What do all runners want? Run faster.

What is the award-winning strategy for reaching this goal? Training at high intensity (high speed).

But does this lead to the desired results when progress is measured?
I'm always amazed when I analyze the VO2max tests of runners who train hard. Most of the time, I'm disappointed with the results. There is so much training to obtain a low VO2max and very little endurance.

You're thinking: "No, it's not me. I train many hours a week, so I'm at the top of my game". Well, no, that's very far from reality in most cases.
Why is that? Because most runners believe that training is primarily responsible for improved performance. This is false, as training is merely the stimulus that tells your body to adapt.

More than training is required

So, for your body to adapt to the physiological demands placed on it by training, other variables need to assist it: nutrition, sleep quality, biomechanics, use of bioenergetic reserves, rest, and recovery.

More than training is required. You need to aim for a realistic, quantifiable goal and then determine how to close the gap between your current abilities and those you need to acquire to reach your goal.
If none of this is done, you will forever remain a runner who will never reach his full potential.

VO2max

In 1995, when I started doing a lot of VO2max tests using a respiratory gas analyzer, the secrets of human physiology revealed themselves to me in all their splendor and complexity.

Every human being has their physiology and responds differently to a training program. A program deemed exceptional may be so for some people but may harm others.

I soon realized that "training" means nothing if it doesn't meet a specific criterion: to be a stimulus that generates physiological adaptation.

You may say that all training meets this criterion, but :
- Have you ever suffered the repercussions of overtraining?
- Have you stagnated for months, even with the "best training program in the world"?
- Is fatigue the only result of training?
- Do you suffer from frequent injuries that take too long to heal?

If so, isn't this proof that your training produces no positive results, no physiological adaptation?

My biggest questions arose when I started comparing the VO2 max of different clients. For example, several years ago, I evaluated the VO2 max of a 42-year-old man who walked for 5 hours every week. A few days later, I carried out a VO2 max test on a 35-year-old amateur marathon runner who was running 70 to 80 km a week at the time of testing. Results: the walking man achieves a VO2 max of 51, which is suitable for someone who only walks. The runner, for whom I expected a VO2 max of around 58 to 62, only achieved a result of... 51.

So, two questions haunt my mind. How could a runner training at a higher volume have such a low VO2 max? And how could walking lead to such a good VO2 max?

Two answers seemed logical:
1.Training volume and intensity can contribute to the depletion of energy reserves.
2.Poor nutrition prevents physiological adaptation (improved fitness).
Afterward, on several occasions, I noticed that walkers had a VO2 max as high as that of runners. So, for me, the notion of training lost all meaning.

The mechanisms of physiological adaptation

So, I decided to study the mechanisms that stimulate physiological adaptation in depth. A gigantic universe opened up before my eyes. The interaction of numerous factors revealed a new world. Oxygen uptake kinetics, the state of energy reserves, nutrition, biomechanics, muscle contractile capacity, mental state, goal planning... all these elements had to be effectively managed to produce what every runner wants: improved performance.

For a training program to be considered adequate, it must generate physiological adaptation. The training program must bring together several interacting factors to produce this adaptation.

What an extraordinary challenge I now face. To assess a person's capacity, determine their capacity for improvement, and define the program that will promote (for this person alone) the physiological adaptation that will lead to improved performance. Yes, a different world was opening up to me.

My interest in the mechanisms governing physiological adaptation intensified when I looked at long-distance running (ultra-marathon). These exceptional new conditions enabled me to grasp the extent of the demands involved in running.

I discovered that running is not enough when it comes to endurance.
What's your goal? You might answer to run faster, to get a better time on a specific distance. But are you sure that's the real goal?
It would be best to build up your endurance to run faster for as long as possible.

Endurance

Endurance relies mainly on the use of lipids (fats). So, while you're running, if you're running at a speed that allows your body to burn lipids to promote contraction of the muscle fibers that enable you to run. Then, you're running in your endurance zone.

And, if you're burning lipids, it also means you have sufficient energy reserves (lipids) to run for a very long time. In this situation, fatigue is not caused by a lack of energy but by other factors.

Running slowly means respecting the heart rate zone where you burn lipids. No standard speed exists. For some runners, this represents a speed of no more than 10 km/h (6.2 mph), and for elite athletes, up to 17 km/h (10.6 mph) or more.

Imagine running at 17 km/h (10.6 mph) and burning fat (endurance), which means you don't deplete your carbohydrate stores (which leads to fatigue). You run without getting tired. A runner whose endurance is at most 10 km/h (6.2 mph) will be exhausted if he tries to keep up.

The best way to increase your endurance is to run slowly (physiologically speaking), respecting the heart rate zone where you burn fat.
By training in this way, you'll improve your endurance. In other words, you run faster and faster while continuing to burn fat.

The best running strategy

The challenge is to run strategically, not just against the clock. And why? Because how you think determines how you train, which in turn predicts your impact on your physiology.

If you want to run fast to cover the distance of a marathon as quickly as possible, what do you think about when it comes to training? You rely on high-intensity interval training as often as possible. Even if you feel you'll reach your goal, I'm sorry to say you won't.

Don't get me wrong. It's good to include high-intensity interval training, but not workout after workout, day after day, week after week. This way of thinking and training will only lead you to deplete your energy reserves and injure yourself.

Suppose your goal in every workout is to run a distance in the shortest possible time. In that case, you'll push the intensity of effort into the zone where you're emptying your carbohydrate reserves. Your carbohydrate reserves are limited. Most people have about two hours' worth of reserves. Top athletes have more. But this means you'll be training or running your distance by systematically emptying your energy reserves, mile after mile.

Unfortunately, suppose your pride gets the better of you, and you think you're strong enough to fight against the depletion of your energy reserves and the fatigue you accumulate. In that case, you'll never reach your goal. It would be best if you learned to think strategically. To do so, you must manage your energy reserves.

Forget about the watch and concentrate on building up your endurance. You'll improve your performance and take it to the next level.