None Are you participating in the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday 4th May? The Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon has teamed up with the Performance Services Unit of the Ulster Sports Academy to provide a free educational workshop day on Saturday 14th March. The workshop activities will commence at 11.00am in the High Performance Centre located at the Jordanstown campus. Individuals can attend presentations to gain information on:
• The Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon route (David Seaton OBE)
• Important nutritional advice to help with training and competing on the day. (Andrea McNeilly, expert on Sports Nutrition)
• An opportunity to gain access to the sports science laboratories and gain an insight into optimal physiological support for marathon running. (William Moore, Strength & Conditioning Coach and Exercise Physiologist with the Ulster Sports Academy)
• Tours of the High Performance Centre
There will be an opportunity for participants to go through the series of testing for a discounted rate of 15%?
The process involves:
A) Establishing the body composition of the athlete. We measure the make up of their body weight – fat, muscle and water and give advice to improve this. Most runners have a low muscle mass and high body fat. The body fat acts as hindering dead weight that negatively impacts health status and performance in events like the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon. We will also assess hydration status and ensure the athlete is drinking appropriately and give recommendations for improvement.
B) We conduct a lactate profile test. This involves running on a treadmill at slow stages for 3 mins at a time. After each stage we collect small samples of blood and heart rate information. Each stage gets faster by 1kn per hour until we measure more than 4mmol lactate in the blood when this part of the test ceases. This information is invaluable to runners. We plot graphs and establish what are appropriate running speeds and intensities for the athlete to train at (heart rate training zones based upon lactate response to exercise, as opposed to estimating from age) over the next 3-4 months. This approach will enable the athlete to train effectively and efficiently allowing them to push themselves within their limits, without risks of over or under-training.
C) After a short break we start into the high intensity maximal stage of the test to assess the athletes aerobic capacity or endurance, this is measure as V02 Max. The test measures how much oxygen the athlete can consume and utilise in exercise. The more oxygen they consume the better their performance in endurance exercise. Only fit and healthy athletes under the age of 60 yrs can participate in this latter stage of the testing. Others must terminate after stage 2 for safety reasons.
The combined tests give valued support to endurance athletes and prevent them from wasting hours in appropriate training programmes. All information is based upon the individuals fitness at a specific point in time so it as individualised as can be achieved.
The performance services unit of the Ulster Sports Academy have agreed to offer discounts of 15% off any of the physiological or strength and conditioning services they offer to improve performance for the recreational or serious runner. The tests above are only an example of what they have to offer, but the most appropriate to distance runners. The offer must be redeemed prior to Sept 2009”
Could I ask that if anyone is interested in attending the workshop to RSVP to Stephen Pearson on [email protected] or 028 9060 5944 no later than Wednesday 11th March 2009.
We look forward to seeing you there!!
Thanks
Claire
Claire O’Reilly
Event Manager
Wilmont House
Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park
Upper Malone
Belfast
BT17 9LA
Tel: 028 9060 5922
Mobile: 07799810473
Email: [email protected]
