Lactate testing made easy

Link to article, you're welcome.

How Fit Are You? Lactate Test Made Easy

ScienceDaily (May 12, 2009) — Performance athletes need to know their blood lactate level. It indicates how much lactic acid has collected in their blood as a result of physical exertion and enables conclusions to be drawn about their fitness. Professional athletes therefore regularly have to attend performance diagnosis sessions.

As they pedal a cycle ergometer at various levels of exertion, a doctor takes blood samples from an earlobe. A special device then measures the concentration of lactate in the blood.

Such scenarios will soon be a thing of the past. Using a miniaturized measuring system, performance and leisure athletes will in future be able to monitor their lactate readings themselves – including during training. Normally the analytical devices are quite big and cost several thousand euros. “We have found a way of miniaturizing the measurement system so that it can be accommodated in an ear clip. The results could be radioed by the ear clip to a training wristwatch or a cellphone,” says Thomas van den Boom, group manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg. An electrochemical method is used to measure the lactate value.

In a chemical reaction, an enzyme triggers a redox flow from the lactate which can be measured using electrodes. The measurement system, which could be installed for example in an ear clip, consists of two microchips: the innovative nanopotentiostat fits on a chip measuring just two by three millimeters and costs less than one euro. “The second chip incorporates microelectrodes which we have developed for this purpose and which we can couple with the nanopotentiostat,” explains van den Boom. One of the microelectrodes is coated with a thin layer of gel containing the enzyme. There are altogether three microelectrodes on the chip, which are activated by the nanopotentiostat. Two serve the purpose of electrochemical measurement while the third keeps the electrochemical potential constant end thus ensures a stable voltage.

The engineers can coat the electrode with different enzymes so that, apart from lactate measurement, various other analyses can be performed in the blood or other electrolytes. The advantage is that the electrodes are very small and cheap – and the analyses can be carried out in a mobile environment. A first demonstrator of the nanopotentiostat for lactate measurement (without earclip) has already been produced.


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Pearl Izumi ads

I like these, but at the same time hate these.






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Crazy 1 man band video

visitor map

Good to see some diversity on the visitor map.

Rounding into shape

After a few weeks of working out with the free weights at the gym I finally feel like my body has taken to the added tissue damage caused by working out and running. I have not been running far (a few miles, 6 max) as I have been feeling exhausted and my lower back is starting to get sore again and I dont want to end up with 3 more months of physical therapy. I need to get back out on the roads as I have a hard time running on the treadmill at the gym. The spin classes have been good as they get my heart rate right up to near 100%. Between adding strength and spin to target both slow and fast twitch muscles I think this could be my most productive training program ever and I should see some good gains as the times drop. now if I could just get that diet under control.

Good to see Ramzi's "B" sample tested positive for drugs as well. Get the cheaters out.

Former NAU alum and runner Lopez Lomong qualified for the US world team for Berlin this summer. Props to him and good luck!


Anyone else tired of the Michael Jackson news? If a president dies there is not this much hoopla.



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Deena Kastor interview

Here is a link to an interview Deena did with the NY Times regarding diet for an elite marathoner. She says that she eats a lot of calories, but does not count her calories due to her running 2 times a day 6 days a week and once on Sundays.

Linky thing





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Scenic Sedona

A video from my favorite running grounds, and the place I will be buried someday.






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Heat training for runners part...3?

I was going through some old threads on letsrun when I came across this post from Dr. Daniels related to heat training and heart rate. I have head a lot of people talking about how bad their running is in the summer, and have felt the effects myself, so I thought that I would throw this up here as food for thought.

"You are experiencing one of the flaws of getting too dependent on HR. The same VO2, same intensity of effort on the total body as it relates to your running, and blood lactate accumulation will be associated with different HR, which is quite dependent upon the weather, as you have experienced. If you follow HR then you are focusing you interest on HR stress and not on total stress. Heat will slow everyone down in the marathon -- some more than others because of how they are affected, individually. So, you don't have to back down your pace becasue your HR is higher than usual. Keep in mind that the work your heart does is a function of the resistance against which it pumps and the force of each stroke. When blood volume goes down, so usually does blood pressure and so does stroke volume. So even though you may have a faster HR the heart muscle may not be working any harder -- faster per beat, but less work per beat. As long as you are healthy, and it would seem you are, then go more by feel than HR. What heart-rate monitors are good at is they tell you how fast your heart is beating; pretty simple"

And here is another post from a different thread:

Some things to note about the heat and humidity?

The first thing is dehydration. You lose water and you body can't function correctly. Ph values get out of whack and heart rate increases do to lower stroke volume.

The second is that your body cannot cool itself in humid conditions because the air is already saturated. The desired effect of sweating is for the sweat to evaporate and cool you upon the phase change to a gas. That doesn't happen in humid conditions.

Your body reacts to heat training by increasing blood plasma volume to have more stored water for cooling.

Training in the heat helps you train better in the heat but not necessarily run faster.

Heat will limit both the duration and intensity of any given aerobic run.

A third big variable that people over look is that training in the heat is that it is basically the same as training at altitude. There is less oxygen in the air on a hot day. There is even less air on a hot, humid day. This is a fact. Airplanes need more runway to take off on hot days, and golf balls driven further from the tee because there is simply less air.

At first glance you might say aha! Altitude training that's great!

But altitude effects are due to a constant stimulus. Much like gravity is a 24 hours stimulus?the same is true for altitude. So in true altitude you are literally training in your sleep. But in the heat the stimulus disappears the minute you step into air conditioning. So in the heat you get the worst effects of altitude and none of the benefits.

I?ve run the numbers before and figured that a hot humid day (sea level, 85F, 90% humidity) is about the same as a cool morning in Denver (5200 ft, 35F,90% humidity) as far as oxygen content is concerned.

Figuring the heat part is easy. Oxygen content is an inverse linear relation the temperature. Higher Temp = Lower Oxygen.

For the humidity you need to consult the non linear psychrometric charts to determine thermodynamic properties of moist air. This is necessary to assess the humidity ratio as a function of temperature. Humidity ratio is simply an absolute measure of how much water vapor is taking up space in the air. It is not the same a relative humidity. Changes in relative humidity mean very little in cool temperatures because the air cannot hold water. But on warm days, relative humidity means everything because vapor is able to HOG up space in the air much more. So it is easy to feel the difference between 90% and 50% humidity on a warm day. But on a cool day it is not as easy to detect. The bottom line is that on warm days high relative humidity means far less oxygen.

Driving pressure makes a difference. Oxygen content has a direct linear relation to pressure. Higher pressure = Higher Oxygen. Higher barometric pressure can drive more oxygen into your lungs. High pressure occurs after a cold front passes through. Low pressure occurs during rain?or at altitude. As you go higher there is less pressure. This is why the captain pressurizes the cabin in an airplane. It is also the dominating effect on oxygen at altitude.

So we are really looking at 3 critical variables for oxygen content: Temperature, Humidity, and Pressure.

An optimal day would be cool and crisp at sea level with high barometric pressure aloft (cold front).

The worst day would be hot humid with at altitude with low barometric pressure aloft (storm system etc.).

A fourth issue to be concerned about is the actual sun?s rays hitting you body. This allows you body to ?cook?. Similar to a green house?the sun?s energy hits your skin as radiation and then it converted to heat...but your body can?t dissipate it because your sweat can?t evaporate. So your core temperature rises dramatically. A warm 85F in the sun is not the same as 85F in the shade or low intensity rays. So seek shade whenever possible. Don?t use oil sun screen either or you will really cook. One way to increase cooling/evaporation ability is to run where there is a breeze. But in the summer this can be tough to find.

Gases such as oxygen are not able to be absorbed/soluble as higher temperatures. This could affect the diffusion and transport process of oxygen through the lungs to red blood cells?or other areas in demand if you are over heated.

The bottom line is that if you are training for volume then heat is not optimal. The other issued is velocity. In any quality effort beyond 5 minutes length you really cannot take the time seriously in the heat. It means nothing. So you must train more by "feel" in the heat on quality days. Eventually that becomes a problem because especially near race time, hitting correct velocities is critical from a neuromuscular standpoint.

You must also train slower in the heat even on easy runs so your average velocity drops too. That's not good either. Perceivably if you try and hold to the same faster paces you could you on cool days, then you could slow up recovery too. I've seen people use heart monitors in the heat with some success to keep easy days easy...but the pace sucks.

Repetition and short speed sessions work out just fine in the heat. Just stay hydrated.

So people in cool climates are able to train more volume, at a higher average velocity and recover better. Sounds like a good deal doesn't it?

esmoke

Bottom line for best performance...move to San Diego. Or Bolder or Flagstaff. But probably San Diego.


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Northland Hospice 5k/10k run news article

An article on the Northland Hospice 5k/10k run.

azdailysun.com Sports

Gaspin' in the Aspen story

Gaspin' in the Aspen run test runners' endurance, strength


By DANIEL BERK
Sun Sports Staff
Sunday, June 21, 2009

After he took first place in the 15k at the Gaspin' in the Aspen run at the Flagstaff Nordic Center, Rob Krar hung out at the finish line for as long as possible.

"Anybody who completes this course deserves a big pat on the back," Krar said. "This is a very, very difficult course. You start out at 8,000 feet and the race just gets harder and harder as you go through. "It's no joke up there."

According to the runners, the Gaspin' in the Aspen, the third race in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Summer Running Series, is the most difficult race in the series.

Not only is the race at an extra 1,000 feet of elevation, it's a 100 percent off-road trail with wood chips, pine cones, branches and leaves dumped throughout the course.

"You have to be exceptionally careful when you're up there," 5K winner Ryan Schmidt said. "You have to pay attention to every step you take. There's so many things out there, one bad step can cost you the entire race.

"This trail has everything you want. It's difficult, it's fun to run and the atmosphere up here is a lot of fun."

Krar finished more than a minute ahead of the second place finisher in the 15k, Zachary Thomas. Krar finished in 54 minutes, 50 seconds, while Thomas finished in 56:02. Vince Sherry took third, finishing in 56:39.

On the women's side, Sara Wagner won her third straight race in the summer running series. Wagner finished the 15k in 1:09.28. Michelle Wesson was the second female finisher at 1:13.11.

Both of the races before the Gaspin' in the Aspen were 5k and 10k. However, in order to add diversity to the series, the race organizers throw in a 15k at the Nordic Center and a half marathon at the end of the series.

"It gives us a chance to give the runners a mix of distances," NATRA director and race timer Neil Weintraub said. "With all of the obstacles up there, it almost becomes like a steeplechase, especially at the end."

In the 5k race, Flagstaff resident Ryan Schmidt won his second race of the summer, finishing in 18:22. Ryan Stevens and Jeff Organ took second and third, finishing in 19:08 and 19:48 respectively.

Jennifer McCarthy was the top female finisher at 22:20. Hannah Colter was second at 23:26.

For Krar, the race was an opportunity to help him train for the TransRockies Challenge he'll be participating in later in the summer. There, over seven days, Krar and a teammate will mountain bike over 113 miles in several stages.

"For me, I've really been training for the TransRockies and we really haven't done any speed work," Krar said. "Today's race was a perfect opportunity to get some speed work done in a really tough environment.

"I've missed a couple of the races this summer, but there was no way I was going to miss this one. A race like this really reminds me why I'm so lucky to live in Flagstaff."



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