The Cool Impossible by Eric Orton

Author:Eric Orton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

THE FOUNDATION MIX

After a good two-mile run from my truck, we reach Phelps Lake. Yep, that’s it: the clear blue jewel that appears amid the fir trees. Those Rockefellers, they knew how to live. Now this stretch of water is as much yours as theirs.

Okay, there’s a level trail that runs right around the lake. I want you to go slowly, an easy pace, and I’ll tell you about that mix.

Endurance

Your ability to go for as long as you need to go without breaking down—that’s a pretty good definition of endurance. Now, this breakdown, it can happen in many ways: form, muscle, cardiovascular, fuel efficiency—which is where things begin to get complicated. We will train for the speed/strength endurance that will forestall breakdown.

Let’s focus on what I mean by training for endurance alone. The most obvious part of this consists of cardiovascular conditioning. Many runners, perhaps after taking their twenties, even thirties off from hitting the road, find gaining this endurance tough going. In their first weeks, they’re breathing heavily; their hearts are racing. This may seem the biggest hurdle to clear in training. And yes, it’s critical, but the truth is that the cardio comes easiest for most runners. Put in some miles on a consistent basis and your breathing will ease; your heart will steady. It’s very rarely the limiter on performance. To that point, have you ever heard of an ultramarathoner quitting a race because he was out of breath?

The other part of endurance alone centers on training your body to burn fat efficiently. I’m not talking so you’ll lose weight. Sorry. Fat packs a lot of energy (more than carbs per calorie), and most of our bodies have enough of it to run several marathons in a row. But because of inefficiencies in burning it, our bodies can look to carbohydrates too much (or too soon) for fuel. This is a problem, because our stores of carbs are limited. If you become more efficient at burning fat, you’ll run longer and have more endurance. This efficiency is realized by multiplying the number of mitochondria (little fat burners that produce energy) in your body. And that’s the simple explanation.

Is there some multivitamin for increasing those mitochondria, becoming more efficient for greater endurance? Not so easy. But not so hard either.

By the way, when I told you to go at a slow pace around Phelps Lake, I didn’t mean a moderate one. Ease it down a bit. A great many people don’t know what it is to run slowly—and how necessary it is. For many it is uncomfortable to run slowly, so they just don’t do it. Yes, uncomfortable, meaning it just doesn’t feel right and you can’t do it for long, often because of bad form and poor run economy.

Now, mitochondria love that slow pace; it’s the perfect environment for them to multiply in. So, if you train slower, you become a more efficient fat burner, and you will be able to run longer, faster, using a more efficient fuel source.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.