of the easiest ways to get a boost in your running performance. Poor breathing starves your body of the oxygen it so desperatly needs. In the film, the protege wins the final battle because he controls his breathing, In running youll be more efficient, and be able to maintain a better pace in you can control yours.
How should you breathe?
Breathing is simple right, billions of us successfully complete the task every day. So how hard can it be? Well Actually when your trying to maximise your performance in a sporting activity it can get pretty complicated, and endurance running is no exception. So its no surprise that there is a lot of confusion about it. Here are a few guidelines on how you should breathe when running.
One of the biggest confusions over how to breathe when running is wether you should breathe in through your nose only ... If you want to run at a good pace then in the words of Arthur Lydiard "Breathe through your mouth, breathe through your nose, suck the air in through your ears if you can." Nose breathing may be great for Yoga, but this is running were talking about not Yoga. You want to get as much volume of air into your lungs as possible, so breathe through both mouth and nose. If a Multi-sport coache advocates breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Then he's probably biased by the focus on sports where a mouth guard is required.
The only real exception to this is for runners that suffer from exercise induced asthma, or asthma agravated by the cold, for them nose breathing may help to limit the extent and frequency of asthma attacks, for everyone else its the dead fish and converting your ears to gills if you can.
Entrainment
This is the process of matching your breathing pattern to your steps... It happens unconciously in most of us. Whilst there doesnt seem to be any performance improvement in the actual oxygen uptake from entrainment, some studies show an improvement in overall running efficiency when breathing is entrained. So what this means for you and me is that we should aim to keep our breathing in rythem with our steps.
The Human Advantage
Most animals have entrained breathing, Most quadrapeds have strictly phase locked breathing, horses for example allways take one breath per stride regardless of trotting or galloping. infact the only land animal that doesnt entrain its breathing at all seems to be the tortoise. Humans have a pretty unique advantage when it comes to breathing during running. Our breathing pattern is not fixed. We can vary the pattern with which we are breathing to suit the level of effort required. If we are just running to get from point a to point B we can take 3 or 4 steps per breath, If we need to get somewhere in a hurry, then we can switch to taking 1 or 2 steps per breath.
This ability to regulate our breathing to the effort level required gives Humans a significant advantage when it comes to running endurance. We may not be able to out sprint many animals... but our breathing and other evolutionary advantages mean we can outlast many, so much so that persistence hunting has been viable used in many cultures. In fact some believe that this was an evolutionary driver for our development.
Breathing patterns.
There is also some confusion out there about breathing patterns, or more specifically how to express them. There is an oft quoted and reproduced article from Dave Elgar that explains a 3:2 pattern as 2 inhales followed by 3 exhales. Which if it wasnt for the next part in that article I would have thought was a typo. It seems natural to me to express breathing as inhale-exhale ratio's, thats also how the US military defines them and im not going to argue with them. So when I write a pattern as 3:2 it means you inhale for 3 counts and exhale for 2.
There are a number of commonly quoted breathing patterns that you come across in the blogosphere. There is the so oft quoted Jack Daniels statement that 'most elite runners use a 2:2 pattern' .... whats not often mentioned is that this is during races, not their training. If your running your 'regular' training runs and using a 2:2 pattern then you are almost certainly running too fast, breathing much too shallowly, or both.
The next most common one is the 3:2 pattern promoted by the US Military. Once again for me this pattern is one that indicates a reasonably high effort level, Its also a little trickier than an a symetric pattern. Altough a Asymetric pattern may actually help to avoid repetitive strain injuries by automatically switching the starting foot at the start of each cycle.
Other common breathing patterns are 4:4, 3:3, 2:1 and even 1:1 for those sprint finishes.
Selecting the Appropriate Breathing Pattern.
If you are not making concious use of various breathing patterns during your running then you are missing out on a serious advantage. On the flat or gentle down hills once comfortable you should try to conciously increase the number of paces per breath, as you start to go up a hill you should decrease the number. Do this early before you are out of breath and you will find that the hill is easier to get over.
You can also use breathing patterns to control your effort level during training. If you are supposed to running at an easy pace then ensuring that you maintain 4:4 breathing pattern will limit how fast you can run and will keep you in your easy pace zone. Or if your supposed to be runnig a longer tepo run and find yourself breathing at 3:3 you may find youve slipped off pace a little.
Personally during training i run the majority of my runs breathing in a 4:4 pattern, this covers both recovery and easy paced runs. I will move to a 3:3 pattern when running at a medium effort. 3:2 I use for hard efforts, and 2:2 is almost entirely reserved for tempo runs, sprints, and strides. I do switch from 4:4 to 3:3 when climbing a hill on an easy run.
In a races upto 10k I find myself using the 2:2 pattern, and for longer races the 3:3 and 3:2 pattern at the start before switching over to the 2:2 pattern in the later stages.
During training you should familiarise yourself and become comfortable using all of the various different breathing patterns. If you feel a suffer from side stich a temporary adjustment to your breathing pattern can help avoid it and or restrict its impact. Switching the foot that you start the pattern on can also help, so that too should be practiced.
Tactics.
If you happen to be in a race, then paying attention to the breathing pattern of the runners around you may also provide you with some feedback as to their current effort level and wether they have an extra gear available... unfortunately your breathing divulges the same information about you. If your both running at the same pace and you can see that the other runner is using a faster breathing pattern, then its more likely that you will be able to pull past them when the time comes.
Getting Started
For some breathing properly will come naturally, others may find that they need to work on it over a longer period of time before it 'sits'. That magical Flow state that we fall into on a long run is much easier to achieve when your whole body is running in one rythem. If your still wondering how to start breath properly when running, here are a few tips to get you started.
To tell if your belly breathing lie on your back does your stomach rise when you inhale... if not then practice this until youve got it....
If you seem to be having issues with entrainment ie matching your breathing to your steps, and have been running with an iPod or Mp3 Player, then you may want to leave them at home until you have the hang of it as you may end up breathing in time to the rythem of the music instead of the rythem of your feet.
If that doesnt help then practice while walking, where the effort level, pace etc will give you more time to work on it ... once youve got it during walking then move onto to practicing it during slower running.
Using a Mantra, a few words that you repeat over and over in your head as you run can help you to stay in rythem especially if you find yourself holding your breath at times.... The simplest and most effective one i use is 'In two three four Out two three four' ... I know, I know... but its not enlightenment your looking for its remembering to breath.
Some beginners may find it easier if they inhale over 3 steps as a serie of short gasps eg.. in - in - in - out - out - out gasping like this may help initially with getting your breathing in time with your steps. In the long term however you will want to move to an even inhale and exhale.
Finally if its still all not working for you then relax... forget all about worrying about your breathing for a few weeks, just get out there and do some runs at an easy pace, find your happy again before worrying about your breathing.
OK so the quote is from a film about Fighting, but it is equally true for running. Getting control of your breathing is one of the easiest ways to get a boost in your running performance. Poor breathing starves your body of the oxygen it so desperatly needs. In the film, the protege wins the final battle because he controls his breathing, In running youll be more efficient, and be able to maintain a better pace in you can control yours.
How should you breathe?
Breathing is simple right, billions of us successfully complete the task every day. So how hard can it be? Well Actually when your trying to maximise your performance in a sporting activity it can get pretty complicated, and endurance running is no exception. So its no surprise that there is a lot of confusion about it. Here are a few guidelines on how you should breathe when running.- Breathe 'from the belly', you stomach should move out while inhaling and in when exhaling.
- Shoulders back chin up, and stand tall, you want to give your chest as much room to expand as possible, if you hunch your shoulders your restricting the amount of air you can breathe in.
- Keep a slack open mounth, this is sometimes called the dead fish, puffing or making an 'O' mouth limits air flow.
- Inhale and Exhale through both mouth and nose.
- Try to keep it regular and even, beginners especially tend to turn their inhales and exhales into a series of pants, try to avoid this if possible.
- Take regular breaths when inhaling and make sure that you exhale fully*
- Dont hold your breath at all, an inhale should transition smoothly into an exhale and vice versa.
- Breathe in rythem to your steps.
One of the biggest confusions over how to breathe when running is wether you should breathe in through your nose only ... If you want to run at a good pace then in the words of Arthur Lydiard "Breathe through your mouth, breathe through your nose, suck the air in through your ears if you can." Nose breathing may be great for Yoga, but this is running were talking about not Yoga. You want to get as much volume of air into your lungs as possible, so breathe through both mouth and nose. If a Multi-sport coache advocates breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Then he's probably biased by the focus on sports where a mouth guard is required.
The only real exception to this is for runners that suffer from exercise induced asthma, or asthma agravated by the cold, for them nose breathing may help to limit the extent and frequency of asthma attacks, for everyone else its the dead fish and converting your ears to gills if you can.
Entrainment
This is the process of matching your breathing pattern to your steps... It happens unconciously in most of us. Whilst there doesnt seem to be any performance improvement in the actual oxygen uptake from entrainment, some studies show an improvement in overall running efficiency when breathing is entrained. So what this means for you and me is that we should aim to keep our breathing in rythem with our steps.
The Human Advantage
Most animals have entrained breathing, Most quadrapeds have strictly phase locked breathing, horses for example allways take one breath per stride regardless of trotting or galloping. infact the only land animal that doesnt entrain its breathing at all seems to be the tortoise. Humans have a pretty unique advantage when it comes to breathing during running. Our breathing pattern is not fixed. We can vary the pattern with which we are breathing to suit the level of effort required. If we are just running to get from point a to point B we can take 3 or 4 steps per breath, If we need to get somewhere in a hurry, then we can switch to taking 1 or 2 steps per breath.This ability to regulate our breathing to the effort level required gives Humans a significant advantage when it comes to running endurance. We may not be able to out sprint many animals... but our breathing and other evolutionary advantages mean we can outlast many, so much so that persistence hunting has been viable used in many cultures. In fact some believe that this was an evolutionary driver for our development.
Breathing patterns.
There is also some confusion out there about breathing patterns, or more specifically how to express them. There is an oft quoted and reproduced article from Dave Elgar that explains a 3:2 pattern as 2 inhales followed by 3 exhales. Which if it wasnt for the next part in that article I would have thought was a typo. It seems natural to me to express breathing as inhale-exhale ratio's, thats also how the US military defines them and im not going to argue with them. So when I write a pattern as 3:2 it means you inhale for 3 counts and exhale for 2.
There are a number of commonly quoted breathing patterns that you come across in the blogosphere. There is the so oft quoted Jack Daniels statement that 'most elite runners use a 2:2 pattern' .... whats not often mentioned is that this is during races, not their training. If your running your 'regular' training runs and using a 2:2 pattern then you are almost certainly running too fast, breathing much too shallowly, or both.
The next most common one is the 3:2 pattern promoted by the US Military. Once again for me this pattern is one that indicates a reasonably high effort level, Its also a little trickier than an a symetric pattern. Altough a Asymetric pattern may actually help to avoid repetitive strain injuries by automatically switching the starting foot at the start of each cycle.
Other common breathing patterns are 4:4, 3:3, 2:1 and even 1:1 for those sprint finishes.
Selecting the Appropriate Breathing Pattern.
If you are not making concious use of various breathing patterns during your running then you are missing out on a serious advantage. On the flat or gentle down hills once comfortable you should try to conciously increase the number of paces per breath, as you start to go up a hill you should decrease the number. Do this early before you are out of breath and you will find that the hill is easier to get over.You can also use breathing patterns to control your effort level during training. If you are supposed to running at an easy pace then ensuring that you maintain 4:4 breathing pattern will limit how fast you can run and will keep you in your easy pace zone. Or if your supposed to be runnig a longer tepo run and find yourself breathing at 3:3 you may find youve slipped off pace a little.
Personally during training i run the majority of my runs breathing in a 4:4 pattern, this covers both recovery and easy paced runs. I will move to a 3:3 pattern when running at a medium effort. 3:2 I use for hard efforts, and 2:2 is almost entirely reserved for tempo runs, sprints, and strides. I do switch from 4:4 to 3:3 when climbing a hill on an easy run.
In a races upto 10k I find myself using the 2:2 pattern, and for longer races the 3:3 and 3:2 pattern at the start before switching over to the 2:2 pattern in the later stages.
During training you should familiarise yourself and become comfortable using all of the various different breathing patterns. If you feel a suffer from side stich a temporary adjustment to your breathing pattern can help avoid it and or restrict its impact. Switching the foot that you start the pattern on can also help, so that too should be practiced.
Tactics.
If you happen to be in a race, then paying attention to the breathing pattern of the runners around you may also provide you with some feedback as to their current effort level and wether they have an extra gear available... unfortunately your breathing divulges the same information about you. If your both running at the same pace and you can see that the other runner is using a faster breathing pattern, then its more likely that you will be able to pull past them when the time comes.Getting Started
For some breathing properly will come naturally, others may find that they need to work on it over a longer period of time before it 'sits'. That magical Flow state that we fall into on a long run is much easier to achieve when your whole body is running in one rythem. If your still wondering how to start breath properly when running, here are a few tips to get you started.
To tell if your belly breathing lie on your back does your stomach rise when you inhale... if not then practice this until youve got it....
If you seem to be having issues with entrainment ie matching your breathing to your steps, and have been running with an iPod or Mp3 Player, then you may want to leave them at home until you have the hang of it as you may end up breathing in time to the rythem of the music instead of the rythem of your feet.
If that doesnt help then practice while walking, where the effort level, pace etc will give you more time to work on it ... once youve got it during walking then move onto to practicing it during slower running.
Using a Mantra, a few words that you repeat over and over in your head as you run can help you to stay in rythem especially if you find yourself holding your breath at times.... The simplest and most effective one i use is 'In two three four Out two three four' ... I know, I know... but its not enlightenment your looking for its remembering to breath.Some beginners may find it easier if they inhale over 3 steps as a serie of short gasps eg.. in - in - in - out - out - out gasping like this may help initially with getting your breathing in time with your steps. In the long term however you will want to move to an even inhale and exhale.
Finally if its still all not working for you then relax... forget all about worrying about your breathing for a few weeks, just get out there and do some runs at an easy pace, find your happy again before worrying about your breathing.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Messenger of Run Happy.
Unter allen Bewerbern gehörst Du zur neuen Testläufer-Generation, herzlichen Glückwunsch! Nach der Auswertung aller Bewerbungsbögen sind wir zu dem Entschluss gekommen, dass Du genau der Richtige bist, um unsere Produkte zu testen und darüber zu schreiben. Deshalb erhältst Du nun von uns den Status:
„Messenger of Run Happy“.Ok, for those that dont read German what that means is that ive been selected to take part in the Brooks Test-Runner Program. My 'brief' is to give an open and honest review of various products that will be sent to me. As you can imagine Im pretty excited about this. Not only because it means that i will have the opportunity to try out some brand new products. But also because I can be reasonably certain that someone at Brooks will be paying attention to my feedback, If that means that in some small way i can contribute to a better product then thats pretty neat too.
At the moment I have to admit that i do feel a little like Tahi, 'one lucky kiwi' .... although given it's a (true) story about a kiwi with one leg... im not entirely sure how far I'd like to take the comparision.Im not really sure what's coming or when it will be here, which is all part of the excitment at the moment, but what ever does arrive will be put through its paces. I have quite a bit of running planned this month, and then come December Ill be starting the rampup for next year, for Boston, and my attack on the 3hr barrier.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)