The World of Running

Most traditional training philosophies and methods for long-distance endurance training have one thing in common, putting high mileage. For recreational runners, this type of training can backfire. Most runners’ focus on mileage, ignoring other important aspects such as speed, strength, and mobility.

In this episode we discuss the FIRST (The Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) training method for runners, which focuses on training with purpose, intensity, and recovery. The FIRST method is described in the book ‘Run Less Run Faster’ by Bill Pierce and Scott Murr. The method is designed for recreational runners with full-time jobs, and it emphasizes progressive overload and realistic goals. This episode also discusses the 7-Hour Workout Week training approach, which is designed for runners who want to improve their health and fitness.

Bill Pierce

In this episode, we talk to Bill Pierce, who is behind the FIRST training methodology. Bill Pierce is a prominent figure in the world of distance running, known for his contributions to running science, coaching, and authorship. As a co-author of the influential book "Run Less Run Faster," he has played a pivotal role in reshaping the way runners approach training.

This podcast is sponsored by Athlos

In the 30th episode of the podcast "The World of Running," host Aditi Pandya delves into the world of heart rate (HR) training and its effectiveness in endurance training. With guest speaker Anand Hatwalne, an experienced runner and co-founder of 'Running Potential,' this episode explores the importance of HR monitoring for effective training and optimizing performance and recovery.

Why does HR have such significance in endurance training? The answer lies in the fundamental principle, that is training at the right intensity to improve aerobic fitness, which is key for long-distance running performance. Traditionally, runners relied on pace and effort to gauge intensity, but the advent of smartwatches and chest straps revolutionized training by introducing real-time HR monitoring as a vital metric.

The episode then dives into the basics of HR training, highlighting the relationship between lower HR and lower effort. Understanding this connection is crucial for effective training..

The episode addresses various methods of monitoring HR, including wrist monitors and chest straps. Current fitness levels and genetics play a significant role in HR levels. Anand explains training zones based on HR, such as maximum HR (Max HR) and lactate threshold HR (LT HR), explaining their relevance and how to personalize the zones using Max HR or lactate threshold.

In addition to training, HR also plays a vital role in recovery. Resting heart rate (RHR) serves as an indicator of recovery status. Time to Recovery is introduced as a metric to guide training that is explained.

The episode delves into the practical application of HR training, discussing the day-to-day variations in HR and the factors that influence RHR, including sleep and infections. Adapting training based on these variations is essential for optimizing performance. The use of HR in racing is also explored, with specific HR zones suggested for different race distances like 10k, half marathon, and marathon. 

Finally, the episode introduces heart rate variability (HRV) as a metric gaining importance in running. HRV refers to the differences between consecutive heartbeats and can provide valuable insights into recovery and overall training adaptation. Different methods of measuring HRV are discussed.

About Guest Anand Hatwalne

Anand has been running for close to 2 decades. In 2013, he co-founded 'Running Potential', through which he has been helping fellow runners and friends get better at this sport. He has a couple of ultras and a few marathons under his belt. Anand is especially drawn to the physiological aspects of running and exercise science. 

He is a public speaker and has delivered many talks related to Running in the public domain. Anand was also invited multiple times by Indian Army establishments such as the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune, the Army War College (AWC) in Mhow, and an army camp in Missamari, Assam, to talk about these topics.

In 2019, owing to his work in spreading awareness about HRV for endurance sports, the training platform HRV4Training chose Anand as one of its mentors.

Trail running has a certain charm associated with it, which is very different from road running. The former takes runners to quieter paths of mountains, lakes, forests, grasslands, etc. while the later is all about roads and speed. Trail running needs a different approach to running apart from speed & attire the most important is a mindset.

Whether you're a seasoned road runner looking for a new challenge or a beginner looking to explore the great outdoor trails, this episode will provide you with the basics of everything that you need to get started with trail running. From gear and nutrition to training, we have covered everything you need to know.

Kenya can be said as the Mecca of the running world. Kenya has come to be the home of world-class athletes such as Eliud Kipchoge, Wilson Kipsang, Abel Kirui, David Rudisha, Florence Kiplagat, Edna Kiplagat, amongst others.

Though most of us are recreational runners, we are pushing the limits in our own way, and the Kenyan runners set an aspirational north star for us. As a recreational runner, we have a lot of questions related to how Kenyan runners train.

In this episode, we discuss topics related to:

• What is unique about the training that sets Kenyans apart?
• How many miles do they put in a day or week?
• How do they recover from their hard training?
• What is their nutrition like?
• How do they preventing injuries?

GUEST INTROS:

HUGO VAN DEN BROEK

Hugo van den Broek is a former elite marathon runner, with a personal best of 2h12. He has coached amateur and elite runners from all over the world. His athletes ran at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics and had World Best performances in 2009 and 2015. When coaching his athletes, Hugo uses a combination of experience (he has been in the world of running for more than 30 years) and his scientific knowledge thanks to his M.Sc. degree in Human Movement Sciences.

Hugo and his wife Hilda Kibet have been living and training in Iten, Kenya, since 2007. They both retired from professional running in 2015 and have 3 daughters. The couple has a guesthouse where they accommodate amateur and elite runners from all over the world, and organize running camps called ‘Kenya Camp’ for amateur runners who want to experience training in Kenya under professional guidance.

VIJAYARAGHAVAN VENUGOPAL

Vijay was our first guest for our very first episode on marathon training and now again. It’s been a pleasure to witness Vijay on and off the track focused on sports and nutrition. Vijay has recently visited Kenya and get to see how Kenyans train, and brings the perspective of a recreational runner.

Marathon running is becoming more popular around the world as a way to stay fit. These numbers are growing y-on-y. Closer to home, this can be seen in Tata Mumbai Marathon’s recent edition. The maximum number of marathon participants is in the age group of 40 to 44 years, which is 24% of the total finishers. A whopping 64% of the total marathon finishers are masters’ runners (age 40 and above).

With fast twitch muscles declining, and bone density reducing, how do masters athletes maintain their mojo?

In this episode, we discuss the topics relevant to master runners.

• Running fitness despite the effects of aging
• Being injury free as masters runner
• Bettering the Recovery
• Training & Racing as master’s runner

Tarun is a Delhi-based Architect and an avid marathoner. Tarun has been a sportsperson all his life, participating in various sports such as Cricket, Judo, and Volleyball at school, college, and district levels. After years of sports, he discovered running at the age of 40 as his fitness mantra.

Tarun has been running for more than a decade now and has participated in 56 Half Marathons, 10 Full marathons, and 15 Trail/Ultra Runs. His PB for 10K is 44mins13secs. HM is 1hr 38mins & marathon is 3hrs 44 mins. He has paced for various events such as Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Cairn Pink City Marathon, Super Sikh Run, and Millennium City Marathon. In the year 2016, he did a self-supported run of 7 half-marathon distances over 7 consecutive days in support of underprivileged athletes. He followed that up in subsequent years and reached out to over 5000 athletes. Tarun has been a mentor to various running events, he was also the Race Director for two editions for FOOTLOOSE and Run for Justice. Tarun also has been training and mentoring people into running for the last 4 years and runs an academy by the name of FitWithT.

Supplements play a very important role in filling the gaps in runners’ nutrition to help with their running performance, recovery, cognitive development, and overall health & well-being.

Currently, the supplements marketed for runners can be overwhelming. Supplement companies use a variety of marketing tactics & this can make it difficult for runners to determine which supplements are truly beneficial. In this episode, we demystify the supplements for runners.

We have discussed various topics on Supplements including:

• Nutritional Foundation for Runners
• Common nutritional deficiencies in runners that need supplementation
• Why and When to take supplements
• Pre-Run Supplements
• During Run/Race Supplements
• Post Run Supplements
• Periodization of Supplements

Guest Intro

Mihira Khopkar

Mihira has been a National Gold medalist in Swimming and has trialed for the Common Wealth Games 2010 in Synchronized Swimming. Mihira is the Lead Sports Nutritionist at Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital through which she has been working with Asian, Common Wealth, and Olympic athletes.

She has been working in the field of nutrition  for the last 5 years specifically in sports nutrition alone. Her work includes interacting with national coaches, periodizing nutrition meal plans, athlete consultation to setting up daily high-performance menus at various sporting academies, supplement recommendations to athletes and federations as well as conducting group sports nutrition education sessions.

Mihira is an avid writer on Health, Sports Nutrition & Lifestyle with various magazines, websites, and newspapers. She is actively involved in research concerning sports nutrition, obesity & metabolic syndrome and has presented papers at both National and International conferences along with being a speaker at various sports science conferences.

She is a visiting faculty for Sports Nutrition at Exercise Science Academy (ACSM Accredited), Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science and SVT College of Home Science and aims to educate & provide optimum nutritional guidance to individuals to improve and maintain maximum performance, prevent injuries, and maintain immunity throughout life.

Related Resources

Over the years there has been much research on the correlation between running and heart health.  While it is common knowledge that Running as a cardio activity does improve heart health, there is a lot more to the effect of Running on Heart Health. In this episode, we talk about how running can affect heart health in various ways with Dr. Aashish Contractor, who is a runner himself and is a pioneer of cardiac rehabilitation and sports cardiology.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Running improves heart health
• Tracking heart health
• Training & Racing with a focus on heart health
• Importance of Recovery
• Tests that are recommended for runners to monitor heart health.

Guest Intro

Dr. Aashish Contractor

Of the 7800 Runners who finished the Mumbai marathon in 2020, only 41 runners have run under 3 hours. That is about 0.5% of all the finishers.  It is every amateur runner’s dream to reach the sub-3-hour mark in a marathon.  So what it takes to run a sub-3 hour marathon?

In this episode, we talk about how to strategize a sub-3-hour marathon.

• Journey to Sub 3-hour marathon
• Training approach
• Handling the progress plateau
• Role of a coach/mentor
• Mental preparation & handling race anxiety

Guest Intro

Dilip Kumar

While the science of endurance training has progressed steadily over the decades, there has been significant progress in recent times. Eluid Kipchoge's sub-2-hour marathon effort is a major breakthrough.  However, the training advice on the internet and the science quoted t support it can be confusing, and even at times conflicting. In this episode, we tried to put together a structure for endurance training based on the latest science. Host Aditi speaks with Coach Ron George, where he talks about the evolution of endurance training and the latest science, and fuses it with his on-ground experience working with endurance athletes.

Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode

• Principles of Endurance Training for Runners
• Volume, Intensity, Polarization, and Periodization in Training
• How to bring Specificity and Individualization to Training
• Training Considerations for Women and Masters Runners

Guest Intro

Ron George (Ronnie) is an Indian endurance sports consultant and athlete based in Dubai.  He found his roots in middle-distance running and duathlon in his youth. He then converted that into a love for coaching adults in endurance sports which he has been pursuing for over 10 years.

Research shows optimal fueling improves our performance by 2 to 20% during the race.

Running a marathon can take anywhere from 2-6 hours based on a runner’s fitness level. The energy expenditure while running a marathon is between 2200 and 3200 kcal depending on runners' conditioning, body weight, running economy, and external conditions like weather, elevation, etc.

In this episode, we discuss the fueling strategy - before and during the race. Fueling for various distances, how to prepare your fueling strategy right from training to the race.

Subramani Venkatesh, aka Subbu. Subbu is 7x Ironman. Subbu has been coaching since 2015. While he predominately coaches Triathletes, coaching for running is a dominant part. He has coached at least 40 athletes so far. Subbu is a certified Ironman university coach.

When not coaching he works as a software architect. His running PBs are 5K: 18 mins, 10K: 36 mins, Half Marathon 1h:22m, and Marathon 3h:09m (in an Ironman event)

The running shoe landscape has changed dramatically with tech innovation. In this episode, we try to navigate the landscape of running shoes, and how to choose the right running shoes.

The first is the perspective of runners, and where they are in their running journey. Whether a runner is a beginner, intermediate, experienced, or elite, how that needs to be factored in when choosing a shoe.  The second is the training perspective - use the shoes for daily training, speed training, easy/recovery runs, races of 5-10k, Half or Marathons, and beyond. The third perspective is the type of shoe - Low stack or High Stack, Low or High Drop, How much cushioning it has, how responsive it is, whether it has a carbon plate, etc.,

Guest Intro

Our guest for this episode is Sharath Adanur. Sharath is an Industrial Engineer working with a major steel manufacturer. A self-coached runner, Sharath’s personal best timing of 2:46 in a Marathon. A self-confessed shoe geek, his vast collection of shoes can shame any sports shoe showroom.

Useful Resources

Technology is aiding the ever-growing popularity of running as a sport. There are metrics helping us to track our pace, cadence, heart rate, lactate threshold, etc. These metrics give us a very intricate view of our running. Which in turn, helps in providing a holistic view of our running progress.

In this episode, we demystify the key running metrics, and how they can help us to become successful with our running goals.

We discuss the essential running metrics such as Pace, Cadence, Heart Rate, and more advanced ones like Ground Contact Time, Stride Length, Lactate Threshold, VO2Max, Running Power, Recovery Time and more.

Here is our past coverage on Running Metrics to read further on -

Being metabolically fit means - building an efficient metabolism that optimizes the energy required for our physical endeavors as runners, while also helping us by preventing insulin resistance which is the cause of many chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension / high blood pressure, and many forms of cancer.

In this episode, we go into the details of the role metabolic fitness plays, and

• how running helps to better our metabolic fitness
• using metabolic metrics & insights in our running
• and importantly how metabolic fitness can help our running goals.

In this episode, host Aditi Pandya discusses the topic of Strength training for runners with fitness coach Swetha Devaraj.

• Benefits of strength training for runners
• Importance of right posture in strength training
• Strength training for improving triple extension in running
• Approach to strength training for beginners vs. advanced runners and much more

The guest for this episode is Swetha Devaraj aka sweatyswetha. She is a vascular radiologist by education and a fitness trainer by passion and profession.

She grew up playing tennis professionally and continued to play for Alcorn State University in Mississippi – US, where she also did her under graduation and post-graduation.

Upon returning to India in 2016, she juggled between three jobs – at the hospital, a CrossFit gym, and online training. She finally quit her job at the hospital to take up fitness and online training as a full-time profession and also to travel the world and learn different forms of fitness. Currently, a globe trotter with no postal address, she comes to India to conduct Animal flow workshops and help other trainers get certified as animal flow instructors.

In this episode, host Aditi Pandya discusses the art and science of pacing.

• How to identify various paces for training eg: Endurance pace, Lactate threshold, VO2 max, Speed Intervals, etc
• Acing pace strategy for various distances eg: positive or negative splits, tuning pacing based on external factors like terrain, temperature, and time

The guest for the episode is Daniel (Dan) Vaz. Daniel is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), from National  Strength & Conditioning Association ( NSCA), USA. Apart from this Dan is a certified Ironman coach, has Human Kinetics certification for Running Mechanics and Nutrition for endurance.

Dan has completed 44 full and 2 ultra marathons. He is the head coach of the Nike Run Club, India, since 2008 and part of the Nike Global Coach's Summit at NYC, the USA in 2015.

Here are a few posts that help you to understand more about Pacing:

In this episode, Host Aditi discusses the most common running mistakes that runners do in training and their approach, and how to avoid them.

• Running too much too soon
• Lack of recovery
• Lack of variety in training
• Incorrect goal setting
• Too much racing

In this episode, we talk about the importance of Mobility training for runners.  The topics covered in this episode including

• Difference between flexibility, stretching, and mobility.
• Why mobility is important for runners
• What are the basic mobility standards that runners should pass
• Guidance on how mobility training to be incorporated into running training

Guests of this episode s Dr. Gladson Johnson and Kavitha Reddy.

Dr. Gladson is a Sports Physiotherapist and Director of Attitude Prime. He has been into Fitness for 22 years.  He is also a well-known barefoot marathoner himself.

Kavitha Reddy is one of the most reckoned runners in the female amateur marathon circuit. She has run 5 world majors, with her current PB being 3:14:19 in Chicago 2019.

This is the beginning of our second season.  In the thirteenth episode of ‘The World of Running’ podcast, host Aditi Pandya talks about “The art and science of Tapering”.  To give our listeners a complete perspective of Tapering, we have invited Coach Pramod Deshpande and Athletes Kartik Iyer and Sharath Adanur as guests.

In this episode, we have covered

• The concepts of tapering
• How tapering differs from different formats of running
• What are the key activities to do during tapering
• How to plan taper from week to week till the race day
• Tapering for goal vs. non-goal races
• Considerations of travel and jet lag for overseas races

Q&A

This is our twelfth episode, and we complete the first year of "The World of Running".  Our vision when we conceptualized the podcast was to bring the art and science of running to every runner. So far we've covered a variety of topics, from beginners' guide to running, to more advanced topics like marathon & ultra running.

In this episode we are bringing to you a curated compilation of the snippets from previous episodes, starting from our first one in October 2020.

In this episode, we talk all about running shoes.

• Evolution of running shoes
• The art & science of shoe selection
• Performance, biomechanics, and running shoes
• Future of running shoes

In this episode, we talk about the various aspects of 5K training for beginners and advanced runners.  Topics covered in this episode -

• Volume vs Intensity for 5k training
• Muscle build-up and recruitment
• Building aerobic and anaerobic efficiency
• VO2 max and interval training
• Determining paces for your training runs
• Pacing, drafting & other strategies for optimizing race day performance
  

Guest for this episode is Sameer Joshi. Sameer, is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) of USA, Sameer is a certified Nutritionist from Precision Nutrition and is a certified running coach from UESCA.

Sameer, runs his own venture, Pushing Limits-Integrated Fitness Solutions. He is currently mentoring aspiring individuals on their holistic wellbeing journey through his running, fitness, and nutrition programs.

Here are few additional resources for the topics referred to in this podcast

In this episode, we talk about the various aspects of preventing running injuries. Running injuries are broadly categorized under 3 buckets - Biomechanical factors, anatomical factors, & training errors.

These injuries can be due to over-use of certain body parts or trauma. Studies show 50% of runners experience injuries every year.

In this episode, we talk about the various aspects of our mind that are wired to the performance of a working athlete - be it our everyday running targets, or waking up in the wee hours of the morning, and being fully responsible towards our families. It is about committing to our targets and knowing how important the goal is which is ahead of us. Focus, camaraderie, and visualizations are a few among the other topics discussed in this episode.

The guest of this episode is Dilip Kumar. Dilip is an avid endurance sports enthusiast who started with long-distance running accidentally and went on to get qualified for the Boston marathon twice and his PR at 2:59:52.

Nutrition plays an important role which includes macronutrients like carbs, proteins, and fats and micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fluids. Endurance runners rely on a whole lot of things to keep their bodies balanced during long-distance running.

Nutrition plays an important role which includes macronutrients like carbs, proteins, and fats and micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and fluids. Endurance runners rely on a whole lot of things to keep their bodies balanced during long-distance running.

In this episode, we will be discussing the importance of macro and micronutrients along with, time and recommended nutrition intake, bodyweight composition like - racing weight, and fat metabolism

This episode is all about Women in Running.  We discussed various aspects of women, which affect their running and performance at different life stages. This episode touches aspects of - Female Athlete Triad, Women’s Physiology, Safety and much more.

The guests for this episode are Nirupma Singh and Vandana Arora. 

Nirupma is ACE certified coach and holds several other certifications that qualifies her as personal trainer and fitness coach. She has qualified for the Boston Marathon for 3 consecutive years,  and has come a long way in making her mark as a pioneer runner in India's female running fraternity.

Vandana, has  won the recent 2021 Bengaluru Marathon across all age categories with a timing of 3 hrs 28 minutes. Her journey in fitness started in her mid-30s and it was only in her late 30s that she became serious about her fitness and took to running long distances as one of the avenues to stay fit. When she is not running she is a full-time software engineer with a product company

In this episode, we will be discussing everything on developing a good running form that encourages better motor patterns and muscle recruitment. A good running form improves our running efficiency and reduces the risk of fatigue and injuries particularly which comes with longer and more frequent running.

Aravind Yarra, he is the brain behind the tech and production for GeeksonFeet and our podcast. Aravind is a certified Level 1 Crossfit trainer and has a keen interest in reaching optimal running pace by focusing on running form. He is a certified running form analyst and a marathoner with a PB of 3 hrs and 48 mins and his 5K PB is 21 minutes.

In this episode, we discuss everything one needs to know at the start of their running journey. Importance of run-walk technique, strength & conditioning, breathing, the right amount of mileage, and more.

Coach Shreyas Karnad shares his insights, through his vast experience of training 500+ people over a period of 5 years.  He spoke about the importance of nutrition, breathing, and his coaching philosophy. Shreyas runs his academy Runners360, and he has been running for the past 11 years; and his marathon PB is 2 hrs 59 mins.

In this episode, we will be discussing everything runners need to know to improve their speed; various workouts like threshold training, VO2 max intervals, sprints or speed intervals, endurance training, pacing, and more.

Episode #1 - Marathon Training by Geeks On Feet

In this episode, we will be discussing everything one needs to know to prepare for a marathon; aspects of running physiology, structuring training, running drills, strength training, nutrition, and more.

Guest for this episode is Vijayraghavan Venugopal. He has been in the running circuit for the last 8 years and is a sub 3 hours marathon runner. He has qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2017 and participated in world marathon majors at NewYork City, Chicago and Berlin. Vijay is the CEO of Fast&Up India.

We spoke to him about his running journey, his training approach, nutrition, and race day strategy for a marathon.