New Year, New Goal, Same Old FireFreak
- Thread starter firefreak
- Start date
Lifted and did some erging last night. I am thinking about not running for the week to get these aches and pains a chance to heal up. I have hills tonight and I will definitely not be doing them with the pain in my right achilles and shin. I'll stick to the erg and do some high intensity pieces to get my heart rate up and simulate the hills.
against my better judgement i did my 4x0.25 mile hills at 10k pace as there was no other options open at the gym today. there's some stupid highschool girls gabbing gym session crap that goes on between 4 and 5:30. it' uber gay and i seriously doubt any of these girls are exercising. one girl looked liike she was biking at about 50 RPMs on a setting of 1 on the recumbant bike. waste of a machine. /rant
Legs didn't hurt that much. left ankle is still funky but not a concern yet. ran each .25 mile at 8:34 min/mi and 4.5 grade with a .15 mile recovery at 5.5 mph flat.
Legs didn't hurt that much. left ankle is still funky but not a concern yet. ran each .25 mile at 8:34 min/mi and 4.5 grade with a .15 mile recovery at 5.5 mph flat.
re: your blog comment
Bad running form and weight are ok as long as the shoes are right for you. That's why it's really important to have a good running shoe store.
I am mechanically unsound but the shoes and orthotics I wear fix those problems. Unfortunately the manufacturers like to mess around with their line and every few years I wind up scrambling for a new shoe. Couple that with a running store that just changed owners who really don't know what they are doing and I wind up messed up.
We can exclude the running volume if you're following the plan. Bad running form only becomes an issue if you're a stomper... long strides, big bounce, and a heavy strike. And not to dismiss it and weight, but you normally see these issues in the form of knee, ankle, or back pain.
Do you have a log of your training in excel or something similar? I'm curiuos as to your run times for your workouts. And for your workouts that state "5k or 10k" pace... how did you determine what that pace would be?
Bad running form and weight are ok as long as the shoes are right for you. That's why it's really important to have a good running shoe store.
I am mechanically unsound but the shoes and orthotics I wear fix those problems. Unfortunately the manufacturers like to mess around with their line and every few years I wind up scrambling for a new shoe. Couple that with a running store that just changed owners who really don't know what they are doing and I wind up messed up.
We can exclude the running volume if you're following the plan. Bad running form only becomes an issue if you're a stomper... long strides, big bounce, and a heavy strike. And not to dismiss it and weight, but you normally see these issues in the form of knee, ankle, or back pain.
Do you have a log of your training in excel or something similar? I'm curiuos as to your run times for your workouts. And for your workouts that state "5k or 10k" pace... how did you determine what that pace would be?
I think I am a heavy striker, long strider and tend to bounce. All things that are making my impacts that much worse on my body. I've been working however to limit my heal strike, landing midfoot and creating shorter strides. I found my calf pain was much worse with longer strides.
I log my actual mileage (no times) in excel and keep a full log of all activities with times, notes, and general vitals on Active Trainer. I've actually only made my weekly mileage once so far since I started training, and that was in Week 6. All other weeks I have either had a conflict, running route mishap or injury that kept me from reaching the mileage for that week.
In regards to my 10k pace. I ran a 5 mile race in late November with minimal training in 45:45. I took into account my training, and that I am running more comfortably at a faster pace for longer and said "hmm 8:30 min/mi sounds good"
You can force yourself to run differently which isn't natural, or you can shorten your stride and increase your cadence. The second method will naturally change your running style.
If you're in the gym running on a treadmill, try to get a glance of yourself in a mirror. You want to see that you're not bouncing. If you're still bouncing, try to smooth it out. You'll probably see a slight bend in your knees as you're running. This reduces the impact of your strike and naturally positions it to be more of a mid-foot strike. But don't focus on anything other than higher cadence, shorter strides, and eliminating the bounce. Everything else will fall into place.
What I'm describing and what you're describing are almost the same thing except that it sounds like you're focusing on your strike. Let your body figure that one out by what I've described above. All of this takes time and it's a little difficult to get used to a higher cadence. But once you do, you'll find that you'll become more efficient and be able to cover greater distances.
Is there an external link to Active Trainer where I can see the log data?
Would you say you're missing one day a week or more?
Based on your 5 mile time, you're 10k pace is fast. Granted you said it was with minimal training. If you want to know what those times should be, run a two mile time trial and tell me the time.
If you're in the gym running on a treadmill, try to get a glance of yourself in a mirror. You want to see that you're not bouncing. If you're still bouncing, try to smooth it out. You'll probably see a slight bend in your knees as you're running. This reduces the impact of your strike and naturally positions it to be more of a mid-foot strike. But don't focus on anything other than higher cadence, shorter strides, and eliminating the bounce. Everything else will fall into place.
What I'm describing and what you're describing are almost the same thing except that it sounds like you're focusing on your strike. Let your body figure that one out by what I've described above. All of this takes time and it's a little difficult to get used to a higher cadence. But once you do, you'll find that you'll become more efficient and be able to cover greater distances.
Is there an external link to Active Trainer where I can see the log data?
Would you say you're missing one day a week or more?
Based on your 5 mile time, you're 10k pace is fast. Granted you said it was with minimal training. If you want to know what those times should be, run a two mile time trial and tell me the time.
I've been concentrating on shortening my stride and upping my cadence. This has helped but keeping myself at a higher cadence is tough.
Will be altering my training plan. It's obvious that the volume is too high for me and that I should turn it down a notch to avoid any further nagging injuries and potential serious injuries.
I felt good running the 7.something last night. My calves were not happy in the first mile (its mostly downhill the first .75 miles) but they calmed down after a while. My shins were tight at first but loosened up and i found that uphills were particularly helpful to my calves. I did stop once, after about 1 mile to stretch my calves a bit. I think I am going to find a 10k to run in 2 or 3 weeks to see where I am at in regards to my pace.
I felt good running the 7.something last night. My calves were not happy in the first mile (its mostly downhill the first .75 miles) but they calmed down after a while. My shins were tight at first but loosened up and i found that uphills were particularly helpful to my calves. I did stop once, after about 1 mile to stretch my calves a bit. I think I am going to find a 10k to run in 2 or 3 weeks to see where I am at in regards to my pace.
Sounds like you're making the right decision. Looking at that schedule again... man that looks tough. I'm not kidding when I ask this question... did you pick the hardest plan? It looks like you did. It looks like an advanced plan.
What is your goal for the marathon?
That's actually listed as a first time marathoner plan haha. I would like to run it in close to 4 hours. Whether that's realistic or not remains to be seen.
That's crazy... no first time plan would have you run over 20-22 miles. It would normally be run 22 miles or three hours... whichever comes first.
Those back to back days in the week must be just brutal.
I just found your plan, did you see this:
For runners (particularly first-time marathoners) who are more interested in simply finishing the marathon than in racing or running for time, it's not necessary to run the complete marathon distance during training. If this is you, we recommend making the following adjustments to the long Sunday runs:
Week 5, Sunday: 10 miles
Week 7, Sunday: 12 miles
Week 9, Sunday: 14 miles
Week 11, Sunday: 16 miles
Week 13, Sunday: 18 miles
Week 15, Sunday: 20 miles
Week 17, Sunday: 20 miles
Trust me, it applies. It applies to ME.
A 4 hour goal is COMPLETELY doable with the modified plan. I swear I'm going to write a blog entry about consistency. That is the answer for everything. Want to run a marathon... be consistent with your running. Want to train for an Ironman... be consistent with your swimming, biking, and running.
If your plan has you taking days off every week because you can't handle the plan, then you're not being consistent.
I ran a 3:46:22 marathon at the end of an Ironman. I doubt I ran nearly as many miles per week during my training as your plan. I normally log between 20-25 miles per week.
I just ran a report -- I ran for 82 days over a 6 month period leading up to Ironman Cda. The biggest days were 14.62, 16.2, 17.13, 20, and 20.12. Other than that, I stayed at 13.1 and under.
I get what you're saying. I will try to be more consistent with just getting running in, even if it means no hitting my mileage on one day. I think the goal of that plan was more to get you used to very long distance and save you from the day after soreness/crippled aspect.
Thanks for the input tsilcyc.
Unfortunately, we are all guilty of the same thing which is trying to continue the training not matter what. It's... if only I can make it to the next (fill in the blank), I'll be ok. I do it, you do it, everyone does it.
For you, I think if you back down on that crazy volume and follow the beginner plan, you might be able to "make it to the next..."
How are your legs feeling on Saturday mornings? Do you feel fresh and ready to go? Or are you like oh *****, I have to run how many miles?
depends on my friday night? lol.
If you mean Sunday, then I usually feel up for it in terms of energy. It's a question of how my calves/shins feel usually. Last night I could've run for another hour had i brought food and water with me.
Speaking of missing a workout...guess what's happening tonight! I'm missing a workout! I had to work late (still here actually) and have a prior commitment later this evening so it won't fit time wise. I'll have to move my days over or do double duty tomorrow (morning/evening).