Reading Roundup

Well its been some time since my last Reading Roundup, and Ive certainly done much more reading than i could ever detail here (or that would be of interest) but there were a couple of themes that might be of interest to others.

First off i did some research into Mitochondria, In particular i was interested in how to best promote their development. It appears clear that Aerobic Exercise drives mitochondria density. However a biketechreview article idicates that higher intenstiy may be required to achieve maximum results.

Unfortunately when you stop training mitochodria return relatively rapidly to pre-training levels, which im sure is a contributing factor to my pace reduction post trainings pause.

However its also important to remember that mitochondria are just one of many limitations to performance in endurance sport.

While looking at mitochondria i also stumbled over an article about the link between Aerobic exercise and the desire to exercise, due to mitochondria development in the brain. Does Aerobic exercise increase your mental ability to endure running at the limit ala Tim Noakes Central Governer

In the time since my last roundup ive also put together the skeleton of a training plan for Boston which will undoubtedly result in high millage. For anyone still doubting the validity of high millage training to maximise performance I refer you to the video below. The video quality isnt great but the information therin is gold worth.

"The challenge for those pursuing excellence is to find the mileage range that you can handle without breaking down" - http://www.copacabanarunners.net Greg McMillan describes how to safely introduce doubles into your schedule to increase millage once youve reached your maximum capacity during single runs.

I also ran across a great article explainging fueling for long runs. Of particular interest to me was the information about the supressive effect of insulin on fat metabolism. What i draw from that is that prior to exercise you should not take hi GI fuels, ie gels that contain simple sugars ( eg powerbar's C2Max gels ) Ive allways taken a gel 15-20 mins prior to a marathon... ill now avoid gels that contain the rapidly absorbed simple sugars pre race.... However it apears that the response is supressed once you actually start exercising.

Finally there is a really interesting point made in this article on recovery, namely that exercise done to aid recovery is best if it targets the specific muscles used during that activity... hence the best active recovery for running is ... well running (just a lot slower )