Science Friday: exercise and DNA

A segment on Science Friday discussed the effect of exercise on DNA. The headline is a little misleading -- DNA itself is not changed; rather, DNA methylation changes. Says Dr. Juleen Zierath:

[W]e found that 35 minutes of high-intensity exercise was sufficient to have a removal of these methyl groups from the DNA and a production of proteins which would support the metabolism of sugar and fat after exercise. So it's not just to exercise. In this case, you needed to do an exercise bout which would be at the level of where you might not be able to comfortably talk if you're running with a running partner. It's not like walking. Running or biking at a level of exertion where it's hard to carry on a conversation for about 35 minutes.

I've been deliberately avoiding high-intensity running lately, but I'm about to introduce some interval training in the next week or two. I have nine weeks until my half marathon.

Trying a new training regimen

I'm training for the local half marathon again. Like last year (before I was interrupted), I started using Runner's World's SmartCoach. Unlike last year, however, I wasn't really enjoying the plan. This is no fault of SmartCoach -- I still recommend that anybody looking for a plan should give it a look. The problem was the parameters that I plugged in were so terrible that it gave me a training schedule that just didn't fit what I was looking for.

The way it works is you put in a recent race time, your current weekly mileage, and how hard you'd like to train. I didn't really have any recent race times. I put in last year's half marathon, which I had run on three weeks of training after nearly a month off. Needless to say, it was slow, even for me. Also, my weekly mileage at that time was puny.

So SmartCoach had me running only three times a week for the first eight weeks, and four times for the remaining ten weeks. This was reasonable for a plodder with my recent training and speed.

I had two major problems with this schedule. First, I'm more enthusiastic about running now than I have been for a long time, and so I really wanted to run more than 24 times in eight weeks. The second thing is my assessment of what I need in order to improve on last year's fiasco in the half: I need to weigh less. Yes, I need the miles on the road, some speed work, all of that, but mostly I need to shrink my big belly. It's been my experience that the best way for me to do that, by far, is to exercise every day.

So after about five weeks of the SmartCoach schedule, I was really ready for a change.

Meanwhile, I started reading Kyle Kranz's blog. It's good. Read it. Coincidentally, he's the first guy I ever saw running in Vibram FiveFingers. It was in the Jack 15 a few years ago. I saw him just ahead of me early in the race, and I was so interested that I rushed up to him and pestered him with questions. Little did I know then that he didn't just run the 15 mile race that day; he ran several miles prior to make it a 26.2-mile day. These days he's running ultra-marathons.

Anyway, one of his posts mentions heart-rate-based training. Kyle doesn't really give much detail in that particular post, but the two pages he links go into the nitty-gritty. I don't remember exactly when, but some years ago I had read that second link. Along with a lot of training theory, it tells the story of a former runner who started up again, and the methods his friend & coach (the writer) suggested to him.

I won't go into much detail here, but it boils down to running exclusively at a low heart rate for several weeks before moving on to anything faster. The idea is to turn oneself into an efficient aerobic machine.

So about a week ago, I started running every day, at an easy pace. I have a Life Fitness T3-5 treadmill that is very good for this kind of thing. I tell it my target heart rate, initial speed, and how long I want to run, and it adjusts the incline and speed to keep my heart near that target.

Typically it gives me about three minutes before making any adjustments. Invariably, my heart rate at that point is well below the target, so it raises the incline. It gradually increases the incline until I've reached the target heart rate. From then on, it raises and lowers the incline as required. If I'm at zero incline, and my heart rate is too high, it will decrease the speed. It never increases the speed, even back to the starting speed -- once it's slowed down, it stays there or goes even slower if need be.

I picked an initial speed based on what SmartCoach had as my easy pace. So far, after a week, I haven't had to slow down to maintain my heart rate. I figured I'd give it a week at this pace, to see how I adjusted to running every day.

I ran just 30 minutes every day until today, when I ran 60 minutes. Still no slowdown at an hour, and indeed the treadmill even had me at a non-zero incline for most of the run. By the end I felt that in another 15 minutes or so I would have had to slow down a bit. I think this means I'm not too far under my best speed for this low heart rate.

So my plan is to slightly increase the speed starting tomorrow, and to stay at the same heart rate. Each time I can maintain the initial speed for the entire run three days in a row, I'll speed up 0.1 km/hr. I'll also run more than 30 minutes most days.

I'm very curious to see how this goes. I've always been a pretty slow runner, but this is slow even for me. If it works, I should be steadily speeding up. I'll try to post my findings in the coming weeks. I'll also say a bit about how I chose my target heart rate.

Running on the White Line: One Good Earbud Review

I often use headphones when I run on the treadmill, but never when I run outside. I consider it to be a safety hazard, since 'phones prevent me from hearing traffic. Here's an interesting solution to the safety problem: just use one ear, not both. Kyle at Running on the White Line reviews:

Running on the White Line: One Good Earbud Review and Giveaway!: Something I have struggled with throughout all of my miles as an endurance athlete; to wear earbuds or not? Many larger running races and ne...

Finally

It took much longer than I expected to get back in training. My leg was getting better, but so slowly that it didn't seem like I'd be able to train at all before the half marathon next month. I did what I should have done much sooner, and went to see a doctor about 10 days ago. He found no major damage, and said I'd eventually just get better (which confirmed my own thoughts), but suggested that I see a physical therapist.

I did just that. The PT came to the same conclusion, but did some ultrasound therapy and gave me some stretches and exercises to do. Twice daily I've been doing an excruciatingly boring routine, but it really worked. The leg pain was reduced, and came later and later each day. Some days I didn't feel it at all, depending on how much standing or walking I did.

This morning I was back at the PT, and he gave me the green light to run again. I was sure he would. My leg is not completely back to normal, but it feels pretty good.

Over my lunch hour I took a short, slow run on the treadmill, and it went well. I'm going to ease into it, with short runs and no consecutive running days for a while.

Setback

In January, I started formal training for a half marathon. I'm using Runner's World SmartCoach for my training plan. I like it. Compared to my usual haphazard ways, I'm running a little less often, a little slower, and probably about the same mileage. Here's a chart of my running since January:

I started SmartCoach in the middle of the 4th week of the year. I was sick for a few days in the 6th week of the year, but hadn't missed any other workouts until this week. More on that in a bit.

I like the way SmartCoach builds up the training load. It started with just 3 runs a week. It goes in four-week cycles, with 3 weeks of increasing mileage and then it backs off a little the fourth week. It also adds another day per week of training every few cycles, always on the down week. For example, through week 4 of the plan (week 7 of the year on the chart) I built up to 24 km/week on three days a week, then backed off to 20 km, but on 4 days. Similarly, on week 13 I'm scheduled to go to 5 days a week.

My minimalist shoe progress has been pretty good, too. I run my shorter runs almost exclusively in my Vibram FiveFingers, and usually start longer runs in them before switching to Brooks Green Silence. I think my longest run in the FiveFingers has been 7 km.

That's the good news.

On Monday, all of this came to an abrupt halt. I slipped an fell on the stairs down to the basement of our house (yes, I'm graceful. Like a dancer.). My right leg folded under me and I bounced down about three steps on my foot and ankle. I also stretched my quadricep like it's never been stretched before.

As I fell I was certain that I'd done some major damage to my leg, but I found that it wasn't so bad. I could walk right away, though with some pain. I've been icing it and gently stretching, and it's getting better every day. I hope to get back running next week. My training plan calls for a tempo run on Wednesday, which I will probably skip, or at least make it an easy run instead. It's day-to-day at this point, and I'll be very cautious.

SmartCoach apparently has a way to re-schedule the rest of the training based on missed workouts. I'm curious to see what workouts it changes.

Easing into the FiveFingers

Since my blister incident of a couple of weeks ago, I've been cautiously training my feet for wearing my Vibram FiveFingers. Running exclusively on the treadmill (it's very cold and snowy here) makes this easy. I run the first two kilometers of each run in the FiveFingers, then switch to conventional shoes. I'm mindful of how my feet feel, especially my toes. I'll gradually increase from 2K.

If I were running outside, I'd do a short loop in the VFFs, then switch shoes.

I'm pleased and a little surprised that I haven't had much ankle and calf soreness. When I first started running in the FiveFingers last year, I could really feel it in most every part of my legs below the knee.

Half marathon in May

I've begun training for a half Marathon. For the first time in my adult running life, I'll be following a specific training plan. I've chosen SmartCoach from the Runner's World web site. In past years, I've either trained totally haphazardly, or at best I've used the Daniels Running Formula for determining training pace. I didn't actually follow the Daniels plan, though; I might run a tempo run when I felt like it, or do repeats when I thought it might be fun.

For a runner like me (i.e., really slow, and not well-trained), I think it's more important to pick some plan - any plan - and stick to it, rather than trying to pick the perfect plan.

You can find training programs all over the internet. The Brookings Marathon web site lists a number of them.