Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 574 times)

 

Mark - Good news that the cold is going away, I swear a few years back it seemed like you were immune to colds, I guess old age is catching up to you?

Good lord no.  I've always been susceptible to them.   Sometimes they morph into sinus infections and drag on a couple weeks.  I had a 5 month healthy stretch this time which lasted through most of winter and all of spring which was actually pretty good by my standards.  In the past I was often able to run through them, but these days I generally need to take a day or two off and then stick to easy running until things get back to normal.

Piwi - Wellington? Must be a very good reason for her to move there.

 

Mark Wellington is better than Auckland surely 

One good thing about Auckland is that it's always top of the list when filling out your address online. I always have to scroll for hours to get Wellington...

MT - Ugh sorry to hear. What part of the calf is hurting? Is it inside near the knee, outside near the knee, down near the soles muscle ?
What has the physiotherapist said about it this time? Does foam rolling alleviate it any ?

Darkwave uses pool running a lot, I guess that could help if there's any near by?
Re: diets, here's what I've learned from years of trial and error:
- Only do what you can maintain forever. If it's something that you can only hold for a few months, then it's not worth it.
- Your body needs a lot of nutrients to heal, a restrictive diet could easily delay your recovery by months if it does not cover all of your needs.

Rune - Hey, it's good to see you around, and I'm happy to hear you were able to get around that nasty hamstring injury.

DK - I'm happy to hear you got the rush of running fast, even if it was short lived!
Whatever I had that started about 2 weeks before the marathon and lasted through the race now seems to be gone (excellent timing though 😡)

Mark - Ah, that must be it then, I guess I remembered that you could run through those colds.

Running form - I subscribe to a certain school of thought when it comes to running form. It all started when I hired a running coach back in 2019 for the first time ever and asked him about running form because I thought bad running form was what was holding me back.

This week I found a reddit thread about the subject and one redditor wrote what I think in way better terms than I could ever write:

Here's the full link, but I'll post the contents below because ain't nobody got no time to be clicking links:

https://old.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/18imrvi/tips_and_discussion_on_how_to_activate_glutes/kdej1fv/

“This comes up all the time and a ton of psuedo-science and "my trainer said" gets thrown around - I don't begrudge people the woo-woo on this one because there is a lot of really weird information floating around ("glute activation" remains one the most puzzling terms I've ever heard, you can't stand up with activating your glutes, how people expect that they are running with "inactive glutes" is so so strange to me)

"Running with your glutes" is not a thing - you run with all you leg muscles, if you weren't you would not succeed in taking even one step. The issues which drive poor form are always one of five things

1. ⁠Weakness in a specific muscle or muscle group causing compensation from other muscle groups.
2. ⁠Incomplete range of motion limiting the athletes ability to complete the full motion intended.
3. ⁠Poor coordination of the muscles during the motion.
4. ⁠Structural issues in the body (i.e. legs of substantially different length, joint angles like knock knees, things like that)
5. ⁠Compensation for injury

The first 3 can be fixed but you need to understand which issue you have. The fourth & fifth you need to see a doctor about.

If you are suffering from weakness in a specific muscle group the best activity to resolve it is always going to be compound lifts. For the posterior chain, that is barbell back squats, romanian deadlifts, weighted thrusts etc. This builds strength in the muscle group rapidly.

For incomplete range of motion you're talking about issues with hip mobility - the Myrtle Routine is the best exercise to improve RoM in the hips.

For poor coordination of the muscles during motion the answer is maximal effort sprints/hill sprints done for short durations (10-12 seconds) with full recovery 3x a week. These should be part of every runners plan (although in the reduced form as strides once basic competency is achieved) as neuromuscular improvements from them continue accruing as you continue performing them over years.

If you don't know which issue you're suffering from, do all 3. Plyometrics (high knees, butt kicks, skips, grapevines etc.) which exaggerate motions used during running can also address non-specific issues (they work by improving all 3 of those factors to lesser degrees than the specific work).

This is how runners need to build form. You will never succeed at improving your running form by focusing on a cue while doing normal running - it is mentally exhausting and as soon as you stop focusing on the cue your body will revert to running the way you did before because you did not address the underlying issue which was causing you to run incorrectly. Until those underlying issues are addressed form will suffer.”

Darkwave it has changed. It will require more people to run it to see how much more it can change.   The fans still make it worth it. Maybe they’re focusing on the relay portion of it more. ‘Those people’ get separate medals and finisher awards. I don’t know if they get backpacks and jackets.

training question:

I did a workout yesterday and actually don’t know if I understand the purpose. I just did it because I have a 5k in targeting in March. Same one as always and the one I PR’d while not having my bib last year.  I didn’t design this workout. It’s from the Jack Daniels 40-50 mile week 5k training plan. 

workout was 4x200m + 2 (5 min @ Threshold w/ 1 min jog) + 4x 200m. 15 minute warm up and cool down. The 200s I did in 42 seconds. The threshold run I did about 1,200m (6:38/mi pace). I picked the Threshold pace from the 1.5 mile runs for physical testing I’ve done.  It is a little faster, and those runs aren’t impossible but I’m working hard. Maybe comfortable hard but I’m only doing it once. 

what is the point of this workout? My brain said anaerobic power and threshold is to build up lactic acid tolerance/clearing ability.  Garmin said it was VO2 max and all aerobic.  Yeah, I know I shouldn’t trust Garmin’s coaching. I do kinda. Jack Daniels says this is R pace which should be anaerobic power.  This makes sense because of the longer rest for 200s then the short rest for the threshold run. 

the workout didn’t feel impossible.  I had to keep backing off the threshold pace because I was going too fast.  I didn’t get the feeling of it being too hard. Maybe it was just a great day and my body was putting more brain power into how cold I felt in 45 degrees.

 

This is how runners need to build form. You will never succeed at improving your running form by focusing on a cue while doing normal running - it is mentally exhausting and as soon as you stop focusing on the cue your body will revert to running the way you did before because you did not address the underlying issue which was causing you to run incorrectly. Until those underlying issues are addressed form will suffer.”

I have never paid any attention to running form, but this is the first thing I’ve read that makes sense. Unfortunately I’m too lazy to do any of those things. My form will be whatever it is.

 

 

My wedding ring came off in the surf many years ago but still married 31 years later so I guess it didn't matter 

 

 

My wife gave me 2 identical wedding rings when we married as these things can happen! 

Luckily I still have both of them!

Mark Wellington is better than Auckland surely 

People seem to either love Wellington, or they don't.  I am in the second category.

RP - I would view this workout as a kind of early program reps session (8x200), but with the threshold work mixed in. The threshold session isn't that long, but you go into it with some muscular fatigue. Same with the last 4 200s, you now go into those with the legs having endured some threshold work. If I remember correctly, JD is a fan of doing reps or strides after threshold work, just so you get the added stimuli of running fast on (somewhat) tired legs.