FastForward Sports Weblog
More Great Stuff from the F4 Coaching Staff

Wednesday, August 05, 2009


From TRI Coach Heidi Smith’s Weekly Group E-mail:

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and are enjoying our recovery week!  After we have finished our hard work from weeks past it is time to taper and restore our bodies for the upcoming race. During a taper period our bodies and minds can do all sorts of things.  We may expect to feel energized and itchy to race as the week go on, and although sometime we do, it is quite common to feel sluggish.  In the article on tapering for an IM, Mark Allen points out how many athletes tend to feel during taper time and tells tells us to “Give yourself the luxury of this less-than-stellar feeling. It is just a signal that your body is repairing itself and getting ready for a big effort.” Read more below:

Taper is tricky because of what is happening internally when our bodies try to recover. When athletes start to give themselves rest, the system in the body that responds to stress (which is the system that allows you to get up for big workouts) starts to shut down. It is like working on the engine of your car. You cannot have the engine running at the same time that you are giving it an overhaul. You have to shut the engine off.

The same is true for our bodies. You have to shut the “engine” off for it to recover and charge up in the way that it needs to be ready for the big race. And when you do this, you will probably feel like you are out of energy, sluggish, and getting out of shape. THIS IS NORMAL.

Give yourself the luxury of this less-than-stellar feeling. It is just a signal that your body is repairing itself and getting ready for a big effort. We do this naturally each night when we sleep. We get a mini-taper. You sleep and you recover. You are not working out when you are sleeping.

But during the taper, a lot of the recovery is going to happen in the day when you are used to working out. This will require a readjustment of mindset. Allow yourself to feel lousy, out of energy, and sluggish. This is what a taper is for. Resist the temptation to go out and test your fitness just to make sure you are not losing it. As best as you can stick to the planned reduction in volume and overall intensity. This is the toughest part of a taper – the rest. …

For full article:   http://www.triathlontrainingarticles.com/Taper.html

This article can be true; I know for me this is often the case.  One other article stated that 50% of people who were tapering felt sluggish while the other 50% were energized. There is no right way to feel.  The important things is to look back on hard work you have done and know that you will cash it in for a solid journey on Sunday.  Your job now is to rest, recover, stretch, pamper yourself…

For some of you this is your first Half and I am so excited for you!  I am tempted to say this may be my favorite distance.  The thing I love about the Half Ironman is that it is more like a journey than a “race.”  the Half is not something you just go guts out but you set a sustainable pace, and keep clippin away. When you think you’re feeling tried you’ll get a second wind.  If you keep your eyes open you’ll make a couple friends along the way.  We have worked on strategy for fueling and hydration as well as our mental training throughout the season.  We have invested in challenging workouts and races that have boosted our fitness.  Yes, you said it, you are pre-recorded for success!

I look forward to sharing the journey with you on Sunday weather you will be on the race course, volunteering (thank you!! you guys are awesome!!!!) or there in spirit.  I will be thinking and rooting for you!

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From RUN Coach Anna’s Weekly Group E-mail:
Happy Recovery Week!

Some things to remember about recovery weeks:

1. It is helping even if you can’t feel anything.  As I was saying at the end of the run today.  Recovery is actually what makes us stronger.  Every time we workout, we tear down our muscles a little bit, and it is during recovery that the muscle repairs itself and gets a chance to grow back stronger.  So of course we all remember that from 8th grade health.  But the part to keep in mind is that although the 24 hours in between workouts during a normal week of training is important, it is also crucial to have slight longer recovery periods every so often as well.  Like this week!  Sometimes, our body does not a get a chance to repair everything back to 100% after each workout and some fatigue and deep tissue damage can linger. This week your body will get a chance to do not just the day to day repairs but a basic system over-haul if you will.  This will give it a chance to go in and actually repair any lingering damage that needed a little extra time and attention – stuff we often are not even aware is there!

2. Feed and take care of yourself just like you would on a pretty demanding week – give your body what it needs to do that repair work! Eat really well, try to get some extra sleep, and definitely hydrate.  Remember the gas tank analogy from today - don’t use all your fuel for the running, keep it for recovery purposes this week!

3. Use the extra time wisely.  Sometimes recovery weeks can make us antsy.  So try to be deliberate about how you spend some of your free time and extra energy.  Maybe look up new recipes for good running fuel meals, maybe make your own granola bars you can freeze and use for running snacks in the next couple of weeks, when you don’t have time and are tempted to grab something less healthy.  Maybe catch up on your training log, which has been neglected (hint, hint) or fill out that health form that you were supposed to give to your F4 running coach weeks ago! ;)   Maybe actually do your exercises for those shin splints and ice three times a day!  Buy new running shoes cuz you know they are old, and old sneakers can cause over-use injuries….Ah! how I could go on!  My point is, don’t sit around feeling antsy, if you feel the need to do something, do something fun that motivates you for your training even more!!

4.  If you are having trouble deciding whether to go harder or easier on a given workout this week, definitely go with easier.  Give yourself some extra walk-breaks if you feel tired, if you have had an injury that has been nagging take one of your X-train days as an extra rest day and stretch, roll and ice that injury.  If you are not sure how fast to be running, slow down!   Don’t worry what you will gain from the recovery far out weighs any fitness you think you are losing (which you aren’t by the way)  you will come back even stronger for it!

5. Talk to me! If you are having trouble taking it easy, talk to me! I will give you permission, and sometimes that makes it easier, so if you are waffling about whether to take an extra day off this week, or whether or not to go slower or shorter, send me an e-mail and I will be very willing to encourage you to take it easy! :)

Lastly, in case you did not catch the not so subtle hints earlier, this week would be a perfect chance to fill out that health form so you can get it to me next week, or buy new shoes, because I am going to start checking foot gear!

Some Thoughts also on Fuel/sports drink/weight gain or loss

1.  If you are feeling weak, light-headed, dizzy after a race – there is a good chance you need some water, electrolytes, food or all three.  Some ways to prevent this yucky feeling is to hydrate and fuel in advance of an extra long, or hard workout – I am not saying go to town three days beforehand on whatever looks or sounds good. but actually pay attention to the food you are eating and make sure it is nutritious and make sure you have a water bottle with you and you are hydrating beforehand.
After the run is a good time to keep drinking water, sports drink, and have a snack immediately, followed by a pretty nutritious healthy meal almost as soon as you can stomach it.  if you are trying to lose weight, this is NOT the right time to cut calories, you can be healthy, but make sure you give your body what it needs (more on this later)
2. What to eat/drink when/how…good questions and unfortunately, you are the only one who can answer those questions for you.  Some GENERAL guidelines are have some sports drink and/or goos and/or shot blocks or other fuel once your run exceeds an hour. Aim for a sports drink that has something in it other than sugar.  Try some of the samples Scott brings for us in the truck!  Just sugar will give you highs and lows which can sort of mess with your run or race.  Now the rest is up to you.  Try different drinks and see what you can stand – the point is to consume it, so if you hate it, and don’t drink it, I don’t care how much it cost it is doing you no good! So find something you like.  decide for yourself at what point you feel better having a sports drink as opposed to just water – maybe it is an hour, maybe it is only 30 minutes -each of us is going to vary a bit on WHEN a sports drink is a good idea. Also figure out what sort of food fuel you like, and when it starts being a good idea – maybe if you are running for an hour and a half or more you will need fuel.  Remember the point is to give your body what it needs before it actually needs it, so if you know you need a sports drink for anything over an hour, you start sipping that sports drink within the first 10 minutes of the run, so by the end of the run you are still going strong, you don’t just drink it after an hour has passed, same thing with food, if you know you will need fuel on the run, figure out at what interval works for eating and start eating when it works – that could be 20 minutes in to a 2 hour workout – but you know you will need that fuel later and need to get it started….Try lots of stuff, see what tastes and feels good, and please ask if you have questions!
3.  Weight loss and fueling for success.  I want to say right way I am not a nutritionist.  If you are serious about wanting to learn more about nutrition and training, I can recommend books and nutritionists are great to talk to!! But some basics:
a. Don’t skimp as a method to lose weight.  This doesn’t work for a number of reasons.  first our body is sensitive to not getting enough food, if it senses it is not getting what it needs, it slows down your metabolism, which makes you sleep and lazy and basically prepares to conserve energy and fuel.  Our fat stores are viewed as very important to the body and it will not give them up easily -especially if it is afraid you are starving.  So DON’T cut back on healthy amounts of healthy foods you know you should be eating…If you feed your body regularly healthy stuff, it will allow any speeding of your metabolism to happen naturally, which will burn more calories and will allow you to lose a few pounds if that is a healthy decision.
b.  Make sure you fuel properly for longer and harder workouts especially.  Again, don’t skimp, as these workouts will go less well if your body is lacking nutrition, you will not get the fitness benefit you were looking for, you will be more prone to injury and it won’t be fun! Know that after a workout like this your metabolism can stay elevated for hours! So if you are healthy you will burn plenty of calories without starving your body during the workout.
c.  A calorie is a calorie.  I know there is a lot of discussion out there as to what pace burns the fat and what pace burns carbs.  Yes there is some truth to that, but the easiest thing to remember is a calorie is a calorie, try to make as many of your calories good ones and you will feed good, and know that almost anything excess you put in can and will be converted into fat and stored regardless, so the balance is burn about as many calories as you consume or burn A FEW (and only a few) more then you consume each day to lose weight.  Yes, you might be running in the carb burning zone for a given workout, but the harder you run, overall the harder it is on your body and the more fuel it will burn, which means calories are being burned regardless, who cares where it comes from, it is burned! Plus those harder workouts keep your metabolism up for several hours like we talked about, so even if you are burning carbs in the moment, your body will probably resort to burning fat again after you cool down.
As always, let me know if you have questions!
Anna


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Lactate Threshold Explained… Sorta

Tuesday, August 04, 2009


The below was written by F4 Coach  and Exercise Physiologist Adam St. Pierre.

In 1922 scientists determined that lactate was produced when carbohydrate broke down in an anaerobic environment. They also saw that increasing energy expenditure resulted in acidosis, decreasing pH of the cell.Their research never proved that lactate production resulted in acidosis, but a cause and effect relationship was assumed and not questioned for nearly 80 years!

During exercise, ATP is broken down into ADP and a phosphate molecule, releasing a hydrogen ion in the process. Under aerobic (moderate and low intensiy exercise) exercise, these hydrogen ions are used for cellular energy production. During high intensity exercise you produce more hydrogen ions than you can use for energy production and they build up in the cell. This build-up decreases the pH of the cell (increase the acidity). This acidity has been referred to by athletes and coaches as “the BURN.” I will now try to explain why lactate is not the cause of the BURN.

During intense exercise, the body breaks down carbohydrate and stored muscle glycogen to form energy quickly through glycolysis. The end product of glycolysis is pyruvate and ATP. As pyruvate builds up in the cell, energy production slows so the body converts some of that pyruvate to Lactate (pyruvate+2hydrogen ions=lactate). Lactate production is a result of cellular acidosis, not a cause. Lactate is actually a buffer molecule that serves to delay the onset of acidosis and fatigue.

So why do we even bother measuring blood lactate or talking about a lactate threshold? Despite lactate not causing fatigue, it is a good marker for fatigue (and relatively easy to measure). As you exercise harder (i.e. run faster) you produce more energy through glycolysis, therefore you produce more pyruvate, therefore you produce more lactate. Lactate leaves the muscle (pyruvate can not) and enters the blood stream where it can be taken up by other cells and used for energy (lactate can be converted back to pyruvate and used for energy aerobically (in the same way fats are used for energy). Eventually you reach your maximum sustainable energy generating capacity, called the lactate threshold. Above this speed/effort lactate begins to accumulate in the blood, it is still being produced but not being removed as quickly.

Dr. George Brooks from UC-Berkekely’s Physiology Department has done some research showing that IV infusion of lactate during exercise actually improves performance.

This kind of research excites me. At this point in time we do not know what causes fatigue. Scientists love having a question to answer!

We do know that Lactate has gotten a bad rap for a long time. Lactate is not the cause of fatigue, rather lactate is an easily measured compound that is created by your body during high intensity exercise in an effort to prolong fatigue. Lactate is a valuable molecule, essential for life and exercise.



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Coach Mark Loehr’s Next Challenge

Monday, August 03, 2009


Thanks Mark for your outstanding coaching this season and for epitomizing the true spirit of the FastForward athlete these past few years.  All the best in your next venture… I’m sure we’ll see you at the races!

Fellow Athletes, Coaches and Friends

Farewell to FastForward

After months of part time looking, I have finally found my next corporate challenge. I accepted a new position that will give me the opportunity to build a consulting team for a small software company, which will be both challenging and rewarding. I really look forward to the new position.

Unfortunately, with all good news comes some bad news. I will be relocating to Atlanta over the next month. Leaving Boulder, my sister and her family, and my extended F4 family was the toughest part of the decision.

It was less than 5 years ago that I ran my very first half marathon during FastForward’s inaugural season (at 180 lbs.). Though never really fast, I fell in love with running and a year later was introduced to triathlons. It was the awesome coaching and guidance in that first triathlon year that really solidified the sport as a lifestyle for me (thanks Kitty!!). Just three years after that first 5430 Sprint, I crossed the line in Madison to become an Ironman. It was the crossing of that line that made me realize that if I can do this, anyone that wants to do a triathlon can!

Shortly after the Ironman finish, Scott and I discussed coaching a group. He agreed to give me the opportunity to assist with the Holiday program, and then as an assistant to Dean during the Canyonlands this past spring. I loved it!! Being able to share my experiences with fellow runners was great. During this time, I received my Level 1 certification from USAT and this spring, I coached my own group. I still love it, even more now! Working through everything from sore muscles to “too much travel and work” to “how do I setup my transition?” has been the best part.

So many people, over the past 5 years, have made a major impact on me and my life through this program. They are far too numerous to mention here, but THANK YOU to each. It is this support, confidence, encouragement, friendship, camaraderie and fun that I will always remember! Many people ask me “how do you manage to get through being laid off and for so long?” and the easiest answer is “surround yourself with happy, motivated, endorphin high athletes”. To me it is the prescription needed to get through the toughest times.

The one person I can not thank enough is Scott Fliegelman . As mentioned, Scott gave me the opportunity to pursue a career I have found more rewarding than anything in the corporate world. It still amazes me how he remembers SO many people’s names!! First being coached by Scott and then coaching for him, he REALLY cares about each and every athlete. He is always willing to lend a hand with anything that comes up. Thanks Scott!

Who knows what the future brings? I will be traveling with the new job and back in CO as often as possible and I am sure our paths will cross again, so please keep in touch! If you are ever in the Atlanta area, look me up. I plan to keep the same phone number, 303-564-0349 and my email is (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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