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1. Training and Racing Through PMS:
By working with your premenstrual physiology, you can make progress (and yes, podiums) despite the challenges of premenstrual syndrome.
By now, you’ve heard me talk all about “period power”—that your menstrual cycle is when your body is more resilient to stress and a great time to nail your high-intensity sessions and nab PRs. But what about women who wrestle with PMS—the mood swings, fatigue, and other challenging symptoms that can occur during the week leading into your period? For many women, that doesn’t feel like a very powerful time of the month.
If you’re one of them, it’s not your imagination. Estrogen and progesterone ramp up and peak approximately five days prior to menstruation. This is when PMS kicks in, which can impact your training and performance in a number of ways.
It’s harder to build muscle. Muscle protein synthesis is less robust, and we tend to be more catabolic in this high hormone phase.
Metabolism shifts. We burn more fat and spare more glycogen. Our metabolism also ticks up a bit, burning about 100 to 200 additional calories a day. (Hence the cravings for carbs—our bodies want more energy).
Blood plasma volume dips. High levels of estrogen cause fluid shifts (hello bloating), and your plasma volume can drop by as much as 8 percent. This can also cause your heart rate to increase.
Temperature regulation is harder. Progesterone elevates core body temperature, and your blood plasma volume is lower, so it’s harder to sweat and cool off.
Cramping and GI issues can occur. Your body releases prostaglandins during this phase to help shed your uterine lining. That means cramping and GI issues.
Mojo can go MIA. Estrogen and progesterone affect the hypothalamus, and when they’re high, you can experience fatigue, lethargy, and low mood.
More... from Dr, Stacy Sims.
2. Asics Superblast Review: Most Systems Go:
What You Need To Know
Weighs 8.8 oz. (251 g) for a US M10 / 7.4 oz. (210 g) for a US W7.5
Features dual-foam midsole, Flytefoam Blast Turbo on top, Flytefoam Blast Plus on bottom
AHAR Plus outsole rubber provides solid grip and durability
Stack height: 45.5 mm in heel, 37.5 in forefoot (8 mm drop)
Available in limited supplies at the NYC Marathon expo on 11/3, wide release December 1 for $220
The Intro
THOMAS: These days, shoe companies are real into doing that Portlandia “put a bird on it” thing, except, in the case of super shoes, it’s “Mountain Dew-ing” it. From Pro to Plus to Elite, the mid-’90s fad of X-treming everything is back, and it aims to maximize the more-is-more messaging that we’re finding with max stack shoes from the Prime X to the Supercomp Trainer. That trend may have just hit its pinnacle with the all-new Asics Superblast. How there isn’t a partnership with the Mountain Dew Baja Blast, I have no idea, but someone get on the phone with Taco Bell and make it happen.
The term “super shoe” became part of our lexicon when the Nike Vaporfly 4% changed the distance running shoe paradigm. We went from extremely light, minimally cushioned racing flats to high-stack, carbon-plated, bouncy, lightweight super shoes. Foams improved, and every brand chased after the perfect formula to catch up to Nike. But– as most of you know– to keep things fair, the running governing body put a 40 mm stack height limit on racing shoes for professionals.
More...from Believe in the Run.
3. Risks of Concurrent Training:
Incorporating strength workouts into your endurance training is widely accepted, but there are risks involved. Cycling Coach Kolie Moore explains how to protect your aerobic fitness while reaping the benefits of strength training.
Simultaneously undertaking endurance and strength training is known as concurrent training. Concurrent training helps you improve your FTP, VO2 max, endurance, and other aspects of aerobic fitness while also programming in heavy squats and other leg strength exercises.
Balancing the two different types of training can be challenging. Frequent issues with concurrent training include where to fit strength training into a normal week of endurance training, what order to place endurance and strength training during the same day, and how to balance fatigue from each modality. The best solution for you may not be the same as for another athlete, depending on the goals to be achieved. This article will look at different ways to assess your needs and how to adjust training accordingly.
Concurrent Training Problems: The Interference Effect
More...from Training Peaks.
4. The New York City Marathon Is an Engineering Marvel
Marathons don’t happen by themselves; they require months of planning and an expertise in engineering and crowd science. That’s doubly true for the world’s largest race.
The first thing Ted Metellus did when the 2021 New York City Marathon wrapped up, apart from getting a decent night’s sleep, was to start planning for this year’s race. “It’s on my mind all the time,” says Metellus, the race director and vice president of the New York Road Runners (NYRR), which puts on the race. This was last February. Stretching across five boroughs in the country’s largest, densest city, with as many athletes on course that would normally fill the stands at a sporting event—though it also has its many thousands of spectators—the marathon is a complex negotiation of time, space, and people. “It is one of the single largest mobilizations of resources in the city,” says Metellus.
By sheer numbers, it is impressive. Last year, even with a reduced pandemic field of more than 21,000 runners, some 41,240 gallons of Poland Spring water—and 1.4 million paper cups—were dispensed to runners on course (in addition to the 45,000-plus bottles given out at the start); along with 30,000 Honey Stinger gels. Some 122,760 pounds of clothing was shed by the runners at the start, then collected and given to Goodwill. There’s a medical station every mile, even therapy dogs and psychologists at the start. “Sometimes people just need a moment to kind of settle themselves in when you’re getting ready for an event of this scope,” says Metellus.
More...from Outside Online.
5. Globe readers asked me about exercise and aging. Here’s what I told them:
I recently learned that in 1799, life expectancy for pretty much everyone on Earth – regardless of social status, gender or wealth – was 40 years. Compare that with today’s statistics – 83 years in Canada, 73 years worldwide – and you can’t help but feel an overwhelming appreciation for all that science and technology has done for humankind.
But while medical advances and industrial enterprise have helped much of society live longer, easier, more fulfilling lives, this extended existence isn’t a free ride on Easy Street. Preventative maintenance in the form of physical activity and exercise is still required, or else the organic meat sack that we call our body can break down in any number of ways.
So when The Globe and Mail asked readers to share their most pressing fitness questions, I was happy to see so many ask about exercising as we age. Here’s my advice:
Resistance training matters
If aging has a nemesis, its name is “sarcopenia.” This is the fancy scientific name given to the involuntary loss of muscle mass that naturally occurs as we grow older. Sarcopenia begins to set in at around 30, at which point humans lose anywhere from three to five per cent of their muscle mass annually. After 60, the decline is even more pronounced.
More...from the Globe and Mail.
6.Recovery Runs Are For Taking it Easy. Are You Nailing Yours?
ot every run needs to (or should) be a serious workout.
One of the unique things about the sport of running is that there are so many different ways to be a runner. Some of us train and race marathons, while others are track athletes and prefer sprints. Still others enjoy 5Ks or 10Ks, and there are trail runners and ultramarathoners completing multi-day events. Some runners never run a race in their life, yet run diligently most days of the week for years and years. Some prefer structured training with specific days for intervals, tempo runs, hill repeats, long runs, and easy days, while others just lace up and head out there at moderate, steady pace day in and day out. Ultimately, there’s no “right” way to be a runner, nor a single “best” training schedule. It all depends on what your goals are, and what you’re seeking from your training and the sport at large.
With that said, particularly if you do fall in the large camp of runners who are training for some type of race or put yourself through the paces of at least one hard workout or long run in the week, you should be well-acquainted with the recovery run. Recovery runs are the unsung heroes of the training week—valuable players that receive little acknowledgement and are almost always overshadowed by the hard workouts, races, and even rest days. We analyze the ins and outs of threshold runs, building your long run, and the right splits for track intervals, and we frequently read articles reminding us of the importance of rest days, but there’s not a lot of emphasis on recovery runs.
More...from Women's Running.
7. How nanobots can help break the two-hour marathon barrier:
Athletes of the future are set to benefit from super-technology that could lead to sub-2hr marathons becoming commonplace
Eliud Kipchoge recently missed breaking two hours for the marathon in Berlin by 69 seconds but improvements in technology alone could see the barrier fall in future.
On race day the athletes of tomorrow could find themselves slipping into advanced materials that dynamically morph based on body temperature and weather conditions to create an optimal temperature for the wearer.
The pre-marathon and mid-race nutrition might involve 3D-printed meals that provide the precise mix of nutrients based on real-time data. This information would come from nanobots that live in the bloodstream, stomach and other organs to monitor health at molecular level.
More.....from AW.
8. How to Salvage a Workout After a Bad Night of Sleep:
The key to enjoying exercise after a fitful slumber is to start early and keep it simple.
After a bad night’s sleep, nothing feels right. The mind is fuzzy and the muscles are sapped. Often the last thing you want to do is work up a sweat. You might find yourself wondering what kind of workout you should do, and if it’s better to put it off until you’re not quite so groggy.
A recent paper from researchers in Australia suggests that exercisers functioning on little sleep can get the most out of a workout by doing it earlier in the day and focusing on strength and endurance, rather than complex skills. The meta-analysis, published in the November issue of Sports Medicine, is the latest in a string of studies examining the link between sleep and athletic performance.
“The key factor is, ‘What was the type of sleep loss that you had?’ And then, ‘When are you going to train and what are you going to train?’” said Jonathan Craven, a graduate student at Griffith University in Queensland and one of the authors of the paper.
More...from the New York Times.
9.The Salt in Sports Drinks May Not Be As Crucial As You Think :
Replacing lost salt is a pillar of sports nutrition, but new research suggests more isn’t always better.
In the mid-1960s, a researcher at the University of Florida named Robert Cade went to a bank and borrowed $500 to buy sugar and salt. The homemade drink he’d devised for the university’s football team, dubbed Cade’s Cola—or Gatorade—was attracting widespread attention, and he wanted to mix a big batch of it to sell. The sugar provided crucial fourth-quarter energy for the players, and the salt—well, scientists and athletes are still debating what role the salt in sports drinks plays in athletic performance.
The question lurks in the background of a new study published in the European Journal of Sport Science, by sports nutrition researcher Alan McCubbin of Monash University in Australia. The study uses a mathematical model to determine exactly how much sodium is required during exercise of varying intensities and durations, depending on how much a person sweats, how salty that sweat is, how much they drink, and other factors. The answers depend on the assumptions we make about why athletes need salt. But in the vast majority of real-world situations, McCubbin concludes, we don’t need to worry about it.
More...from Outside Online.
10. Barbara Kay: Canadian Sports Organization Should Quit Its Activism for Transgender Athletes in Women’s Sport:
As a response to our national embarrassment around the doping scandals of the 1980s, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) was established to ensure that cheating in sport would never recur. For two decades, CCES concentrated on its primary function: keeping banned substances out of sport. Then its leadership went woke, and CCES became a full-time advocacy group for male athletes who identify as women, relentlessly promoting their right to compete against women.
In 2016, CCES released a policy guideline paper for athletic organizations on trans inclusion in sport, written by an “expert working group” that included trans activists, but no biologist or female athletes. Not only did CCES recommend self-ID as the sole criterion for divisional eligibility—which wouldn’t impact men’s sport but would be devastating to women’s—the report recommended that athletes be permitted to shift gender self-identification from season to season, or from one sport to another. In spite of the guidelines’ rhetorical infelicities and lack of academic rigour, most Canadian sporting associations adopted the guidelines without demur.
CCES has just published “Transgender Women Athletes and Elite Sport: A Scientific Review,” a commission assigned to the radically ideological group, E-Alliance. How radical? The writers’ research included consultation with transwomen athletes, but not female athletes. In fact, E-Alliance is so biased, their directors are signatories by a U.S. activist group that pressured Sport Canada to close down a survey of female athletes’ perspectives.
More...from The Epoch Times.
11. ‘I raced Lia Thomas – and I still feel the burning injustice’:
Riley Gaines intended to pursue a career as a dentist after graduating, but she is now consumed by the quest for fairness for women in sport
Eight months after she raced against Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who ignited a global firestorm by winning a national female collegiate title in the United States, Riley Gaines still feels a searing sense of injustice.
“It felt,” she says, “like heartbreak. Women had dedicated their entire lives to this. We had spent 5½ hours every day in the pool. To have it taken away from you by somebody who, only a year earlier, would never have even qualified for this competition as a man? It was a total slap in the face.”
But the indignities she felt were only just beginning. The day after she watched Thomas – who until starting hormone therapy was ranked a mere 554th as a man – vanquish every female rival in the country, she found that they would be direct competitors in the 200-yard freestyle final. They finished, ultimately, in a dead heat for fifth.
Except, only Thomas was allowed to hold the fifth-place trophy, with Gaines told by an official that it was “for photo purposes”. She would need, she was told, to make do with the award for sixth.
More...from The Telegraph.
12. Build your perfect pain cave: Indoor trainers & apps intro:
Long before Covid-19 drove us into our garages, indoor training was already a thing as far as sport and cycling goes. In fact, you could go all the way back to 1884 and find an indoor trainer for a Penny Farthing if you were so inclined to turn the cranks whilst wearing a top hat. Mind you, the reality is that many of us probably didn’t discover indoor training until at least the 1990’s.
Back in those days, early commercial turbo trainers were becoming incredibly popular and I bought my first one around late 2002 when I was starting out in triathlon. I remember the date specifically because I’d recently moved into a new house that I’d lovingly redecorated, only to then ruin my shades of ‘evening sunset’ paint when my turbo disintegrated my rear tyre due to the heat build-up and then sprayed the tyre’s debris up the walls.
There are a range of products, apps and add-ons to bring the outside in and for many, to provide the structure and benefits that indoor cycling can deliver. However, there are subtle differences between them. It’s often about marrying the technology to what you prefer and what your goals may require...
More...from Precision Hydration.
13. Female College Athletes Say Pressure to Cut Body Fat Is Toxic:
Several women in track and field said their mental health spiraled as they skipped meals to be leaner at the urging of coaches and peers.
Audra Koopman wanted to be leaner and more powerful.
She also wanted to eat. But, she said, she could sense what her track and field coaches at Penn State wanted: for her to have less body fat.
Coaches never told her to achieve a specific body fat percentage, Koopman said, but a lowered score on periodic body composition tests generally earned a pat on the back.
The upperclassmen told her to stay away from the dessert table at team banquets. Coaches, they cautioned, would be watching. The cookies and other treats were not there to be eaten.
“It’s interesting how a lot of us have kind of been brainwashed into thinking that that is something that’s good for you and it is good for you to lose your period and it is good for you to have that feeling of hunger in your stomach,” said Koopman, who competed in long jump and short sprints from 2017 to 2021.
Teammates gossiped about each other’s body composition scores, she said, and over time the tests distorted her relationship with food. But as she ate less and her body fat dropped, she wasn’t running any faster. It made her wonder why the scores mattered so much.
More...from the New York Times.
14. “The Mind of a Pacing Master”:
Learn how to master the mindset of pacing with this excerpt from expert running coach Matt Fitzgerald’s latest book, "On Pace".
Every runner knows pacing is critical. It can be the difference between a PR and a DNF. In On Pace, acclaimed running coach and author Matt Fitzgerald reveals how conventional training and device overdependence keep runners from accessing the full power of pacing.
With a mix of fascinating science and compelling stories from every corner of the sport, Fitzgerald shows that pacing is the art of finding your limit — running at a pace to finish the workout or cross the finish line completely out of gas. This quintessential running skill unlocks hidden potential and transforms your experience of the sport, enabling runners of all experience and ability levels to “run free.”
Chapter 5, “The Mind of a Pacing Master”, of On Pace is made available to you below. You can purchase your own copy of On Pace here. Additionally, you can access an extensive selection of 80/20 Endurance running training plans from the TrainingPeaks training plan store.
More...from Training Peaks.
15. Can You Get a Full-Body Workout in 20 Minutes?
Yes, but you have to pick the right routine.
One of the biggest barriers to establishing a regular workout routine is a lack of time. Finding an extra hour (or more if you include travel to a gym) to exercise most days of the week can feel like an insurmountable challenge, especially if you have a busy work schedule, family responsibilities or a long commute.
The good news is you can get the same (or even better) results from an intense 20-minute workout as you can from a one-hour session.
A large study from 2019, for instance, found that replacing 30 minutes of sitting each day with moderate to vigorous physical activity was associated with a 45 percent reduction in mortality risk. And many studies have found that short, intense workouts two to three times a week can improve lung function and cardiovascular health.
More...from the New York Times.
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