PART 1 OF 2 It was Thursday afternoon, much like many other Thursday afternoons over the past few months. I had been meeting with a group of students at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Tuesdays and Thursdays to do training runs after our class for the last three and a half months. This Thursday, however, was different. The class did not meet today; in fact the class was now over, memorialized in part by our run together. The run was different also because it was shorter than usual and run at a distinctly slower pace then we had run in the past. The loop we ran around the neighborhood near campus was a recovery run after the race we had run the previous Saturday. The run was a memorial to what we had accomplished together; it also was a farewell. Our run was the celebration of our participation in the Sports Physiology and Marathon Training class and our participation—our graduation, of sorts—in the 2004 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon. As we ran and told our war stories, I found myself reflecting on the events of the past week and, indeed, of the last several months. Though our recovery run was short, it was long enough for me to replay in my mind many of the events I had experienced during the spring and previous winter. How had I, a 43-year-old United Methodist pastor, gotten involved with a group of college-age students half my age in a sports physiology class? The answer to that question was in some ways the description of an adventure for me.

PE 590 M I learned of the new class offered at Purdue University by Professor Michael G. Flynn, Ph.D., in the autumn of 2003 from a flyer someone gave me and decided to investigate it a bit further. I had recently completed the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and had finished just short of a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Though I was in the recovery phase after my last marathon effort, I was already looking ahead to the spring training season. Would I train for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon held in May and run near where I live, or should I train for a spring marathon? The course flyer advertised a spring semester class in sports physiology that would involve lab work with

. V O2max and lactate-threshold testing and culminate in the class “final” of participating in the Kentucky Derby

Festival Marathon [April 24, 2004]. This sounded like it would be an awesome class! Since I was not planning to run Boston in the spring, this class looked to offer a great training challenge. To get into the class, the prospective students had to be interviewed by the professor, who granted—or denied—them permission to enter. The professor was mainly interested in determining whether those interested in the class were healthy enough to begin the training. My question to Professor Flynn was whether he would mind having a student in his class who had already run a marathon. (When I met with Professor Flynn, I was about to complete my sixth marathon.) His question to me was why I wanted to take the class since a lot of the material on training would already be familiar to me. The interview revealed that though some of the class would concern things I was already familiar with (such as the parts of training), other parts would be new (such as the parts dealing with physiology). What appealed to me most was the opportunity to be tested in the university’s human performance laboratory.1 Professor Flynn agreed to let me be a part of the class, so I made the necessary arrangements. I registered as a nondegreed student and drew from my continuing-education money.2 The class participants were expected to be running at a base of 25 miles per week by mid-January. This provided me with enough time to recover from Chicago and build back up to begin training again.

WHAT THE COURSE COVERS

Though his course was inspired by D. A. Whitsett’s course at the University of Northern Iowa, Professor Flynn designed his class in his own unique way. The course objective stated that it was “ . . . to provide students with a working knowledge of sports physiology topics that will include: physiological responses and adaptations to training and overtraining, sports nutrition, psychology of marathon running, environmental adaptations to training, efficacy of ergogenic aids and training principles. The class will also provide the unique opportunity to apply these principles in a laboratory setting by performing standard physiological tests and by training for a competitive marathon.” The two main texts were Better Training for Distance Runners by D. E. Martin and P. N. Coe (Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics, 1997) and The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer by D. A. Whitsett, F. A. Dolgener, and T. M. Kole (Lincolnwood, Ill: Master’s Press, 1998).3 The course requirements included two written exams, a short research paper, lab work, and the proper preparation to get to the starting line of the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon. The lab portion of the class involved a series of tests at the beginning of the semester to determine our

. V O2max and lactate threshold and to run a 5K time trial. These three tests were scheduled to be repeated at the

end of the semester. A fourth test was also taken of our body mass index (BMI). This last test was not repeated. Our training runs were also a part of our lab grade. We were required to keep a log of our training. The training log the class provided included information on our daily mileage and training activity and on our physical and psychological state; we were then required to turn the log sheet in each week. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but the first day’s class still held some surprises. My first impression when I walked into the classroom and saw my classmates for the first time was “They’re so young!” Indeed, all of the people taking the class were under 25, and the graduate students working in the lab were all under 30.4 Feeling on the old side was a serious confidence downer, but I comforted myself with the thought that I was bringing experience to the class mix. I not only had more experience in running in general, I also had experience in running a marathon. Having the younger crowd to run with turned out to be a good change to my running experience.

MORE THAN I BARGAINED FOR The second surprise came when we looked at the class syllabus. As the professor explained the class requirements, I realized that this class was going to be more work than I had expected. Instead of focusing solely on marathon training, this class was going to cover some heavy-duty physiology, including quizzes, written exams, and a research paper (this had not come up in the initial interview). Yet, despite all that, the class promised to teach me a lot about the incredible creation that the human body is and how it performs and adapts. The professor expressed some inspiring words on the goal of finishing a marathon, reminding the class that if we trained properly, we would be able to finish. He also gave some reasons why he developed the course. One was that he needed more running companions. In fact, for our class alone, he said that we should call him “Mick” and not Doctor Flynn; there were only two ways to flunk his class, he said: fail to do the work and training, and call him Doctor Flynn! But the main reason for developing the class was to share with us the great feeling you can experience when finishing a marathon. At this point, he showed us a picture on the PowerPoint of his finish at the Columbus Marathon. By the end of the class hour, I thought, “This class is going to be great fun!” I was excited about the possibilities of both learning more about my sport and gaining some tools to improve my running performance. At the end of the first hour of the first day, we went on a training run. This began a pattern that was to repeat every Tuesday and Thursday: be in the class between 3:30 and 4:30, then train (generally) between 4:30 and 5:30. We were given a training schedule for the entire week, and arrangements were made to meet on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons for the long runs. Running on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons was an interesting change for me because I usually run in the morning and I usually run alone. Running with other people at a different time of the day was a refreshing change.

SETTLING INTO A REASONABLE PACE These two days were good in that I had more time in the morning, and the class and training run became my escape from the office. Training with younger people who were inexperienced with marathon training was also interesting. Some of the class members were experienced track and cross-country runners. The guys I generally trained with at the beginning of the semester tended to push the pace faster than I wanted to go. As the semester progressed, however, we all fell into a rhythm of training more sensibly and within groups that had similar abilities and finishing-time goals. During these runs, I began to learn the names and majors of members of the class. Most were from Indiana. There were Chris, Scott, Bart, Sam, and Ty from towns like Wheeler, Mishawaka, Rochester, and Indianapolis, and Anderson from Chicago. Another guy I ran with a few times was Paul, who was a graduate student working for Mick in the human performance lab and was from Dublin, Ireland.5 Later in the semester, I came to know some of the women in the class, such as Kelly, Amy, Julie, Karen, and a grad student named Jenny. The majors represented were equally diverse, including sports physiology, chemistry, premedicine, forestry, education, and engineering. My fellow classmates thought that it was intriguing that I was a pastor who was taking the class simply for self-enrichment. As people began finding out that I had already run a marathon, I was asked questions about training and what the overall marathon experience was like. At the end of the class period that first Thursday, we were given the opportunity to begin our careers as lab rats. One of the postgraduate students working as an assistant to the class was working on a doctoral dissertation on sports psychology. We were given instructions on how to fill out a form each week that asked questions concerning our mood state and physical condition. This was fun at first, but halfway through the class I was pretty sick of filling out the form, because the questions were always the same. Toward the end of the whole experience, I was tempted to give random answers to the survey or to insert wild and crazy answers to see if anyone would notice. After polling some of my classmates, I discovered that they were equally tired of filling out the forms and had the same temptations as I had.

THE FIRST MONTH

The first few weeks of class set the stage for the rest of the training and the physical adaptations that would be taking place. In the first few lectures, I learned several things that I was somewhat aware of but had never really considered before. Let me explain a few of the more interesting things.

Running a marathon contains a degree of risk, Mick said. A person who is apparently healthy is not considered to be in a health-risk category. The risks are increased for men who are 45 years and older and women who are 55 and older. Also at risk are people who have a history in their family of sudden death of a parent (such as from a heart attack), who currently smoke, suffer from hypertension, have diabetes, have a high cholesterol level (a total of 200 mg/35 HDL), or those who have been living a sedentary lifestyle prior to starting a training program.

Mick told us the basics of training are defined as (1) building a base of mileage, (2) stimulating adaptations, (3) setting goals, (4) mental preparation, and (5) teaching the body to do a new thing.

In the realm of stimulating adaptations, we learned a cool new word: supercompensation, the adaptation the body makes when it is worked in training. Training will tear the body down a little, and during a rest period it will supercompensate. That is, it will become stronger and/or more adapted to the training stimulus. Some of the adaptations include (1) improving the stroke volume and cardiac output of the heart; (2) increasing the amount of hemoglobin in the blood, meaning more red blood cells, higher oxygen content, and an increase in the level of blood plasma; (3) increasing the diffusion capacity in the lungs; and (4) improvement in the muscles, such as increased tolerance for acid buildup, increase in the amount of mitochondria and aerobic enzymes, increase in the ability to store glycogen and fats, and the ability to use fats more efficiently.

Training Principles We were told that there are certain important principles of training.

1. Overload. Body systems must be overloaded (worked harder) to induce adaptations (that is, to bring about change in the body systems). If you increase the intensity, frequency, and duration of a training activity, the desired adaptation will result. 2. Specificity. We gain the desired result in our training by performing that specific activity. For example, if

. we wish to increase our V O2max, we need to include workouts that increase maximal oxygen

consumption. 3. Cross-Training. Though our training needs to be specific to our desired outcome, too much of the same thing can be detrimental, so training in another way can help to prevent injury or be effective as a way of recovering from an injury and maintaining our aerobic capacity. Examples of cross-training include weight training, walking, swimming, and cycling. 4. Reversibility or Detraining. After a goal race, rest and recovery are needed, and often the result is a loss of ability. To prevent loss of aerobic ability, an athlete can train in a minimal way to maintain ability.

During training, we manipulate various aspects of our training activity to obtain a goal result. These involve: 1. frequency, referring to how often an activity is employed; 2. duration, referring to how long an activity will last; 3. intensity, referring to how hard the activity is to be engaged in; and 4. density, referring to how much recovery time will be used in between the training activities.

We were given a useful chart of the training cycle (see figure 1):

Periodization This is a measured and documented long-term training program that involves a macrocycle, a mesocycle, and a microcycle. The macrocycle refers to the whole program over a time of months or years. A mesocycle refers to the overall training goals and lasts over a period of weeks or months. A microcycle refers to the short-term goals and lasts over a period of days or weeks. The concept of periodization is a way to break down training into a structured form. A training schedule may look something like this (see figure 2):

We were told, however, that in some ways periodization is just something to call what many of us do intuitively. In the course of a year, for instance, many of us would be training for a goal race with a goal time. We train for that goal (or goals) over a period of several months, run the race, and then go into a recovery stage. During the postrace stage, we evaluate how well we met our goals, make new ones, and then make plans for the next event. During the first month of class, I also learned some interesting definitions:

1. Training: a sequence of activities to promote sports improvement. 2. Endurance: the ability to sustain submaximal activity for prolonged periods. 3. Aerobic Training: the ability to cope with fatigue while performing aerobically (that is, with oxygen). 4. Anaerobic Training: the ability to tolerate fatigue and maintain pace and form while performing at or above maximal intensity for short distances.

A guest speaker came to the class the second week. The owner of a store called Sports Etc. spoke to us about running shoes. Much of what he had to say about types of shoes, arch support, different shoe lasts, and shoe construction were things I already knew, but it was valuable information for many of my classmates. It was interesting to learn more about the athletic-shoe industry, though. In particular, I enjoyed hearing more about what various shoe companies are up to in shoe design and research.6 Over the semester, other guests were to follow. In mid-February, Dr. Alan L. Smith was a guest lecturer on the subject of running psychology. In April, a class period was devoted to a panel of four Boston Marathon qualifiers. These were friends of Mick’s who were all professors at Purdue. Another guest was a local high school cross-country coach who talked from the perspective of coaching long-distance running.

. Our second chance to be lab rats came at the end of January when we were scheduled to take our first V O2max test. This was a unique experience, to say the least. Imagine what it would be like to run to exhaustion on a treadmill with a heart rate monitor strapped to your chest and an oxygen tube in your mouth, and that is basically

. the V O2max testing experience.

The testing began with a blood sample, then we were connected to all the gadgetry. The run on the treadmill began at a comfortable pace for a warm-up, then the speed was increased in incremental stages. The first three stages were with no incline. I was started out at 6 miles per hour for four minutes, and at the next stage the speed was increased 1 mile per hour for three minutes. At stage four, a 2 percent incline was added. At this stage, I was running at 9 miles per hour at a 2 percent grade; I was working hard, but I felt that I could hold it. After two minutes, the incline was increased to 4 percent, and it was then that I was done! Suddenly the combined effects of a fast pace, steep incline, and a snorkel in my mouth were more than I could handle. The technicians had told me to hit a red button if I wanted to stop the treadmill. One minute into this last stage, I felt that it was either bail out or fall flat on my face. With all the stuff attached to me, that didn’t sound like a good

. idea, so I hit the panic button and ended the test. The results showed that I had a V O2max of 48.8 ml/kg/min.

. This was disappointing despite the lab techs telling me that I had a higher V O2max than the average male

college student. I didn’t expect to get a super-high rating, but I was hoping for a number higher than that.

TESTING FOR LACTATE THRESHOLD

A week later, we were scheduled to take the lactate-threshold test. This test involved multiple blood samples at various stages during the time on the treadmill. A similar approach was used in the running stage of the test as in

. the V O2max test: starting out at a comfortable pace, then increasing the speed at timed intervals. The major

. difference was that we did not have to use the breathing tube as in the V O2max test.

At the end of each timed stage, the treadmill was stopped and a blood sample was taken. The goal of this test is to have the test subject run to exhaustion; the blood samples are used to track the buildup of acidosis in the blood. I wasn’t sure whether it was worse having my finger stuck several times or running with a breathing tube. I had to take this test a second time because the desired results were not achieved. The first time I took the test, I wasn’t running fast enough in the later states to get the high buildup of acidosis. So I had to do the test a second time. Paul told me that this time they were going to run me into the wall! The second time, they ran me faster in the beginning, and the desired results of acid buildup occurred.

. The information from the V O2max and lactate-threshold tests determined that I had a high lactate threshold—in the 85 percent range. This was good news, because it meant that despite not having a high

. V O2max, my body was well adapted to use the available blood oxygen efficiently.

The third test, a 5K time trial, came a week later. I didn’t do very well on this test because I didn’t feel well that day. I was suffering from a mild cold that had occurred over the days prior to the test. I finished the 5K in 21:09, which would have been a great marathon race pace, but a 5K time trial is supposed to be run faster than race pace. I should have been able to run much faster than seven minutes per mile. A 21-minute time trial predicts that I would finish a marathon in roughly 3:45. I had finished the Chicago Marathon the previous October in 3:21:14, so this test seemed wasted as a predictor of a marathon finishing time.

TOWARD PREDICTING OUR MARATHON TIMES

These three tests helped us predict a potential marathon finish time. This was helpful in some ways and confusing in others. I am not particularly gifted in mathematics, so doing the calculations was challenging and the results were difficult for me to understand. Yet the combined results helped to show a range of potential that I was capable of doing. The predicted marathon range was a helpful way for us to manage our training. The last test came in mid-February and involved our BMI. Three methods were used for this test: the BIA (bioelectric impedance analysis), a skinfold thickness measurement, and a body mass index comparison to our weight. The BIA device sends an electrical charge through the left hand and arm, through the chest and back, through the right arm and hand, and into the measuring device. The length of time it takes the electrical pulse to travel this distance determines your body fat. Fat-free mass has less impedance than fat, so the more fat, the slower the return current to the device. The skinfold thickness test is a measurement of the amount of skin that can be pinched, then measured by a caliper device. The chest, abdomen, and thigh were measured this way for the men, while the triceps, suprailium, and thigh were measured for the women. The sum of the three measurements was taken to get a total. The third method was a height-to-weight ratio calculation. Each of these measurements was used to figure an overall body mass index. With this information, we determined what category of fitness we were in based on our degree of body fat. This test did not help us predict a race finishing time; however, understanding BMI gave us a possible training goal. Since more weight translates into greater effort in running, excess weight means a slower finish time. If it was determined that we had extra weight, then the loss of that excess weight could result in a faster time. In addition to these tests, we were required to give blood samples (larger amounts than before, a whole test tube rather than just enough for a slide) and saliva samples. This was yet another opportunity to be a lab rat! These samples were used in the lab team’s research on the effects of marathon training on the immune system. Part 2 of this classroom-to-course story will appear in the next issue.

NOTES 1. We would be tested in the Wastl Human Performance Laboratory on the Purdue University campus.

2. I found out later that my use of continuing-education money for a sports physiology class raised some eyebrows in the church finance committee. I was asked to submit a statement to explain how the class benefited my ministry as a pastor. Writing the statement turned out to be an enjoyable task.

3. I purchased the first book but not the second. I had read Whitsett’s book before; it is an interesting book with a horrible title. I didn’t want to buy the book because, after all, what self-respecting, six-time marathoner would want a book for “non-runners” lying around his house?

4. Later I realized that my reaction was not so strange, since my last academic experience was in seminary, where in my late 30s I was on the young side of the student body. Plus, my professor told me that Purdue’s average age is much younger than at other universities where he had taught.

5. I found out later than even though they were not taking the class that required running a marathon, Mick highly suggested that his lab technicians also train with us and run the marathon at the end of the semester.

6. Saucony, for instance, has done a lot of research on the particular running needs of women.