VO2max

The monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com

Dr. Jason Karp, running & fitness coach, consultant, freelance writer

Director, REVO₂LT Running Team™

January, 2008

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In this issue:

RunCoachJason.com Relocates to San Diego

Coaching Gift Certificates

Long Runs

Losing Weight in the New Year

In Press

New Year’s Message

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RunCoachJason.com Relocates to San Diego

After nearly two years in the high desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the home office of RunCoachJason.com is relocating to San Diego, California this month.

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Coaching Gift Certificates

Know someone who wants to lose weight, is training for a marathon, or wants to become a faster runner in 2008?  Why don’t you give him or her a personal trainer or coach as a New Year’s gift?  With RunCoachJason.com, you’ll get a specific, science-based training program guaranteed to get you results.  To purchase personal training or coaching gift certificates, click here.  

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Long Runs

The winter is a good time to focus on long runs since it’s harder to do higher quality training in the winter.  Every runner knows that he or she should run long.  But why?

Long runs involve sustained aerobic metabolism and apply sustained pressure of oxygen through the muscle capillary system into the mitochondria.  In response to the sustained pressure, our “metabolic machinery” is stimulated to increase its capacity to do more work.  For example, the number of mitochondria increases along with the aerobic enzymes contained within them.  Also, capillary diameter and number increase to accommodate more oxygen.  The more capillaries you have perfusing the muscle fibers, the shorter the diffusion distance for oxygen from any given capillary to a mitochondrion.          

Long runs also increase the amount of stored carbohydrates (glycogen) in your skeletal muscles, which is of great benefit to runners who run long races, like the marathon.  Scientists have known since the 1960s that the ability to perform prolonged endurance exercise is strongly influenced by the amount of glycogen stored in skeletal muscles, with fatigue coinciding with glycogen depletion.  To the marathoner’s benefit, the human body responds rather elegantly to situations that threaten or deplete its supply of fuel.  Since carbohydrates are our bodies’ preferred fuel during exercise, depleting this fuel source by running for long periods of time initiates a very strong signal to synthesize and store more glycogen.  Empty a full glass, and you get a refilled larger glass in its place.  Much like college fraternity parties. 

Another important reason for doing long runs, especially for the marathoner, is to teach your muscles to use fat more effectively.  Since the marathon is the one unique race in which most people run out of glycogen, it becomes important to use fatty acids at a fast rate so the pace doesn’t slow down too much.  (Energy for muscle contraction is generated more slowly when using fat compared to when using carbohydrates.  So, when you are forced to rely on fat because you have run out of carbohydrates, your pace will slow down.)  Long runs will train your muscles to use fat when they have run out of carbohydrates.  Research has shown that faster marathoners are able to use fatty acids for fuel at a faster rate than slower marathoners. 

While you should try to not let your long runs comprise more than about 30% of your weekly mileage, this rule can be broken in the name of necessity if you plan on running only a few times per week.  While you should run at a comfortable, conversational pace (about two minutes per mile slower than 5K race pace, or about 70 to 75% of maximum heart rate), the exact pace is not as important as the continual pressure of oxygen going into your mitochondria.  Lengthen your long run by one mile each week for three or four weeks before backing off for a recovery week.  If you run more than about 40 miles per week, or if you run faster than about 8-minute mile pace, you can add two miles at a time to your long run.  If you’re training for a marathon, keep adding miles until you reach 22 to 24 (or about 3 to 3½ hours, whichever comes first), and do your longest run three weeks before your marathon.  In my study on the training characteristics of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers, I found that the men’s and women’s longest runs averaged 25 and 23½ miles, respectively, and that they ran longer than 20 miles an average of 18 and 10 times, respectively, during the year preceding the Olympic Trials.

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Losing Weight in the New Year

When you go into a bookstore, ever notice how many books there are on weight loss?  They all propose to have the answer.  But they all say the same thing (well, except for The Cardio Free Diet—don’t listen to that one).  And they’re all full of fluff.  How else can these authors fill more than 200 pages?  Reading these books, you come away believing that weight loss is a complicated issue.  But weight loss is actually quite simple; it’s people who are complicated.  Losing weight is matter of expending more energy than you consume.  To lose one pound, you need to expend exactly 3,500 more calories than you consume.  What is misunderstood by so many is that you don’t have to use fat during exercise to lose fat from your waistline.  Exercise is predominantly a carbohydrate activity, as carbs are our bodies’ preferred fuel.  Weight loss is really all about the calories.  So, if you want to lose one pound per week in this new year, you need to expend an average of 500 calories more than you consume each day (500 x 7 = 3,500).  If you consume 2,000 calories per day, you need to expend an average of 2,500 calories per day to lose one pound per week.  That’s all you really need to know to lose weight.  Obviously, it’s easier said than done, otherwise no one would have trouble losing weight.  So, if you want to lose weight this year, make small goals—eat a bit less and exercise a lot more.  Focus on expending 500 calories more than you consume every day. 

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In Press...
Show Me The Treadmill: The Best Types of Cardio Equipment, my article that examines the research on the best cardio equipment for burning calories, appears in the January, 2008 issue of Fitness Management.

The Three Players of Distance Running: An In-Depth Look at Running Economy, Part 3 of my series that explores the physiology of distance running, appears in the Winter, 2008 issue of Track Coach, the official technical publication of USA Track & Field.

My Love Affair With Lactate, my article that explores the many myths and roles of lactic acid, appears in the Winter, 2007/2008 issue of The Coach, the United Kingdom’s track and field coaching magazine and online at Personal Training on the Net. 

Magic Muscles, my article that describes the physiology of muscles and how they work, appears in the Winter, 2007/2008 issue of Duke City Fit.

My Fitness News contributions on losing weight after childbirth, cardio equipment, and lifting enough weight to see results appear in the January, 2008 issue of Oxygen magazine. 

******************************************************************* New Year’s Message

While the beginning of a new year is usually a transition for many people, this new year is especially one for me.  Having completed my Ph.D., it is time to move on, both literally and metaphorically.  I’m leaving behind the comfortable student lifestyle and moving to a new and expensive location where I don’t know anyone and don’t have a traditional 9-to-5 job with a guaranteed salary.  It’s a risk, but one I am excited to take, as I try to make it on my own.  As you transition into this new year, take a few risks, and gain strength and momentum from your running to help you see those risks through.  Remember that while there may be a chance of failing, people take risks because the chance of failing makes success taste even sweeter.  Happy New Year! 

Coach Jason *******************************************************************

To view past newsletters, go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/newsletter.

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©2008 Dr. Jason Karp.