Fresh Legs Monday

Straight into a conversation with Joe Barrs and Lucy Gossage about their Montane Spine races. This Part One largely covers Joe's Arctic Spine. Joe is a family friend who did the Arctic Spine race earlier this year and Lucy is a long time training partner of George and ex-professional triathlete. The 290 mile Kungsleden trail is in the North West of Sweden which the Montane Spine Race tackles i...

Dad and George sit down for another chat accompanied by a sharp needle and a plate of Nutella. George wonders about how her blood glucose can still be normal after a full training day. Dad fails to mention gluconeogenesis which will come as a relief to listeners. It's two weeks before the European Marathon Championships and George has modified her training to make the start-line. It's not the stan...

At lunchtime George puts on her run kit and heads-out for yet another run: 30+km days are hard to sustain without some significant hacks. A popular view is that George's genetics are key to her performance. Our view is that it is not genetics, but belief in the importance of genetics , that causes others to be slow. Here Dad and George discuss the importance of utility theory and economic mode...

We have got very behind with our uploads. This is a conversation between George and Dad in December. Here George wants to discuss a survival podcast she has listened to and the 'rule of three': three minutes without a breath, three days without water and three weeks without food. Are these the limits of survival? If you get lost, how long before you drink your own pee? These things need co...

After a few failed attempts at recording an even halfway decent 'Journal Club' here is a recording of a conversation between George and Dad recorded in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (hence the echo). George attempts a game of technology hot potato and gently reminds Dad that it is his lack of training and ageing that is making him physically and mentally slow... Health...

George talks about her recent Frankfurt marathon and recovering from the high load.

George is 5 days out from a marathon race and suffering from taper week paranoia. Dad has a cold that is only getting worse hence the video podcast. We don't cover anything in particular. George reveals that her coach was indifferent to her recent performance at the half and that a West End Musical performance might not be compatible with marathon training.

Dad and George discuss carbohydrate and fat burning and its relationship to fitness and intensity. The subjects of fasting and ketone drinks are discussed along with 30 year old fat stores. If you are squeamish or subject to being triggered by discussions around food consumption please do not listen.

Dad and George raced at the weekend. George posted a 5K PB (16:04) and Dad DNF'ed a marathon. So, we took the opportunity to discuss optimal marathon courses. The Polaroid picture was indeed rubbish - but, we don't edit...

George and Dad discuss the difference in training for 5K and marathon. Scaling and specificity come-up as does simple aerobic fitness.

George and Dad, in an unusually relaxed mode, thinking about what to do when the Tanda equation doesn't work. The problem isn't Dad's odd socks, but the presence of hill running within the dataset. Is Garmin race predictor the solution? George is sceptical. Then George learns that Dad hasn't been layering-up....Oh dear!

Late one evening, George and Dad discuss the outcome of the hill race in La Grave (Trail de la Meije).

George and Dad are chatting outside in the early evening. They are in the French Alps where the breakfast run is a 9 km ascent (800 m vertical) of the Col de Sabot followed by a run back down. It's hard, but surprisingly sustainable and George is concerned that it is not worthwhile marathon training. It's a Friday evening and the following morning they are both doing a 1 km+ vertical race...

George and dad, just back from different parkruns, discuss fuelling for marathons. Whilst getting 'more energy' into muscles may seem critical, there is a potentially embarrassing downside. With up to 50% of runners suffering with 'issues' on race day or in long runs, fuelling is also potentially a limiting factor (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3167507/). Gut transit times, of co...

Dad and George discuss whether training on hills is necessary for mountain racing and the big difference between going up and downhill.

In this one-off Video Edition Dad and George Zoom chat about the long term build towards high mileage and George's current 'blister'. George is in Berlin, with all her run kit, but she is being careful.

There are many different views on tapering. How long should the taper period be? Should you reduced volume, speed or both - or should certain sessions be replaced with others? There are no easy answers. A recent https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10171681/ looked at various studies and suggests that a pre-taper over-load before a shorter taper can work well. https://www.frontiersin.org/j...

A discussion between George and dad about running economy, efficiency and V̇O2max. At times dad is a bit too loose with the terms - especially rates and power - and makes the odd accidental mistake too. It happens in an unedited conversation. But, if you are interested here are some papers to look at: Running economy , Oxygen use by muscle (Fletcher and Hopkins, 1907), a sensible view on stretchin...

George encountered an 'under-dressed' man in a field prompting her to discuss the effects of layering-up on sweat glands. Dad, naturally uses the excuse to 'monologue' about sweat gland hypertrophy, atrophy, stable core temperature and a trajectory to failure!

George and dad discuss the marathon build. It's what is missing that might be interesting. At no point did George mention the 'long run' or 'intervals' as being important...It's all about gradually building a training stress.

Setting-off from the marathon start line: what's the pacing plan?

The one where Dad just wouldn't stay focussed but George remained calm. We did speak a bit about the Dashboard, Graphs page and the Tanda planner, but not the Training Intensity page, Yearly Distance and Splits Analysis. After the recording we both decided some screenshots would be good, but it's not clear who is going to get to control the mouse...perhaps next time?

Making the most of aerobic training using additional physiological loads - why we use heat rather than altitude.

A relaxed discussion between George (2:26 marathon runner) and Dad (crplots.com). An episode where no essays were marked and Christof wasn't briefed on the topic (and no editing was done).

A relaxed conversation between Dad (Christof Schwiening: crplots.com) and his daughter, George (2:26 marathon runner), about how they got into running and running data.