ACF Walk to Run Training Newsletter #8 


Walk to Run Trainees:


Welcome to the eighth week of our program.


1) We meet again on Saturday, February 28, at 9AM, in the parking lot
for Columbia Island Marina, in LBJ Park.


If you are still having difficulty finding our meeting location, please
call me at 703-371-5171.


Our posted training distance for this Saturday [found at
http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/calendar.doc] is 2.5
miles. Our route is posted at:


http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2584716


That is, we will run 1.25 miles from the parking lot, up to Memorial
Drive, and along Memorial Drive until the monument to the Navy Seabees,
which is our turn-around point.


Our modality will be 3 minutes walking, 2 minutes running, but this is
the last Saturday we will be walking more than running. Beginning on
March 7, we will be running 3 minutes and walking two minutes.
Figuratively and literally, you will then be more than half-way to your
goals for this training program.


But keep up the 3 min. walking/2 running in your midweek workouts this
week, up until Saturday, March 7.



2) Post-run brunch.


AS we did last week, anyone who wants to join the group for brunch after
the workout can meet me at the Silver Diner in Clarendon:


http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=silver+diner+clarendon+virgini\
a&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,176813183584492688&ei=YbiZSZ2ZApPHtgfSka2lCw&sa=X&o\
i=local_result&resnum=1&ct=image


The route up involves a right turn out of the parking lot, another right
onto I-395 South (slide over two lanes to the left), the *third* right
onto VA-27 toward Arlington/Clarendon, and then VA-27/Washington Blvd.
about two miles to Wilson Blvd. After angling left onto Wilson Blvd.
the diner is on the left-hand-side, right on a corner. If you get
lost, please call me at 703-371-5171.


In addition to socializing with your fellow trainees, this will give you
a chance to query your coaches and fellow trainees on any aspect of
training, or target race choice. It is by no means a required
activity of the program, but if you can join us, I hope to see you there
after the workout.



3) A brief outline of the physiology behind our training program.


This outline is *really* brief, but if you have any questions, please
touch base with me on Saturday.


a) OVERLOAD AND RECOVERY


The way muscles and bones develop and get stronger is when a greater
load is placed upon them than they are used to. During the load,
tissue is broken down, so the overload cannot be too severe, or it will
cause injury. But the stress must be greater than what the body is
used to already, or the body will not be prompted to grow stronger
during recovery.


During recovery, the body builds up the stressed bone, muscle, ligament,
etc. to be slightly stronger than it was before the overload. Only
during recovery can this improvement occur. Constant training without
down time will never lead to improvement, because the body has no time
to recover and become stronger.


That is why we don't have you run every day in this training program.
You need "off" days for the recovery phase.



b) PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD


By gradually increasing the overload, with adequate recovery periods in
between each overload, the body will be progressively strengthened, as
each overload/recovery cycle will make the body just a little bit
stronger than it was before.


Stress, speed or mileage should not be increased by 5 or 10 % per week -
sometimes less than that, or injury may result. The body can take a
bit more than it is used to in each workout, but not a whole lot. The
improvement seen in progressive overload is due to the repetition of the
stress multiple times per week, so the body has time to build up to a
certain level, before the stress is increased.


That is why the midweek runs are so important. The cycle of overload,
recovery, overload, recovery, overload, recovery is repeated at least
six or seven times for each distance, and at least a dozen times before
we increase the run/walk interval. Repetition of the workout is key -
not a super overload during any single workout. The repetition builds
improvement.



c) RUN/WALK INTERVALS


You use slightly different muscles when walking, than you do for
running. And the stress of each step is much less while walking than
it is while running. Each time you land a step while running, 2.5 your
body weight is bearing down on that single leg and foot. While
walking, no more than your body weight is never on any one foot, because
you always have one foot on the ground.


Continuous running builds up fatigue in those muscles, ligaments and
bones bearing that 2.5 times body weight with each step. Eventually
muscle fatigue and/or lactic acid build-up in muscles will slow down
your pace or make you stop running altogether. Especially if you are
not used to running, the distance you can run continuously is not very far.


Walk breaks, by contrast, give running stress in finite increments -
segments 2, 3 or 4 minutes long. At each walk break, you reset the
"fatigue meter" of your running muscles, and interrupt the cumulative
stress on your body. Because each running segment is short, there is
less build-up of lactic acid and fatigue, so the speed of running
segments does not deteriorate. You can maintain form and efficiency
while running, something that is very difficult after more than 30
minutes of continuous running.


As a result, many runners find they can actually run *faster* with walk
breaks, because they maintain form and speed in their running segments,
and do not slow down running toward the end of their races or training runs.


On hot days, walk breaks also lead to more frequent hydration. It is
easier and better to drink and digest a small sip of fluid during each
walk break, than to guzzle a lot of fluid at a water station, and then
try to digest it over the next 30 minutes of continuous running. Better
hydration leads to better performance.


The transition from our 4:1 ratio of walk breaks (by April) to
continuous running (if that is what you desire eventually), is best not
done cold turkey. Instead, after we are done our program, progress
your running intervals to be longer and longer (e.g. 5:1, 6:1, 7:1,
etc.) until you find the level of continuous running most comfortable
for you. Many 10K, half-marathon or marathon runners say they only
walk at water stations, but depending on their pace, that really means
they're doing 15:1 or 20:1 intervals, if 15 or 20 minutes is their
running time between water stations.


You will have a lifetime to experiment with run/walk intervals. For
now, concentrate on the intervals we are doing in the program, and build
up your running strength before you go for broke.


Remember, the overload you place on your system can only exceed your
usual workload by a little bit each time, or you risk injury. Never
increase more than one variable at a time, be it pace, distance, or run
interval, and be mindful of the added stress which hot/humid conditions
place on your body.


Slowly, but surely, stronger is the motto of our program.



d) Fat/Carbs/Protein


To repeat what Rebecca Scritchfield said during our orientation session
in January, carbohydrates are our fuel for running.


At the fastest paces (relative to your maximum heart rate), and for any
exercise lasting less than 45 minutes, your body uses carbs almost
exclusively as your fuel. After 45 minutes of exercise at the pace we
are using, the body begins to burn fat along with those carbs.


Slow distance running is the best at burning fat for fuel. Fat is a
less efficient fuel for the body, which is why it is used less the
faster you run. And the body can't use just fat for fuel; it can only
use a mixture of fat and carbs. "Fat burns in a carbohydrate flame."


That is why after a period of running (approx. 35-45 minutes) the body
realizes it's going through carbs at a high rate, and begins to use fat
as a fuel, along with those carbs, to preserve your store of carbs (in
your muscles and in your liver) for the long haul.


Each mile run uses about 100 calories worth of carbs and/or fat, and the
human body has about 2000 calories worth of carbs to use at any one
time. An untrained runner will use up all carbs after 20 miles of
running, which is why you always hear about "The Wall" around Mile 20 of
a marathon. Training over distance teaches the body to use slightly
more fat, and slightly fewer carbs, for each mile, preserving the carb
store and pushing back "The Wall" to somewhere past the 26.2 miles of
the marathon.


In this program, you won't get anywhere near "The Wall." But you might,
it your later running life. The important thing to remember is that
you need *some* carbs in your system to do a run of any length, and that
long slow distance is the best way to burn off fat, per se.


But whether you're burning fat, carbs or mixture of the two, you're only
going through about 100 calories per mile. Compare the exertion of our
runs in April (4 miles, or 400 calories) with the calorie counts of the
food we eat, and realize that weight loss (if that is your goal)
requires both limiting your caloric intake, and maximizing your caloric
burn, through something like running, which you can keep up for a while.


Protein is what our bodies use to build up muscles and all soft tissues.
Your body needs protein *after* a run, as fuel for the recovery
effort. But your body will also want some carbs if it was just used a
couple hundred or a thousand of them on a run. Your body digests
protein *better* when it is in a mix of 4 units of carb to 1 unit of
protein, than it would if you ate the protein without any carbs.


So any post-run meal should include both carbs and protein.


But apart from the (carb or fat) calories you burn while running,
continuous training like we are doing has another benefit: it builds
muscle. A greater muscle mass requires more calories of energy to keep
it going 24x7. The more muscle you have (and female muscles won't bulge
as much, but can be just as strong, pound for pound), the more your base
metabolism increases - the amount of calories your body needs just to
maintain the status quo, not considering the calories required for
activities such as running.


Which means that if you build muscle from running, from gradually
improving the strength and endurance of your body, not only will you be
burning more calories because you are running longer and farther.
Because you have more muscle mass, you will burn more calories while you
sleep. 



4) Cherry Blossom Race Expo


Please mark your calendars for the Expo of the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile/5K
run, on Saturday, April 4, 2009, 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, at the National
Building Museum, 401 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.


The Expo is open to the general public, even if you're not running that
race, and is a great place to find deals on running clothing for the
warmer weather. If you don't have one already, a cap with visor made
out of a wicking material is a must for Summer running in the DC area.


Visiting the expo may also get you excited about your own target race.
Cherry Blossom is one of the largest race Expos in this area - the
only larger one I know of is the Marine Corps Marathon/10K Expo, which
is moving to the Washington Convention Center in October. You are now
a runner, and at an expo, you'll see a lot of otherwise normal people
who are runners, too. Envy them, or laugh at them, admission to the
Expo is free.




I hope to see everyone at Columbia Island Marina on Saturday! If you
have any questions, please write back, or call me at 703-371-5171.


Till then, Happy Trails!


Coach John


John H. Steitz
RRCA Certified Running Coach
USATF Level 1 Certified Track and Field Coach
Arlington Cooperation Foundation
703-371-5171
http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/