marathon – SamaGamer

November 5, 2023, 7:51 a.m. ET

Days before the New York City Marathon, Harvard physics professor Jenny Hoffman ran more than 3,000 miles from San Francisco to New York.

Hoffman, 45, set out in September to break the women’s Guinness World Record for the fastest crossing of America on foot. The current record, set by Sandra Villines in 2017, is 55 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes. On Thursday, Hoffman arrived at New York City Hall in 47 days, 12 hours and 35 minutes. She still needs to submit her documentation and have it ratified by Guinness World Records before the record is official.

“I still have work to do,” Hoffman said as she headed to Coney Island Beach Friday to see the Atlantic Ocean, her children in tow. “There are parts that still seem out of the body, like ‘Who is this person who did this thing?’ Is it me?’ »

Hoffman said she was always intrigued by crossing the country and was inspired by Villines and Pete Kostelnick, who holds the men’s record. She made the trip on foot rather than by bike due to her running experience.

Hoffman has been a competitive runner for over 20 years. Although she has run many marathons, she excels at ultrarunning, which involves longer distances than the marathon. She has won the US National 24 Hour Track and Field Championship three times – in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Crossing the United States on foot seemed like the next challenge. She actually attempted to cross the country in 2019, but had to stop 400 miles from her goal after tearing the meniscus on her right side.

Hoffman said a friend’s serious car accident led her to try again. She said she told herself, “If I’m healthy and fit now and this is a life goal, I should do it when I can.” »

So she and her team left San Francisco on September 16 and ran at least 60 miles every day to break the record. She has crossed deserts, mountains, prairies, highways and other terrains. She ran mostly in silence, except for a 169-mile stretch of a desert road in Nevada, during which she listened to Des Linden’s memoir “Choosing to Run.” Linden is the only American woman to win the Boston Marathon this century.

“People are so friendly, red state, blue state, whatever their yard signs are, people have been so nice to me all over the country,” Hoffman said.

Zephyr Larson, her 14-year-old son, said he followed his mother’s tracker while she ran. “It’s super cool to have a mom who inspires me and teaches me that I can do anything I want to do,” he said.

Hoffman must now gather all the documentation on his breed and submit it to Guinness; she said it could take a year for it to be ratified. Until then, she will swim and train in preparation for her next race.

In December, she will compete in the International Ultrarunners Association 24-Hour World Championship in Taiwan. His personal best for this race is 145.4 miles.

“I probably won’t be able to match that because I’ve just done a lot of work with this body,” she said with a laugh.

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How to improve your speed (VMA)

How to determine your VMA? Via a stress test carried out in the laboratory (for professionals) or more simply on an athletics track. The exercise is simple: after around twenty minutes of warm-up, a few mobility exercises or stretches and a series of three progressive accelerations, the runner must cover the greatest distance possible in a set amount of time. 3 minutes for a beginner, 5 to 6 minutes for a regular runner, 8 minutes for a champion. This maximum pace is impossible to maintain indefinitely.

You must then apply a small CE2 level mathematical formula: VMA = distance traveled in km x 60 divided by the time of the exercise. Example: if a runner covers 1.2 km in 5 minutes, his VMA will be 14.4 km/h (1.2×60/5). Very good but what is it for? you will tell us. To set a precise, tenable objective within your stride range over 10 km (specialists advise running between 85 and 90% of your VMA), over a half-marathon (80-85%) or over a marathon (70 to 80 %, depending on the level and endurance capabilities), to establish an adequate training plan and to run at various paces during training.

Run slow to run fast

Progressing in running does not happen overnight because you have to prepare your muscles to provide increasingly intense effort. “You need to alternate endurance sessions at a constant pace with interval sessions,” advises Guillaume Adam. Interval sessions require a particular effort where the runner alternates between fast running phases then recovery phases. Before these sessions, “it is important to run slowly for around twenty minutes”. Workout ranges like heel-to-butt and knee raises can accompany the warm-up. This prepares the body for the exercise of interval running and will allow you to last longer in terms of muscle fatigue and shortness of breath.

Develop a structured training plan

As a beginner in running, we often tend to run a little faster than our legs can handle. It’s a little frustrating, but to run fast you first have to learn to run slowly. Slow running sessions build endurance. At the same time, you must also train in interval training to “develop your cardio-respiratory capacities”, explains the athlete. “I created the RunMotion Coach application to help everyone structure their practice whatever their level, experience and objectives,” he adds. This may surprise some, but after a running session, the athlete recommends not forcing the stretching because the muscles have already been very used during your session. Because your body needs to relax and rest, Guillaume Adam gives us his secret: yoga.

How to run faster without getting tired

Good running technique helps to limit the risk of injury, to be more efficient and to be more economical. To run while adopting the right posture Guillaume Adam advises this: “The stride must be relaxed and the runner will try to propel himself forward as much as possible because each vertical oscillation is energy which blocks this momentum”. Also, to avoid respiratory fatigue, you must start by running fairly slowly and “even walking for one or two minutes”, recommends the runner. During this walking phase, you can then understand the rhythm of your breathing because to run fast, you must first listen to your body.

Have a balanced diet

Fast runners generally have a very good power-to-weight ratio. And it is true that the importance of muscles plays a crucial role in running performance. The body fat of high-level runners is necessarily low. “The best marathon runners have body fat around 5-7% and the best female runners between 12-15%. You must have a balanced diet, and not neglect good fats, such as omega 3,” specifies the athlete and author of My Running Bible.

Know your body

When running, the muscles that work the most are the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes and core muscles. The abdominals also contract in time with the pace of your run. In fact, these muscle groups work together to propel the body forward. To develop this set of muscles, there are no secrets, everything is played out during the famous physical preparation sessions that athletes talk about so much. It’s up to you to target the points that you need to develop in particular.