Category: Health
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Analysing Your Training – Time in Zones
I’ve noticed that volume addicts tend to be carrying so much fatigue due to their “I MUST train” attitude that they end up slogging through most of their training below zone 2. It’s essential to assess whether you’re training appropriately for the goal or event you’re trying to target. A simple way to check your…
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Low Carbohydrate and Metabolic Flexibility
Metabolic flexibility and low-carbohydrate endurance exercise is a topic close to my heart because it’s what I researched during my PhD. Don’t like to read? watch the video or listen to the podcast at the bottom of the blog. When it comes to low-carb and endurance exercise I believe a lot of people are missing…
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Rest is Best
“Am I giving up on myself too easy? Am I being soft? Should I just do it?” The other day I was stuffed. It was a Tuesday evening, and I didn’t want to run, but I NEEDED to run because I’m in the middle of dedicated marathon training. To get motivated, I drove out to…
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A Deeper Look at Running Cadence
A scientific paper published at the end of 2018 presented some rather interesting data from the first field-based experiment of running cadence. The study looked at data from 20 athletes from the top 25 finishers at the 2016 100 km Running World Championships in Los Alcazares, Spain. Running cadence or stride frequency (SF) refers to…
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Finding My Threshold – Maximal Lactate Steady State Test.
Lactate is a commonly used term in endurance training, and generally, we use the term lactate when referring to “threshold” training or super hard efforts. Measuring the lactate concentration in our blood can give us insight into how physically demanding a task is. The lactate concentration in our blood acts as a proxy for the…
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How I Prescribe a Running Workout – Running Science
There are several factors I take into consideration when I’m prescribing a workout. What’s the goal? Who’s it for? What event are they doing? How does it fit into their plan? Is it too hard? For example, 10x 2km @ 90% threshold pace with 2min recovery no more than 60% threshold, Is a big session,…
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Coros Vs Garmin – 13 Reasons Why I’m Sticking with Garmin
After a few months of using my Coros Apex 46mm, I noticed Coros has a lot of catching up to do to get on par with Garmin’s features and third-party compatibility. Summary first; If you’re only interested in GPS, battery life and value for money, go for the Coros If you want features like Strava…
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Getting Started with a Running Power Meter
Step 1. Get a Running Power Meter My recommendation in order of preference. (I have no affiliation with any company) Stryd Foot Pod Garmin HRMrun, HRMtri, HRMpro Coros Watch Polar Watch Garmin run pod Apple Watch (Need at least WatchOS 9) Runscribe *Important for stryd users* Set your watch to use the Stryd as your…
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Scientifically Explaining My 3000m Run. Critical Power, Anaerobic Work Capacity and Specificity.
9:18:07 min, 3000m, 3:06min/km (4:83min/mile). Going into the race, my goal was to run under 9 minutes. It was an ambitious goal, to say the least. Not only was I amidst training for the 2021 Tarawera 102km Ultramarathon, but my previous 3000m performance was 9:45:87 (3:15min/km). I prepared by polarising (long slow | short fast)…
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Running Critical Power Calculator (rCP). Dr Will’s 1 & 5 method
When stryd uses it’s “auto-CP” it takes a 90-day window and applies a decay for 30-day segments. It appears like their calculation prioritises time in their calculations. The problem with using time is you only get a snapshot of a larger effort unless you specifically did a best effort for that time. An example is…