BY TAQUISHA DRISDELL, EDITOR
Theme of the Week: Aerobic Endurance
The topic on every runner’s mind, whether you’re a casual or competitive runner, is how does one build Aerobic Endurance? Every runner who competes in a local 5k or who enjoys getting out on the road, wants to know the answer to that question, “How do I run longer?”
Science of the Week
The body uses oxygen to convert nutrients such as fat and carbohydrates during aerobic endurance work. It’s important to understand that at max aerobic velocity, you can only maintain that pace for the aerobic energy system for about 8-10 minutes. The closer you are to 100% output within this system (i.e., 6min pace), the quicker you will “hit the wall” and forget any personal bests you intended on setting (over 10 minutes of running). As you decrease pace (98% 6:08, 96% 6:15), you will be able to maintain that effort for a longer period of time. Finally, you cannot get away from it, the more you run, the better you’ll get! Do it smart and do it progressively. Your body will adapt to the stimulus you present it. Challenge yourself! Your heart will get stronger and thicker. Your body will begin to produce more capillaries to transport oxygen and it will create more red blood cells, too!
Running Tip of the Week
Aerobic endurance training is all about being patient! It takes about 40 days to adapt to your training! That means you must train often and frequently to see real gains. There are no shortcuts but you will only get there by continuous training cycles and good, healthy recovery habits. Get your sleep and get your nutrients replaced. Running tip of the week: STAY CONSISTENT and find ways you CAN, not reasons you can’t.
Workout of the Week
There is no better time than now to get on a treadmill and hammer some threshold repeats! Threshold is the pace you can maintain for about 20 minutes, or about 88% VO2 MAX. If your VO2 MAX pace were 6 minutes per mile, you could run for 20 minutes at around 6:44 pace (give or take). The work out is this: Begin with 4×3 minutes at threshold with 3 minutes jogging rest on the treadmill. So that is 3 minutes at 6:44, 3 minutes at around 8 minutes and then repeat FOUR times. The following week, do 5. Increase every week or every other week until you can do 8-10 repetitions. Once you move up to 8-10, start back over at 4 but increase your pace by 4-8 seconds per mile!
Healthy Meal of the Week
You’ve got to refuel! Best snack to have after a workout/run is chocolate milk. After an aerobic workout you will be most deficient in liquids and, if you did it correctly, you will have used oxygen to convert both fat and carbohydrates (along with protein) as an energy sources throughout your run. The meal of the week is Pasta with Pork as flavoring and plenty of red sauce with a side of salad.
Problem of the Week
Running related injuries are rampant amongst long distance runners. Think about this: during the average run (6miles at 8min pace) individuals will take between 8 and 10,000 steps. If your body is imbalanced by even 1%, multiply that difference over 10,000 steps… no good. Depending on your force application, you will impact the ground between 5 and 8 times your body weight each step! At 160lbs, 1% is 1.6lbs… multiplied by 10,000 steps… that’s 16,000lbs! And then we wonder why something hurts on one side of our body! Take care of your body and be symmetrical. STRENGTH HELPS!
Mindset of the Week
Aerobic training is mental training. The next time you’re out and about or running on the treadmill, pay attention to your inner conversation. I promise that the sooner you address the negative thoughts that enter EVERYONE’S mind, the sooner you’re going to have a more enjoyable and productive experience. Try this mantra: “I can, I will.”
Have a fitness question? Each week TaQuisha Drisdell sits down with the coach and prepares for our next issue. Please email her to get your question answered!
We’ve had some interest for a “running clinic.” If there is enough interest, the coach will lead a short clinic and be available to answer many running-related questions! Please email TaQuisha to have your interest noted!
