Running to Think

Believe it or not, Christmas is over. And with Christmas also candies, chocolate (a bit less for those who already abuse sugar on a daily basis), cakes, sugar, fat, pasta, fish, meat, panettone, bread, cakes and cakes and cakes.
Every year I prepare myself for the toughest period of the year, that they refer to as Xmas. I even strategically try to lose weight around November to get below my regular threshold by December and be "normal" by January. It never works.
How can it work with a mother like mine, Italian from the South, who already thinks that I am sick just because I am fit.
Holidays are nice, cakes are awesome. But we are runners, aren't we? We need to crash our legs on the road and how could that be with a belly always full and hours and hours spent to digest?
The best way to stay fit in such conditions is of course to control yourself at the table, which, I know, can be extremely hard to accomplish. In the common case of failing in such an attempt, I found that some more cardio is always the best solution to save what can be saved. Slow-pace long-distance running allows one to burn fat slowly and steadily and should be done every day for the whole period of our dangerously unhealthy holidays. That is the price to pay for some slices of that cake we really cannot say no to.
I survived my holiday with 1 kg more on my weight. Not bad, considering how much fun I had at the table. My trick was in one word, cardio.
Do not draw any conclusion right after your holiday. Everybody is different and metabolism varies as well, as side effects of eating and the number of days after which you actually realise of your, well, new condition.  In order to assess the damage that you inflicted to your own body after so much food, you should wait one full week and keep your fingers crossed. Easy gainers are usually those who fall into depression when they end up on the scale. Caroline is one of them. Do not panic though. Easy gaining usually means easy losing. Moreover that extra weight that really annoys you could be water kept by your body due to salts and sugars, not just fat. Again: cardio is the answer.

What does cardio mean?

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Monday: 1h slow pace run + stretching
Tuesday: 45' slow pace run + stretching + 5 times sprints at 90% max on 100 mt + stretching
Wednesday: rest
Thursday:  1h slow pace run + 5 series of 20 crunches for abs. + stretching
Friday: 45' slow pace run + 15' faster
Saturday: 45' slow pace run + stretching + 5 times sprints at 90% max on 100 mt + stretching
Sunday: 1h slow pace run

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After this week of recovery, you not only should get back to your usual weight but also get ready to start your regular running schedule (with interval trainings and the like) or to your daily physical activity.

Happy 2015!

In this post I will write about how to run with a heart rate monitor, which, let's face it, is not a novel trend at all. We all know that running champions do not even need such a gadget, since they rely on times and more complex types of analyses such as VO2Max, blood test, etc.
It is not a matter of being a champion or not. The problem is that we run ultra distance. If Mo Farah can control himself on a 10k, on the track and field, where he can count the laps and all is flat, well... we cannot. We are ultra runners and we do it on the trail.
After 30 km we tend to forget who we are and how much fuel is left. We barely keep in mind the next 30 km ahead and 20 more after that. Not to mention those who run 100km. Add to this tragedy that the track is dirty and we need to jump that root, that stone, dig a leg into water and sand. And the hills. Don't forget the hills. We prefer to say "I go out for a run, 1500" where that number are the meters that separate us from the ground. You know what I am talking about.

How can we control ourselves in such a hell of a track?
The purists would agree with me that there are no technological instruments that can tell a runner how far he can go, for how long and how fast. They say that the best and most reliable way is to know ourselves. I'm sorry, not in such a scenario.
There is an instrument that, if used with care, can give us precious info about our condition during a long long run.
Training with a heart rate monitor is one of the best ways to avoid to burn ourselves on the trail.
An example I already wrote about was the one of the Ecotrail 2013 in Paris. That race became a nightmare for one specific reason: I was ignoring my heart.

Unless you have access to a specific lab in which they can measure your VO2Max value, one good heuristic to measure your aerobic threshold is by using the heart rate monitor of your watch and the track&field.
One test is the Conconi test which is easy to run and quite reliable. It consists in running each lap at a speed 10% faster than the lap before, until you cannot hold it anymore. The difficulty consists in convincing yourself that you are really on your limit. There are mechanisms of our body that will prevent from getting there. Just be aware of it.
At home you plot velocity and heart rate on a graph. You should see a straight line during your low pace running and a different slope at some point, which seems to split the graph in two. That is a good estimate of your anaerobic threshold. In my case it is around 155 bpm, which is indeed correct.

There are many other formulas, from trivial ones such as MaxHeartRate - 0.7*Age , also known as Tanaka's formula.
I never used such formula and could not find any empirical evidence of its usability.

The test should be run at least twice per year, in order to check if our heart is responding to specific training strategies designed to increase the aerobic threshold, which I will describe in a later post.

When in doubt, follow your heart.
Run safe!

Running at the best pace can be tricky especially on the long distance. Physiology can help, of course. However, mathematics can assure of the optimal running strategy to follow, regardless of our training in the last weeks or the current shape.

Some applied mathematicians found out the best strategy to run at the fastest pace, with the least energy expenditure, in physiological terms, of course.

I highly recommend to read this post, in which they explain exactly how we should run.

Run fast!

Hi friends,
today I want you to introduce a fantastic sport to you. It's called CrossFit. Crossfit has been founded by Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai back in 2000. It is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes, worldwide. Promoted as both a physical exercise philosophy and a competitive fitness sport, CrossFit workouts incorporate elements from high-intensity interval training, olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, calisthenics, strongman and other exercises.

Why you should give CrossFit a chance?

I did several sports in my life such as dancing and tennis, running and fitness. With CrossFit I could find all I am familiar with: group mentality, competition, cardio, strength. Moreover, I can do it where ever and whenever I want. The fun part of CrossFit is that all workouts are short and very intensive. You can find the Workout Of the Day, WOD, on the official website. You can also find videos, explanations of movements, articles, competitions and much  much more. 
I got in touch with it several months ago. The fitness I work at recently started a training room, called the box, in the jargon of CrossFit. It took me one workout to be part of it. 
I basically loved it! As a Crossfit fan, I have assisted to a competition in Nivelles (Walloon Brabant) organised by the Belgium fitness league. It was quite inspiring and motivating.

Here is a video which summarised the WOD. Don't get discouraged. These girls are athletes and practice hours and hours per week. 

Let me give you one tip: never load too much weight at first. But try to do every movement with the correct technique. Only when you feel you master it, don't hesitate to push it up. 

World champions CrossFit 2014 

With the hope to inspire you I feel like throwing yet another observations: it is not a guy-only sport. Girls can kick asses too, believe me!
Maybe i see you around for a WOD ;)

Love,
Caroline