Running to Think

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

Hi my measuring freaks,
if there is anyone who does not like to measure her or his own progress, please raise your hand. Thing is that you get a boost when you have the feeling to be close to your target. And that, my friends, can happen only if you can measure it.

The easiest  and most well know method is measuring your weight with a scale. The cheap ones that you find in supermarkets are in my opinion not very accurate. Once you get a decent one there is a way to define your ideal weight by measuring your height and use the formula for BMI (body mass index) = weight / height². A healthy BMI should be in the range 18-25 but of course this number should be taken with care because it doesn't take into account body composition. Namely, a fat person can have the same BMI than a body builder.

Below you can find a BMI chart, provided you would like to know if you are in the green zone:

Table 1: BMI chart

More accurate scales for medical usage such as those that you can find in pharmacies like wellnescentra and fitnesscentra can do a great job. One brand I suggest is Tanita.
It uses BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) technology, which sends a safe, low-level electrical signal from footplate and hand electrodes through the body. BIA is quickly calculated and it is also non-invasive. This is considered one of the most reliable ways to measure body composition, even clinically comparable to DEXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) and hydrostatic (underwater) weighing. These methods usually return your weight, fat percentage, fat mass, fat free mass, total body water, muscle mass, bone mass to provide a very complete profile of your body. 

Those scales are also quite expensive, one more reason to keep reading.
If you can have access to one of those scales in your city or gym, fine. Otherwise you can use other cheaper techniques which go under the term of kinathropometry.

Kinanthropometry is an emerging scientific specialization concerned with the application of measurement to appraise human size, shape, proportion, composition, maturation and gross function. It is a basic discipline for problem-solving in matters related to growth, exercise, performance and of course nutrition.


The measuring tools you need are:
1) a scale
2) a calibre (to measure skinfolds)
3) a measuring tape

Figure 2: Calibre

Figure 3: Skinfolds to measure

You got all, now what? What should you measure, where, how and what formula should you use?

Let's get busy.

Biometry

They are a lot of things you can measure such as height, weight, the circumference of the upper arm, waist, hip, calf, thigh and some other stuff but those are not really important. The skinfolds can be measured with a calibre.
In Figure 3 you can see the correct places that you should measure. Measure each twice or more to make sure you did it well, then take the average of those measurements.

Body Density (BD)

The measures at hand will allow you to calculate your fat percentage. There are 3 different formulae to do that. I will explain the two ones that I consider as the most accurate. These formulae adapt quite well according to your age, gender and the amount of skinfolds you measured.

1) Jackson- Pollock (3 site skinfold formula)

2) Durnin - Womersley (age 20-29)

Fat Percentage