Ep 59 Zak Hanna live from Thailand after fifth at the World Championships
· Trail Running Ireland Podcast
Zak Hanna joins Eoin Flynn live from Chiang Mai after finishing fifth at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, the best Irish result at world level since 1991. First, René Borg explains VLA max and VO2 max: the sugar and oxygen engines, and how to time training for each across a season.
Eoin congratulates Paddy O'Leary on 48th in the long trail race and previews Sarah McCormack's classic up-and-down race. René talks about his plans for EcoTrail Copenhagen in April.
René explains why lots of high-intensity training can make race results less consistent. VO2 max is your oxygen engine. VLA max measures how readily your body burns sugar and produces lactate. Ultra and marathon runners want a low VLA max, and the higher your VO2 max, the more VLA max you can get away with. He sets out the order to work in: first lower VLA max with consistent easy running and sub-threshold work; then raise VO2 max with intervals that start above threshold and settle just below it; and finally, for short, fast races, raise VLA max for the last four to five weeks. Eoin describes losing his top gears in a team trial after doing all his sessions fasted.