Metabolic changes vs. Structural Changes

Hey Jay, great info. So, is it your contention that metabolic improvements outstrip structural ones because of a greater stress on the metabolic systems relative to structural ones when only running? Some would argue that, due to the longer recovery time required for the structural systems, their rate of improvement will necessarily be slower than metabolic systems. Are you suggesting that increasing the stress on the structural systems with non-running exercises will increase the rate of recovery from this stress? Or that simply focusing on addressing structural readiness as early as possible in the macrocycle and consistently improving the efficacy of the structural system throughout the macrocycle will lead to the ability to shoulder more of the specific stress of running fast?

I know all to well this problem – after months of solid volume and ancillary work, I am in great shape. Just last Monday I was doing some hard 150's in XC flats when I tweaked my knee. It turns out that my left glute feels like somebody kicked me with a steel-toed boot, so I'm sure some gluteal weakness is causing my ITB to be tight at the knee insertion.

This has historically been an issue for me, and something I should have guarded against because I had been slacking on a few strength exercises every week due to time constraints.

Jay, in your opinion are these types of injuries best dealt with the standard RICE kind of treatments, or is additional strength work targeting the glute/hip region the key?

This is a good post and timely for me. As we (my team) progresses deep into the heart of the HS XC season; Oct., Nov., hopefully Dec. I tend to trim back on much of the GS work because I'm trying to cram in hard VO2 max stuff, recovery with strides, longer runs, and weekly races. Reminder to self – we don't have to hit every metabolic system with each variation of training each week in a seperate session. I need to get back to some combonation workouts like a tempo, down to cruise interval workout, or a tempo progression down to VO2 max workout, even some recovery runs that still dabble into some quicker stuff at teh end. That would give me some time to keep some of the needed structural work in the routine.

Thanks for a great posting Jay,
As a running physical therapist I see the damage to the HS runners that have fantastic metabolic systems but infantile structural readiness.
Clay Patten P.T.

Wow. That's a interesting, and complex, way of looking at it and I hope my answer is sufficient.

I think the answer is both. I think that standing on one bare foot, with the other leg up as if running, forces the foot, ankle and lower leg to work. Dr. Hansen refers to this as “foot intrinsics” but to me it's simple the strength we need to run a lot and to quality workouts. But rather than assign them this work daily I've been doing it only on workout days, after they've run, and under my eye (and mostly with Vaughn as he's the one making the biggest jump in volume this year). The reason being that if he's extra wobbly it could be because he's fatigued from the workout, but it could also be because his foot, ankle and lower leg are tired, and in that case we don't do any more of that work. So, in that instance we'd do ancillary work to speed up the process of structural adaptation – which may be wrong headed – with the assumption being that while the running causes the structure to adapt we need to do a bit more to get a better structure.

In terms of when to do this, I fully agree with your question, that early in the season or macrocyle we do more and then we do enough to maintain. I know of a college coach who has a “prophylactic” phase of training in the middle of the season, which I assume is there because during main competition phase the intensity is so high that you need to make sure the structure can handle both the competitions and the intense workouts inbetween them.

To end, I think the key thing is that distance runners need to move in all three planes of motion, firts and foremost. My experience in the last 4-5 years doing the LM daily is that it really helps with injuries, from big bones being fractured to little tendons being tight. The next level down is a lot of mobility, such as the Myrtl routine (see videos), both before and after practice. I've gotten lazy calling this work General Strength when it's really mobility, yet in my mind I view it a bit differently. Then below that is General Strength (GS), everything from planks to med ball stuff. I don't know if Grant Green is up on the internet anywhere, but if it is, that's a great example a routine that has lots of Mobility but also some General Strnength, most noteably “rockys” which are push-ups with a clap. Those are in Grant Green because I wanted some GS and that is different than Lionel Hampton or Myrtl, where the whole routine is Mobility.

So….

1) Work in all three planes of motion
2) Mobility, both pre and post run
3) General Strength

Please let me end by saying three things. First, this is just one view of how to do things. As Vern Gambetta said in his blog recently “A wise man once said that there are many roads to Rome. My corollary to that is that some are more direct than others.” This is my road today; no doubt there's a more direct route; my current route is a lot less circuitous than my old routes. Second, I knock on wood daily when talking about the health of runners, to the point that even the athletes pick up on it, as Vaughn said the other day, “We're not made of glass. We can train.” Finally, Mike Smith at Kansas State is the person who explained to me the principle that athletes/runners aren't the same today as they were 40-50 years ago in terms of their ability to handle work and do work. After I bought into that, he then gave me answers to the questions of “what can I do about it?” and for that I'm grateful.

Thanks again Frank for your detailed question.

Coach Kedge, good to see you on here.

Curtis