Train, Race, Repeat

Yankee Springs 50k Race Report

My vision was starting to get a little bit blurry.  My legs feel real slow.  "Rocks in a blender" I believe is the scientific term.  Hmmm I think I might be bonking...  Mile 28 of Yankee Springs 50k.  

Then, I thought, recruit your hip flexors, and psoas muscles, engage your glutes, access those generally poorly-used muscles.  My cadence came back, and I went from a slow jog to a slow run.  Finally I was moving at a decent clip again. 

Bloomington
Flash Back to 10 days prior, when I was running in 12-15 inches of snow in and around Brown County and Bloomington with Scott Breeden.  5 hours a day. 4 days in a row, in fresh, deep, snow.  Oh crap my hip flexors, psaos muscles and glutes aren't used to this kind of running.  Holy crap my feet are cold.  This is awful and great at the same time.  Scott and I both approached the week with super positive attitudes, and this helped us have fun (although occasionally I found myself in the pain cave).  We averaged 4 miles per hour, day in and day out.  That's saying something if you know Scott Breeden.  

Fun

European shoes were the theme of the week

It was a tough training weekend.  Bloomington had been hit with a megastorm and we were too stubborn to change our plans.  But, this was what I call "character building".  Will Snyder met us and shot some film, making us look way cooler than we are.  Tim joined us for a run and we skied/ran part of the tecumseh trail system.  But the theme of the week; run until your legs are paralyzed from lactic acid, never changed.  I honestly have no idea what aerobic system or particular type of training we were doing.  It was partly awesome, because with all the fresh powder there was no pounding on your joints, but it was terrible because working at max capacity I might have been hitting 12 minute miles.  And then, sometimes I felt like I was skiing downhill, with varying levels of control.  Anyways, I came back stronger from this trip than I was before making the drive.  So when I started bonking at mile 28 of Yankee Springs, I told myself, yeah this sucks, but I know what to do. 

SB and JC near BC

Making tracks

Yankee Springs 50k
After a great night of sleep, aided by a nice warm cabin and a few Lagunitas brews, I found a spot up near the front of the pack for the start of the 50k, motioned Ryan Case to get up near me, and then the gun went off and it was on.

Luxury epitomized

After nearly missing the first turn, Ryan and I found ourselves in the lead, scurrying down a semi-slick snow covered dirt road .  After surveying the trails that crisscrossed the road for flags, we finally saw some marking and jumped onto the single track.  I was a step or two ahead of Ryan, and was like oh crap I'm in the lead, what the heck do I do now?  Well logically, go really hard, like blow up pace, and then try to hang on. 

Then as if wearing jet-packs, a runner came up behind me and stayed there.  We chatted for a while about races we had done and were thinking about doing, he seemed like a nice guy, albeit, seriously fast.  We ran past Ben Vanhoose who shouted out some encouragement and took a photo or two and gave me a hard time about my pre race statement of "taking it easy at this race" which had totally gone out the window when I found myself in the lead.  I let Jordan know that if he wanted to pass me, just say the word and I'd let him by.  We ran together for a few more miles then Jordan smoked on by and I didn't see him again until the end of the race.

Me with Jordan right behind (photo Ben Vanhoose)

Deciding I would defend second and try to save face by running under the course record (3:50), I pushed the pace as hard as I dared.  I was totally overdressed and sweating a lot by the time I got through 10 miles.  Fumbling around with my had and extra coat, I eventually shoved everything into the back of my tights.  So if my butt looks big in some pictures, I have a legit excuse, OK?

I finished the first 15.5 mile loop in 1:51, which was pretty quick for icy trails I thought, but made no progress on reining in Jordan.  I quickly threw my extra layers by the drop bags (which I had not even bothered packing i.e. stupid move), desperately wishing I had a fresh bottle and a couple extra gels to grab.

Pain cave (Photo Mark Robillard)

The second loop was flying by, until I came to the hillier back half.  It seemed like someone made the hills a little taller on the second loop...  hmm strange.  And the trail was starting to get chewed up as 200+ people had now run through.  And the gatoraide I got at the aid station was too sweet.  And I had to pee.  And I only had one gel left.  And my toe had a blister.  See lots of excuses!

I slowed down quite a bit. 

At mile 28 I thought I was bonking, so I took my last gel and stopped for a quick pee.  I heard cheers not far behind me and knew someone was closing in.  I started running again. 

My vision was starting to get a little bit blurry.  My legs feel real slow.  "Rocks in a blender" I believe is the scientific term.  Hmmm I think I might be bonking...  Mile 28 of Yankee Springs 50k.  

Then, I thought, recruit your hip flexors, and psoas muscles, engage your glutes, access those generally poorly-used muscles.  My cadence came back, and I went from a slow jog to a slow run.  Finally I was moving at a decent clip again. 

I focused on accessing and recruiting these muscles for the last three miles and thought about how much easier this was than running in a foot of snow.  I crossed the line happy to have recovered and feeling good, thinking I was in 2nd, but at least under the old course record.  Then I found out I was 1st.  Apparently Jordan had taken a wrong turn (bummer) on the first loop and never caught back up.  So now,  I win, I guess, I still feel like I didn't totally deserve it.  And then Ryan Case came flying across the finish line only 50 second behind me, taking 2nd!  

Glad to be done

Ryan's wife Alaina came in soon after that, earning second female.  So they were 2nd male and 2nd female, too cute guys.  I know you planned it that way.  Our other cabin-mate Tim came running in soon too, and then we celebrated another Ultra well-run with a nice bonfire, some adult beverages and refueled with whatever was close-by.  The next morning we went for a nice shakeout run, staying in tight formation, herded along by Ryan and Alaina's sheep dog.

Get herded by Cody

Take home message
Train hard, recruit unused muscles, remember to use them when you race.  Never give up, you never know what might happen.   Running in snow is fun.  Always have fun.

Dietary nitrate and nitrite may provide a performance boost

It is widely accepted that increased intake of the preservative sodium nitrite found in processed meats such as deli meats, bacon, and hot dogs is associated with negative health outcomes for certain subgroups of the population (1).  These associations have resulted in dietary nitrates and nitrites receiving a “bad name.”  However, scientists have been quick to point out that diets proven to be beneficial for cardiovascular health contain high amounts of fruits and vegetables, are low in sodium and contain polyphenols, potassium, fiber, and, you guessed it, nitrate! (2)  If dietary nitrates and its reduced form, nitrite, are so harmful, then why do we encourage consumption of fruits and vegetables containing these compounds?

Interestingly, dietary nitrate can reduce blood pressure through conversion to nitric oxide resulting in increased vasodilatation (3).  Thus, it stands to reason that enhanced nitrate intake contributes to the cardioprotective effect of dark green leafy vegetables, which are a particularly rich source of nitrate (2).  Evidence is emerging that consumption of dietary nitrate not only has positive effects on blood pressure, but that it also has the ability to enhance some parameters of exercise performance (3)!  I want to point out, this is independent of nitric oxide induced vasodilation.


In a recent study, subjects consuming 0.5L of beetroot juice prior to exercise exhibited a reduction in systolic blood pressure, as well as decreased oxygen consumption during walking and running (4). Indeed, beetroot juice is a rich source of dietary nitrate as well as other metabolically active compounds including antioxidants and polyphenols. In order to control for these variables, the authors of this study removed nitrate from the beetroot juice to use as a control. It became apparent that the positive effects on exercise observed in this study were due to the nitrate content of beetroot juice. Importantly, results from this study as well as others indicate dietary nitrate increased time to exhaustion in constant speed severe intensity running and cycling as well as decreasing the oxygen cost of exercise, indicating improved exercise economy (3, 5).  While the mechanisms by which dietary nitrate improves these parameters remains to be fully understood, by use of a nitrate free beetroot juice, the authors definitively show that dietary nitrate has a positive physiological response to exercise.

These studies provide a valuable dietary modification of exercise performance. By reducing the oxygen cost at moderate and severe intensity running, one is reducing the energy cost of running.  According to the authors, 4 days of dietary nitrate supplementation induced improvements equivalent to those observed following 6-9 weeks of physical training (4).  Ideally enhanced running economy translates to enhanced endurance; however this parameter was not assessed during this study.


So how do we actually apply this knowledge to our sport, you ask?  I am certainly not going to run around with beetroot juice in my bottles.  What it boils down to is that there are not a lot of nitrate/nitrite supplements available - mostly because they are associated with the generation of N-Nitrosocompounds, a carcinogen thought to increase the risk of developing colon cancer.  I think for this reason, you will not see a lot of companys (Clif, Gu, Powerbar, Hammer, etc.) pursue utilizing this interesting nutrient.  However, as Hord et al. point out, the generation of these carcinogens is highly dependent upon the presence of vitamin C and lipids (fat).  This is likely to occur during the consumption of salami for example (due to the fact it is preserved with nitrates and vitamin C and also has a high fat content) but is less likely to take place when eating lean deli meats, or during the consumption of a meal rich in dietary nitrates like can be found in spinach or beets.  Dietary nitrates are thought to have a half life of 5-8 hours in circulation, thus we can try to incorperate these into our meal the night before a race, or if we have a supplement, immediately before, and during.  This would also suggest we need a fresh bolus half way through a 24 hour endurance event.  Using reference 2 I have provided a table classifying nitrate concentrations in commonly consumed vegetables.  To me, it is interesting to think that there are some elite athletes who are known for their diets, think Scott Jurek, Dave Scott, Devon Crosby-Helms, and others who are open with their vegetable rich diets, may actually be benefiting from dietary nitrate.  After having a conversation with Dr. Norm Hord, the author of an excellent review on this subject, he pointed out that V8 (the vegetable kind, not the sugary juice) is actually based in beetroot juice and is an excellent source of nitrate.  My stomach rolls at the thought of drinking a V8 during a long run, but heck with all that salt, it might not be so bad.

TABLE 3

Classification of vegetables according to nitrate content

Nitrate content (mg/100 g)
Very low, <20	Artichoke, asparagus, broad bean, eggplant, garlic, onion, green bean, mushroom, pea, pepper, potato, summer squash, sweet potato, tomato, watermelon
Low, 20 to <50	Broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, cucumber, pumpkin, chicory
Middle, 50 to <100	Cabbage, dill, turnip, savoy cabbage
High, 100 to <250	Celeriac, Chinese cabbage, endive, fennel, kohlrabi, leek, parsley
Very high, >250	Celery, cress, chervil, lettuce, red beetroot, spinach, rocket (rucola)

Works Cited

1.    Gilchrist M, Winyard PG, Benjamin N. Dietary nitrate--good or bad? Nitric Oxide.  Feb 15;22:104-9.
2.    Hord NG, Tang Y, Bryan NS. Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul;90:1-10.
3.    Ferreira LF, Behnke BJ. A toast to health and performance! Beetroot juice lowers blood pressure and the O2 cost of exercise. J Appl Physiol.  Mar;110:585-6.
4.    Lansley KE, Winyard PG, Fulford J, Vanhatalo A, Bailey SJ, Blackwell JR, DiMenna FJ, Gilchrist M, Benjamin N, Jones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of walking and running: a placebo-controlled study. J Appl Physiol.  Mar;110:591-600.
5.    Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, Blackwell JR, Dimenna FJ, Wilkerson DP, Tarr J, Benjamin N, Jones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107:1144-55.