Home for the Holidays

     When you're an active-duty service member either being active or some flavor of AGR you get accustomed to spending the holidays at home (wherever that may be) or at a friend's house. For the past eight years we lived that life. We would spend Thanksgiving at one friend's house then host Christmas another time. We would budget time throughout the day to call/facetime family. As with any situation we adapt, our kids adapt. We become acclimated to this lifestyle. This isn't a complaining article. We accepted this lifestyle when I agreed to become AGR. The Army Gods were smiling on us when we got stationed at home. We are 40 min away from my parents and two hours (Northern Virginia traffic is included in the trip) from my wife's parents. We have spent the past two holidays with family, and it has been amazing.

    This morning for Christmas our boys opened Santa Clause presents. Played with their new toys. We are a board game/STEM type of family. We try to avoid electronics as gifts. We want our kids to incorporate other people into activities. 1) to learn new hobbies and 2) learn how to communicate with other people.

*Ever been in a group full of people that are constantly on their phones? Yep, it's terrible. Put the phone down and have an actual conversation. 

Around lunch time they asked when we were going to call the grandparents. We told them that we wouldn't be. They appeared sad but over the course of the years they have adapted. Instead, we told them....

Grandma and Grandpa were coming over to visit. 

They were ecstatic! 

For the first time in eight years, they would be spending Christmas with their grandparents!

They whole crew came over, grandma, grandpa, uncles, and cousins. 

We had a great time sitting around talking, catching up and playing with the kid's new toys. At one point the kids were playing with the cousins, and we were able to have uninterrupted adult conversation. For those with kids you know how valuable that time is. We were able to make plans for the next time to hang out. That was the coolest part about the evening. The ability to say, "What are you doing next week?"          

This was the first time in a long time that Christmas actually felt like Christmas.

5K running plan

  Building upon our recent posts about building an aerobic plan tailored around a specific goal. I took the past two articles about aerobic training and condensed them into a chart.

Training Type	Times per week	Duration	Intensity
Long, Slow Distance	1-2	Race distance or longer	Low. Talk test
Pace/Tempo	1-2	20-30 min	Slightly above race pace
Interval	1-2	3-5 min (W:R 1:1)	High
HIIT	1	30-90 seconds. (W:R 1:5)	High
Fartlek	1	20-60 min	Various

Putting these into a diagrammable plan for a 5K using all the principles we have been over so far 

5K Training block for a month

For this example we will use a recreational runner that only runs a few times a week for exercise. We will build a training plan for a month to prepare for a 5K. Since this is a recreational runner in-season, off-season and preseason will not be used. Tapering will not be used for this small sample size. Increased volume will follow 10% increase in weekly distance 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 1	LSD Run 2.25 miles Low intensity	Tempo 20 min 70-75%	Off	LSD Run 2.25 Miles Low	Tempo 20 Min 70%-75%	Fartlek 25 min Various	Off
Week 2	Tempo Run 22 min 70%-75%	LSD 2.50 miles Low	Off	Interval 400Mx5 H	LSD 2.50 miles	Tempo 22 min 70%-75%	Off
Week 3	Tempo 25 min 70%-75%	LSD 2.75 miles Low	Off	HIIT 30 sec.x5 Rest 150 sec	LSD 2.75 miles Low	Fartlek 30 min Various
Week 4	Tempo 25 min 75%-80%	LSD 3 miles Low		Interval 2min x5 H	LSD 3 Miles Low	Tempo 25 min 75%-80%	Off

Detraining vs Tapering

    The past two articles have focused on how to build an aerobic plan (the main focus has been running, but the principles apply towards other aspects of cardio) towards a goal. Another, aspect about building a plan is how to adjust training around the race. 

    Often times Detraining and Tapering are used interchangeably, however they have two distinct definitions when applying towards aerobic training.

   

    Detraining is the reduction in training or stopping training altogether. Often times it is due to a break in the training program, illness or injury. When the aerobic physiological adaptations are lost that's when detraining occurs  

 

    It is difficult to continuously run longer, and faster throughout the training year (unless your name is David Goggins). To prevent burnout or overtraining breaks are placed within the schedule to assist with recovery. In some cases, it is a week or two weeks. Two weeks will detract from top end speed but should not affect aerobic endurance Taking off a longer period due to illness or injury may play a factor depending on the seriousness of the illness or injury. Push comes to shove when adaptations are lost than detraining occurs. 

    Tapering on the other hand is systemic or planned reduction in duration or intensity in preparation for a race. Typically, tapering goes hand in hand with carb loading. Increasing carb intake while tapering will ensure your glycogen levels will be topped off before the big race to maximize performance. Typically, tapering is conducted 7-28 days before the race. Various factors such as training, training experience, race distance or how you are tapering all play a factor in the length of tapering. 

    The style of tapering can be conducted in three different ways: Linear, step and progressive. Linear is the gradual reduction of training throughout the taper. For example, three weeks out before a race I'll drop a mile off my training regime until the race. On the other hand, step is the abrupt reduction in training. Typically, it is a 50% drop in training then maintaining that distance. If my training runs are 8 miles in preparation for a 5K then I'll run four until the race. Progressive reduction is gradual reduction by 10%-15% immediately then gradually from there. In other words, it is the combination of linear and step. An example would be taking 8 miles down to 7 then 6 then 5, etc. etc.

    As you can see progressive tapering would take longer tapering period considering the gradual drop off while step is more abrupt and can be conducted in a shorter time period.        

Types of running explained part two

     In part one of this series, we covered long, slow, distance runs, and Pace/Tempo runs. In part two, we will cover Intervals, High intensity interval training (HIIT) and Fartlek trainings. 

Without further ado

Interval training

    If you remember intermediate pace training from a previous article you recall how we broke down our goal race into blocks and trained at a certain time. Interval training is similar with some added additions. A more concrete work to rest ratio and higher intensity. If intermediate pace training is hitting certain times within a "round" interval training is performed at a higher tempo and typically associated with time instead of distance. An example would be 1 min of running with 1 min or light jogging. Or running two min with two min of light jogging to recover. As you may have noticed it is at a work to rest ratio of 1:1 with shorter duration of three to five minutes. Since these are performed at higher intensity with low rest periods it is understood to not have full capacity when training thus making them very stressful. Due to increased stress, it is recommended to only preform these one to two times a week. The idea is to squeeze more training into less time. 

HIIT

HIIT training is interval training on steroids. Interval training is performed at a higher intensity. HIIT is all out effort for a time period then resting for a longer duration. It is recommended to perform these at 1:5 work to rest ratio. Meaning that if I all out sprint for 30 seconds then I would rest 150 seconds. On these types of runs you want a longer rest period to ensure the next round is performed. Optimally, you would want to spend several minutes above 90% Vo2 max during the workout. When used correctly, HIIT will boast your speed at the end of the race during that final kick. Since we are using all-out effort during these runs it is recommended to only use this style once a week.

Fartlek

    The last style of run is fartlek training. Fartlek comes from the Swedish word for speed play which means altering speeds during your run. An example could be running for five min then sprinting for thirty seconds then lightly jogging for two min then running for four min and so on and so forth. This is designed to break up the monotony of training. Or in some cases it can be used if your body isn't quite there to perform another type of running. Look, we all have a plan to run fast when we run then during the run we just don't have it. This happens. When it does-slow it down-then speeds up then slow it down. It is an effective tool in the tool bag. For Fartlek training aim to perform these runs at least once a week.   

    

    

Types of running explained

     So, you have decided to start running. Cool Beans. Want some advice? I assume you do since you are reading this post.

    1. Have a goal. 

    That one is fairly obvious but often overlooked when it comes to building an aerobic or more specific an aerobic plan. Pick a local race. 5K, 10K or if you're feeling ambitious a half marathon. Set the date a few months out then start your training. Running willy nilly without a goal may get you to where you want but if you weren't running anyway then is the discipline really there? However, if you have a goal, tell a few friends then that consistent reminder to train is there. That is of course that your friends will support you in such a manner to get going. Devoted people tell you what you want to hear, loyal people tell you what you want to hear. Additionally, have a time goal. I want to run a 5K in ___ or run a 10K in ___ (more on this later)

2. Plan your runs

    Have a running plan. This will keep you "into" the workout. Ever been on the way to the gym and not know what you're going to do? How was that workout? missing that little something? Same applies to running. There are five types of running you can do: Long, Slow, Distance, Pace/Tempo, Interval, HIIT and Fartlek. 

Long Slow Distance (LSD)

    Plan this type of run strategically, bring a friend, bring a chatty friend. One, since these are longer, slower runs it helps to have someone pass the time and two, these types of runs are more for distance instead of speed. Whatever goal you had in mind this is where it plays a factor. You want these runs to be longer than your race. For example: If you're doing a 5K race than plan your LSD runs to be longer than the race distance. In terms of distance, you want to be at 70% Vo2 Max or a more trackable data point: 80% of Max heart rate ((220-age)/.80). By doing these types of runs you are improving your mitochondrial energy production (Krebs cycle), greater oxidative capacity of your skeletal muscles, increased utilization of fat for fuel, and improve lactate threshold. Or in non-nerdy fitness terms: training your legs to be able to withstand the race distance.

    The downside to LSD runs is the low intensity. When you do a race, you want to run it fast, not slow. Also, it does not recruit the type of muscle fibers needed for a faster pace.

    Overall, these are good runs, and it is recommended to incorporate these at least once or twice a week.

Pace/Tempo

    These are fast runs. Like race pace runs. Whatever the time you have as a goal. Try to hit that goal in your runs. Pace/tempo runs should be at the pace that is pushing your body without slowing down. Pace/tempo runs can be accomplished two ways: steady and intermediate. Steady is running at the same pace throughout the duration of the run. Intermediate is breaking down the race into segments, then breaking down pace into those segments. Let's say I want to run a 5K with each mile at 8 min pace. I could run a mile in 8 min or faster, take a break then run another mile at that pace. Using the 5K example it could be 8 min miles in 2 min every 400 meters. I could run a 400 (or one lap) in 2 min. Take a break then run another lap in 2 min. 

    Pace/Tempo are designed to increase your lactate threshold. By increase your lactate threshold you are able to run at a faster pace for a longer duration. Additionally, you are improving your running economy (your running form). So, you are able to run more efficiently and higher intensity. In more basic terms you are training your body to sustain running at a higher intensity.

    It is recommended to use these types of runs once or twice a week.