Me whining and asking a few questions (Read 778 times)

I will have been running consistently for two years in Feb of '09. 2008 far exceeded my expectations for the most part. I managed to drop my 5k time from 35 minutes plus to just over 27 minutes. I managed to drop my 10k from 1:25:00 to 1:03:00. I also managed to begin running and completing 15k and 21k runs on a regular basis even though I am still fairly slow. All of that great stuff happened between January and September. The last three months I have completely unraveled. I had a non-running related injury at the beginning of October that took me from an average of 125k per month down to 69k. Even that is misleading as 36 of those 69 kilometers came on two runs at the beginning of the month before the injury. I gutted out 96k in November, again mainly on a few long runs, before straining a quad in the middle of the month. I managed to compound that injury by trying to come back too fast and well, it was the first week of December before I was able to run again. I was shocked, stunned, frustrated and depressed by how much I had lost over the previous two months. I was absolutely unable to run at the pace I used to run. My longest run was a 10k and I only managed that once. I tallied a total of just 36k before picking up a nice case of strep last week that still has me sidelined. So basically I'm looking at pretty much starting over in January. So... on to the questions... I bought a HRM because my brain won't allow me to just "go for a run". I need to be doing something. I was a pace junkie before but at this point I am completely lost as to what pace I should be running and I just wind up getting frustrated. Hence, heart rate training. My thinking right now is that my "easy" runs should be in the "weight loss zone" or between 60% and 70% of my working heart rate. Am I correct in this belief or should my "easy" runs be aimed higher into the cardio zone with my harder runs aimed at approaching max? I've seen a ton of stuff online that argues both points. Any input here would be greatly appreciated as I am literally at sea right now. Also, I have the odd problem of not being able to hold a fast or even reasonably fast pace at the beginning of my runs. This has always been the case. I have adapted by doing a 2k warm up before any of my runs that doesn't even get logged. But even after the warm up I still can't carry a fast pace at first. How I worked around this was to break all of my runs into three sections and target my paces for those three sections. For instance, how I got my 5k down to 27:18 was to do my easy 5k runs at 7:00 for the first k, 6:00 for the next three, and 5:00 for the 5th k. Then, when I did my hard 5k the goal was 6:30 / 5:30 / 4:30. That system served me very well for the entire year but by September I was hitting a wall because I honestly cannot run that first k faster than 6:30 or 6:15 without being completely gassed by the end of the second k. It makes no sense to me. Seriously. When I do my hard 21k runs I was able to run the last 3k of those below 6:00 per k every time. How is it that I can run 3k in under 18 minutes without really struggling after having already run 18k, but I can't run that pace at the beginning of a run? Short of just longer warm ups is there any advice that anyone can offer on how to train myself to balance the load of my runs a bit more so that I am not stacking all of the intensity at the end? This is going to be critical because I spent all of '08 running every other day but am planning to run blocks of 3-4 days in a row in '09. Ok, I've rambled and whined enough. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have a lot to offer except that even though you feel like you're at square one, you are not. You will make progress faster the second time around, your body remembers how. I think it's always a good idea to do a good warmup (I just log warmup miles as part of the run, why not?) but your slow starting has me stumped, not that you start off slow but that you can pick it up so dramatically as you go. The fact that you can speed up so much toward the end and maintain it tells me it's probably at least partly psychological--maybe you're too amped or your breathing is not relaxed at the beginning but once you get rolling you settle down (total guess). I dunno, that's all I can come up with. I've never trained with a HRM so I don't have any experience there but maybe using one will tell you something about that. But having said all that it's not necessarily a bad thing to need a long warmup.

You my friend think waaay to much. As a runner now recovering from a serious bout of AT, I will be starting all over too. Keep in mind, most of your runs should be at a pace you could carrry on a conversation with someone....it's not rocket science. Then you can add some speed work once or twice a week. What's the hurry, slow down and enjoy the simple joy of running...wish I could now...really. The HRM, haven't used one for years, and is useless if you just listen to your own body. Yep, if your un- injured...just run more, (lots more at a slower pace) and your races and quickness will improve BIG time. What's your hurry, considering in the big picture??? Tim

I can tell you (for what its worth) that I can't maintain much of a pace at first either.......and am also not very fast (normally run 9 minues per mile in races and train in the 11 to 12's. I usually run between 1 and 2 miles before a race just so that when the race starts I can run a normal pace. I think you should log the extra warm up k's that you are running but not logging.....if your running it, then take credit for it (the speed on a warm up K or mile isnt very important except that you did it)...... I agree with the others -- unless you're a serious geek (like me) then you probably should just keep running and watch yourself improve and dont sweat the numbers too much. You are doing a good job but often the progress doesn't 'seem' fast enough. I dont think there is anything wrong except that you need to keep on keeping on and make sure to give yourself more time for things to happen.......

I think you have the information you need in the responses above- except for one small suggestion that works for me; hope it will help you. I have noticed it takes me a while to get into a relaxed rhythm sometimes. When I notice this I stop and walk for a few seconds, then start again. Almost always find this helps me to reach that stage where I am using less effort and breathing more easily but going faster. Probably a hangover from doing 10 and1s when I started running, try it, if it doesn't work I'll give you your money back! Simon.

Ok, for starters let me say how very much I appreciate all of the responses and encouragement. I live a very solitary life ( work from home, work lots of hours and at odd times ), even though my comment about being "at sea" was meant to reflect my mental state the reality is that I have no real friends up here and pretty much only leave the house to walk my dogs, go to the store, or go for a run. So really, honestly, your encouragement is really phenomenal. Thank you. I promise I'm not being stubborn when I say that I can't just "go for a run". I truly do understand the mentality there. I literally walked away from the yoga community in disgust because of what I called a "culture of attainment", which meant that there were too many teachers pushing students into asanas because the student wanted to learn that asana rather than waiting until the student's body was ready. I get it. I do. The issue here, and this is really difficult for me to admit, is that I am not good at running. I'm old and slow and I am really very bad at not being good at things. I've spent my entire adult life being good at things, particularly physical things. When I started running I knew that it would challenge me and I promised myself that I would not accept that challenge but I can't help myself. I can't just "go for a run", even though I know I should, because I simply cannot make myself not confront a challenge. I can't tell you how many days I've left with every intention of doing a nice slow run only to break down and push after three or four k. I'm not being stubborn, I'm just being realistic. The HRM was actually a good thing. I finally managed to get out and do a run today, my first in about two weeks. I cranked out the most frustrating 10k of my life. The HRM was great at keeping me in check, well beyond the point of annoyance. Had I just gone out and run a 10k I would have probably come in somewhere around 1:10 to 1:15 if I were trying to take it slow. Because of the HRM I ran that 10k in 1:34:56. That is not only the slowest 10k I have ever run, but it is darn close to a typical 15k time for me. However, because of the HRM I was able to see the challenge as staying within a zone ( under 155bpm ) and it worked. On a side note, one of the benefits(?) of having the HRM is that I found out just how poorly I sleep. I have known for quite some time that I get almost no benefit from sleep in terms of recovery. That's why I had to run every other day. When I had to find my resting heart rate I tried to do so the way everyone says it should be done, but checking my heart rate right when I wake up before I even get out of bed. Bad idea for me. I've done it three days in a row and my numbers right when I wake up were 109, 115, and 104. If I wait until after I've gotten out of bed, walked the dogs, and done a quick meditation then I am down into the 60s. But right when I wake up? No. Sleep for me is more stressful on my body than being awake. Ok, enough rambling. Thanks again to everyone for the kind words. They really are appreciated.

Amores, you are all about the push ups aren't ya. anutherfinemess, if you are looking for what appears to be an endless physical challenge, why don't you join the '100 push up challenge' user group and try to do the challenge with us? You can start each run w/ 250+ pushups (in sets of course). If it doesn't warm you up in a running sense, it will at least tire you out a little and help slow you down. As for your running questions, I have no good advice for running or HRMs (I'm to cheap), but have found a lot here in these forums. I'm kinda thick headed the same way, as in no really slow runs for me. That led me to no sustained gains or time running, because I would always get injuryed every few months. This Fall I started doing short slow runs, adding a half mile or so a week and things are going well. Hopefully, by spring I will still be running 3x/wk (w/ short & long slow runs and maybe a tempo run everyother week). Slow down and enjoy the exhaust fumes, or in your case maybe that's Caribou crap, eh. 2010 will be here before you know it and I want to have a good set of base miles logged. Sorry all, lurker on the loose. I'll go hide again.