More Support for Non-Linear Periodization

From ScienceDaily.com

To achieve the study's equivalent results by endurance training you'd need to complete over 10 hours of continuous moderate bicycling exercise over a two-week period. The "secret" to why HIT (high-intensity interval training) is so effective is unclear. However, the study by Gibala and co-workers also provides insight into the molecular signals that regulate muscle adaptation to interval training. It appears that HIT stimulates many of the same cellular pathways that are responsible for the beneficial effects we associate with endurance training.

Obey the Signs of Overtraining

From Human Kinetics

No device can measure your recovery status and readiness to train hard any better than your own body can. When your body is poorly recovered from recent hard training, you can always feel it. And when factors outside of your training, such as lack of sleep or job stress, compromise your capacity to perform, you can always feel that. Before you even lace up your shoes, you know that you’re not going to have a good day because of the heaviness, sluggishness, soreness, or low motivation you feel. Your body itself is an exquisitely crafted piece of technology whose primary function is self-preservation....It’s important that you learn to recognize these symptoms and get in the habit of obeying them.

Strike One for Objectivity

The Educated Runner

(Editor: This, from Owen Anderson, is simply the best summary of the barefoot running issue I've seen. As always, click the link above to read the full article.)

...it’s important to remember that most injuries in running are caused by an imbalance between the strain and micro-damage experienced by a muscle or connective tissue during training and the tissue’s ability to recover from such stress. This imbalance can occur when training is conducted shod – or barefooted! A weak or overly tight hamstring muscle which has been undone by excessive mileage won’t care if its owner was running barefooted or wearing shoes – it will still feel the pain.

Approaching the New Season

From USAT

Know why you do what you do and what satisfaction you get out of it. Realistically plan how much effort you can expend and stick to it. Don't expect instant success - you've got to work on your weaknesses, while not ignoring your strengths. Draw satisfaction from the fact that you did your best honestly and with respect for others. Follow these tips and you can definitely make the most out of your training and racing this year.

Where Does the Lactic Acid Go?

From RunningResearchNews.com

What really happens to lactic acid after you hang up your running shorts to dry? Pure and
simple, most of the stuff is simply oxidized, i. e., broken down to water and carbon dioxide, with a consequent vast release of fuel for cellular processes. Your heart loves to see you do your lactate stackers, because it snacks on the resulting lactic acid at a feverish pitch after the workout is over. Your muscles, too, get into the act, using lactic acid at high rates, at least partially to kick-start the post-workout recovery process. It is now believed that 70 percent of the lactic acid which floods your blood after a spiky workout is oxidized; 20 percent is probably converted to glucose (which can then be used for glycogen formation), and-somewhat surprisingly to many-about 10 percent is utilized to make protein.

Cautious With Results of New Running Study

From The Science of Sport

...changing how you run, whether by technique training or a change in shoes (like running barefoot) will load muscles that may be very weak, and joints and tendons well beyond their means. If however, you are a habitually barefoot runner, then you can do this, because your body has been prepared for it. For everyone else, I think we may be underestimating the time it will take to transition successfully to barefoot running (or forefoot striking, if you're going to force that change 'unnaturally').

And there is my point - taking this kind of interesting study, and dispensing advice, is a risky business. As a friend pointed out yesterday - the media's interpretation of this study will be a "stimulus plan for physical therapists and podiatrists".

Balancing Run Volume and Intensity

From MarathonPerformance.com

Since the only way to truly maximize running mileage is to forgo high-intensity training, I believe that overemphasizing mileage is a mistake. Most runners will get the best results by finding a balance between quality (intensity) and quantity (volume). So the adaptive running approach is to do as much running at various faster speeds as you can do without seriously limiting the total running volume you can absorb, and to do as much total running as you can do without seriously limiting the amount of high-intensity running you can absorb. Naturally, the precise formula is different for each runner, and finding it requires experimentation.