DrP - Show that cold who's boss with a PR! Now get some rest and feel better.
Happy - I did see your post about focusing on proper stride on the TM - concentrating on foot strike and not tensing up I think helped by 4 miler yesterday (inside on TM cause of major thunderstorm) - I've got a tight left hamstring. Massage on Tuesday.
Today - a gorgeous 5º (a bit under 50ºF) sunny day. I ran 11 miles a bit slow - gotta work on those hills, but I was able to run last 1/2 mile at HM pace without too much trouble. First run with Gatorade, since I went over 2 hours, as that's what 's served at my race. Stomach not great but it survived and I felt less woozy at the end.
Working my way up to a 15 mile long run, A
Recalculating...
Sigh... my stomach started to hurt on Wednesday evening, just after dinner. Must've eaten something that didn't sit well with me. But can't figure out what it was. Messed with my running the rest of the week. Stomach wasn't hurting anymore today, more like a block of cement in there hopping along with my running. I only managed a 20K long run (should've been closer to 30). Ah well, my preparing for the marathon is totally off schedule anyway. Stayed on the TM and ran too fast for a long run. Did a couple of inclines and played with the speed just to distract me.
Ayola: you seem to be doing really well, slowly but surely you're getting there.
DutchieRun the day, or the day runs you.
Ayola: Here's another thing I've noticed over the past number of months that connects the tight ham and the AT in terms of similar resolution because they often go hand-in-hand for me. My right hamstring tightens up when I'm overworking it because I'm not activating the glute enough. So now if the ham starts to get tight on me while running, I focus on working my glute muscles which in turn gets me to flex my foot and push-off more. I can now nip these issues in the bud during the run. The really great thing for me lately has been that some twinges that used to come up during my long runs and I'd feel I had to stop and stretch them out; now I just keep running but make some kind of adjustment to my form and they go away.
Dutchie: I hope your stomach settles down soon. I'm very familiar with that feeling like there's a load of rocks in there. It's no fun at all.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
Imminent Catastrophe
Get better Dutchie and DrP, and nice PR!
I had a nice trail run in Portland, it had just rained and the trail was really muddy but I felt really good and hit it pretty hard, it had a 1000-ft climb and descent but I had fun. Now I have to wear muddy shoes for the next 3 days while I'm on this trip. Oh well!
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
Happy: Interesting. How do you activate your glutes on the TM?
Dutchie: I'm feeling good about the runs - I have a secondary goal of working my way up to 18 milers (in the summer) in hopes of a marathon in 2012. My main issue is that I'm still so slow. Sigh. I'm hoping that speed is a function of mileage and I just need to slowly build up.
This morning - easy spin and elliptical at gym. Happy (sleepy) Monday, A
Brian - No excuses needed for a PR, well done.
Puke - Nice run, looks like you are in good shape for that marathon.
My new forefoot running plan is coming together finally. I did 13 yesterday with an 8 mile tempo with good form for the whole 8 miles. I was getting some uneven soreness between my calves and glutes but I seem to have worked that out. I found I was not following through as much with my left leg and I have corrected that. I think I need a couple more weeks of base building and then I'll start ramping up the mileage and speed. I think I'm going to have to break down and spend the money on some new shoes before I start. There have been quite a few new minimalist shoes coming out in the last couple of months. The Inov8's are still looking like the best but the new Merrells are interesting too.
6 miles out in the new daylight evening hours Left calf was a little tight in the last mile - still recovering from Saturday's LR.
Ayola: no different than out on the road - does that answer the question?
I was paying attention to it tonight so I could figure out an answer for you. The problem seems to start with my posture slumping forward and other muscles like the hips that are supposed to be working, relaxing instead. So the correction of that - straightening up and bringing my shoulders back over my hips (which feels like bringing my pelvis forward, but isn't) makes it easy to engage the glutes ("work those hips, girls!" - remember the scissor jumps in PE class?) and take the stress off the hams. Also, it can almost feel like you're tucking your pelvis. Have you done any Pilates and are familiar with the term "zip it"? It's that core activation and using the glutes so the hams aren't doing all the work that got me over my "chronic" problem of last year. I hope this helps you out.
ETA: So I ran on the TM tonight - 8 miles. I noted that I don't slump forward when I'm on the TM. However for whatever reason my right foot slaps down on the belt - which I don't think I do out on the road. I did not have any AT problem tonight - because I worked on flexing the foot whenever I felt I was lapsing.
I'm taking it easy this week, in between two long ones. It's kind of a nice break.
Here's my somewhat longish Race Report from Old Pueblo 50. I hope it's useful.
Going to run the Virginia Beach Shamrock Half Marathon tomorrow as a training run. I lucked into a free entry this week so it works out good. I tend to take it all too seriously when it's a scheduled race. I have not done anything specific for this race. No build up, no taper, no worrying. I'm just going to show up and use it as a supported training run. Of course the fact that it's a race will make me push hard, but I guess that's the point of it. The other good thing is that I get to try out my new fueling plan in a race.
Hey that's pretty cool, Brian. Have fun and run fast!
12-miler for me today. An increase of a mile to my LR. As usual that last added mile was a b*****, but I'm getting used to that recurring pattern now. Overall a slow run 11:25 avg pace, but my LR goal pace right now is 11-11:30, so it was within the range.
I ran the New Jersey Ultra Festival 50k today, it was a nice, flat run on a rails-to-trails path, and I got a PR at 5:20:24. It was more taxing on my legs than I expected, I think that a flat course is hard because you're using the same muscles and range of motion for the whole time, unlike a hilly course where you change it up more. My Garmin died at 4:15, it's getting old.
MTA: No disasters today, just the usual "OMG will I never get to the turnaround?". My total for the week: uh, 50k
Good job on your run today, Ayola especially after your Thursday speed workout.
I tried a Wednesday speed workout this past week and the one before and my legs were still tired on the Saturdays. Hopefully the conditioning effect will happen soon.
That's interesting comment on flat terrain running being harder, PerfesserR. I ran a flat course today because I thought it would be easier than the rolling hills route I've been doing for the last several Saturdays, especially since I was adding on. It did NOT feel easier though and think you may be onto something there.
Dutchie, how are you feeling?
I had fun at the Shamrock Half today. It started out a little cold (42F) but was about perfect at the finish (50F). I ran well and my new fueling plan worked great. I think I could have PR'd if I pushed it but managed to stay on task and use it as a practice not a race. I still finished in a respectable 1:30:44!
Sounds like a perfect day