What is Carbohydrate Loading?

That’s massive. Even a 1% improvement could be the difference between you getting under that elusive mark you’ve set yourself.

What Does a 3% Improvement Look Like on the Road?

1% Improvement

• 3 hour marathon becomes 2:58:12
• 3:30 marathon becomes 3:27:54
• 4 hour marathon becomes 3:57:36
• 2 hour half marathon becomes 1:58:48
• 1 hour 50 half marathon becomes 1:48:54
• 90 min half marathon becomes 89:06

3% Improvement

• 3 hour marathon becomes 2:54:36
• 3:30 marathon becomes 3:23:42
• 4 hour marathon becomes 3:52:48
• 2 hour half marathon becomes 1:56:24
• 1 hr 50 half marathon becomes 1:46:42
• 90 min half marathon becomes 87:20

History of Carbohydrate Loading

• Developed in the late 1960’s
• Originally involved 3-4 days of heavy training and low carbohydrate eating (the depletion phase) followed by 3-4 days of rest combined with a high carbohydrate diet (the loading phase)
• 2002 research shows that maximum glycogen stores can be reached with 24 hours of inactivity combined with a high carbohydrate eating regime. There is no need for the depletion phase. 

Sometimes the Simplest Method is the Best

Researchers at the University of Western Australia carried out two studies, published in 2002, which showed the simplest and most effective way to “carb load” was to eat 10 grams of high glycaemic index carbohydrate, per kg of body weight in the 24 hour period before endurance exercise. This needs to be coupled with a 24 hour period of inactivity.

Prior to these studies, it was generally agreed that for muscles to achieve maximum glycogen storage, a bout of intense exercise needed to be undertaken to deplete muscle glycogen stores. Knowing that athletes were unlikely to want to complete 3 mins of intense exercise the day before a race, the researchers tested whether the same effect could be achieved without the intense exercise bout. And lucky for us, it can.

Protocol

1. In the 24 hour period leading into a race, do no exercise. In reality, this may be difficult, but you should do as little exercise as possible. That means don’t run round after the kids, don’t do the shopping, don’t clean the house. Put your feet up and catch up on a good book or movie.
2. For every 1 kg of body weight, consume 10 grams of high glycaemic index carbohydrate. This means you’ll need to stay away from higher fibre foods such as wholegrain bread, and steer away from fatty foods as well. If you’re eating dairy foods, use low fat (which is something I don’t usually advocate just for the record). If you want to eat bread, stick to white bread. Take in sugary drinks – fruit juice without the pulp, or dare I say it, cordial. Honey, jam, low-fat fruit yoghurt. No meat.

You may find you’re carrying a kilo or two into the race. This is the extra glycogen your muscles are holding, which will be used up as the race progresses, so it’s nothing to be concerned about.

References

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Jul;87(3):290-5. Epub 2002 May 28.
Carbohydrate loading in human muscle: an improved 1 day protocol.
Bussau VA, Farichild TJ, Rao A, Steele P, Fournier PA

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Jun;34(6):980-6.
Rapid carbohydrate loading after a short bout of near maximal-intensity exercise.
Fairchild TJ, Fletcher S, Steele P, Goodman C, Dawson B, Fournier PA

Nearly everyone who’s ever thrown on a pair of running shoes will have an opinion on running technique.  Some opinions are better informed that others!

Talk about running technique will centre mainly around:

• what part of your foot hits the ground
• where your foot lands in relation to your hips
• body lean
• arm carriage
• head position
• stride rate and stride length – the 2 factors that make up your actual speed

Unfortunately, too often attention is focused on just one or two of these factors, and many runners get the idea that getting these “right” will somehow solve all their problems and have them running incredibly fast in just one or two sessions.

But of course, you know better than that!

Let’s take a closer look at some of these aspects of running technique.

Footstrike – where and how your foot lands

The faster we run, the more likely it is that we will land towards the front of our foot, on the midfoot or forefoot, rather than the heel. This is because the body is naturally finding the most efficient way of moving as quickly as possible. To move quickly, you need to be able to get your foot off the ground very quickly in readiness for the next landing.

Some studies show that up to a third of the best distance runners in the world, have a midfoot landing point. (1) Curiously, some “analysts” have drawn a rather long bow, and deduced that if elite runners land on their midfoot to forefoot, then we all should run in this way. This however is disregarding a couple of crucial points:

1. Elite runners run a lot faster than most of us
2. Elite runners are far closer to being biomechanically perfect than either you or I. They naturally land more towards the front of their foot because they can. Their biomechanics, that is the way they are put together, allow for this to happen naturally, without thinking about it. It’s part of what makes them capable of being an elite runner.

Can you see where this is going?

Most of us are not elite runners, or even sub-elite runners. So is it appropriate to be striving to emulate their foot strike?

A study which examined the metabolic cost of walking and running at various speeds, showed that walking with a heel strike reduced the metabolic cost of walking by 53%. (2). That is, roughly put in layman’s terms, it takes 53% less effort to walk by landing on your heel first, than if you were to land on mid or forefoot. Which says a lot about why slower runners almost exclusively land on their heel. We are conserving energy!

But what about running?

Research conducted at the University of Massachusetts (3), used computer simulation to show that heel striking was about 6% more efficient than mid or forefoot striking at 7:36/mile pace (approx. 4:45 mins per km). Another study suggests that the cross over point, where there is no difference in running efficiency between heel and midfoot strike, is at 6:25 per mile pace (approx. 4 mins/km) (4)

So if you’re running at anything between 4 mins/km and walking pace (a fast walking pace would be about 8 min/km), you’re likely to be running more efficiently if you’re landing on your heel.

Footwear and Barefoot Running

Your body will find its most natural, efficient way to land, causing the least amount of shock to your body. For many people running barefoot or in minimalist shoes, this efficient landing point will be on the mid to forefoot. Note, however that one study showed 35% of people who’d transitioned to minimalist shoes still continued to strike the ground with their heels. (5)

Some people who’ve suffered from knee problems have found that barefoot running, or running in minimalist shoes has really helped their knee issues (and some haven’t), but there is also a lot more stress placed on your Achilles tendon and calf muscles with barefoot running. Some research evaluating injury rates associated with different contact points in runners has shown no difference in the incidence of running-related injuries between rear foot and forefoot strikers, whilst other research has shown heel strikers to get more injuries, and yes, you guessed it, some has shown mid-fore foot strikers have more injuries. Which shows what is good for some people, is not so great for others!

Overstriding

One of the problems with landing on your heel has to do with overstriding. If you are taking great big long strides and landing on your heel with your foot way out in front of you, that’s when you’re likely to get knee issues. The problem is not so much with landing on your heel, it’s landing on your heel when you land with your foot a long way in front of your body. This causes a breaking effect. Ideally, you’ll be landing with your foot slightly in front of your centre of gravity no matter what part of your foot you’re landing on Your centre of gravity is most likely to be your hips, unless you run with a massive forward lean (enough for you to be able to touch the ground with your hand!).

Overstriding seems to be a common issue with people who are under trained, and are trying to run at a faster pace than they are comfortable with. In my experience, as runners get fitter, their over striding starts to take care of itself.

Speed = Stride Length X Stride Rate

Another aspect that has received a lot of attention in recent times is stride rate, or cadence. That is, how fast you turn your legs over. There is no “best” or “correct” stride rate, though some people may have you believe that 180 strides per minute is the magic number.

At the 1984 Olympics,  running coach Jack Daniels studied the stride rates of 46 distance runners. He concluded that only one took less than 180 strides per minute. At the same time as reporting his results, he also noted that in his career as a college running coach, he’d never had a beginner runner with a stride rate of over 180 strides per minute.

Over the years, Daniels has been misquoted, and many coaches, recreational runners and some medical professionals got to thinking that 180 strides per minute was the magic number. Daniels, however, had reported stride rates of at least 180 strides per minute in elites, not exactly 180 strides per minute. Other studies have clearly shown world class athletes running at cadences well above 180 strides per minute. Haile Gebrsalassie was recorded running 197 strides per minute in the 2008 Berlin Marathon, on his way to a world record, and Abebe Bikila used a 217 cadence to run 2:12:13, in Tokyo in 1964 and become the first man to run a 2:12 marathon.

Stride length has received less attention. Theoretically, increasing your stride length will help you run faster (because speed = stride length X stride rate). I’ve heard coaches trying to get runners, particularly kids, to purposefully lengthen their stride.  However this can upset the natural gait, in particular causing an overstride –>heel landing –> braking effect! This defeats the whole purpose.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

If you’ve been running for a while and haven’t suffered from an undue number of injuries that can’t be put down to something silly like increasing your training by 50% in the space of a week, chances are that your running technique is in synch with your biomechanics, and everything is sweet.

An indication that you may not be running with ‘good’ technique is a high injury rate.   Injuries can indicate a lack of strength and/or mobility in particular parts of our body. By addressing these weaknesses you will indirectly change your technique by lowering the load placed on that aspect of your body, and also improving your efficiency, that is, the amount of energy used. For example, if you had a weakness in the muscles that keep your hips stable, your hips will move up and down excessively during each stride rather than directing energy towards moving forward.

Will I get faster if I improve my technique?

In my experience, what most recreational runners need to do to get faster, is run more. And I don’t mean by that go out and do crazy mileage and run yourself into the ground. I mean conduct your training in a well planned consistent manner, training hard when you should be training hard, and easy when you should be training easy. And training when you should be training, not making excuses. This strategy is far more likely to get you faster, than trying to change your technique to something that may or may not suit your body. One common thread we’ve found with our runners who we coach online, is their surprise at how effective slowing down their longer runs and upping the intensity of their interval training is, in improving their race times. And this applies to everyone, from 5km runners to marathoners.

Running the Natural Way

A not so sexy concept is “Running the Natural Way”.  What I mean by the natural way, is that if you trust your body to find its most efficient position gradually over time, sure enough it will. In this method, you don’t think about too much, which helps you stay relaxed, and gives the body its best chance to find it’s own way. You may think about one or 2 general aspects such as ‘keep my upper body relaxed’ or ‘keep my head still’ and let the other things such as foot landing, body position, and arm carriage take care of themselves. Pat Clohessy, coach of the Marathon great Rob de Castella, followed this  line of thinking way back in the 1970’s, feeling that his runners would just naturally become more efficient the more they ran. And more recently, Matt Fitzgerald in his book “Iron War” has examined research which suggests this to be the best way to develop good running technique. Remember our bodies are amazing structures- they can think better than you!

There’s No “One Size Fits All” Approach When It Comes To Running Technique

An important point to remember here is that our bodies are all different and that no one technique or ‘look’ fits all. Just think about the differences in our arm/torso/leg lengths, even if it’s just a millimetre or two, and think about what that’s going to do to how we look when we run, or how fast our cadence or stride length will be. It really boils down to how efficient your technique is, and from a scientific point of view, this is how much energy you use at a certain speed. The less energy you use at a certain speed, the more efficient you are. This is the only real way of determining whether you’ve got the ‘best’ technique, as all the other stuff discussed is just theory. Some of the worst looking runners have been the best, and how are we to know that tinkering with their style or technique would have made them better? We’ll never know.

Developing “Good” Technique

So from my personal experience of 40 years running, 15 years coaching and much discussion and reading, I tend to favour a combination of the ‘natural’ way with some small ‘conscious’ thoughts to work on.

• Body posture: keep your head still and feel like your torso is roughly straight, but in particular the hips are in line with your torso. You want to be sure your bum isn’t sagging into a “sitting down” position whilst you’re running. Hill running will help this, as long as you concentrate on keeping your bum up.
• Foot landing: just allow your foot to land where it feels comfortable and practice the body posture above. Think about this. You will have one of your feet hitting the ground two and a half to three times per second. You might be able to control what your foot is doing by actively thinking about it for a short period of time (and that’s debatable), but as you get more tired as your run progresses, the fatigue you’re feeling will inhibit your brain from being able to direct your foot where to land. If you want to change this aspect of your running, you are far more likely to be successful by gaining strength and mobility in the appropriate areas-most likely your hips.
• Shoulders/neck relaxed. Keeping your hands loose will help this. Imagine you are holding a potato crisp between your thumb and forefinger, and you don’t want to squash it. Similarly, you can think about keeping nice and relaxed through your lips and cheeks. Imagine your lips and cheeks look like a slo-mo video of a 100m sprinter. If you’re loose through lips, cheeks and hands, you’ll likely be relaxed through the neck and shoulders as well.
• Arm swing: should be flowing and relaxed. An interesting point here is your arms dictate how fast your legs can move, so keep them moving! If you’re concerned about your arms swinging across your body too much, you would do well to stretch your chest muscles, and strengthen the muscles between your shoulder blades, rather than actively think about what’s happening with your arms whilst you’re running.
• Stride length: Will improve as your legs get stronger with faster running and hills. Any tinkering may cause over striding, so don’t force it.
• Stride rate will also increase naturally with faster running, however you can consciously think about this one. If you have a device that measures stride rate, keep an eye on it during different types of running and see if you’re improving, but remember it’s your own number, not some magical number of someone else. Increasing your stride rate by 2-4% can help you “run light”, putting less impact force through your body and reducing the risk of injury. You can cue yourself to think about landing with your foot underneath your hips. It is highly unlikely this will actually happen, but it will help to get your stride rate a little quicker by stopping excessive over striding at the front of your stride. Use the cue for a few minutes at a time, frequently throughout a run. Don’t try to run like this the entire time you’re running. Firstly, you want to make changes to your stride gradually to avoid injury, and secondly, you’ll need to give your brain a break to avoid the fatigue associated with concentrating for too long on what your foot is doing.
• Undertake a regular strength, stability and mobility routine. This is something that is regularly ignored by runners, and is a super important part of training.

If you feel you’re ready to take your training to the next level, join the Hooked on Running online team, and get a program tailored to your specific needs, and expert coaching from people who care.

References

1. Hesegawa H, Yamauchi T, Kraemer W. Foot strike patterns of runners at the 15-km point during an elitelevel half marathon. J Strength Cond. 2007;21:888-893.
2. Cunningham C, Schilling N, Anders C et al. The influence of foot posture on the cost of transport in humans. J Experimental Biolo­gy. 2010;213:790-797.
3. Miller R, Russell E, Gruber A, et al. Foot-strike pattern selection to minimize muscle energy expenditure during running: a com­puter simulation study. Annual meeting of American Society of Biomechanics in State College, PA, 2009.
4. Ogueta-Alday A, Rodríguez-Marroyo JA, García-López J. Rearfoot Striking Runners Are More Economical than Midfoot Strikers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2013 Aug 30.
5. Goss D, Lewek M, Yu B, et al. Accuracy of self-reported foot strike patterns and loading rates associated with traditional and minimalist running shoes. Human Movement Science Research Symposium, 2012, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Buying a Good Running Shoe

Comfort should be the main determinant when choosing a running shoe. Go for a dedicated running shoe, rather than a cross trainer. Cross trainers don’t have the appropriate cushioning and stability needed if you are running regularly.

The Best Brand

The best running shoe is the one that’s comfortable for you. Don’t be swayed by brand recognition, or the nice colours. Go on what feels comfortable. There are heaps of different brands, and a number of models in each brand’s range. Brands such as Asics, Misuno, New Balance, Brooks, Saucony and Fila all have good ranges of running shoes. If you have a broad foot, try New Balance, or go for a men’s shoe in another brand. Brooks are often recommended by podiatrists if you have orthotics, as they tend to be a bit deeper in the heel than other shoes,

Getting a Good Fit

Make sure you get a good fit with your running shoe. If there’s anything about the fit that you’re unsure of when you’re in the shop, I can promise you, it will be magnified once you’re out running.

Allow plenty of time to buy a running shoe. Don’t take anyone with you who will be impatient to get going.

A running shoe shopping expedition should definitely be a child free occasion.

Don’t be afraid to make the shoe sales person earn their keep. Try on as many shoes as you feel you need to, and ask as many questions as you like.
Do take socks that you will be running in, and any orthotics you might wear inside your shoes. You need to try your shoes on with these on board.

Shop after 4pm

Shop for shoes at the end of the day, when your feet are likely to be at their biggest. As your feet become hotter and more compressed when you spend time walking on them, they will usually be half to one shoe size bigger at the end of the day. When you run, the heat and compression will have the same effect.

Buy bigger than your dress shoe size

Be careful to buy shoes that are big enough. You should have about a thumb’s width between the front of your shoe and your longest toe (not necessarily your big toe) when you are standing on that foot – you therefore wont be able to test this properly yourself. You should be able to play the piano with your toes. Overall, running shoes should be a looser fit than dress shoes, and you’ll probably find you’re at least a half size bigger in running shoes. Width wise, the shoe should not feel tight, but nor should it feel uncomfortably loose.

The heel

The heel should fit snuggly into the shoe, but it should not be too tight. You should be able to slip the heel out of your shoe when it is laced up, but not tied. When you tie your shoe, use the heel lock technique, which will help to make your heel secure in the shoe. You’ll feel a bit of heel movement, but not too much.

Try It Out

Running in the shoe before you buy it is super important. The shoe could feel very different when you’re running to how it feels when you are standing still. Ideally, the shop will have a treadmill to run on, or you’ll be able to run outside in the shoe. If not, make sure your run around the shop – don’t worry – the other customers will be impressed that you look like you know what you’re doing. If possible, run downhill, but if not, stab the ball of your foot into the ground, and see how much movement there is – if your toes hit the front of the shoe, try re-lacing, but it might mean the shoe is not the right fit.

How Much Should You pay?

Don’t scrimp, but do buy within your budget. A more expensive shoe is not necessarily going to be a better fit for your foot. I always start at the cheaper end of the range first, and work my way up if I need to.

Beware The Sizzle

Some running shoe stores will pop you on a treadmill and look at you run, before advising you on a shoe. This is a great way to figure out what might suit, as long as the shoe salesperson knows what they are doing. In the nicest possible way, you should sus out if they know what they are on about – ask them what they are looking for, how long the store has had the equipment etc. Sometimes these things are lots of sizzle without much sausage. The same goes for heat sensor type plates you stand on to determine which shoe suits you best. Your gait and foot placement when you’re running may have little similarity to what your foot imprint looks like when you are standing still.

You may find the shoe salesperson talks to you about excessive pronation. If they do feel you excessively pronate, my advice would be to go to a good physiotherapist or podiatrist, rather than rely on a shoe to correct the problem (if in fact there is a problem).

Offset

Another thing some running shoe sales people are keen on is a low offset. The offset is the difference between the height of the sole of the shoe at your heel and at the ball of your foot. The theory is that if you have a lower offset, ie your heel and the front of your foot are closer to the same height off the ground, the more likely you are to land on your forefoot, or even toes. It sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but have a go at running with no shoes on, and you’ll probably find you’re running on the balls of your feet. (I don’t recommend barefoot running by the way, especially if you’re not used to it).

Apparently, the theory goes, because elite runners run on the balls of their feet (their forefoot), then we all should. I have a problem with this theory on a number of fronts. The major problem I have is that we are not all elite runners. Don’t know about you, but I’m never going to be an elite runner – no Olympic qualifying times for me. I don’t train like an elite runner, I don’t have the strength of an elite runner, I don’t have the time (or money) to spend on recovery that an elite runner has. Therefore, why does it make sense for me to try to run like an elite runner?

That’s the first thing. Secondly, not all elite runners run on their forefoot, and those that do, don’t do it all of the time, so the theory is based on an incorrect premise in the first place.

With the movement towards lower offset shoes and barefoot running, I have noticed, as have a number of physios I’ve spoken to, an increase in the number of calf and Achilles tendon injuries, due to greater forces being placed in that area. I won’t bore you with any more of the detail, suffice is to say, don’t be talked into a lower offset shoe.

Unless specifically recommended otherwise by a podiatrist or physio, you should have no LESS than an 8mm drop between the height of your heel and the forefoot.  Some brands such as Saucony have the offset written on the top of the shoe’s inner sole. There is a time and place for running barefoot, and running in minimalist shoes, but the time is most likely not when you’re first starting out running.

Where Should I Buy Running Shoes?

Specialist running shoe stores are the best bet to buy running shoes when you first start out. You can be sure you’ll get good advice from people who know what they are talking about. Here are a few you could try.

Northside Runners in Crows Nest and Manly specialises in running shoes. They have a good range, and will give you good advice. They’ll let you run outside in your shoe, and often have shoes below recommended retail price.

Running Science in Rozelle will look at you running on a treadmill before fitting you with a shoe – great especially if you are having injury problems.

Footpoint at Mosman are also great for getting a good fit with your running shoe.

The Runners Shop in  Randwick

Sydney Running Centre in Edgecliff

Footlocker offer a money back guarantee on the fit of your shoe, however I’m not so up on their fitting capability.

If you’re happy with the fit of your current shoe, you might like to try these sites to make your next purchase. Remember to factor shipping into the cost when comparing to Australian shoe stores. Frequently, on shore options turn out to be the best.

http://www.amazon.com/

http://www.wiggle.com/

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/

http://www.eastbay.com/

How frequently should you replace your shoes?

The most obvious signs of wear and tear on a shoe show on the outside- they get tatty, dirty- and let’s face it, smelly -but this isn’t going to have much of an effect on your running or risk of injury. What might increase your risk of injury, is when the midsole, the thick layer of EVA foam that cushions impact, wears out.

As shoes get older, their ability to absorb shock decreases. There is a rapid decrease in shock absorption in the first 80-100km. Then the decrease tapers off, to about a 20% loss of cushioning by about 800 kms of running. It doesn’t decrease much after this.

What does losing the cushioning effect of your shoes mean to your running and your risk of injury? As it turns out, your body adapts to various surfaces by changing the degree of leg stiffness to help absorb shock. As your shoe deteriorates, your body adapts to the changing conditions, by altering leg muscle activation. So when you run in a shoe that’s got several hundred kilometres under its belt, your leg muscles tend to become looser to compensate for the loss of shock absorption from your shoes.

What does this all mean?

• Firstly, a bit like a new car loses a large portion of its value as soon as you take it out of the showroom, so a running shoe will lose a lot of the cushioning it is going to lose, within the first few weeks to two months of wear. This is why sometimes a shoe will feel great in the shop, but very quickly becomes a no-goer. Take notice of how a shoe feels on your foot after about 100 kms – if you like it, that’s the shoe to go for next time.

• For me, that means that buying a running shoe to correct biomechanical imperfections such as overpronation, flat feet, etc is not the most effective way of correcting the problem. If the cushioning of the shoe is going to deteriorate quickly, how can it continue to correct for a biomechanical deficiency in the same way it did when you bought the shoe? A better option would be to see a physio or podiatrist who can have a good look at what’s going on, and recommend orthotics (and exercises) to correct the problem if needed. (Don’t get me started on shoe salespeople who look at your feet in a standing position and recommend a shoe to correct “over pronation” – what your foot does when you are standing still and what it does when you are running are often completely different, and we all need a degree of pronation when we plant our foot to aid with shock absorption)

• If you haven’t run for a while, and you’re planning to do so in the old pair of running shoes in the back of your cupboard which were five years old when you retired them, you should probably plan a trip to the running shoe shop. Whilst your body will adapt to the surface it is running on, a pair of legs that haven’t run for a while could do with starting out on a bit of cushioning.