Here’s your free but abridged version of this week’s “Run Long, Run Healthy” newsletter. Subscribe below to receive the complete, full-text edition with the newest and most authoritative scientific articles on training, nutrition, shoes, injury prevention, and motivation.
When “Runner’s High” Is Good For You. And NOT
Several new studies support the evidence that you should include hill running in your workout program. A particularly interesting one looked at the physiological output of participants in three different kinds of mountain races: Vertical kilometers, sub-marathon distances, and ultra-marathons.
Vertical kilometer races pack 1,000 meters of elevation (slightly more than 3,000 feet) into as short a distance as possible. Often, the total distance is just 5K or so. Picture runners trudging up the trails under ski lifts.
The most famous of these is the KV de Fully in France. It gains 1,000 meters in just 1.92K of running distance. Here’s a great photo. Apparently, you can use poles to assist you in climbing. The racers are also wearing helmets.
No surprise: The Vertical Kilometer racers worked much harder per minute (heart rate, power output, etc) than those in a mountainous 25K or 90K race.
Heart rates reached 94% of max in the vertical climbers but just 74% in the 90K event. More at International J of Sports Physiology & Performance.
Even if you’re not headed for vertical challenges in France any time soon, short but steep hill workouts can boost lower leg strength and power like almost nothing else. Same for short StairMaster intervals. And specific strength training.
Another new paper looked at female performance in challenging hill races. It found that the women, due to their “lower body size and lean-to-fat-mass ratio,” have lagged behind in mountain racing.
Race results show that “sex differences are generally larger (18% – 22%) than in endurance sports performed primarily on flat terrains.” More at International J of Sports Physiology & Performance.
RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Expert Tips For Running Uphill: How To Run Uphill Effectively
“Runner’s High” Leads To “Runner’s Low” In Races
Here’s a different kind of “runner’s high” story. It’s not about altitude or vertical climbing.
Ultra runners somewhat regularly report that they enter strange, dark places during their longest races. Courtney Dauwalter has popularized the term “pain cave” to describe these part physical and part mental episodes.
You’d think that another phenomenon–the long-described “runner’s high”–would be a good way to avoid hellish patches in an ultra. After all, a euphoric, hypercalm state sounds much better than the sight of a steep, towering hill after 80 miles.
On the other hand, maintaining your focus, concentration, and clear thinking gets more and more important with every passing mile. The “central fatigue” theory of endurance deterioration holds that the brain slows you down eventually because it wants to save your entire body from cataclysmic demise.
So which is it? Which is more likely to help you in an ultra race? Experiencing “runner’s high,” or preventing it?
A new study has become the first to explore this question. It measured endocannabinoids in ultra runners who completed at least 60K of a 100K race. Endocannabinoids are the neurotransmitters thought to create a runner’s high. The study also measured runners’ cognitive test responses before and after their runs.
Result: The farther the ultra performers ran, the poorer they performed on the cognitive tests. Also, the farther they ran, the greater “the abundance of endocannabinoids” in their blood samples.
Conclusions: Runners slow down with greater distance covered due, at least in part, to an “increased abundance of endocannabinoids.”
If you feel the pain cave coming on in a long effort, don’t reach for a THC gummy. You’ll probably stay sharper and perform better with a shot of glucose to energize your brain. More at Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research.
RELATED ARTICLE: Is Runner’s High Real? What It Feels Like + How Long It Lasts
Let Us Forever Praise Joan Benoit, 1984
The last Los Angeles Olympics were 40 years ago, in 1984. And now there are only 3 years to go before the next LA Olympics of 2028.
This means, among many other things like stories about LA traffic snarls, we’ll be reliving the tale of Joan Benoit’s epic victory in the ‘84 Olympic Marathon. It was, of course, the first-ever Olympic Marathon for women.
Benoit’s seemingly effortless win–you might remember: She pulled away from a super-competitive field after only 3 miles and ran solo the last 23 miles–didn’t change everything in women’s sports. But it changed a lot of things.
I was lucky enough to be packed tight in the press stands of the L.A. Coliseum that day. And I can tell you, there were a lot of damp eyes among even the most hardened and skeptical of the (mostly male) assembled journalists.
It seems the resident newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, didn’t want to let 2024 escape without a reminder of the first Olympic Marathon for women. Reliving that amazing day and Benoit’s performance is always a thrill. Give yourself a treat.
The writer secured some sparkling interview quotes from Benoit Samuelson (she got married in coastal Maine 7 weeks after her Olympic win. Talk about a busy summer!) Here’s one: “If anything, maybe my win inspired women to realize that if marathoning were a metaphor for life, anything in life is possible.” More at L.A. Times.
RELATED ARTICLE: Women And Ultrarunning: Why Women Make Awesome Ultra Runners
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
• From good to better: How junior triathletes train to become world-class stars.
HERE’S WHAT ELSE YOU WOULD HAVE RECEIVED this week if you were a subscriber to the complete, full-text edition of “Run Long, Run Healthy.” SUBSCRIBE HERE.
• New rules for water and alcohol intake
• Randomized, controlled trial shows that probiotic supplements can improve runner performance
• How to train for your next marathon with less stress
• Why hard training demands more carbs, glucose, and glycogen
• Exercise-brain benefits last longer than previously reported
• Drafting–but not pacing lights–is the key to super-fast track times
• Classic advice on reaching your goals: Don’t sweat the small stuff
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. See you again next week. Amby
