At this point of the year, for many, it’s worth considering a period of regeneration.

If you are a track based endurance athlete, the end of August and into September may signal the ‘natural’ time to take your foot off the proverbial gas and to begin to plan your winter season over the mud and/ or to look ahead to racing on the indoor boards.

If you are a road runner, the above may be more difficult and may require the overt prompt of this article for you to consider when might be appropriate to do so as you are far more likely to be sucked into the continuous cycle of pounding the pavements in your preparation for the next road race and the one after that and so on. Road relays are coming up though…

Burnout

As you read this you may be on the crest of a proverbial wave. You may feel that you can just carry on riding the wave of your current form until you fall off your surfboard at some point.

This being said the consequences of taking such an approach can be potentially catastrophic according to the research findings expressed in a recent sports science paper which tacked the issue of athlete ‘burnout’.

Glandorf, H. et al. (2023) Mental and physical health outcomes of burnout in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis, provides much food for thought in this context.

As recently as last year, for example, the World Health Organisation’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases listed ‘burnout’ as an occupational hazard. Whilst very few of you reading this will earn a living from running, if you add up the cumulative weekly hours spent training on the early morning shakeout trots, the long Sunday run and the half an hour of yoga you do before bedtime, for example, I bet it adds up to what you’d do as a part-time job.

Sometimes you just to take a bit more time on the sofa and take advice from our four legged friends.

Allostatic Overload

There are various ways in which you can over train in terms of running too frequently, at too high an intensity or simply too much volume. This being said simply continuing for extended periods of months on end without regeneration periods can also result in loss of form and eventually ‘burnout’.

Way back in 1986, Smith posited the cognitive–affective model of athletic burnout to explain how prolonged stressors can lead to psychological, emotional and physical withdrawal from both competitive and recreational sport. The yellow traffic lights are there in terms of higher risks of injury, respiratory inflammation and picking up infections.

More specifically the notion of ‘Allostatic overload’ is associated with the discipline of neuroendocrinology and was coined in 1993 by Bruce McEwen and Eliot Stellar to articulate dysfunction in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and immune, anabolic and cardiovascular systems. The psychological warning signs tend to consist of increased levels of insomnia, anxiety and in some cases addictive behavioural patterns.

Self-monitoring

According to the aforementioned Glandorf et al. (202: 37) “By systematically monitoring and intervening when burnout occurs, we have the potential to protect athletes from burnout and its health consequences”.

Fortunately before most ‘at risk’ runners are deemed to need formal medical or psychiatric intervention, they can self-monitor in a variety of ways.

There are the obvious quantitatively driven physiological tests which typically involve heart rate or blood as obvious examples but then there are the more subtle, qualitatively driven measures such as ‘readiness to train’ self- inventories, which can and should be measured through the keeping of a mode of training diary which captures feelings as well as data.

Regeneration period

Whilst racing is a firm red traffic light, the regeneration period does not necessarily have to involve complete abstinence from running. Most certainly an elimination of intensity is advocated along with a considerable reduction in training volume.

If you are away on vacation for instance you may regress to easy running along a beach before your family awaken or a gentle aerobic out and back run from the hotel may be appropriate every couple of days.

When away on vacation, many athletes overlook the fact that they are typically walking (which has aerobic value) considerably more than they would be ordinarily back at home and this time on one’s feet should be factored in to training load.

When cross training make sure you look like a runner on a bike, not a cyclist.

Time for a kick about?

For some running can be superseded by the pursuit of other sports during the regeneration period- it’s a chance to play that game of tennis, netball or 5 a side football whilst ‘switching off’ from the daily grind of a set training schedule. For others complete abstinence may be preferable for a short period of time and then it becomes a matter of monitoring one’s diet to avoid excessive weight gain.

One mistake many athletes make is to try to jump back into training where they left off. A period of easy aerobic running is needed when the resumption of formal training occurs and this should be followed by ‘bridging’ sessions such as the unstructured fartlek or the progression run, the latter of which is effected over a number of increasingly faster but aerobically dominant paces.

These sessions act as a bridge between easy aerobic running and the more structured rigours or interval or repetition training and are a stepping stone which offer a safer path over the waters back to race fitness. Athletes who neglect them tend to overlook the fact that the bigger the aerobic base of one’s pyramid, the higher the eventual peak of the triangle of performance.

This leaves us with the following questions for self-reflection

1. How am I monitoring the physiological and psychological indicators of potential burnout?
2. When do I need a period of regeneration in my macrocycle of training?
3. Which mode of regeneration may be preferable to my needs- (a) reduction of training load; (b) cross training through a multi-sports ethos and (b) total abstinence from physical activity?
4. Why do I need to consider the notion of ‘bridging’ sessions when I return to formal running training after my period of regeneration?

Matt Long has served as Team Manager/ Coach for his country on 17 occasions and has coached 2 athletes to world titles. He welcomes contact through mattlongcoach@gmail.com

Reference

Glandorf, H. et al. (2023) ‘Mental and physical health outcomes of burnout in athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis’. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY.

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2023.2225187

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The title of the work comprehensively covers the topic, but what are the lessons we can take away from “Bridging the gap between the female athlete menstrual health research revolution and it’s understanding, consideration and application by coaches: A study from the coach’s perspective.”

Within the media in recent years we have started to see more discussion of female health and performance. World class athletes such as Dina Asher-Smith, Eilish McColgan and Jasmin Sayers have been leading the pack to help everyone overcome the taboo around menstrual health and sport.

As a male coach myself it is an area that I know my knowledge is still developing, but equally important is the communication channels between coach and athlete as well. Still an under-researched topic, coaches need to grow their own knowledge and practice as the subject receives greater focus.

The infographic below shares some of the findings of Le Monnier’s work, where the student spoke to a variety of sports coaches through semi-structured interviews and an online survey.

Infographic: Anya Le Monnier

The findings?

If you’re not into infographics, then what are the main take-aways? The barriers that coaches self-identified included “lack of knowledge and education, conversational barriers and a lack of time”. A male dominated agenda means that female focused research is underrepresented. Female focused sports and coaching resources are out there but difficult to find, especially in one place.

The solutions? The first being the inclusion of menstrual health in sport into NGB-led education. The education needs to be for athletes and coaches, and part of this could be helpful in breaking down the barriers of communication that some feel.

Conversation is important. Open, proactive communication between athletes and coaches can not only help each individual, but increase knowledge and understanding for all. How to open those channels of communication is one of the barriers some coaches felt they faced.

If you’re a coach reading this far, then you’re obviously looking to improve your own knowledge and communications on this topic and one method that I have found useful as a male coach working with female athletes is to share resources, such as this article, with your athletes. Let them know you’re trying to increase your own knowledge and understanding and then you have taken a proactive step in opening up the conversation.

Where next?

If you’re looking for more resources to increase your knowledge then there are some great apps like FitrWoman that can help athletes track their period and train smarter, but also leading researchers, such as Kirsty Sale, or Georgie Bruinvels, are great to follow on the subject too.

Another resource, recommended by Le Monnier, was The Well HQ.  Run by a medic, coach and a scientists, their website describes their story as follows: “The Well is built on cutting-edge science, expertise and experience. Through community, resources and support for women and those who work closely with women, we can bridge the knowledge gap. We can become the architects of our own health, happiness and performance.”

The post Bridging the gap: female athlete menstrual health appeared first on Fast Running.

In a recent paper in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, West et al. (2021) have spoken about how athletic performance can be optimised and injury risk minimised through the following five fold strategy:

• Long term athlete planning.
• Seasonal planning.
• Day to day planning.
• In session adjustments.
• Use of feedback.

Our first piece in the series entitled ‘Mastering those diminishing returns’ featured world masters silver medallist Chris Hollinshead who spoke about his long term athlete planning. The most recent piece ‘Seasonal Greetings’ featured British 800m record holder David Oxland, who took us on a journey through his seasonal planning.

Interestingly, both athletes signified that the manifest changes they have needed to make as masters athletes is not in terms of their aerobic endurance but is in fact their strength, speed endurance and speed itself.

You may recall how Chris spoke about needing to extend 10s alactic strides in order that he reach maximal speed and effect the required leg turnover. Likewise you may remember David explicitly saying that he trains once a week with a sprints group at his local athletics club.

The training microcycle

So having considered both long term athlete planning and seasonal planning, this piece moves on to consider day to day planning or what is referred to in the sports science literature as a training microcycle.

A microcyle (see Signorile, 2007) is the shortest mode of training cycle, which constitutes a block of training in relation to wider and longer term meso and macro cycles.

In a previous piece, this author has questioned the wisdom of masters athletes automatically assuming that one week or 7 days should be their natural or inevitable microcycle, typically lasting a week with the goal of facilitating a focused block of training.  This is something which Northern Ireland Masters Team representative, Debbie Matchett, is keen to get the reader to reflect on.

Widening the load

The woman who has represented the Norther Ireland masters cross country team every year since 2009 in Birmingham, conveys that, “I used to work off a traditional 7 day microcycle and tended to assume everyone did. I think psychologically as well as physiologically moving to a 10 day microcycle has really helped take the pressure off. I’m avoiding cramming too much into too short a space of time and its made time for my work and family”.

The Director of Physiotherapy at Belfast based PhysioWorks NI is keen to espouse the physiological benefits too. She continues that, “Since making the switch I have trained fairly consistently and have had no real injury issues and yet I’ve still been able to get the miles in by basically operating 1 day hard followed by 2 days easy”.

The traditional long run

The two time British masters cross country medallist (Silver in Bath in 2016 and Bronze in 2020 in North Wales) does concede that she had reservations about changing her microcycle initially.

“The hardest thing for me was accepting that my traditional long Sunday run wasn’t always going to be on a Sunday. It was going to be on a Sunday one week and then perhaps on a Tuesday the next or a Friday the week after. I have to admit that took me a while to get my head around that”.

This being said she is convinced that any sense of cognitive disorientation has now been put firmly to bed.

“Traditionally athletes tend to perhaps race on a Saturday and then follow this up immediately after with a long run every Sunday. I’ve found that knowing that I have an easy day both before and after the long run is infinitely better.

Its meant I am no longer carrying fatigue into my long run and also that I’m not carrying fatigue out of my long run into sessions a day or two later. So the chaining of my long run in my microcycle has helped massively”.

The above leaves us with a number of questions for self-reflection:

1. How long is my microcycle of training at present?
2. Why might a weekly microcycle not suit my physiological needs as a masters athlete?
3. In what ways may a longer training microcycle help me to fit in a more diverse diet of training?
4. How might an extended microcycle of training enable me to recover more fully between sessions and allow the relevant training adaptations to take place?
5. Why does my traditional long run have to be on a set day like a Sunday and could my lifestyle allow this key session to be shifted when necessary?

Matt Long has served as both and England Team Manager and Coach and welcomes contact for coaching support through mattlongcoach@gmail.com

References

Long, M. 2021 ‘Menu Masters’. Fast Running. September 16^th

Signorile, J. (2007) Periodize training for the masters athlete. Functional Exercise and Activity for healthy aging. Vol. 5. No.5 September-October 2007.

West , S. et al. (2021) ‘More than a Metric: How Training Load is Used in Elite Sport for Athlete Management’. Int J Sports Med 2021; 42(04): 300-306

The post Widening the load appeared first on Fast Running.

It’s a strange feeling when every mile you run and every consistent week of training doesn’t make you faster but instead you get slower – this is one of many baffling experiences of running when pregnant.

I am currently at 29 weeks pregnant and can honestly say its been one of the most challenging but also enjoyable experiences I have had as a runner. The challenges aren’t all bad, many have been enlightening and self-assuring but it’s certainly been a rollercoaster mentally and physically.

Running over the past 6 months or so has most importantly helped me to maintain a sense of self, keeping the endorphins flowing and my mental state in a good position.

There is a lot of opinion out there on what exercise you should be doing when pregnant. Gone are the days where bed rest is encouraged but we are a long way from it being fully accepted that women might want to continue to train during pregnancy.

I have received a lot of admiration and praise for my running endeavours over the past few months but these have often been outweighed by the pressures and judgements by just a few of the old school mentality telling me that what I am doing will damage the baby. As if women needed to feel more guilt for doing a sport they love than they already do – the impact of those one or two negative voices can feel very loud.

Julia and Albie enjoying woodland trails. Credit: Dan Evans @daniel.wk.evans

What stops us being active?

Studies show that only 15-20% of women in the UK stay active throughout pregnancy which to me seems very low.

In the early stages of my pregnancy when fear of the unknown was at it highest I spent a lot of time on the internet trying to find research and guidance to know whether maintaining a training schedule was the right or safe thing to do. Much of the information out there does encourage women to stay “active” through pregnancy but keeping it to no more than 30 minutes of light exercise 3-4 times a week.

For a lot of women this is probably more than they normally do but what about those of us who are runners? We still have big ambitions for post-pregnancy. Should we just be demoted to the scrap heap?

Obviously in reality  the exact guidance will vary wildly between individuals, which isn’t dissimilar to any regular training plan. I was keen to learn what would be both safe and beneficial to maintain throughout pregnancy and postpartum.

It was comforting to learn that there is no contraindicative data to say that running during pregnancy can cause miscarriage; if you remain well hydrated, fuelled, rested and didn’t overheat you were good to go (providing your own common sense is also key).

Exercise has actually been proven to lessen time in labour, speed up recovery rates and benefit the health and development of the baby so it seems we need to be shouting about this more.

Focus on postpartum athletes

The lack of visibility of pregnant athletes makes me feel like women were once again being side-lined until they were back to racing post partum, almost like you can’t exist in your sport until you’re back to “normal”.

It is almost impossible in most big races to defer entries due to pregnancy which for expensive events is a real issue to most. Many women do plan a rough time when they may want to start a family but it shouldn’t mean our lives have to go on hold just in case we fall pregnant so miss out on that big race.

If it were men who were having the babies I am almost certain races would allow easy deferrals and facilities would be in place to help.

Credit: Dan Evans @daniel.wk.evans

Why do we assume a women won’t come back stronger?

The current battle with the London Marathon is a prime example. Women have only just been allowed to defer their place, but not their championship start entry. Why would the assumption be that a woman’s ability to run a marathon post partum would be so much more limited than before?

Why should we face a difficult struggle back to the positions we were in pre-baby? I am planning my return to running and racing already and hope that I will comeback as many women do – stronger. Both mentally and physically, remembering that I need to stay patient and humbled by my body.

It’s great to hear of some brands pushing for opportunity for women to compete without additional barriers. There are rumblings that some brands, such as The North Face, are looking at ways to make races more female-inclusive which could mean childcare options and easier deferrals.  A glimmer of positivity and hopefully something that will be a standard if we keep banging on the door for change.

Women are not small men

We shouldn’t have to behave or be treated like small men to be professionals in our sport. It wasn’t that long ago that brands were striking off big names from their roster for being pregnant, deeming them useless until they could once again deliver the results as before.

These women are heroes to other women in any sport and their journey through motherhood as sportspeople is equally as valuable and inspiring. We should be able to account for 50% of our sport no matter if we fit into the male-shaped space we often feel pressurised to fill.

I had apprehensions on having a family of my own because I believed I had so much potential in running that could be wasted if I had a break away from running but why should I feel like this?

We need to normalise women coming back stronger post partum, not rushing their healing but celebrating a comeback that promotes longevity in running. I believe I have my best racing still ahead of me and the best thing is it’ll be with a new number one cheerleader in tow. This has to be a strength that women can bring to sport rather than a hindrance or barrier.

The sport needs to start seeing women as other women (and many men) see them.

Ambition is still healthy trait for a mum

Women want to feel secure that being ambitious doesn’t make them a bad mother and surely fulfilling what makes you happy will make you a better person overall. Sure there will be sacrifices but isn’t life about balance?

There are incredible women who show they can come back stronger and faster post-partum, giving me hope that although my big start lines are now pushed back to next year I can get there and be better than before.

In the past few years it’s been brilliant to hear of more research and discussion on the affects of the menstrual cycle for female athletes’ training, racing and recovery and I hope this can extend to more focused research on athletes during pregnancy and postpartum.

Credit: Dan Evans @daniel.wk.evans

Individual experiences are key

Just like a menstrual cycle, every woman’s experience will be different but the more we share the more we can support and learn from each other. I have been truly humbled by the female body over the past 6 months; how we continue to function (mostly) as normal but we grow every tiny part of a new person while we go about our lives.

Us women have incredible capabilities and seeing this through new eyes I have a new-found respect for the mums who continue to chase their goals with babies in tow. The resilience and strength of our bodies an minds must give us advantages in the long run – at least that’s what I’m banking on.

I want to encourage other women to share their experiences both positive and negative as well as their fears of pregnancy.

While I appreciate it won’t be a journey some will make, there are so many of us women out there who want to have their running life and goals back once we’ve had a baby so let’s work together and open up the topic more because I’m just as excited and scared as the next woman!

The post Running during pregnancy appeared first on Fast Running.

It’s taken me a while to be able to write this which sounds more dramatic than it is!

If you’ve been following my blogs and social media, you’ll know that I had a rocky Spring. I tripped in a cool down in April and banged my knee. After a lot of rest, some attempts to train and race (I dropped out of the Thames Path 100 at 40 miles) I got a MRI in June and found that I’d fractured the bone under my cartilage in my femur and had lots of tibial bone bruising.

There have been quite a lot of changes to my racing plan since then, but I eventually settled on competing in the Irish 100km Championships in August.

Trying to string some string weeks together

I felt like I’d had my fair share of bad luck this year so was keen to get a decent result down. I strung some good training weeks together throughout the summer and did a great long run on the Isle of Wight on the Red Squirrel Trail in very hot conditions in July.

I’m a big kid and I love spending time with my nieces and nephews so following my 35 mile long run I decided it would be fun to go along to an inflatable water park.

In the back of my head I could hear a small voice saying things like ‘recovery, injury-risk etc’ but I decided to ignore that small voice.

Unfortunately, a large man slipped on the platform 2 metres above me, hit me and then we both tumbled into the water. I felt a bit rough that evening but put it down to being dehydrated and drinking champagne (the best recovery drink?!). The next morning I woke up to find that I had pretty severe vertigo and a very sore head. This continued for the next 2 weeks.

It never rains, it pours

Just as I was starting to recover and thinking about doing some decent training, I had my second vaccine. I trained as a vet at Cambridge and like to think of myself as a scientist first and foremost.

I’m a huge vaccine fan. I think it’s incredible that the vaccines have been produced and I think that everyone who can have one should.

Sadly, I was one of the few who had a vaccine reaction – huge rash, lymph nodes in my groin and armpit huge and feeling like I’d been hit by a bus. Another training week gone.

Photo: Provided by athlete

A light at the end of the tunnel

The good news in the middle of all of this was that Northern Ireland gave me a late call up to the Anglo Celtic Plate team. My first senior international vest! It’s hard to put into words how much this meant to me.

In the back of my head I was starting to wonder whether my body was asking for a break but I was really motivated to push on and try to do my best for the team.

Luckily I had a week off coming up with my family in the Cotswolds. It was now 2 weeks until the race and I was keen to get some last-minute work in. I trained hard during the week and other than feeling really tired (hanging out with nieces and nephews is super fun but exhausting) I did some great running.

Another hurdles to jump

On the last night I had sudden onset extreme nausea and missed our final meal together. Instead, I lay in the car trying not to puke. I thought I might have eaten some dodgy whitebait so hoped it would pass. Sadly it didn’t!

One week out from the race I spent the weekend in bed taking anti-nausea medication and trying to eat intermittently. It resulted in some difficult conversations between me and my husband during the week.

He thought I was crazy to race but I couldn’t get my head round not trying. It’s fair to say that my mum was also on my husband’s side. We flew to Dublin for the 100km and I had a tearful evening before as I felt so rough.

Tom Craggs, my coach, emphasised how important it was that I was healthy but he also knew how much the race meant to me.

Head out and see what happens

I’m quite a nervous racer so I had my usual pre-race dodgy tummy which felt pretty normal. I managed to eat some breakfast and nibble a few crackers before the start. I was keen to get going as I knew I was unlikely to feel ok for very long.

Up to 20 miles or so I felt fairly good – on the pace I was hoping for, and I was drinking and feeling ok. Just after the 20 mile mark I started to feel really nauseous and regurgitate anything that was in my stomach. I’d brought some anti-nausea medication with me so took that and tried not to panic.

Unfortunately it progressed and the only thing I could intermittently keep down was flat coke. In endurance running flat coke is also known as ‘the little red ambulance’ and it certainly felt like it. At one point I confided in a fellow Northern Ireland runner how bad I was feeling. He gave me a great pep talk about how tough I was and somehow I kept moving.

It’s in the head, not the legs

I can’t remember much from 26 miles onwards. Repeatedly it felt like I couldn’t run another lap (the course was 1.14 miles long) and I did a lot of self-talk and negotiation in my head. I repeatedly just ran to the next corner or next section of the lap. I tried to keep smiling and moving, even if I was moving slowly.

By some miracle I finished and unexpectedly won the silver medal in the Irish Championships. Our team won bronze and I got the NI and Ulster record for 100 kilometres.

Photo: Provided by athlete

The next few days weren’t pretty – my parents were so worried they almost didn’t put me on a flight home, but I thought the prospect of 3 hours in a car was worse than a 1-hour flight.

I’ve never gone so deep mentally or physically in a race. Since then I’ve had 2 weeks off running and am just starting to jog again. I’m still intermittently nauseous but starting to feel a bit better. I’m still not sure it was the right thing to race but I’m proud that I toughed it out. When I eventually start to feel myself again I’m excited to see what I can do when I’m feeling good.

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Chris Stirling was one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever known.

I don’t normally ascribe that ‘inspirational’ moniker to people as, like ‘legend’ and ‘hero’, it tends to get over-used and chucked about until all meaning has been wrung out of it.

Chris is one of the very (very) few people who was just that, a genuine inspiration. Chris died just over two years ago and I miss him a lot.

I’m blessed to have known him for the short time that I did, but I wish now that I could have known him even more. He was unfailingly generous and positive; the last a paradox given the internal, personal battles that he faced daily. To have met him in passing you would never have known that his happy demeanour was not the whole of the story, nor even half.

I met Chris at a house party in Ambleside back in 2011

He was a rock climber back then but had recognised an unhealthy obsession with the sport, which led to public, and loud, outbursts of animalistic rage when he failed on a move or a climb; I technically ‘met’ him a couple of weeks before that house party when hearing him shouting swear words at the top of his lungs after falling off a route at Raven Crag in Langdale.

I didn’t know back then of his issues, excusing his tee-total reserve at the party with his focus towards his then-sport. Skip forward a few weeks and I met him again at the Youth Hostel he was working at on Red Bank, just outside of Grasmere, when meeting a mate to go for a climb.

Chris had all but sacked off climbing and was channelling his prodigious energy into fell-running and, increasingly still, triathlons.

His transformation from rock climber into champion triathlete coincided with my own introduction to running and we shared some training runs around the Ambleside area. He was all or nothing in his dedication to his new love and the results soon showed; I could no longer keep with him after only a few short weeks. I moved away to join the Army and we sort of drifted apart.

Good legs on Bob Graham legs

Fast forward to 2016 and I was having a crack at the Bob Graham Round, a 60+ mile effort around 42 of the Lakes highest fells in a 24hr time limit.

Chris helped pace the first of the five ‘Legs’ from Moot Hall, Keswick through till Threlkeld before heading straight off to work at the Climber’s Shop in Ambleside. Generous with his time, generous with his energy and generous with his words after telling me ‘your legs are looking good’.

A weird thing to say to a married man but as bizarre as it sounds that was one of the nicest things someone has said to me!

From a role model such as Chris, a winner of the Celtman extreme triathlon, the Canadaman extreme triathlon and placing high in the famous Norseman, that simple – and, I can honestly admit – truth-stretching, affirmation of leg strength was rocket fuel to my ambitions as a runner; the catalyst to things that have come after.

Humility and positivity

He could be quiet and, at times, awkward when first meeting him, or when re-connecting after a while away, but he had time for everyone and never stood on ceremony, giving you praise and encouragement no matter whether you were a race winning record holder or a ‘fun’ runner making up the numbers.

I try to live my life now based on his example of humility and positivity, though like with all of his achievements he set that bar high and he is a tough act to follow. I wish I knew him even better and I wish he was still with us.

Chris died just over two years ago and I miss him a lot.

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My immunity used to be dreadful. Working in a hospital I am constantly exposed to a variety of bugs so in my first few years as a junior doctor, when I was run ragged working full time and trying to run 90-100 mile weeks, I caught it all. Probably best there wasn’t a global pandemic at that stage.

When I started training hard and running lots of miles I didn’t appreciate the importance of protecting my immune system and spent at least a year with illness after illness.

One of my first England vests was in Leeds to run the 10km. The days before I left I was working on a medical ward with an outbreak of norovirus (winter vomiting bug). When I arrived at the hotel I felt a bit iffy but thought “probably just nerves” the next day maybe felt a little worse but it wasn’t until I started that I realised something was not right then a mile in dropped into a heap on the side of the road.

It was mortifying, especially wearing my England kit and feeling like I had let the team down. It took more than 10 hours to drive back home to Cornwall, incredibly bleak. Needless to say, I never shared the grapes in the Doctor’s office again (wrapped quality street choccie remains ok though).

A learning curve 

Over the years I have read lots of research and sought professional advice on how better to look after my immune system. As runners, getting ill is rather inconvenient. It means setbacks in training, missing races, increasing injury risk etc etc.

So I thought for my first Fast10 blog I’d share a bit about my experience and how I’ve managed to support my immune system the best I can. I’m by no means an expert but I am a doctor with a particular personal interest in avoiding infections as an athlete. Plus I must be doing something right as I’ve survived a year working on and off covid wards illness free!

If I’m honest I kind of hope this level of PPE stays in the hospital, infection outbreaks seem to come at the worst possible times. Before my wedding there was a Norovirus outbreak on the ward and before my last marathon a flu outbreak. As if marathonoia isn’t enough, a week of exposure to flu is less than ideal a week out from a marathon.

A bit of luck and maybe a more experienced approach on both occasions meant no D+V for my wedding and no flu running, so a huge PB of 2.33. 

Burning the candle at both ends

A big turning point for me was cutting my work to part time. I used to have the mentality that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I even go as far as saying I got a kick out of flogging myself both at work and in training.

But I was constantly knackered. I dread to think what my cortisol levels were during that time.

Needless to say it did come crashing down as after a year of constant illnesses, culminating with my first stress fracture. Since working part time (still roughly 30 hours a week) I have time to do all the extra bits that are important, rest, mobility. Small changes, like not having to eat my lunch at 5pm in a cupboard on the ward quickly.

Goes without saying my stress levels plummeted too and stress can be another negative factor to health. I also just feel like a better doctor and runner. I’m able to give my patients a better version of myself and I am able to enjoy my running instead of fighting to keep my head above water. 

40 winks for the win

The value placed on sleep, both duration and quality of, is something that has changed too. Sleep is restorative and it’s when your immune function is at its best and our bodies repair. I read a book last year called “Why we sleep” by the sleep scientist Matthew Walker.

It’s so interesting and there is lots of eye opening research out there. The advice is at least 8 hours a night but athletes tend to need more than this. I normally aim for 9-10 and if I’m unable for any reason try and find a window to nap.

Also probably important to mention I used to be a bit of a boozer too, medical students have a bit of a reputation for this. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a nice cold beer or glass of wine of an evening but moderation is key here. Boozing too much has negative effects on sleep and hydration, hence affecting ability to recover. 

Variety and balance with your food

Before meeting my wife there was always the same three meals on rotation. Fast forward to now and it’s a much more well-balanced, varied diet and it makes a big difference. I still treat myself to pizzas and takeaways but in-between those we enjoy cooking new recipes, with fresh ingredients and it feels like we’re getting more of the vitamins and minerals, and calories, I need.

This includes iron, vitamin c, magnesium as some of the key things to include that might have been lacking in the past, when my diet was a little less… interesting.

Cooking foods with fresh ingredients, from scratch where possible, will help keep things nutrient rich. In addition, after getting some advice from the well-known and brilliant sports dietician Renee Mccgregor I also started taking some probiotics.

It feels like the amount of upper respiratory tract infections I got halved and went from getting three colds a year to one at most. This is obviously anecdotal and could have been coincidence but there is a lot of evidence behind gut health and immunity which is beyond this little blog so I will leave it to the experts and for you to read up on at your leisure.  

Help your body do it’s job

That being said, all of the above is good for general illness avoidance but it is by no means a bullet proof way to protect yourself from Covid (There was certainly some luck involved for me there).

The closest  you will get to that is the vaccine, so a quick note on vaccines, I made sure I had good night’s kip after it for a few days, you want to get the best immune response possible and like I said most of this is when we sleep. I also avoided training hard for a few days to give my body chance to focus on the job at hand! 

I hope this is of help to some people, it’s nothing ground breaking but it took me a long time to start properly looking after myself and we’re all still learning.

The post Staying healthy as a doctor and a runner appeared first on Fast Running.

In a recent piece we explored the recovery from injury of multi-world masters champion Louise Rudd. Closely linked to injury is of course the issue of nutrition.

With the ongoing pandemic many risk factors pertaining to nutritional health have been highlighted, one such issue being that of obesity.

Here in the UK, news was recently reported that 25% of our population were obese and 60% were overweight (see also Yang et al. 2020).

More recently highlighted is the issue in endurance sport of RED-S (Relative Energy Deficit Syndrome), which equally has many associated risks.

Testimony from Louise

So how do we the balance between ‘overeating’ and ‘undereating’? The following is a personal testimony from the lead author as athlete rather than nutritionist….

“For me and any athlete I believe carbs are not the enemy. I have found that the ideal amount is 7-10g of carbohydrate per KG of body weight.

My need for carbohydrate will be more if I train more than once a day. What I find helps if you can’t stomach eating more is something like orange juice- don’t forget there can be 10g carbs in 100ml of orange juice.

In terms of my recovery, I have found that the addition of protein (1-2g/KG) to carbs has the added benefit of stimulating muscle protein synthesis and tissue repair.

In generic terms I eat meat, fish and dairy for general but a good nut butter could be a good vegan alternative.

I like to drink good old milk to both replenish protein and re-hydrate myself.

In my experience healthy fats also have a vital role to play in my daily nutrition because I feel they support intramuscular triglyceride stores and therefore provides energy.

The guidelines I follow suggest 70g a day for women and 90g for men, with no more than 30g of that from saturated fat.”

Metabolism

As we age our metabolism tends to slow and so what I’ve come to realise that what I ate 20 years ago may need to change.

I’m not sure about anyone else but my diet especially at university was questionable to say the least!! I have to personally focus on eating a better quality and balance of foods.

Yes of course there are plenty of treats in there as its mentally draining for me personally to restrict certain foods but it’s all about balance! Similarly, I’m well aware that not eating enough can lead to further problems such as osteoporosis due to poor bone health.

A question of balance

It’s important to get a good balance of macronutrients, micronutrients and fluids in your daily diet, but what else can help?

There is some evidence around tart cherry juice being useful for recovery in aiding inflammation. Caffeine has been well documented as an ergogenic aid for sports performance, especially endurance sports. I do have caffeine gum before a race – the recommended amount is 3-13mg per kg of body weight – it’s a big range as we all have a different sensitivity to caffeine – for example – if you drink coffee every day its likely you will need more to get a response. At the moment the studies show a benefit for endurance sports specifically but we all know that a caffeine burst certainly gives you a boost.

I think that Omega 3 has been shown to help with remodelling & recovery from muscle damage, as has Vitamin D. Vitamin D is also integral to good bone health and government guidelines do suggest taking a supplement of 10mcg a day in the winter months in the UK due to the lack of sun exposure. I personally take Vitamin D, a good multivitamin and mineral, an omega, a probiotic and collagen.

From the research I have done, Collagen is an interesting one – some studies have shown a benefit to taking collagen together with vitamin C (it aids absorption) to benefit cartilage injuries. after what I’ve been through, I certainly thought it was worth a try.

From your mid 20s you begin to lose about 1% of your collagen a year and for women as much as 30% in the first 5 years of menopause.

Probiotics

So what about probiotics? They are living organisms that occur naturally in foods such as yoghurt, sauerkraut and miso and they can be known as ‘friendly’ bacteria.

Any imbalance in the gut can definitely have a knock on effect and personally I’ve found the extra supplements have helped. Most of what you need can be found in a good balanced diet (apart from the additional Vitamin D needed in winter) so my advice is don’t worry about having to buy supplements just make sure you plan ahead with meals.

A cautionary note

Be wary of what you buy and where you buy it from as the supplement industry is not regulated in the same way as the pharmaceutical industry. (Editors note – remember to check the status of any supplement you plan to take on the Global DRO website)

Similarly if you are seeking advice from a professional – check their credentials. A nutritionist can technically go on line do a course and get a certificate, a dietician has to be registered. Clearly that doesn’t define whether they are good or bad but be weary of people advising you to cut out entire food groups or those, for example, that state no carbs after 6pm.

A change should be something that is long term and sustainable, be it for weight loss or weight gain. I try not to compare myself to others as we are all very different in both our needs and our circumstances”.

So what?

The above is a personal reflection from an athlete who has been an elite masters level athlete in bagging global titles. It is not a prescription from a qualified nutritionist or dietician.

As athlete and coach, both Louise and myself as coach/ coach educator would always recommend that for prescription, professional advice always be sought. This being said Louise’s experience as a biologically and intellectually mature athlete indicates she is understandably taking a high degree of ownership in terms of how she approaches nutrition.

So similarly, there is no reason why as athletes, you cannot engage with the same self-reflection questions as well as seeking professional advice:

Now what: Questions for self-reflection

1. How am I monitoring signs that I may be ‘overeating’ on the one hand or ‘undereating’ on the other?
2. How cognisant am I of my nutritional intake in terms of the recording of my consumption, as I would be with the logging of frequency, intensity and volume of my training?
3. In what ways is my nutritional strategy aiding my overall health and athletic performances?
4. To what extent can I take ownership of my nutritional strategy or to what extent do I need the prescription of a professional?
5. Why might my approach to nutrition change as my biological and training ages increase as has Louise’s?

You can keep up with Louise’s rehabilitation and comeback @lulurudd on twitter or @louisenrudd on Instagram. As both Midland Mens Road Running Team Manager and Midland Masters Mens Team Manager, Matt can be contacted for views on this piece through mattlongcoach@gmail.com.

The post Stomach for the fight appeared first on Fast Running.

Did you know that 4.3 billion disposable sanitary products are used in the UK every year. The fact is there are 700,000 panty liners, 2.5million tampons and 1.4million pads flushed down the toilet every day.

Made using the finest organic cotton materials and the most advanced unique SILVADUR material, Iceni Silver are unique to the market and a game-changer in women’s sanitary sport wear.

The debut Iceni Silver collection of underwear has been designed by two friends, Vanessa Smith & Francesca Hansen, both mothers of super sporty young girls, who made it their mission to design and create the most comfortable and importantly, effective knickers available, to satisfy a clear gap in the women’s sanitary sportswear market.

Vanessa is a former England Netball international and both women found themselves all too often on the subject of how, on more than one occasion, they’d heard their daughters say that one of their friend’s wasn’t training because they were on their period and they were dreading their own.

The collection

The collection features 4 different stylish designs to fit all body types, shapes and most importantly flows from light through to heavy. Each pair of Iceni’s has been made using cutting edge SILVADUR technology which is proven to be the most successful material to absorb moisture, reduce odour and prevent stains.

Warrior Short  – designed with a thicker elastic and is slightly lower on the gusset making this extremely comfortable and easy to wear, especially when running and jumping. This design is very popular with tweens and teens.

Hipster – a super choice for an everyday knicker, and perfect to wear under low rise sports clothing such as yoga or, Pilates leggings.

Game Changer  – This is the perfect pant to wear under your sports apparel. The short design and the lycra fabric enables movement and is breathable, allowing you to be not only active but most importantly, confident whilst playing all sports

Sleep Easy – The clue is in the name. This super comfy design has the absorbent layer all the way up the back and will stop leakage. It will leave you comfortable and confident in the knowledge you will have no leaks while you sleep.

Wearing Iceni knickers is helping the drive for the self-care industry to become more sustainable. All Iceni knickers are re-suable and washable for at least 2 years.

First Period Pack

Founded by two mothers who saw the hurdles their own daughters had to overcome in their sport, the first period pack has everything a girl needs to start her period with confidence.

As well as a pair of the Iceni Hipster pants, it also comes with the Little Book of Growing Up – everything you need to know about puberty and periods in one brilliant little book, as well as soap and skincare products aimed at helping those with oily skin and acne, a common problem in puberty.

Iceni underwear will give the security and confidence to do everyday activities, whether it be sports, or all day at school. No odour, no leaks, no stress, no worries.

For more information please do check out the Iceni Silver website. This is not a paid advertisement or sponsored content, we at Fast Running feel it’s an important topic for our runners and hope to feature a product review in the future too. 

The post A new generation of period wear for sports appeared first on Fast Running.

Rest days are often part of our training schedules for race competition, with the purpose of facilitating physical recovery and optimising performance in future training sessions. 

Historically, the concept of rest has been considered within the confines of physical inactivity but there is increasing research exploring the effect of psychological rest within sport.

Technology has made it possible for us to read, listen or watch anything related to our sport whenever we want.

Although this level of immediacy provides us with some benefits, it could also be argued that the attainment of psychological rest becomes more difficult as a consequence.

Wakeful resting

Wakeful resting is a key component of psychological rest, and it is the period of time an athlete would spend engaged in minimal cognitive and physical activity whilst awake. 

The psychological experiences that are obtained from wakeful resting includes a easing of the mental demands of training and competition, a reduction in thinking about one’s sport, and increased opportunities to engage in activities and other non-sport related aspects of life.

A common theme is the reduction in thoughts about one’s sport when not in training or competition.

We might know this as the ability to “switch off”. Research has suggested that psychological detachment not only involves putting aside all thoughts about your sport but also achieving distance from negative sport-related emotions ¹ .  For example; lingering on a disappointing race performance for a prolonged period of time could affect psychological detachment. Ultimately it can inhibit mental recovery.

Mental detachment can lead to fewer injuries

These two factors facilitate a ‘switching-off’ process but there is also another consideration which relates to ‘cue-avoidance’. 

Proximity to sporting memorabilia and the physical and social environments that remind us of our sport could potentially act as cues that trigger thoughts during a period of resting. An athlete’s perceived sense of distance from these cues is thus a contributory factor to achieving psychological detachment.  

There are also benefits to physical health and mental well-being that can be derived.  In a recent study², the relationship between physical recovery, mental detachment, health and well-being was studied amongst 161 recreational athletes. 

The findings outlined that an increase in mental detachment is associated with fewer injuries, improved levels of mental energy and enhanced quality of sleep.

Regularly sitting down for a cup of tea could be a reason Abdi is so fast? Photo: Dan Vernon/NN Running Team

Easier said than done in the real world

It would be remiss to not acknowledge that psychological rest can be difficult to attain and a key reason for this is the juggling of multiple commitments simultaneously ranging from training, work, studies and other life demands. 

Consistently manoeuvring between these commitments could lead to insufficient time being allocated to switching off, and this has been described as the ‘balance problem’ ³.  Although this is often unavoidable, there is also the risk of engaging in too many commitments which exacerbates the problem.

Could the balance problem also be linked to the desire to be busy all the time?  A recent phenomenon that has been investigated ⁴ is the emergence of a busy and overworked lifestyle as an aspirational status symbol. 

In contemporary Western culture, complaining about being busy and working all the time is increasingly commonplace.  This is partially driven by the perception that busyness equates to having ambition and being competent.  The external validation on social media and other mediums reinforces these ideals and fuels the aspiration.

Stepping outside your sporting bubble

Despite these challenges, there are some practical steps that can be deployed to attain psychological rest outside of training and competition⁵. 

The process of disengaging with thinking about your sport should be a deliberate practice and this could include spending time with people in your support network who are not involved in your sport and abstaining from viewing/listening/reading sport-related media.

Creating some personal time that facilitates respite from the structured lifestyle of training, work and study commitments can be considered as a key resting experience. 

This could involve indulging in a favourite treat or non-sport related pastime, being spontaneous or equally choosing to do nothing.  All have equal merit and should be based on personal preference.

Avoiding monotony in training

Within the structure of our training schedules, there is also the possibility to introduce some variety that can also facilitate psychological rest. 

This could include identifying a new route for a long distance run rather than resorting to the ‘tried-and-tested’ route all the time. It could just be not undertaking a specific training session on the same day every week.  Furthermore, the traditional 7-day week cycles could minimize the opportunity for psychological rest to be attained. 

When you’re focused on a racing or personal goal, it is easy to neglect psychological rest as an important aspect of recovery. 

However, research has illustrated that due attention should be given as there are benefits that can be derived for one’s health and well-being.

So next time you schedule your rest day for the busiest day of the work week, or a long travel journey, ask yourself the question. Is this really restful?

Want to run faster? For just £30 per month athletes are provided with a Final Surge plan for each day of the week, coaching advice from Robbie Britton and Tom Craggs, as well as access to the unique Fast Running Performance community.

If you would like more information on joining the project, click here. 

References

Testing the triple-match principle among Dutch elite athletes:  A day-level study on sport demands, detachment and recovery, Balk et al (2017)

Physical recovery, mental detachment and sleep as predictors of injury and mental energy, Balk et al (2017)

The psychology of rest in athletes: An empirical study and initial model, Eccles and Kazmier (2019)

Conspicuous consumption of time: When busyness and lack of leisure time becomes a status symbol, Bellezza et al (2019)

‘The forgotten session’: Advancing research and practice concerning the psychology of rest in athletes, Eccles et al (2020)

The post Are you getting psychological rest? appeared first on Fast Running.