Long Runs and Long Rides. Keith Livingstone. In my book Healthy Intelligent Training, I advised runners that they SHOULD NOT try to do their long runs by running the last few kilometres by sucking on carbohydrate gel sachets, etc. Why would I say this? Surely that heavy-legged, wooden feeling we get as the last of the accessible carbohydrate stores gets used up isn’t desireable, is it? Well, in a circular way, yes- it’s extremely desireable. There’s really no better way I know of to get the body to switch its attention to conserving glycogen (stored muscle sugars in endless chains of glucose molecules) than by taking that tank to ‘empty’ a few weeks in a row in long efforts until the body then says “But hey- I can MAKE more of this stuff by stripping down fatty acids into glucose by another route!” (“Triglycerides”, which are often represented as “bad fats” by people who should study and think more, can be considered “Three -glycerols”. With a twist of a bit of each end, and a ‘yank’ between each section, done in the machinery of the slow twitch fibers’ mitochondria, in each of those fatty acid molecules there are a few potential high-energy glucose molecules once they’ve been cleaved off and re-badged.) A body trained this way on the Lydiard principles will soon adapt, and the “heavy-legged, wooden feeling” doesn’t occur at all in long runs over two and a half hours any more. In fact, one starts to move along at very good high-aerobic speeds on a mixed-fuel of carbs and fats, justabout as efficiently as on carbs alone. This leaves decent stores of muscle glycogen that can be accessed late into a long aerobic race like the marathon, or late into a competitive ride, without the need for “gu-gels”, etc. If you train to get super-efficient on dual-fuels, and hop into a race , you can always “top up” within the race for a superlative result (maybe a big negative split!). However- practice it once or twice outside a race just so that you don’t have any surprises on race day! So if we can find a way to ‘train’ the body over a number of weeks in incremental steps to strip down the nearly endless supplies of free fatty acids floating around, and rebadge the ‘triglycerides’ that make up a high proportion of accessible fats within the muscle cells into glucose for higher-power output, then we’re using the metabolic portion of the slow twitch fibers to supply ready fuel for our fast twitch fibers that supply the power necessary to move anyone at much faster than 4m20s Km speed.(8.5 mph for a runner). On long runs, we should make an effort to stay hydrated , because glucose needs a fair bit of water around it to get into the system. The way to get things going when running is something like a 3.5 hour run with the first 90 minutes at slow jogging pace, and then do a normal 2 hour run on top of that, and see how good you feel at the end. On long bike rides, the trick is to never go off the small front ring on a road bike, and ‘spin’ for as long as possible at low intensities, with the heart rate quite low, near only 65% intensity on the Karvonen Heart Rate scale. This scale is based on the athlete’s true physiology, rather than on a subjective ‘one-size-fits-all’ nomogram that may be wildly inaccurate, as in the much-vaunted “220-age” formula.. The Karvonen Method: Establishing Your Heart Rate Reserve To work out this figure, use the following formula: HRR= (max HR-resting HR). For someone with a maximum HR of 195, and a resting HR of 45, the HRR will be 150. The lowest useful aerobic zone in this example, for gently increasing total capacity, will be [60% x (150)] + [resting HR], or (90 + 45), or 135 beats/minute. Any lower than this is really only for aerobic recovery or restoration of normal blood pH; the really useful aerobic zones start around 60% of HRR, which coincide with a lactate concentration of about 2mmol/litre. This is also known as the aerobic threshold. Work out your rates for 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, etc. These then can be entered into your diary and you can see what zones you venture into when you’re running over varying terrain, (the HR will go up on up-hills, and decrease on descents) and set an alarm at an upper limit if the purpose of your run is basic aerobic bread and butter endurance. % HRR HR %HRR 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% HR 135 143 150 158 165 173 180 188 195 The table on the left shows the pulse rate expected at each intensity in the previous example. The best heartrate for the weekly or biweekly “3/4 effort” runwould be between 75% and 80% of maximum HRR: in this case it’s an HR between 158 and 165, which is a full 6 beats lower than a typical threshold zone,which would hover around an HR of 173. In the case of this “marathon intensity” run, you can see that the“3/4 effort” is equivalent to 75% of maximum HRR. Initially on long efforts designed to be purely aerobic, this athlete should hover along at HR’s between 135 and 143, which equates with Lydiard’s ‘1/4 effort’ intensity. As you get fitter aerobically, your comfortable cruising speeds will come down, and, for any given heart rate, more distance can be covered. A good test of condition, then, is what distances you can cover at extremely low heart rates as well as high. Four-time Olympic champion Lasse Viren and his coach measured these adaptations constantly. They would even cover distances with a heart rate as low as 80 beats/ minute. However, there is another simple ‘formula’ I have experimented with personally, with excellent results. The ‘180’ formula developed by American chiropractor Phil Maffetone, a long-term advocate of heart rate monitor training, seems very accurate. Following is an excerpt from his excellent training book, “The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing”. Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments: 1. Subtract your age from 180. 2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile: a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10. b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5. c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same. d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm). In this example, 145 will be the highest heart rate for all training. This is highly aerobic, allowing you to most efficiently build an aerobic base. Training above this heart rate rapidly incorporates anaerobic function, exemplified by a shift to burning more sugar and less fat for fuel. If it is difficult to decide which of two groups best fits you, choose the group or outcome that results in the lower heart rate. In athletes who are taking medication that may affect their heart rate, those who wear a pacemaker, or those who have special circumstances not discussed here, further individualization with the help of a healthcare practitioner or other specialist familiar with your circumstance and knowledgeable in endurance sports may be necessary. Two situations may be exceptions to the above calculations: • The 180 Formula may need to be further individualized for people over the age of sixty-five. For some of these athletes, up to 10 beats may have to be added for those in category (d) in the 180 Formula, and depending on individual levels of fitness and health. This does not mean 10 should automatically be added, but that an honest self-assessment is important. • For athletes sixteen years of age and under, the formula is not applicable; rather, a heart rate of 165 may be best. Once a maximum aerobic heart rate is found, a training range from this heart rate to 10 beats below could be used as a training range. For example, if an athlete’s maximum aerobic heart rate is determined to be 155, that person’s aerobic training zone would be 145 to 155 bpm. However, the more training at 155, the quicker an optimal aerobic base will be developed. Initially, training at this relatively low rate may be stressful for many athletes. “I just can’t train that slowly!” is a common comment. But after a short time, you will feel better and your pace will quicken at that same heart rate. You will not be stuck training at that relatively slow pace for too long. Still, for many athletes it is difficult to change bad habits. Once comfortably fit aerobically,we add other rides through the week that have different purposes to the fat utilisation purpose of the long ride,and naturally enough we go at sustained intensities that are higher, to our level of training and tolerance. The great, and very very big Miguel Indurain, one of the few multiple winners of the Tour de France, gave Lance Armstrong this low-intensity tip as more or less his ‘secret’ to conserving muscle glycogen on hill climbs. He trained himself over a number of years to hold a higher cadence, moving less load with each turn of the crank, thereby taking a major load off the large quadriceps muscle group. On the big front ring, we can push higher speeds for sure, but it’s done by utilising higher power output that tips the scales towards more fast twitch fibre use, and thereby ripping through glycogen stores. Since we do much the same amount of nett work for a given distance, whether we do it with low cadence and high power, or higher cadence and lower power, the small front ring and lower heart rate will make sure you’re using slow twitch more, thereby stripping down those triglycerides and free fatty acids in the mitochondrial energy factories without touching your glycogen stores much. As a rule of thumb, the more strength or power required to turn the pedal, the more the likelihood you’re recruiting fast twitch and using glycogen, and vice versa with respect to the far more aerobically efficient and fuel-efficient slow twitch fibers. So if your ego can handle fat weekend warriors with spare tyres passing you on the waterfront, start there, but also be prepared for the odd granny to go past too. Then you’re really doing it well, and after your fatty acid metabolism kicks in, you’ll find you can go a very long way without the need for carbs. You can eventually find that at the same low heart rate, you go faster and faster over time, so for the same perceived effort and heart rate, you’re really zooming along at a rate that would’ve been stressing the upper aerobic zones earlier. Then you can give the weekend warriors and grannies a lesson in “easy riding”. HOWEVER- always have some carbs on hand just in case your system isn’t quite right one day and you’bonk’ thirty kilometres from home! I’d also suggest eating every couple of hours after about 5 hours if you do longer rides; toasted sandwiches of cheese, ham, and tomatoe were perfect fuel for me when I did a few all-day charity rides several years ago, as well as a water-pack with grapejuice (alkali, full of potassium) diluted by about 1:3 with water. Fruit juices such as apple or grape are alkali (= good!), whereas orange juice is too acidic and can muck up your stomach quite badly. Any fruit drink should be diluted to roughly 6g sugars/litre (6% w/v), or less on hot days.
