Science of Running
(First of 3 parts)
I spoke to soon. Just when I wrote regarding the strong finish of Kenenisa Bekele of Ethipoia who was just 2 seconds short of breaking the world record in full marathon of Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya. Kipchoge came roaring back last Saturday, October 12 and crashed the 42km marathon by finishing 1 hour 59.40 seconds to become the first person in history to run a full marathon in less than 2 hours. The challenge took place in Vienna, Austria, organized by chemical company INEOS. It was a carefully planned run that included an electric pace car, which doesn’t emit fumes for the runners and had a laser guide projected to the road to mark the position which all pacers follow and rotate alongside Kipchoge. 41 professional runners took turns in running to set his pace. Hydration and nutrition were handed to him by a biker and each water bottle are then measured to check on how much he consumed or if he did take enough. It was a painstakingly planned event run that needed all the science and physics that considered the temperature, weather condition, elevation and even the shoes was newly designed by Nike called the Vaporfly.
Although the running organization has not recognized this feat as a world record, it marks a breakthrough. The organizers knew ahead of time that this record will not meet all the criteria required by IAAF to make it an official world record. Sadly, some has written this feat to be fake or a scam. But for, me they are missing the point of this whole practice. This achievement means so much to the running community. It proves that anything is possible if you put your mind, heart, hardwork, and sacrifice into it. I don’t think there is another runner in this era that could have made this accomplishment. Actually, this was the second attempt at breaking the sub-2 hour barrier. 2 years ago in Monza Italy, Kipchoge run at 2:00:25. For the record, he still holds the fastest 42km time of 2 hours 1:39 seconds. “I wanted to run under two hours and show human beings can do a good job and lead a good life,” Kipchoge said. “It shows the positivity of sport. I want to make the sport an interesting sport whereby all human beings can run and together we can make this world a beautiful world.”
As I said, running is the easiest form of exercise. And there are 4 kinds of runners. 1 are elite runners who are out there to win or finish on top. Mostly these guys make money or earn from the weekly races. 2 are the runners that strives to finish faster than their previous time, which we usually refer them to PR (personal record) runners. 3 are runners that are there just to finish the race. 4 are runners that are purely for fun, health issues, wanting to lose weight and get fitter.
The three basic ingredients of running are Nutrition and Hydration, Training Schedule in terms of Running, and Training schedule in terms of Conditioning.
Nutrition is one of the biggest factors often neglected by runners. Some think that they can eat anything if they always run. Remember you can never outrun a bad DIET. The heavier you are, the slower you will run especially in long distance races. When one wants to lose weight, he or she must remember the ratio and proportion of70:30. Meaning to lose weight, you need 70% nutrition and 30% exercise. So even if one works out for 8 hours a day and doesn’t control his food intake, he or she will still gain weight. One must avoid sugar and junk foods. Eating healthy keeps our weight down, and therefore makes us more efficient when running. Basic nutrition, one needs to correct proportion of protein, carbohydrates and fat. A good source of protein can come from chicken, beef, fish & and eggs. For Vegan diet, one can opt for tofu, lentils, chick peas or peanuts. Carbohyrdrates. We love to eat rice, so maybe we switch to brown or black rice, which has lower calories and GI, or maybe quinoa, sweet potato (kamote) or cold potato. Good fat sources can come from unsalted nuts, avocado and fish oil. Fruits and Vegetables are also good, ‘Utan bisaya’ is good source of vegetable for Filipino meals. Just avoid putting too much salt in it. Actually, our popular ‘monggos’ sabaw is the best complete meal that has carbohydrates, fat and protein. But people who are suffering from gout must be careful as well. Again, it depends on how you prepare the soup or meal. Never skip breakfast. Eat 5 to 6 times a day. Eat before you get hungry and eat after each workout.
Next week, we will focus on nutrition and hydration during workout and training schedule in terms of running and conditioning.
For more questions, please email me at alanchoachuy@gmail.com