Mileage Reporting 36er Week of 2013

Oh oh, I hope things are better today Nick.
Unfortunately Dama, nope. Still hobbling around, can only walk on that foot with a heel strike and no roll through to the ball of the foot. Wife is trying to make me go to the dr. Man, she was so worried about my back for this race and it turns out my back was not the weak link. That sucks. She was really worried about me hurting myself in general I guess. What sucks is I didn't even know I was hurt until I went to get out of the car when I got home and there was some mild tenderness. This pain has only gotten worse and is on the top of my foot, but it is in the cuneiform bone where it connects to the metatarsal area...

Congrats on the race! Did you really mean $50,000? Wow, that is awesome!
 
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Way to go Dama!

It feels good to have met my weekly mileage goal (30mpw), and to be close to meeting my long run goal (two continuous hours of running). I wanna sustain that, but also start getting more serious about working on pace. Lately I find myself mostly running at an aerobic pace, but that's usually all I'm up for first thing in the morning. Not sure what to do. I'll probably hold tight for another few weeks while I continue to adapt to the higher mileage and more frequent running, and hope that gradual improvements begin to come again as I build my aerobic base. I have been doing sprints once a week. That and maybe one tempo run per week in the afternoon might be enough to speed up progress. Still dreaming of being able to run 8mm as my aerobic (long run) pace . . . That's the last of my running goals. Probably will take at least a year to get there. Blah, blah, blah.

Speaking of aerobic pace, how are you defining it? As per MAF training?

For me, aerobic pace is a pace I can sustain indefinitely heart-n-lungs-wise. What gives out are my legs. There's a range to it, but I always know when I go above it. I can feel my heart rate increase and I usually need some mental effort to sustain the pace. When you say you're testing aerobic running, are you saying that you generally always run tempo pace or above? Not trying to be polemical here, just curious.
Thanks Lee.
That's a hefty goal you have there 8mm long run. Define long run for me please.
Long runs for me are above 14 miles less than that I call them medium runs.
It's such a boost of confidence when one reaches a goal isn't it? and that's when we need to be the most careful and not get carried away.
I thought I was going to run slower than I did because I, like you, have being running what I felt on aerobic mode because my runs are on the heat of the day and I always feel like I am running on molases. I guess I was wrong.
What was interesting during the race was that my legs wanted to go faster but ironically my aerobic conditioning was holding me back.
 
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Unfortunately Dama, nope. Still hobbling around, can only walk on that foot with a heel strike and no roll through to the ball of the foot. Wife is trying to make me go to the dr. Man, she was so worried about my back for this race and it turns out my back was not the weak link. That sucks. She was really worried about me hurting myself in general I guess. What sucks is I didn't even know I was hurt until I went to get out of the car when I got home and there was some mild tenderness. This pain has only gotten worse and is on the top of my foot, but it is in the cuneiform bone where it connects to the metatarsal area...

Congrats on the race! Did you really mean $50,000? Wow, that is awesome!
I hope this is a stupid question, but are you stretching and rolling and massaging your lower leg and feet? I often get a little tofp after a long run. Goes away after a good stretch-n-roll session.

I think Dama was using the ',' like we use the '.'--to mark a decimal point. A lot of countries do that, but not Mexico, strangely . . .
 
I hope this is a stupid question, but are you stretching and rolling and massaging your lower leg and feet? I often get a little tofp after a long run. Goes away after a good stretch-n-roll session.

I think Dama was using the ',' like we use the '.'--to mark a decimal point. A lot of countries do that, but not Mexico, strangely . . .
Yep, I have been rolling and stretching. It's kind of weird, but the only muscles that feel tight are in my upper body, my legs feel great. Guess my upper body is not used to the obstacles so I can see why they are tender. Oh and I see Dama fixed her post and it was $50.00. I was thinking holy cow, what kind of race did she enter!?!?
 
Unfortunately Dama, nope. Still hobbling around, can only walk on that foot with a heel strike and no roll through to the ball of the foot. Wife is trying to make me go to the dr. Man, she was so worried about my back for this race and it turns out my back was not the weak link. That sucks. She was really worried about me hurting myself in general I guess. What sucks is I didn't even know I was hurt until I went to get out of the car when I got home and there was some mild tenderness. This pain has only gotten worse and is on the top of my foot, but it is in the cuneiform bone where it connects to the metatarsal area...

Congrats on the race! Did you really mean $50,000? Wow, that is awesome!

I am really sorry Nick, what have you done to relieve the pain?
I know some people don't beleive on the icy water but I do-if you like, fill a large bucket the will cover most of your lower leg with icy water and ice it for no longer than 20 mins 15 mins will be good.
Then massage your feet with hot olive oil as hot as you can tolerate it and use a compression thingy that covers your foot and maybe some part of your lower leg. This method was worked wonders for me in the past.
I guess I got carried away with the money didn't I. True to be told is only $50.00:(
 
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That's a hefty goal you have there 8mm long run. Define long run for me please.
Long runs for me are above 14 miles less than that I call them medium runs.

For me, at my current level of conditioning, a long run is more than an hour. If I run 9-10mm pace, that's anything over six miles or so. But even as my running fitness continues to improve, and my pace comes down and the distance I can cover becomes greater for a given amount of time, I'll probably use the time criterion rather the mileage criterion for defining a long run. My strength-training workouts are also designed to last about an hour, which is a nice daily average. Any exercise over an hour starts to feel long, and I'm only up for that, mentally and practically, once a week.

So basically, the first step would be to get to being able to run 8mm as a tempo pace for an hour. I haven't run tempo pace for a while, but, on a good day, I think I could probably manage 8:30mm right now. On a run a month or so ago, I think I ran aerobically for almost an hour at 8:50 pace, but I haven't come close to that since. I think my body's still busing adapting to the greater stress of greater mileage and greater frequency, and that a breakthrough of sorts will happen sometime in the fall. That's often how it happens for me; plateau for a while, then one day, out of the blue, a jump up in fitness. Like on the weights, one day all of a sudden you find yourself doing more reps, and you know it's time to add more weight.

After getting to the point where I can run aerobically at 8mm pace for an hour, the really long-term goal would be to run two hours at 8mm pace. That would be great.
It's such a boost of confidence when one reaches a goal isn't it? and that's when we need to be the most careful and not get carried away.
Yep, I purposely took yesterday off, to make sure I wouldn't get carried away, but then later in the day I regretted not running at least a bit. My legs were chomping at the bit. I did manage to get most of the mid-body st exercises I missed on Friday in, though, so I wasn't a complete delinquent. This week I'm also shooting for 30mpw or so, but I may try a slightly different approach. I want to be good and fresh for my long run on Saturday. I'd like to do 11-12 miles again. I may also try to do my Tuesday and Thursday mezzo runs as fartleks, see what that's like. Fartleks might be more reasonable than a tempo run first thing in the morning.
What was interesting during the race was that my legs wanted to go faster but ironically my aerobic conditioning was holding me back.

I think the way you're using 'aerobic conditioning' in the last sentence is a bit different that the way I intend it in defining an 'aerobic run.' Over a 5k distance, my aerobic conditioning, along with my lactate conditioning, would be the limiting factor as well. I know my legs wouldn't get tired. And I may even be able to beat you in an all-out sprint :p . What took me a while in getting my long run distance up was waiting for my legs/joints to adapt to the sustained repetitive stress. I attribute last fall's trails and tribulations--the MCL sprain and the ITBS--as TMTS while building up the distance.
 
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@Lee-oh yea, I am always rushing my replies what I meant was anaerobic sp? since I haven't done anything as far as speed is concern.
And that is awesome that you can sustain a 8:50mm aerobic pace, I'll probably die:nurse:.
No doubt that you can easily kick my butt for sure on all out sprint. Hate sprinting:D
 
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Speaking of aerobic pace, how are you defining it? As per MAF training?

For me, aerobic pace is a pace I can sustain indefinitely heart-n-lungs-wise. What gives out are my legs. There's a range to it, but I always know when I go above it. I can feel my heart rate increase and I usually need some mental effort to sustain the pace. When you say you're testing aerobic running, are you saying that you generally always run tempo pace or above? Not trying to be polemical here, just curious. A while back you ran 15 miles, and I'm having a hard time imagining you do that at anything faster than an aerobic pace.
I don't know that I have a good handle on this vocabulary, because I have not officially monitored my HR, but I was running relaxed, but still felt like I was runnning. It is curious to me that when I tried running at slower paces prior to training for the half, I felt plodding, but not this last week. I'm not sure what I am doing differently. I think I may have been a bit beyond "aerobic" pacing in much of my training for the half, even on the longer runs. I know the runs usually felt pretty hard. Sometimes in a satisfying way, but sometimes only manageable because I tend to be goal oriented.

As for now, It may be a form thing. I feel like I am running more lightly, in general. I do know from past experiences that I have made significant progress in stamina and speed without being concerned about progress. For instance, in my college days, I knew nothing about long distance running, but I just went out and did it. I was in Air Force ROTC at the time and we had a physical test run. I smoked all the guys without even trying. I was just going out "for another run." Right now, my goal is to run injury free, so that may be what is helping me relax about the new approach.
 
I don't know that I have a good handle on this vocabulary, because I have not officially monitored my HR, but I was running relaxed, but still felt like I was runnning. It is curious to me that when I tried running at slower paces prior to training for the half, I felt plodding, but not this last week. I'm not sure what I am doing differently. I think I may have been a bit beyond "aerobic" pacing in much of my training for the half, even on the longer runs. I know the runs usually felt pretty hard. Sometimes in a satisfying way, but sometimes only manageable because I tend to be goal oriented.

As for now, It may be a form thing. I feel like I am running more lightly, in general. I do know from past experiences that I have made significant progress in stamina and speed without being concerned about progress. For instance, in my college days, I knew nothing about long distance running, but I just went out and did it. I was in Air Force ROTC at the time and we had a physical test run. I smoked all the guys without even trying. I was just going out "for another run." Right now, my goal is to run injury free, so that may be what is helping me relax about the new approach.
Yah, my gait feels less plodding at slower paces now too. I chalk it up to continuing, sub-conscious adjustments to my running economy, leading to a smoother gait. But I don't know, maybe I've just gotten used to being plodding . . .

The one time I used a HR monitor a friend gave me, my perceived aerobic pace was pretty much exactly what the Mayo clinic formula said it should be, so I didn't really see the point of wearing one. Although the MAF formula requires a considerably lower HR, so a monitor is probably necessary for that kind of training.

I also agree that consistent running will lead to improvements no matter what, and so remaining injury-free is key. I think the various training protocols (hills, tempo, strides, base-building, intervals, MAF, and so on), are meant to speed up the process, and then to squeeze out every bit of potential once people get to an advanced/competitive level. But for a recreational runner like me, I'm sure I could easily skip all that and still get good enough, after another year or two, to satisfy my own lowly goals. When I was traveling by bicycle, I didn't know anything about cycling (still don't), but I improved drastically over the two years I did it. Just mounting the steed every day and riding aerobically was enough. Still, I'm a little bit frustrated that I haven't felt any improvement in a month or so. Trying to be patient . . .
 
Although the MAF formula requires a considerably lower HR, so a monitor is probably necessary for that kind of training.
This ^^^... Maf is maddening to me because it is sooooooo much slower than what I "feel" is an "easy" run for me. 10-15 beats per minute lower may not sound like a big difference, but that is walking every hill and a couple-three minutes slower per mile pace than my perceived easy pace.
 
Yah, my gait feels less plodding at slower paces now too. I chalk it up to continuing, sub-conscious adjustments to my running economy, leading to a smoother gait. But I don't know, maybe I've just gotten used to being plodding . .
I don't think that is the case for me. :) I don't think I could get used to plodding!

The one time I used a HR monitor a friend gave me, my perceived aerobic pace was pretty much exactly what the Mayo clinic formula said it should be, so I didn't really see the point of wearing one. Although the MAF formula requires a considerably lower HR, so a monitor is probably necessary for that kind of training.
I think it could be instructive, but it could be unnecessarily emphasized, too. Different people probably have varying ability to recognize when they are trying at a good level. It seems to me that there was comment in the book about the HR zones being guides and that it might need to be adjusted for different people. I'm guessing that I already have a much better aerobic capacity than most women my age (at least those that are often assumed for these measurements), so I am going to be me and play with an idea that I think can be useful. Or another way of putting it, I'm going to emphasize the idea of it being fun, which is definitely one of the things Dr. M talks about, too! :playful:

I also agree that consistent running will lead to improvements no matter what, and so remaining injury-free is key. I think the various training protocols (hills, tempo, strides, base-building, intervals, MAF, and so on), are meant to speed up the process, and then to squeeze out every bit of potential once people get to an advanced/competitive level. But for a recreational runner like me, I'm sure I could easily skip all that and still get good enough, after another year or two, to satisfy my own lowly goals. When I was traveling by bicycle, I didn't know anything about cycling (still don't), but I improved drastically over the two years I did it. Just mounting the steed every day and riding aerobically was enough. Still, I'm a little bit frustrated that I haven't felt any improvement in a month or so. Trying to be patient . . .
I still have a desire to be competitive, but I've always been a long term thinker, so it fits with my MO to test a plan that might take longer than many, but may give more solid results. I think I am feeling more relaxed partly because I recently reached goals that I previously thought I wouldn't be able to at this age. And I really think you all should dance more. I think you'd be amazed and pleased with the positive impact on your running!:happy:
 
lol, I think I know what I did! I could teach you... ;)
hahaha, thanks but no thanks but I'll keep that on mind though if I ever need your help. That was so:hilarious:
 
Oh yeah, lots of dancing in my house, and our toddler is getting pretty good already. In Africa dancing is integral to social life.

As for MAF, I think it was Mike who pointed out that MAF training is especially useful for people who have overtrained, so if you think it will help you slow down a bit, it could be worth trying. Easy running comes easy to me though, just like it does for Nick. I'm still trying to figure out how many times a week I should pick up the pace. Don't want to risk injury by overdoing it, but I know it helps me to run tempo, hills, and intervals as part of my weekly routine.

Now please go back to regular quotation style! Almost nothing that Dama does should apply to anyone else, including her irregular running routine.
 
Hmmm, well, foot pain started a couple hours after the race and I still have it this morning. Hope I don't have a stress fracture. I don't think it was the running that hurt the foot, but the drops from a couple of the obstacles were probably 5+ feet high and not doing any training for that sort of thing possibly set me up for problems. Hope it's nothing serious. I can still walk but it is a bit painful.


Oh no! So many opportunities on a course like that for things to get twisted/warped/wacked.
Hoping you were spared.
 
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