5 % performance improvement

Scientific study

Would you like to cut off 11 minutes of your marathon personal best?

I have finally found time to provide a bit more details on the scientific study I participated in. Basically the study looked at how the use of energy gels during a race would affect your results, to see if a special fuelling strategy would influence your performance.

To measure this they found 100 test subjects, who were divided into two groups of similar composition (gender, fitness level, age, target time for the marathon). One group would then follow their own fuelling strategy (which would be documented and sent to the scientists) while the other group would follow the scientific fuelling strategy.

Now to the big question: Was there a difference in the performance of the two groups? The short answer is a big YES! The longer answer is that on average a performance increase of 11 minutes were seen in the group that followed the scientific fuelling strategy! This is equal to an average improvement of 5 %. Now that is a big difference and definitely worth to reconsider your fuelling strategy. Other than measuring the finish times they also measured the blood sugar level and weight loss during the race, to see if there was a difference in this as well. Also here they found the blood sugar levels to be better in the scientific group.

I was in the scientific fuelling strategy group and it can be laid out as follows:

 

• Pre-race: 20 minutes before start, 2 gels + 200 ml of water
• 40 minutes into the race the fuelling strategy starts with 1 gel + 200 ml water every 20 minutes (to be adjusted for the weather + weight of the runner).

Of course the study is not 100 % conclusive or a final study, however it is the most elaborate study of fuelling strategies during marathons that I have been able to find. If you know of similar studies or better studies please do leave a comment!

Achilles heel issues

Also I think it is time for me to give a small update on my general running form. I am putting in 3-4 runs a week and have been trying to push my week total to ensure I stay on track for Berlin. However I have issues with my Achilles heel which is starting to be of concern. Currently it is only in the morning that my heel is very stiff and sore and within 5-10 minutes it is warmed up and not as stiff. However if I touch it I can feel it is tender and if I go running it will take about 700 meters to warm up completely and stop hurting. After that there is no issue however! Having investigated it a bit though it is clear the warning signs should be taken seriously to avoid a longer rest period – or worst case an operation or rupture of the heel!

I do not know what has caused this issue to surface, but I suspect one (or more) of the following:

• I changed shoes from Nike Pegasus 29 to the Nike Flyknit Lunar 1+;
• I had a running class at “Posemand.dk” to get a bit of pose running blended into my running form;
• I may be overtraining.

So for now, I have tried to eliminate all three options by cutting down mileage, trying to go back to my normal running form and changed back to Pegasus (though edition 30 instead of 29). Hopefully two weeks on this reduced schedule will fix the issue so I can get back on track for Berlin.

As a bright point I did a 5k test run earlier in the week, and that went really well, finishing in 21:36 despite of it being a “GPS run”, meaning no competition or crowd plus it was rather windy which made the first 1 km really tough. I will use the route for measuring future progress as it is a nice route without too many corners and very close to my house.

So for now it is reduced mileage while my eyes remain firmly locked on a new marathon PB by end of September.
PS - I have not forgotten about giving a bit of feedback on the Paleo diet for sportsmen, but due to various reasons I postponed trying this out for a longer period so I will wait with giving my feedback on it.