Tri & Run Community Forum

Walking is an awesome workout and does all of the things running does, it just takes longer. Walking is a complete workout and something your body can tolerate as you get older. It is also nice because you will find you can be more mindful while walking due to the fact that you are not thinking about your body as much. There are ways to up the calorie burn through speed, incline, time or varied terrain. As you age, strength training should be a priority along with walking so all of the stabilizing muscles can help the major muscles do their work. With walking you spend more time moving through your entire foot so stretching of the calf muscles, hips and hamstrings are good to stay on top of. Take your water, listen to a podcast or audio book and know that along with getting fresh air and vitamin D you are doing something great for your body and mind!

There are 2 things that will make or break a race. Pacing and nutrition. #1. incorrect pacing, going out too fast or trying to run faster than you are capable of. Hopefully this gets worked out in training as you do your long runs your body gets used to the fastest pace you can hold for the longest time. Typically you don't run faster in a race than you do in training...at least not for long. #2. Nutrition. Nutrition consists of CARBS, WATER and ELECTROLYES and I will speak of them separately. CARBS: can be in the form of gels, or gummies or jelly beans or in a powder in your water (note this does not replace hydration). You typically need 250 to 300 calories of carbs PER hour of running which would be 2 to 3 gels per hour. Starting at 45 mins to 1 hour of running and then taking one every 20 to 30 mins AS YOU HAVE DETERMINED works for you during training. Watch for signs and symptoms of low carbs. This will look like your energy dipping, can't maintain pace OR your brain starting to be negative..."I hate this", "can't wait for this to be over", "this sucks". WATER: we start at 32 ounces (1 liter) PER HOUR of running. If this seems too much you can use the calculation of: your body weight divided by 30 EVERY 15 MINS. Example: you weigh 150lbs, 150/30= 5, that would be 5 ounces of water EVERY 15 mins. The #1 predictor of a bad race outcome is dehydration. Signs & symptoms of dehydration is legs get heavy, you stop sweating, stomach upset, can't maintain your pace, red face. ELECTROLYTE: this is a buffered solution and can be taken as Nuun or as eLoad Tabs. We usually refer to the sodium content when we talk electrolytes and typically start women at 600mg PER HOUR of running, men at 800mg PER HOUR. Watch for signs and symptoms. If you have to pee frequently (more than every 2.5 hours), if your stomach gets upset when drinking water, if your fingers or toes swell, if your face turns red, if you get dizzy or lightheaded, if you have persistent muscle aches or a post run cough.

With the new lockdown in place, it is being suggested to wear a mask while exercising when you can’t social distance, even outside. Some worry that it is not safe while others just feel it is difficult. To begin with, it is perfectly safe, and knowing this might help you overcome the difficulty. The difficulty comes from rising CO2 levels and the perception that you need more oxygen. On the most basic of levels, breathing is about the exchange of gases: oxygen, and CO2. Most people perceive that to breathe comfortably they need more oxygen, as in they have run hard to the finish line, are gasping for air and they think more oxygen will make breathing easier. In fact, our breathing rate is regulated by accumulating CO2. If you hold your breath, your body continues to use oxygen to feed the cells, and the by-product, CO2 starts to accumulate. This accumulation triggers your breathing rate to increase, for you to open your mouth and expel the accumulated CO2. CO2 is tolerated by the body in varying degrees. If you live a stressful, running from a lion life and over breathe, your CO2 tolerance is low. If you breathe diagrammatically, through your nose, and live a rest and digest life your CO2 tolerance is higher. The level of tolerance can be adjusted with practice. Think swimming across a pool in one breath; at the beginning of the summer, you make it halfway across and by the end of the summer you can swim straight across. Your level of tolerance to accumulating CO2 has increased. So, let’s talk about running. When you transition from walking to running, your body uses up the supplied oxygen very quickly which causes a large spike in CO2 which causes an increased breathing rate to expel it. Once your heart rate catches up to the demand and you’ve expelled excess CO2 your breathing rate will come down. Your tolerance level determines how quickly your breathing rate increases and how much effort it takes. Like swimming, you can increase this tolerance level by nasal breathing while you run at easy efforts. When you put on a mask to run it will restrict this process making it feel harder and like you need more oxygen. I urge you to resist the impulse to concentrate on the inhale (oxygen) and instead purposefully concentrate on the exhale (blowing off CO2), this will also aid in diaphragmatic breathing. Slow down your effort so you can control the process better and when feeling like you need more oxygen try hyperventilating (rapid breaths) which is about decreasing CO2 levels. The first couple of runs will seem difficult and you will feel like you must go super slow but both things will make your running easier and/or faster in the long haul by improving your base and raising your CO2 tolerance level.