gone alpine

Assuming you read the article on endurance training, now specifically you want to do better in a specific area. Here you will learn how to...

train to run

Basics on running

~ What it takes to run. Getting out there and doing it, finding your motivation... and good knees.

WHERE DOES MY ENERGY COME FROM?

For marathon running/hiking/snowshoeing/: an average run/hike/trip takes pretty much 100% oxidative. At times it could be 5% immediate, 15% glycolytic and 80% oxidative.

For triathlon: each area differs - cycling 0% immediate, 10% glycolytic and 90% oxidative. Long distance running 100% oxidative. Swimming 10% immediate, 20% glycolytic and 70% oxidative.

In addition to eating a proper diet, you should also take dietary supplements to make sure that any nutrients you loose due to sweating or training are replenished. The following tables will help guide you in selecting the supplements appropriate for you. The first table lists the nutrients recommended for endurance track-and-field athletes, as well as the range of intake for each nutrient. Note that within the ranges of intake, the lower amounts are for smaller individuals and lower-activity days, while the higher amounts are for larger individuals and higher-activity days.

Diet!!! what are you eating???

~ Diet plays a very important role in muscle recovery and training. You need to pay close attention to your salt, electrolyte & calcium intake and protein. All of which are very important to your recovery and training. Your body will rob what it already has to build somewhere else if it is not getting what it needs from food. This will hinder your activity greatly! The robbing will come from precious muscle, which is protein. While exercising and training over 20 minutes you need to make sure you are taking in nutrients into your body. When you walk up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours your body burns a combination of what food you ingest and body fat. After your reach that mark at 1 1/2 to 2 hours your body just burns body fat. If you don't have much body fat, this plays even more of an important role. You need to bring some sort of nutrient with you while you are training. This doesn't mean you need to stop off and cook a meal. Learning how to eat and drink small amounts while training relieves your body of side aches and full bloating tummies, while your body gets the nutrients it needs to keep going.

Recommended nutrients & ranges of intake for runners:

    REMEMBER Salt is very important! You need to make sure you eat it. When your body sweats you loose salt. Salt in necessary to the body function. Kinda need salt to live. Its a proven scientific fact that salt does not lead to heart disease. In fact one needs plenty of salt in their diet especially if you are in any way sweating as an athlete. Salt is necessary to normal liver function, without salt your liver with shut down and life can not live without a liver. Also without salt in your diet you CAN drink too much water and become over hydrated. When your body can't release the excess water you run into lots of trouble. There was a woman that died during the Boston Marathon because she didn't have enough salt in her diet, her liver shut down and she expired right there on the  race course.  The only time one needs to be concerned is if there are issues with the Kidneys, this you should know if you make regular visits to your doctor.

Race and Marathon runners!

There are those of us that don't seem to think that leisurely jogs or  runs are enough, we have to go out and prove ourselves that we can run miles without killing ourselves.

~ What exactly is a marathon? Besides FREAKING NUTS! To answer it I have to quote it from one of my favorite training books, Jim and Phil Wharton say it beautifully. "No one knows the exact details of the origin, but it is generally accepted that the marathon commemorates Phidippides, an overly enthusiastic Greek messenger who ran 25 miles-from the plains of Marathon to Athens-to bring news of the victory of the Athenians against Darius the Great in 490BC. Phidippides arrived in Athens, shouted, "Rejoice! We conquer!" and dropped over dead. Now, that should have been the end of that, but some runner took a look at Phidippides incident and said, "Whoa! Killed him! Let's make a sport out of it and to it competitively!" The reason why the original 25 miles grew to the 26.2 is because of a request made from King Edward VII's youngest daughter, because she wanted to see the race from her throne. You would think that they would have reduced the race back to the original 25 but no... oops! "So today's marathon is set at 26.2 miles and is embraced by the running community as the ultimate challenge."

~ Event training. You will need to set aside time. It takes time to train for an event. This means you will have to cut into TV time and make it workout time. Do not underestimate the need for training! When planning your training, first you need days and time within those days. What days are you going to have to train. You will need to set aside one day as a long day, the rest as easy/medium days. Your final training month should look something like this:

So if you were running a marathon it would look something like this:

~ Importance of the weight room! You will need this to strengthen your core. The reason your core is important is because somewhere around the late miles your body is going to start to slouch. First your chin droops followed by your shoulders hunching over next it becomes impossible for you to stand let alone finish the race. By strengthening your upper body you train your muscles to stay upright and strong. Your stomach plays an important role in this by far. It also gives your body balance and strength to keep going. It all plays an important role in your endurance. Dedicate one day of your training to just upper body. Leave your legs out of it! They are getting enough of a workout, they can use this extra day to rest.

~ Rest days - VERY IMPORTANT! Rest days do not = weakness or no muscle building. On the contrary, these are the days your muscle actually builds. It takes 24-48 hours for your muscle to recover from the stress' it just encountered. If you over train you will actually cause muscle trauma and weaken muscle, joints and ligaments. By giving your body off days your body will heal quicker and you will be able to train stronger on your training days. This is also why you want one heavy training day to push your muscles past comfort and have medium to light days for building strength and endurance.

~ What does it take to do the Hood to Coast? If you remember when you were a teenager you will know, what it is like. Heavy activity all night long. This is a runners race that goes from Timberline lodge on Mt Hood to Seaside on the coast of Oregon. If you want to start doing races this is probably not the first one to jump into. However it is a good goal to do. You the participant have to run designated legs of the race leap frogging your team-mates as you make your way from Mt Hood to the coast, over the course of the evening/night until the entire team cross' the finish line.  For specifics ask Ken.

Read these articles for specifics on Biking, Backpacking, Climbing, Cross-training, Hiking, Snow-shoeing, Walking, and Nutrition.

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