Endurance Planet

Hi Tawny and Lucho,

I’ve been a fan since 2011 and I listen to all (well almost all) of your podcasts. These days I’m training for Boston. As I am self coached I often come up with questions but no one around can answer them, so I thought: I should just ask Tawny and Lucho!

Here is a bit (or a lot) about me. I’m 49, turning 50 in 2020. I could tell you my height and weight but maybe it’s not relevant so let’s just say, I’m not too big or too thin I don’t think. My body type is on the more muscular side and when I got my genes tested, it said I’m a power athlete (alas not an endurance one) mainly because I’m double deleted in the ACE gene…I don’t think you ever spoke about that in your podcasts so it would be interesting to know what you think about this. I started doing triathlon when I was 35 and competed in mostly Olympics and some half and two IM when I had more time to train as a stay at home mom to two boys (13 and 15). Now I’m back to work but my husband is at home! I quit triathlon and does mostly running (and a little swimming and x-country skiing with the family).

My first marathon I did CIM in 4:02 with maybe 35 miles per week training. For my second marathon in 2016, I decided to train more and I followed the Hanson’s method, which at the time found really hard especially going up to 50 miles per week. I did 3:44 and qualified for Boston (yeah!). For my first Boston in 2018 I trained again with the Hanson’s doing only up to 16 miles for my long runs. This was the year where they had a storm but I still did pretty well in 3:40. Came back the next year (2019) and decided to increase the mileage a bit with the same program. I wanted to break 3:30. I did 3:36. OK. Now of course I have to hire a coach, I’m doing NY the same year. She trained me like I never trained before. In August I did 18, 19, 20 and 20 on the week-ends. I was just exhausted. Then she had me take a break early September doing nothing (weird but I’m paying her, so I’m gonna do what she says). Coming back into it mid-September, I felt like superwomen. Then in September and October I ramped back up to 20 mi. The problem is I felt like I had lost the fitness because the ramp up was pretty slow.  Anyway, did the race: 3:36 again! I was devastated, after all that training. What went wrong? On the positive side I must say that my pace was pretty steady the whole time and did not deteriorate so much like in my previous Bostons…

Now I’m back into training for Boston. Still doing the Hanson’s with added mileage. I’m planning on going up to 20 miles long run again (but not as many, maybe going 18, 20 and 19). Also will try to go up to 70 mi/wk. Honestly I can’t do more than that or else I have to do 2 runs per day and I would never see my kids. I already get up at 4:45 and come back from work at 6 and goes to bed at 8pm (pretty boring).

Some other notes: I do strength training early in the season (DL, back squat and other things) I’m not injury prone thanks to Jay and the Balanced Runner whom I discovered on your podcast!

Here are my questions:

Thanks so much, love you guys and the podcast.

Forgot to mention a very important info. Here are different times at other distances. Which tells me I should be able to go 3:30?

Mile: 6:14

5k: 21:30

Half-Marathon: 1:39:50

Hi Tawnee and Lucho

I love you guys! I hope you can help me figure this out. I have a question regarding MAF and marathon training. (Sorry for yet another MAF question)

My history:

– I’m a 56-year-old female runner.

– have run 15 marathons – last one 2006.

– run many 10K, half marathons.

– a few oddball races such as a 64 km ultra.

– stopped running marathons as it was just too hard and I wasn’t improving so I decided to focus on half marathons and 10Ks. I struggled over the last 14 years gaining momentum as I would see progress then get injured – mostly lower leg injuries.

I feel like I have one more marathon in me and I was lucky enough to get a spot in the 2020 Berlin marathon. I ran it 30 years ago! I am not a fast runner (marathon PR was 4:01 way back in 1999). My goal is Plan A is to be about 5 hours and Plan B is to finish. (As of today, Berlin has not been canceled, but even if it is canceled my question applies to the next race).

I seem to recall this coming up in another podcast where Lucho had said for someone my age and skill – that MAF was best – to keep healthy and to just finish. So back in September 2019, I did my first MAF test and my schedule is 4 days/week run at MAF(124 bpm) and one day at a faster pace – almost a tempo pace(depends on how I feel). So 80% MAF and 20%, not MAF. So this was fine for a while, MAF pace dropping slightly, it’s slow going but that seems to be how my body reacts. However, now as I start to increase mileage for the marathon I find that I am walking almost 95% of the time to keep my heart rate at MAF. To be honest, I’m usually on average about 128 bpm especially if there is a hill. At 124 bpm I am barely walking.

For example, today I did 20 km at an 11:11/km which meant I was out for 3:43, which was mostly brisk walking.

So my question is:  my training is mostly walking so how will I be able to actually run a race? Is the MAF training just teaching me to walk long distances? Is being out for almost 4 hours and only covering 20 km harming my progress to actually run? I was planning on doing two half marathons one in May and one in July leading up to Berlin in September – again not racing them but just getting the race prep and fueling in order. These two races are canceled this year but if I was to do them on my own or virtually, I don’t know if I could run 21.1 km as my training has been 95% walking at MAF-ish. As I increase mileage for the marathon – how does MAF fit in? Will I be out there for 6 hours or longer? Don’t I need to actually run at some point on my long run? On the plus side, I feel good after my long “run”. I guess what I am trying to say is that I’m worried I might not be training to run, or my long time out there by walking will cause harm. I’m confused. Am I on the right path?

Hi Tawnee and Lucho, greetings from a wet and stormy UK! Great podcast, found you guys recently through following Tawnees video interviews with Primal Mastery online. Thank you for the great insights and entertaining content.

My main goal for this question is to not have Lucho saying ‘we don’t need to read this whole thing through’ while mock-snoring!

My background: 51 years old, decent school runner many years ago, track, cross country and played lots of football (the real football, not USA!), abandoned sports all through my misspent 20s, started running again early 30s, started triathlons 12 years ago. My results are weighted towards running, PBs 19 min 5k, 39 min 10k, 3:20 marathon. My biking is mid-pack at best (6 hour 112 mile). Swimming ok, 68 mins PB for 2.4. I would love to qualify for Kona, which is my middle-aged version of my school boy dream of playing for Liverpool FC!

Basically I’d like some advice on MAF as applied to triathlon training as most of what I understand of MAF stems from running literature. I’ve been pretty devoted to an 80/20 MAF approach at my 130 bpm rate for about a year, with decent results (now at 7:40-50 / mile for a 5 mile track test from a start point last year of just under 10 mins). I am currently training for my first triathlons since I started MAF (I have a 70.3 in June 2020, full IM September 2020 in Portugal). Having started a Training Peaks program and done a build phase for the 70.3, I am now torn between continuing 80/20 MAF, or more closely following the written plan introducing much more tempo / intensity. I had always followed the Brad Kearns / Phil Maffetone view, that you just stick to training aerobically and, come race day, your body will be able to race just like our ancestors did away from a sabre tooth tiger. However that was while I was just training, not racing. With a couple of actual races scheduled (that I have paid for!) I am now much more skeptical about this! I’m sure some of our ancestors got caught by those tigers, didn’t they? So I’m not sure whether to:

Last question guys, do you have any guidelines / suggestions about a MAF focus for running off the bike? My brick runs so far (all on treadmills after a Wattbike session) have started with a 1-2 mile high HR (160 + bpm), but then reassuringly stabilise to closer to my 130 MAF for a couple of miles, before drifting upwards again to mid 140s. My pace for these runs are about 8:30 min miles and increasing through the run to nearer to 8 mins. What do you think of a much more focussed approach of slower running with the aim of being much more aligned with MAF throughout the run, perhaps even walking the first mile or so to bring down that spike effect off the bike, with the goal of my specific off the bike run pace getting quicker over a longer time period?

By the way, I have a woodway curve TM in my gym (I don’t use that for these bricks). You were wondering about the effect on MAF of curve sessions during your recent show. My own results are 8:50 mins / mile for a 1 hour test, around 1 min – 50 secs slower than my standard tests. RPE is higher due to the continuous uphill effect.

We’re joined by Brie Wieselman, a functional medicine practitioner from Santa Cruz, CA, who runs a successful online clinic with other clinicians serving patients all over the world, where she specializes in gut health, hormones, and female health. Brie is also a new mama, who gave birth around the same time as our host, Tawnee! They both had difficult journeys to ultimately welcoming their daughters, and they are also taking extra good care of their bodies in the postpartum phase with research-based, functional health methods that benefit mom and baby. For more about Brie’s services and inquiring about hiring her, click here. As mentioned in the show, if you’re curious about Brie’s experience with gestational diabetes, you can read more here. Also dive into her full postpartum recovery plan, which we discuss in length on this episode.

This is Brie‘s third appearance on EP, the other two shows can be downloaded and listened to here: Foundations of Functional Medicine and Applications to Reach Optimization and Functional Healing For Endometriosis – The Role of Diet, Hormones, Gut Health and More.

Also, if you’re interested in supplements mentioned during this show, check out Fullscript where you get access to over 15,000 quality supplements from over 300 trusted brands like Nordic Naturals, Pure Encapsulations, and Designs for Health. Fullscript guarantees their products are never past expiry, counterfeit, or stored incorrectly. Make sure to sign up using our link.

On this show:

Additional links for supplements mentioned on this episode:

Thorne Basic Prenatal

Magnesium glycinate

Thorne Cal-Mag Citrate powder

DHA

Liver and organ powder

Probiotic

The April 18th MAF meetup is cancelled for now.

How would you handle the training if you cannot run any spring marathon because of covid-19 and instead aim at running in the falls? End the current cycle and start a new one? Transition smoothly between both? I just don’t wanna lose what I’ve been gaining for this training cycle.

Best regards from Belgium,

PS: I wish you to remain strong and healthy. That’s what matters most!

Dear Coaches,

They canceled my event due to the Coronavirus. I have been training for this marathon since mid December. I have followed my training plan to the letter. I hit all of my key workouts: long runs, intervals, hill repeats and tempo runs. I was ready to crush it. The event is not giving refunds but if we finish the race they will send us our finishers T-shirt. I wanted to try and compete for a podium finish.

Question: Do I do the virtual race? I really thrive on the energy of having hundreds of others around me to push me along.

It’s hard to say if there will be another opportunity anytime soon but how do you motivate yourself to do a 26.2 mile virtual race? And if you don’t do the same course as others then how can you say that you really made the podium or gauge how you have done in comparison to others.

I agree to the caution that society is taking in light of the health concerns but I really just wanted to voice my frustrations. Sorry if I sound superficial.

Kindest Regards,

Scott

I’ll admit, my sport (triathlon) is a big part of my identity, for better or for worse. And now this spring (possibly even this year) it seems to be looking like no racing will happen. I’m already going a little crazy and feel lost, and it’s adding stress which I know isn’t good. How do I revise my training is one question (I focus on Olys and 70.3s), but I’m also curious to hear the coaches’ thoughts on how to mentally deal with all these abrupt changes due to the coronavirus. I think we’re all feeling a bit lost and isolated right now. PS – I don’t want to sound like a selfish jerk, as I know there are worse problems in the world right now, but I’m just being honest.

Lexi Miller is a Colorado-based running coach and community manager at Lifelong Endurance. She previously worked in the mental health field, primarily with adults recovering from eating disorders (ED). On this show, we discuss the psychology of EDs, disordered eating and body dysmorphia, and particularly athletes suffering from one or more of these conditions.

On this show:

I’ve been a listener and fan of Endurance Planet for several years now, but this is my first time writing in with a question.  Thanks for all the great content – I really appreciate your work! My main question is:  How much endurance training is needed weekly to maintain a moderate endurance base during a period of more focused strength training? Background:  I’m a 49-year-old female with some background in running and triathlon since my early 30s.  I’ve completed a few marathons as well as various distance triathlons (my only Ironman race was 8 years ago, I’ve been doing shorter distances recently).  I am somewhat injury-prone, having struggled with IT band and piriformis issues multiple times.  I’m also a martial arts athlete, and have had 2 knee surgeries (ACL, meniscus) in the past 3 1/2 years related to martial arts-related more traumatic knee injuries. I decided I needed to get stronger, so I started going to CrossFit and have gotten hooked.  I enjoy the training and community there a lot.  My plan is to take this next year and really focus on getting stronger through CrossFit.  My question is on how to not completely lose my aerobic endurance during this process.  I’d ideally like to be able to at least run a 10K without too much trouble. I currently do CrossFit 3 days per week (M/W/F) and martial arts 3 days per week (Tu/Th/Sa).  I’ve only been running once a week (Sun), and it doesn’t feel like enough to maintain running fitness.

Questions:

Hi Tawnee. I love your show and look forward to it every week. It broke my heart to hear about Siri Lindley. What an exceptional human being. She’ll be in my thoughts. I have a general question about tapering and the conventional wisdom. Most coaches seem to say that during your taper you should cut way back on volume, but maintain intensity, even for Ironman distances. They also say that the longer the race the longer your taper. This all seems backwards to me since you gain and lose endurance so much faster than you gain and lose speed or even muscular endurance. Wouldn’t it make more sense for iron people to reduce training stress by reducing intensity and leave their endurance workouts alone? And wouldn’t that suggest that iron people should have the shortest tapers, since we can’t even skip one long run without feeling it the next week? I’m wondering if the conventional wisdom is extrapolated from studies on shorter-distance athletes. It makes perfect sense that if you’re training for a 5k you can taper with plenty of intensity and lower overall volume since a good training plan gets progressively more race-specific. I also suspect that any athlete benefiting from a three week taper is really just recovering from overtraining. Am I thinking about this wrong? Is this just wishful thinking? I hate messing up my beautiful training routine for some silly race haha.

PerfectAmino helps you fight fatigue, maintain and/or build lean muscle mass, and better sustain your training loads. It literally counts toward protein grams in your diet and vegan friendly. Buying PerfectAmino through us helps support the podcast and ensures that you are getting the highest efficacy and quality care in your supplements rather than risking old, poorly stored, less efficacious supplements bought elsewhere on the internet.

Welcome to episode 15 of Holistic Performance Nutrition (HPN) featuring Tawnee Gibson, MS, CSCS, CISSN, and Julie McCloskey, a certified holistic nutrition coach who you can find over at wildandwell.fit.

On this episode:

Hi Tawnee and Julie. Long time listener and a few-times question writer— thanks for all the great advice! Yesterday I read an article about a study (link to article) that found that suggested that low carb or keto diets can have negative effects on bone health. I’ve been fairly low carb since my early teens (I’m now 25), but definitely dealt with some disordered eating, through my background with a competitive weight class based sport. I had a brief bout of amenorrhea in junior high, but have since gone back to a normal cycle, and I think I sit at a healthy body weight (125lbs, 5’5). But I did jump on the keto train pretty early on, and maintained that for three half ironmans, and began to reintroduce more carbs as I was training for my first ironman in sept 2019 (think fruits, sweet potatoes, potato, beet chips, the occasional bread or rice), and then went back to a lower carb diet again in the fall post-ironman. This article about bone health worries me, especially since the birth control I’m on (depoprovera) is also known to decrease bone density. Do either of you have any thoughts on this? Even though my relationship with food has improved a lot over the years, the thought of switching back from a low carb diet sort of makes me panic. I wouldn’t know where to start, even though I can’t even remember why I think carbs are so bad. Should I add more carbs to my diet?

The Study: A Short-Term Ketogenic Diet Impairs Markers of Bone Health in Response to Exercise

Summary: long-term effects of the low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet are unknown, but this short-term study showed that a low carbohydrate diet has negative effects on the bone modeling and remodeling process.

Take home message:

Hi. This is a question for the HPN podcast editions. I would love to hear your ladies’ take on intermittent fasting specifically for women but even more specifically for women over 40 who are endurance athletes. Is it useful from a general health perspective and/or performance perspective? I understand being fat adapted but is IF the way to go for women? What about increased cortisol levels caused by IF? When Brock and Lucho were hosting Endurance Planet they always talked about skipping breakfast (fashionably known as IF lol) but then in their answers to the ATC questions they would say things like, “Listen to your body.” How is IF listening to your body if you are ignoring hunger signals? Really enjoy all of the Endurance Planet shows. You are doing a fantastic job!

IF for women:

As coaches and athletes, you guys are no strangers to “what it takes” and also no stranger to pushing yourself beyond what is healthy, like Dr. Phil Maffetone said- fit but unhealthy athletes. Most if not all of us endurance athletes go through it at some point: a lot of added stress trying to “do it all.” It’s not signing up for the race/challenges that’s stressful, it’s finding the time and pushing our bodies to get the work done- from the moment we wake up to the moment we hit the pillow. Waking up at 4am to train, fitting in more training after work or when kids are at school, or anywhere between. Plus all of life’s non-sport demands that keep us on the go all day. Kid time. Jobs. Tension with our partner over training & time spent away. Our intentions are genuine, but sometimes figuring this all out can push us into a big stress state (or burnout) even when we’re trying to avoid that.

Hello Tawnee and Lucho and other coaches:

Length of Long Run

“It is a good question and I am happy to explain the reasoning. You’re right, the longest Aerobic Endurance Run in your plan is 2 hours 45 minutes in Week 14.

There is no doubt that a 3-hour run (or longer) can be a great confidence booster. However from a training and physiological standpoint, there are more downsides than upsides.

One of the most common reasons that marathoners don’t make it to the start line is injury. Our training plans will gradually and safely progress your endurance to a point that you will be able to complete your marathon strongly.” 

I agree with them 100% that injury is a big concern, particularly for master runners like myself who are prone to injury when I increase my distance.  However, the South African race on a game preserve is on a difficult course. They have a 7 hour cutoff time and I’m pretty confident I can make it. Also, there will be wild animals out there and so I’m not joking when I say I don’t want to be the slowest runner. I’m thinking about increasing my long runs a little just so I have the confidence to finish the race.  I’m not sure if I should try to do 5 hours. I know that time on my feet is really important. Another idea I had is to split my running with this elliptical machine at my gym called the Octane Fitness Elliptical.  It really seems to mimic running. I know it’s not a substitute, but I thought it could help by keeping me on my feet for longer, but not increasing my chance of injury like running would. Any advice you can give would be great.  I’m 18 weeks out so I’m hoping you might get to my question while I’m still in my early training days. As I mentioned to Tawnee in an email, I love your show and all the advice you give.  It’s also cool that Lucho lives in Colorado; I’m a Colorado native who lives in Lakewood. Thanks!

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Julian Abel, who spent his clinical life as a palliative care specialist doctor where he developed a special interest in compassionate communities, initially as part of supporting people undergoing experiences of death, dying, loss and caregiving. Over the last 4 years, he has worked with Frome Medical Practice applying the compassionate community approach to healthcare in general, with some startling results. He is Director of Compassionate Communities UK, a charity which aims to share the lessons learnt in both palliative care and primary care more broadly. Julian is also an accomplished endurance runner who loves MAF, running with his dogs, spending time with family, surfing the UK coastline, practicing daily meditation, and making his health a priority. On this conversation, we share the power of becoming a healthier athlete via increased quality social connections and cultivating more compassion as well as how to take small steps to be a happier, healthier, more empathetic human, and overcoming loneliness.

On this show:

Additional resources mentioned on this show:

Book: The Compassion Project by Julian Abel & Lindsay Clark, available for pre-order here

Julian’s TED Talk is coming out in March or April; please check back for the link.

I’ve enjoyed listen to your show and have gained a lot of knowledge as I continue through the MAF method. I’ve recently done several months of MAF zone running in preparation for the Fargo Half Marathon on 9 May. My question is how to properly set realistic, but challenging, goals for the race. I recently ran a 5k in 28:59 (yes I’m proud of that 1 second below 29:00) and would like to set proper goals for the half. I’m using the 16 week Garmin Half Marathon Level 2 heart rate plan where I use the MAF zone any time the plan calls for easy and long runs.

For all parents of child athletes (or one-day athletes) out there-As Cora gets older and eventually into sports, what will you do when the information coaches give is old and inaccurate? Like eating fat is bad. Or to static stretch before a game. Will you step in? This is probably an issue many of us EP educated athletes will face one day, you included.

I am preparing for a 24 hr event doing pull-ups looking to break the record, but I wanted to try to review some training and nutrition for preparing for that event. Can you share what might be a good process to increase volume of work in prep? If the event is 24 hrs should you build up to a 12 hr training session?

Welcome to episode 14 of Holistic Performance Nutrition (HPN) featuring Tawnee Gibson, MS, CSCS, CISSN, and Julie McCloskey, a certified holistic nutrition coach who you can find over at wildandwell.fit.

On this episode:

Hi, Thanks for the show! We are told all the time to eat fermented foods, bone broth, eggs, and also many of us who are busy athletes are doing food prep on weekends thus eating leftovers throughout the week. But I think I am having histamine intolerance, and I read those foods are high in histamine. Should I avoid those foods? Are there other foods to avoid? And also how can I verify that I am in fact having a histamine reaction? And if so can I fix it? Some background: I am training for marathons, have been for several years. Female, 36 years old, and worried that maybe I’m having some gut issues and signs of being a bit run down.

Histamine:

What’s happening during a histamine reaction?

Most Common Signs/Symptoms of Histamine Intolerance:

Where is it coming from? What is the root cause?

Exercise & athlete tie-in with histamine:

How to test?

What to do?

Start with the basics

High-Histamine Foods:

Histamine-Releasing Foods:

DAO Blocking Foods (makes it hard for you to break down histamine):

Low-Histamine Foods:

Summary of Advice: start by reducing stress so that your immune system isn’t so reactive. Lower training, add in meditation, increase supportive foods, get outside, get good sleep, hang with loved ones. Then work on reducing inflammatory foods that help heal the gut; starting with gluten, dairy, sugar and work your way down the line. Start a food journal if you’re pretty sure you’re reacting to a food but just can’t identify it.

I’ve got another one for you, a really long standing issue that perhaps you might be able to offer some insight on?  (If you pick my question to answer, unless you see fit, no need to read the entire question aloud as I’m going to give you some in depth background here). I am a female who has struggled with thinning hair and hair loss since my mid teens (now late 20s). At certain times it has been worse than others, but it seems to be a somewhat persistent problem for me. When I initially noted the onset of issue and it was at its worst, I was under a great deal of stress with my family frequently moving, I was running track and cross-country and swimming competitively during various school seasons, and I was restricting food intake and was underweight. Through high school I sought therapy and got a better handle on my nutrition and got back to a health weight for my height and build. I’ve been involved in endurance sports since childhood, competed at the D1 level in college, and now compete in local 5ks, 10ks, up to the marathon at an age group competitive level. Over the past 5 years, my weekly mileage as ranged from 40-65 miles per week with a few sessions of light core/ lifting as well.

Despite nutritional supplements such as a multi-vitamin, biotin, and iron and eating what I believe to be a diet adequate to support my lifestyle and training, I still struggle with hair loss. I’ve been tested for thyroid issues and iron/ ferratin and they have all come back “within range.” I also have been taking birth control since the age of 17. My pediatrician initially put me on this to regulate my cycle after getting 1 period at the age of 17 and then not again (for the past two years it’s also actually be serving as contraception now that I am married). Thus, I don’t know what my natural hormone levels are as I’ve read that if female hormones are out of wack or cortisol even, this can affect hair growth.

Possible reasons women lose hair:

What do to?

I’m keeping this short. What advice do you have for minimizing food costs as much as possible while still maintaining high nutritional value?