Developing Durability for Ultrarunners with Nicolas Berger, PhD #214

Jan 26

Episode overview:

Dr. Nicolas Berger is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise at Teeside University’s Centre for Rehabilitation. In this episode we discuss the emerging topic of durability in endurance sport and how it applies to ultrarunning.

Topics discussed:

1- Why examining physiological variables matter and why determining what variables matter more is important for training design

2- How physiological testing is limiting

3- The concept of durability

4- What affects durability and how to improve it

5- How progression runs useful in some contexts and not in others

Episode highlights:

(17:26) Muscular fatigue: Gui Millet’s 2011 presentation, ultramarathon runners are more muscular than marathon runners, additional muscle mass may combat fatigue, strength demands of uphill and downhill running, sacrificing running economy for strength and durability

(24:00) Strength gains from training: trail runners get strength gains naturally, there is a higher bar for strength training trail runners, strength for running economy in road runners

(44:59) DIY-ing your own durability test: consistency of testing, track what you eat and how you feel, measure what you can, keep conditions similar, deciding what training to work on

Our conversation:

(0:00) Introduction: rising discussions around durability in ultrarunning, episode 160 with Ed Maunder, introducing Nic Berger, discussion outline

(2:17) Testing athletes: continuous lactate monitors, setup, creating training interventions to target performance-determining parameters

(4:04) Field versus lab testing: lab tests control for low fatigue, fatigue exists out in the field, minimizing the decrements of fatigue

(6:09) Durability in cycling: examples from power meters, most durability research is in cycling, power dropoff and measuring durability, training durability

(8:30) Progression runs: running the hardest when you are the most fatigued, origin of progression runs from marathon race strategy, trading workout quality for race strategy

(10:35) Race-specific training: examples, early morning races, runners doing cycling workouts,

(12:18) What affects durability: assuming durability is a determining factor, change in fuel usage, testing for degradation over time in performance-determining physiological parameters

(14:36) Sources of fatigue: reduced force production of muscle fibers, breathing and energy, dehydration, heart rate

(21:36) Strength training and durability: Frederic Sabater-Pastor’s paper (KoopCast 164), strength is a specific demand of ultramarathon races, strength and multisport backgrounds

(24:00) Strength gains from training: trail runners get strength gains naturally, there is a higher bar for strength training trail runners, strength for running economy in road runners

(27:12) Tradeoffs of strength training: separating your endurance and strength training, compounding stress and tradeoffs, improving durability by running on rolling terrain, examples from training, train for race specificity, vertical gain and volume are predictors of success

(30:59) Substrate utilization: cycling and high carb use, attention on optimizing fat oxidation, application ot durability, carbs are limited in the body

(33:12) Durability of fats versus carbs: a runner burning fat requires more oxygen, thus operates at a higher percentage of their VO2max and fatigues faster, miles per gallon analogy

(35:58) The importance of durability: ranking priority versus VO2max and running economy

(37:12) Running economy: relevance in ultrarunning versus road running, supershoe example in the marathon, test for measuring running economy, running economy is less relevant to ultras because the speeds are lower and the terrain is not flat

(41:08) Matt Carpenter example: one of the highest VO2max scores ever, poor running economy, barely qualified for the Olympic Trials, but an incredible trail runner, Paula Radcliffe example

(43:05) How to improve durability: start by measuring durability, relying on athlete intuition

(44:59) DIY-ing your own durability test: consistency of testing, track what you eat and how you feel, measure what you can, keep conditions similar, deciding what training to work on

(48:33) Training for durability: volume and consistency is key, cross training to increase volume when you are limited by injury and have extra time

(51:17) Nic on doubling: if you increase your volume you need ample recovery, anecdotal nature and perception of effort when doubling, recovery is key, benefits of doubling

(53:49) Jason on doubling: one run is better, examples, unique adaptations from continuous activity, doubling is a better option when one long run creates injury risks, counterargument for doubling, higher workout intensity is negligible for endurance runs

(57:21) Advice for athletes: run more, looking at specific race demands, addressing the multifactorial nature of fatigue in the body, dehydration example, pacing, energy conservation, prioritizing training interventions

(1:00:09) Individuality: future research, recovery during and between events, genetic predispositioning

(1:01:32) Wrap-up: where to find Nic’s research, seeing Nic at UTMB

(1:02:56) Summary: Nic’s previous paper on the limits of ultramarathon running, target what matters most in training, consensus and importance of durability, improving durability through consistent high volume training, questions around strength training, specificity

(1:06:29) Outro: the summary segment as a new staple for the KoopCast, commitment to lack of sponsorships, how to support the KoopCast, subscribe to Research Essentials for Ultrarunning

Additional resources:

Nic’s profiles-

TU Research Profile

Google Scholar Profile

ResearchGate

Twitter

Earlier podcast on Durability with Ed Maunder

Fatigue and Ultra-Endurance Performance by Guillaume Millet

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Information on coaching-

www.trainright.com