Maintaining fitness at a decreased volume
4 months later, and here we are! With many of the fall races now officially cancelled, this article is even more relevant than when I originally started to think about this the topic of how much one should train in a time of uncertainty. Of course there is the chance that something will happen race wise, whether […]
Does ingesting protein during a run enhance performance?
I have written many times(1, 2, 3, 4) about the importance of ingesting carbohydrates during a race (if it’s long enough). I’ve also discussed how taking in other sources of fuel, like protein, is not the best move due to it triggering an increased risk of GI distress. The reason: in part, protein is not absorbed and metabolized as […]
Are you maintaining your iron status?
When it comes to performance, there’s no doubt that nutrition plays a significant role. In the past, I’ve really focused on acute nutrition: what you can do directly before or during your run to be faster (i.e. here). An area I have neglected to focus on is what you should be doing from a nutritional […]
Does heat acclimation and pre-cooling really help?
Well, it’s safe to say that the hot summer days of running are here! With many big races on the horizon, including the Waterloo Classic, it’s important to make sure we do our best to prepare for the additional challenge heat provides. It’s a topic I wrote about briefly in the past, but this week […]
Can you train your gut to handle carbs?
I’ve written a few times (1, 2, 3, 4) before about how important it is to ingest carbs while racing a distance that takes over ~40-60mins to enhance performance. There still seems to be some resistance to doing this; some of it is fueled by pseudoscience, but some is fueled by the very legitimate concern […]
Can Vitamin C Help Runners to Stay Healthy?
Last week I spent most of the week with a mild head cold. Nothing crazy, but enough to motivate me to review my old immunology notes yet again to relearn what I already know (it’s always fun picturing the T-cells destroying the bad stuff). Times like these also motivate me to relearn other things, like […]
Racing Flats: How light is light enough?
Last month I wrote about how much of a difference light shoes make. In summary, the study I referenced showed losing 100g/shoe will result in just under a 1% improvement in running economy (RE) as long as all other features remain equal. At Health & Performance, this article generated a lot of good questions. The […]
How much faster do lighter shoes make us?
When race day comes around, it’s always nice to have little things that you can do to run faster without actually having to be more fit. I think for most of us, it’s logical that if our shoes are substantially lighter, we’re going to require less oxygen to run at a given pace. However, what […]
Is festive sugar-loading a bad thing pre-run?
The holiday season is upon us, which means the sugar content in our diets will be on the rise. No complaints here; sugar is delicious! Plus, as runners, we can get away with eating a lot more than our non-running friends. When we run, as most runners know, glycogen (chains of carbs stored in our […]
Running in the cold might make you faster
Well, it’s November. That means that we have some cold days of running ahead of us. Before you spiral into a pit of despair, there may be some good news when it comes to your performance! In the past, I’ve written about how running in the heat can enhance performance even while racing in cool […]
