So how many of us have a dog named Charlie? (raises hand…) Mine’s a lab mix, 11 years old.
Did speed work today, I have a 5k coming up with my D which I’d like to run faster than last year. We will see.
Charlie #2 in Ohio! Corgi/Beagle mix, rescue, 8 ish years old!
Gertrude, ours was a GSD. He was the perfect dog. Sigh.
6.3 miles on recumbent bike and 2.2 miles on dreadmill. Trying to stay focused.
Ran 5.1 miles last night. Tonight will be a work-out with my trainer. I hope it doesn’t kill me, I’ve been out of town and missed for several weeks in a row.
I can do short sentences when I run, but not for long. Definitely can’t sing. (Of course I can’t sing when I’m not running either, but that’s for a different reason, haha!)
So we have a pattern! Runner dog parents and their Charlie dogs. Our Charlie was not a distance runner. He was a sprinter - could do zero to sixty faster than a Lamborghini if he saw the neighbors’ ducks trespassing into our yard. But no matter how kiddos tried to turn him into a running dog, he was just not interested. 
I really don’t WANT to be talking while I’m running! Though I prefer to run alone, I have run a few times with my son - but the run is not for talking - the stop at the local coffee shop/ice cream shop IS!!!
I do usually get out a “hi, how ya doin” to the people I pass face to face when I am running!
My Charly (RIP) never really turned into a runner. We would run a little bit, but we got him in Texas and it was hot and then he turned out to be huge. We did walk a lot. My son bought him without our permission with the intent of running with him, but for lots of reasons that didn’t happen.
I see a few dogs who seem to be excellent running partners and stay in their lane and don’t trip their owners, but I also see many where I know I would be facedown on the pavement if I tried to run with them.
Saw the posts on singing/talking/fat burning while you run. Here’s the science behind it all and what it really means.
Our bodies have metabolic thresholds that are transition points from aerobic fat based energy systems to aerobic glycogen based energy systems to anaerobic glycogen based energy systems. These transition points are usually referred to as VT1 and VT2 (Ventilary Threshold). Below VT1, you are using aerobic fat based metabolic pathways to produce energy. VT1 is the point at which you transition to aerobic glycogen based pathways. VT2 is the point at which you transition to anaerobic pathways.
The ability to sing or speak is often used as a marker for transition at each threshold. Below VT1, it is easy for a person to speak (or sing) in complete paragraphs. Once you hit VT1, it becomes a bit uncomfortable to speak in complete paragraphs and as you advance further past VT1 towards VT2, it becomes increasingly difficult until you hit VT2 at which point you cannot speak in complete paragraphs and as you dig further into your anaerobic zone you struggle to complete even a full sentence because you are gasping for air.
There are systems of cardio training built around Ventilary Thresholds rather than % of maximum heart rate. There are several reasons that VT based systems are often favored for recreational athletes and even performance athletes. The first is that outside of a performance lab, it is difficult to determine actual maximum heart rate for an individual. The various formulas used to estimate a calculated max hr are not only based on selected populations that may not correspond to a particular individual but also do not account for individual variances. So if you use a formula to calculate your max hr, what you come up with is likely not your actual max hr and as a result the % that you are trying to train at is skewed and frequently not your actual percentage. In addition, heart rate response can vary for an individual due to a broad variety of reasons unrelated to actual oxygen consumption and utilization, energy production and exercise load. Sleep patterns, time of day, hydration, training fatigue can all skew heart rate response curves irrespective of actual training load and metabolic responses to training.
In contrast, using VT Thresholds is based on individual metabolic responses and always reflects individual responses to training loads. The vagaries of heart rate response and calculated max heart rates are irrelevant because you are training based on individually determined metabolic response markers that are keyed directly into exercise load. In some respects this is similar to wattage training used by cyclists instead of heart rate based training.
As to the fat burning issue, there are a bunch of misconceptions. When a certain load level of exercise is referred to as “fat burning”, what this is really referring to is what the primary energy source is for the activity, not how much of that energy source is utilized in a given unit of time. There are many, many studies that have demonstrated conclusively that as exercise intensity increases, while you shift away from fat based energy dominance to glycogen based energy sources, in a given unit of time you will still burn more fat at the higher intensity than at the lower “fat burning” intensity even though at the higher intensity your energy sources are glycogen dominant.
So in a nutshell, if you exercise for 30 minutes at higher intensity loads you will not only burn more fat than at 30 minutes of low intensity “fat burning” loads, but you will also burn more calories. Across all of your energy sources. Because you have much more fat energy stores in your body than glycogen stores, you can go longer at “fat burning” intensities but you will actually burn more energy (calories) in a shorter period of time at higher intensities. This is why high intensity interval work is always recommended for those who want to lose fat and corresponding weight.
PERFECT explanation. Thank you MK!!! I get it!
Excellent explanation, MNK!
Walked up and down the hill today. Class did happen, so that’s good. Dinner so far consisted of a large decaf pour over Starbucks coffee with lots of 2% milk. Mr. is dining elsewhere, so at least I don’t feel guilty that I am not home to take care of his nutrition needs.
Part 2:
So why is the ability to talk or sing a good marker for VT1 and VT2? It’s all about your body’s effort to achieve steady state at a given level of exertion. Steady state is where your body achieves an equilibrium between the energy demands placed on it and the ability to deliver the oxygen needed to produce that energy. Below VT1, i.e. at low intensity demands, as the energy needs increase, the increased oxygen needs are met through tidal volume of the respiratory system. In other words, you meet the needs by just taking deeper breaths, not increasing the rate of respiration. And your heart rate doesn’t need to increase much to deliver the oxygen as needed. So it’s easy to talk, sing etc. At VT1, however, this no longer is enough and to achieve steady state you have to start breathing faster to take in more oxygen and your heart rate increases to deliver it faster. It becomes a bit difficult or uncomfortable to attempt to talk or sing in full paragraphs because of the increased demands on your respiratory and cardio-vascular systems. This continues until you hit VT2 at which point you are battling to get enough oxygen in and delivered to achieve steady state to the point that you are gasping for air.
Where the training effect comes in with all this is in your ability to deliver the oxygen and utilize it. As you exercise over time, your heart becomes stronger and its stroke volume increases as does the force of each contraction. There are chemical reactions in your blood vessels that increase their elasticity to handle a greater volume of blood with each heat beat. Your capillary network in your muscles increases in response to the greater oxygen demands. The net result is that you are able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles. In your muscles, at a cellular level, the number of mitochondria (the energy producing factories) increases from training with the result that you become more efficient and capable of producing energy with the increased oxygen delivery. With the increased cardiac strength and efficiency, increased vascular delivery system and increased ability to utilize the oxygen delivered, your heart doesn’t need to beat as fast at a given intensity level to achieve steady state and voila, the “training effect” of lower heart rate for a given level of work demand. Pretty neat stuff, eh?
Because it’s not always possible to determine actual max heart rate, the issues of accuracy and reliability involved with calculated max hr formulas, and the difficulty in determining reliable and meaningful % based target zones, what many trainers will do is to do VT1 and 2 testing using a “talk test” and heart rate monitor. Target heart rate zones are developed based on hr at VT1 and VT2. In the absence of performance lab testing where actual max hr, VO2 consumption and blood lactate levels are measured, VT based hr zones may be more useful than conventional % max hr based calculations.
Good info, Michael. I just want to say this- you better not ever abandon us because I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!!
^lol
Good to know! I’ve always heard the HIIT was the way to go, but never knew the exact reason why. Thanks for the explanation. 
56 minute run this morning.
I just have to say that I’m very glad I’m not doing a marathon at the end of the month. This weekend would be a 20 miler. And it’s a cold, wet rain - all weekend long. Even the dogs weren’t thrilled this morning. Rest day today, thank goodness!
Last night was an upper body workout with my trainer and I sure feel it today. Today is a rest day and a long run tomorrow morning. I’m glad I’m in the Midwest and not the east coast - it will be cool and very windy for my run, but that sure beats the cold, wet rain.
It has been so drizzly and gloomy here that I’m already having SAD! This morning was 56 degrees, dark and drizzly. Since it was a short day for me, I bailed on going outside and did 2 miles on the dreadmill in the basement. (how did I live without that thing?) I really wanted the fresh air, but not enough to get wet.
Sabaray- my daughter was saying this morning that training for/running a marathon is always a crapshoot due to conditions, injury etc., but triathlon is much worse. You REALLY put all your eggs in one basket and train intensely for 3 sports and then…Ironman Maryland is cancelled! (she wasn’t doing it, but others we know were planning on it) Obviously you can’t do an Ironman distance triathlon in a hurricane, but how disappointing!