Big Mister Sunshine

Here’s a question:

Given two consecutive days (say a Saturday and a Sunday) is it better to:

A)   Run 7 miles on both days, or

B)    Run 14 miles on either of the days and rest the other?

The prompting for this question comes from a recent study published in the journal Preventive Medicine.  Researchers found that those who exercise 2.5 to 7.5 hours per week have better mental health than average.  However, more exercise than that is associated with poorer mental health. 

For the study, researchers analyzed data reported by over 7,600 adults who took part in a U.S. national survey and compared the participants’ mental health to quantity of exercise.  The researchers say that it is the first study to show an association between too much exercise and poor mental health.  This could explain why marathoners in the middle of their peak mileage training are such bears. 

The researchers were surprised to discover that when 7.5 hours of exercise were exceeded each week, symptoms of depression and anxiety rose significantly.  This was the case in both men and women, and in people of all ages and different levels of health.  That may be, but your depression and anxiety would rise considerably more if you got beat by (insert name of your nemesis here) because they’d trained more than you. 

Further research is needed to determine whether people who are more prone toward depression or anxiety are simply more likely to engage in extensive physical activity as a way to keep their mental symptoms under control, or whether larger amounts of exercise may actually cause symptoms of depression and anxiety.

“If physical activity can prevent mental health disorders or improve overall mental health, the public health impact of promoting physical activity could be enormous,” the researchers said in the study.

Although the study found an association between large amounts of exercise and worse mental health, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.  It appears these researchers found correlation not causation, a rookie misinterpretation of the data. 

I spend about 8 hours a week exercising which would explain, if you side with the researcher’s thesis, my moderate crankiness.  That would be because I only slightly exceed the 7.5 hour level.  Imagine what a treat I’d be if I didn’t take a rest day each week. 

Getting back to the initial question, if you had time to run on both days and could run 14 miles on either of the days, the correct answer is:

C)    You would run 14 miles on both days.  (It was a trick question.)

One of the benefits I enjoy from running is the weekly group run.  During this week’s long run we overtook a woman.  After pleasantries were exchanged, she asked “Are you training for anything specific?”

Steve Pye responded “Training for life!”

Indeed.

I’m no Baryshnikov, but

About ten years ago I drastically changed my swimming stroke.  My old stroke relied on creating propulsive force based on muscle strength, which used a lot of energy.  Picture an AMC Gremlin – the two-door subcompact with a 4 liter V-6 engine that had the aerodynamics of a brick.  That was how I used to swim, plowing through the water.  I came to the realization that I needed to change my stroke when I noticed I was squatting weights I used to bench press.  I could no longer rely on my strength to help me swim fast. 

I got a book and video tapes called Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin.  It took the better part of a year of drills and mindful practice, like Tai Chi, but I converted.  Total Immersion focuses on the use of gravity for weight shifts, using buoyancy and gravity to generate propulsion.  The method emphasizes full body integration, greater efficiency and lowering resistance.  Now I take fewer strokes per lap and can hold about the same intervals.  As a result I burn fewer calories during a workout.  What’s the point in that?

In 2009 my father sent me a copy of Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run.  I had recurring leg and foot injuries that kept me from achieving my running goals.  I changed my form from long, heal-striking strides to a shorter, quicker shuffle.  This reduced the landing shock and was a more efficient use of my energy.  My stride rate increased to allow me to keep the same pace.  I ran with a more erect back, practiced landing mid-foot and touching my feet down directly under my body. 

I’d learned to “truck” in the 70s; weight way back behind my heals, feet landing well in front of my body.  With my shoulder length blond hair flapping in the breeze, I thought I looked real good.  Now the only time I let my feet land in front of my body is when I want to check to make sure my laces are still tied.  If I tilt my head down to look, I take a tumble. 

Before I adopted the minimalist running form, I had problems: obsessive / compulsive behavior, forgetfulness and a general bad attitude to name a few.  Minimalist running did nothing to resolve those issues, but it did allow me to run injury free for three years and helped me run a marathon PR.  If you haven’t yet, give it a try.

Scott Jurik, in his book Eat & Run, mentions breathing through your nose while running as a means to promote abdominal breathing.  Nasal breathing, he says, lowers the heart rate and helps brain activity.  Below is a photo of me taken at the half way point of the 2011 American Discovery Trail Marathon.  Note that I am breathing through my nose.  I am running at about a ~6:40 / mile pace and have just passed the guy in red.  He could have gotten some butter and jelly at that point because he was toast.

I will spend the rest of my life trying to regain that pinnacle of performance.

Heavy Medal

A package arrived this week containing the award for my third place finish in the men’s 45 – 49 age group at this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Marathon.  It was a plaque measuring 5.5 in. by 10.5 in. by 1 in. and looks like this:

It will find a place in my closet alongside my collection of medals.  Those medals are symbols of hard work, determination, courage, heart, passion, countless weeks of training, sweat, blisters, bloody nipples and the mark of an accomplishment.

My motives are more about setting a goal, working toward it and completing it than they are about collecting tokens.  Still, the award is sweet and comes at a time when my desire to run is at a low point.  Inertia, and a goal to run 2,000 miles this year, keeps me moving.  The plaque gives me time to reflect and to look forward.

On a dowel in my closet I keep a collection of medals I have received from competitions I have entered.  Each medal I receive I slide onto the left end.  Occasionally I bump into the collection, sometimes deliberately, and the medals clang like chimes.  The result is a chronology of races I have competed in.  It shows my activity.  There are gaps of years when I didn’t compete in anything.  Paradoxically, those were the years when I had the most personal challenges.

On the far right is a medal from my freshman year at Syracuse when the crew shell I was rowing in won the 1983 Presidents Cup Regatta in Tampa, FL.  Syracuse entered three boats in the 2000 meter race and we swept the first three places.  The stroke of our boat and leader of the freshman team, David Godfrey, died later that year from a virus that affected his heart.  Attached to that medal is a badge I received as an overseas competitor in the Henley Royal Regatta in England in 1985.

Medals are very nice, but I like the more functional awards given at some races.  Several times a week I drink tea out of the mug that was the 2^nd place masters award at the 2006 American Discovery Trail Marathon.  I drink water out of a pint glass I won in the Crazy Eights race in 2006. 

Rodeos give out belt buckles.  C.R.A.S.H. - B. Indoor Rowing champions receive a hammer.  The winner of the NYC Marathon gets a Mercedes Benz.  The winner of the Tour de France used to receive a chalet in the Alps.  The winner of the US Presidential race gets an ulcer. 

Looking forward there are races I have not yet run, but would like to.  I am not in it for the hardware, but there are some awards I covet.  One is the gold pan that is awarded at the Georgetown to Idaho Springs ½ Marathon.  Every year I planned to run it, but something always came up that conflicted with the date.  Age group winners receive gold pans that look like this:

The other award I covet is the belt buckle that is awarded at the Leadville 100.  If you finish the race in under 25 hours, you receive a belt buckle that looks like this:

Six years ago I set my sights on that goal, but two surgeries derailed my plans.  I do not believe I have the strength to train for, or complete that race.  It represents the pinnacle of running toughness.

The first day of winter, the winter solstice, is not until Friday, December 21, but we got a little tease of it during this Saturday’s run.  It was sunny and 49 degrees when we set out and 41 degrees and blustery when we finished.