DareToTriLife Book Club : Brain Training 02

So folks how did you get on with the opening chapters ? I guess I have a confession to make. I have followed training plans by Matt Fitzgerald for both Ironman and marathon distances so I think that helps me understand his approach and concepts (and some keywords) a little easier. I also trust his judgement and right now I am using his plan for Paris in April. The foreword was hardwork - skip it.

I think it helps if you have some key words into your head : Base runs or Recovery runs - low intensity often low-duration aerobic runs at moderate pace. Endurance runs - these start at moderate pace over longer distances but gradually build towards race pace as a race approaches. Tempo runs: Matt is keen not to endorse the long held view of an "anaerobic threshold". For him Tempo runs are runs taken at 10k or half marathon pace. Cruise intervals are a Tempo run with an active recovery (low intensity) break in the middle - also done at 10k pace. Intervals - short high-intensity segments followed usually by an active recovery low intensity segement eg. 30s sprint with 2min active recovery jog. OK, we got that over with.

So all that said what did I get from these opening chapters? Well you get a big clue from Matt's lack of focus on heart rate, or anaerobic threshold and he's quite dismissive of lactic acid as a driver of fatigue. I think he wants us to focus on our aspirations ... maybe you dream of a 50min 10k or a 1h 45m half or a 3h marathon - or whatever. Matt would encourage us to set realistic near-term goals based on testing your present fitness. This gets our ultimate goals into perspective and from that viewpoint we use a scientific pace-based approach to improve. Oh, and Matt wants you to hurt - but in a good way. A planned, controlled and scientific way. In fact he's very keen on the promotion of gym work, cross-training (resistance training, flexibility training, non-impact cardio training : eg. a bike). This "hurting" thing need not put you off - this is not a book about multiple desert marathons or heavyweight sacrifice. If you're reading it you'll probably want to improve from whatever level you're at today and that means you'll need your body to adapt to new stresses that you'll impose during training. That inevitably means pushing yourself and the "hurt" is inevitable - but so worth it.

Courtesy : Salvatore Vuono

The idea that my brain could be holding back my performance rather than some imposition from lactic acid induced muscle fatigue was interesting & I think it very persuasive that the brain is likely to have it's 1st focus on keeping the body's systems ordered and controlled as it ensures stability (homeostasis). So Matt dismisses energy depletion as the cause of fatigue, he gives the brain a slightly "sinister" role through an ability to control your race performance based on it's assessment of your fitness level, past experience, environmental conditions etc (teleoanticipation). He quotes a powerful example of this with high-intensity interval training where athletes ran the last interval of a series of demanding sessions no faster nor slower than the earlier intervals. Somehow the brain had managed things to be able to control how the muscles would perform for that last interval. If you have a Garmin and you've done any intervals you'll relate to that. Just how was your body so able to keep that last interval's performance in reserve ? Spooky eh ?

Matt very positively states that running form can be improved throughout your running life, and that strength training is vital. It was interesting to learn that top-quality runners are actually using a higher proportion of their muscle fibres than someone like me. Matt suggests that early in a training plan maximum speed (sprints) could be employed (carefully) to recruit new muscle fibres which can then be used throughout later weeks. That's certainly new to me & I need all the new muscle fibres I can get. I think he's on the money there. A major thrust of this book seems to be about training with a focus on pace (min/km or min/mile). It's as if we cannot trust heart rate & Matt hardly mentions it in Chapter 1. There's a strong focus on 3 feedback areas (Feedback Loops):

1. Collective Feedback Loops

Stuff & help we get externally :

• training guides
• injury prevention methods
• advice on the correct shoes
• what nutrition works best (for you)          

Run ....a lot. Want to improve running performance ? Increase running volume. BUT focus on running form. Matt uses the term "proprioceptive cues" and I so wish he hadn't - I can't even pronounce it. But his training plans make clear what he means : "driving the thighs" or "feeling symmetry" or "falling forward". Matt wants us to develop a self awareness of our form and create a mindset of what better technique might look like & hold that mindfulness throughout a workout. Very Zen.

Progressive change is emphasized as you progress towards your goal race. Base through to Peak phases each with a need to focus on slightly different aspects of your fitness. Matt talks about Key Workouts : the quality workouts that need to be a part of any plan. These are : speed workouts (gets those lazy muscle fibres firing), intensive endurance workouts (experience of race pace) and extensive endurance workouts (experience of race distance). In addition : Breakthrough workouts : these are often races you take though your training period where you absolutely "smack it". Max effort - Full on. Zero left in the tank. Matt emphasises this as it will familiarize the brain with pre-race nerves, race pain and suffering. Have you ever seen Matt and Coach Troy in the same room ?

2. Objective Feedback Loops

The goals. The data. So ask yourself ...what are you training for ? To what do you aspire ? What do I want to achieve in this workout ? While Matt defines your true performance limit as "the fastest pace you can sustain over the full race distance without literally killing yourself" it is a reassurance that the brain will never let that happen. However he makes the point that people race faster when they race against folk of a similar ability - in other words the brain lets you raise your game if you really need to. Having time goals - or pace goals - in a workout is a great way to ensure you deliver improvements in performance. Be demanding and have high expectations of your body. But be careful. You will not go from couch to Chrissie Wellington in 6 months (she is 15m up in IM Arizona as I write). A well chosen goal is one you think you can do but are not certain you can do - and it is grounded in where you are now. A 50min 10k might take you 3 years, improvement built on improvement, to achieve. But that makes the goal no less desirable. Departing from the text here there's a resource that's very helpful in this respect.

In this table by Jack Daniels you can determine your own "VDOT" level. Don't worry what VDOT means. Just imagine you have a recent 10k time of 54m. That equates to a VDOT value of approx 36. This helps you in 2 ways.

• It allows you to project that at this level of fitness you could run other distances in certain times eg. a VDOT of 36 should be capable of a 2h 01m half marathon or a 4h 10m marathon (if you trained for these distances of course).
• It also enables you to predict training paces that you should be working-out at. 

So lets go back to what Matt was saying about interval running or endurance runs. What pace should you be training at when you undertake these sessions ? Daniels took the VDOT level and suggested supporting pace values as follows.

Lets say our "VDOT = 36" athlete has an "easy run" for 40min. Daniels' suggested pace is 6:38m/km but if the session involved several 400m intervals (say on a running track) then each interval should be run at 2m 02sec pace. The value of this table is immense. Not only does it show you where you should be training right now but it points to where improvement will come from. Our "VDOT = 36" athlete has a goal for a 50m 10k. On our 1st table this needs a VDOT level of 40 (see the arrow). So the athlete must transform themselves from a "VDOT =36" to a "VDOT = 40" level of fitness. That means Tempo runs (approx race pace) at 5.06m/km (red arrow above) and track interval sessions of 1m 52sec black arrow above). So the athlete has a clear vision of the standards required and the route to get there. In Matt's "brain world" we have a scientific way of setting the sub goals to reach our ultimate target and each workout is an end in its-self. Not surprizingly all this goal setting and structure lends itself to recording your progress and the setting up of training logs. These allow you to review and keep motivated. Find a free electronic one here and Matt himself produces a paper based version (below).  If you'd like to know more about Jack Daniels try here. Matt writes " Pace based workouts are one of the the most important and unique features of the brain training method. The whole systems is orientated toward the goal of convincing your brain that you can sustain your goal pace all the way to the finish line of your next big race..."

 3. Subjective Feedback Loop

The feelings & emotions of how you feel during the workout, during the race or during recovery. Listening to your body and knowing when to do more & when to back off. Matt suggests that there are 5 ways to use subjective feedback :

1. Responsive Training - do the right workout for your body & don't slavishly follow the training plan. When you unexpectedly good - go harder & be prepared to take a day off when you need it.
2. Heeding Pain - stop running before the pain becomes severe. Review the training log to see if there are clues.
3. Run by Feel - the self awareness to exactly the right thing in that precise moment. If you perceive your effort correctly you will know if there's more to give or if it's a time to hold back. I personally think that heart-rate is helpful here - if you know you have a little more to give then it can give you the confidence to "go for it".
4. Control your Form - how am I moving ? Where is my foot striking ? Am I over-striding ? Teach your body what "good" form feels like and develop the self-awareness to reproduce those feelings as you run.
5. Positivity. Focus on those thoughts and emotions which will help your performance. If you have a GPS then focus on the mile/km splits. If you're ahead great, if it's not your day then re-define your goal and get after the new one. You could even get into visualization. Lets break ...

  
Yip, it was sure time for a break. Great kid eh ? What does your morning affirmation look like ? Hope it looks somthing like Jessicas.  Matt's Chapter 2 is a little bit like "the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone ..." etc etc.

He talks about the structure of the brain. Neurons are the active brain cells that make stuff happen. They communicate and are very "plastic" i.e. they change their function as you do new things - so if you learn a new skill neurones adapt to enable you to do it. Neurones formerly involved with vision can adapt to become involved with hearing in a newly blind person - they are that flexible. A physical experience is a fusion of millions of neurones firing away to create an "activation pattern". The more that activation pattern is repeated the more neurones change slightly to make the impulses easier, faster and more precise improving communication between neurones. Essentially it all becomes more efficient. This is why a new learned behaviour becomes easier over time. The brain then connects outwith itself - to the muscular, sensory, digestive and immune systems. It sure keeps busy. When you run Matt considers the brain is at work as follows :

A neurone : courtesy jscreationzs

1. Motor Output - activating and coordinating the muscle groups involved. This is mindblowingly complex and even extends into how the tendons and muscles store and release energy gained from the foot impacting the ground (giving you more forward thrust).
2. Stride Adjustment - taking account of the terrain and your body's 3D position in space. Are you running uphill, over loose surfaces, is it windy,what was the consequence of your last stride ? While most of this is thankfully sub-conscious it is possible through self-awareness to consciously adjust your stride to improve form.
3. Metabolic Regulation - when you run fuel-demand in the brain, working muscles, the heart and the respiratory system all massively increase. The brain recruits the optimal number of working muscles given the oxygen volume that the runner can supply and the available fuel supply. It also controls the release of that fuel into the blood stream. 
4. Perceived Effort - this is hot. Feelings of fatigue might well originate in the brain & not the muscles. The brain might generate feelings of discomfort, pain or reduced motivation in order to slow the runner down.
5. Thought patterns - at relaxed, controlled efforts the brain's frontal lobes exhibit an alpha-wave pattern - where thoughts are often random "flows of consciousness". However where the runner is very focused in a race situation - or in the achievement of an interval pace -  Matt describes an "in the zone" state-of-mind where there is very low frontal lobe activity and a real polarization of brain activity into those areas directly involved. The runner is "not thinking; they're just doing".
6. Focus. The ability of the brain to hold focus on the "total experience of running" rather than allowing your mind to wander onto other matters - staying in "the moment". 

While the above are brain-controlled interactions that take place during running the act of repeatedly training brings brain adaptation as follows :

1. Regular motor signals being sent to muscles increases the number of motor units that the brain uses. More motor units = more muscle activation = more force from your stride. Also the brain rotates the muscle fibres it puts to work at any given time - resting some and working others. More motor units = more fibres available to be deployed = more rest before a fibre is re-used = more endurance.
2. The repetition of training leads to improved neuro-muscular efficiency - enabling more speed from less muscle activity. Part of this is technique based - involving fewer muscle fibres by more forceful contractions.
3. Delayed fatigue - the body becomes conditioned to a lower blood glycogen level and the muscles and liver become better at glycogen storage.
4. Increased Self-Belief. Training brings psychological benefits - knowing in the race that you've done the "hard yards" in training. Knowing you are "ready".
5. Cardiovascular exercise in it's own right stimulates neurone growth and and strengthens interconnections. It improves focus. Exercise lowers the risk for and slows the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.  

So how did you get on ? - for me this was an excellent opening to the book. I had a glimpse into the complexity of running physiology and a feel for how Matt is going to develop into the huge number of training plans that make up more than half the book. I especially liked his focus on my goals & his challenge that potentially I'm the barrier to my own success. Of course if I know that I can change and improve. The message is hopeful and full of promise. Please drop a comment in the box on your views - what worked for you ?