Using a Heartmonitor to Mitigate Over-training

I’ve lately begun running with a heart monitor to see where I am from an aerobic/anaerobic standpoint.  Being analytical by nature, I have always been interested in trying to improve my speed as well as while working on a balanced training regimen.

Source: dcrainmaker.com

I am now learning, though, that I am not balanced between the two.  For example, I do cycle between home and work and log and average of 16 miles a day.  With the exception of a couple decent hills on the way home, it is pretty flat.  When I run during lunch, I have found using the heart monitor, I run an average 9:12 pace and an average 133 beats per minute, well within an my optimum aerobic range.  So it was a bit of a surprise when I came across some of the warning signs that I had been over-training aerobically.   I came across the Soc-Doc website which discussed aerobically over-training. The Soc-Doc outlines these signs in his blog here.

So when I look back to July and September, the months when I had huge insomnia and anxiety issues, were preceded by huge mile increases in June and August. That, combined with the added stress of getting used to a new job in a new industry, was a deadly combination.

Aerobic over-training is different from anaerobic over-training.  According to the Soc-Doc, when you over-train aerobically, you increase your cortisol (the stress hormone).  The affect causes the above warning signs.  Anaerobic over-training affects how your body metabolizes glycogen.  This affects how your muscles are feed and rebuild which causes things to break, like tissue and ligaments.

Took a wrong turn, need balance here!

Compare this to a couple of runner friends I have.  They are the ones that do very little if any training.  While running for years, when training for a marathon, they are haphazard in when and how long they run.  Their longest long run may be 12 to 15 miles.  Now you know why it is frustrating to my wife and I when they run a sub-4 marathon.  However, their lack of training comes with a cost.  They tend to catch every bug that comes around and are very injury prone.  They typify anaerobic over-training.

Really balanced training requires balance in both anaerobic and aerobic work. 

To improve your endurance, long runs (not at race day speed) are important; this requires building up your cardiovascular system through the long hours of Aerobic exercise. Using a heart monitor will help you slow down and keep within a healthy range so that you are maximizing the oxygen you are receiving while economizing your glycogen.  Typically you want to be between 70% and 80% of your maximum heart rate..

Speed work is also very important to build up your V02Max as well as increase your lactic threshold and adding speed work also helps to improve the efficiency of your run. This can be done in many ways: 

This is just part of the over 400 Filbert Street Steps

• Running hills or steps. (love the hills and of course the Filbert St. steps!)
• Sprinting 20 or 30 seconds, with 60 to 90 seconds of recovery, 4 or 5 times. 
• Running Yasso 800
• Or other high intensity intervals, plyometric exercises. 

However, this is where a heart monitor really comes in handy.  To properly know if you are running anaerobically and to best test your V02Max you need to sustain running at 80% to 90% of your maximum heart rate for 20 seconds to 2 minutes.

To calculate my maximum heart rate, I used the following trusty calculation: 220 minus my age.  While it is pretty easy to calculate your thresholds, I found the following calculator helpful in getting my exact range.  

Now I will say, I am still getting used to the heart monitor.  Tricks like making sure the sensors are wet (by licking them I might add) at the start of the run, where to place the monitor so I don’t feel it when I run, etc. have been challenging.  However, I am learning a lot.  I also can better understand as my pace increases if I am keeping the balance or beginning to over-train.  Hopefully I can use this information to really fine-tune my running going forward and reduce my efficiency.

That said, while I am not a doctor, sports medicine specialist, or even a trainer, the above information I have found useful and am now adding to my training regimen.  I highly recommend anyone reading this to do their own research and  if have questions to contact their health care professional.

So do you use a heart monitor when you train?  And when did you realize you had over-trained?

Wake Me Up When September Ends.....

So to say that September was a monster is an understatement.  Two rounds of colds, insomnia, magnitude 11 self-induced anxiety, meant not a lot of running or cycling.  And even though I tried to run the Diablo Half-marathon to the top of Mt. Diablo, I could only manage 4 messily miles to mess up my Athlinks profile.

1 mile down, really can I climb another 3,000 feet?

And as you can tell by my  non-existent blogging I really haven't been in the running mood.  It is really funny what your body does when it is under stress and how much exercise is tied up more with your psychological state than your physical state.  I have always known that about myself.  It basically comes down to letting the "I can'ts" outnumber the "I cans." The scary thing is that I know my ability and limits, I just loose my confidence in what I know.

Crazy can didn't.

So last week I was able to finally break out of the doldrums and ran a couple of times.  It was nice and it really felt good; however, I could definitely see that I have lost some of my base.  Meanwhile, my wife is blazing trails all over Mt. Diablo, which for me means I have a lot of catching up to do!!

Anxiety is a killer.  The solution is balance with a spiritual feeding program as well as physical exercise.  But isn't funny that the things that would help us out the most are the things that we minimize.

So later this month I will be running the Rocky Ridge 10K with my daughter followed the next day with a Footfeathers hill running clinic (which my wife got for me for our 15th wedding anniversary, I am so very excited thank you love!!).   However, I have a lot of re-conditioning on my plate till then.  So I am glad that the "I can'ts" are under control for the time being. 

To more blogging and running this month!!

Cha Cha Cha Changes........

 

 Over the last year there have been so many changes.  I was laid-off from a company that I had worked at for 12 years, in an industry I worked in for 14 years.  I was out of work for 3 months, started a job in the wine industry, and came to a “mutual understanding” that it wasn’t a good fit.  And now I am working for the largest open access mega science research journal in the world.

So much time has wreaked havoc on what used to be a pretty set schedule.  Keep in mind that I used to ride my bike to work, which was 8 miles each way, and my wife would run with me at lunch.  Since I worked close to home, and I am a “farmer” as one manager called me because I get to work early, I would be home at 5PM.   From a fitness standpoint this was ideal. 

However a year before I was laid-off, the stress of the job started to weigh.  This was about the time the first wave of lay-offs began.  In the end, the company ended up reducing its staff by 60 percent.  This is when I started to notice, despite my fitness regimen, my weight beginning to creep up.  Mind you at the time this meant I went from 177 to 186 (I am 6’1”).  My problem was that in the new division I was in, they provided its staff with a “goody drawer”.  So I could rationalize eating some peanut M&Ms, gummy bears, Jelly Bellies, because I needed to fuel up.  At this point I was running 25 miles a week and 65 miles on my bike.  But really this was stress eating.

Hey I just ran 4 marathons in 1 year, one sundae wouldn't hurt!?!

I gained another 6 pounds during my time off.  Since my schedule was thrown off, I did get a lot of bike riding in as well as running.  At Long Beach, I missed my half marathon PR by 6 minutes; however I was still happy with 1:56.

Then I began driving to work for the first time in 15 years to Napa.  I mean this does sound a bit spoiled; however, I have really enjoyed being able to ride my bike at least to the BART station, less to work.  On the train, you can be much more productive (like writing this blog, reading, sleeping, etc.) and you can justify your exercise since it is tied into your transportation.  When you drive to work, basically you are sitting, listening, and probably eating something.  I thought it was really interesting that a study came out about this time on how people who have commutes over 25 minutes are typically obese.

Sloshing through the mud at Diablo Challenge 2011.

Then you have the whole wine industry culture.  To work in wine is to celebrate life through food and drink.  So it wasn’t uncommon to have food available to snack on. That, combined with starting during November, I saw my weight expand from 192 to 206.  This was even with running 25 miles plus a week during lunch and training for the Napa Marathon and the Diablo Challenge Ultra Marathon.

In fact,  due to the extra weight and over-training to compensate for not bicycling, I added over an hour to my time from last time. 

That job ended with me out of work for an additional month.  But now I am back to what I consider a healthier commute, while longer.  I am back riding my bike over 80 miles a week as well as running down the Embarcadero in San Francisco at lunch for an additional 27 miles a week. Yes I now cover over 100 miles under my own manpower. I work of a company that provides fresh fruit to snack on as well as nuts. Have restarted tracking my food and am accountable for what I eat.  I have refocused on eating highly nutritional foods, instead of processed foods. Yet, I have only lost four pounds in 6 weeks. 

There can be a couple of reasons for this: I am sleeping less ( 5.5 hours to 6 hours of sleep at night), I may have cut back too much on my calorie intake, and I am 4 years older from when I was my lightest.  Also, if weight were the only thing to judge, I wouldn’t take into consideration that the last time I was in the 200’s I was wearing size 38 waist jeans, not size 34, and that my legs (and the abs below the flab) are lean.

Not as fit as I would have liked.

But here is the lessons learned.  You cannot underestimate what a change in your schedule can do to your fitness and diet.  While you may feel you are adapting to the change, your body and habits really will show quickly how really you are dealing.  Also, you cannot make justifications in eating habits due to the exercise level you are at.  Again, the body will adapt and if you are “carbbing up” with quick burn fuel (comfort food) instead of high nutrient, high quality foods, you will end up in a nasty cycle.  Also, to maintain a healthy body weight is work, and will always be work.  Don’t give up or rationalize that it is acceptable to be unhealthy because you are a victim of your schedule or what life throws at you.  

If you identify a roadblock, stop talking about it and do something about it.  For example, I have a leak under my kitchen sink.  I know what the problem is,  I know what I need to do to fix the problem, I have even bought the repair kit.  While I don’t have the tool to fix the leak, I know what tool I need.  However, after months of having the leak, I still have a bucket under the drain. Why?  Because it is easier to empty the bucket instead of invest in the tool or the time I need to fix the problem.

Life is the same way.  If you do not make time or have the right tool, you will always be talking about how you need to fix your health and diet; however, you will always be taking the shortcut without fixing the underlining problem.

What 177 looks like with my beautiful wife and son.

My journey back to 177 will take a while; losing weight always takes longer than gaining it, especially as you age.  It may even be an unrealistic goal, with the proper focus being on achieving on how lean I am and if I can improve my running.  That said,  I am making the adjustments now to reach my fitness goals.  These include completing my first 50K, running a half marathon under 1:50 and a marathon under 4:30. I also want to do a Century bike ride as well as a triathlon.  And finally, I want to hold out as my big audacious goals and test my limits being able to run a 50 miler and a 70.3 Ironman.   If I keep this goals in mind, I will always be conscious of the changes that are affecting my health and fitness and adjust accordingly.

What are your health and fitness goals?  And how are you going to test your limits?

I little bit about myself!!!!

I have been thinking for quite some time blogging about what has helped me successfully maintain a healthy lifestyle.  I am not sure why. 

So about me.  I was pretty skinny when thru my teens.  I stayed pretty active, liked bicycling; however, I was not in anyway an athletic person.  In fact, my only blemish on my report cards in middle and high school was my C's in P.E. 

It wasn't until my sophomore year in high school that I had any glimmer of liking running.  This was at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington.  This is the French castle high school that was featured in the movie "Ten Things I Hate About You."  The funny thing is that this school wasn't known for its sports program.  Until 1984 hadn't won a single football game since 1968. It was known more for its academics, its arts program, and its award winning orchestra.

This is where I learned about trail running.  We would do this once a week and then were given the option on Friday's to choose an activity. I typically chose running.  I liked that it wasn't boring.  That the terrain was constantly changing and that some thought had to go on every foot placement.  Running through the autumn leaves or the moss and Washington drizzle was extremely peaceful.

As a junior and senior we were not required to take P.E, and while I enjoyed it for the first time they year prior, I opted for the school newspaper.

In my twenties I was back to riding my bicycle.  But this was only when it wasn't raining, in Washington, the rain capital of the world.  This meant bicycle riding from May through October.  This also meant weight swings of 35 pounds, in about 185 in the summer and 220 in the winter.  This and unhealthy eating habits finally caught up with me.  I stopped bicycling regularly by the time I was 28 and the weight kept building.

In 1999 we moved to the Bay Area.  Perfect climate, close to Napa, the Sierra's, Monterey, near the ocean.  We did a lot of exploring.  A lot of eating out.  We probably ate at a restaurant at least once a week.  We would eat fast food at least every other day for convenience.  The one of our favorite meals was cheesy hasbrown hamburger helper.

I topped out at 285 when my first daughter was born.  This was 2002  I was able to bring down and maintain my weight to 262 pounds.  We joked back then that our daughters first words were Taco Bell and "Jumbo Jack, two tacos, and a large diet coke easy ice,".  That should have been the biggest clue to how unhealthy and unbalanced our choices had become.

I would go on diets, primarily the high protein diets. Most of the time I would loose 20 to 30 pounds, but once I reached a goal, I would pop right back up.  I tried Weight Watchers with my wife.  In fact we both were battling our weight.  I walked the hills in San Francisco.  We would walk around a local reservoir.

But we would always gain back our weight.....

What would finally do it?