Thanks
@FUBAR and
@SFBayDuck!
Duck, awesome post. A few follow up questions:
- So you're essentially advocating for me taking the next couple months to focus on a diet and training that taps into this methodology? Even if that's 40% of my time available before my first 100? It's going to be mentally challenging to hold firm on that, but I think I'm getting there and ready to commit.
That's what I'd do. You need to get your body prepared to keep moving and taking in fuel for (I have no idea what your goals are) 20-38 hours. Blown quads and bad stomachs are the two biggest reasons people struggle/DNF in ultras, so do what you can ahead of time to reduce those possibilities. Again, if you're racing at the front there are other considerations, and I'm not the guy to fill you in on all of that!
[*]I don't typically take anything other than water on runs of less than 2 hours. When training for metabolic efficiency, I assume that Tailwind is ok on runs of 2+ hours? How about a gel like Huma at a rate of ~1x/hour? Or is it better to just go cold turkey other than Tailwind and make my body use stored fat on those long excursions?
If you're already going two hours with just water, you're already fairly ME and should respond well to this. It's a lot tougher for the sugar burners who need a bagel, banana, and gatorade before they start. I think ideally you could work up to 3-4 hours without anything but water (but bring a couple of gels), but that's not totally necessary. Don't sacrifice your long run due to sole focus on fat burning - you still need the time on feet.
[*]Understood on hiking hills, as that's how I trained for and raced my first 50. Was more or less curious how to accommodate staying in an aerobic threshold while running/hiking hilly terrain. Maffetone on all the podcasts I've heard lately makes it seem as if exceeding this threshold, even for short periods of time, can really hamper one's progress in fat adapting. That said...
I've heard him admit a couple of times recently that it's not the worst thing in the world to exceed your MAF HR on occasion. What he would say is to do regular (every 3-4 week) MAF tests to make sure whatever you are doing works. If you're getting faster at your MAF HR then keep doing what you're doing, but if you plateau or get slower you need to figure out what's holding your progress back. But if you listen to others that believe in it but don't have their name in the method (like Lucho on Endurance Planet), they almost all give more wiggle room. Lucho talks about MAF +10 being fine, just don't do everything in that as you're hitting that "grey zone".
[*]If I'm putting in something like 7-10 hours of training per week, you think it's ok if I'm doing 30-60 minutes of high(er) intensity training or happen to extend into anaerobic thresholds for short durations such as climbing hills during long runs? I like the sound of that much better than a hard and fast "don't ever enter into an anaerobic heart rate."
See above. As long as you're making progress, then you should be fine. Everyone responds differently. Last year I started mixing in weekly 20 minute "tempo" efforts where I ran comfortably hard up a decent but runable grade, and even did some 60 second hard uphill repeats. I think they helped, and once I'm fully healthy (recovering from an achilles) I hope to add those back in.
[*]I assume you went into a local place to test your Metabolic Efficiency? Something like $200-300 I'd guess? Was it worth it in your opinion, or is one just as well off going 180 minus age and spending the money on a couple pairs of shoes?
I did, a place in Mill Valley, CA, that specializes in this kind of testing. It was in that range, and I thought it was great. Although running with a metabolic mask in your mouth is terrible (lots and lots of slobber). And I have a giant head and kept breaking the thing, dude said he'd never had that happen before. For me it just verified that the 180 formula was about right, but I would think it might be even more valuable for people that just aren't responding as they may not match up with it very well. It can be hard to find places that will do the protocol correctly (most are used to vO2 or LT testing),
[*]Thanks for the Endurance Plant podcast recommendation. I'll check that out. I heard about that FASTER study through the TRN podcast with Zach Bitter, who trains this way and broke the 100 mile American record with a time of something like 11:XX. Sounds like his results in that study were ridiculous.
Zach is a freak.....in a good way.
[*]Finally, thanks for the advice in general. Good luck in your 100K!
Until Duck checks in. :-( 
