How Training and Weight Loss improves Running Speeds

My running time improvements in 2015

In 2015, I returned to running after a break of some years.
After a slow start (on that first run my legs hurt after just 1.8 km!), I slowly built speed and distance, eventually topping out with a half-marathon in 2 hrs 27 minutes. Not exactly world class (I work with a guy a bit older than me that can run a full marathon in pretty much 3 hrs, give or take a minute or two either way). But for my first run of that distance in about 30 years, I was pretty pleased with myself.


I also find that having a bit more "breath" in me helps with my cycling, too
Technically, it is cardio-pulmonary improvement that I am noticing, but in practice it means I don't get so out of breath on hills!

Anyway.
How I did it: part A
1) build up distance and speed slowly over a long period. Don't just get up and try to run a record speed or distance, keeping going until you injure yourself
2) take rest weeks every now and then to give your body a chance to regrow all that lovely new muscle etc. etc.

How I did it: part B
1) I started off "free-style" running for about 6 weeks (weeks 3 to 8 on the chart above).

2) Then I started using a "perceived effort" pacing system (week 9), which shows up pretty clearly in the charts. Pacing to an approximate physical sensation (like degree of breathlessness) helps with pacing longer events. Just look at that 10k improvement!

3) Then I started using a BlueTooth heart rate belt and my wife's smartphone. But I found it rather cumbersome. But I was aiming to run in "zones" based on my Maximum Heart Rate.

4) So I splashed out on a "proper" sports watch - a Garmin 310xt, which is a (now) recently discontinued device, that was originally introduced as Garmin's top-of-the-range "tri-athlon" watch in 2009. The 310xt is still onsale from some outlets at a heavily discounted price, and I got mine, along with a "deluxe" heart rate belt for just 125 pounds ($188). You can read my review of the 310xt here.
the 310xt has "alerts", so it can be set up to beep and vibrate, and if you set up a heart-rate band for the alerts (say 155 to 165 bpm), then the watch cen help you stay in this band, while at the same time not requiring you to stare at it all the time. I have mine set up to beep once every kilometre, so I can keep a general eye on the numbers while still looking where I am going!
I got the watch at about week 22.

5) Then I started using lactate threshold heart rate for pacing from about week 26.
I knew that running 10k at that point in time would take me about an hour, so if I ran for about at hour at my "1 hour rate" (a.k.a. "lactate threshold"), then that would give my best 10k time.
So I did. Here's how I got on. as you can see, my heart rate is pretty constant, given that the course is undulating, except for a surge at the end, when I was really going for it!
The fact that I had enough energy to surge at the end suggests that I could have run the whole distance just a couple of heart beats a minute faster throughout.
But then it was onto cycling for the rest of the Summer.

How I did it: part C
1) I lost weight. You can see my weight loss during the year here. in fact, I,ve lost a bit more since then, and I am now about 82.5 kg (181 lbs), a weight I haven't been for about 17 years! I've recently set a few new personal records, despite not being in the best shape (quite a break from running over the Summer while I was concentrating on cycling!), and the big reason for that is that I am now a good 10kg (22 lbs) lighter than I was in the Spring/Summer

2) Light people run quicker. Owen Barder has an excellent tool to indicate just how much faster or slower you will go (with no other changes to yourself/training), if you lose or gain various amounts of weight.
Actually I suggest you explore Owen Barder's whole website, as I certainly found it helped me with information and encouragement. So I run a mile in about twice Roger Bannister's memorable 4 minute record. But he wasn't 51 at the time! How do I measure up against folks MY age?
There is a good online book of his on the site, too

A bit of friendly competition

Things just got serious.

In 2015, I was the best rider from my workplace on the local 100km charity sportive - the Tour de Vale.
Actually, I was the ONLY rider from my workplace :-)

Naturally, I've been "bigging it up", and doing the "you should give it a go next year" line.

Anyway, looks like my colleague, John, has risen to the challenge.
Everyone knows that a "sportive" isn't a proper race, so it doesn't matter which of us covers the ground fastest, as there are no winners and losers, just finishers and non-finishers.

Yeah, right.

Back in the real world, it matters.

And, to make it worse, John is a darned fine rider. He has far more "competition" experience than me, as he used to be a serious MTB rider.
Way back when.
John has a bigger equipment budget than me, and a "better" bike that is about 8 kilos lighter than mine, too.
Actually, John has several bikes which are both "better" and lighter than mine.
All I have is Mermaid, my 18kg "cheapie".

So I am going to get my butt kicked, so as to speak.

Or perhaps not.
I have three main weapons.
1) I am about 20 kilos (44lbs) lighter than John - good job I've lost almost 14 kilos (30 lbs) this year. I'm going to try to shift a bit more before the event itself, as well.
2) I am using fancy software for training analysis (Training Peaks)
3) I clocked up about 6 metric "centuries" in 2015, and I will be starting 2016 at both my lightest and fittest for about 20 years.

I have one other "secret" weapon. A resting pulse in the 40's.
You just can't buy that.
OK, so it is mostly genetic, with just a touch of fitness on top.
You can't buy genetics.

But all of that will not be enough by itself.
I'm going to have to train more effectively than John, too.
And since John is no fool, that is going to require some serious hourage.
Boring paced work, not just pleasure riding with a few hills thrown in.
A serious exercise program, too, off the bike as well as on.
Some serious running early in 2016 to improve my cardio-pulmonary system.
Strength exercises.
Structured training designed so I reach my peak for the event - not before, and not after.

Let's see how it goes.
Nothing like a bit of friendly competition to get one motivated!

Losing my KOM

A couple of days ago I lost two of my KOMs.
Boo hoo.
I don't actually know how many KOMs I had before that, but I know it isn't very many.
It is incredibly tempting to try to get those KOMs back.

However.

The difference between training and playing is whether your activities support your longer-term goals or whether it is about pride.
An effective athlete must be humble to achieve their goals.

Think about your goals.
If your goal is to get as many KOMs as possible, then search Strava or the overlooked ones on some minor road. Check the weather for when certain segments will have a HUGE tailwind (we are experiencing 45 mph, 72 kph, gusts from the South-West at the moment). Pump up your tyres extra hard, and off you go! Have fun.

But is that my goal?
No, it isn't.
So how did I get the KOM in the first place?
Well, as part of my training for my audax/randonnee ride in the Summer of 2015, I did quite a bit of running. Cardio-pulmonary fitness is the same whether you build it up running, cycling, or doing any other intense physical activity.
And the KOM?
Well, I run around a loop of streets near me that is about 1 mile (1.6 km) long.
I simply made one loop into a segment. There is a downhill bit and an uphill bit and a couple of flat bits. A nice little loop. Strava tells me I have run that segment over 100 times since I set it up.
On my (now lost) KOM lap of that segment, I did an 11.2 km run.
A little 1.2 km warm-up, then a 10km serious effort. This was the run I have mentioned before that afterwards I just sat on the edge of the road and rested. A neighbour stopped his car to check if I had had a heart attack or something, I looked that shattered.
But it was a 10km loop that went through that segment 6 times.
You don't have to be a genius to work out that if I JUST ran the segemnt again, just ONCE, as a classic "mile" run, rather than as a small part of a 10km run, I would go faster.
Plus I have lost about 6kg (13lbs) in weight since then, so that alone would knock 40 seconds or so off my time for that mile - my legs have less belly to move about now!

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/racepaces/rp?metres=10000&hr=0&min=58&sec=22&age=50&gender=M&Submit=Calculate suggests I could knock about a minute of my PR for that ex-KOM segment just by running it as a stand-alone run rather than as a small part of a longer run. That alone would give me the KOM back :-)
http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/diet/weighteffect?metres=1609&hr=0&min=8&sec=09&weight=87&weightunits=kg&Submit=Calculate suggests I could knock off another 30 seconds or so due to the weight loss. So that KOM looks like an easy one to retake.

But let's stand back a little and thing about the bigger picture.
What am I attempting to achieve?
Many of you already know the answer - I am hoping to get a good time (sub 5 hrs, which will be 22 minutes quicker than my 2015 time) in the local 62mile (100km) sportive - the 2016 Tour de Vale - AND do a 200 to 250 mile (320 to 400km) audax/randonnee ride in the Summer of 2016 too.

Like most folks, I have a full-time job, so my training time is not exactly unlimited.
My training should therefore be focussed on stuff which will help my twin goals (Tour de Vale and audax/randonnee) for 2016.
I was hoping to go out for a spin on the bike this morning - get maybe 30-ish miles in (50 km).
But no.
They are behind at work, and the three hours I would have spent riding will be spent at work instead. On a Sunday. Looks like it is panning out into a long run up to Christmas. I'm working 6 days next week, so that'll make 13 days running at work, and it may actually get worse than that.
It's not all bad, though. Work gives me the financial resources to pay for the bike in the first place! I was just eyeing up some new tyres online last night, too :-) Hoping to be getting a power meter for 2017, and that's not going to buy itself either!

So that KOM doesn't look like it will be a big part of my plans.
I ran a couple of slow-ish 10Ks in November, just to keep in shape, but really if I want to be concentrating on longer cycle events, I need to be concentrating on longer distance running.
Longer-distance running is much more similar to longer-distance cycling, especially when you get past about 15km and start to actually eat and drink as part of the event. I ran a half-marathon as part of my preparations last year (including running through that ex-KOM segment 12 times!), and I ate and drank a bit about every 40 minutes - just like I do when cycling long distances.

And that, really, is the difference between playing and training.
Play is fun. Training often isn't. It is easy to get distracted while training, and find oneself playing instead.

But you have to "keep your eyes on the prize", as they say.
Which is why most folks never achieve their potential - they play instead of train.

So I'd best forget about that KOM, then :-)