Slow but steady - week of 1/12/09

[Veronica]

Okay maybe you guys aren't slow.

Yesterday I planned on running 3 miles on the treadmill before my trainer session. I only got in two, my stomach was really bothering me. And I felt awful working with my trainer. I thought for sure I was going to hurl while I was doing my pull ups.

Today was a gorgeous day - low sixties when I left work, not very windy. I had planned on doing a bike ride, but I was a little later leaving then I like. I dithered all the way home (I live 1.6 miles from work) about ride or run. Riding is less work, more fun... running is... running. And I need to get better at it this season.

I had laid out my riding clothes on my bed this morning, but I pulled on my running clothes instead. About halfway through my loop I can choose whether to do 3.1 miles or 4.4. I opted for the 4.4. My stomach did start bothering me again. I think it's carrots, or maybe peas. Anyway I stuck it out - kept running, didn't walk any. My time wasn't great. It's better than it was when I started last April though. Weirdly, I actually kind of enjoy running now.

Veronica

[Jolt]

Well, I am definitely one of the "slow" ones! Especially since I am getting back into it pretty slowly to make sure my IT band problem doesn't come back.

[OakLeaf]

Me slow too! My sprint intervals are some people's marathon pace.

Seven of 'em was feeling too easy, so this time I added two more, for a total of 9 x 1 minute with walking recovery. And lived to tell the tale, so I suppose that's still not enough. Anyway, it was my last interval day before the 5K on the 24th, so I'll have to wait until after then to add more.

Now, I have to decide whether to do a hometown 5K this Saturday as a tempo run.

[kelownagirl]

I ran with friends after work today. The roads were finally bare and wet, and I had to work hard to keep up with them after running so slowly for the past month or so. 5k in 32 minutes.

[Crankin]

No, I am slower than all of you! I ran on the treadmill again today. This time I decided to concentrate on more intervals of continuous running at a lower speed, rather than trying to get to my goal of a ten minute mile. I warmed up fully for 5 min. and then did 30 minutes, mostly at 5.2 and 5.5 mph, with some 5.8. But, I still had to take some rest, walking for a minute or two 3 times.
I stopped wearing my HR monitor for riding because I was paying more attention to it than riding; what I know about my HR is that it's always high compared to others, although my resting HR in the AM is 55. At the end of my run, I did a little sprint for 30 seconds and I used the HR monitor that's built in. I they they are notoriously unreliable, but my HR was 168. At my age, that means I should be dead! I felt stressed and working hard, but not gasping for breath. For a non trained person 80% of max at my age is about 134. That seems really low to me. When I ride, I would bet my HR is around 130-140, except when I'm climbing. It's kind of discouraging. After a five minute cool down, it was at 120 and I felt OK, but tired.

[OakLeaf]

Actually, a decent newer HRM is pretty darn accurate, aside from occasional spikes resulting from interference or poor contact. It's the predicted max HRs that don't apply to athletes (most of them will tell you so). Those charts or the 220 minutes your age formula are based on the general population in the USA, and you know how deconditioned many people are. All other things being equal, MHR will unavoidably decline by 1 BPM per year, but your max as a youngster wasn't necessarily so low.

You can derive a reasonably accurate MHR for running, by finding the HR at which an increase in speed doesn't increase your HR. You'll need to do it a few times on different days. But most people's MHR for cycling is likely 5-10 BPM lower than for running.

My Garmin does its own calculation and it says that my MHR for running is 192 - which would make me 21 years younger than I am in "real life" - although in real life I haven't seen anything higher than 188 recently, either. So I'm 32, I guess.

[Jolt]

Yeah, that "220-age" formula is basically crap!

[Crankin]

Thanks, Oakleaf. I know that the 220-minus your age is cr@p for someone like me. So, if your predicted MHR is 190 with your Garmin, then I am doing OK. I was not using my own monitor, just the thing on the treadmill where you hold your hands. I think my max is probably somewhere around 180 for running and 170 for cycling. Will try to experiment a little. There's nothing wrong with the Polar model I have, I just got too focused on it, instead of enjoying my ride.

[Jolt]

20 minutes on the treadmill at the Y today (again paying close attention to form, which along with the fact that the treadmill is boring made it feel ten times harder), not one twinge. Making progress! I'd better just ease back into it and keep working on glute strength/activation and stretching the TFL. I definitely feel the coordination is not as good on the left side (the one that had the problem) as the right, as far as the glutes working when they are supposed to and the TFL not trying to pick up the slack. Anyone have any other tips for fixing that or ideas of how long it takes?

[kelownagirl]

Slow and painful today. Only managed 3km before I packed it in.

[OakLeaf]

Yesterday I tried to do 3 minutes 5K pace/3 minutes jog x 5. My legs were so fried that my "intervals" were more than 1 minute/mile slower than my actual race pace.

[Crankin]

I won't be running again until next week . My DH has me on "house arrest" to take some days off to get better from whatever viral crap is infecting me. Funny, I seem to be obsessing about running, the way I used to about cycling. And it's not because I'm good at it. But, none of my usual injury/chronic pain issues in my IT band or groin are hurting the way they do after a few days of riding, so I am hopeful.
So, I will stare at my bike on the trainer and my yoga dvds while I sit and read a book. One more week until classes start back up.

[yellow]

We're having the normal it's-Sundance-so-we-must-have-some-bad-air-quality so I haven't ventured outside to run since Tuesday. I've been doing other things indoors. I'm deep into Crossfit now and am LOVING it! Because I'm still "new", the trainer, who is named V (yes, "Vee") is still giving me lots of attention. This man kicks my a$$. I love it. He's already pegged me for Crossfit Endurance. I told him I needed to just learn all the regular Crossfit stuff first. I've never really done any "real" weight lifting before; I'm probably enjoying it so much because it's all so new to me.

I don't have to work in the office today so I might try to sneak somewhere "up high" (out of the inversion) and get in a run. I need it.

[Grog]

Went for a tough tempo run yesterday with my new running partner. Great chick! It's a good thing she was there because I don't think I would have endured the tempo segment - which was actually race-pace - for so long.

Was scheduled to run with the old running partner this morning. I texted her that I was on my way and she texted back that she forgot to tell me she was 250 km away. When I got to our meeting point I pondered "to run or not to run" for a while, but ended up kicking myself and going for 20 minutes. I'm happy I did. It keeps my sinuses clear, if nothing else!

Such thick fog around Vancouver! It's eerie.

[solobiker]

I went out for a nice 3 mile run. I don't run fast at all, probably just under 10 min mile. My hamstrings just love to tighten right up with any runs I do. I used to be able to go out for an hour or so but not any more. I should do more stretching then I do. I hope to go for about 4 mile run this weekend.