Tag: endurance training

Book and Product Reviews

Life isn’t perfect…but your running accessories can be

koribarnum
top row: Going To Valhalla…Witness and Donkey Goggles (the OGs)
bottom row: Schrodinger’s Saigon Jade (the Runways)

Goodr Sunglasses; $24-35. Five styles! Kick-ass colors!! Cheap AF!!! One of my favorite things about these sunglasses, in addition to the multiple positive points noted above, is the super catchy name assigned to each color. PLUS: they do not slip while running, even with a super sweaty face. I have three pairs, and I’m doing everything to resist buying some Circle Gs (the newest style), but I’m not made of stone.

https://goodr.com/

Viva Diva Orange 1″ Sweaty Band

Sweaty Bands; $15. If you’re in need of a non-slip, not too tight but not too loose headband, check out the many styles available at Sweaty Bands. The ultra bright orange is my race day go-to, but I also have a smaller metallic gold band for the days when I need to feel like Wonder Woman. These are machine washable (I recommend you use a mesh garment bag) and last forever – I’ve had my orange one for 8 years and it’s not stretched out at all.

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image: Oiselle.com

Oiselle Firecracker Earband; currently on sale for $14. Love love love this lightweight option for keeping your ears warm on cold or windy days. I find this is a better option for me than a stocking cap, as it lets my head breathe so I don’t get cold from really sweaty hair. I’ve worn it happily in 20-something degree training days all winter.

FIRECRACKER EARBAND
my much-loved race day socks for the last 2 years

Stance Socks; price varies. When we moved to Central Oregon in late 2016, I immediately began having trouble with the trail socks that had worked for me in Portland, Mt Hood, and the Columbia Gorge. The volcanic soil here tears socks to pieces; I’ve had pairs from multiple brands have a toe blowout the very first time I wore them, which is super frustrating and expensive. My favorite socks now, for road and trail, both for comfort and durability (without too much blister-inducing bulk) are Stance. I can’t recall throwing a pair out yet. Bonus: they come in wild, fun, and silly prints.

https://www.stance.com/

image: outside.co.uk

Ultimate Direction Adventure Vesta 4.0 Hydration Vest; currently on sale for $112. I ran in a Unisex (which means “men’s”) Mountain Hardware vest for my first 5 years of ultra running. It served me pretty well, but I do find having a female-specific design means better fit over my clavicles and across my torso – I don’t have to wrench the front straps way down. I found this model to be the perfect porridge of accessible pockets and adequate storage without being too big. I can carry lots of water, food, and a couple layers without even noticing the weight.

https://ultimatedirection.com/

image: roadid.com

Road ID; $20-40. If you’re out there running, it’s a good idea to wear some form of identification. I grew up in a superstitious family who believed that if you prepare for disaster, you can prevent it occurring; I think we have all seen in recent weeks that may in fact not be true, but still. If I’m running or skiing alone, I’ve got my Road ID band on. I also wear it now when I travel (or, when I used to travel. See also: global pandemic). This is also a great gift card to give the runner in your life.

https://www.roadid.com/

Coalition Snow + Black Crows sittin’ on a chair lift
image: Kori Barnum

Coalition Snow “Taken For Granite” All Mountain Skis; price varies. Back in the day when the mountains were open (March 13), this pair of lovelies was helping me become a solid intermediate skier in my 3rd season on the slopes.

“Coalition Snow is a woman-owned and operated ski and snowboard brand that builds the gear and the communities that unleash skills and expand experiences. We were founded in 2014 in response to the industry’s go-to strategy of “shrinking and pinking” women’s skis and snowboards. We wanted more. With decades of dedication to skiing and snowboarding between our founders, we took things into our own hands and partnered with some of the best builders around” (https://www.coalitionsnow.com/).

Book and Product Reviews

Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson (2018)

koribarnum

This text is an interesting exploration into the foundational theories behind human physical and mental endurance, as well as a detailed discussion of research into key variables in athletic training: pain, muscle, oxygen, heat, thirst, and fuel.


One of the benefits of reviewing the scientific literature on athletic training is that you can learn tips and tricks to benefit your own training (smiling reduces perceived effort, swishing and spitting out sports drinks can have a similar effect to actually consuming the drink, positive self-talk can help you push past the wall, etc). One of the disadvantages to reviewing the scientific literature on athletic training is that you may incorporate information that agrees with your current approach/perspective/biases and disregard anything that doesn’t – if I’m perfectly honest, I think I fall into this category a lot. If I read something that tells me that running for a lot of hours is bad for you or that you must focus on only one sport to truly excel or that sleeping less is ideal for performance…I’m going to move right along and ignore it.


That said, I think there’s value for most of us non-professional but still goal-driven real-life athletes in learning more about performance hacks for strength, technique, endurance, and fuel. If you haven’t done much reading in these areas, this is a great book to start with. I also found it easy to pick up for 10-15 minutes at a time, which makes it highly practical for busy, over-extended athletes with day jobs and families and adulting responsibilities.

A couple of quick info hits for you:

  • “Starting in the late 1990s, a South African physician and scientist named Tim Noakes began to argue that…it’s actually the brain alone that sets and enforces these seemingly physical limits we encounter during prolonged exercise.” (38)
  • The results of a pain study by Mauger and Marcora “suggested that the pain you experience in the extremes of sustained exercise is fundamentally different, from your brain’s perspective, from the pain you experience while dunking your hand in ice water. All pleasure is alike, as Leo Tolstoy might have put it, but each pain hurts in its own unique way.” (94-95)
  • Multiple study findings indicate “that the benefits of sports drinks and other mid-race carbohydrates for short bouts [generally 90 minutes or less] of exercise are irrelevant as long as you don’t start out with an empty stomach and depleted fuel stores.” (191)