Ultra Running Research Programme

Lincoln University Human Performance Lab 4.5 mile Treadmill Challenge

Through our involvement with Ambition Life, Martin and I have been invited to take part in the above research programme and on Monday 25th February we went to the University to be “lab rats”.

Although this isn’t a race report I will just mention in passing that before undertaking the 250 mile drive to Lincoln we drove for 2 and a half hours in the opposite direction on Saturday to do the Endurance Life Coastal marathon. Despite being 10 minutes down on our 2007 time, we finished feeling much less tired having maintained a very even pace. Martin was 1st MV50 and I was 3rd lady but we didn’t have time to stay and collect our prizes. We did manage to stuff back the free food before we left though (you won’t be surprised to hear).

Our journey to Lincoln took us via Brandon in Suffolk and Helpston, just north of Peterborough as we killed two (or rather three) birds with one stone and visited friends en route.

By the time we arrived at Lincoln University on Monday morning we had run 28 miles and spent 13 hours in the car since leaving home on Friday evening – just a normal, quiet weekend in the Lascelles/Cummins lifestyle!

This is the point where I hand over to Martin who will do the "scientific" bit!

Normally two days after a tough marathon the last thing we would be doing is exercising to exhaustion, but that is exactly what we had to do, TWICE!

There were two separate tests, one designed to measure Lactate Threshold, Running efficiency and VO2 Max. The other was intended to get us to maximum Heart rate. The first one was hard enough, we started slowly, 10 minute mile pace, or 9 km/hour (scientists measure everything in metric units), and progressing every 3 minutes by 1km/hour until we reached the point where we were definitely producing a sufficiently elevated Lactate level to measure the Lactate threshold and tipping point. This measurement was done by taking a drop of blood every 3 minutes - not an easy thing to do while continuing to run at speed. It felt a lot like trying to put your drinks bottle back into a back pack while trying to run normally and maintain a position on the treadmill. The treadmill by the way was impressively huge. About 2 metres long by over 1 metre wide. And it didn't feel nice and soft and bouncy like the health club ones, so it was like road running. I even closed my eyes for a while to see if I could pretend I was running on the road, but the gas mask strapped to my face spoiled the illusion. Oh yes, that was the other thing, we had to breathe normally as possible while being tied to the gas analyser by two thin tubes. Actually we didn't breathe through these tubes, but they still got in the way as they flopped from side to side, so that didn't help. It also didn't help that the treadmill suddenly cut out for no apparent reason just as I was getting into the most intense part of the test so I had to repeat it, and it stopped twice while Lin was starting her tests. Apart from that though, I suppose the tests went well, and the results were worthwhile, although they must have been somewhat affected by our weakened post-marathon condition. The second ordeal was easily the worse. Running at 2km per hour below our top speed from the first test, the slope of the treadmill was raised by one degree a minute until we just could not continue running at that speed. Each minute seemed to take longer and longer to pass, and the last 20 seconds before I finally threw in the towel being the hardest running I can remember doing. Strangely though, a minute after stopping, I was chiding myself for giving up so easily, since I hadn't nearly reached the heart rate that I regularly achieve at the end of 5 or 10k races. Probably the difference is that I was not chasing a time, or a competitor, and so the only thing I had to focus on was how painful it was, and how easy it would be to stop. I think Lin was a bit braver than me, judging by the amount of sweat pouring off her after she stopped. The whole experience was very interesting, but hard work! Afterwards we had a chat with Paul, the guy doing the research that we were now a part of. On our arrival home we received an email from him with a report giving the results which I had better admit right away clearly showed that, despite our similar race performances, Lin was by far the more talented runner with an outstanding Running Economy. Mine was average, although my VO2 Max was higher, as you would expect because of typical gender differences in that measurement. We were each given recommendations for improving our fitness and performance, mainly involving more speed work, and Heart Rate targets. So we know what we need to do to improve our running. Its less of the leisurely pub runs and carefree jogging through the countryside, and more serious timed road running with intervals, repeats and sets. Oh, and less beer since that impedes the recovery process from all that hard training.I'm not sure I want to be that serious about running, it doesn't sound much fun!