Here's a secret I was hinted to at my first ultra marathon. This secret will make any runner do a race faster then he or she normally would have done, regardless of how fast they are running, their age, fitness level, etc.
It's to simply take the corners and turns sharp.
It seems like common sense but I never consciously thought about it before. A man from Norway and myself were taking a long dull turn on a gravel road during the Lean Horse Ultramarathon and he went around behind me to my other side, against the side of the road. He then commented, "I came here to run 100 miles, not 100.5 miles."
Now, the difference is slight, but even during a 5k if you take the corner on the inside compared to taking it with three people between you and the turn, times 3 or 8 turns, it will make a difference.
Garmin 305 Smart Recording VS Every Second
This is also related to why a Garmin 305 GPS watch will often not be the same distance as a race course. Especially in larger marathons where you may spend a lot of time zig zagging around other runners. If you take location recorders every second you will get a much more accurate record, so the path will be longer since you had to go around a group of runners. However I use the Smart Recording. It will record data for a much longer period of time and will may give you a much better idea of the distance. The one catch is if you cut corners it may shorter the corner a bit since it does not record as often as each second. So if you are going for a longer run or maybe a run where you will be going around a lot of people, switch your Garmin to Smart Recording and if you are running for less then 3.5 hours switch to every second.
3 comments:
"How any Runner can become faster..." <-- How interesting!
I never thought about it, but yeah - that makes a difference!
:)
I feel faster already...
Hey man, digging the blog. Found your site via the Phil Maffetone forum. I'm a fellow vegan so I hope you don't mind me rambling a bit!
I Want to ask you a question about MAF tests and training because you seem to have a pretty good handle on it.
I thought I was doing training correctly but after about 1 month I'm not showing any improvement in my latest MAF Test.
So according to the 180 formula my training rate should be 150bpm. Now I tend to train at an average of about 148-150bpm but occasionally (usually on a hill either biking or running) I'll look down and see my HR at 160 or 161. I'll then slow up to bring it down.
My question is am I shooting myself in the foot when that happens? As soon as I look down and see that heart rate at 160 should I just pack it in and go home since I've gone anaerobic? Will that 30 seconds anaerobic prevent me from seeing any results?
It's tough especially because where I live in Connecticut there's no flat routes, all hills, so if I go out for a 30+ mile ride I'm bound to have a steep climb where I'm forced to go anaerobic.
Looking forward to your answer.
-Tom (aka Confused in Connecticut)
No, I think as long as your average heart rate is under 150 you should be just fine. When doing a hill you are getting way more out of it than you put in. If you hit 160 beats per minute for the duration of the hill but drop to 148 when it levels out I believe you are ok. During my training I just slowed the treadmill down enough where I was still running but under 160.
I believe Dr. Maffetone suggests walking the hill. However in my opinion hills are the greatest tool an athlete can utilize and should not be walked. If you can jog it even, which is what I would considering what I was doing as, you'll still reap the benefits.
If you are on a flat, you should never go above your MAF heart rate. Running too fast is the main reason individuals become injured while running IMO.
Being aerobic or anaerobic does not switch off and on suddenly. Depending on your intensity it's a slow or faster process based on O2 delivery. And if you are going up a hill for 1 minute at 160 beats per minute it's unlikely you were even anaerobic since you're still running at a fairly low intensity. If you were to sprint the hill, it would be another story. However both times your body would go back to being aerobic once your intensity lowers again since you now have enough O2 being delivered to your muscles.
Thanks man, any more questions the blog or facebook works great!
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