Hooked on LSDs

Should I try it or not? I knew it was dangerously addictive. I had heard of so many innocent, naive people in the past who simply experimented with this and, after experiencing the proverbial high, they could never let it go; they were forever hooked.

I stood there in the middle of the road, my mind racing. I took a deep breath and did it. I gave the LSD a try.

For non-runners or newbies, LSD in the running world is this: LONG, SLOW DISTANCE. As Jeff Galloway emphasizes in his book: “They are the single most important element in your program.” Here are some of the benefits one can derive from a long, slow distance run:

strengthens your heart
increases endurance
trains your muscles to burn fat more efficiently
increases number and size of mitochondria
increases capillary growth into muscle fibers
increases myoglobin concentration in muscle fibers
increases aerobic efficiency
increase in maximum VO2
builds your mental toughness

Yes, I survived the very first LSD I did alone last Saturday! (Hey ultramarathoners, don’t laugh, 20 km is long for me!)

The greatest thing about this is that I thoroughly enjoyed it! At first I thought I would succumb to exhaustion or boredom, but it was quite the opposite. I was excited to see the outcome of this challenge I put out for myself. Could I do it? 30 minutes into the run, I felt strong. I wondered, could adding Back Street Boys to my playlist have helped in giving me that extra energy today?

1 hour in and I still felt strong, but I was getting a bit worried about hydration. So, I headed back to my headquarters (read: my in-laws house) and played the part of a trail runner. You see, before the run, I surreptitiously hid half a bottle of gatorade in their garage (just as trail runners plant their snacks and drinks in the bushes). Excitedly, I snuck into the garage, inhaled the gatorade in a second, and headed out again for the 2nd part of my run full revitalized.

Somewhere after the 1st hour, I felt slight knee pain. Wary of my meniscus problem, I varied the pace (I know, I know, I should’ve been going a little bit slower) and I added a few walking breaks. I initially planned on getting just 18 km in, but due to my lack of navigational skills, I miscalculated my distance and found myself closing in on 20 km when my car was still nowhere in sight. Fortunately, I survived without having to scrape myself off the road. After several minutes, Lance Armstrong announced I had ran the farthest distance in my record. Woohoo!

After such a fantastic experience, I wondered how anyone who’s ever tried LSD resist not to do this long, run at least once every two weeks (as prescribed by Jeff)? I can only expect to crave for this very, very often. I am hooked on LSD, I tell you.

Reference: Dr. Stephen M. Pribut

Posted on 10.15.07 to 5 Training. Tags: Alabang, long slow distance, Run. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 16 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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16 Responses to “Hooked on LSDs”

LSD running is now an object of debate to amateur and elite runners as well in the US. Many run addicts tend to put the blames on Mr. Jeff Galloway, throwing nasty things about his training plan (as per back issues of Runners World). I was also then a firm believer of LSD back when I’m still beginning to join fun runs and eventually full marathons 3 years ago. Sure it leads me to the finish line, but I want to run my next marathons a little faster and stronger. Until I modified my training plan by incorporating Marathon Race Pace instead of LSD. By running MRPs during long runs, you teach your body how to adapt similar situation during the race. Say if you want to join the Milo Marathon Finals, you have to run the NCR ELIM to sub 4hrs. Translating it to mortal terms you have to run 5min30 per k (3:51). Compensating the hills (flyovers, bayani road, etc.) you have still 9 minutes to spare. This was very effective for me. From 4:12 PR, I did 3:59 in the NCR ELIM during the 30th milo marathon last year to qualify for the finals. At the finals, I ambitiously aim for 3:45, but I ended up 3:49 because of the intermittent weather (not bad for a three year runner). In Nov 18, I will try again to break my PR.

Same thing with running shorter distances like the half marathon, 10k, 5k you can also apply this one. Hope you could also try running MRPs so that you can compare it with LSDs. Be sure to increase your MRP mileage gradually

42K finalists…the very few… the very proud…

Go further…

georgieboy

george said on Oct 15 07 at 3:35 PM Reply
JAYMIE YOU DID IT! Almost 21k!

I should give the LSD a try too!

Hey hey change na my blog link. I made a sports blog na!

marga said on Oct 15 07 at 3:48 PM Reply
don’t do it! oh no, it’s too late, you already did. oh you poor thing. what will your hubby do now that you’ll be out there for a few hours at a time every week.

now try this. do an lsd without an ipod. if you don’t get bored from doing this, it will be a zen-like experience–believe me

e-rod said on Oct 15 07 at 5:07 PM Reply
I try to do LSDs, too. And I plan on doing it once every two weeks. I would do it more often, but I want to do more LSD for cycling. I would personally do a 24 kilometer route, which is two loops of “the bike loop” of the cyclists (a 12 kilometer route — Madrigal, left at Country Club Drive, all the way to Acacia. Left at Acacia, pass Cuenca Church on the left and you end up in Taysan, then left at Country Club Drive (it’s a “figure of 8″ loop). When you get to the end (Acacia), turn right. Go all the way and turn right at Maria Cristina, then left at Molave, then right again at ??? street (a very short stretch) that leads back to Madrigal). And, voila! 12 km.

I wear a heart rate monitor, and I keep it at Zone 1 and 2 only, to stay completely aerobic (for LSDs, I don’t want to go anaerobic).

Good luck with the LSDs!

Alfred Racho said on Oct 15 07 at 6:02 PM Reply
BR, but even JG recommends doing long runs every other week to avoid fatigue accumulation in the body. But try doing it every week and find out yourself. Train smart.

roadrat said on Oct 15 07 at 7:42 PM Reply
Georgieboy, thanks a lot for the tips! I never heard of MRPs so I’ll surely do my research on it. I’m all excited about LSDs and now MRPs! What’s next?! You were just 4 mins short of your goal so you deserve a big big congratulations! Good luck in Milo!

Marga, yeah wala kasing guards sa alabang so I was able to run long unlike in the Fort hahahaha I’ll check your blog later

E-rod!!! Long time no hear! How’re you? My hubby is out longer playing golf so he won’t mind. Uhm, I’m not sure if I can run without an ipod on the road. If i had your scenic routes then I wouldn’t mind throwing the nano away.

Alex, wait wait wait I have to memorize this loop. Does this mean though I’ll be running across (or even against) tons of cyclists? I’m getting a HRM sooooooon so I should be watching my heart rate too.

Roadrat, yeah you’re right! Every other week! Okay, I’ll correct it up there. Nope, I won’t do it every week…i’m super paranoid about getting injured. Thanks!

bullrunner said on Oct 15 07 at 8:09 PM Reply
welcome to the world of the real long run. i look forward to hearing you do it without the ipod, as e-rod suggests.

caloyb said on Oct 15 07 at 11:00 PM Reply
I was a Galloway diciple when I used to do marathons. I met him in person at a marathon clinic, he is so humble and supportive. Two thumbs up for Galloway.

No laughing but clapping, yay!

I read George’s post and he’s right. There is some controversy on LSDs. From my experience LSDs work, they just can’t be your primary way of training. If all you do is long, slow distance then that’s what you’ll get in your races. Track is important as well as mixing up some work in the LSDs. I used to do only LSD’s. Last year I switched to LSD’s that were shorter but with mixed in hill repeats, tempo work and lactate threshold work – the improvement was phenomenal. I got a workout schedule from a fellow ultra-marathoner who was coached by a well known runner. Still though, for recovery or taper workouts I’ll go on a nice long run, slower but more enjoyable. Some of that long distance training will make you faster. You’ll be able to hold a good pace for longer. Nutrition will play a more important role too. If you’re not choking down energy gels now I’d recommend looking into them when your long runs are taking you 1.5 hours and longer.

What an exciting development in your running! The only big drawback is that you will wear out your shoes faster.

rick gaston said on Oct 16 07 at 12:41 PM Reply
P.S. this is unrelated but I thought you and maybe Ben would know. I have a friend who is giving running a try. She’s in Manila. I told her to get some proper shoes, preferably from a good store staffed by runners. She doesn’t know what she wants and need some guidance, not just a store clerk who will sell her whatever. Any recommendations?

rick gaston said on Oct 16 07 at 1:06 PM Reply
Rick, thanks for the tips! As they say, long slow runs will make you a slow runner. I’m trying not to focus too much on my speed right now as I want to go for a marathon next year. But still I do want to incorporate some speed work, tempo runs, and all those other stuff in between. Aah, I should do a lot more reading or just get a coach to prepare my program.

Shoes: Go for Mizuno. The shoes are great (i love my wave creations!) and the store personnel know what they’re talking about (they wont just sell the top-of-the-line). Tell her she can email me and I can help her get a discount

bullrunner said on Oct 16 07 at 1:36 PM Reply
oh wooooow! grabe jaymie, time and time again you never fail to amaze me! i wish i have strong knees like you! so pano ba yan, am i gonna cheer for you for the subic intl marathon? woooppeee!

banggigay said on Oct 16 07 at 9:07 PM Reply
Hi Jaymie,
I read that your getting an HRM soon, guess what? remember i asked you some time back about your nike+ monitor? well i ended up with a Suunto t3 Runners Pack its a HRM with a speed and distance foot pod. So far i’m happy running with it (sans the music). Well good luck on your choice of HRM.
Keep on running Bullruner

Armand said on Oct 16 07 at 9:48 PM Reply
hey, 5.5/km is not slow (for a long run). is 5.5/km slow? wow you guys are way out of my league. anyway, nice to finally meet you jaymie at the fort last thurs. hope to be there next week.

Tina said on Oct 17 07 at 7:58 AM Reply
Caloyb, hindi ko ata kaya!

Banggi, I don’t have strong knees! I’m always paranoid about injuring my left knee again. I just increase my distance gradually

Armand, congrats with the Suunto! Glad you chose that over the Nike+ haha

Tina, yeah, I think I should’ve gone a little bit slower. Hope to see you again at Mizuno!

bullrunner said on Oct 17 07 at 8:23 AM Reply
Jaymie, saan ba exact address ng in-laws mo? Since you told us na may tinatago kang inumin doon, basta na punta kami ng ayala-alabang on saturday, hanapin ko yon . Makikiinum din ako na di mo alam. Don’t worry titirhan naman kita, mga 25% of the content. Puwedi na ba saiyo yong. hehehe

Mon said on Oct 17 07 at 12:51 PM Reply
i agree with rick about the gels. if you’re running 2 hours or more, take some. i swear by them. they make me run longer and get to recover from the long runs faster. read about how to take them properly in the powerbar website. treat our engines well. or jelly beans?

roadrat said on Oct 17 07 at 1:51 PM Reply