Low HR Training

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This morning was frustrating (Read 39 times)

tortoise88


    I could tell right away that it was going to be a great run, and I clocked the first mile at 8:27 (it’s downhill, so that’s not my MAF rate, but I’ve been hovering around 9:00 to 9:30 for the last few weeks on that first mile).  I even said out loud at that point “breakthrough!” because my experience has been that improvement seems to come in spurts, not evenly over time (I might not see any improvement over the course of a few weeks, then all of a sudden one day I’ll run .3 miles further during my hour run (30-40 seconds per mile faster) and then that’s the new norm.  So, I was geeked and hoping for a new personal best.  However, about a half mile later I noticed a pain in my left thigh kind of halfway between groin and knee towards the back and inside.  It bothered me enough that my instincts said stop running and walk home and delay the glory.  I think (and hope) it’s a stretching issue:  when I stretch I pretty much do calves, hamstring, quads and Achilles and I don’t really do any inner thigh or groin stretches, i.e. legs apart, so I’ll see if introducing that does the trick.

     

    I used to have issues with a cramping sensation in the very upper part of my left quad – I eventually figured out that I could stretch that area out but not with normal quad stretches (standing and pulling your bent leg back) but doing kind of a lunge stretch (describing the physical position, not that the stretch is done dynamically).  I never used to have issues with my Achilles tendon but my left one got really sore a couple months ago so now I regularly stretch it as well as my calves, which I used to blow off since running slowly does not challenge my calves much, but it has helped with the Achilles soreness – plus I’m not running as slowly anymore as when I started, so probably using those calves more and more now.

     

    I don’t know what Maffetone’s latest stance is on stretching but in his Big Book he claimed stretching is not necessary (provided you warm up and warm down properly) but I haven’t found that to be the case for me.  If I don’t stretch my hamstring and quads regularly and thoroughly, the tightened muscles do a number on my lower back.  Several times over the past couple years when I haven’t kept up with stretching I’ve had lower back pain to the point where I could barely walk.  And in general, when I do stretch, I notice a marked reduction in knee and joint soreness.

     

    If I did not know that I wrote the above two paragraphs, I would assume they are the work of a rickety old man.  I just turned 43 yesterday.  I'm not ready to be rickety!

     

    Curious what other Maffetone disciples feelings or habits are regarding stretching.  Also, as a separate question, do you see progress in your MAF pace evenly and gradually, or in larger, infrequent chunks as I do?

     

    Cheers,

    tortoise88

      I don’t know what Maffetone’s latest stance is on stretching but in his Big Book he claimed stretching is not necessary (provided you warm up and warm down properly) but I haven’t found that to be the case for me.  If I don’t stretch my hamstring and quads regularly and thoroughly, the tightened muscles do a number on my lower back.  Several times over the past couple years when I haven’t kept up with stretching I’ve had lower back pain to the point where I could barely walk.  And in general, when I do stretch, I notice a marked reduction in knee and joint soreness.

       

      If I did not know that I wrote the above two paragraphs, I would assume they are the work of a rickety old man.  I just turned 43 yesterday.  I'm not ready to be rickety!

       

      Curious what other Maffetone disciples feelings or habits are regarding stretching.  Also, as a separate question, do you see progress in your MAF pace evenly and gradually, or in larger, infrequent chunks as I do?

       

      1) maffetone posts articles on his site, worth checking them along with the forum he has on the site, I think that's where (articles or forum) I read that he thinks static stretching after run is okay/can perhaps be good.

      2) other literature (not maffetone but just as good, it's experienced coaches, scientific studies, etc) generally says that dynamic stretching before run is okay, static stretching before run is NOT okay, but it's fine after run. some sources additionally mention that static stretching is risky if done after hard workouts / races, only okay after easy runs

      3) I just turned 30, I need stretching to avoid my muscles getting more tight than baseline (which is already pretty crazy tight, been always so even before starting to run), I do it after runs and it helps the hamstrings, actually helps in avoiding hamstring related injuries (avoids tightness back of knee, specifically, that could and used to develop into pain preventing me from running much)

      4) yeah improvement for me tends to come in spurts, MAF or not MAF