Today's workout: 1 mile of sprinting

Wow! Thursday is interval day for our lunchtime running group. My first inclination was to do hills, but then I remembered an old favorite: Tabata Sprints.

Here's the protocol:

Run at 100% effort for 20 seconds
(that's a bit longer than a football field for me)
rest for 10 seconds
Repeat for a total of 8 repetitions.
Emphasize 100% effort and be strict on the 10 seconds of rest.

It's a 4-minute all out, minimal-rest workout that will leave you grabbing your knees.

Studies have shown that this protocol alone will boost aerobic and anaerobic fitness quicker than steady-state exercise. Skeptical? Try it for yourself. Or at least google it. At a minimum, it will improve your speed. I've been doing these sporadically for over a year now, and my running has improved at all distances.

Anyway, I digress. So here was the workout today:

Jog to the park (1.5 miles)
Tabata sprints.
50 pushups
50 air squats (body weight only)
50 crunches
another set of Tabata sprints.
Jog back to start (1.5 miles)

We did our sprints along the length of a very well groomed soccer field. It was so smooth -- one of the kindest running surfaces we have around town. Over the course of the workout, we did 16 lengths of that field -- or about a mile of all out sprinting. Then we walked home. Literally. We did not want to run for more than 2 blocks at a time after this one.

It was one of the hardest (and most rewarding) workouts I have done in a while, and it only lasted 45 minutes from door to door. The hard part lasted less than 20 minutes. But then there was the EPOC (excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption: the part that leaves you huffing and sweating as you are changing back into your street clothes). That's all part of the protocol and one of the reasons it works. Your cardiovacular activity is elevated, as it would be in steady state running, even as you are standing in the shower. It's the same thing you might feel after a hard 5k. If you really run it hard. One of my running mates was still sweating 20 minutes after returning to the office. Tabata. EPOC. What a way to spend a lunch hour.

Run hard out there...

Getting out of the Rut -- High Intensity training and random numbers

I have several lunchtime runs that I do during the week. They have catchy names like "Jefferson + Chestnut," "YMCA Loop," "Jesus Saves," and "Greenway Sewage Loop." The names are based on where the route takes me. "Jesus Saves," for example, takes me from downtown, through the park, and up a steep hill to a church with a big neon sign exclaiming that Jesus does in fact save us. These routes take me just about every direction from downtown. They take me over roads, sidewalks, trails, rivers and in a couple cases, they even summit a mountain. Most of these loops are between 5 and 6 miles.

Even with a selection of routes with catchy names and varying terrain, I tend to get in a rut. Monday is Jefferson. Tuesday is the YMCA Loop. Wednesday is intervals at the park. Thursday is...

To spice up my daily runs, I started supplementing them with a quick high intensity workout. These workouts also have catchy names like "Tabata sprints," "Man Makers," "Death by Burpees," and "Playground Fun." Most of these workouts can be done anywhere along my running route. Some have to be done at a playground (pull-up bar), and some require dumbells and therefore are done in the weight room. (Note: Studies show that short bursts of high intensity exercise improve VO2 max and burn more fat than steady state "aerobic" exercise. The myth of the "fat burning zone" has been busted, but I'll save that for another day.) But it is still easy to get into a rut. My training log was starting to indicate a preference for the "YMCA Loop" and "Playground Fun." Enter the Random Workout Generator.

I listed my favorite lunchtime running routes in one column of a sheet of paper. I added in a couple entries for "Rest" and one for "Runner's Choice." In the other column I listed 15 workouts, including Rest and Runner's Choice. I numbered each of these -- 15 per column. Now all I have to do is use a handy random number calculator to generate 2 numbers between 1 and 15, and I have a surprise workout every time I want one.

The first workout combination I generated was "Jefferson + Chestnut" (a very hilly route) and "Hill Repeats." Oh man, I wasn't expecting that. But I did it. And my Suunto Vector gave me a reading of 1,120' total ascent. Not bad for a one hour lunchtime run.

Today's draw has me running "Over the river and through the woods" followed by a quick set of "Man Makers." That one is going to hurt. In a good way.

Maybe I should add some new entries to the list: Pizza, Sushi, Indian Buffet, Burger-n-Fries...

Crosstraining for Ultrarunners (pt 2)

Let me first say that in yesterday's post, I was not saying that we should all give up running long in exchange for sprints and pushups and still expect to be successful ultrarunners. In fact, I thought I was presenting some interesting opinions with a hint of skepticisim, and emphasizing my personal belief that too much long slow running in the absence of speed, hill, or strength training is not ideal.

I hear many runners, ultra or not, lament that they just keep getting slower and they don't understand why. The most obvious reason (beside the inevitable fact that we are getting older) is that their training is day after day after day of slow running. Specificity is a key principle. You have to train long to run long. You also have to train fast (sometimes) to run fast. There are, however, other principles.

Tabata (or sprinting in general), I believe, has a place in any athlete's toolbox. Sure sprinting down a football field at 100% effort 8 times might not be the best interval workout to improve ultradistance speed. But just try it once and tell me honestly that you don't think it would improve fitness. Studies show that it improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness quicker than steady-state exercise.

Ultrarunning is oxidative, and it does require "training in the oxidative pathway." But the argument that some ultra-endurance athletes who have adopted the "Crossfit principles" are making is that strength also plays a role in ultradistance performance and recovery.

The strength that I get from sprinting, squats, pushups and other bodyweight exercises might not directly help my endurance. But will I be better off 19 hours into a hundred miler than my fellow runner who has done nothing more than run LSD? I think so.

Another aspect of this type of crosstraining is that it keeps running interesting. Go out for your daily run or even your LSD, but halfway through it, drop down and do 30 pushups, or sprint HARD up that hill a couple times, or run up and down those steps 5 times. Then finish your run. You are still getting the oxidative training, but you are also having fun. One of my running buddies today told me that her running was feeling kind of stale. But she also said that today's workout was a lot of fun. Which brings me to today's workout.

• Warmup Jog to the park (1.25 miles)
• 5 x 200 yard sprints (95% effort up and down a groomed soccer field) rest 30 seconds between sprints
• 50 pushups
• 50 squats (bodyweight only)
• 50 situps or crunches
• 5 x 200 yard sprints (rest 30 seconds between sprints)
• Cooldown Jog/walk back to starting point.

It was a little more than 4 miles of running -- about what we would normally do during a group lunch run. But it included over a mile of sprinting. And it was fun. And if it helps me run a better ultra, then that's icing on the cake.

Cross training for the injured runner

There's been some good discussion herein and elsewhere about GPP vs. SPP (general physical preparation vs. specific physical preparation) for endurance training.

The hardcore GPP believers feel that one can train for a marathon, triathlon, or even an ultra by doing little more than GPP exercises Crossfit, cross training, metabolic conditioning weight training, etc.

My question is this. Can a runner who is already in ultra aerobic condition, but injured to the point that 50+ mile weeks are out of the question, train for and successfully complete an ultradistance race (50-100 miles) on a combination of GPP and sport specific training?

How about a plan like this:

• M-F: GPP training (cycling, rowing, metabolic conditioning, swimming, crossfit, sprinting, hill repeats, Tabata intervals, etc.)
• Sat-Sun: SPP (LSD, running on forgiving surfaces, long slow trail runs, etc.)

Total weekly mileage would be around 30-40 miles, all from two or three runs.

Is it possible?

Out of commission, but here's some interesting reading

I hurt my back a couple weeks ago playing Ultimate with a bunch of 20 year old kids. After a week I was back to about 90%, but then I did too much too soon, and now I'm hurt again. It's keeping me from running, which I don't appreciate at all. I'm going to try to get in to see a doctor today to rule out anything more than muscle strain.

When I'm not running or working out I don't feel much like writing about running and working out. So here are some links to blog entries that have caught my eyes lately.

• Interval Training improves endurance, better than endurance exercise
• Tabata is mainstream now
• Better running through walking
• Eat like a Gorilla

Run hard out there...

One workout can improve your life

Want to know how one short workout can improve your life? Read on...

I like to get out at lunchtime and do some crazy workouts. A little bit of running, high intensity bodyweight exercises, hills and sprints, etc. I have some buddies who join me regularly, and occasionally someone new will tag along. One day several weeks ago a new guy decided to join us. I didn't know a lot about this guy's fitness, but I considered him to be the kind of person who goes to the gym a few days/week, puts in 15 minutes on a cardio machine, lifts some weights, maybe follows up with a little cool-down cardio. He was what I consider an "average exerciser."

It just so happened that the agenda on this particular day called for a 1-mile run, followed by sets of hill sprints and burpees with very little rest in between. It was intense -- definitely not your average exercise routine, but the new guy hung in there, did a great job, definitely got a good workout, and claimed to even enjoy it.

But then he didn't come back.

I asked him about it the other day. To my surprise he assured me he loved the workout and planned to come back out. Then he said to me,

"That one workout helped me tremendously!"

I asked him to explain, and he said that the one workout boosted his aerobic capacity and helped him get to the next level. He said he went from running 1 mile on the treadmill to running almost 3 miles! All because of that one workout.

That's a 200% increase in fitness? Just from one workout? What's the number for the patent office?

Ok, we all know that is too good to be true. Or is it?

That one workout DID help him. It definitely increased his fitness level, but not that much. Anytime we stress our bodies that way, adaptation takes place and we come back stronger. But it wasn't the physical adaptation that helped him.

It was all in his head.

Perhaps he was like many average exercisers. They go for a jog or get on the stationary bike or elliptical machine, watch TV or read a magazine. 30 minutes later they feel good about what they have done. And they should, don't get me wrong. That's their workout. This guy's workout at the time included running 1 mile on the treadmill. Good for him. But he was capable of so much more. All he had to do was learn to step outside of his comfort zone.

That intense hill sprint and burpee workout helped him see that he could push his body to a whole new level. And doing it in a group setting helped even more. Had he attempted a hill sprint/burpee workout alone, he might have done it with the average exerciser mindset and worked at a lower intensity or even quit before he really got started. But because there were several of us out there that day who love to explore our "discomfort zone," he pushed himself to keep up. He took his brain out of the workout and allowed himself to work harder. By working outside of his average exerciser comfort zone, even for just 20 minutes, he learned that he is capable of doing so much more. And now he does so much more.

Believe it or not, this directly applies to ultrarunning. How many ultrarunners really get out of their comfort zones? Many runners are happy with the slow steady-state training runs. Then in races they stay toward the back of the pack, talking with others, enjoying the time on the trail, all the while marvelling about the front runners wondering "how do they do it?" The difference is that most of the front runners push outside of their comfort zones every day. They have trained their minds to allow their bodies to call the shots. All of our bodies are capable of amazing things, we just need train our brains to let it happen.

So yes, one workout can change your life.

Here are a few I recommend:

• 100 Burpee Challenge
• 10x short hill sprints with 10 burpees at the top (recover on the downhill only)
• Tabata sprints
• 10x 1 minute on (sprint all out), 1 minute off

These workouts, done completely and intensely, will take you out of your aerobic comfort zone and help you get to the next level. Pick one and do it. It just might change your life.

Run hard out there.