Endurance

What is the personality trait that all consistently successful endurance runners have?  (I highlight the word consistently because as you may know anyone, even a lazy, undedicated, 7th grade girl can have a jaw dropping race or season or two before realizing the importance of hard work)  It may sound obvious, but I'm going to go with endurance. 
  
en·dur·ance, noun ;

The ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina

Sure there are plenty of desirable traits for success in running, like courage, self-confidence, discipline, optimism, ambition, and unwavering faith, but weaknesses in any of these areas can be made up with the ability to endure.  All respectable runners no matter their flaws have a stick-to-itness that make them great. 

It is something you're born with, but also its something you develop and grow, and it's something that never ceases to be tested...Can you go that extra mile? Can you find one more gear? Can you get out of bed and out the door each and every day?  Endurance is the 3rd lap of a mile, miles 20-through 25 of a marathon, a 70 mile week during the dog days of summer, a snowy long run in April,  The tenth 200 heat during a cold and rainy Thursday night track meet ;)  Endurance doesn't always come easy but for some (the craziest among us) it often does.  Lap three is where they thrive.  Its were they finally have a shot to break those more physically talented.  I believe endurance is directly correlated to passion.  By passion I mean the intense relationship with the sport, sharing all the same qualities of true love like "when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” Chris ~ age 7  and "what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri ~ age 4.

Part of endurance and love is the ability to forgive and forget.  There was an interesting article in Runner's World highlighting ultra-endurance runner Diane Van Deren whose brain surgery to remove part of her temporal lobe and hippocampus allowed her an extraordinary ability to forget previous pain and live/run in the moment.  Like running lap three without the doubts and insecurities of laps one and two.  Click here to read her story.

By no means do runners and endurance athletes have a monopoly on this invaluable trait.  In fact, it is the very characteristic we celebrate this holy week. While I confess the whole saving us from sin thing still confuses me, I completely understand the act of enduring sacrifice in The Passion of Christ.  For me Jesus's death and resurrection symbolize a love so deep that he could endure physical and mental abuse and betrayal and still carry his own cross and remain resolute.  Though Jesus was killed, he could not die. To this day he still remains in the hearts of Christians and non-Christians alike, still enduring, still inspiring passion and love.

Happy Easter!

Chasing always,

Laura

Down in the DOMS

This weeks physiology lesson: You are doing something wrong in your training if your glutes are more sore leading up to your first steeplechase of the season than the day after it.

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a result of a muscular mechanical hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain) that occurs a day or two following unaccustomed eccentric (contraction while lengthening) muscle contraction.  The cause of this hyperalgesia is not yet known but there is pretty good evidence that the vasodilator bradykinin that is produced during eccentric heavy exercise such as running signals an increase in receptors involved in the production of nerve growth factor (NGF).  NGF is elevated 12-48 hours following the exercise a comparable time course to DOMS.

This all would be super interesting if you could apply it toward training in a way in which you could exercise the muscles to be accustomed to the activity so as to not produce the strong physiological reaction on race day.  You would do this by setting up a schedule periodizing your training to introduce concentric activity in increasing increments with recovery time (12-48hrs) to allow NGF and other inflammatory markers to recede before introducing another intense workout or competition.

That's Training and Conditioning 101.  Of course I need it dumbed...DOMed (so sorry, I promise no more awful puns) down even more.   I know that I am most sore about 18 hours following a hard work or race.  This means, preferably, I should not do anything DOMS-worthy two days before risking my reputation as a decent steeplechaser.  No matter how horribly unprepared I am for going over barriers and waterjumps, I should not spend 2 hours perfecting my form on Thursday evening if I'm racing Saturday morning...excellent, now I know.

More than a physiology lesson though, I think I need to include a little more psychology in my running.  Sure it didn't help my chances that I went into this Saturday's race a bit sore, but that doesn't explain the frustration that surrounds my running these days.  I've always thought of myself as a consistent runner. Sure, I've had disappointing races but for the most part I always knew what I was capable of and how to get it done.  But that was when I had a coach and a team to run for.  These people more than gave me encouragement and friendship, they kept me honest and patient.  Before running on my own, I never realized the value of having someone tell me that "this is the last one" actually means that this is the last one unless I want to be super sore during my race.  Discovering these little roles my coaches have played in my running has given me insight on what it means to be invested in my athletes' training and how I have to be that much more careful when trying to coach myself.

Transitions are hard and as an athlete I'm not necessarily as patient as they come.  I have a lot of things to learn before I can compete on my own at the same level as I did with a team.  I am learning quickly though.  DOMS may get in the way of what I want to do today, but its a pretty good sign that I am making myself stronger for tomorrow.

So for now I'm chasing patience.