For any distance that will be completed in over 90 minutes, endurance training is necessary. In fact, you should aim to do 75 per cent of your overall training at low (25 per cent effort) and moderate (50 per cent effort) intensities. This will include at least one if not two longer training sessions, lasting over 90 minutes. These longer endurance sessions help your heart adapt at a cellular level so that you are able to maintain running for a long period of time; they are about ‘time training’. Endurance training should not put any physiological stress on your body and you should be able to manage a conversation throughout; it is not about covering a certain distance in a given time frame, but about time on your feet, helping your body to adapt by providing both physical and psychological preparation.
FUEL REQUIREMENTS
Nutritionally, endurance sessions are very interesting to fuel. On the one hand, they are at a low to moderate intensity, so we know, physiologically, our fat stores can provide the fuel for the longer period of time on our feet. On the other hand, while out training for long hours, especially once you get over the two-hour mark, you will encounter an energy deficit that you will need to overcome. So while at this intensity your body might use only 30g of glucose per hour, the average female weighing 55kg/8st 9lb will burn in the region of 800 calories in two hours – this will vary from individual to individual.
Most of you will probably choose to replace your fuel through carbohydrate choices, such as energy gels, Jelly Babies, energy drinks, cereal bars and so on, aiming to provide 30–60g of carbohydrate an hour. However, endurance training sessions provide the perfect opportunities to become ‘fat adapted’ (teaching your body to use fat as fuel), particularly for marathon and ultradistance runners.
Because you will run an endurance session at a low to moderate intensity, even if you start out with full glycogen stores, by the time you reach 90 minutes to two hours in training, the stores will have run out. Nutritionally, endurance sessions are demanding, especially if you are new to running longer distances. You will need to prepare by taking on sufficient amounts of carbohydrate from 24 hours before your run, as well as during the run itself.
So how do you ensure you have full glycogen stores? The human body can store around 1,500–2,000 calories worth of carbohydrate as glycogen. For women, this means consuming 400g of carbohydrate in the 24 hours prior to a long endurance training session. Practically, the most important thing is for you to take on sufficient complex carbohydrate at all your meals and snacks in the day before your session. Typically, carbohydrate should make up around one-third of your plate at meals, and snacks should comprise three or four oatcakes; a piece of toast and a banana; or a couple of slices of malt loaf, the precise amounts taking into account your weight and body-composition goals.
Leggete l'articolo completo e molti altri in questo numero di
Women’s Running
Opzioni di acquisto di seguito
Se il problema è vostro,
Accesso per leggere subito l'articolo completo.
Singolo numero digitale
Nov 2016
Questo numero e altri numeri arretrati non sono inclusi in un nuovo
abbonamento. Gli abbonamenti comprendono l'ultimo numero regolare e i nuovi numeri pubblicati durante l'abbonamento. Women’s Running
Abbonamento digitale annuale
€42,99
fatturati annualmente