Hello Runners!<\/p>\n
\n“That wasn’t bad”<\/div>\n“The inclines were tough, but I feel pretty good now”<\/div>\n“It didn’t seem that long, how far did we go today?”<\/div>\n“My legs don’t feel too tired”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nOK, so they aren’t raving reviews, but I love the tone…. very “can-do”. \u00a0Our last two weeks were critical tests for our training and I think we all passed with flying colors. \u00a0The run to Big Ben was a huge jump up in the number of minutes we ran and this week’s run was a bit quicker in pace and had some hills. \u00a0For the next three weeks, we will solidify the running base that you have developed. \u00a0We will slow the pace just a bit and lengthen our running intervals. \u00a0This week we’ll do 8, 10, 10, 10 minute running intervals separated by walking breaks, then the following week we’re up to 11, 12, 12, 12 minute intervals separated by walking breaks. \u00a0Our routes will be flat or slightly downhill. \u00a0This week we are running to Whole Foods in Kensington and we’ll have our coffee there. \u00a0Bring your Oyster card – we’ll head home on buses or the tube (Kensington High Street).<\/div>\nFor those of you wanting to run three times a week, now is the time to start it. \u00a0You will be adequately prepared for the half-marathon running twice a week, but doing a 3rd run each week will just make things easier. \u00a0If you start this, do your Thursday run with me, repeat the same run again sometime that week and your 3rd run should be 30 minutes of running broken into whatever length intervals you are comfortable with. \u00a0For example, warm-up for 5 minutes walking, run 7.5 minutes four times separated by walking breaks or run three 10 minute intervals separated by walking breaks. \u00a0Ideally, the running intervals would be no longer than what we are doing together (so nothing more than 10 minutes this week or 12 minutes next week).<\/div>\nI had promised to send you some information on nutrition. \u00a0I’m sure you know the basics for the general public, so let’s talk about nutrition for performance. \u00a0Please accept\/adopt whatever you find helpful and disregard the rest. \u00a0Nutrition is quite a controversial subject – a mine-field of conflicting advice. \u00a0<\/span>Even top scientists can’t agree – that is why it is so frustrating for us regular people who just want to do\/eat what’s right and best for our bodies. \u00a0So what you’ll read below is not the gospel – it’s my opinion. \u00a0I will not have my feelings hurt if you ditch these concepts\/ideas. \u00a0You have to experiment a bit and find out what works for you. \u00a0These are my thoughts based on my own personal experiences, training people, listening to other runners at some of the events I do, reading a lot and of course, studying it when I was doing my trainer certification…. but more than anything, it’s what I’ve found works for most of our runners. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\nProtein:
\nLet’s start with protein because that is probably the most critical component as you increase exercise intensity or duration. \u00a0When you run, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers and protein is required to repair that damage. \u00a0For female long-distance runners, experts suggest taking in about 90g a day (or 1.6-1.8g\/kg of body weight). \u00a0That’s a lot of protein – it takes a concerted effort to get there. \u00a0Make it “clean” protein when possible – lean meats, fish, nuts, yogurt, lentils\/pulses and low-fat milk (this is the one low-fat product that most nutritionists agree is fine). \u00a0Most professional runners eat salmon like crazy – I’ve never heard a nutritionist say that salmon is THAT much better than other fish, but a lot of very experienced runners sing it’s praises.<\/p>\nCarbohydrates:
\nA lot of trainers will encourage you to increase your carb intake, but I don’t fully agree (particularly for our type of running). \u00a0It may be necessary for athletes training at\u00a0extemely high intensity zones, but that’s not what we’re doing. \u00a0I can explain this is more detail if you’re interested, but this is the bottomline…. \u00a0we are trying to teach our bodies to use fat as fuel. \u00a0Fat is easier to access as an energy source and requires less fine-tuning in terms of timing carb intake during exercise. \u00a0Our bodies have about 1000-1200 “easy access” calories available which will get most ladies about 10-11 miles (depending on their weight and fitness level). \u00a0After that we will use gels (carbs) to fuel that last 2-3 miles of a half-marathon. \u00a0If you increase your carb intake on a daily basis, then your body starts expecting a constant feed of carb fuel and may begin to resist going to fat as a fuel source. \u00a0Your body needs carbs so don’t completely cut them out – just\u00a0choose clean carbs, complex when possible, ie. grains, wholewheat products, basmati rice (the longer the grain the better – long grain basmati is better for you than even brown rice).\u00a0\u00a0Bread is not evil, just don’t rely on it as your major carb source.\u00a0\u00a0Sourdough bread is better for you (usually made with naturally occuring yeast) than traditional loaves.<\/p>\nFat:
\nFat is necessary in our diets. \u00a0I would make a nutritionist cringe by explaining it so simply, but basically fat creates a slower release of energy\/fuel. \u00a0It’s as though you’ve taken a time release medication rather than a typical dose when you combine a bit of fat with your other nutrition sources. \u00a0Fat from avocados, olive oil, nuts, etc is obviously better for you than fat in brownies, cookies, etc (sorry about that!!!). \u00a0Some current research is suggesting it is actually it’s the sugar in those products rather than the saturated fat that is causing a big problem with obesity, diabetes and heart disease. \u00a0We can let the scientists battle that out – for us, just try to get your fat from more natural foods.<\/p>\nWith all nutrition, the closer you can get to whole food, the better (ie. apples are better than applesauce, whole vegetables are better than pre-packaged ones). \u00a0Basically, the closer your food looks to how you would find it “in-situ”, the better. \u00a0That concept is one thing on which all nutritionists\/dietitians seem to agree.<\/p>\n
Before you run, I would suggest the following:<\/p>\n
\n\n
- 50g carbohydrates<\/li>\n
- 5g protein<\/li>\n
- 2-3g fat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
That could be a half bagel with cream cheese, yogurt with nuts (if the nuts don’t upset your stomach), a smoothie, or try oatmeal\/porridge – it wins the prize for a near-perfect carb\/protein\/fat mix for pre-run.\u00a0\u00a0Most people find simpler carbs work better before a run than complex carbs as they are more easily digested (so a plain bagel instead of a wholegrain\/seeded bagel). \u00a0Ideally, eat the pre-run meal 90 minutes before running. \u00a0Sometimes that is just not possible, so the closer to the run that you eat, the more you should consider simplier carbs for easier digestion.
\nThe latest research on coffee\/caffeine pre-exercise, suggest there is no impact on performance, but a huge impact on perceived exertion. \u00a0This is interesting to me – basically these new studies conclude that given two athletes who have eaten the exact same thing, and are asked to perform at the exact same level, and who have the exact same result feel differently about how hard the session was. \u00a0The one who has caffeine in their system will feel it was easier – their “perception of exertion” is lower.<\/p>\nWithin 30 minutes after you run, I would suggest the following:<\/p>\n
\n\n
- 50g carbohydrates<\/li>\n
- 10g protein<\/li>\n
- 2g fat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The protein piece is critical as is the timing of this food. \u00a0Again, a nutritionist\/scientist would cringe at how I try to explain this, but here we go… when you exercise your muscles are agitated\/traumatized. \u00a0The cell membranes temporarily become more porous (instead of a wall, it’s more like a mesh allowing the flow of nutrients easy passage). \u00a0Some post-run ideas would be a latte and yogurt, a latte and a piece of fruit or a latte and half a skinny muffin. \u00a0I’ve attached the Starbucks nutritional info to make this easier for you. \u00a0Basically a tall, skinny latte has 15g of carbs, 10g of protein and 0g fat – so you’re looking for another 35g of carbs in addition to the latte. \u00a0All of this pre\/post run info would apply to longer runs and what qualifies as a long run is different from runner to runner. \u00a0You are probably just fine eating whatever you normally consume until about mid-end January when our runs lengthen.<\/p>\n
\nLastly, get it right about 80% of the time and you’re golden. \u00a0What you’ve read above is the ideal – shoot for the ideal and accept about a B as your grade, OK, maybe a B+. \u00a0An A- is definitely overachieving and a A or A+ is just downright weird. \u00a0Don’t tempt yourself to become obsessive with food. \u00a0It’s very common in the running world and it’s just not necessary. \u00a0We are not Olympic athletes – we are super-fit, moms\/wives\/sisters\/friends who run. \u00a0Most of you are cooking for your family, kids, husbands and leading full lives which include meals out, evenings of over-indulgence, and times when you just don’t have the willpower to make super-healthy choices. \u00a0It’s OK.
\nIf you are hoping to trim down and want help in that arena, let me know. \u00a0We can make some adjustments to the suggestions above and give you a better chance of achieving that goal. \u00a0Most of you will experience an increased appetite as a result of this training. \u00a0That is normal. \u00a0You may have heard some of our more experienced runners saying they didn’t lose a pound when they started running. \u00a0Usually it’s because you’re hungrier with increased activity levels, so you eat more. \u00a0It’s been my experience that women don’t lose or gain weight in training, but they have more energy, they can eat more and often digestive issues disappear.<\/p>\nSorry about the length of this email – it’s a lot of blah, blah, blah!<\/p>\n
See you Thursday,<\/p>\n
Paula<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"