Feb. 28, 2011
Curiosity as struck me to a small extent as recently i have had many people coming into the store having questions about heart rate monitors and how to go about using them. From my background as an athlete I can look at training from two separate perspectives; that of pace and that of effort.
Most runners use a pace oriented system so that they can where there times are in comparison to previous workouts or races. Its an efficient system for runners, especially for track, because it allows you to compare yourself to others fairly accurately. Many runners achieve great speeds and success using this system. This was the system i was accustomed to in high school and was comfortable with. Everyone became equals for the workout and everyone was to hit the stated time. The trouble with that method for me at this point now is that not everyone responds to training the same way and therefore the effort levels for that certain workout can be scattered throughout the group depending on how each of the individuals were feeling that particular day. Come race day, not everyone comes to the line in prime condition and although a group can all run the same workouts and run the target times, they will not finish the race in the same manner. This is of course looking strictly at fitness and taking mentality of racing out of it. There is never just one training plan out there though, so coaches adapt plans to fit the respective athletes over time. The hard part to this method is applying it to beginners in the sport, say a person 40 lbs overweight and looking to drops some pounds and train for a marathon. We have an amazing amount of these types of people.
Let take 200 45 year old individual males for example, all being slightly overweight and all at beginner fitness levels and split them randomly into two separate training groups.One group follows a pace oriented method and the other a HR oriented method. Let give them 12 weeks of structured training gearing toward a 10k race at the end. We will start with them all running a 10k to get a baseline control time for each individual. The goal is to find out which training method, pace vs. HR, concludes with the highest percentage of improvement throughout the group.
Lets look at the pace controlled group first. What we would find is that the effort levels of these individuals will be varied for a certain target pace. Although these individuals are of similar fitness background, their body compositions are different from each other. So again with a similar training plan followed over a time period of 12 weeks, we would see fairly different responses from all 100 individuals come the 10k at the end of the test period. At the start of each workout, we will have variances in fatigue levels with the variances becoming greater at the end of each day. On the day of the final 10k, we would see some individuals reach their max potential for the given test period, we would have some individuals perform well compared to the control 10k from the beginning of the test, and some that perform simply "ok" comparatively due to high fatigue levels. With the training in general though, i would expect most of the individuals to improve in time.
So now we look at the group focused on HR. Lets say we have the Max HR of each individual. With each workout, instead of pace the group is told to stay at a certain percentage of their max HR. At the conclusion of each day. We will see variances in workout times, but similar fatigue levels. This creates less variance among the individuals throughout the 12 week test period. Given an effective training plan, many more individuals from the HR group will toe the line feeling less overall fatigue and allow for much better performances. The end result being more individuals improving a greater percentage time-wise. I would assume with certainty that the HR based training group would provide the greater improvement percentage.
Just to be clear though, both methods of training are effective and I am simply applying the two to a specific demographic. The increased curiosity of people towards HR based training might mean that more people are seeing the benefits that this type of training can create for individuals. I was simply inspired to write a comparison. There is so much more that goes into comparing the two training methods, but i wanted to compare the foundations of both in a simple way. Ok.... im done.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sven 30k
Feb. 22, 2011
So it has definitely been a couple of weeks since my last post which described the questionable Pias classic for me. Its has a been a few weeks since and things are starting to get put back together. I was contemplating not racing the Sven earlier in the week because with all things considered, I wasn't sure if i could get my head completely in the game. Trying to regain balance in life is not an easy thing to accomplish at times and at this level of skiing it only provides more frustration if you cant get your head in the game and compete. I had had some pretty solid workouts over the past week and a half and for the most part was prepared, so in the end, i decided to race.
Race day was about as good as it could get weather wise with temps hovering in the low teens and the snow being firm and cold. The snow wasnt particularly fast, but it is what it is. The start was as usual for an Anchorage cup race, fast, fun, and congested for the first couple of kilometers, but as the hills presented themselves, a group of about 5 of us broke away. At around the 16k mark as we exited the flatter terrain part of the single loop 30k, i made a long strong move heading into the hills than widdled us down to four. The snow being as it was, cold with sharp crystaline flakes, it was difficult to really break away. The line between going a solid level 3 pace and a pressing Level 4 pace was fairly thin. The four of us all tried at one point or another to crack one or more of the four skiers up front, but almost all ended realization that it was becoming almost impossible to ski away. Dylan Watts perhaps made the most aggressive move with about 4k to go giving himself a sold 30m cushion, but with one of the biggest climbs on the course still ahead, it may have been a touch early. We reeled him back in about half a kilometer later as we entered into the last 3k. With James Southam leading, I was getting frustrated with the more pedestrian-like pace he was setting, but like i said before, trying to ski away would have been nearly impossible. I decided to hold the second position knowing that it would eventually come to a sprint finish of some sort. Mark Iverson sat behind me and behind him recovering from his last attempt at breaking the field, Dylan Watts. The order stayed the same for the next couple of kilometers as we entered into the stadium. We ramped up our speed for the last 600m or so and i remained in second position. As we reentered the bottom side of the stadium and into the home stretch and went for it. James started off in the middle of the stretch and i veered to the right side to see if i could manage to get by him there. He ended up veering right and any momentum i had, if i could call it that, was done. Mark had moved up to my left side and was coming on strong. My legs were throbbing with lactic acid and i could not build anymore speed. Dylan, hanging in right behind Mark, eased up to my left and although i tried my very best, Dylan got me by a boot at the line. Someone had to be fourth. I had fun with the race and am glad that I raced.
I still have some good racing coming up in March and Im looking forward to it. Every day seems to be better and a little more balanced. I am about to give my two cents again in regards to my life as an athlete, so if your bored by this, feel free to to pick up a more intriguing piece of literature.... such as an Archie comic or the Horoscopes.
Balancing your life as an athlete is one of the more difficult things i deal with regularly. When you set tough goals for yourself as an athlete, it is easy to become single minded and to let most everything else become a second priority in your life. This has basically been my life for many years and it can get complicated. I have sacrificed or ignored a great many things in my life to avoid complicating my "quest for glory" and although they may or may not have been the best things to do, they were the paths I took. Thats life and you learn from things as you go. Hindsight is always 20/20, so its always good to look back and gather what useful information you can and apply it forward.
For me, I am happy being a skier and a racer. It frustrates me to all levels, but in the end, i want nothing more than to be on the starting line waiting to see who has more guts. There are things though that i feel I must sacrifice from the single minded only one top priority way of thinking to help balance my life better and create a much more even keel for myself. There are many cool things I still need to partake in during my mid-late twenties that i have been avoiding and that i should do without fear of how it affects my ski training. There are some things I can simply not be lazy about and get done as they are presented. Adapting is key in life and sometimes those adaptations are hard, but generally, they are always worth it in the end.
So it has definitely been a couple of weeks since my last post which described the questionable Pias classic for me. Its has a been a few weeks since and things are starting to get put back together. I was contemplating not racing the Sven earlier in the week because with all things considered, I wasn't sure if i could get my head completely in the game. Trying to regain balance in life is not an easy thing to accomplish at times and at this level of skiing it only provides more frustration if you cant get your head in the game and compete. I had had some pretty solid workouts over the past week and a half and for the most part was prepared, so in the end, i decided to race.
Race day was about as good as it could get weather wise with temps hovering in the low teens and the snow being firm and cold. The snow wasnt particularly fast, but it is what it is. The start was as usual for an Anchorage cup race, fast, fun, and congested for the first couple of kilometers, but as the hills presented themselves, a group of about 5 of us broke away. At around the 16k mark as we exited the flatter terrain part of the single loop 30k, i made a long strong move heading into the hills than widdled us down to four. The snow being as it was, cold with sharp crystaline flakes, it was difficult to really break away. The line between going a solid level 3 pace and a pressing Level 4 pace was fairly thin. The four of us all tried at one point or another to crack one or more of the four skiers up front, but almost all ended realization that it was becoming almost impossible to ski away. Dylan Watts perhaps made the most aggressive move with about 4k to go giving himself a sold 30m cushion, but with one of the biggest climbs on the course still ahead, it may have been a touch early. We reeled him back in about half a kilometer later as we entered into the last 3k. With James Southam leading, I was getting frustrated with the more pedestrian-like pace he was setting, but like i said before, trying to ski away would have been nearly impossible. I decided to hold the second position knowing that it would eventually come to a sprint finish of some sort. Mark Iverson sat behind me and behind him recovering from his last attempt at breaking the field, Dylan Watts. The order stayed the same for the next couple of kilometers as we entered into the stadium. We ramped up our speed for the last 600m or so and i remained in second position. As we reentered the bottom side of the stadium and into the home stretch and went for it. James started off in the middle of the stretch and i veered to the right side to see if i could manage to get by him there. He ended up veering right and any momentum i had, if i could call it that, was done. Mark had moved up to my left side and was coming on strong. My legs were throbbing with lactic acid and i could not build anymore speed. Dylan, hanging in right behind Mark, eased up to my left and although i tried my very best, Dylan got me by a boot at the line. Someone had to be fourth. I had fun with the race and am glad that I raced.
I still have some good racing coming up in March and Im looking forward to it. Every day seems to be better and a little more balanced. I am about to give my two cents again in regards to my life as an athlete, so if your bored by this, feel free to to pick up a more intriguing piece of literature.... such as an Archie comic or the Horoscopes.
Balancing your life as an athlete is one of the more difficult things i deal with regularly. When you set tough goals for yourself as an athlete, it is easy to become single minded and to let most everything else become a second priority in your life. This has basically been my life for many years and it can get complicated. I have sacrificed or ignored a great many things in my life to avoid complicating my "quest for glory" and although they may or may not have been the best things to do, they were the paths I took. Thats life and you learn from things as you go. Hindsight is always 20/20, so its always good to look back and gather what useful information you can and apply it forward.
For me, I am happy being a skier and a racer. It frustrates me to all levels, but in the end, i want nothing more than to be on the starting line waiting to see who has more guts. There are things though that i feel I must sacrifice from the single minded only one top priority way of thinking to help balance my life better and create a much more even keel for myself. There are many cool things I still need to partake in during my mid-late twenties that i have been avoiding and that i should do without fear of how it affects my ski training. There are some things I can simply not be lazy about and get done as they are presented. Adapting is key in life and sometimes those adaptations are hard, but generally, they are always worth it in the end.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Pia's Classic or not to Pia's Classic
Jan. 31, 2011
Did Pia's classic happen, was I there, people told me I was. I guess I do vaguely recall putting on my skis to do something and I do for some reason have some of that post race body ache going on. I will trust those that say i was there because all the signs point to that. I experienced the epidemy of not having ones head in the game. I was never there. I started and crossed the finish line, but in between those lines is 1:17:11 seconds of a blankness consciously. Where was I?
Reality really bites sometimes and that can be the understatement of the century for some. Questioning whether or not you filed for the PFD when it comes around to October and finding out that you had forgotten due to a busy life is one possible example. I have to admit that I have luckily avoided many great mishaps, but im still young and will most likely run into things of that nature that will make me furious and kick myself over and over again. Hopefully I will be on top of things enough that i'm older and wise enough to deal with things in an educated and mature manner. I'm not there yet. I'm still young and have so many of life's misfortunes slapping me in the face seeing if I will come back for more. Whether it be financial, social, or relationship issues, there are many new things that a young person will face and not quite know how to handle it. I still over-think many issues and try to find the best solution. Most of the time things work out in your favor and sometimes they don't. You learn from both and you adapt.
Life can keep you guessing all the time. I live on a fine line between being homeless and qualifying for major world competitions in skiing. Its a pretty drastic line, but there are many out there that understand. At this point in my career as an athlete, I question all the things around me and how they affect my skiing, and how my skiing affects them. Its hard to convince myself sometimes that this is still the lifestyle I really enjoy. My yearning to be "normal" can sometimes overwhelm me. This affect me from time to time. "Stress" I do believe is what they call this. My life is surrounded by it, some of it caused by my own doings, some of it simply life acting naturally.
Pia's was one of those rare times when my mind is so intensely lost and confused with an issue that I hardly remember being there at all. Its strange to think that something could occupy ones mind so much to eliminate a conscious event almost altogether. This was nothing like Mt. Marathon a couple years ago where there is still a shuttering black hole in my memory, because I can still vaguely remember myself skiing fairly hard. Like Mt. Marathon though, I think you can train your brain in ways that it can function without you actually being there to control it. Weird.
In the end I finished third, but I wasn't there. I was dealing with an issue I could have taken care of a long time ago and am now finding it to be more difficult than I ever imagined it would. Pretty dramatic huh? Thats life though. It can sometimes throw some punches that you will take straight in the face and feel. My "well duh" advice to anybody out there, especially to those that still have many years in front of them, is to deal with the issues as they come at you. Don't put them aside and hope to sort them out later. It sounds like pretty "well duh" advice and its meant to be, but you would be surprised how many people including myself so this and take the hypothetical stiff jab to the face. This isn't the first time I've had something break me down, so obviously I didn't learn the times before. Some words can't be said often enough. On the brighter side of it, you learn valuable lessons with each new "punch in the face".
This post has become way to philosophical and as I read through it for errors, I can almost visualize my mother telling me these exact words in a lecture form. I have to say that I prefer the longer drawn out explanations to the age old "If you fall off the horse, get back up", "A winner never quits", or as Rocky Balboa put it " Its not about how many hits you take, its how many hits you can take and still keep fighting back". I like the Rocky quote, but i still lump it into the lame inspirational quotes category. Perhaps i will leave you all with a lame inspirational quote of my own. "LIFE.... its tough......but its far from death... cheer up!"
Did Pia's classic happen, was I there, people told me I was. I guess I do vaguely recall putting on my skis to do something and I do for some reason have some of that post race body ache going on. I will trust those that say i was there because all the signs point to that. I experienced the epidemy of not having ones head in the game. I was never there. I started and crossed the finish line, but in between those lines is 1:17:11 seconds of a blankness consciously. Where was I?
Reality really bites sometimes and that can be the understatement of the century for some. Questioning whether or not you filed for the PFD when it comes around to October and finding out that you had forgotten due to a busy life is one possible example. I have to admit that I have luckily avoided many great mishaps, but im still young and will most likely run into things of that nature that will make me furious and kick myself over and over again. Hopefully I will be on top of things enough that i'm older and wise enough to deal with things in an educated and mature manner. I'm not there yet. I'm still young and have so many of life's misfortunes slapping me in the face seeing if I will come back for more. Whether it be financial, social, or relationship issues, there are many new things that a young person will face and not quite know how to handle it. I still over-think many issues and try to find the best solution. Most of the time things work out in your favor and sometimes they don't. You learn from both and you adapt.
Life can keep you guessing all the time. I live on a fine line between being homeless and qualifying for major world competitions in skiing. Its a pretty drastic line, but there are many out there that understand. At this point in my career as an athlete, I question all the things around me and how they affect my skiing, and how my skiing affects them. Its hard to convince myself sometimes that this is still the lifestyle I really enjoy. My yearning to be "normal" can sometimes overwhelm me. This affect me from time to time. "Stress" I do believe is what they call this. My life is surrounded by it, some of it caused by my own doings, some of it simply life acting naturally.
Pia's was one of those rare times when my mind is so intensely lost and confused with an issue that I hardly remember being there at all. Its strange to think that something could occupy ones mind so much to eliminate a conscious event almost altogether. This was nothing like Mt. Marathon a couple years ago where there is still a shuttering black hole in my memory, because I can still vaguely remember myself skiing fairly hard. Like Mt. Marathon though, I think you can train your brain in ways that it can function without you actually being there to control it. Weird.
In the end I finished third, but I wasn't there. I was dealing with an issue I could have taken care of a long time ago and am now finding it to be more difficult than I ever imagined it would. Pretty dramatic huh? Thats life though. It can sometimes throw some punches that you will take straight in the face and feel. My "well duh" advice to anybody out there, especially to those that still have many years in front of them, is to deal with the issues as they come at you. Don't put them aside and hope to sort them out later. It sounds like pretty "well duh" advice and its meant to be, but you would be surprised how many people including myself so this and take the hypothetical stiff jab to the face. This isn't the first time I've had something break me down, so obviously I didn't learn the times before. Some words can't be said often enough. On the brighter side of it, you learn valuable lessons with each new "punch in the face".
This post has become way to philosophical and as I read through it for errors, I can almost visualize my mother telling me these exact words in a lecture form. I have to say that I prefer the longer drawn out explanations to the age old "If you fall off the horse, get back up", "A winner never quits", or as Rocky Balboa put it " Its not about how many hits you take, its how many hits you can take and still keep fighting back". I like the Rocky quote, but i still lump it into the lame inspirational quotes category. Perhaps i will leave you all with a lame inspirational quote of my own. "LIFE.... its tough......but its far from death... cheer up!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)