ISSN NO: 2397-6632 MAY 2017 | NUMBER 364 | BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Great Britain’s Alyson Dixon celebrates finishes the 2016 London Marathon women’s race as the first placed Briton SWIMMING TECHNIQUE RACE STRATEGY THE KICK PACE INSIDE YOURSELF WHY A PASSIVE KICKING COULD A FAST START BE APPROACH IS NOT BEST THE KEY TO A NEW PB? FOR TRIATHLETES BASE ENDURANCE SPORTS INJURY TRAINING LOSING IT! BREAKING STRATEGIES TO POINT PREVENT DETRAINING AVOID THE PERILS OF DURING A LAYOFF STRESS FRACTURE IN THIS ISSUE In this issue ISSN NO: 2397-6632 MAY 2017 | NUMBER 364 | BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Great Britain’s Alyson Dixon celebrates finishes the 2016 London Marathon women’s race as the first RACE PACING placed Briton 03 The science and art of successful pacing for runners THE TRUTH ABOUT DETRAINING 09 What happens when you stop training and how can you minimise fitness losses during a layoff? PUTTING IN THE LEGWORK 16 Why triathletes shouldn’t try and ‘save their legs’ during the swim section of a race SWIMMING TECHNIQUE RACE STRATEGY THE KICK BREAKING POINT PACE INSIDE YOURSELF WHY A PASSIVE KICKING How runners can identify the early signs of stress fracture and COULD A FAST START BE APPROACH IS NOT BEST 21 THE KEY TO A NEW PB? FOR TRIATHLETES reduce their risk of injury BASE ENDURANCE SPORTS INJURY TRAINING LOSING IT! BREAKING STRATEGIES TO POINT PREVENT DETRAINING AVOID THE PERILS OF PEAK PERFORMANCE HOTLINE DURING A LAYOFF STRESS FRACTURE 26 Intense warm-ups/dangerous overload/parachute swim training ANDREW RICHARD JOHN TREVOR HAMILTON LOVETT WOOD LANGFORD Editor Contributor Contributor Contributor Andrew is a Rick Lovett is a John is an ex- Trevor worked in sports science writer US-based running international pool professional sport as a and open-water swimmer with 16 and researcher, specialising coach based in Portland, Oregon. physiotherapist at Middlesbrough years’ of teaching and coaching in sports nutrition and he has Rick is USATF-certified and Football Club for 6 years and for works with a range of runners, experience. Having become an worked in the field of fitness and the past 4 years, has run a private including Olympic trials and age-group triathlete, he now runs sports performance for over 30 physiotherapy clinic in Durham. national-level athletes. Rick has his own coaching company, writing years, helping athletes to reach Trevor’s specialism is to understand also co-authored two training training plans for endurance athletes their true potential. Andrew is the needs of a top level athlete from books with Olympic coach and doing technique training for also a lifelong endurance athlete and ex-marathon world record swimmers and runners. John works a physiotherapy perspective, and himself. As well as his role as holder, Alberto Salazar. As well with athletes of all abilities, from then to help athletes attain their editor of Peak Performance as being a keen runner, Rick has complete novices and people scared goals. He regularly presents his he is a scientific consultant to also cycled solo across the USA of the water to high level athletes post-graduate research findings at a the fitness and sports nutrition on a 5,400-mile trip, carrying his such as Andy Lewis, Paralympic number of national and international industries. own camping equipment! Triathlon Champion at Rio 2016. sport and exercise conferences. Peak Perfomance is published by Green Star Media Ltd, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford GU5 0AB, UK. Telephone +44 (0)1483 892894 EDITOR JUNE 2017 | NUMBER 365 | BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Coming up in the next issue Andrew Hamilton [email protected] Race strategy: using mental MANAGING DIRECTOR strength for better pacing Andrew Griffiths Sports nutrition: do CUSTOMER SERVICES keto diets really work for Duncan Heard endurance athletes? [email protected] MARKETING Sports psychology: Gina Edwards returning to sport after a [email protected] lengthy layoff To subscribe to Peak Performance www.greenstarmedia.net/ Sports injury: overcoming call +44 (0)1483 892894 short hamstrings for better © Green Star Media Ltd. performance All rights reserved. 2 PEAK PERFORMANCE ISSUE 364 RACE PACING Pace yourself In the first of a two-part series, Rick Lovett looks at the science and art of race pacing for runners AT A GLANCE This article: ● Explores the most successful pacing strategies used by elite runners ● Looks at the benefits of a ‘fast start’ pacing strategy and how it relates to the body’s energy systems ● Provides examples of a fast start pacing strategy in action hen I was young and chasing Warming up the pace personal bests at my favorite The ‘still-warming-up’ concept probably distances, my strategy was works best for the marathon, where pre- Wsimple. I’d go out for the first race warm-ups are minimal and pace is half of the race at PB pace – and then try to relatively slow. But the world’s best splits speed up in the second half. If it worked, that at shorter distances seem to validate was great. If not, I figured that a PB wasn’t Salazar’s wisdom. According to posts on to be found that day, no matter what I did! letsrun.com, when Kenenisa Bekele ran the Later, I wrote two books with Alberto Salazar still-standing 5,000-metres world record – ex world record holder for the marathon (12mins:37.35secs) in 2004, his kilometer and now Mo Farah’s coach - who told me the splits were as follows 2:33.2, 2:32.2, 2:31.8, best strategy for his marathon events, was 2:30.5, 2:29.4—a remarkably steady speed-up similar: go out conservatively for the first (see figure 1). half, and then speed up. As he put it, “For the When he again set a world record first half of the marathon, your body is still in the 10,000 metres, five years later warming up.” (26mins:17.53secs), his splits were 2:39.85, FIGURE 1: KENENISA BEKELE’S 5,000-METRE PACING STRATEGY 3 PEAK PERFORMANCE ISSUE 364 RACE PACING FIGURE 2: KENENISA BEKELE’S 10,000-METRE PACING STRATEGY 2:35.78, 2:37.59, 2:36.96, 2:39.21, 2:35.47, and 98.3% in the third, then sped back up 2:39.32, 2:40.67, 2:40.46, 2:32.44 (figure 2). to 99.7% in the fourth (see figure 3). This is These were a bit more variable than for the remarkably similar to what the South African 5000m, but also showed a different strategy: study found for 5,000 and 10,000-meter he ran the first six kilometers at very close to runners. his average pace, and then slowed slightly Only twice Yet another study examined the pacing in the next three kilometres as he gathered did someone strategies of competitors in the 2009 energy for a fast finish. manage IAAF Women’s Marathon Championship, to set an comparing their speeds through the race Elite studies 800m world to their average paces in their PB races(3). Bekele and Salazar are only two runners, but record on a The top quartile (25%) of finishers pretty the scientific literature contains a number much followed Salazar’s advice, although in of studies that have looked at other elite negative split a slightly more complex pattern. Compared competitors. In 2006, for example, a team of to their overall PB paces, these women ran South African researchers examined lap times the first 10 kilometers slower than any of the in 92 world-record performances at 800m, other groups. Then they sped up, and sped 5000m, and 10000m, from 1912 to 2004(1). up again after 35kms, finishing faster than They found that the 800-meter runners almost always started fast, typically running the first lap 2.4 seconds (4.6 percent) faster FIGURE 3: 2000M RACE SPLITS FOR ROWERS than the second one (positive split). Only (EXPRESSED AS % OF AVERAGE SPEED)(2) twice did someone manage to set an 800m world record on a negative split. However, at distances of 5,000 and 10,000 metres, record-setters tended to go out fast in the first kilometer, slow a bit in the middle, then speed back up in the final kilometer—not what Bekele did in either of his races. Another study looked at national and world-championship-level rowers racing over a distance of 2,000m, which at the elite level takes about 6 to 8 minutes (slightly less than a 3,000m run on the track)(2). Researchers tabulated the 500m splits for nearly 1,000 racers, which included both men and women, as well as various-sized crews. The results showed that rowers at this level went out at 103.3% of average speed for the first 500 meters, fell off to 99.0% in the second 500m 4 PEAK PERFORMANCE ISSUE 364 RACE PACING any other group. Runners in the other three of the so-called aerobic energy system, quartiles started comparatively faster but although the anaerobic system is useful for finished slower, indicating that even World- finishing kicks, and also comes into play Championship competitors can be swept in races like the 800m and 1500m. But up in the moment and rediscover that the there are two other systems more better marathon is an unforgiving event! known to sprinters: stored ATP (adenosine triphosphate, the molecule the body uses Free energy to store metabolic energy for all purposes) These three studies basically show what and stored creatine phosphate (another coaches have long preached; at the marathon high-energy molecule). distance, you absolutely must have a Standing at the start, your body has reasonable assessment of your target pace, recharged both of these to their maximum or you will pay a big price late in the race.