Pfitzinger Pete - Advanced Marathoning

Some athletes move forward while running in the water and (very slowly) do laps during their workouts. Whether you move forward or remain relatively still depends on subtle changes in body position. Try to maintain a relatively upright posture during water running; this posture will work your trunk muscles and result in only a slight tendency to move forward through the water.

You won’t be able to achieve as high a heart rate running in the water as when running on land. A study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that heart rate is 8 to 11 beats per minute lower for the same oxygen uptake when running in the water compared with normal running (Svedenhag and Seger 1992). This study also found that, on average, maximal heart rate is 16 beats per minute lower during all-out water running compared with land running. Lower heart rates during water running are primarily because of the pressure of water on the body; the water pressure makes more blood return to the heart so that more blood is pumped with each heartbeat.

A useful rule of thumb is that heart rates during water running are about 10 percent lower than during land running. For example, if you get your heart rate up to 140 beats per minute in the water, that’s roughly equal to 156 beats per minute during normal running. In addition, the temperature of the water affects your heart rate during deep-water running – your heart rate will be lower in cool water and higher in warm water. Interestingly, two studies have found that women have slightly lower heart rates and oxygen consumption than do men during deep-water running. This is thought to be because of women’s generally higher body fat content and resultant greater buoyancy as compared with men.

The Karolinska study found that perceived exertion is higher during water running for a given heart rate or level of oxygen consumption. In other words, to get a beneficial workout in the water, you’ll feel that you’re working harder than during land running. (We can speak from experience that perceived effort at a heart rate of 140 in the water is much higher than for a heart rate of 156 running on land.)

For this reason, if you’re injured and replacing land running with water running, you’ll need to emphasize interval workouts in the water. If you do only steady water-running sessions, your effort won’t be high enough to maintain your fitness. Interval sessions in the water, however, give you brief breaks, both physical and mental, that allow you to work harder and obtain a superior workout. Another plus is that time passes relatively quickly when you’re doing intervals, whereas steady water running is terribly boring. A typical 40-minute water-running workout consists of a 5-minute warm-up, followed by 10 repetitions of 45 seconds moderately hard with 15 seconds recovery and then 10 repetitions of 1 minute 40 seconds moderately hard with 20 seconds recovery, and a 5-minute cool-down. Even if you’re using water running on your recovery days while marathon training, to get in a halfway decent workout you’ll probably need to concentrate on maintaining intensity more than if you were going for an easy run around the block.

Advantages of in-line skating for cross-training are that it’s fun, it gets you outside with the wind in your hair, and it has some similarities to a running stride. Disadvantages are the time it takes to develop reasonable skill and the safety factor. You may reduce your risk of running injuries by adding in-line skating to your training program, but you could end up with a few scrapes and bruises instead. Once you master it, though, in-line skating can be an effective form of cross-training. After a series of running injuries, Olympic 10,000-meter runner Steve Plasencia successfully used in-line skating to maintain his fitness and reduce his injury risk for several years while continuing to compete at a world-class level. You can use in-line skating for recovery training and general aerobic conditioning.

Rowing on the water is a wonderful whole-body exercise that requires a fairly high degree of skill. If you know how to do it, rowing is a great replacement for recovery training and a portion of your aerobic conditioning. Rowing on a machine, such as a Concept II rowing ergometer, is much more forgiving – if your technique is poor, you stay dry. Rowing emphasizes the legs, back, shoulders, and arms. When starting out, ask someone who knows what he or she is doing to show you the correct technique because improper rowing technique can put a large amount of strain on your back.

Cross-country skiing is the only form of exercise that provides cardiovascular benefits equal to, or even slightly better than, those associated with running. The whole-body nature of cross-country skiing really works the cardiovascular system, and some of the highest O 2max values have been recorded in cross-country skiers.

As with rowing, if you know how to do it, cross-country skiing is pretty much the perfect form of cross-training. Unfortunately, cross-country skiing also requires skill. As can be the case with cycling outdoors, highly trained runners with no experience or little coordination may not be able to go fast enough for long enough while skiing to get in a good workout. As Bob Kempainen famously showed while preparing for the 1992 U.S. Olympic marathon trials, cross-country ski machines are a good option too but are not as much fun as gliding along the snow.

Stair climbing or elliptical training is hard work and provides a great cardiovascular workout. Unfortunately, the stress of stair climbing is close enough to that of running that the reduction in injuries from substituting stair climbing for a portion of your running may not be that great. For this reason, stair climbing is not recommended during recovery from most running injuries. Elliptical training also works your upper body and has relatively low impact forces, so it can be used while recovering from some running injuries. If you’re healthy, stair climbing or elliptical training can substitute for recovery runs or some general aerobic runs.

Swimming is a wonderful form of cross-training that works the cardiovascular system with absolutely none of the jarring stress of running. To get in a decent workout requires some skill, but with a little bit of instruction, even a dyed-in-the-wool marathoner can quickly build up to 30 or 40 laps. Swimming isn’t as similar to running as some of the other cross-training options, but if most of your training still consists of running, that doesn’t really matter. Swimming is a great way to increase your recovery and your general aerobic fitness without increasing your risk of a running-related injury.

In this chapter, we looked at several types of training that build on the solid foundations of marathon preparation we discussed in chapters 1 to 3. Next, we’ll look at how to maximize the gains from all your hard work. Tapering to reach the starting line with the ideal balance of readiness and restedness is the subject of chapter 5.

Training provides the long-term improvements in fitness that are necessary for marathon success. As you’re no doubt aware, though, training also tends to leave you a bit tired most of the time. As we’ve noted, despite much of the popular running literature, this doesn’t mean you’re overtrained – a moderate amount of residual fatigue is fine during the many weeks of training in preparation for the marathon. The periodic recovery weeks in your training schedule are designed to reduce, but not totally eliminate, the accumulated fatigue of training.