The Myth of "Carbo-Loading"

Eating large amounts of carbohydrates before a race or workout (aka "Carbo-loading") is a complete waste of time! After all, you would not assume that by sleeping 5 days straight you would now be able to stay up for 5 days straight? Why would you assume that by eating large amounts of carbohydrates 3-4 days before a race, you would fill up your glycogen stores? Most of us are cutting down our milage the week or 2 before the big race and the lighter load will create extra nutrients for your body. Adding more carbohydrates to your data will create a larger excess of glucose, which gets converted to fat. You can only increase your glycogen stores only when your body is ready to do so.

Research has shown that high levels of glucose consumed during rest does not get converted to glycogen (Am J Physiol. 1989 Nov;257(5.1):E697-703 ). How do you get glycogen, you ask? Well, only when high levels of lactate are present, through a pathway called the Cori Cycle (see below).



So what does this mean for us runners? If you want to build your glycogen store, eat carbohydrates soon (1-2 hours) AFTER you run. The consumed carbohydrate will replace the need for lactate to supply your body with the needed glucose. The glucose formed by lactate will then convert to glycogen. Therefore, the longer or harder you run, the more lactate you produce, the more potential you have to build up glycogen stores (if you eat at the right time). Real "Carbo-loading" can only happen over the course of months and not 3-5 days before your big marathon.

Additionally, the same study showed that galactose incorporated more quickly into glycogen than glucose. Thus many of those high carbohydrate drinks which contain extra glucose (as the carbohydrate source), will just be converted to fat. Galcatose is contained in many dairy products (such as milk). So, if you want to "Carbo-load", drink some milk right after you run!

July 14 Group Run!

Today we went out for a 4.5 mile run. The weather was perfect. Hope to see you next time at 6 (therunsclub.com).

June 30th Group Run

We had two surprises this week. First, the newspaper sent out a photographer and we had a photo shoot. For a brief period of time, we were running superstars; modeling our running form up and down the trail. Second, someone new showed up to our group!
We beat the rain storm and ran over 6 miles! Hope to see you next time at 6pm. (www.therunsclub.com).

FVPT Runner in the News!

Patrick Kral, a regular FVPT Runner, ran over 12 miles carrying the Olympic torch to mark the beginning of the Special Olympics! Below is a picture of him (bottom picture on the left) that was featured in the Danbury News Times carrying the torch. Good job and Congrats!

Core Strength and Overall Fitness

Why would anyone focus so much attention on one part of the musculoskeletal system. It seems short sighted and superficial. While great toe strength is important, I think there is more than "one key muscle system" needed for running.

So why such an emphasis on core stregnth training? How does one even define core strength training? So I googled "core strength training" and "running" and the first hit was Core Strength Training Exercises at the site, Running Planet. Sounded promising. It listed eight exercises that worked "the core": seven crunches and one stabilization exercise that emphasized the tucking the pelvis with the abs. So am I to take this to mean that core = abs? To be a better runner, the key is ab strength?























This concept of core strength is absurd. The abs are the key to running as much as the big toe, your left hamstring, your right shoulder, etc. The key to good running is well balanced strength and coordination.

Working the abs alone creates an imbalance. Abs flex your torso forward (and rotate but that is for another discussion). Overworking your abs while ignoring all the rest of your core creates and reinforces a bent forward and slouched posture. Your core really consists of the abs, back muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and the nearly always forgotten psoas muscle (pronounced so-az). You need not only to be strong, but be able to coordinate all these seemingly opposing muscles to create balanced, stable, yet flexible torso.

A New Way to Look at Running Efficiency

People use the word running efficiency instead of correct running form because there is the belief that there is really is no "correct" way to run. However, there are some factors that are associated with faster running. In fact, there are many people in the US and the world who spend their lives researching precisely what makes up running economy.

Running economy is a term used to describe how efficiently a runner can use their body to generate speed. The more efficient your body converts oxygen that you breath in into speed, the higher your running economy. Sports scientists at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports in Finland measured many factors related to speed and their correlation with running economy including:

VO2max
Stride Length
Stride Frequency
Speed Range (the difference between the lowest and highest speed an athlete runs during a given distance)
Maximal Running Speed
Ground contact time (the amount of time your feet spend on the ground with each step)

The authors found that the ONLY FACTOR THAT CORRELATED WITH SPEED WAS GROUND CONTACT TIME. VO2 max, stride length, speed range, etc did not correlate with speed. The more time runners spent in the air (i.e. the less time they spent on the ground), the faster they went.

So what does this mean? As Dr. Romanov of Pose-Tech running stresses: Pick up your feet!! Run lightly and gracefully. Clunking on the ground is not associated with faster speeds so concentrate on the upward movement and not the actual steps you take.

June 23, 2009 Group Run

We had a great 6.9 mile run today which began with a quick interview of our runners for an article which will feature The Runs Club in Connecticut Life and ended with ice cream for all! Some of us even got a little wet by jumping into the the Farmington River!! We had everything today! Hope to see you out next time! (Tuesdays at 6PM; www.therunsclub.com)